Chapter 3 - The Debacle of General De'Shota
A few days search finally lead the team to locate the opulent Sabacc House where the General would most frequently be found. Gambling was his one weakness, but his entourage was formidable as a member of the military and it was decided a head-on confrontation would either fail or be too costly to pursue. Ray'chish came up with a plan, shared by his partner Kekku, in order to draw De'Shota to a more favorable location where they might have a greater advantage in his capture. Ali was quick to facilitate this option by submitting herself to another round in the gladiator's arena with intent to throw the fight to sweeten the deal for all involved. After considerable planning, everything was in order and the trap was set to the satisfaction of all involved. They would have a substantial chance at success.
The night of the fight came and the group left the Hutt compound bound for the space platform high above the planet where the gladiator arena was located. There was risk in this, as the group was forced to secure unmarked transport to avoid detection, but in so doing had to include new elements not fully under their control. The crew of the rogue ship were simply there to earn the credits they charged, asking no questions of the group, but they were wildcards. A Human pilot, Rodian copilot, and three Battle Droids constituted the crew. So it was that Ray'chish, the former Hutt soldier Felynish, and Raef were left aboard the ship to secure quick departure, while the others went to their assigned positions in wait for Ali to complete the battle.
Everything was going according to plan. The General was pleased, even attracted to Ali - which they hoped would prove useful in getting him to a compromised position later on. The fighter Ali faced was good - almost too good, as she was put down in very little time without a great deal of effort to "allow" the fight to turn out that way. Very nearly losing her hand in the end, had it not been for the officials her opponent would have done permanent damage. Unfortunately, while the fight was ongoing - things were falling apart in the hanger bay. As Valek and Vivianna sat in the General's private box, both of them looked at each other with concern as a disturbance in the Force lead them to understand there was something very wrong going on somewhere.
Inside the transport, Raef Gozarian decided that the crew of the ship should be killed/subverted and decided to utilize the Hutt's majordomo HK droid to initiate his plan. "Reprogram them to serve me..." he told the HK and the obediant droid set about his work. Unfortunately, a botched effort caused the Battle Droid to tear the HK limb from limb and sound the ships alarm. All came running to find the grim scene and the owners of the ship began to question Raef. Whether he could not lie well enough or simply chose not to bother, who can say ...but instead of trying to cover his tracks, the Sith Acolyte opted to attempt to kill the crew. With the flick of a switch his lightsaber was ignited and the battle commenced.
Ray'chish and Felynish did their best to aid the young Sith, but in the end were only able to stop the crew after Raef was pummeled into unconciousness. The destroyed HK droid, in a final act of revenge, ionized the ship - destroying all electronics on board as well as frying the crew. Toxic fumes flooded the ship and the survivors were forced from it, though not before Felynish decided to put a blaster bolt into Raef's skull - ending his life. The two came down the ship's ramp in time to explain to arena security what had happened. Quick lies from Ray'chish helped them to evade arrest, but the damage was otherwise done. General De'Shota would not be captured today...
Upon returning to the Hutt's compound though, the group would find they would not have a second opportunity to capture the General. Security was high throughout the complex and it didn't take long for them to find there had been an attempted break in. Within the hour of their arrival, the local contact Zan T'liee was calling, "We can wait no longer. You must obtain the item tonight or it may become impossible to reach." This left them with only one option - the holocron would have to be located immediately and they would have to escape with it. Quickly they laid the best plans possible in the limited time permitted to them, gathering their supplies and purchasing a droid to ease electronic bypass. Again fate smiled, however, as another individual working for the Hutt were recruited to the task and would prove to be knowledgable enough to make things easier. The smuggler, who gave no name, joined up and that night they made their move.