Rough night (Kuhblan)

[kozeph]

Deep in the vowels of the glittering landscape of the center of the universe, the world that housed the Republic and the monastic Jedi Temple, a world that was suppose to be the example of law and order. But that was only the exterior face of coruscant, the great ecumenopolis that was the home of the galactic senate also was haven for thousands of corrupt politicians, soldiers of fortune and desperate refugees.

Tonight in the lower levels of the works, the industrial part of coruscant and home to hundreds if not thousands of factories and companies, workshops and mechanical manufactures and also the perfect way to hide from the gaze of the ever watchful eyes of the Jedi and coruscant law enforcement organization. It was the perfect place for Thom Venar a distant relative of the cousin of a representative from Neimoidia. Thom had turned into the life of smuggling a long time ago and had the reputation of foiling Hutt operations and tonight it was the first step for another of his blows against the slugs he hated so much.

Tonight Thom was bringing a shipment of "hardware" for a extremist group, which would attack the hutt Desilijic Tiure base in Coruscant, it was a terrorist act none the less and the collateral damage and civilian casualties would be quiet high, but Thom did not care all that matter was that he was going to purge coruscant from the Hutt influence. That was why Thom was being extra careful with this operation, he had gone out of his way to hire several mercenaries to protect the shipment and himself, and to make sure the dealings went smoothly.

The Neimodian approached the man he had appointed as the leader of his guards, a renown mandalorian mercenary and known for his complicated relationship with the hutts, and a very welcome aid for Thom little operation. Thom group was one hour early to set up everything in case the exchange proved to be a trap, he had hired twenty soldiers for hire without counting his ace, a mandalorian.

"Everything looks fine doesn't it?" he asked the mandalorian that was next to him, who Thom had already payed half the money he promised to Ferrus and would deliver the rest once the shipment was delivered. Thom was a little nervous, after all he was a thinker a greedy one and only had a small vendetta against the Hutts mainly since he found out lots of people had something against the slugs.

The group was in a large warehouse, it was a deposit filled with large containers, one stacked on top the other with several small pathways between them, a crane was being manipulated by one of Thom's hired guns, who was moving the crates out of Thom transport.

---

A shadow darted from the industrial streets, moving from corner to corner, from each pocket of shadows to the next, it moved fast and efficiently. The few beggars that dotted the streets never saw the shadow pass nearby.

Kivesh was on the hunt, his target was a Neimodian named Thom Venar, some one who had pissed the hutts several times in the past and now had gone over the line and now had a bounty of ten thousand credits over his head, he was wanted dead or alive, Kivesh would prefer to capture the Neimodian alive, he always strive to capture his target alive.

The Ubese hunter silently sprinted toward the building he found out was going to be the site of a dealing between Thom and some group or other. In a blink of a eye Kivesh was at the base of the warehouse, it was night and his dark rough armor concealed Kivesh perfectly, the only thing visible two dots of red light from the Ubese helmet and the white battered skull that was painted on it, and the red scarf that was tied around his neck. The Ubese pulled out a Remote bomb and placed it around one of the places that looked to have a column, he moved along the wall, planting several bombs. he wasn't a big fan of explosives but if he was going to walk into a den full of guards he was going to need a emergency escape route in case things didn't go his way. After planting the fourth bomb, he used a climbing kit to get on the roof of the building, being careful to avoid the sight of the perimeter guards station along the roof.

Once there, the hunter drew his fangs, two perfectly balanced echani made vibroswords of the highest caliber. In a flash of blades he quietly disposed of the first guard, sneaking up to the next who died without even feeling the blade cutting his jugular and the third went in a similar way. The fourth guard could only gasp in horror at the sight of a skull with red eyes falling on top of him, not giving room for the guard to cry out and alert those inside. Kivesh silent but steadily made his way toward the emergency roof exit and was inside the warehouse, he walked down the stair and drop to the floor as he lost all cover, he was near a walkway two stories away from the main floor, where the his prey was. The red light from Kivesh faded away to avoid drawing attention and give the Ubese a more normal vision. He was in the floor watching and waiting like a feline waiting for it's prey to move and give a opening.

[Kuhblam]

"Everything looks fine, doesn't it?"

There was a hint of urgency and nervousness detectable in the Nemoidian's voice. For Ferrus Bes'Beviin, infamous Mandalorian bounty hunter and no-bars-held cold-blooded killer, Thom Venar was just another weary business client with a velvet pocket full of credits and a price on his head.

Tall and clad from head to toe in scarred Mandalorian beskar'gam, Ferrus was truly a sight to behold. His armor was a deep pitch black with crimson red trimming, and Ferrus' entire persona was bristling to the core with weapons. Carrying a Beskad, a Corvlic 31 HBR, a built-in flamethrower, his custom trade-mark Corlic 44 Heavy Blaster Pistols, enough thermal detonators to bring down C-Sec and a host of other dangerous ordnance, Ferrus had come with the same intention that he did for every other job he took; getting it done right and if necessary with a little more punch than the last one. Granted, he usually didn't use anything other than the pistols, but Ferrus was an exceptional swordsman and he wasn't too shabby with his fists either. Needless to say, he was a dead-eye shot.

Standing up tall next to Thom with his arms crossed, he turned and spoke up to the Nemoidian with a gruff Mandalorian accent.

"Let me worry about keeping your head together in one peace; you worry about keeping your deal together in one peace. This isn't exactly the brightest idea you've cooked up. If these terrorists are going to double-cross you, I'm going to be slightly hard pressed to keep you alive in the ensuing cross-fire as we're not in the greatest spot."

It was true; they were in the middle of a cargo warehouse full of equipment waiting to receive a deadly shot with Venar's guards on one side or the pack of extremists milling about on the other. Although 75% of the warehouse was packed with stacked durasteel munition crates, the permacrete loading area most of the men occupied was fairly open and could easily be compromised with a nicely placed concussion grenade. For that exact reason, Ferrus had chosen to manipulate Venar slightly away from the warehouse's dead center and had assigned the cream of the crop, three Noghri commandos and a few ex-Sith human mercs, to follow Venar wherever he went. The Mandalorian had only received half of his payment; he wasn't about to forfeit the other half simple because his employer had a slug projectile lodged in his head. The bad lighting in the warehouse hadn't helped Ferrus' rudimentary security plans; he'd only had a day to adjust the inadequate preparations created by Venar's head of security. There had been some minor improvements, but due to Thom's want for low-key, there were hardly enough guards and other necessary resources to lock down the building in it's entirety. Of course, that was why Ferrus was here in the first place. It was his job to kill anything not necessarily friendly.

Ferrus had already made the assumption with information from his contacts that an attempt on the Nemoidian's life was likely. He was about to take a passive role in bringing warfare to the Desilijic Hutts; in a sense, he had been right to hire Ferrus' services as a body guard. Ferrus was cold, calculated, and most of all loyal; that was, of course, until someone offered a bigger pay-check. Granted, Thom had a good number of well-trained guards; Ferrus wasn't about to go and double-cross the cowardly business man.

Ferrus was just about to continue assuming a normal aware posture before he looked down as one of the alarms beeped with a very quiet buzz-sound on his wrist computer. Having planted secret security cameras about the compound across the streets from it and in turn having linked them to his armor software. Pressing a key on his left gauntlet above the flame-thrower emitter, Ferrus' watched the feed play-back from a holocam inside a public trash compactor bin as a dark figure climbed up the side of the large warehouse, having eluded any unassuming armed guards on the ground level. Ferrus had planted a few of the more experienced guards on the roof-top; however, that wasn't saying much for Venar's brute thugs. Muscular, loyal, and stupid, Thom had chosen well for intimidation but not for practicality.

Pressing a few more keys, Ferrus turned away and took a few steps from Venar with one of the guard aides at his side. Opening up a secure com-link channel, he raised the team leader stationed on the roof.

"Burglar Two-Four, this is Ironman Five-Three. Requesting overall sit-rep and team check-in report."

The Mandalorian waited a few more minutes before repeating the call a second, third, and fourth time. Ferrus then turned to his aide, a mix of annoyance and heightened caution hidden behind his T-Visor.

"Take the Gamorreans and one of the HK droids and commence a systematic search of the roof and the perimeter. I want a check-in every two minutes on your status. Any longer than that and I'm sending a full team after you. Let the extremists know we've got company but tell them to keep their grasp of that knowledge on the down-low."

As the dark-haired human nodded and jogged away with his rifle in hand, Ferrus turned to a curious yet worried Venar. Drawing one of his Corvlic 44s and spinning it on his index finger, Ferrus slapped a power cell into it's handle and did the same with the other before sliding them expertly back into their leather leg holsters.

"Company. You don't stray from my side any more than four standard feet. No, three feet. If I tell you to move or drop, you will do so. A holocam spotted a figure climbing up the side of the warehouse and the perimeter roof guards aren't responding. I've already sent some men, erm, things up there to check it. Don't expect to be dolling out their payroll in the future."

[kozeph]

Thom felt confident with Ferrus around, he had heard a great deal about the mandalorian and felt safe with that man around. The Neimodian smuggler thought things couldn't go wrong tonight, the dealings would go as planned and he would receive a jaw dropping amount of credits for delivering the weapons and to boot thanks to his connection no law enforcement group or those annoying Jedi would intervene with this exchange.

"Let me worry about keeping your head together in one peace; you worry about keeping your deal together in one peace. This isn't exactly the brightest idea you've cooked up. If these terrorists are going to double-cross you, I'm going to be slightly hard pressed to keep you alive in the ensuing cross-fire as we're not in the greatest spot."

"I doubt they would double-cross me... they need this cargo and they need more if they want to keep active, and I'm one of the few people that can provided what they want... I am concerned if the information about this meeting was leaked and the Hutts figure out what we are doing and send in a army to stop us" The Neimodian said the last part with a mix of a bad joke and plain fear, he like many of his kind was only brave when he held the upper hand and was quick to lose his spine when things didn't go his way. He looked slightly curiously at Ferrus when he took a few steps away from him and began talking with a black haired female human who was among the group Ferrus had requested that Thom hired. The Neimodian waited in silence for the mandalorian to finish giving orders to the former sith soldier mercenary.

"Company. You don't stray from my side any more than four standard feet. No, three feet. If I tell you to move or drop, you will do so. A holocam spotted a figure climbing up the side of the warehouse and the perimeter roof guards aren't responding. I've already sent some men, erm, things up there to check it. Don't expect to be dolling out their payroll in the future."


Thom confidence a little shaken at the mention of a intruder. But still he retained his conposture, he had twenty one guards most with long records of service, not even one Jedi could foil this operation, they just had to wait for the intruder to reveal himself and kill him.

"I expect you to deal with him shortly, don't matter if he dies, I made sure that no police patrols would be near by for the whole night, so you don't have to fear CSF's intervention"

---

Kivesh silently watched the people moving below, he counted the list of guards Thom had hired himself. The Ubese could see fifteen guards below him, no wait seventeen, he saw to Gamorreans appear from the shadows of a container. They slowly approached Kivesh target and a Mando as well as a "evil" looking human, from what the Ubese hunter could tell that mandalorian was giving the order. Kivesh sight shifted to his quarry, his prey that Neimodian named Thom Venar, In the hunter mind calculation the Neimodian was to far to be shot by Kivesh slug thrower not that he would snipe his target. It was far easier to transport a living bounty than a corpse and the challenges that having a living prisoners brought made things far more entertaining for the Ubese, who had the habit to capture his targets alive.

Kivesh dark clad hand went to one of his belt pouches and drew the last of the explosives he had bought specifically for this encounter, he set it for remote detonation and crawled to the border of the rail he was resting his body against. The dark clad hand went below the walkway and the explosive was magnetically attached below the path way. Kivesh proceeded to observe his targets once more noticing that the human as well as a pair of Gamorreans and a HK droid were heading for the repulsor lift, the Ubese figured out that either they went on a patrol or the guards where already alert of the dark hunter presence, kivesh opted for the letter, it had been a while since he had been offered a challenge.

Kivesh got up and pulled out his portable graping hook and after securing it, he repelled down, being in a dark corner helped the Ubese move with a little more ease, the guards had been sooply and lazy, they were well armed and all, but still it had become really easy for Kivesh to move around.

The Ubese repelled down one floor to the walkway below, he was now roughly three hundred meters away from the ground floor where all the containers and the guards where located. Kivesh scanned his surroundings once more to check if he had been spotted due to his bold move, but luckily he had not been spotted by the people patrolling below, the bounty hunter also spotted a terminal at the far end of the walkway, he quietly but quickly made his way there. Kivesh steps making next to no noise as they with a unnatural speed made their way to that computer console. Instead of openly using the terminal, Kivesh knelt and opened a panel, removing a red cable and connecting it to his portable wrist computer. The Ubese curled up next to the Terminal and away from the eyes from the people below and at the other side. Kivesh quickly bypassed the warehouse security, he was a experienced hacker and slicer, not the best out there, granted but he had worked for a information broker for years and had picked up most tricks regarding bypassing security systems. Kivesh locked all exits in the warehouse to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the building. The hunter also activated the automated cranes of the warehouse that began going about their daily routine. Kivesh also took control of the building power and gave external permission to his personal computer to manipulate the power out so he could at will cut off the power in the warehouse without having to access another terminal.

Kivesh sat back and listen quietly at the uproar of those below. He was smiling a wicket smile below his mask with a painted skull. The hunt had officially began.

[Kuhblam]

(OOC: Sorry for short, un-detailed post, trying to get back into things.)

"I expect you to deal with him shortly, don't matter if he dies, I made sure that no police patrols would be near by for the whole night, so you don't have to fear CSF's intervention."

Ferrus nearly laughed at the mention of Coruscant's meager police force.

"It wouldn't have mattered if they came anyhow. I've got enough ammunition to take down Centerpoint Station if need be. Regardless of what happens, Mr. Venar, remember that you hired the best. If this spectre has the slightest clue what he's doing, then he'll-----."

Ferrus' words were cut off as he started getting flooded with reports from guards stationed at the warehouse exits stating that they were getting emergency lock-downs. His wrist computer flashed with different code signatures, and as Ferrus chimed into various communications hails, two large automated cranes normally used inside the warehouse for lifting cargo activated almost simultaneously together with no prompting at all. Drawing one of his Corvlic 44s, Ferrus motioned for the cowardly Thom and several guards to follow him. To their left, the terrorists were arguing over what was currently happening. Ferrus ignored them and continued down a narrow alley lined with numerous gunmetal-gray cargo crates made of durasteel, his quick foot-steps followed by the rhythmic beat of different thugs behind him.

Turning, Ferrus could tell his Nemoidian employer was some-what bewildered albeit still attempting to remain calm. Ferrus' voice clear as day although covered by the distinctive T-Visor of his helmet, Ferrus spoke up to ease Thom.

"Relax. He locked the exits, but he's not getting back out of here without unlocking them. That's problem with these sneaky types. They've got a plan in, but no plan out."

[kozeph]

(ITS ALIVE!!!)

Thom heart literally skipped a beat at the sight of everything suddenly coming alive, the cranes began moving on their own going about their daily business as if nothing strange happened. The neimodian quietly followed his guardian, he was anxious and to tell the truth a little scare... But still he had the upper hand, he literally had an army guarding his back and one meager intruder shouldn't be to much of a threat to his operation... yet something kept nagging Thom.

So he kept his cool or at least tried too, but it probably didn't look like much. But still he was the boss and he should look like if he was in charge. The neimodian eyes looked at the Mandalorian and his best guardian for confort "What kind of idiot would do that?" he said sounding more confident now, but still something didn't seem right... something bad was about to happen. and he saw it all happen when a guard shouted "Down There!" The worst night Thom had ever had started

---

Not wasting even a split of a second the dark hunter stood up from his dark corner, he chuckled a quiet laughter just as he ran like lightning through the railing and then as nimble as a cat the Ubese made a sharp turn and jumped out the railing. It was a split of a second calculation Kivesh made only possible due to his unnatural agility and cordination that the hunter did not fall to his death and rather landed on a large crate that was passing nearby. The thumb! sound was masked by the noise of the machinery below and hence Kivesh did the extremly bold move.

For a second Kivesh slipped but his hand soon found support and the climbing tools he had did the work and had the Ubese safely stuck to the moving container, the silent stalker managed to get up and slowly made his way to the huge magnet that the crane used to move the box from one side of the room to another. Kivesh quickly began climbing up the crane cord and then once at the top and then began sliding down the side of the large Crane, Kivesh agility and unnatural good reflexes made him a very competent natural climber and it was no surprise he pulled such stunt with out alert so much of a soul... at least thats how Kivesh had calculated things, yet the Ubese did not count one thing, the patrol sent to check the roof guard. One of them, the human spotted Kivesh down on the ground floor and quickly shouted to reveal the dark hunter presence... the fool decided to scream rather than report through comms or use the opportunity to snipe the Ubese, much like the HK droid was trying to do at the moment, while the two Gamorreans shouted and grunted.

Kivesh raised his right arm to head height "Explosive B6... Activate" He said as cold as the Ubese was, he did not care who lived or died this night... only his prey mattered and Kivesh would kill anyone that got in his way, it was far easier to capture a target alive when he had no guards...

The explosion engulfed the railway where the four thugs had been standing and they all vanish in a inferno that lit up the whole werehouse roof in a red and yellow light.

The hunt had started.

[Kuhblam]

"What kind of idiot would do that?"

"An idiot who doesn't know quite who he's up against."

Heavy blaster pistol still in hand, Ferrus' helmet targeting software was scanning the catwalks and the roofs of the cargo crate skyscrapers. His unknown assassin was most certainly hiding atop one of them; once Ferrus had identified him, he wouldn't let go of the lock-on and would chase that bastard off the planet. Granted, he had made a mockery of the Nemoidian's guards so far. It was a sad occurrence that Ferrus hadn't arrived earlier. Perhaps if he still had his old crew with him... no, they were all dead now. Ferrus had gained a reputation by killing people as a lone wolf; this one was now different. The killings hadn't really insulted him in anyway; they weren't under his payroll. But the fact that he'd gotten in so quickly was what impressed Ferrus, if a raised eyebrow meant anything.

His com-unit crackled for a moment; for a few seconds, Ferrus could hear the disgruntled barks of the Gamorreans and the statement queries of the Hunter-killer droid. Ferrus thought he heard a guard scream something incoherent, but his helmet dampening software blocked out anything not electronically communicated. Of course, there were limits. Mainly, gigantic explosions or the collapse of a roof and the like.

Incompetent fools.

His suspicions of trouble were confirmed when a giant red fireball blossomed into a mushroom and collided with the roof, maliciously spreading out into a heated cloud as it disappeared just as quickly. There was nothing but static coming from the four com-units of the group he had sent earlier. Around the warehouse, shouts and panicky yelling were beginning to become common-place. Sporadic blaster-fire meant someone had either spotted the intruder, or some idiot was trying to kill.

At this rate, I'm going to be the only one collecting pay.

His other hand swooped down to grab the pistol's twin, an equally blackened effective heavy blaster pistol. He turned to the guard group following him, with Thom in their center.

"You two, take him to the garage entrance and blow a hole through the door to the speeders. If you get outside, check everything for explosives first."

Ferrus pushed his way through the guards towards a cowardly Thom and poked him once in the chest with the tip of a blaster barrel. His T-Visor stared straight downwards into the Nemoidian's eyes.

"You're going to owe me extra for having to actually exert myself."

With that, Ferrus activated his jet-pack. Repulsorlift power kicked in as Ferrus shot upwards, his body aiming for the top of one of the alley way's cargo crate walls. Tiny jets of smoke exhaust left only a hint as to his trail, and Ferrus could feel a bit of gravity tugging away at the edges of his armor as he flew upwards. The man was up here; that much he was sure. On top of some of the cargo crates, or perhaps on one of the catwalks. He was tired of all the speculation because of the lack of information. As the jetpack died off and Ferrus landed instead on a catwalk directly next to the cargo crate rooftop, he kicked in his advanced targeting software and amplified light surroundings by a couple klicks to give himself a saturated crystal clear view of the warehouse. From his vantage, he could see everything. It was apparent why the assassin was sticking to the shadowy upper levels.

As Ferrus' targeting software scanned his view, Ferrus specifically turned his gaze to the direction of the fireball's former presence. The assassin had since moved, and so Ferrus turned himself fully 60 degrees to the left from that spot and looked about again. It was always a good bet that a sniper-type would move to the left or the right by a good amount of meters and re-locate himself to prevent discovery. However, there was no moving shadow in sight, and so Ferrus hurriedly turned about again 180 degrees. Sure enough, he found a quick shadow-play with something white at the front of its figure. His targeting software locked on, but Ferrus didn't engage. He wasn't even sure if this was the right one, but he had a good bet. If he didn't fire, the assassin might get away; if he did, he was only wasting a few shots. Raising both pistols, he fired a dead-eye volley of crimson bolts at the humanoid.