Chapter 6

Bounty hunters came in and out of the bar over the next few hours, collecting or delivering bounties to the intermediaries. Kethna came over and informed them of a few bounty hunters with a good reputation when they were coming and going but very few were available. Most bounty hunters were lone wolves so recruiting them to one's cause was difficult, especially when Jial was trying to reform a crew, not just perform a single mission.

Once the bounty hunters were gone, the next groups that came in were the mercenaries, smugglers, gangsters, and pirates. These were the people that Jial could truly use to group under him. As long as he provided them benefits, they would be willing to do anything for him. 

Kethna pointed out the different groups or lone figures that had a better reputation and were known for their skills. Jial made sure to enter them all into his personal database on his wrist gauntlet. Once he collected all the information that he found valuable, he left with Sidon to start doing recon around the town.

Jial walked around the town over the next few weeks studying each of the major groups' members and facilities. He tracked who had close relationships with them, where they kept their loot, how fast responses were to certain actions. Jial made sure to learn everything. Thanks to the Yautja's technology, the scanning functions of his wrist gauntlet, he was able to learn the layouts of each facility without ever entering them and his cloaking device allowing him to walk through them and study what was hidden where, Jial had an even easier time with his task. 

Ac came to Jial the night before the attack was supposed to happen. When he walked into the starship that they were using as a temporary base, he saw the group that Jial had assembled. There were about 40 people he had rallied to his cause, including the Mandalorians.

Each one of these individuals was investigated by Jial to ensure that they did not end up leaking the secret of what was about to happen and had some decent skills that would help with the operation.  Every person was fully kitted up, ready to begin the operation at a moment's notice.

"Looks like you got a good group," Ac commented, his eyes focusing on the Mandalorians. A single Mandalorian was worth an entire platoon of soldiers or even more thugs.

"Of course. How else are we going to win if we don't risk it all?" Jial had his mask on and his blaster rifle in one hand. He then walked into the middle of the group and held up his left arm before a blue, holographic projection of the town appeared above it. 

"You all know the plan but we are going over it one more time."

4 buildings turned red on the holograph. 

"These are the 4 main targets. The Toxis group in the south, the Ostren to the east, the Zor in the west, and the command center in the middle of town."

41 green dots appeared on the projection before they moved to the various targets. 

"The Mandalorians will lead Squad 1 consisting of them and 4 others to take on the Toxis. They have the fewest members but the most secure. You guys will take the majority of the rockets and thermal detonators to destroy the heavy building before infiltrating as fast as you can.

Squad 2 will be led by Sidon with another 12 members following him. You guys are focused on the Zor. These guys don't have the most members but they have the heaviest weapons. Focus on drawing them out where they don't have the tactical advantage and pick them off as they leave.

Squad 3 is where the rest of you will go. The Ostren are the most numerous but they only carry blaster pistols. The issue is that they control the drugs. We can't use high explosives or blasters on them unless we want to destroy them and waste all the profit we can get from them. Slugthrowers only.

I'll take out the control tower. It is decently armed but I can sneak through it and kill off everyone before they sound the alert and let the main bases in the area become alerted. And remember, this battle needs to end fast. You guys have 15 minutes.

We can't let the other people here get involved since we don't know which side they will take or if they will be the 3rd party to take out the two sides that have tired themselves out."

"What about the shipyard?" Ac asked, worried that they would fly off and alert the headquarters. 

"Already taken care of," Boxe spoke up from her spot. "Got detonators on the ships, ready to blow them away the moment anyone starts them up."

"And we will also have the turrets under our control as well once we take the tower. If anyone takes flight, members of the 3 groups or not, we will shoot them down immediately," Suxon added on. 

"I see," Ac held his hand to his face. He was prepared to provide additional forces in case Jial needed them but he realized that his worries were unfounded. Jial had planned out everything perfectly. All he needed to do was act on the plan.

---

At the control tower of Wyne, several guards were sitting on the ground, playing cards with one another.

"Come on, you bitches. You gonna hit or not?" the one holding the deck of cards beneath his hand was taunting the others, ready to take their money. The group was playing Pazaal, a game where one would try to get as close to 20 without going over. 

"Wait a moment. Let me think," one of the two others was thinking hard. He was already on 15. That was a number that was easy to overshoot with but also easy to be beaten. The dealer only had 13 which meant he had a better chance of hitting a higher number without going over.

While he was thinking about what to do next, the three guards heard a blaster bolt coming from the other side of the building. 

"Let's go check that out," the other player said, already having busted

"Don't try it. Probably just some idiots shooting off their gun," the dealer commented, not willing to let them escape. There were 200 credits on the line for this round.

Just after his words finished, there was a wooshing sound as an object traveled through the air. Before anyone even realized it, a spear-like weapon had killed the dealer and the one who had busted.

The last player hurried to stand up and pull out his blaster but he felt something like an invisible pair of hands around his neck before there was a sudden cracking sound. The last guard fell to the floor, unable to make a sound. 

A buzzing sound could be heard as the cloaking on Jial faded. The Feeorin stood above the dead bodies, looking at them in indifference. He reached down to the pair that he killed first and ripped his combistick out of them. 

Jial clicked the button, opened the front door, and surprised the female guard. The female tried to pull out his blaster but a combistick pierced through her chest. The body fell to the floor with a small thump, not alerting anyone of what had happened. 

Jial reactivated his cloak before slowly creeping up the stairs, not making a sound as he made his way to the 2nd floor of the tower. There were 5 different individuals sitting around the room at different consoles, each one ready to take action in case of an attack on the town. The room was dark and only had a few red lights illuminating it as well as the blue screens from the consoles. 

'Just like I planned.'

Jial pulled out three throwing knives into one of his hands before he slowly stalked toward one of the staff in the room. When he got right behind them, he stabbed his combistick from above, stating through the person's shoulder and piercing their heart.

With his first silent kill, he walked over to the next one swiftly before another person noticed. Jial tried to kill him silently too but the human let out a cry of pain before he died, alerting the others.

The others heard this and turned around, causing Jial to act swiftly. He threw his combistick toward one of the individuals while throwing the knives at another. Not even worrying if they killed their targets, Jial jumped through the air and landed on the final individual. 

The human tried to raise his blaster pistol but Jial knocked it away, not giving him the chance to shoot it and alert anyone nearby. He then began to pound on the man, raining down blow after blow until he was dead and unrecognizable. Even with his cloak on, the blood covered his body and revealed his outline. 

Jial stood up and looked around the room to see the two other staff members dead from his previous attacks.

Jial pressed the button on his gauntlet and shut off his cloaking device before walking over to the console and pressing a few buttons. The lights in the room began to flicker through several different colors.

Jial held up his wrist and had a finger hover over a button.

"10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2," Jial counted down. And instead of saying one, he pressed down on a button. Explosions rang out in 3 different directions in the town before the sound of blaster fire echoed from 3 directions. 

The Red Night had officially begun.