Let it Burn

[Miss Blonde]

I'm not going to lie, I was buzzing pretty hard when I met Miss Blonde for the first time. And who honestly wouldn't? She was a crime lord and had used her organization to kill just about every gang leader on the planet and drive the rest out. She delivered us from the gangsters and she wants to talk to me about becoming the new president of my home planet. When I received the call about the truth of the "Wild Space Defense Force" I knew I had no choice but to comply.

They killed people with no hesitation and executed gang leaders on the steps of Antecedent. So when I arrived at the Dragon Palace Casino I stepped out of the taxi, paid the driver and gave him a tip called the bird.

My heart pounded and I needed to chill, I was needed, she wasn't going to kill me was she? Well if I was going out I was gonna do it feeling good.

Reaching into my coat pocket I pulled out a spliff and light it up. Taking a deep breath of the herb and everything was going to be ok. Just had to get through the day without dying.

 

[Miss Blonde]

Hundreds of droids were everywhere, all of them working, building, fixing, they were busy bees and it made me think about spice for some reason. Not the kind that makes you jazzed, but the kind that makes you so focused you could dodge blasters. Now that was the good stuff you couldn't find here since they came in. But I needed to stay focused, and without the drugs. Taking one last rip on my joint I flicked it away then approached the secretary desk.

"Um, Peter Roscoe? Here for Miss Blonde?" I asked the secretary who chewed on sims gum then pointed towards an elevator.

"Top floor." The woman said to me before filing her nails.

Walking over to the lift I pressed the call button and waited for a few moments before it came. This was it, this was the point of no return. Was I really going to do this? Was I going to betray my mom and do this? Did I have a choice? No, I didn't. I crossed the threshold of the elevator and pressed the button to take me to the top floor.

"Here's to bad decisions." I said to myself with a sigh as the doors closed.

 

[Miss Blonde]

I should of smoked more, I really really really need more drugs. Because this is not worth it. The lift was taking me closer and closer and before I knew it the elevator opened up and the first thing I saw was the barrel of a blaster pistol pointing dead at my face. The first thing you notice about a pistol being pointed at you was how big it is, and the second is the amount of crap in your pants. Luckily I hadn't eaten so that if I did die today i'd at least have the dignity of not voiding my bowels.

But did I spring into action and take the guy down? Did I break into some sweet action moves? No, I froze. Fear paralyzed me and everything moved in slow motion. And the words the man said sounded like he had been slowed and modified.

"It's that easy queen. Don't @&$# this up. Nod if you understand." I barely understood the man and I quietly nodded to show that we were cool.

"Good, let that be a less-" And like the voice of an angel she delivered me from this nightmare.

"Hans, what did I say about that? Send him in." her voice rang out and my heart eased a bit from exploding out of my chest.

 

[Miss Blonde]

The next thing the man did was pull the barrel down and I was able to see his face clearly. He was only slightly overweight with medium length black hair, and he didn't seem like he'd be all that threatening without the hand cannon with him. But I was wrong. Pulling his face up to mine he put the pistol into my gut and my heart almost dropped out of my ass.

"When you go in there I'll be watching you. And you are going to be a good little Ropo, and you know what Ropos are right?" the man hostilely whispered to me about small fluffy animals from Hoth.

"Chill, Ropos are chill." my voice said with an audible stutter.

"Good, now go be chill." Hans would then usher me into the next room where I could see a small blonde woman sitting behind a desk throwing darts at something out of my vision.

Looking over to my right I could see two expensive portraits ruined by throwing knives, darts, and other sharp and deadly weapons poking out of them. The first one I saw was on an orange Twi'lek with black stripes, and the second a rather effeminate looking Chiss who looked like he got a facial at a salon every Wednesday. Well at least from what I could see from what remained of the pictures.

"Peter my dear, sit." Miss Blonde said and I quickly obliged.

Taking a quick plop down on a chair the woman looked over to me and there was a short silence between us.

 

[Miss Blonde]

The next thing I knew there was a thump and the woman placed a bag of what I could smell to be drugs on the table. Sweet sweet nose clams that you couldn't find on Antececent since the "Wild Space Defense Force" had arrived. They were cleaning the streets of drugs but now that I knew the truth they were getting the old competitions product off the street and into their hands, and they were probably shipping it off world.

"You know what that is don't you?" She asked me with a steady tone. Of course I did.

"Spice. High grade stuff, I can tell just by smelling it." I responded back trying not to sound like I was about to crap myself. Again thankfully I hadn't eaten.

"What if I told you this could all be yours. The drugs, the women, all of it. You were doing a dime up in Graxton and I pulled you out and scrubbed your record for one reason." I tried my best to stay focused but my eyes kept going back to the spice, it had been so long since I had a taste, so very long.

"What might that be?" I asked back still unsure of what was going to happen.

"I want you to be the president of Antecedent. I want you to follow my directions, and I want you to obey me. And everything else will be taken care of. I selected you because you are a conman. A gifted liar and man who can do what I need them to do." And that's when things got too real.

Me president? No, no no no no. That just, no. I can't do that, I won't do that. I just wasn't cut up for that kind of life, I've been a conman all my life and I just couldn't be the leader of Antecedent.

"And if I say no?"

 

[Keira Priest]

"If you say no I'll probably have to be the one to kill you, and while I could do it just by looking at you, Blonde likes to put on a show, which I don't really have the time for." If inconvenient timing was a skill worth putting on a resumé, then Keira had no doubt it would be listed somewhere under her applicable skills. To be fair, she hadn't had much to do since the Black Ties had taken over Antecedent in the first place. Her job description typically centered around those affairs of the violent nature, and nothing had been called for that sort of outing lately. So she was back to wandering the grounds as she had done back when the Ravens still flourished, whittling away her time until something of note happened or she otherwise had to return to the Casino.

Flashing a smile to [member="Miss Blonde"] she didn't bother to step inside the office, leaning against the door-frame. "For the record, I could make a better leader than this guy. At least I know how to deal with the rest of them, and I can take care of myself besides. We don't need a di'kutla shebs like this running the show." Whoever the new guy was, he was something short of a coward, looking to be one of the common thugs no less, similar to those she had killed with deadly efficiency during the takeover of the planet in the weeks previous. At least he would be easy to get out of the way if the time came. "Anyway, you're busy, I'll save it for later. You know where to find me if this goes to chit." And, as always, she was off without waiting for a reply.

 

[Miss Blonde]

"She's right you know, I mean about the murder thing. The rest not so much, the leading thing. She's not the best at making sound decisions. If you couldn't tell by the arm." to be honest I stopped listening after the "Murder thing" part of the conversation.

"And don't mind the mando part, she likes to think she's mando WHEN SHES CLEARLY CORELLIAN!!" The woman shouted down the hall as I continued to zone out

I toned out and my world was crashing down around me, had I just traded in one prison for another? Were they really going to kill me over this? I didn't want to find out, I was simply too scared to do so. It all came down to one choice, one choice that kept me above ground. I was going to have to work for these people.

"Then I guess I'm your man." I said with a nervous laugh and smile.

She stared at me for a second not smiling or saying anything. Like she was inspecting me and looking into my soul. The hell was she doing? It was weird, I didn't like it. But on a scale of being threatened to be killed twice already this wasn't half bad. I didn't like it but as long as she wasn't fixing to kill me I'd be ok.

"I suppose you are my man then, congrats President Roscoe. Also we're changing your last name, security reasons and I hate it." Great, now I couldn't even be myself.

"President Ross. Peter Ross, that's a strong name. Do you like that?" She asked like a had a choice in the matter.

"Great, I love it. Wouldn't change a thing. Listen I don't mean to rush this but I'm about to have a heart attack from all your scary friends and id appreciate it if-"

"Do we make you uncomfortable, Peter?" the woman said interrupting me.

"It's just the stress is all. Not every day someone gets plucked from jail to become the president of their planet."

 

[Miss Blonde]

"Look on the bright side, you'll have Antecedent eating out the palm of your hands. But" The woman said to me with an honest to god wolf grin on her face.

I already knew these people were dangerous, when they threatened to kill me twice and all. But I truly believed that these people were willing to commit to violence at the drop of a dime and not lose and ounce of sleep afterwards. Hell, maybe being President wasn't all that bad. Maybe I could lead this planet to greater days and maybe even do a little good along the way.

"So let's get down to brass tax. How much does this pay?" and with those words her smile light up even more.

"That's what I like to hear. You'll be paid two million in your first year, and if you proceed to impress us and not screw things up then we'll pay more and more. Understood?" Two million? Did she just say million?

Out of all the cons I've ran in my life I've never even come close to reaching a cool million much less two. Yeah I could get used to this. And all I had to do was campaign a little and let them make the decisions while I sit back and roll up a fat one?

"That sounds... Agreeable." I said trying not to freak out over the amount.

 

[Miss Blonde]

"So how do we do this? I'm not really the presidential type if you noticed." I said pointing towards my flannel shirt and slacks. Those were actually the nicest clothes I owned, sad right?

"We're going to build you up. You were an innocent man sent to prison by the gangs on Antecedent for speaking out against them, you were silenced and you've spent the last few years behind bars trying to survive. You are released and now you need to do something heroic to capture the planet's attention." This was all getting more and more complicated, but hey two mil made it worth it.

"As long as you know I was in jail for conning one of the gangs out of a few grand then they caught me. Listen I'm not going to pretend to understand why you chose me but I'm not the hero type if you haven't noticed. In fact I'm pretty sure if I hadn't of eaten anything before I came I would of crapped myself twice now." The woman only chuckled at my response and that wolfish grin returned to her features that looked like she was ready to eat me alive.

"Let me worry about that. All you have to do is do your thing and have fun." She made things all sound so simple, like winning an election was going to be the easiest thing in the world.

 

[Miss Blonde]

"Do my thing and have fun, right. Really not looking forward to that but hey it beats prison or the alternative." I said to Blonde with a smile of my own.

She would then keep her smile and place one of her knives into the bag of spice opening it a bit. Some of the high grade stuff spilled out onto the table and my eyes went it it then to her. She waved her hand in a motion that ushered me and informed that I could get a bump. My eyes light up and I got a finger full on the back of my hand and had a well deserved bump of what was the finest Kesselian Bam Bam in the galaxy.

"Pleasure doing business with you Mister President. We'll be in touch, be ready when we call." Blonde shook my hand and soon I was up and being escorted out by Hans.

As I reached the elevator I got in and faced the Syndicate enforcer with a smile.

"Guess that means I'm your boss now, huh?" I said with my smug little grin, which was a mistake.

Because the last thing I remember about that meeting was the side of a pistol hitting me dead in the face. Me and my mouth sometimes.