A Precise Instrument (Hutt Cartel pm for invite)

[Filius Stellarum]

[member="Lady Kay"][member="Thraxis"]
Filius Stellarum walked off the shuttle to the urban hub of galactic scum known as Nar Shaddaa. He instantly grimaced as he was assaulted by a wave of bright lights, terrible smells, and the shouting of millions of sentients all trying to move in different directions. Though most of his emotions had been practically removed, Filius was still capable of being annoyed.

With a sigh, he settled down to the task of finding his contact to enter the Hutt Cartel. He still second-guessed his decision, but kept reminding himself that the only way he was going to be able to find the Hutt that had done this to him was to join the Cartel and get access to its resources.

Filius finally reached the designated cantina, and sat waiting for his anonymous contact.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay sat at one of the tables, a holopad in front of her masked face. She was dressed like a bounty hunter, though not of the Mando variety. The back of her datapad had the insignia of the Hutt Cartel scratched into it. She eyed [member="Filius Stellarum"] as he walked into the cantina, just as she looked at everyone that came in. She was keeping an eye and ear out for slave auctions and the like, providing more info for her shell company to use in it's continuing efforts to liberate slaves. It was crowded, but she had learned a while ago on how to pick out certain words from the crowd.

 

[Filius Stellarum]

[member="Lady Kay"]
Filius was growing agitated. If there was one thing he didn't tolerate, it was tardiness. In his line of work, a single minute could make the difference between living and dying. His contact was annoying him, and Filius didn't like things that annoyed him.

As he sat silently sipping a glass of tihaar, strong Mandalorian ale, he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. It was a young woman, dressed as a bounty hunter. A quick scan of her with Filius's cybernetic eye revealed nothing out of the ordinary for a mercenary in this part of the galaxy. However, she was holding a datapad, and on the datapad was the sigil of the Hutt Cartel. Could this be his contact?

Only one way to find out, thought Filius. He got up, leaving his glass at the table. He approached the woman cautiously, and when he was in range repeated the code phrase his contact had told him to say, or rather respond to. Filius was sure it would be okay if he initiated contact first.

"Mon Calamari is so dry these days," he said, watching for the woman's reaction out of the corner of his eye.

 

[Kay-Larr]

She didn't expect to be approached and yet here he was, standing at her table. Kay looked up to the man, hating the limited vision that the mask gave her, but she had no choice about it for the moment. Mon Calamari is dry these days? What kind of a pick up line is that? She honestly had no idea how to respond to that one. So for a good ten seconds, she just stared at [member="Filius Stellarum"] as she tried to think of something witty. But all that she got out was, "So have a cold shower. You'll feel better." Yeah, that made absolutely no sense at all. But neither did his pick up line.

 

[Filius Stellarum]

Filius was about to blow a top. His contact wasn't here; [member="Lady Kay"] had no idea what he was talking about.

But, thought Filius, She has the sigil. Now quite peeved, Filius moved around to the front of the table, smack in the woman's line of vision. All thoughts of subtlety were gone, he had no time.

"Listen lady," he practically growled, "You obviously don't know the code phrase, but you have the mark of the Hutt Cartel on your datapad. Are you my contact or not?"

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay clenched her jaw. So it wasn't a pick up line. He was trying to contact the Cartel. Guess her disguise worked. His temper was a bit worrying. She understood it, but she didn't want to be shot right now.

She lowered her datapad and got to her feet so that she'd feel more as though she was on equal footing with [member="Filius Stellarum"] . "That only depends on what it is that you're looking for. You're obviously after something. Perhaps you've been misled? Why don't you tell me and maybe I'll help you. Maybe..." She was just trying to act tough. Hopefully it was working.

 

[Filius Stellarum]

[member="Lady Kay"]
"Don't get tough with me," Filius said, sensing her intentions, "I need to get into the Cartel, for reasons that do not concern you. I was told to come to Nar Shaddaa and wait for a contact. Now, he isn't here and you are, with a Hutt Cartel mark on your datapad." Filius backed up a little and spread his arms.

"Care to explain?"

Filius was at the end of his rope. He needed to get into the Cartel. He needed to. It was the only way he was going to be able to find the Hutt that had turned him into the killer he was.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay raised a brow, though he couldn't see it behind her mask. He wasn't like a new recruit. At least not like the ones that she had encountered before. At least he stepped back and showed that for the moment, he wasn't a threat.

"You've been told to go to the wrong place. I can explain, but not right here. Follow me." She picked up the datapad and started towards the door. Whether or not [member="Filius Stellarum"] followed her or not, it was entirely up to him. Kay headed down the sidewalk. Most would go down an alley or something, but that would just draw attention.

 

[Filius Stellarum]

[member="Lady Kay"]
Filius was instantly suspicious. After all, his contact had said the cantina was the rendezvous. Why was this woman leaving? Still, Filius managed to suppress his feelings of suspicion, and followed the woman out of the cantina. He kept an anxious hand on his rifle, just in case.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay kept her pace slow and even until [member="Filius Stellarum"] caught up and walked beside her. "I'm not in the Cartel, but if you wanted to join up, I'd say to go to the White Palace. Some of it's members still go there. Many are off on their own, doing their own thing. Some have joined other underground groups to continue their...ways of making a living. That's my tip. You can go back to the cantina if you want, but you might have just been sent on wild nerf chase."

 

[Filius Stellarum]

Filius nodded to [member="Lady Kay"] as she gave him directions, but something she said bugged him. If she wasn't in the Cartel, why did she have a Cartel datapad?

"Pardon me for asking," Filius said, hoping politeness would make her more open than anger, "But if you are not part of the Cartel, why does your datapad have their sigil? Oh, and please don't lie. My rifle hates liars." Filius left the threat hanging as he waited for her response.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay clenched her free hand into a fist as he threatened her. Though it could be just an empty one. She kept walking, neither quickening or slowing her pace. "I put it on there myself. Seemed to do the trick too as it fooled you. Quite simply, I'm not their friend. I've cost them plenty of credits, ships and men. But it's been worth it. I've cut back on it though, so you needn't worry about whether or not they'll have enough to pay you with." She stopped walking just as they came to a fork in the road. "Now if you'll excuse me...This is where I leave you."

[member="Filius Stellarum"]

 

[Filius Stellarum]

[member="Lady Kay"]
"Wait," Filius said, moving around to block her exit, "Are you saying you are an infiltrator, a spy of sorts?"

This was the opportunity Filius needed, a person who knew about the inner workings of the Cartel that could help him infiltrate it and find his target.

"If that is the case," he said, "I need your help."

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay just smirked behind her helmet as he went from threatening her to needing her help. She folded her arms across her chest, still holding her datapad in one hand. "It's not that hard, especially in a cantina. The Cartel members like to drink. A disguise usually does the trick easily enough. Along with other things...." She tilted her head to the side as she looked to [member="Filius Stellarum"] , "Why do you need my help?"

 

[Filius Stellarum]

[member="Lady Kay"]
Filius looked around, making sure no one was watching, then dropped his voice low.

"I am not joining the Cartel out of the goodness of my heart," he said, "I have other plans. I am looking for someone. A Hutt, actually." Filius pointed to his cybernetic eye.

"He gave me these," he said, "And murdered my family in prison and my sister when the brainwashing started to make her go crazy. I was his slave, his personal gun-for-hire, for eighteen years." Filius looked around once more.

"I need to get into the Cartel so I can find him, and kill him," Filius said, "To get revenge for my family. He's the reason that the only thing I know how to do is kill."

 

[Kay-Larr]

Everyone had their story and this was his. "I've liberated a lot of the Cartel's slaves, disrupted their auctions and slave raids. But I didn't even think that some of their mercenaries were slaves, themselves. What's the Hutt's name and how did you get to be free of him?"

Brainwashing. Kay knew all about that. [member="Thraxis"] threw her in a mental institution for fun, and to try to break her. But it didn't work as well as he had hoped. Yet she didn't know what it was like to hate someone enough to want to kill them. She would rather avoid them.

[member="Filius Stellarum"]

 

[Filius Stellarum]

[member="Lady Kay"]
"I don't know who he is," Filius said, "Just that he's a Hutt. He was in charge of the project that made me an assassin. They called him 'Overlord', but that's all I know."

Before responding to her other question, Filius thought for a moment. Was he truly free of the Hutt that had turned him into this? True, he was his own man now, and killed when and if he felt like it, but he still could feel no emotion, was a remorseless killer, except for those rare times when his mind broke through and the man he was inside presented himself. Filius often wondered who he would have become had the Hutt not taken him. Would he still be a killer, or would he have been something more? In any case, he was an assassin now, and until he found some way to get the brainwashing out of his head he was going to stay that way.

"When his men came to kill me, I snapped," Fillius replied to Kay, "I killed everyone in sight, than burned the blasted facility to the ground. Then I stole a ship and ran."

 

[Kay-Larr]

She furrowed her brows. Overlord? That didn't ring any bells for her. Of course she only knew of one Hutt, but there were plenty more that dealt with the Cartel. "Well they were silly enough to think that they could take you out, given the training that they gave you. Do you always have that killer instinct? And after you find this Hutt and kill him, what then?" Yup, she was just full of questions. But this wasn't a normal situation. Usually when she went into Cartel territory, she was either escaping with her life, or setting up another slave liberation mission.

[member="Filius Stellarum"]

 

[Filius Stellarum]

[member="Lady Kay"]
"The instinct is always there, yes," Filius replied, "But I am not a wanton killer. I'm like a panther; I strike hard, fast, and with great precision."

He thought about her other question, then looked down at his feet. He felt a headache come on and gasped in pain, pressing a hand to his temple to try and get the pain to subside. Or a brief moment his mind strained against the brainwashing, trying to feel. But soon the pain was gone, and his brainwashed mind returned.

"I really don't know," Filius said, "The nature of my work. I was trained to not look past the next job."

 

[Kay-Larr]

His reaction worried her. If he was brainwashed that much to have such a reaction, then what else was he brainwashed to do? She had to be careful. "Have you killed anyone since they tried to kill you? I can help you get into the Cartel, but it would work out best for you if you were able to control yourself. You wouldn't want the Cartel to wizen up on your plans. Not all of them are idiots." [member="Filius Stellarum"] would need help after his mission was complete. That was certainly clear. Maybe some of the medics could help.

((OOC: I heard from Thraxis. He's away this week so his postings will be slow))