Post by hugo on Apr 11, 2019 20:01:49 GMT -5
Target: Fabian LaRoyese de Cuerço, AKA: El Renardo.
Occupation: Cybernetics entrepreneur, confirmed financial supporter of Pro-Imperial elements within House Melantha
Nationality: Tapani, Coruscanti Resident
Location: Coruscant.
Charges: High Treason, Money Laundering, Terrorism, Violation of Article XI of the Cybernetics Control Code
Directive: Terminate.
________________________________________
It was cryptic directives like these that made Lucian look forward to retirement. Oh the target is on Coruscant. How specific. That was nothing new, though.
The lack of detail was why Lucian was somewhat confused when he was contacted by a Jedi on Coruscant. Apparently, she, a Moonfire Shae, had also opened an investigation into El Renardo, and was reaching out to the Tapani authorities as a courtesy. The Mecrosa quickly but covertly assumed jurisdiction over the matter, and assigned Lucian to cooperate with the Jedi.
And by cooperate, they really meant, ”piggy-back off of the Jedi’s investigation in order to locate and terminate the target while ostensibly cooperating with a foreign, civilian investigation and respecting due process.”
Accordingly, he and the Jedi had been cooperating extensively from afar. She was nice enough and eager. He got the sense that she was still young enough to have that sort of gleam-in-the-eye do-gooder naivete that was characteristic of her kind.
Lucian wasn’t complaining. His counterpart was working leads on Coruscant while Lucian gathered as much background as he could within Tapani Space, an assignment he vastly preferred to the choked busyness of the urban world.
In a few weeks’ time, he’d managed to gather a fair amount of information. From what he could tell, the perp (he’d grown fond of referring to El Renardo that way) ran a string of legitimate businesses catering to the cybernetic community and was handsomely wealthy as a result. It was how he was acquiring this wealth that interested the Republic, but the Mecrosa were only interested in how it was being spent.
House Mecetti never took lightly to political dissension, least of all on the part of its political rivals in House Melantha and their allies. Both the Kingdom’s civilian agencies and the Mecrosa Order had been extensively monitoring a number of armed opposition groups operating out of the Freeholds, and they believed ending the stream of funding from El Renardo would greatly limit their efforts.
In other words, Lucian had to kill someone. Again.
This quadrant of the lower city was as rotten as the rest. Lucian took great strides as he weaved through the constant stream of pedestrians. There was no sunlight, but every run-down building and grimy alleyway was illuminated by what must have been one glowing hologram advertisement after another. It wasn’t a terrible neighborhood, but reeked of the working classes. This was why he preferred the country.
Luckily, he wasn’t far from his destination. The Jedi had been clear. Moreese’s Diner would be the location of their first rendez-vous.
Apparently, the Jedi had strong reason to believe that El Renardo was operating in the area, and Mo’s, as it was affectionately called by its patrons, was something of a local hotspot for organized crime.
Lucian’s olive fists were clenched tightly. Places like this made him nervous. It had been hard enough to abandon the plush comforts of his yacht suite for the artificial surface, but the descent into Coruscant’s underside proved unsettling. But he had a job to do. Loss of focus, just for a moment, could cause the veil over his Force presence to thin or tear, and the Jedi might take notice.
His true identity had to remain secret, as did his true objective.
Lucian arrived at the establishment, where the proprietor’s name was displayed in gaudy neon script above an uninterrupted line of grimy windows. Beyond them, he could see inside, where a grumpy Cathar tended a mostly empty bar. Arranged around the edges of the rectangular front room were a dozen or so booths, some of them occupied by diverse patrons, another being cleared by a busdroid with a limp.
With eyebrow raised and a poorly concealed gimace, Lucian slid sat himself in the back left corner, facing the door. The cushions were old and faded, but they seemed reasonably clean. Lucian foresaw that the conditions would be less than opulent, so he opted to dress inexpensively. Dark khakis with a light blue shirt and a leather jacket weren’t exactly his cup of Jooma, but he had a role to play.
He noted the time. He was early, but not very, so the Jedi should have been arriving soon.
Occupation: Cybernetics entrepreneur, confirmed financial supporter of Pro-Imperial elements within House Melantha
Nationality: Tapani, Coruscanti Resident
Location: Coruscant.
Charges: High Treason, Money Laundering, Terrorism, Violation of Article XI of the Cybernetics Control Code
Directive: Terminate.
________________________________________
It was cryptic directives like these that made Lucian look forward to retirement. Oh the target is on Coruscant. How specific. That was nothing new, though.
The lack of detail was why Lucian was somewhat confused when he was contacted by a Jedi on Coruscant. Apparently, she, a Moonfire Shae, had also opened an investigation into El Renardo, and was reaching out to the Tapani authorities as a courtesy. The Mecrosa quickly but covertly assumed jurisdiction over the matter, and assigned Lucian to cooperate with the Jedi.
And by cooperate, they really meant, ”piggy-back off of the Jedi’s investigation in order to locate and terminate the target while ostensibly cooperating with a foreign, civilian investigation and respecting due process.”
Accordingly, he and the Jedi had been cooperating extensively from afar. She was nice enough and eager. He got the sense that she was still young enough to have that sort of gleam-in-the-eye do-gooder naivete that was characteristic of her kind.
Lucian wasn’t complaining. His counterpart was working leads on Coruscant while Lucian gathered as much background as he could within Tapani Space, an assignment he vastly preferred to the choked busyness of the urban world.
In a few weeks’ time, he’d managed to gather a fair amount of information. From what he could tell, the perp (he’d grown fond of referring to El Renardo that way) ran a string of legitimate businesses catering to the cybernetic community and was handsomely wealthy as a result. It was how he was acquiring this wealth that interested the Republic, but the Mecrosa were only interested in how it was being spent.
House Mecetti never took lightly to political dissension, least of all on the part of its political rivals in House Melantha and their allies. Both the Kingdom’s civilian agencies and the Mecrosa Order had been extensively monitoring a number of armed opposition groups operating out of the Freeholds, and they believed ending the stream of funding from El Renardo would greatly limit their efforts.
In other words, Lucian had to kill someone. Again.
This quadrant of the lower city was as rotten as the rest. Lucian took great strides as he weaved through the constant stream of pedestrians. There was no sunlight, but every run-down building and grimy alleyway was illuminated by what must have been one glowing hologram advertisement after another. It wasn’t a terrible neighborhood, but reeked of the working classes. This was why he preferred the country.
Luckily, he wasn’t far from his destination. The Jedi had been clear. Moreese’s Diner would be the location of their first rendez-vous.
Apparently, the Jedi had strong reason to believe that El Renardo was operating in the area, and Mo’s, as it was affectionately called by its patrons, was something of a local hotspot for organized crime.
Lucian’s olive fists were clenched tightly. Places like this made him nervous. It had been hard enough to abandon the plush comforts of his yacht suite for the artificial surface, but the descent into Coruscant’s underside proved unsettling. But he had a job to do. Loss of focus, just for a moment, could cause the veil over his Force presence to thin or tear, and the Jedi might take notice.
His true identity had to remain secret, as did his true objective.
Lucian arrived at the establishment, where the proprietor’s name was displayed in gaudy neon script above an uninterrupted line of grimy windows. Beyond them, he could see inside, where a grumpy Cathar tended a mostly empty bar. Arranged around the edges of the rectangular front room were a dozen or so booths, some of them occupied by diverse patrons, another being cleared by a busdroid with a limp.
With eyebrow raised and a poorly concealed gimace, Lucian slid sat himself in the back left corner, facing the door. The cushions were old and faded, but they seemed reasonably clean. Lucian foresaw that the conditions would be less than opulent, so he opted to dress inexpensively. Dark khakis with a light blue shirt and a leather jacket weren’t exactly his cup of Jooma, but he had a role to play.
He noted the time. He was early, but not very, so the Jedi should have been arriving soon.