Bankor

Well, this was the ship. Niall swore he could almost smell the whiskey as soon as he stepped into the hangar. He'd been up late, securing the power station, but unlike the rest of his squad he'd avoided injury. All it took was a shower and some caf to set him right.

He walked towards the entrance, pausing just a moment to send Zanebry a quick message, letting him know that he was outside. It wasn't good to enter someone else's ship unannounced, after all.

The droid beeped as it rolled along side the Republic officer, “Three Drinks = Odd name. Ready//For//Mission.”

Niall chuckled softly. "You'll understand when you meet Zane. It'll make sense then."

He looked up at the ship. "He's a good guy, though. I mean... he's not exactly good. Definitely a scoundrel. But he does the right thing, which is what matters, of course."

They didn't have to wait long, soon enough Zane was opening op the boarding platform to the ship, the tall man absent his jacket, but still in tie, vest, hat and gloves. "Morning Niall." He called cheerfully, as he spotted the man. "Come on up. Interested in any breakfast?"

An eyebrow went up the tiniest bit at Zane's apparel. Did the man sleep in a hat? He tugged at the crisp collar of his officer's uniform as he walked up the ramp.

"No, thank you. I've already managed a quick bite. Zane, this is T7-E2. T7, Zane." He nodded to the each. "I think he could give us some assistance with the case."

"Refreshments then?" Z asked asked before nodding a greeting to the droid. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance T7." He offered the droid with a easy smile. "I'm sure." Z agreed with a nod, beckoning the two to follow him as he entered the ship.

"Could I get you any refreshments then? Brandy? Beer? Caf?" The door would shut behind the pair, locking itself at Z's instruction, they didn't want any unexpected visitors.

Niall considered a moment. "I've already had my caf, but I wouldn't say no to a second cup."

He looked around, his eyebrows going up. "So. This is your home amongst the stars?" He said, studying the interior.

"Yeah." Z replied as he led them into the crew quarters. A comfortable looking room, with a pair of couches, a well padded chair, and a coffee table all safely secured to the deck of the vessel. A small bar set against one wall, and the most recent edition a vid screen, hung across from one of the couches. The last was something that Naveera had instead on, they couldn't have movie night without a screen after all.

The colors were mostly in darker shades of warm colors, though earth tones were intermingled, over all a rather pleasant atmosphere. "Make yourself at home." Ne'bry called, as he moved to the bar, and the single cup Caf maker, to begin brewing a cup for Niall and himself.

The droid spun and beeped, "Ready//Investigate = Target?"

Niall sat on one of the couches. He managed to make himself reasonably comfortable, one arm resting on the back of the sofa, legs crossed in the usual masculine fashion.

"So..." He began, frowning. "We're secure here? We can talk freely?"

His lips twisted as he looked at T7. "I'm afraid we have rather too many targets to investigate, T7. At least I do. Perhaps Zane has had better luck."

"I've got suspicions Zane replied, as he continued brewing, one cup for Niall, and another for himself. Though the second would get a liberal pour of whiskey. They are thin though, and honestly I could use all the info you can give me. Access to the Hutt's personal effects would be a plus as well."

"One thing we can infer, is that it was either a leak or a inside job, the disappearance of the supplies that is, it makes no sense for the Mando's to just know about it. So if the Hutt was involved it must of been through someone who would know the location of the Drop. If we can check his Comm logs, it could be we come up with something. The other thing I know is that there is a smuggler on the Planet, a old friend of Captain Hurn, as well as a old acquaintance of Senator Mixo. By the name of Jax Dolross."

"Now Jax told me himself that he was invited here by Captain Hurn, a old friend he had lost contact with. Could be a coincidence, he is supposedly a good pilot after all. But honestly it doesn't make sense to me, why now? Why invite a known smuggler? Add in that he knows Senator Mixo, and the Senator was seen speaking to the dead hutt shortly before his demise? Caf done, he brought Niall his cup, before taking a sip from his own. "It seems suspicious."

"I wouldn't know if Captain Hurn would know the Location of the drop, or if the Senator would for that matter, but I think it bears looking into." He glanced between the Captain and T7. " Unless either of you have better leads?"

Niall accepted the cup of caf with murmured thanks and a grimace. It seemed appropriate for the nature of the conversation. "I'd caught that Jax was a smuggler. Hmmm..." He grimaced again as he took a sip of caf. "Personally, I wouldn't like to think that it was either the captain or the senator. And that is a little tenuous. But..." He shrugged with one shoulder, the one not holding a cup of hot liquid. "I do trust your instincts. Perhaps it bears some more checking."

"Here's what I have." Niall said. He pulled out his datapad, flipping it and handing it to Z. "The immediate people on our side who knew about the drop were Chief Po'xin, Badera Varn, Jace Malcom, and Senator Saresh. If any of them are in on it..." He chuckled darkly. "Well, let's just say there's a number of ways it would be bad."

He cleared his throat. "Quartermaster Varn told me that there are a few others on her team that would know. I have their info there." He nodded to the datapad.

Datapad wrote:Sergeant Thix Kun - a twi'lek soldier and veteran, service of six years and family man, no issues in record

Private Galom Briu - human, bit of a troublemaker, string of disciplinary measures for problems with authority, nothing recent though, last infraction was six months ago

Specialist Hando Min - cathar woman, no serious infractions pretty average performance

"Senator Mixo was directly responsible for Vera losing her arm, and the death of the Jedi knight O'nera Aeser. It's possible he isn't involved, but I wouldn't trust him or anyone that crews the Turtle to be morally upright." Zane said firmly.

"Well, it's a bit hard to directly check in on those four. Unless T7 has a way to look into their recent Comm traffic. The others are a little easier.... " He murmured as he looked over the names. "The first and the third are the names that really pop to me. Though I wouldn't rule out the second."

"How do you want to go about questioning them?"

T7 chimed in with indignant beeping, "T7 = Class S Slicer//Permission//Hack//Logs?"

Niall hesitated a moment, then shook his head. "Let's wait until we have a bit more. Keep to publicly accessible information for now. I don't want to kick off the investigation by hacking the commander's files. If we get a solid suspect..." He waved a hand back and forth.

His lips pursed. "Maybe we can get a little more on these three? Narrow it down? If we do question them, there's always good cop, bad cop." His lips quirked instead. "I suspect you know which would be which." He nodded to the droid. "T7, you can give us intel. Check what they're saying."

He was disappointed at the lack of hacking, but didn't let it show. "Well, no harm looking into them. Check their know acossiates, as well as their former commanders. If someone is using them to get information like this, it will likely be someone they have a past with."

"I would appreciate it if you can keep a tab on the comings and goings of the midnight as well. That would be great. I'd rather keep an eye on it, and it turn to nothing then it be something and not keep tabs.

"Heck i would keep an eye on the museum as well. If the Hutt died there, chances are it was someone was looking to rob it."

"Hmmm..." Niall looked to T7. "T7, can you pull up that information for us? Known associates and former commanders of these three? Maybe their records are clean, but they're connected to someone more suspicious." He grimaced. "That may be a lot. Let me know how much you get."

His lips pressed together. "I think it can be arranged to watch the Midnight. Either one of Vera's people, or perhaps T7 could let us know if it goes anywhere?" He grimaced. "As for the museum, it was nearly destroyed yesterday. I think there's teams working on it today. Either way, watching it seems a little redundant."

"You're call Niall, just don't get complacent. It's that kind of behavior that let's things fall through the cracks. Then you end up with entire shipments of military grade weapons going missing." He brought his cup of caf to his lips and took a sip. "Heck, all three of these people we're looking into could be innocent. All they had to do was mention the wrong thing to the wrong person, a friend. or former commander they thought they could trust."

"It's why I spend so much time looking into the little things."

Niall hesitated a moment, then nodded. "You're right, of course. Perhaps the Mandalorians didn't destroy whatever it was that the Hutt was looking for. And if he did have an accomplice, they could make another try for it."

He sighed. "If T7 can't narrow that list for us, I suppose we'll have to take them one at a time."

"Well all the most expensive articles would be in the vault. Or so I'd think." Z offered after a moment. "No idea if the Hutt had a way into it, or if the Mandolorians made it inside either."

"Well, let's hope T7 can. If not we have a bit of leg work ahead of us."

“T7 = Done//Contacts List = generated,” the droid replied spinning.

T7 is able to pull up that Sergeant Thix Kun has made two communication links, one to Coruscant and one to the Valiant Star, both are listed as personal calls. Private Galom Briu has not made any calls, and Specialist hando Min made three calls, two to the valiant Star and a local communication with the Resistance Base.

He also peeped at the rest Chief Po’xin has made regular contact with the Valiant Star as has Jace Malcom, plus a call to unknown location, the rest are secure communications. Senator Saresh has had regular contact with Coruscant, local communications with the Resistance, and the Quartermaster, Badera Varn has made contact with the Valiant Star and several personal calls to local contacts but they are unlisted.

"Thanks T7." Z replied with a smile at the Droid. It wasn't all the information he wanted but it was a start. "Are we able to find out who the sergeant and Specialist were talking with on the Valiant Star?" He asked after a few moments. Or at the very least where the communications were delivered?"

T7 turned to the Captain and beeped, "Should T7//Violate//Privacy///Mandate?"

"Only if the Commander will grant us a warrant." Niall said. "Personally, I think it should be fine to learn who the call was made to, if we don't know the content. But I intend to keep everything above board."

His lips pursed. "We could just ask them. And then verify with whoever they said. That should work as effectively."

Niall cleared his throat. "Let's schedule a meeting with each of them. Privately, and make sure they don't have access to their comms during it. If any of them are lying, that should sort it out."