Hidden Assistance

Hayter watched as the delegation moved out of the landing bay and into the main body of the Dread Omen. The double the Rebels had found for Colonel Pekkitt was actually quite good. When he had left the Rebel Dream, Pike hadn't chosen who would be playing the role but he had heard rumblings that Tarken Caballa would be chosen. Tarken was a washout actor who had never made a name for himself in any major holo. He had joined the Rebellion with what Hayter was convinced was spite for an Imperial Acting Agency which had cost him a few roles. Even as a B-List actor, he was marginally better than anyone the Rebellion could muster up for any sort of undercover work that required commitment to the role. When the Bulk Shuttle had arrived and Tarken Caballa had swayed off the ship in Imperial Colonel regalia Hayter could help but feel bad for whatever crew had brought him in. The man was horrible to deal with.

A few moments after the delegation had left, a Verpine and a human female scuttled away from the ship and toward one of the control rooms.
"Good," Hayter thought. He had cleared the room from the two Imperial Stormtroopers manning it a few moments before the shuttle had arrived. Their bodies were stashed in some Gonk Droid charging station on the other end of the hangar. Hayter slowly adjusted in the ventilation shaft he was crouched in. He would be moving back to the Engineering Section of the ship to secure those systems. His orders were clear: assist the Rebel Agents but remain unseen unless ordered to by le Trenne. He knew he was supposed to evaluate them in a way. Nelani would undoubtedly be asking his opinion of their tactics, combat prowess, and effectiveness. He didn't care much for that and would just provide some cursory commentary on them. What he really cared about what wrenching the Dream Omen from the hands of the Empire. He could feel the arrogance of the Empire from the Imperials on the ship. The first Officer he had run into aboard the Dread Omen had sneered at him and demanded to know his business. Hayter had been shifted into a form resembling a Imperial Gunner and was minding his own business. There was no reason for him to be challenged other than the snide Officer felt entitled to know his business. Well, that Officer was now stuffed into a corner of the ship somewhere. It wasn't in cold blood, the man actually had access keys to the Secure Decks which Hayter would need for his mission, it was just fortunate that he was the one to have them.

The controls on his wrist chimed and Hayter frowned. He leaned back against the wall of the ventilation shaft and put his feet up on the wall in front of him, in a relaxed pose. He had placed motion sensors at various places in the ship to cover himself, largely so he wouldn't be surprised by a roving Imperial patrol. The sensors had micro holo-cams on them and they flickered to life when triggered. A series of dark shapes were moving past the sensors in a tight formation. The lights were off in the sector and it was difficult to make them out. He cycled the image to the "low-light" setting and his heart sank.
"Nite Owls," he cursed as he saw the iconic T-Visor on the rounded helms. The Nite Owls were an elite Mandalorian Unit of the Death Watch. They were said to be lead by Bo-Katan Kryze herself.  They were incredibly deadly and few who faced even one of them rarely lived to tell the tale. His sensors continued to chime and he muted it, as to not call any attention to himself. He watched as five squads of five Nite Owls pushed into the ship from various points. He did appreciate the tactical precision of the attack. They had infiltrated the ship with teams on each deck. Within five minutes they would be breaching the five major systems: engineering, tactics, command, armory, and gunnery. It would be easy for them, given their superb training, and also that there were less than a hundred Imperials aboard the ship and most of those were technicians doing the finishing touches on the vessel before commissioning. He shifted onto his hands and knees and began to work his way down the shaft.
"Mid as well go get them out of Engineering," he thought. If these new agents were as good as Pike made them out to be, they wouldn't have a problem dealing with the ones on the bridge.

Ten minutes later, Hayter dropped into a crouch outside the Engineering Bay and surveyed the mess. There were easily fifteen bodies on the floor, most near their stations. They hadn't even had time to react. He moved to one of the bodies of a young woman in an engineering. There was a scorched blaster hole in her back, between her shoulder blades and right through her heart. It was a clean kill. The Nite Owls were not Sand People, they didn't torture their prey. No, there was some class to their kills. He logged that as another note in his mind - something to consider if in a precarious situation.

The main control console for the deck was across the room, it was eerily quiet for an engineering deck. As the ship was stationary, only some nominal systems would be online but it still was unnerving. Sighing, Hayter stood up and strode to the console.
"You can come out," he called out to the room and raised his hands in surrender. He smiled at the silence which followed. His guests were likely recovering from shock. A moment later, two figures dropped out of the shadows above by the door and stood up. They were wearing the same blue and grey Mandalorian Armor with the T-shaped visor. One had a large staff on her back while the other sported two blaster pistols in low-slung holsters on her hips. They glided forward with a feline grace. They felt - dangerous.
"Tion'cuy," one mused to the other.
"Nayc solus jaon'yc," the other responded as she unslung the staff from her back.
"vi Kelir kar'taylir Nusujii luubid," Hayter responded. He knew his pronunciation was off but he had picked up some Mando'a over the past few years. They froze and one of them growled under her breath.
"What do you want, shabuir," the staff-wielding woman cursed in a heavy Mandalorian accent. Hayter shrugged and motioned to their surroundings.
"This will do," he said. "Thank you though for killing these Imps. Saved me the trouble from having to clear them out myself," he finished and nodded appreciatively at the bodies strewn around him. They stared at him, sizing him up. The one with the blasters pulled a vibroknife from behind her back and strode forward.
"I'll kill him sister," she said as she moved forward. Hayter feigned a hurt expression as his hand slowly moved onto the hilt of his own vibroknife. A few steps before him, the Mandalorian fell into a combat pose and she lunged forward knife streaking towards his chest. Hayter drew his own vibroknife in a fluid motion and countered the attack. He brought his knee up into her chest, using her own momentum against her. She grunted at the hit but followed through the movement by rolling forward. Hayter anticipated the counter and pursued closely, thrusting in an upward cutting motion with his vibroknife in an upward strike. She leaned backwards, the blade passing mere inches from her throat. She recovered quicker from the attack than expected  and used her offhand to deliver a swift punch to his gut. Hayter staggered backwards, feeling something break in his chest, and held an outstretched palm towards her.
"Had enough?" she toyed, flourishing the blade in her hand.
"No," Hayter said, groaning at the pain in his chest, she had likely broken a rib with her punch. "Just lining up a shot," he said. He flexed his palm and a small dart shot out and sped into the Mandalorian's neck. She gasped and staggered backwards. Her hands reached up and desperately pulled the dart from her neck. She stepped forward and then staggered awkwardly.
"Poison?" she asked disgustedly. Hayter shrugged. The Nite Owl tried to lunge forward but stumbled and fell to her knees. Her breathing was laboured and there was a gurgling sounds coming from under her helmet.
"Hut'uun," the other cried out and she ran forward with her staff poised behind her back. Without looking, Hayter quickly threw his vibroknife towards her. With a sickening thunk, it embedded through the helmet and into the skull of the advancing Mandalorian. She clattered to the floor, her staff rolling forward and stopping at Hayter's feet. He took a moment to survey his work and nodded.
"They weren't as bad as everyone made them out to be," he said to no one in particular. He winced and held a hand gingerly to his ribs.
"Alright, so they have some skill," he conceded. Hobbling forward he approached the main command console and pulled the corpse of a technician off the console. He keyed a few commands and unlocked the systems the Mandalorians had locked before. They had used a manual override which would lock out even that Verpine on the bridge. They had likely set it as bait and then would ambush whoever came in. A solid plan but they hadn't expected him. The displayed washed to green and he crossed his arms only to grunt at the pain in his chest.
"Not bad," he said. His wrist chimed again and he inspected the display. A group of Stormtroopers on a nearby deck was forming a resistance against the Mandalorian attackers.
"Targets," he mused and powered off the console.Walking over to the Mandalorian he placed a foot on her chest and wrenched the blade from her skull. He cleaned the blood on the kama around her waist and then ran from the room.