It had been a while since Raven was this spoiled for choice when it came to food. Hunting and eating a lot of game was a pretty decent way of life, but living on a street with many different culinary establishments, and with money to afford good food... she considered it perhaps one of the better perks of the safehouse.

So with ramen takeout ready, Raven waited for Jyrvess to join her.

The Mando did not have to wait long.

Jyrvess made any sort of sign/counter-signs necessary to enter and slipped into the safehouse. By this point she was practically a fixture for the followers of the Rebuilder, so little concern was given.

Seeing Raven, she sighed, "Well..." The librarian-spy raised her hand to reveal...a bag of takeout food. "Same idea, though I picked up enough for you as well." She chuckles and takes a seat opposite. "Went a little fancier then ramen." Though Raven could see it was not too much, Jyrvess having brought some fried local seafood.

Seeing Jyr had also brought food, Raven broke into a brief smile and shook her head. "I'm sure whatever leftovers are behind will be eaten. Warriors need food in their bellies, after all." If Clay and Soleene didn't eat it, she was certain Varina and Dredgen would - one being a poor little kid, and the other being a big guy with a big appetite. With a tilt of her head she regarded the fried seafood.

"Have you had the chance to stop by that printing press yet that the resistance will be using?"

The safehouse wasn't much to brag about in terms of being cozy or home-y, but it had good space for a group of warriors that needed to keep a low profile, especially since there weren't any neighbours to speak of for the building.

"Yes, just came from there actually." Jyrvess rubbed her forehead, "My old skills must be getting rusty, didn't crack a single security system. Too much time talking and reading probably."

"Granted its harder to get a hold of some more hardened locks for practice these days." She leaned forward, "What about you? I assume you will turn to your preferred method of opening doors." Her tone was teasing and her smile friendly. "There is a lot of work to do on that front."

"I do prefer to kick in the doors if they're in my way," there was a wryness to her smile as she stirred the bowl of ramen with the accompanying cheap chopsticks before taking a seat by the table that had been left behind. Of course, plenty of room for Jyr there too. "I scouted the place yesterday after the meeting, but I plan to head over there later. Help out where I can. Always use for muscles to lift things for projects like that."

"I hope not all your skills have rusted though." There was little levity in her tone now.

Jyrvess did indeed take some of the table space, laying out her own food.

"Which skills do you need?" She asked, assuming that was the ultimate end of this line of questioning. "Regardless you know you have my help if you need it." Her tone was serious. She added after a brief pause. "...is it a swamp crab? Please tell me its not a swamp crab."

Raven blinked in confusion at first. "What? No... no it's not a swamp crab." A pause. "... Is there such a thing as giant swamp crabs?"

That at least was followed up with a brief smirk. "No, but for real. Not swamp crabs. We went out scouting today, to what's most likely the base of the Raiders. A crater." She gave the directions to the location for Jyrvess, to provide more context.

"We didn't see anyone as such while we were there, but... well, it's the first scouting. We're trying to be smart about this. Not rushing in." She took a deep breath at that, showing her own preference for wanting to just charge in, even if she knew better. "Saw a great number of ships there. Mostly fighter-class ones, but there was... five freighter-class vessels. Right now... ugh, I'm just really trying to get a better read on things, without anyone else getting hurt like..." she stirred her noodles some more.

"I asked Manny to see if he could check things out in the city - he might not be the brightest star in the sky sometimes, but he knows how to talk with shady folks, get them talking. Hoping he'll learn more if the Raiders make trips into town, or something like that, anything that might give us a better idea of just how many we might be dealing with."

Jyrvess leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table, her head settling on the back of intertwined hands. "I see. You might me to look over what information you have and give my assessment?"

"And good plan on sending Manny, he can be a bit scummy when he wants to." Her lips quirked in a small smile, "And resourceful as well. Have you thought on how to handle the fighters? They will be a major problem if they get airborne...particularly if the Raiders don't mind a few 'close calls with friends' while strafing the ground."

The former spy leans back and crosses her arms in thought, "Did you happen to collect any pictures of their camp...I might be able to dig up a map of the area, sans base of course."

"I almost forgot, but I did." Nodding, she picked up her own datapad and with a few taps opened up the pictures from the crater, then proceeded to slide it over to Jyrvess' side of the table.

"Yeah, the fighters gonna be a real problem. We couldn't see any sign of people in the crater itself, so I figure, there's probably tunnels and such in there, right? Would be hard to use those fighters there, but if they see an approach... gonna be pretty toast then." A brief grimace at that thought before she started to chow down on her ramen.

"The trick when the enemy has heavy weapons is to stand close to something breakable they don't want to break." Jyrvess picked up the datapad and took out her own. "Mind if I transfer the pictures?"

"Tunnels...tunnels are about the worse fights. I remember the reports of the campaigns on Geonosis. Very dirty business. Both when the Republic and the Empire did it..." She grimaces, "All the advantages are in the defenders hand. The tunnel could unexpectedly expand or narrow, traps can bring down whole sections and bury you alive. And who knows where tunnels intersect. It would be one ambush after another. Bad, bad business."

She slurped her noodles, then gestured with her chopsticks for Jyr to go ahead with the transfer.

"Yeah..." lifting the bowl Raven helped herself to a hearty sip of broth. "Tunnels are shit. Not fought in many myself, at least not natural ones, but it's like a naturally made base, I suppose. For all the reasons you mentioned."

With a gentle thud the bowl was placed back down on the table. "... I kinda feel like this is what that bastard wanted. Attack one of ours, to goad us into this. I just... ugh, I just wish I knew why."

[Knowledge: Warfare vs Average, two setback due to only images.]

Jyrvess takes a look at the pictures and begins to go over what information they might provide. She grunts and frowns, Raven was a skilled warrior but not the best a performing photo reconnaissance. Fortunately this was precisely the sort of work Jyrvess had down for most of her career.

---------------
Know: Warfare Check. Average + 2 Setback. -2 Setback from Researcher Rank 2.: 1eP+3eA+2eD 3 successes, 1 advantage

Raven did her best to fill in the blanks that the images didn't cover, but Jyr had the right of it that she wasn't much of a reconnaissance-person. "Varina said there was clearly signs of recent activity there, even if we didn't see anyone. Could've been the most quiet part of the day for them."

From the photos the first thing that jumps out to Jyrvess is that the arrangement of the camp doesn't have anything in the way of a prepared defensible position from within the crater walls. Nor in the place secured against an assault, the way certain items of various levels of import are found scattered throughout open areas instead of being secured in a location. However, in noting on the importance of these items there is a clear lack of some of the more important supplies a camp would require to continue sustaining itself. Something that would easily be explained by those items being safely stowed away on the ships themselves in the case or need for leaving quickly.

With the spread of the ships, somewhat careless in its nature she can also confirm a similarity in the expected hierarchy of the Raiders, in that there is no special significance given to any one ship or location. Each of the ships being of a different make and model indicates as well that there was no one singular source.

"They do not seem to be overly concerned with defending the top here." Jyrvess rubs her chin in thought, "Very little in visible defenses, or hints of hidden defenses. In the pictures at least. But also doesn't look like they have offloaded the ships completely. Probably a temporary base of some sort. Or else the tunnels are deeper then we think."

She frowns, "Nothing to indicate hierarchy either, their ships seem haphazardly scattered. So can't know which one whoever is running the place will board. Also no real unity in ship types, they have probably bought or stolen then from a variety of different places."

"Hmmmm..." Raven slurped her noodles in silence as she mulled it over in her head. Dredgen was technically the one in charge, as per Mandalore's orders, but Dredgen was putting more of the decision-making on her, as the matter was one more personal to her.

"... This is just a thought, but do you think the Empire knows they're there? Surely, that many ships can't go unnoticed all the time?"

"Possibly, certainly worth considering. Especially given heightened security." Jyrvess leaned back in thought, "Or they could just be bribing the right people to look the other way."

"Could even be some sort of unofficial privateers. Prey on non-Imperial shipping and stir up trouble to let the Empire crack down harder. It has been done before."

Sighing, Raven settled back in her chair, clicking the chopsticks together in thought.

"I'm starting to feel more and more like this is a trap of sorts. I just can't figure it out or put my finger on it." She held up the chopsticks as if to use them to illustrate her points. "There were many raiders at the feast, but only a few were part of this attack - they could've all had the chance to break out in force and take advantage of the situation if they truly wanted to kill important members of the Enclave. The... the one caught alive, he staunchly maintained that this wasn't how the Raiders operated and claimed to know nothing about any such attack. For the moment, I believe what he says."

She frowned as she thought about it more. "The Raiders don't have much of a hierarchy, but I don't think they would've left one of their brothers behind like that, or in the dark."

"Could be a deliberate attempt to provoke hostilities." Jyrvess nodded slowly, "We did that trick a few times too. Get your enemies killing each other. I could try to dig around and see if I can find any information on these raiders. Discretely."

"See if there are any rivals of theirs that might have put something together."