Sunset maneuvers the ship out of Nal Hutta's atmosphere and heads toward Nar Shaddaa to pick up Pinkie.
You are currently in the cargo hold looking over a few of your new gadgets. Filthy Rich is not one to haggle. All this had cost quite a bit, but luckily, you could afford it. What's the point of having money if you don't spend a little bit of it here and there?
You're still unsure about what exactly Hoity Toity has in the way of electronic security, so you wanted to get the best that Filthy had to offer. You picked up a couple of universal jammers for any of the building's sensors and communications, a few computer spikes, toxic darts, missiles for your and Sunset's jetpacks, fuel, a lot of explosive charges, and a couple more probe droids to replace the ones you lost to the Rakghouls over Mandalore.
You also have some other gear laying around here somewhere that you'll most likely use for this job. Leftover explosives and whatnot. Pinkie said that she was picking up some stuff that could be useful too, so you're a bit anxious to see what she's got. You figured it was best to drop her off and pick her up after you got done shopping on Nal Hutta. It saved a bit of time.
Once everything is accounted for, you take a few darts and head into your armory to prepare them for use. A little courtesy you like to provide the seller is grinding away the darts' fins just a bit so they're still aerodynamic, but they look different from how you bought them. These darts are usually shaped in a specific way, and you don't want anyone to find out who used them or where they came from. It covers your tracks from the authorities who inspect the body, and it helps keep the manufacturer out of trouble.
Just something you do, because you're such a nice guy.
It takes a few minutes, but you tweak the darts' designs to how you want and put them in your belt.
Sunset's voice comes on the intercom a moment later. "Anon, we're back on Nar Shaddaa."
You walk over to the intercom and press the button. "Alright. Real quick, how are we doing on fuel?"
"We'll make it to Coruscant, but I was going to fill up in case we needed a quick getaway." Sunset says.
"I was just going to suggest that." You reply. "Find a place near the Pazaak Den and I'll contact Pinkie."
"Okay." She says.
You shut off the intercom and head to the computer in the main hold.
Pinkie's comms buzz for a moment before she answers, giggling wildly. "Hee hee! Hi, Anon!"
What is she doing?
"We're here." You reply. "Have you got everything you need?"
"Yup I'm all set!" She continues giggling. She sounds like she's in a public place with a bunch of other people.
"Where are you?" You ask.
"The Pazaak Den!" She replies happily. "I just won 3,000 credits from some off-worlder and then he started crying! It was hilarious!"
Damn it...
You groan. "Pinkie, this is important. I need you t -"
"Yeahyeahyeahyeahyeah, I know!" She cuts you off. "I've got my money and I already picked up my gear and I'm done now!"
"Good." You sigh. "Go to the refueling platform closest to you. We'll be there soon."
"Okie dokie lokie!"
You shut off communications with her and groan again. Hopefully, this hunt for Discord doesn't take much longer. You're getting pretty sick of her antics.
The ship leans and turns slightly and you head to the cockpit to meet up with Sunset. "How are we looking?"
"We're about there." She replies.
The refueling platform is sticking out of the middle part of one of the many massive skyscrapers around you just ahead. Speeders and ships follow each other in lines above and below you, giving movement to the neon-lit planet as Sunset descends the ship onto the platform.
Once the ship lands, you both grab your helmets, head to the exit ramp, and step onto the landing pad. The both of you meet a Toydarian there and begin the refueling process to your ship. You periodically look to the doorway on the building's side for any sign of Pinkie. She isn't here yet.
It isn't until a few minutes later that the door opens and she comes skipping toward you, humming to herself. You pay the Toydarian and stand there with Sunset.
"Hey guys!" She says. "Sorry I'm late! I was busy with-"
"Save it." You cut her off. "Are you ready to go?"
She stops talking and nods at you. "Yep! I'm all set!"
"Good." The three of you enter your ship and close the ramp behind you.
You and Sunset take off your helmets and set them back on the table in the main hold before heading into the cockpit.
"So what kind of stuff did you guys get?" Pinkie asks.
You all sit in your respective seats and Sunset starts up the ship. "A bunch of good stuff. We'll talk about it when we make the jump to lightspeed."
The ship lifts off the landing pad and makes its way up past the traffic and into the sky. Sunset sets the coordinates for Coruscant once you're out of the atmosphere and the ship's hyperdrive blasts you off into hyperspace.
"Alright, we're clear." She says.
"Fantastic." You reply. "Let's contact Rarity and see if she's gathered any details on his apartment."
You get up with Pinkie and head back into the ship while Sunset stays and presses a few more buttons on the control console. Pinkie sits in a seat behind you while you move your helmets off the table in the main hold and contact Rarity.
"What kind of stuff did you grab, Pinkie?" You ask.
She reaches into a few of the pouches on her belt and pulls out a few things. "I got these cool gloves that help me stick to walls and stuff, a pair of thermal goggles, smoke pellets, a glass cutter, a small communications inhibitor, and, uh... Oh! This!" She pulls out a small, blue gem.
It catches your attention immediately. It's about the same size as Adagio's gem. "Is that...?"
"It's my lightsaber crystal that I got when I was training to be a Jedi!" She says.
This must be one of the naturally-formed lightsaber crystals that Maud told you about back on Shining Armor's cruiser.
"Can I see it?" You ask.
"Sure." She hands it to you and you look at it closely.
It has a faint glow to it and you twist it around in your fingers slowly as you look at it from all angles.
"I never got to use it to make my lightsaber, but it's still strong with the Force. I like to think it brings me good luck."
You hum. "Nice."
You hand it back to her and she puts it into one of her pouches with a smile. You're sure it will come in handy for her.
You look back to the table and press another button. Rarity's holographic face appears a few moments later. "Hey, Rarity. Give me some good news."
She smiles at you. "Well darling, I did a little bit of looking around and managed to find quite a bit of information on the senator's building."
Excellent.
Her holographic face fades and is replaced by a three-dimensional image of Hoity Toity's apartment.
"That's what I'm talking about." Pinkie stands up and stares at the image intently. Sunset walks into the room as well and stands beside you.
Rarity clears her throat. "Now, as I'm sure you all know, this is his apartment building. This landing pad here is where you landed when you met with him last." A small red dot appears on one of the landing pads near the bottom of the image. "I've learned that since the incident on Dantooine, the senator has upped his security a bit. He has hired more guards, and has ordered that more security systems be put in place around his apartment."
Sunset speaks up. "What kind of security systems?"
"More cameras, proximity sensors, silent alarms, nothing too complex though." Rarity says. "However, most of these new security systems have only been ordered. They have not been installed yet. What he does have now are more guards, restricted access badges, and security droids. As well as all of his previous security systems that were already in place, of course."
"Which are?" You ask.
The image zooms in on the large window on the building that overlooks the city. "Thermal sensors on all windows..." The image then shifts to a communications antennae on the roof. "...a short-range communications monitor..." The image zooms out and a multitude of flashing red dots appear all over the building. "...automated defense turrets spread around key points in and out of the building..." The blinking red dots fade and a larger number of blue dots appear all over. "...and, of course, security cameras everywhere."
You tap your chin as you study the security precautions in the building.
Pinkie speaks up. "Can you highlight the ventilation shafts, rooms, and hallways, please?"
A network of yellow lines appear through the building. One is thicker than the others, and heads straight down the building, while the multitude of thinner ones go up, down, left, right, and just about every other direction away from it. The yellow lines end on the tops of long, blue squares that you can only assume are the hallways and individual rooms spread through the building.
"This long, thick yellow line is the main ventilation shaft." Rarity says. "It continues for miles downward. Every hundred meters, it is cut off by a large fan that blows air through the building."
Pinkie hums and nods as she studies the image. "How big are the smaller vents?"
"Not big enough to crawl through, if that's what you're thinking, darling." Rarity says.
Pinkie grunts and folds her arms. "Darn it."
She continues to study the image while Sunset speaks up. "Where are the most structurally critical sections on this building's level located?"
A few moments later, two circles of flashing red columns of light appear on the building. The larger circle near the perimeter, while the smaller circle near the center. "These beams here hold the penthouse up. There are nine around the edge, and five toward the middle."
You and Sunset both study the image closely.
"It looks like the entire penthouse would come down if at least five of the outer supports were destroyed, and all of the innermost ones were as well." You say.
"If we could turn off the air circulation for a few seconds, we could use the probe droids to go through the vents and plant the explosives." Sunset adds.
Not a bad idea. The vents would most likely be controlled by a switch or something from inside the building. You'll have to locate it once you're inside.
"I like that idea. We still need to find out how to deactivate the vents though." You look around at the building's holographic projection. All the multicolored lights are still there. "Highlight Hoity Toity's room for me please, Rarity."
The spacious room with all the windows that overlooks the city glows green.
"Okay, I like the idea of using the droids to go through the vents, so let's hold onto that part. Where will we be, I wonder?" You're thinking out loud here. The image of the building slowly spins clockwise as you ponder to yourself. "We need a place to park, first off... What other buildings are around this one, Rarity?"
"Nothing of significance." She replies.
That's exactly what you're looking for.
The image zooms out and a few other surrounding buildings come into view. "There's a pad right here. It's a public building about a kilometer away." She marks a point on a nearby building.
"Is there a place to land somewhere lower down? I don't want to attract any attention." You say.
"There should be." Rarity says.
The image pans over to this building and moves lower down. Finally, it stops at another landing pad.
"Here." Rarity says. "It's about a kilometer and a half down from the rooftop."
Sunset whistles. "Quite the climb."
"I was thinking it was quite the drop." You look over at her for a moment. "I've got an idea. We deploy the probe droids over this rooftop and head down here to land. Then we can move through this building up to the rooftop. It's a public place, so it should take us about ten minutes."
The image moves up to the rooftop once again, and slowly pans toward Hoity Toity's apartment.
You continue. "The three of us will activate the droids and arm them with explosives. Then we can head toward Hoity Toity's building by flying along the rooftops."
"What about Pinkie?" Sunset asks.
You look over to her. "These gaps between buildings are relatively small. We can do what we did on Dantooine and carry her between us while we fly over."
Pinkie looks at you and back to the image for a second. "That's like a zillion miles down, Anon!"
"Don't look down then. We've got you." You look back to the image and it stops over the building closest to Hoity Toity's. "Anyway, once we get here, Sunset can fly one of the droids over to the building and scan for any points of significance, just to clarify that these blueprints are up to date."
The image pans over to Hoity Toity's building and onto the rooftop.
Sunset speaks up. "What about the security cameras?"
Right. You still need to get rid of those.
Rarity's voice comes with a reply. "There is a security access point on the roof that serves as a central hub for the system. If you can hack into there, you could loop all of the cameras."
"That's convenient." You reply. "Only problem is, that place is probably covered by the cameras, right?"
"Correct." Rarity replies.
You hum to yourself and rub your chin. "We can use the communications jammer we bought from Filthy to blind them temporarily."
Sunset continues your thought. "Then we can go in, hack the system, and loop the cameras."
You snap your fingers softly. "Exactly."
Pinkie speaks up. "But we can't hold the block for very long. They'll know something is up after about 30 seconds. We'll need to go fast."
She's right.
"We bought a few computer spikes." You say. "I can get it done in no time." She nods and you all look back at the image. "Once everything is on the up and up around the building, Sunset will stay behind and wait with all the droids, except one. It will carry the jammer and activate it when Pinkie and I head onto the roof. Once there, I'll shut off the cameras and see if I can't also deactivate the turrets." The blue lights indicating the cameras' locations shut off on the image. "Once they're taken care of, if we can't control the ventilation system from that access point, then we'll deactivate it manually. That way, Sunset can bring the rest of the droids over and plant the explosives in their required spots."
She looks over to you again. "And once they're planted, I send them back to the ship before making my way back and picking you up, right?"
You nod at her. "As fast as possible. If you jump, then that's how fast you'll go."
She grins and looks at the image again. "Looks fun."
You look back at the image as well. "Rarity, what are the patrol routes for the guards?"
"Here." A series of red lines move through the hallways, up a few different flights of stairs, and into some rooms. "There are about fifteen guards patrolling on this floor, with four more inside the senator's room. Each one of them can remotely trigger an alarm that alerts the authorities and calls up reinforcements from the lower levels."
Nineteen altogether. Pinkie's personal signal jammer can prove useful here.
"Alright. While Sunset is planting the explosives, Pinkie will make her way inside and silently take out the guards." You turn to her. "Think you can do that? Silently?"
She exaggerates a salute and smiles. "Yes sir, Anon!"
You nod at her and look back at the image. "I'll use the other jammer to override the thermal sensors on the windows and plant a few more explosives around there, before meeting up with Pinkie. We'll move to the senator as quickly as possible. Maybe find a terminal or something we can plant evidence of his involvement on Dantooine onto. We'll have a few minutes to toy with him until Sunset gets to the ship. I want to find out who and where Flim and Flam are."
Pinkie turns to you again. "We can take some of Hoity Toity's stuff while we're in there too, right?"
You nod. "Of course."
"Get some loot for me too then, Anon." Sunset says. "You're going to have all that fun without me."
You look back at Sunset and chuckle. "I'll grab something special, just for you." She smiles and you look back to the image. "Once we take care of Hoity Toity, I'm going to blow the window. Pinkie and I will jump out and the rest of the bombs will go off five seconds later."
Sunset speaks. "I'll fly the ship down and pick you guys up."
"Then we're home free." You take a deep breath and look at the plan. "What do you guys think?"
"I like it." Sunset says.
"Me too!" Pinkie adds.
Good.
Rarity's face fades into view once again. "I've sent you all the information on this, Anonymous. It sounds dangerous, but if anyone can pull it off, it's you all."
"Thanks, Rarity." You reply.
She nods and smiles. "Tell me how it goes when you're done."
Her face fades away and the hologram shuts off.
You take another deep breath and look to the girls. "Alright, you two. We'll be there in a few hours, so get some extra rest. Make sure you're ready."
"Got it!" Pinkie stands up and heads back to her bunk. "We're gonna steal stuff! I'm so excited!"
Sunset checks another computer on the wall next to the cockpit. "It will be dusk by the time we get to Coruscant. We'll have the cover of night on our side."
You chuckle once. "Perfect."
You head into the cargo hold with Sunset and start getting your supplies ready. You need to be extra thorough with this. What you're about to do is extremely risky, so you have to diminish your capacity for error as much as you can. That's why you've spared no expense in getting all the gear you needed for this.
Hoity Toity is a blight, and the galaxy will be better off without him in it.