Imperial Entanglements [Verica]

[Agatha Merril]

Agatha was humming the tune blasting through the speakers in the cockpit of her ship, as she was flying through the Gabredor System. She was headed for some personal mission, on a hunt for some ancient artifacts, something she had enjoyed doing since her aunt taught her back when she was just a child.

Smashing the remains of her cigarette in the nearby ashtray, her radar suddenly picked on something. Frowning, she wondered what was up, as she hadn't seen many ships in the area so far.

Peering through the viewport, she saw a ship attacking another one. She brought the Kenzyator closer, knowing it would probably earn her trouble, but she was curious by nature. That was when she realized that the attacked ship wore imperial insigna on its hull.

The pirate worked for the Cartel, but she had ties to the Empire, and personally didn't interfere with imperial interests, because of both her uncle and her boyfriend.

So, she was a hot head again, and joined in the fight, to try to get the imperial ship out of trouble. She didn't know what such a small ship, maybe a supply one, was doing unescorted.

At the same time, she opened a communication channel. "To all imperial ships in this sector, one of yours is being attacked by unknown enemy. Assisting attacked ship with the Kenzyator. Send back up if possible. Agatha Merril out."

[Verica]

Standing in the large, open area on the bridge, Verica looked out from the massive windows to the remains of what had been an Imperial outpost which had apparently been keeping an eye on the neighboring New Republican activities in the area. Having been compromised, the remaining survivors were now in the medbay as the Balmorra retrieved it's scout TIE's back into it's hangar bay.

"Sir," the communications officer approached as Verica and the admiral turned to see what was going on. "We've just received a message from the outer edge of the system and it appears that one of our cargo containers is under attack by pirates."

"Turn us about," Admiral Konstantin directed. "Send out a flight of TIE's to deal with this mess and get us to that ship."

"Sir," the dark haired officer turned and headed back to the starboard side pit.

"How stupid are these people," Verica mused aloud. "We're within minutes of that ship."

Green eyes turned to the lieutenant as the admiral grinned. "There are many things that can be fixed in this universe. Stupid isn't one of them."

Verica smirked, wanting to laugh as they both turned back to the amazing view as the nose of the large star destroyer banked away from the uninhabited moon and out towards the edge of the system. Within minutes, a group of eight TIE fighters screamed away from the massive ship and headed for the fight which lances of blaster fire could be faintly seen as the Balmorra raced to help the cargo container.

[Agatha Merril]

Agatha had been up against other ships in the past, as it was part of a pirate's life. Yet, these scum attacking the imperials must have customized and upgraded their craft like crazy. Their weapons and shields weren't what a ship this size and model should have!

She cursed as she avoided fire, though they eventually damaged the Kenzyator - which angered her as always. The ship was her baby and her home, and hurting her was a bad bad move!

She retaliated, but hoped that her message had been received! Within a short while, her scans picked up on something and she saw a small group of TIE Fighters coming in.

And she got shot... She opened a com channel again. "Agatha Merril here. Don't shoot at me! I'm the one who called for back ups!" Thank the maker, it seemed to make sense to the group leader and they helped her go after the pirate ship that didn't seem willing to go down without a fight.

[Verica]

Soon, the combatants involved in the hairball were displayed in the large holoprojector for the admiral and lieutenant to see, the TIE's being denoted in red while the container ship had been doing it's best to run towards the incoming star destroyer. Unfortunately, the larger ship had their main engines ionized which meant that the pirates were employing illegal weaponry on their ship.

"Capture both pirates in our tractor beams," the admiral stated to a junior officer standing within one of the two horseshoe-shaped consoles. "Don't let either one of them get away."

As the guns aboard the Balmorra opened up on the pirate freighter that was running, the other seemed more compliant and Verica knew that it was standard procedure to attempt to control the situation, which meant grabbing everyone involved. As she watched, the TIE's pursued and overtook the faster pirate vessel, damaging it's hyperdrive and then it's main engines, though not without losing two fighters in the process.

Bringing in the two closest ships, the Balmorra continued moving towards the outermost as the TIE's disabled it enough to keep it from running.

Verica glanced up to the second operator standing in the other command console, "Have the Stormtroopers ready to neutralize the crews of both freighters once we get them inside the hangar."

"Yes, ma'am," the female replied, then passed on the message to their commander.

"See them to the interrogation room," the admiral directed and prompted the lieutenant to leave his side.

Verica hurried from the large bridge and to the turbolift and made her way to the detention center just as the ships were all being boarded, at least one crew putting up a fight before being dragged out.

[Agatha Merril]

When the destroyer showed up, Agatha felt relief. It was short lived as she got trapped into a tractor beam, exactly like the other pirate ship. Her own got damaged in the process, much to her displeasure.

She complied though, hoping that the imperials in charge of this destroyer wouldn't think she was the enemy. That annoyed her how she seemed to get in trouble with them even when she tried to help. She hoped she wouldn't have to mention her personal ties, as she hated dragging Lazarus into this. It was important to her that she cause no problem in his work.

When she left her ship - unarmed - she rolled her eyes at the sight of the welcome committee. She followed the stormtroopers to an interrogation room. She didn't bother trying to talk until someone came to ask her questions. She took a sit, legs crossed, and elbows propped on the table, chin on her palms.

[Verica]

Two stormtroopers stood outside the door to the first interrogation room and Verica kept her professional, stiff nature as she stepped inside. Polished black boots and pressed, dark grey uniform having been kept this way since being stationed aboard the Balmorra. Though, as olive eyes met blue, she could've sworn she had met this girl before. Moving to the table, she glanced at the file that had been transmitted from the CIC detailing the ship and it's owner. Quietly, she read the details and then her brow raised at the name of the vessel.

Verica glanced up to the ship captain. "What were you doing in the area today," she queried as the lieutenant racked her brain trying to remember where they had met before.

[Agatha Merril]

When a blond imperial walked in, Agatha recognized her, as she had once worked with the Empire and this woman had been in charge of the imperial side of things. "Officer Verica. It has been a while." Unsure of the woman's rank, she took a generic term of respect for the military.

"I was heading off to some personal business. I saw the other ship attack yours. When I recognized the imperial marking, I'm the one who called for back up. I didn't expect to get fire from imperials while trying to help."

[Verica]

Head canted to the side, she then recalled having met this girl once before when a relic had been retrieved for the Imperial museum and now that her own name had been stated, Verica's memory began flooding with that incident. Easing her demeanor somewhat, she then listened to the explanation and knew that Agatha was the one that had called them and warned the Balmorra of what was going on. No doubt earning her a stay of execution, regardless of her apparent profession.

Smirking at the brunette, "Had the Balmorra fired on you, we wouldn't be having this conversation. It's standard procedure for us to question everyone involved, but with your history of working with us before I'm sure you'll be out of here in no time. Have you ever seen this other vessel before?" It would be good to have something to work with before she interrogated the crew of the other pirate ship.

[Agatha Merril]

"Well, getting shot at is part of my job, but given my help to the imperials, I hope that I might get some help for the repairs." Agatha replied politely but firmly. If she had said nothing, the imperial ship would be history by now, along with the supplies aboard.

"I never saw this ship before, but if I was to see the crew, I might be able to give you more information. What I can say is that there had been heavy upgrades for a ship this size." She was willing to cooperate, as she had no intention to create trouble to the imperials.

[Verica]

"I can't promise a complete overhaul, but I'll see what I can do about at least getting you flying again." The lieutenant knew that keeping allies in other professions could sometimes prove beneficial in the future. She never knew when that favor could be called in to save her own skin. Taking out the comlink in her jacket pocket, she keyed in the engineering section.

"Ma'am," the gruff male voice on the other end not the head engineer, but one that she had become familiar with.

"Need you to take a look at the.... Kenzyator," she said trying not to laugh at the name. "And repair it enough to get it out of the hangar when she's ready to leave."

A long pause. "Yes, ma'am." As the technician moved to turn off the com channel, "Who in the hell..." She could imagine how that thought ended as she grinned and replaced the cylindrical device back into her jacket.

Motioning to the brunette, "Follow me." Kenzyator, that's too funny, she mused as the blonde turned and headed to the door.

[Agatha Merril]

"Thank you. As long as I can fly, I'm good." Agatha replied with a thankful smile. She appreciated that the officer understood that she wasn't here to cause trouble and was here to help. She couldn't help laughing when she heard the "what the hell" right before Verica shut the channel down.

She got to her feet and followed the Officer. When they arrived to the observation room of the other interrogation room, where the three pirates were kept. "The one on the left... Never saw him. The Trandoshan... I think his name is Karash, due to his unusual scar. He defected from the Cartel a few months ago. He managed to escape Vaago after picking up a fight with one of his higher names. No one had heard of him since then."

She narrowed her eyes at the final pirate, an older human male. "Frell..." She hissed, surprised. "Rogon. No idea of the last name. I have no idea why he'd attack an imperial ship, since the Republic got his wife killed during a mission that turned sour." She knew the story, because she had met the man before.

"He's a big fish for you, because he has a good network in the criminal circles in this sector. Might be of interest to get him to spill a few things."

[Verica]

Entering the observation room, the three prisoners that had been gathered up, and apparently still breathing after the boarding action, reclined in three chairs, magna cuffed to the table in front of them. None of them in a cordial mood, Verica then listened to the descriptions offered as the suited Intel agent at her right glanced from Agatha to the pirates.

"We'll get them all to talk, don't worry about that," Verica mused aloud. "Attacking an Imperial supply ship and having us in the same system was either totally brave, or amazingly stupid. Either way, they didn't get off with anything of value."

As she spoke, a hovering probe droid glided into the room and prompted all three males to eye it with trepidation, their eyes growing wide as the hypodermic needle attached to an appendage moved to each in turn, injecting them with a concoction that would allow the onboard Intelligence team to begin getting some answers from them. Once the probe exited the room and headed back to the medbay, Verica turned and motioned for Agatha to leave the observation room. No one should be watching what would come next.

Once out in the hallway, the lieutenant led the pirate from the detention area, signing her out at the security station and then headed to the turbo lift cluster. "I'll take you down to the hangar area and to your ship. It's going to take a few hours to get your ship fixed, so you may be quarantined in your vessel until then." The inspection team should be gone by the time they arrived, she mused.

[Agatha Merril]

"I don't worry about imperial intelligence and their capacity to make people talk. Was just saying that using Rogon might be better than having him dead." Agatha replied in a polite tone. She didn't care about what would happen as none of these people were her friends or ally, and not to her family either.

She didn't even flinch as she saw the probe droid. She followed the officer as they left the observation room. Once they were in the turbo lift, she nodded to what she was told. "Fair enough. I hope your inspection team doesn't bother putting bugs anywhere on or in my ship. You have better uses for them on people that matter. Getting devices destroyed for nothing would be useless to everyone."

[Verica]

As they rode down to the hangar deck, Verica smiled at the feisty pirate knowing that Intel had concocted amazing new designs for hiding bugs and trackers should the need arise. Many recently that would have never be suspected as such. Research and Development had been kept busy, though the lieutenant had also seen how accurate sensor suites were now also, most larger ships of the line outfitted with the newest. In many cases, with all that the Empire had at it's disposal, there would be little chance of anyone escaping them for long.

Noticing one of the junior officers and a tech also in the turbo lift eye the brunette, Verica smiled. "Do we have a need to put one on your ship?"

As they spoke, the doors slid to either side and allowed them to leave, heading toward the maintenance offices and shops, then to a narrow hallway that led to the main hangar deck. Droids and techs passed them, some moving aside as they recognized the lieutenant's rank insignia, out of respect.

[Agatha Merril]

"You don't but it doesn't mean that the Intelligence personnel aboard isn't willing to be thorough. I don't want to bother having to stop by Bastion to get my ship debuged by Imperial services, in case I missed anything." Agatha replied, serious about this.

She had been greenlit by people close to the Empress, and she wasn't even talking about Lazarus. She had gone through tests and jumped through the hoops to prove she was loyal to the Empress's son and didn't risk threatening imperial interests.

"While my imperial leanings don't impede my work with the Cartel, I don't usually advertise said leanings in the underworld."