Afterlife

[Jsc]

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Afterlife​

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Coruscant.

The job was simple. You work for Masters, Chief of Security for Ambassador Giles Von Trap. An esteemed business contact and official representative of Empress Teta. One of the wealthiest worlds in the One Sith's most recent empire. Luckily, an evil empire that had been very recently destroyed.

Back to business. Von Trap was currently visiting the State Opera House. The exact same place you'll be waiting for him. Nearer Landing Pad C21. Later in the evening, you'll be escorting him to Afterlife via dropship. It's, one of those celebrity nightclubs for the rich and famous. Politicians come to dance, drink beer, and rub shoulders with the entertainment world's finest little coo-coo birds. But don't get cocky. Ever since the fall of the One Sith empire this whole towns been in chaos. Murder and assassination is at an all time high. Force Users are everywhere. So remember. Up here in the skylines of Coruscant?

Anything can happen.

.....


The State Opera House

Landing Pad C21 was a roof-top helipad located in the meditation gardens just off the opera. It was beautiful, green, and clear as the midnight sky. The stars were out in full force. Just beautiful.

Awaiting next to the sleek black dropship were two armed men. Dean Masters, the guy who paid the bills, and Jay Masaki. Your partner for the night. Probably just another smuggler type too. But, at least he could fly a dropship. That was something. Anyway, they were both clothed in black smuggler garb, vests underneath, and resting two CQC stun carbines in their arms. Lookin' sharp and ready-to-rumble.

Okay. So there it was. The night was young and the stage was set. At this point all [member="Kat'Lariah Syphex"] had to do was show up, guard a dimwit untill dawn, and then get paid just for looking good. Easy as pie. Heh,

What could possibly go wrong.

 

[Kat'Lariah Syphex]

Coruscant was exactly as Kat had remembered it. Bustling and full of life. Both the savory and unsavory kinds. Nothing made her stomach do backflips quite like the One Sith. Albeit the disjoint faction had abandoned this gem of a planet, the place still gave her pause when she had first considered taking this job. And yet she'd taken it. If anything made Kat'Lariah Syphex afraid, yoj could be damned sure she'd go at it head first.

Kat had chosen a relatively easy protection job for her foray into the abandoned territories. Low profile, nothing to be concerned about. Just guarding another hot-shot, who could be found a dime a dozen on this planet. No way any kind of intel on her could possibly make it back to her dysfunctional family.

Exiting the turbolift onto the moonlit rooftop, Kat too a deep breath of what passed as fresh air around here. Holding it in a moment she let it go. The sight before her was a beautiful one. And beauty was something she rarely found. Approaching the two men, blaster carbine and pistol both slung away and holstered, she raised a hand in greeting. "Hello boys!"

[member="Jay Masaki"]

 

[Jsc]

"You're late."

Masters scowled. She wasn't of course. That was just this guy's style. Drill-sergeant. Even had the haircut too.

"Yo."

The other guy nodded. Chewing on a stick of gum and obviously, obviously, checking [member="Kat'Lariah Syphex"] out. Nodding. As if she would do.

"Shut up Masaki. Okay you two love birds. Here's the deal. The Ambassador will arrive with his escort through that very turbolift. He won't talk to you. He won't look at you. He doesn't even want to know you exist. Got it? ...All you two numbskulls have to do is pilot his dropship to Afterlife and fly him home in the morning. That's it. Hell... It's so easy not even you could screw this up Masaki."

"Sure. Whatever you say boss."

"Shut it. ...And you. New girl. I don't know how you got on my roster of regulars, but listen up. If you even think about screwing this up or endangering the Ambassador? Ha. I will personally destroy your life and leave you so monetarily desperate you won't have shoes or socks to wear tomorrow morning. Is that clear? Well? Do you get me soldier!?"

Ugh.

...

Jay sort of just, smiled and nodded as Dean blew off steam towards the FNG. The old drill sergeant was laying it on real thick today. Really trying to impress the lady. Yeah. He could tell. As, it was obvious Syphex wasn't the usual moron-with-a-gun that took these kinds of jobs. Heck. Jay was just glad it wasn't another Mando. Gods... How those guys LOVED to screw up the easiest things. Thank goodness Dean had picked somebody new. That list of regulars was horrible.

So, as Masters finished his theatrical tirade. Jay just kind of smiled to Kat. A smirk that said, welcome to the club.

You're gonna hate this job.

 

[Kat'Lariah Syphex]

"Being monetarily desperate is why I took this job sir." the young woman fired back without missing a beat. "Your ambassador is in good hands as long as I'm around...and your friend doesn't screw up." she said the last bit humorously, tossing a mischievous glance at her partner.


This is gonna be fun she thought to herself sarcastically. At least she didn't have to worry about getting shot this time around. The boss, Dean Masters, seemed to be a bit of a harsh customer. Maybe taking it over the top a little. The other, [member="Jay Masaki"], she had a feeling he knew what he was doing. The Force had a funny way of making the ones who seemed the least capable to actually be the ones who pulled your butt outta the fire when you needed it.

Hopefully though no pulling, of the butt or anything else, would be required. If this Ambassador did decide to overstep his boundaries, she was going to toss him out of the nearest window and catch the first flight off this hunk of metal.

 

[Jsc]

"Fair enough!"

Dean barked and threw up his hands. Bah. Amatuers! Everywhere he went. Amatuers.

"Masaki! Get her ready. ...And I mean the ship, you idiot."

"You got it boss."

"Alright. I'm going back inside where it's warm. You two have the ball. ...Don't. Drop. It."

Jay gave a mock salute and a wink towards [member="Kat'Lariah Syphex"] . Thank goodness he was leaving. Another speech like that and they'd both be running away from this rock. Sheesh.

Masaki opened the long sliding door to the dropship and climbed in. Turning around with a school boy's smile as Masters took his leave,

"I'm Jay. Jay Masaki. Pilot, smuggler, and tourist. ...And you would be?"

He offered his hand from the door.

 

[Kat'Lariah Syphex]

Kat clasped his hand allowed [member="Jay Masaki"] to help hoist her into the dropship. "Kat'lariah Syphex. Pilot, Smuggler, Bounty Hunter, One-Time Pirate, and the last girl you wanna piss off tonight." she said to the older man, rolling her eyes at his smile. Not that she minded the attention. "You can just call me Kat though."

Kat turned around and strode to the cockpit, seating herself in the pilot's seat. She began to power on various systems and check fuel and other necessary operations before the Ambassador arrived. Hopefully this night would go by with out much of an issue.

"All system's are green." she said to Jay, not looking at him. All that was left to do was start the engines and lift off once the Ambassador arrived.

 

[Jsc]

Masaki visibly balked as [member="Kat'Lariah Syphex"] took the pilot's seat. His pilot's seat.

"Um,.. Sure. Co-pilot it is then? I guess."

Any thought of flirting with poor Kat instantly disintegrated. She had just taken his pilot's seat. Bah! Nobody does that!

He was about to mumble something else when the turbolift came back around. Ah. Just great. The Ambassador was already here. Damn. So much for negotiating his seat back from long-legs here. Nope. They'd have to wing it. No time to cause a scene. The Ambassador would not suffer any delays.

"Alright then. She's all yours then. ...Hope you know what your doing."

Jay buckled himself in. With a slight nod to the glass outside.

...

Von Trap was a remarkably tall and ruggedly handsome man. Human with a strong, square-edged jaw. Tall, postured hair, and a thin distinguished mustache. He walked like a military man and dressed like a statesman. A long red robe that hide his black Tetan business suit well. His entourage was six armed guards. All human, carbines in their hands, and wearing lavish ceremonial leathers. A great, grand show of force that was not uncommon in the Core Worlds these days. Sure the Galactic Alliance still held Triple Zero. But not every dark ripple had subsided from this very fragile pond. Pirates were everywhere.

The guards stopped short of the helipad and Von Trap boarded the aircraft. His voice was strong and commanding. If somewhat cold and aloof,

"Pilot. We make for Afterlife. On the double."

Jay put on his helmet that covered his eyes. Nodding to Kat to make a reply.

This was her show now.

 

[Kat'Lariah Syphex]

A smirk took its place on Kat's face at the obvious discomfort she'd just generated with her partner. She had had a feeling that [member="Jay Masaki"] would be accustomed to taking the lead with everything. He was going to be a fun one. She gave him a quick glance and satisfied smile. "Fine, you lead next time. I wanna see what you can do." Her voice left her lips like honey, a hint of a second meaning hidden beneath the obvious one.

As the Ambassador arrived with his armed entourage Kat shook her head in dismay. Really? Leather armor? What are those blasters made of wood? Kat obviously knew that the carbines were quite real, but she still found the choice of presentation over actual protection to be a drastic mistake. Just because you didn't expect to be attacked didn't mean it wouldn't happen, and if it did, a thin layer of leather wasn't going to do jack diddly.

"We make for Afterlife. On the double." said the gruff looking man. Great another military type... Kat returned Jay's nod of the head with a likewise motion before powering on the dropship, the craft beginning to hover off the helipad that had served as it bed for the past few minutes. "Copy that sir, destination: Afterlife." Hopefully Hell for a stuck up bosh'tet like you. she wanted to add in. She didn't.

Kat silently guided the sleek ship through the Coruscanti skyline, speeders and buildings passing by in blurs. The man had asked for double time after all.

 

[Jsc]

There was an uncomfortable lull to the silence that followed. Just the rock of the ship and the roar of the engines to keep you cool. It took a minute for Masaki to trust [member="Kat'Lariah Syphex"] intuition with the ship. His dark eyes watching the scopes for any sign that Kat might suddenly lose her cool, and lose control of the vessel. Luckily, That didn't happen. Good. So the tension slowly drained from Jay's jawline. Well. Some of it anyway.

The ride was quick and the Ambassador didn't say a word. Master's had been right about one thing. The dignitary didn't even know his pilot's existed. Even as the vessel slowly came to a landing over the black pit that was the intake valve of Afterlife's heli-shoot, the old man didn't budge. Just stared out his window as the sky disappeared up into the black pit that was their new parking garage. Masaki reached up and pulled the door's compression lever as they touched down. Looking back at their guest,

"Feet on the ground, and the door's open sir. Welcome to Afterlife."

"Mm. Well enough."

Von Trap shuffled over to the door and dismounted the craft. Jay watched him go through his visor. Staring at him go. It was an odd look. A long drawn-out stare that Jay didn't have to give. Even if you hated the man. Even if the Ambassador kicked your dog and stole your girl. Nah. You didn't have to stare like Masaki did just now. No. No. This was something else. Then, finally. After an eternity in a cold and mirthless flight through the skylanes. They were free.

They could breath again.

"Alright. He's gone."

Jay's voice had changed as he unclipped from his chair. Harder now.

"Okay. We're good for at least three hours. I'll check the fuel cap and get the big guns. ...You grab the explosives and set the dropship to blow. We'll make this quick."

No.

This was something else.

 

[Kat'Lariah Syphex]

A confused and slightly confused look greeted Jay's comment. "Explosives? I thought this was just another protection job? What's going on?" While Kat didn't really have any problems with doing some killing on a job, this hadn't been what she'd signed up for. And blowing up a building full of innocents wasn't exactly on her bucket list. What was going on here?

@Jay Misaki

 

[Jsc]

Jay turned around as he exited the craft. Shrugging. As if nothing had really changed.

"What? You don't recognize a set-up when you see one?"

He motioned to the empty parking garage. Spinning about as if to encompass the whole world about. They were alone. Very, very alone.

"A new girl guarding an Ambassador. A nobody flying as her co-pilot with her. Zero security escorts. Either here nor in the air. The Chief of Security deciding suddenly to not come along. I'm issued a stun carbine and no secondary. Even the Old Man's secretary didn't accompany us. Nah. Nah. Better face it darling. ...We've been hung out to dry."

Masaki pointed back towards the elevator door.

"See. My bet is that the next thing that comes up that elevator door is gonna be bad news for both of us. Bad bad, news. Probably here to kill us and the Old Man too. Just look around. See this parking garage. This deck should be well full to capacity tonight. Yet it ain't. It's just us and hundreds of meters of empty empty concrete space. Nah. This ain't a parking lot tonight. ...It's a kill box."

He opened up a secret compartment in the back of the dropship and withdrew a very strange weapon. A Firemane Special. A flash grenade Bolter. The baby blue-bonnie of Omega Pyre. Hell yes to that firepower. Woo! And better yet. He had two of them back there.

"So. Way I see it? You've got two choices. You can stay here in Afterlife and kick some assassin butt? Maybe clear your name. Or... You can fly that dropship to the nearest starport and leave this planet alive. Hoping and believing. Praying and sighing. That Masters doesn't put your name on the list of assassins that killed Von Trap tonight. Which... Meh. He probably will."

Jay loaded a huge magazine of flash grenades into his Bolt Gun. Click. Lock. Loaded.

"Okay. Your call Kat. But choose quickly now. There ain't no telling when Master's assassins will be coming for us? Frell. They've probably got the Old Man already."

Leave or stay. Risk a Tetan bounty or risk it all. For [member="Kat'Lariah Syphex"] , it was time to choose. But worse yet? Was that sinking, dark, and troubling feeling. That this wasn't the end of the twists and turns her story would take for the night. No.

This party was just getting started.

 

[Kat'Lariah Syphex]

Kat listened intently to what the older man had to say. And this was exactly what she'd been trying to avoid on the planet. Being noticed. Well this was one helluva way to get noticed! "Phrik!" the woman cursed. He was right. "Hand me the explosives. I've got bounties on my head anyways, what's one more." The woman held her hand out for the bag of explosives as she stood, her other switching her carbine from stun to kill.

No way in the galaxy was she gonna just sit around and hope to have her name cleared. Least of all on Coruscant. If her family caught wind of this, and they surely would, her brother would come here looking for blood. It wasn't exactly something she looked forward to.

Besides, she had a feeling @Jay Misaki was going to do whatever suited him. She may as well go along for the ride at this point, everything thing else had been karked to hell already anyways.

 

[Jsc]

There was a long pause on Masaki face as [member="Kat'Lariah Syphex"] decided to join him. A hesitation that spoke towards a man who had seen way too many good girls die from this kinda thing. Then. Just like that. It was gone. She was onboard whether he liked it or not. Jay decided instead, to have faith that Kat was crazy enough to see this through. Yep. Hell or high water. They were in this mess together.

"Okay pilot." He tossed her a sack filled with remotely detonated plastic explosives and their trigger, "Put em' where they can't see em'. We'll start this party with a bang."

Now. Yeah. Destroying your transport ship and your only escape route was the dumbest idea a mercenary could ever have. It was rule number one, really. Always have an escape plan. But? Jay figured the ship was bugged or marked anyway. More of a liability at this point than a clean way out. It was a big risk to take. But, it would almost certainly be an unexpected turn by their enemies.

"Oh. Hey Kat. You ever stolen an Airspeeder before? There are plenty on the decks below us and, we'll need a way out of this mess eventually. Actually. Two. If we can manage it."

As Kat marked the shipped, Jay moved around the empty lot looking for cameras and more bad news. Sure enough. He found two security cameras. Already dead. Not broadcasting and easily unplugged. Damn.

Worse yet was the fact that the stairs were chained too. Barred on the opposite side of the metal door to prevent entry. Or escape. Damn! Somebody was going to a lot of trouble tonight. This wasn't good. Time to check and see if the lift still worked.

"Kark. I knew it. No cameras. Nobody wants to record what's going to happen here tonight. ...Wait? What's that?"

Ding. Ding. The turbolift starting coming back up. Far, far too early in the night to be the Ambassador's return. Masaki doubted it was because of his button pushing either. There were still no lights on the console.

"Ughh... Kat. How's it coming back there? I think we're about to have some company!"

Gods,

How he hated being right about an ambush.

 

[Kat'Lariah Syphex]

"Last ones in place!" she said to @Jay Misaki as she pushed the last of the plastic explosive onto the wall of the dropship. On the other side of the cold metal sat the fuselage. When the button was pressed, that explosion was goin to big. And Kat was willing to bet that in the small space of the parking lot, itd be even bigger.

She hopped out of the dropship and rushed behind the only solid thing there was. The giant bomb that she had just fashioned. "You better blast the chains off those doors Jay cause I do not feel a blaze of glory right now!". She trained her carbine on theelevator doors, waiting for them to open, finger hovering above the trigger.

 

[Jsc]

[member="Kat'Lariah Syphex"] had the right idea.

Jay turned and fired off a round at the stairwell. The grenade exploded with gusto right before Masaki came charging it down with his shoulder. The door cracked off it's hinges and allowed them a way downstairs.

"Okay! Hurry!"

Hopefully they could escape into the lower level before Kat blew the aircraft. Meanwhile, a daring group of cyborg Assassins awaited their small elevator's arrival to the top floor. They had two pilots to take care of.

 

[Kat'Lariah Syphex]

Taking one step backward at a time, Kat moved to the elevator, eyes fixed on the elevator door. Only a couple meters from her escape the bell rang like that of a church's. As soon as the first crack appeared, Kat let loose, blaster rays pinging off the inside of the elevator, one or two nicking those inside and forcing them to take cover behind the durasteel doors. Kat broke contact and rushed into the stairwell behind her, "Move your ass!" she cried at the man in front of her.

[member="Jay Masaki"]

 

[Jsc]

The cyborgs took cover as one of their comrades ate blaster dust. Ha! It certainly did appear that they were not expecting their quarry to be ready for them. Good.

"Aye aye captain!"

Jay grunted in reply. He was already half-way down the stairwell when Kat passed the threshold. Way he figured? When she pressed that button, he wanted to be as far away from top level as possible.

He covered his face and fired another grenade at the lower doorway. He heard the explosion as he leaned against the stairwell wall. Boom! Gah. Damn. So loud. So unnecessary. He shook his head and jumped the rest of the way. Landing just in time to smash the door open to Level 03. Two floors down.

Okay. Looks clear. If [member="Kat'Lariah Syphex"] was gonna blow their ship, now was probably the time. Then they could recollect down here and see how many gunmen survived.

 

[Kat'Lariah Syphex]

She wasted no time at all, as soon as her foot struck the floor, one flight below the giant she pressed the button, an explosion racking the building dust coming loose from the walls and cieling, cracks spidered across the edges, a new hole in the center of the garage. She stumbled slightly onto the third floor, "Id say they went out with a bang"

[member="Jay Masaki"]

 

[Kat'Lariah Syphex]

She wasted no time at all, as soon as her foot struck the floor, one flight below the giant she pressed the button, an explosion racking the building dust coming loose from the walls and cieling, cracks spidered across the edges, a new hole in the center of the garage. She stumbled slightly onto the third floor, "Id say they went out with a bang"

[member="Jay Masaki"]

 

[Jsc]

Masaki moved to cover behind a parked vehicle. Taking a moment look around and see if they were really alone. Which, yeah. It looked like they were. ...For now.

"I'm not gonna argue with ya. Nice pull. They never knew what hit them."

The explosion would not go unnoticed in this part of town. Soon there would be police, droids, drones, news cams, and onlookers. Nahh. It was time to go.

"Alright. Now it's time to get out of here. Let's look around for a car to borrow. We don't want to be here when the cops show up."

Jay stood up and looked around the bay. Tons of vehicles to choose from. All he had to do now was snag one and make their getaway. Jay could deal with Master's betrayal later. Even with [member="Kat'Lariah Syphex"] here. That was a mission for another time.