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The Ace of Spades Joined: 7 May 2006 Posts: 398 | Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 6:40 pm | Characters: All for this theme; By The Ace of Spades: This theme, Any theme Marael lowered the receiver back to its base, her brow furrowed. Ten million was a lot. She'd paid such a sum before, but never had she run into a base fee that high. The price was likely-- no, she corrected, it was certain-- to increase... by how much, she wasn't sure.
Still, this was quite possibly the trickiest and most dangerous job jet. She certainly did wish Ryyk hadn't chosen this particular time to turn traitor; he may have been a Wookiee, but he'd possessed a startling precision and the clumsiness she'd expected had not been present. She would have trusted his capability to finish the job, if nothing else. Shame, then, that he was dead. Glancing back toward the coffee shop, Marael sighed and decided that there was no choice. In her experience, you got what you paid for, and if this man-- Mca'ar, as he called himself-- was under the belief that he could charge upwards of ten million, then he was obviously either skilled or extremely delusional, and a few minutes with him ought to determine which of the two descriptions he fit. Her mind made up, Marael pushed the door open and entered the coffee shop. |
Digithe Joined: 24 Aug 2003 Posts: 884 | Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 3:12 am | Characters: All for this theme; By Digithe: This theme, Any theme OOC: Actually... I'm not exactly sure where you're going. I have an idea, but it would require boots' help, and... >.>
Jay smiled as he watched the woman walk towards the coffee shop. He adjusted his chair so that its back was to the window, and pulled a pair of dark sunglasses from the pocket of his jacket. He donned them for no particular reason, really. If this "Rigel" was as intelligent as she appeared, such meager disguise would be of no practical use. However, he hoped that she would take the hint that he intended to keep this business separate from his bar business. "Glad to see you've come, my dear Lady Rigel," he said cheerfully, standing up as she passed him. "Please, sit down, have some tea or coffee. We have a few things to discuss." Jay returned to his seat following Rigel, signaling for a waiter. "Now, I think I like 'Lady Rigel,' so whether or not that is your correct address, I intend to use it. You'll understand that I don't wish you to correct me, of course. For our purposes, you may call me 'The Liar.' Don't worry though, I don't intend to deceive you," he added with a wink. "I trust that you are not with the police, trying to scam me or something. You will understand that I don't tolerate trust betrayal." Jay paused for a brief moment to illustrate the seriousness of his words. "Now, you have heard all my conditions, they are simple enough, I hope. I am ready to hear yours." |
| The Ace of Spades Joined: 7 May 2006 Posts: 398 | Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 11:14 am | Characters: All for this theme; By The Ace of Spades: This theme, Any theme It didn't take Marael long to figure out that this was, in fact, the "Boss" from the bar, but she knew enough about discretion not to say anything stupid. In any case, she now had a name to call him by, and since the chances of her ever meeting him again in his bar were slim, it wouldn't be difficult to "forget," for all intents and purposes, that she knew him from anywhere else.
She nodded silently as he listed his conditions, knowing that it would be foolish to trust him implicitly, but also knowing that her instincts had rarely led her astray before. Her instincts were telling her that this was a lucky break. "My conditions should be easy enough to follow," she said, after a moment of thoughtful silence. She pushed her own pair of dark sunglasses back to the bridge of her nose; they'd begun to slip. When she spoke, it was slowly, as though she was choosing her words carefully. "I have... run into trust issues before. I trust, as you do, that there will be no such issues in this professional relationship." She paused. "I also expect no questions. There will be no explanations. I don't want to know any of the details-- where it's done, or how, or at what time of day. I will pay you what you require, and I expect the privilege of being kept in the dark; my own employer will know when the task has been completed, and will relay the information to me." She had found that it was easier to act shocked when you really had no idea what had happened, or when. "These conditions are acceptable to you, I hope?" |
| Digithe Joined: 24 Aug 2003 Posts: 884 | Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 11:11 pm | Characters: All for this theme; By Digithe: This theme, Any theme Jay's confident grin didn't falter once as Marael listed her conditions. Provided she followed through on her end, this promised to be a wonderful business relationship -- she wanted from him exactly what he'd hoped, and she agreed to his own conditions without a second thought.
"Oh most decidedly," he responded, clearly pleased. "I don't expect any issues to crop up at all. You tell me who they are and provide the payment, and the only thing you'll hear from me is 'It shall be done, Lady Rigel.' Suits me like a tastefully tailored tux. Alliteration and all." Jay paused to sip his coffee, glancing once again out the large window. "I assume you won't want to be seen visiting the bar too often, so I'll prepare a secure line for you to contact me on -- I know a guy, does good work, no questions." Jay paused again before turning back to Lady Rigel and continuing, "Well then, now that's taken care of, who do you have in mind?" OOC: Sorry for the delay... I got distracted with finals and then was away from internet this weekend ^^; |
Asai Joined: 24 Aug 2003 Posts: 638 | OOC:I'M ON A BOAT.
Having finished his drink and left his credits on the table, Adolin swiftly departed the bar and began his search. He hailed a taxi and began his ride over to Marael Zadawi's office, the first senator on his list. As an obscure senator, her office wasn't very large, and it was in a particularly dirty section of the city. Adolin looked over his datapad again, taking note of the dead senators and the next likely targets. Why would this legislation be a catalyst for assassinations? Who stood to gain from the passage of this bill? The Chiss Master pulled up a copy of the bill on file and began to read through it. By the time the taxi arrived at the Senator's office, he had begun to understand the driving opposition to this bill. The reason the bill was really pulling opposition was from the senators in corporate pockets - the corporations who "owned" them were indirectly forced to regulate their labor hiring process and account for their spare equipment budget, but Adolin wasn't yet quite sure why this mattered so much. As he paid the driver, however, a more sinister thought crept into his mind. Back at the bar, Jay had been deliberately avoiding his answers, he knew, but he thought that maybe he was hoping to make more money off the Jedi for the promise of an idea than facts. But it didn't add up, Jay knew that Adolin would never fall for that bait. Entering the ground floor of the building the office was in, he tumbled Jay's words around in his mind a little longer. He stepped into the lift and pushed the green crystal switch for the second floor. As the lift ascended, Adolin dropped his problem with Jay from his mind as he began to decide what he would do here. Given his current understanding of the facts and the assassinations thus far, Senator Zadawi was certainly a prime target. Rather than cause undue alarm in her colleagues, however, the Chiss Master felt it would be best to seek out his answers without attracting too much attention. As the doors opened, he cautiously exited the lift and began to move silently towards the office doors. Reaching out through his connection to the living force, he knew that there were two people inside this particular office suite at the time, and neither of them were currently focused on the door. He opened the door slowly and carefully, closing it behind him just as noiselessly as he crouched down behind a cubicle wall. The sounds of typing came from the other side of the desk, whilst halfway across the suite, a scanner was sounding. Knowing full well that both persons were occupied with their tasks, Adolin took advantage of the situation and snuck into the Senator's personal office room. As he glanced around the room, he already began to understand much about the Senator as a person. Frankly, he found it hard to believe that she would be in support of a bill that helped others simply for their sake; she was grounded mostly in reason and rational behavior. Certainly not a complete creature of logic like himself, but more realistic and pragmatic than an idealist, and certainly able to be appealed to by the realm of logic. Being in tune with the Force helped Adolin out quite often in strange situations, and at this moment, he began to feel a rush of emotion leftover in this room. As he unraveled it, he realized a horrible truth: if Marael Zadawi thought that she was being threatened, she would take it upon herself to see that threat ended. Surely she would have put together the pieces that tied the killings together. She would have known she was next - and this particular surge of emotion he felt here, in combination with the hasty psychological profile he'd compiled told him that she was not going to sit back and wait for it. He glanced around the room again, seeking something more personal to help him locate her. She likely was consorting in a more lawless area, less likely to attract attention for what she was about to do. He looked around the room again, his eyes finally settling on a picture frame, a pale skinned Arkanian woman standing in front of an old orphanage, no doubt an institution the senator had helped keep intact. It wasn't the picture itself that was bothering Adolin, but what the figure was wearing. In one hand, the woman held an incredibly out-of-style hat, and in the other, a pair of large sunglasses. The wheels in his mind began turning again searching for the reason these two things bothered him so. After a moment, he understood as he pictured his flamboyant musician friend making his way towards the bar, into the company of a heavily scarred woman with a dark tainted aura, and a pale skinned woman with pointed ears, wearing those exact items and emitting a murky aura, as if deliberately suppressing any and everything about her existence there. Adolin folded his arms in a concerned manner as he realized his theory was confirmed - the senator was already trying to make contact with Coruscant's underworld. He had to find her. And given where she had been the last time he saw her, there was only one way he was ever going to get his answers. He had to go back and talk to Jay. |
| The Ace of Spades Joined: 7 May 2006 Posts: 398 | Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 1:01 am | Characters: All for this theme; By The Ace of Spades: This theme, Any theme OOC:It's worse than that, he's dead, Jim,
dead, Jim, dead, Jim! It's worse than that, he's dead, Jim, dead, Jim, dead! Drea Maru. She wrote the name carefully, in very small letters, on the back of the card he'd given her earlier. She didn't want to risk anyone overhearing the name-- not that the rest of their conversation was anything but incriminating, had people been paying attention. Still, habit made her secretive, which was how she'd managed to last as long as she had without implicating herself in any of the various crimes that had taken place. Drea was the first Senator whose death Marael had ordered. Until now, they had all been names she'd never heard, faceless bodies who, for one reason or another, needed to stop breathing. She didn't trouble herself with the specifics. Somewhere deep beneath the logic and the practicality, the destruction of her home still made her blood hot with fury. It was all the stronger for the three years she'd kept it wrapped up, and it wasn't helped by the fact that this Orion was leading her about like a dog on a leash. She had a lot of pride, and she hated being anything other than completely in control-- and at the same time, she had no choice. The need to know what had happened to her home, and why, overpowered everything else. Even, illogical though it was, the dangerous situation that she herself was in. Jasper, her head of security, had been right when he'd suggested that her own life was in danger; she would even go as far as to say that she was likely next. It made sense, given the previous trends. By all rights, she ought to have been holed up in her office, surrounded by all the security she could afford. But here she was, and that was that. Her thoughts flashed briefly to Jamca Femil before she managed to get her mind back on the task at hand. Yes, Jamca had been a strong ally and a close friend. No, she hadn't yet taken time to sit down and mourn his death. But now was not the time for that either, so she would just have to tuck it away with the various other things she'd not yet released. (She was beginning to worry-- hadn't studies shown that such emotional baggage was a hindrance to performance? Better to let it out sooner rather than later, then. She made a mental note to do that. Jamca, and her own murder of the wookiee Ryyk, and the confusion and anger that still plagued her over the events of three years ago. That last was particularly disturbing. It apparently required regular catharsis; one time had not been enough, nor had two or three.) She pushed the card toward Jay in a movement that was fluid and barely noticeable. "Oh, just a friend of mine," she said, paying little attention to what she was saying-- the important thing was not to stop the conversation. If anyone was listening, that would only direct their attention to her actions. She brought her hand back to her side of the table, leaving the card for him to pick up. He could, she was sure, find some safe way to dispose of it. He didn't seem the type to make amateurish mistakes. "Nobody you've met, I think, but I ought to introduce you one of these days." Drea Maru was, in fact, a rather well-known Senator. More well known these days, Marael thought, because of that mining regulation bill... unlike Jamca, Drea was bitterly opposed to the mining regulation bill, and to Marael by association. The two had always been cordial to one another. Marael didn't hate the woman, but passing this assassin her name on a card did not particularly upset her, either. OOC:Ye cannot change the laws of physics,
laws of physics, laws of physics! Ye cannot change the laws of physics, laws of physics, Jim! |
| Digithe Joined: 24 Aug 2003 Posts: 884 | Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 6:41 pm | Characters: All for this theme; By Digithe: This theme, Any theme "Oh please do," Jay responded, sounding genuinely interested. "I would be delighted to meet any friend of yours." What might surprise Lady Rigel was the fact that he was interested. Oh, he didn't actually expect to be introduced to the Lady's friends -- indeed, he was very well prepared to never lay an eye on a single one, save those she found reason to erase -- but Jay was never one to turn down new acquaintances. He enjoyed the gossip and the rumors that flowed through his bar almost as much as he did the music. Just thinking about the sorts of people this Lady might know would occupy his thoughts for hours, he didn't doubt. Being able to meet with that sort of person and exchange information would doubtless have been a wonderful opportunity. Still, business was business, and business had to be kept strictly separated from personal interests, as much as he might regret that at times.
The musician continued the inane conversation, talking about various bits and pieces he'd heard in the bar, tactfully avoiding anything that might intrude too much on Lady Rigel's privacy, while not shying too obviously away from any particular subject. As he conversed, he swept his hand slowly and smoothly across the table, palming the card he'd been offered with nearly as much grace as the Lady had displayed in placing it. He did not look at it, nor did he place it in his jacket. Instead, he kept it in the palm of his hand, waiting for just the right moment to put it away. In the meantime, he'd switched the conversation briefly to politics, hoping vaguely that Lady Rigel might have another piece of the Senator assassination puzzle. Vaguely, because though he was certainly curious, having too much more knowledge might interfere with his jobs. That he would never inquire about his employer's motives directly was a given. But, his curiosity did get the better of him at times. Jay wasn't particularly interested in politics -- to put it mildly -- yet he did enjoy a good mystery. Besides, if anyone else came to him asking about it, it could not hurt to have a few more ideas and rumors to hand out. Checking the big clock on the wall, Jay decided that it was about time to end this meeting. Feigning conversation to distract was all well and good, but talk about nothing for too long and it could be just as suspicious. He rose from his seat, and examined his pockets, as though looking for keys, and slipped the card Lady Rigel had given him into his jacket. At the same time, he pulled out another card that he'd prepared, hiding it in the palm of his hand. "Well, my Lady," the musician said, leaning over to cup her hands in both of his, offering her his most winning smile, "it has been a pleasure. We really must do this again sometime! For now, though, I'd better get some chores done." With that, he released her hand, having pressed his card into it, and turned smoothly around to walk towards the door. Without looking back, Jay raised a hand above his head to bid farewell as he stepped through the doors. Once outside, Jay stretched as though he'd just woken up from a wonderful nap, and took a brief stroll through the park. He sat on a bench and watched the kids playing for a few minutes before heading back to his bar. OOC: I realize that I didn't give you time to respond, Christine, and I apologize, but I had to get back to the bar so boots could post again. Also, I trust your powers of writing time warps and whatnot better than I do his :P
Go Boots go! |
| Asai Joined: 24 Aug 2003 Posts: 638 | It hadn't taken Adolin nearly as long to get back to the bar as it had to get to the office, especially since he not only knew where he was going now, but because he had given the driver an additional sum to step on it. Upon entering the bar, he already knew he was too late to catch the Arkanian senator, her presence had been gone for at least as long as his last visit earlier. Walking over to the bar, he was already looking around for Jay, but couldn't seem to sense him at all. He had his suspicion confirmed a moment later.
"He's not in right now." the bartender stated jovially. "I need to speak with him, urgently," Adolin replied, "Do you know where he went?" The bartender chuckled. "Bless me, ain't nobody knows where Jay gets off to. But you should know by know, Master Jedi, that he's gone from here quite often." Adolin thanked the man and went over to an empty table. It troubled him that Jay was absent now of all times. Rationally, he knew that this was not unexpected and was perfectly capable of waiting a few minutes. However, something was nagging at his subconscious yet again. His earlier suspicions of Jay's withholding knowledge from him floated to the surface of his thoughts. Could it be the Jay had a hand in the crimes themselves? Adolin, not an emotional creature however, easily dismissed these doubts as simply paranoia. He was tired, he knew, and more prone to logical errors. Jay was merely a man that kept his ears open, but even then there was only so much one could hear. Either way, Adolin knew he couldn't wait up for Jay for very long. Soon, the senator would be finding a way to strike back at her aggressors, and that meant more pain and more bloodshed, and Adolin hoped to avoid that above all else. |
| Digithe Joined: 24 Aug 2003 Posts: 884 | Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 8:45 pm | Characters: All for this theme; By Digithe: This theme, Any theme OOC: I see no point in introducing Adolin's apprentice yet, since it's already sort of you and me RPing at the moment.... Maybe when you leave the bar and Jay is left on his own the padawan can show up...
Jay sauntered in through the back door to the bar -- he never simply "walked" anywhere; even without an instrument and nobody around, he seemed to act as though on a stage -- and tossed his coat onto the coat rack with the seeming abandon of someone who knew they could get it to land on a hook blindfolded. Only after he collapsed into the big chair behind his desk did he glance at his watch -- even if he had to force it somewhat, Jay never let himself be rushed. He had been gone almost twenty-seven minutes. That left him plenty of time for a quick breather. Lacing his hands behind his head, the musician kicked his feet up onto the desk and leaned back. With a start, as though he'd forgotten about it, Jay reached a hand into his pocket to pull out the card Lady Rigel had handed him. "Drea Maru," he read softly before tapping the card against his lips idly. The name rang like a familiar tune in his head, yet he could not quite place it. That meant he didn't know the person himself, yet he felt the name was significant in some way. While certainly curious, Jay resisted the urge to look up any information on the man just yet. Sure, he would be the next target -- his only other employer at the moment had not yet sent their next request -- but Jay's policy of not rushing things even extended to topics which carried his interest. Showing too much interest in a subject because you rushed into it could be dangerous, in his profession. Besides, it simply would not do to leave deprive the bar of his smile for too much longer. Hopping out of his chair, he pulled a lighter from a drawer and burned the card, catching the ashes in his hand. That stung a little, but it was no worse than the hot barrel of a rifle worked more rapidly than it liked. After he made his way back into the bar, he dropped the ashes into the nearest ash tray, the merest flexing of his hand that wouldn't have been noticed except by someone on the lookout for people carrying ashes in their hands. He floated through the "Lies" section of the bar, greeting new arrivals and re-greeting those who hadn't yet left, laughing with them as he confirmed that, yes, he had been putting on a private show for the Jedi Council itself. Before quite making his way into the other section, he hopped over the bar, greeting Garik with a pat on the back. Jay didn't need the man's subtle nod to know that someone was waiting for him -- he would have relaxed in that chair longer if it were not for an odd feeling in his gut -- but he was surprised to see the Jedi Master back again. The surprise, Jay did not bother to mask, favoring the Chiss with a broad grin and a raised finger to say he would be over in just a moment. He washed his hands before pulling out a long-stemmed glass that had been hanging along the ceiling and filling it just short of half-way from a rather dusty-looking bottle of wine, then made his way over to Adolin. "Couldn't stay away, I see?" Jay said playfully, with a hint of a question. He sat down opposite the Jedi, and swirled the wine in its glass before taking a sip. "A pretty waitress caught your eye, eh? Or no, I suppose Jedi aren't supposed to be swayed by that. Perhaps the drink wasn't stiff enough? Garik!" he called, not waiting for Adolin to answer. "Another one of whatever he had last time." The bartender nodded knowingly, and Jay returned his attention to the Jedi, a broad grin on his face as though he was enjoying a fantastic inside joke that he expected Adolin was also in the inside of. Perhaps he was. "But seriously, what brings you back so soon, friend?" |
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