I Know A Guy

The wind blew Dia's short blonde hair wildly as she stared through the macrobinoculars.The Imperial Garrison below buzzed with activity but that wasn't anything new. She has been providing overwatch for the past few days now and sending reports back to the rest of Noble Squad who was formulating a plan to assault the compound. The Imps has set up this base in a matter of weeks on Vinsoth as a way to reinforce this hub between the Celanon Run, the Veragi Trade Route, and the D'Asti Line. It wasn't a major trade hub but it was a checkpoint on the route to the Mid Rim and eventually the Core Worlds. A well paced outpost here could track the movement of any manner of ships coming in or out of the region. This was Noble Squad's primary route and they didn't have the time or credits to map a new route so the only other option was to remove the obstacle - according to Exeden that is. She frowned at she continued to tap notes into the datapad beside her.
"2 sentries. Staggered roving pattern-"
"1 E-Web, unslung on central tower-"
Exeden had been growing increasingly paranoid ever since their run in with the "Kessel Four" as they had been known the call them. Exeden has said they were no better than reavers and deserved to stay in the spice mines but she knew better. She had spent four months with them in that hole and they had been nothing but kind to her. When Varl, the massive Twi'lek heavy, had started to press down on some of the smaller prisoners even more, they had all stood up to him and eventually killed him. Those weren't the actions of reavers but heroes - what the Rebellion wanted and needed right now. The incidents on Ord Canfre had been inconvenient to say the least but from what she had got from her own scouts and informants they had been a victim of circumstance. Seeing how the Hutts treat their slaves could sway even the most stalwart of people. It also wasn't that the galaxy was worse off with Darga the Hutt dead. If anything it was better. Unfortunately the Kajidics didn't take kindly to people killing their Dons which is how they ended up in a shadow war between the Jirammas. Exeden was right in that aspect, the Rebellion couldn't afford a war with the Hutts and the Empire but she would have never supported selling them out for some credits. They were better than that and she had told Exeden that much. She wasn't certain but she was relatively sure that's how she ended up getting this long range recon mission. Exeden was getting erratic and didn't like anyone standing up to his authority. Talan Prower had taken to scouting more on the perimeter for days at a time and Corana joined her. Stragos insisted he had to meet with more of his contacts in the network for "upkeep" and spent less and less time at the new hideout on Mygeeto. It was sad really. Noble Squad had been the flagship of the Rebel Alliance for quite some time and it all seemed to be unravelling. She hoped this latest assault would unify the Squad again and restore even a sliver of their former glory and cohesion.

Her comlink chimed and she cursed. She had forgotten to turn it off, rookie mistake. She reached back to her belt and pulled it forward thumbing the volume switch down to 'LOW'. She pulled it close to her mouth and hissed.
"I'm a little busy,"
"Oh - I apologize ma'am. I wasn't aware of your schedule. Would you like me to tell my mistress that you are not available," the metallic voice of a CPX series protocol droid responded. Her eyebrows shot up when she connected the dots.
"No, no, no. Put her through," she said hurriedly. The line crackled and then deep but soothing came through the comlink.
"Dia, darling I've missed you. My home is considerably emptier without you to keep me company and warm at night," the voice cooed. She blushed, even though no one was within a parsec who could see her. She had spent one night with that consort as a bored fling and every time she had to bring it up. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy it but she had business to attend to.
"Stop it Araly. What do you have for me?" she responded in a hushed tone.
"Tsk tsk tsk Dia. Is that how we talk to friends? How about this. You come to my villa and we can discuss this latest news in a more intimate setting," Araly responded seductively. Dia rolled her eyes and sighed.
"I'm a little busy at the moment. How about you just tell me and I can thank you later with ummm, I dunno, credits?" she retorted. Araly sighed dramatically.
"Credits? I have more credits than I know what to do with. I'll be honest I'm not used to people telling me no. I feel less inclined to share information," she in a playful and pouting tone.
"Fine. Tell me what you want to know and I promise to swing by the next time I'm in the sector," Dia grumbled.
"How do I know you won't just avoid me?"
"Well I guess you'll have to trust me," Dia replied. Araly laughed, a light and soft laugh even across the heavily encrypted comlink.
"It's a deal," she cooed, "I have information on your friends." she said and Dia's heart began to race. She had had her own networks do some digging to figure out where the Kessel Four had gone after their failed attempt on the Demeter. She needed to know they were okay. Something inside her just needed to know and she felt obliged to help them after Exeden's betrayal.
"Tell me," she said.
"Straight to business. A quality I admire," Araly purred. "I have an Imperial officer I have shared relations with. He's a senior ranking member on Hosnian Prime. It seems they've stirred up quite a mynock's nest with the Hutts and the Imperials." Dia smiled at the words. That most certainly sounded like them.
"Excellent thank you-" she began but Araly cut in. "No you don't understand love. My contact said the Imperials are locking down the planet entirely."
"Locking down a Core World? Why?" Dia cursed.
"No idea, they seem to have something which even my contact would share with me. So many people telling me no these days, it's uncharacteristic of them," Araly lamented.
"Do you know what they're bringing in to lock it down? There's no way they'll pull a Star Destroyer from the capital," Dia asked.
"No idea love. Military tactics bore me, You know that. I figured I would share that news with you. I look forward to seeing you soon love. I promise it'll be as invigorating as our last encounter," Araly laughed and Dia closed down the comlink line. That would be something she would have to deal with later.

She lay on the hillside for a moment and tapped her finger against the side of the macrobinoculars. She needed help. No wait, she needed firepower. More than what the Imperials and Hutts were going to bring. Unfortunately, the Rebel fleet wasn't the titan of industry that the Empire's was. She also didn't have many contacts in Rebel Fleet as she wasn't as big fan of space travel - but she knew someone who was. She excitedly hammered in the new comlink coordinates and after a moment another female voice answered, the white noises of the X-Wing's cockpit bleeding through the line.
"Prower here," Talan's curt voice came through.
"Talan it's Dia. I need help but you need to promise to keep this between us," she said.
"Done," Talan responded and Dia was taken aback by how easy that was. She was preparing a speech to convince the woman.
"Umm, alright then." she began, "Remember those four we pulled from Kessel? They had the Corellian pilot you liked. Barn or Bern I think his name was-"
"It was Bren," Talan cut in quickly and Dia smiled.
"Right yes. Well they need some help. I'll give you the full details but it's going to be a big ask. Are you still friends with Howl on the Thunderstrike?" she asked.
"Yea we keep in touch," Talan asked inquisitively.
"Good - I'm going to need his ship".