Faction Ghost in the Machine [Darkwire]

[Darkwire Prophet]

In a little-known taproom within Misery-Upon-Dream, a Duros cyborg sat down at the bar, putting his hat down next to him on the counter. Once he had his drink in front of him, the Duros primed the barkeep with a bit of small talk before asking, "You ever hear of the Meluxur apartments building?"

"Sure, what's it to ya?"

"I'm looking for someone who used to live there," the Duros said, swirling his drink as if the answer was unimportant.

"What, you going Corpo now?" the barkeep asked with a hint of indignation. Corpos weren't welcome around these parts. "Sniffing around, collecting evidence, trying to frame someone for a...slice or snatch or something?"

"I'm looking for Frankie, sleemo!" The Duros put down his glass, leering his red eyes deep into the barkeep's thick skull. "You remember Frankie; mod-girl, slicer, built the life of steady work you're living now instead of wallowing in the slums?"

"Oh yeah, yeah. Sorry, I didn't know you was trying to find Frankie," the barkeep said, picking up a glass to examine it.

"So?" The Duros prompted again, "The building?"

"Oh, that," the barkeep grabbed a towel, finally deciding that the glass needed a wipe. "It was down on Tibanna Avenue, just past that new speeder garage."

"Was?"

"Yeah, was," confirmed the barkeep, raising the wiped glass up to his eye to inspect his work. "Didn't ya hear? It burned down a few months ago. I guess someone crashed a speeder into one of the fuel lines, and what didn't blow up started burning up. The whole place went up in a matter o' minutes! Fifty-two dead, couple of 'em kids, too."

"That's tragic..." The Duros picked up his glass again, raising it in a toast.

"You new to these parts or something? That's what we call Taungsday."

"That it is," the Duros agreed, finishing off his drink and setting it down. He picked up his hat, saying, "You have a good day now."

"Hey, wait, wait," the barkeep said, curious now. "Why you asking me, anyway? Couldn't scope it out on the Holonets or nothing?"

"I may have mods, but I'm no slicer," the cyborg admitted with a wry grin. "Besides, you think I want the Corpos sending a speeder into my building?"

"Oh right. Well, if you need a good hack, I know some people."

The Duros just raised a pair of fingers in salute as he stood and walked out of the bar, having gotten everything he came for.

Darkwire Storyteller

>> * --xING! COMM\ \\
<\Hello Darkwire, here's the story:
<\You may remember Frankie, our best slicer in years. She brought in plenty of credits and helped make the CryptNet what it is today.
<\She was also instrumental in helping our corporate benefactors gain power here on Denon, and they have reaped the benefits handsomely. Despite how quickly they demonize us in public, despite how doggedly their CorpSec hounds pursue us, they cannot deny that we are the reason they rule.
<\Frankie disappeared shortly after their rise to power, a coincidence I found most disturbing.
<\It also appears that Frankie's place of residence was razed by fire, destroying any clues that might have found there.
<\However, I do not believe Frankie died by fire or bullet. I believe she is still alive, unable to return to us. Even without her apartment, I have several leads for you:
<\Qanatain Xopsaloff has employed a strange new slicer who has been making life difficult for Larz Blackheart's business. Corpo squabbles are not our concern, but the slicer's skill and signature is suspiciously close to Frankie's.
<\One of the back-alley fighting rings owned by Ms. Luminous Sun has featured a new combatant recently, one who fits the description of Frankie, mods and all.
<\A CorpSec officer, over booze and a card game, let slip that they have been 'hosting' a high-profile prisoner as of late at MirCir Prison in the Volgho Hollows ward.
<\Follow these leads and bring me answers.

Spoiler: OOC Instructions

Feel free to roam and explore Denon, including our Seven Corners district sandbox. You can even come up with a lead not mentioned above. This story is all about the journey, not the destination, so feel free to get up to hijinks, mischief and crime as you wish.

Every separate lead will result in a found Frankie...and every Frankie believes she is the real deal. Deliver your Frankie to Hacks' swanky apartment, which used to be the top floor of a building on Belazura, when you've found her.

That's all, have fun!

 

[Noah Gloom]

Location: Denon
Objective: Pull myself outta a gutter
Tags: Binary l Darkwire Prophet
​

Noah was lying in the gutter feeling slightly sorry for himself mumbling to himself. He had been drunk for days after several bad misses with the jedi orders. Noah had thought they would help him with his powers instead they didn't help him much at all. He scoffed to himself, "kill a sith and your a knight even though you have never had a master and as such none of the masters will even give you the time of day." He slowly gathered himself up his cloak wet from the days he had spent in the gutter.

His face was a mess his usually clean shaven face now had a beard that had bits and pieces through it. He was still carrying a long bag that contain his families' spear which he would never give up and on his belt was still his light sabre which hadn't failed to keep him safe on the nights in the gutter. He brushed most of the crap off himself and slowly made his way to his favourite bar The Misery-Upon-Dream he walked in and overheard a conversation about a missing person who had apparently been 'killed'

He had been to a prison once he knew all about people being 'killed' and it sounded like this one was particularly useful to someone. Perhaps he should begin hunting down them. He quietly thought about it more as he swaddled up to the bar. "Hey barkeep I hear we have a missing friend. I wouldn't mind going to find them myself." The barkeep snorted at noah before he continued "No need for that now, come on I am the warlock of celestia." The barkeep would stop what he was doing looking noah in the eye carefully saying. "Funny I thought he left to be a jedi."

Noah sighed and looked depressed "Yeah well sometimes we don't get what we want do we. I kicked myself out of the jedi cause I didn't get the time of day from any of them after I killed a sith. You'd think it would be the opposite but it's probably for the best about time I got back to my roots." The barkeep nodded "yeah well they could use a medic maybe this group tell ya what I will send you towards where you might be able to meet at least one of them." Noah nodded "Thanks I owe you a big one." Barkeep shook his head "Forget about it your the one who kept my brother alive in that prison hole. It's on the house, drink still isn't though." Noah nodded sliding the last of his credits and downed the drink heading off towards where the barkeep had told him.

He cleaned himself up and went to the corpo building he was looking for. Once he found the building he began looking around it carefully for an easy entrance finding a back door which he carefully picked open. Well prison was good for a lot of tricks and skills of the trade he thought to himself as he stepped inside and began planing a way to find out where a hacker of such a calibre be found.

 

[Shira Varanin]

MirCir Prison

The corporate cop at the front desk slid Shira's ID back to her. "Nope, no jurisdiction. And don't even think about karking my brain, Jedi." He pointed at the nearest security cameras, of which there were several. "Now move along before I take a closer look at that glowstick on your belt."

Shira literally bit her tongue to keep from tearing him a metaphorical new one. Objectively, he wasn't wrong. Working with the OPA and the Jedi, she'd come to expect a certain level of professional courtesy - deference, or at least accommodation. This planet enjoyed making her and her universe feel small. Seven Corners alone had as many people as most Outer Rim worlds. It didn't care about her little slice of a business on Bespin. It didn't care about the lightstaff she carried. It didn't care that she'd commanded starships in battle and killed Sith cultists in bulk.

That enraged part of her. Another part, a quiet but interesting part, found it refreshing. Authentic, inescapable, like she'd peeled away a lesser layer of reality.

None of that changed the fact that she couldn't get into MirCir Prison without taking a large step outside the box and staying there.

 

[Hacks]

Suicide Slums, Denon . . .

"They're gaining on us, Hacks!" the gunslinger 'Liberty River' shouted, a slug shot out from her handcannon, slamming into a dirt boy rider and sending him flying off his speeder. His head crashed with a sickening crack on the pavement, a dozen different speeders flashed past. A salvo of blaster bolts narrowly flew overhead. Hacks swore, "I know, I know!" She hit the throttle, engine roaring. "Why the kark did CorpSec install speed inhibitors in their bikes!?" she screamed, frustrated. Empty streets whizzed by the duo, everyone in this sector had ran to their homes at the first sound of trouble. Sirens shrieked in the distance. CorpSec was coming.

"We gotta lose em!" Liberty warned Hacks, panic creeping into her tone. Their bike was coughing out dark acrid plumes of toxic smoke. A blaster bolt had hit the power housing unit and the bikes energy reserves were quickly depleting. "What the hell did you do to make them this pissed off?" she asked Hacks, "I thought you were meeting with Zerø for spice!" Hacks shouted over the sound of blasters, slugs and sirens, "Yeah well I took a souvenir," a mechanical hand held up a data chip and then quickly slipped it into the safety of a pocket. Ahead of them the rain began to pour in earnest, gutters flooding. Windows, billboards and speeders in the distance reflected flashing blue and red lights. They were getting closer.

"What's on the chip!?" Liberty asked, reloading her handcannon and then firing a volley of slugs. "Slicing code," Hacks said, "Someone has been messing with Larz Blackheart and sliced into Zerø's warehouse. The signature is way too familiar." Liberty groaned, Hacks turned to see the womans shirt was covered in ash, her shoulder crusted in dried blood and exposed charred bone. A glancing shot from a blaster, but enough to put her shooting arm out. "Stay with me, Liberty!" Hacks shouted, Liberty reached with her only good arm around Hacks' stomach, holding on tight.

A dozen CorpSec vehicles descended from the skies, the Zerø dirt boys shouting incoherently in the distance and scrambled into the nearest alleys, a hasty escape. The energy reserves on Hacks' speeder flashed red, the bike sputtered and coughed. The engine cut out and they crashed hard into the asphalt, sliding along the road until they came to a stop against several dumpsters. CorpSec security moved in, weapons raised, "Freeze! You're under arrest!"

Hacks shook her head, stunned by the sudden crash. She reached into her pocket to make sure the chip was safe but found it empty, panic and fear swelled in her throat. She glanced around and spotted the chip some distance away resting in the gutter. Kark. "You're going to MirCir Prison, Shadowrunner," the CorpSec officer spat, pushing the barrel of his disruptor rifle against the mod-junkies chest.

A powerful crack rang out in the streets, the officer crumpled to the ground, his shoulders no longer had a head to support. Liberty River rested against a bin "Not if I have anything to say about it," the gunslinger said, struggling to hold her gun, barely conscious, but the woman wasn't a quick enough draw to get the jump on the other officer. A flash of yellow energy. Liberty screamed, then silence. She stiffened, mouth agape as she disintegrated into ash. "Liberty!" Hacks shrieked in absolute horror, reaching out with desperate arms at what little remained of the other shadowrunner. "Try it and you're next," the officer warned, Hacks looked up as the butt of a rifle took her in the chin and all turned to black.​

 

[Emraj Hosdole]

Emraj sat back against his seat in the speeder while his partner was tapped into the security officer's helmet cam. He was half asleep after sleeping for two hours but he was bound to wake himself up when they captured Hacks that parasite the corporation's been making him chase for weeks now. "They got her!" His partner said with excitement making Emraj jump in his seat. "Alright take us to her." He said sitting himself up in his seat when the speeder rushed to the scene of the crime.

This felt like every other bounty he hunted in the past. Emraj tried to catch Hacks for a couple weeks now, so he was expecting a clean pick up while expecting a large bonus and a job well done. As the speeder pulled up, security officers and their speeders surrounded Hacks unconscious body while patrol officers blocked off access to the scene. As his speeder touched down at the scene, Emraj and his young human male partner walked to the security officers showing their Corpsec Detective badges and walked up to Hacks and the lead officer who stood above her. "How was she?"

"She had someone with her but as you can see they didn't really last. We were gonna take her to Shadowrunner."

"Good. I'll escort her there and report that we finally caught this Nerfherder.”

“Yes sir. Let’s load her up!” The security officer signaled for the cage speeder to descend. “Be gentle. They want don’t want her broken.” He instructed the officer placing her inside. Any scratch or dent on her would result in a deduction from his bonus. When she was loaded in, Emraj and the other Corpsec guys went back into their speeders. “Shadowrunner, go.” He said to his partner as the speeders escorted Hacks to where she was wanted. “Good job chasing her down sir. We get this done, we get bonuses, promotions, and the satisfaction of a job well done to top it all off.”

“We’re not out of the woods yet lad. Just take us there.”

Emraj knew how excited he was. This was his first big case and since he was young he was eager and Emraj understood that. But he couldn’t afford to have him lose sight of reality. Darkwire is always out there and he had the cases to show for it and with Hacks now in their clutches, he’d be damned these upstarts would let the man get away with this without a few burning buildings.

 

[Shira Varanin]

Hacks Emraj Hosdole

Outside the front door of MirCir Prison, Shira watched three-dimensional traffic blink its way through the ecumenopolis. She very much wanted a death stick, or another rendezvous with a certain gunslinger she'd met here on Denon. Neither inclination led anywhere healthy, but right now that had its appeal.

The prison's public entrance bordered on a hovercar street, suited for low-altitude luxury vehicles and such, She looked both ways and crossed it to lean on a railing overlooking a very long fall. Maybe half a dozen stories down was the prison's other entrance, the one where armored, guarded convoys brought in the residents. One such convoy was pulling in now.

Her neural implants had various specialized slots; an iBorg Stowaway Node nested comfortably in one of them. As she slid through the railing and jumped off, she toggled it and vanished - not from the naked eye, but from lifeform scanners and infrared too. Most Jedi could fall from a serious height and land safely. Shira and her friends on Cloud City had taken that ability a step farther and learned to fall safely from terminal velocity. Arms and legs outstretched, Shira plummeted toward the prisoner convoy far below.

She called on the Force as strongly as she could to slow her fall. One metal hand clamped onto the bottom edge of the main prisoner transport speeder. With an almighty yank, she came to a halt. The prisoner transport's bulk barely rocked.

Invisible to sensors, Shira tucked herself into the undercarriage and rode the convoy right into the prison.

 

[Emraj Hosdole]

Hacks Shira Varanin

The convoy made its way into the MirCir prison. The speeders entered the prison when its doors opened to reveal a garage full of speeders with a space in the lot reserved for the convoy. There the warden and a few correctional guards were waiting on Hacks so they can put her away. "Thanks for catching her investigator. She's been a priority of ours for a while now. We're lucky you came along." The warden said while Hacks was being placed on a levitated stretcher and escorted by a few prison guards to be taken to her cell. Corpsec's job was done, so they got in their speeders and left, leaving Emraj and the warden to deal with Hacks.

They all entered the elevator to be taken down to the sub levels where the Corpos kept their high value prisoners. Anyone who would threaten the Corporate Authority's existence was placed down here and Hacks was given that honor. Cells like hers were monitored at all times while the cell walls were covered with shock inducing wiring to further isolate and torture the prisoner. This was all controlled and monitored by a small guard station that overlooked the whole bloc and there were blaster turrets that pointed down below at the blocks that ran on an independent power source in case the cell doors opened. On the cell there were also two slits on a heavy metal door that only opened from the outside with an ID card that had two slots, one for the eyes, and other for anything to be slipped through from the bottom. No way would anyone ever breakout. But Emraj had his doubts for sure. Darwkire was definitely out there and Emraj was sure to talk to the warden about his security concerns. But while that was going on, Hacks was placed in the center of her cell before requested otherwise by the Corporate Authority.

Emraj would follow the warden to the top floor that was his office while the guards dispersed to their posts and his partner would wait for him at the speeder. As they made it Emraj made himself comfortable at the sofa in the middle of the room while warden strode to his desk. "If you have any concerns mister investigator, you should know that no one has ever broken out of this facility. This is Dennon's most solid maximum security prison, if they did try to break out they would end up dead."

"I disagree wholeheartedly warden." Emraj said disregarding the warden's boasting.

"Excuse me?"

"Hacks is darkwire and is one of the organizations most essential members. Need I remind you that they're resourceful. I was just coming to let you know that we should improve the security system to prevent darkwire from breaking her out."

"Don't waste your breath mr. investigator. We've never had a Darkwire operative attempt to escape this place at all. They usually end up dead anyway."

"How many darkwire operatives have you held here?"

A brief moment of silence fell upon the room as the warden actually took a few seconds to consider it before giving his answer. "Two...? Maybe four."

Emraj just rubbed his eyes in exasperation. This man was useless, this whole prison was a joke if it couldn't see the danger darkwire really posed to the corporations of Denon.

 

[Mr Black]

Sat in one of his offices reading about a lawsuit from a particularly risky swoop race driven by a slightly overzealous but timely mechanical masterpiece… on cue drinking a palette cleansing check of some particularly icy ice-tea. Well that investment hadn’t paid off. Good thing droids were more reliable to their NDA’s than people, when they crashed and burned it was always swept up cleanly or at least with a backhanded payoff.

“Sir.”

“We have incident reports from an operative in the local corpsec that might prove useful. Sending it to you now.”

File received.... Reading.... Reading... Reading... End of File.

“Very timely Selane, I’d like to handle this one personally.”

“Something in black sir?”

He scoffed over the intercom and didn’t dignify that with an answer.

Tags: Emraj Hosdole | Shira Varanin | Hacks | Noah Gloom
Location: Prison. Break out no. Break-in? Yes.

Later at the prison, there was a knock...

Emraj Hosdole
….and the door opened. How many darkwire operatives are housed here? "One more today."

Black suit, well-pressed black shirt, trousers, squeaky clean shoes. A certain corpsec contributor to the prison entered. Invariably some armor, shield generator and weapon or three underneath that formalwear. “Good catch.” Black remarked to Emraj, “i hear it's been a successful outing.” What was this, games, politics, money? All of them.

As always outside the door there were a few other rent-a-cops with him from apex security, and one that looked especially rigid in its movements, like it wasn’t quite human, that particular one entered behind him.

Offering a cigarette to Emraj and the warden, he lit one himself, the white-stick perhaps for poetic license to stand out over his black suit, both in its odd dac-ocean aroma and blueish tint which now filled the room. Not unpleasant but probably not protocol to be smoking either, maybe the warden was at least on a ‘second’ name basis with black, contracts and credits handing out special favors.

“You’ll be getting a bonus for this…” he took a long drag on the cigarette. "Mr?"

 

[Emraj Hosdole]

Mr Black
"Hosdole. And thanks, been trying to catch that tumor for weeks now so..."

Emraj said with a lingering bitterness in his voice as he took the cigarette. He needed it given there was no alcohol around. This guy was probably someone from Starlight's office. She finally got her big break and sent one of her lackeys as a mouthpiece to tell him how good he did his job and they'll take Hacks away, hopefully to kill her. She's caused millions of credits in property damage already.

He took a puff from his cigarette and spoke to Mr. Black the same way he spoke he did with any other rep from Starlight's office. "I know, you're here for the girl and you're gonna take her to maker-only-knows-where. Keep a close eye on her. Ms. S would probably kick you to the mailroom if she found out you lost the girl she's been chasing for months."

 

[Shira Varanin]

Emraj Hosdole Mr Black

When the corp sec boys hustled Hacks out of the convoy and took her to her cell, Shira followed. This place was brimming with security cameras, of course, and Shira's implants made her too distinctive to blend in with a stolen uniform. And wouldn't you know it, the ventilation shafts had bars and alarms at ten- or fifteen-meter intervals. This place was actually secure.

One unusual option presented itself. There'd be consequences, maybe for the rest of her life. She'd given her name and showed her face.

But busting Hacks out of this place was probably the right thing to do. Probably.

Shira huddled in the ventilation shaft for a good five minutes, just outside the range of the obstruction sensors. Force-related instinct told her she could get about two meters from a given set of bars without triggering an alarm. She stayed there and thought it over.

Then she let out a shaky breath, slid out of the shaft, activated both blades of her lightstaff, and started carving through walls.

Used properly, a lightstaff could cut a rough door in a handful of seconds. She'd had quite a bit of practice at this. Cut, step through. Cut, step through. She made a beeline for Hacks, courtesy of the eyes of the Force.

 

[Hacks]

Hacks woke up with what felt like a hangover but she didn't remember drinking beer last night. She moved her jaw and winced in pain. She went to touch her face but realized all four hands were in cuffs. "You're joking," she said aloud, looking around to see the cell she was in. "Wait," she muttered to herself and looked down at her lower arms, the mechanical cybernetics. With a series of neural pulses the cybernetic made a strange cracking noise and her hand disconnected from its wrist, both of them fell to the cell floor. She pulled her mechanical arms free of the binders then reattached the hands with the help of her still-bound upper arms.

She glanced around the room and spotted the security camera in a corner of the ceiling. She turned to face it and raised two middle fingers to the camera and began a long series of cursing that didn't stop for some time. She was shouting at the camera, "KARK YOU YAH' DOG FOITO!!" She was jumping up and down as she swore over and over, spitting towards the camera and continuing her tirade. She grabbed the heavy binders from the floor and hurled it at the camera. A loud bang followed, the binders fell back down but then so did the camera. She reached over and picked it up, held it towards her face and gave a final finger to 'the man' and then squashed the rectangular camera between her two mechanical hands.

 

[Mr Black]

Tags: Emraj Hosdole | Shira Varanin | Hacks

“You know I’ve had the exact same problem. Ghosts.” Black took a puff, looked to the warden and back. That was honest, he had been tracking them for months, ever since he had lost three important trading accounts. Only recently making contact at all, lucky for Hacks today, and a way for him to show that he was a useful friend to have.

However, why settle for one set of friends, when you could make two. He'd rather not make enemies either. “I hadn’t planned to take her, I was wondering if my friend could ask her a question or two.” Black asked the warden. “He’s very persuasive, don’t let that emotional exterior fool you.” The HRD was about as emotional as a rock, but the human droid did its best to smile to Emraj Hosdole. “He grows on you.”

The warden interjected with some comments of his own on that topic. Half aggravated at not being contacted beforehand, half accepting and not really caring, as long as it wasn’t more datawork that he’d end up doing. Making a big point of saying he wasn’t going to be handling any more files than needed. That was his main grumbling point.

Black let him talk, and get it off his chest. “Ms. S and I have an understanding. Strictly off the books. No extra filework” There was an image of Hacks and a finger in front of them. “Looks like our friend is awake.” Taking a long relaxing drag. Eventually, the HRD was grudgingly sent on its task, the biofiber droid heavy and precise enough in its movements to give the game away if you knew your droids.

“Mr Hosdole, my names Balen Black. I wouldn’t mind meeting Ms S again, its been a while. Who knows, maybe there’ll be some opportunities ahead.” Offering a hand to shake, and potentially setting up one more important contact. Truth was he did know Ms S by reputation, but not much more than through a friend of a friend, still finding his connections and feet. She might have heard of him, and probably been paid a credchit or two to grease the wheels but not much more yet.

 

[Emraj Hosdole]

Emraj stared at Mr Black as he offered his hand and had a lot of concerns and questions. He didn't know anything about this man except that he knew his employer but he didn't know what he did and what he would get from this partnership. Starlight paying him way more than any employer has ever given him, to give it all up now and he would lose the life of luxury he's earned up until this point. Disregarding the warden who was getting annoyed from being left out of the whole ordeal, but maybe this was what Mr. Black wanted. To negotiate with Emraj in front of a CorpsSec officer for Emraj to seem secretive and paranoid. He had no choice but to keep face and accept Mr. Black at face value.

"Looking forward to it."

He said as he firmly grabbed Mr. Black's hand and shook it giving him a neutral look, not giving away too much concern but enough to know that what he meant was suspicion among Mr. Black's actions. He didn't know anything about him, who he worked for, or what he did. Once that business concluded he spoke on the matter of his droid going to see Hacks. "If that's what you want I'm gonna have to be with him. She's my catch and I want to make sure nothing happens to her, you understand and no offense." He said to Mr. Black and then the droid.

 

[Shira Varanin]

Hacks Mr Black Emraj Hosdole

Shira made it through four walls before an alarm started blaring. She whirled her sabre through the familiar pattern one last time and cut her way into the cell. Or tried, rather. The metal wound up being denser and thicker than anticipated. She had to take her time, a good thirty seconds that she couldn't really spare. Force alone knew what Hacks was thinking on the other side, seeing a pale blue lightsaber turn her cell wall to slag.

A heavy slab toppled free, creating a triangular door with red-hot edges. As the alarm wooped, Shira waved away smoke. Burnt wall smelled terrible and probably wasn't doing her lungs any good.

"Hacks? I'm Darkwire. Alive in there?"

 

[Mr Black]

If that's what you want I'm gonna have to be with him. She's my catch and I want to make sure nothing happens to her, you understand and no offense.

Emraj Hosdole

“I respect that.” Though the HRD had begun walking, black entered a few digits into a small keypad and it waited in the corridor for them. Standing up, cigarette well stubbed, the warden opened the door for them and then assuming they both made good on their decision to go they’d soon both be in the corridor. He was idly wondering whether the warden would follow or not.

Hopefully, it would not be an eventful walk to the cell, there was two regular apex security, dressed in suit and tie, a bothan and a human behind them, probably a prison guard or two leading by now to make sure they were allowed entry.

“With all the Plagues, Sith, Criminals running rampant, wars, smuggling and misery, nice to see someone trying to hold it together.” Emraj Hosdole To be honest it was. How many police, investigators or regular joe security were actually out there planetside, day to day that nobody talked about. More than he could count, and he’d tried, because it was good to know your client base.

Then the ALARM…...

Shira Varanin | Hacks

What could be done here to delay them without giving himself away? While considering that, the guards moved to open the door to the cellblock. The HRD began to shortcircuit itself, shaking violently. It made the guards stop for a second and back up, even Black seemed surprised as he hadn’t given the command. Maybe the mission protocols? To evacuate Hacks at any cost but without revealing your intention?

Eventually, it stopped but there had been some sparks, and an eye popped loose.

Moving to kneel beside it, and checking the wiring on the droid. He was soon pulling a section free on its head, and opening it up to see if he could salvage the unit. "Darkwire again?" The guards meanwhile tried to open the cellblock door, but the droid had managed to damage the controls, itself and short out a light or two. Surely the guards would get it open by brute force but it might take a moment. “We need this open,” Black said hurriedly to the warden and Emraj Hosdole. Did Emraj have any way of opening up the door on him? If not the prison team coming did but they might be a minute.

 

[Daiya]

In some back-alley fighting ring...

The ruckus of the crowded arena below didn't bother her as much as the close confines of the grated catwalk set high above the ring. It was impossible to find a comfortable position, the harsh metal bars cut into her knees or rear, making a half-crouch the only thing she could manage here. The camera droids up here mostly ignored her, too busy jockeying for position among themselves to get the best shot of the action below, but their whining servos and the intermittent clatter when two of the walking tripods collided only further heightened the distractions.

"I really wish it was you up here instead of me," the blonde-haired teen said into her earbud comlink as she surveyed the arena below her with a pair of small sporting macrobinoculars. The ring was empty of challengers right now, so adjacent stats boxes and holonet-scraped info on opponents were hidden. Daiya scanned the crowd with her free time, instead, looping over the stands packed into the warehouse as if would give her any answers. The macrobinocular offered no such secret wisdom to her chagrin.

""Oh, I know it'd be a bad idea," she remarked to the Wookiee voice on the other end of her comlink after his growled response. Last time Tawrro had attended a fighting competition, he had gone berserk on a giant security guard. Even if the results had been useful in the long run, Daiya still wouldn't wish to repeat that terrifying scene again. The teen spoke again, the boredom obvious in her voice now, "I still wish it, I hate this 'being patient' stuff."

Plus, the girl had to admit, the fights were rather interesting. These were no blood sports, and though plenty of blood was shed, the matches always stopped shy of a fighter's actual demise. Being on the ground, out cold, and possibly subjected to a few more hits, was enough for the referee to step in to end the match. The winner, thus far, had been a gigantic dark-skinned Human, whose single raised eyebrow was enough to draw cheers and applause. THE SLAB's subtlety didn't extend below his face, though, the bulging muscles and thick limbs of the fighter flashed quickly and decisively each time he met an opponent.

Daiya giggled at Tawrro's answer over the comlink, "But you're so good at standing guard!" She immediately lowered her voice, glancing about her along the catwalk, hoping she hadn't disturbed anything. She needn't have bothered, between the noise of the crowd and the droid's singular focus on the match, her sound was a drop in this noisy ocean. Still, the teen wasn't supposed to be up here, no one was, but it wasn't exactly her fault that this walkway gave the best vantage point to the arena. Plus, it was exactly where someone wouldn't think to look for her.

She may have missed spotting one of the bouncers before he spotted her walking in without a ticket. Oops. Well, he'd never find her in here.

"Yech," the girl blanched at the smell as her nose came away from the fresh air coming through the grates. The odors of mechanical oil and sweat were heightened by the rising heat from below, creating what could only be described as Eau de Squared Circle. It was not a scent Daiya would be asking for at the store counter any time soon. "Oh," she said, realizing that her disgust had been vocal enough for Tawrro to pick it up. "It just stinks up here. The droids stink. I stink. It's gross."

"I am totally going to need a shower after this," she muttered to herself, sticking her eyes back into the macrobinoculars and putting her nose up to the fresher air beyond the gantry. Forgetting again about her audible companion, she sputtered quickly at the Wookiee's comeback. "You better not! You use all the hot water, and your hair clogs the drain!"

A barking laughter filled her commed ear. Daiya didn't join in, frowning under the eyepiece of the macrobinoculars for as long as she could. She could hardly resist the Wookiee's playful antics, and the smallest of grins tugged at her face. At least until the Wookiee offered his next witty repartee.

"You did NOT find a blonde hair last time! No way, nu-uh, not possible!" The teen's mouth stood agape and her cheeks flushed red . She shrank down, as if she could hide away from her perch in the catwalk, even though there was no one around to catch sight of her embarrassment.

Desperate to quell Tawrro's amusement at her expense, the girl quickly pointed out, "Shh, I think the next match is about to start."

Her viewscreen had begun to fill with new information, a box on the side giving her a warning of the incoming fighter's name. MODDED ROMANCE didn't really give many hints, plenty of beings in the Seven Corners had implants. The woman Daiya was on the lookout for was far more mod than Human, and someone broadcasting their implants that much sounded more like a wannabe. She had never met or seen the revered slicer in the flesh, but she couldn't imagine someone that vapid attracting so much acclaim and legend in such a short time.

The woman who climbed into the arena definitely didn't look like a legend. Thin and lean, with visible augments protruding from the bare skin of her arms or face. They weren't the sort of bulky cybernetics one might expect from a prize fighter, but looked more like data ports. Daiya heard herself draw an audible gasp of air.

At the behest of the growling voice in her ear, Darkwire's concealed observer of the match explained the source of her horror, "She's gonna get creamed!"

 

[Emraj Hosdole]

Hacks Mr Black Shira Varanin

As the alarm went off, Emraj cursed to himself knowing this was never gonna go as smooth as he thought it would. Quickly, he went on his comms to CorpSec HQ. "This is Investigator Hosdore in Shadow Runner prison, there's been a security breach and I need two here now. Darkwire has infiltrated the prison and are attempting to break out Hacks."

From that point he followed Mr. Black to the cell block while the prison guards were making their way to the cellblock. He then turned to Mr. Black who asked him to find a way into the cell and Emraj had seen this before. If it was like any other cell door. Saying nothing, Emraj bent down at the console and took out a knife in order to tear off the panel which revealed tangled wires that controlled the door. Rolling up his sleeves, Emraj fiddled around with the wires and opened the door, holding the wires together to make sure they won't close. "Catch them now!"

 

[Sam Rodarch]

Smell that?

Blood, sweat and testosterone. Smells like home. A place of violent comforts, a place far removed from sewer escapades and inexplicable warehouse espionage. Kark sewers. Kark bounty hunting. Kark subterfuge. Kark Frankie.

It's all about the fight, and she knew the fight.

The night had been so-far dominated by an imposing man known as THE SLAB, and Samantha Rodarch had spent her night in keen observation of his decimation. Big boy. Liked to make his pectorals dance as the next victim stepped into the cage. Showboater. Those types of fighters were often destroyed by their own hubris.

Only takes one punch.

That being said, he did have a chin like a granite slab.

Next opponent stepped to the plate. MODDED ROMANCE. That was the ticket. In the pent up anticipation of violence, the Mandalorian almost forgot that there was a reason for being here. The cybernetic waif that just stepped in with the bulging man mountain. On the surface, it looked like the most uneven fight of the evening.

Turned out that beneath the surface it was still the most uneven fight of the evening.

The Slab stared at the woman for a few moments, sizing up his new opponent before he crumbled into deep, booming laughter, theatrically doubling over as if to say, 'is this a joke?' Mumbled smack-talk seemed to be taking place, but what was said seemed to only be for the ears of the fighters.

Excited voices blabbered loudly in her ears as spectators stood around Sam began to give their own expert opinion, voices melding into very differing opinions. Saw her last night, she smas- HE'S GONNA KILL HE- Bets on the 'borg, budd- Is this even allowe- There's no rules, shet-for-brains. Ugh. Karking noise.

“Jus' watch the fethin' thing,” Rodarch grumbled, as she feverishly flexed her own knuckles over-and-over again, knowing full well that she would be fighting the winner of this bout.

In his infinite cockiness The Slab leaned down to Modded Romance's height, tapping his own cheek with the biggest shet-eating grin attached to his face as he invited his opponent to get a first shot in. Ridiculous. Sam may have not been an intelligent woman but she at least had the sense not to ever let anybody get a free hit in.

The invitation was accepted, and a clean right hook connected with the man's jaw with an almighty crack, causing the crowd to erupt into both gasps and cheers (depending on who they'd bet on for this round) as The Slab was sent staggering into the side of the cage before dropping onto one knee. Sam's eyes grew wide in her observation, fists caught clenched as she realised something.

She hadn't even put her all behind that hit.

She was karking with him.

Modded Romance allowed her opponent to gather himself, as he returned to his feet, that smug expression now very much absent after that single punch. Like a brute he charged, sending a wild right-handed haymaker swinging around that would aimed to practically decapitate the woman.

With unreal reflexes she caught his fist before impact, stopping his tremendous momentum as if it were a child's foam ball.

The Slab, who was very much not accustomed to having his punches caught by anybody (never mind diminutive women) responded with his left, aimed at her gut but that too was caught in kind and then, she squeezed.

Didn't take long until the brute was screaming out in pain, the roar of the crowd drowning out the crunch of bone as his hands were slowly crushed in an augmented grip. For all the size and muscle of him, The Slab didn't seem terribly accustomed to pain, wasn't used to being manhandled either. It was a day of new experiences for him.

Sam observed as a desperate kick connected with the woman's knee, which seemed to do absolutely sweet feth all. Unfortunately for The Slab, this only caused her to wrench both of his hands backwards with real malevolence, snapping both wrists in perfect synchronicity.

“Karkin' hell...”

This injury was more evident to the crowd and indeed the referee, who immediately moved to separate the two and end the bout. Not quick enough though, as Modded Romance let go of his now-crippled limbs and delivered a second lighting fast right hook to his chin, this time with all of her power behind it.

Lights out in an instant as the bulk of the loser was sent flying as if the physics engine of the room had broken, his unconscious carcass flopping to the canvass like a dead fish.

That wasn't a fight, that was an embarrassment.

A green mitt tapped on Sam's shoulder as she stared at The Slab's downed form in a blend of admiration and horror. She could respect the sight of a small woman brutalising a meat factory but at the very same time...

“Rodarch, right? You're up next, you've got five minutes.”

...the reason for horror was pretty evident, this wasn't a normal fighter, this 'Frankie' was like nothing the Mandalorian had ever faced before. Slowly, Sam's head turned upwards to catwalk companion as the crowd dispersed to place their new and better-informed bets, her expression screaming one thing, and one thing only:

WHAT THE FETH AM I GOING TO DO?!

Daiya

 

[Hacks]

Hacks' had calmed down, as much as she could being in some filthy Corpo cell. She paced for some time before she heard shouting through the walls and loud thudding. Soon a corner of her wall turned bright red and molten duracrete fell to the floor, a pale blue plasma burst through and slowly peeled away the wall until it fell down. "The fark," she said, her goggles that had not been confiscated switched to thermal readings and she saw the outline of a woman walk through the smoke. Her vision flicked back to normal as the girl announced herself, "Hacks? I'm Darkwire. Alive in there?"

"No," she coughed, "Pulse went out a few hours ago. She be a cold corpse." Stepping forward the mod-junkie hacker patted Shira down if they didn't resist, "You keep weapons on you? I want one of those," she said trying to find her own plasma sword. Hacks didn't know much about Jedi, Sith and the Force. It was all fairy tales to the slicer. Their weapons were legendary but Hacks didn't see it as much more than an overly complicated plasma-cutter. It seemed those legendary warriors often spent their time fighting wars in the Core while Hacks had spent her life in Hutt Space, far from their influence.


Shira Varanin

 

[Shira Varanin]

Hacks

Shira backed up so hard she just about ran into the glowing edges of the door she'd just carved.

"Agh, stang, how many karking hands do you have and keep them to yourself, schuttasleem. And hey, you want the saber, take the drenfething saber."

She tossed Hacks the lightstaff, confident that someone with four arms could figure it out or, hilariously, not. Then she turned and headed back through the hole in the wall. Several similar holes led toward the speeder bay.

"How fast can you move?"