Private Luxurious Larceny

[Samuel Exel]

It had not been the first time Exel had been sent for a job like this. It was, however, the first time he had been sent to do so by his newfound primary ‘employers’. Repeat business was always profitable for the likes of a Bounty Hunter, and his professionality had earned him what he could only see as some measure of a ‘test.’

The soft sound of armor, and boots against the ground with each step would make itself apparent as he made his way to his destination. A simple job - perhaps with some ‘persuasion’ necessary, given the potential collateral of a particularly fancy speeder should they fail to pay - on a rival group that was operating on The Family’s territory. Had it been anything other than something criminal in nature, he would have refused. But these were no innocents; merely competition. And suffice to say, Samuel was not the usual kind of individual sent to do Kosa Nostra’s dirty work. Usually it was mobsters of suited varieties, sporting short repeaters and concealed weapons. The complete opposite of the Bounty Hunter, where one could tell by a mere look that it would be a force to be reckoned with.

But even subtle individuals like that Mafia needed its share of bruisers that would give that appearance. To project power and fear of a certain hushed infamy - the kind Samuel valued over the blatant, galaxy-spanning version. Reputation in all the right places, as it were. Its buildup would begin again, here, in that quiet manner he had come to prefer.

-- Before --

“I’m here for the contract.” A modulated voice cut through the room of a designated meeting place, as the armored man had stepped through the door frame. It was not spoken with gruffness, just mere neutrality. Still, he remained known through his alias of 'Gorian,' and little more than that to the Directorate. Only the Capos really knew who was behind the helm, and he was content to keep it that way. The Contract Board was something only recently revealed to Samuel, but nonetheless an important one - given he worked on a Contract-by-Contract basis, and adamantly so at that, it would seem he found his new cohorts.

What he wasn’t used to, however, was being assigned a ‘Handler’ for the contract. Usually, he was given a direction, and told to do whatever it takes to get what was wanted completed to satisfaction. Vague information, vague details, and very little planning - Bounty Hunters were expected to figure it out, because that was merely part of the job. The Family, on the other hand, weren’t the Hutts. And perhaps with the supposed briefing he’d get by the individual on the opposite side of the room, he’d be shown that.

Iliana Röhr , Saul Whesai

 

[Iliana Röhr]

I L I A N A⠀R Ö H R

'Coruscant Ambience'​

Planning for the heist had been in the works for weeks while a contractor was found to take on the Coruscant contract to 'retrieve'

a luxury speeder from the Beury Syndicate, an upcoming criminal group that primarily consists of Imperial remnants of the newly dissolved Empire, trained ex-soldiers and civilians who most wouldn't dare trifle with operating within the heart of Coruscant.

Reparations were in order as the Imperial syndicate had failed to kick-up to Kosa Nostra, multiple failed payments required the delicate attention of a trusted mercenary, an individual who could shake the Beury Syndicate up if necessary~ someone like Samuel Exel .

Iliana had been waiting within the apartment block for a few hours now, setting up her equipment while working with a Dedata-Regime slicer to hack into the syndicate's cameras. Their apartment had evidently been long since abandoned, presumably once owned by a passed soul whose bank continued to fund the apartment long after his death.

Dust had now settled as Iliana sat behind her desk, brushing away whatever dust lingered on her skirt~ though it was soon disturbed by the arrival of their mercenary; "Mr. Gorian, a pleasure," she stood up to greet the armoured individual, offering a handshake, "I'll be your Directorate supervisor for the duration of this contract, do come in," Iliana paced back behind her desk, heels clicking along the floor.

"Judging by your appearance, I presume provided equipment shouldn't be necessary," she tapped on the screen of her datapad, prompting a holoprojector display to appear in-front of them both, "I'm sure you've seen the brief outline of the contract from the board; You'll be paying a visit to the Beury Syndicate, a group of trained Imperial remnants who specialise in protection rackets."

She tapped the datapad once more, "However, even though they're in the business, they fail to understand the necessity of their own protection and have failed to kick-up to the bosses," Iliana slid a bottle of water over to the mercenary as she attempted to gauge the type of individual she was talking to underneath his mask.

"Now, we need you to retrieve our reparation in the form of a luxury speeder that belongs to a Mr. Parcal, the head of the Beury Syndicate.. the speeder is located within a warehouse in which the syndicate uses as it's primary 'base of operations,' " she zoomed in with the holoprojector, displaying the unremarkable warehouse and it's entry points, including the most likely position of the speeder.

"It's your call how you choose to go about retrieving it, threaten, clip or avoid, the choice is yours~ though the bosses would like for you to send a message, I'll be monitoring your progress and guiding you through the building as necessary, and while you should expect heavy resistance, be sure to remind them who they're dealing with; in the event of an emergency and you require exfiltration, the speeder that will drop you off will pick you up a block away southward.."

"Any questions? If not, the speeder is waiting for you outside."

Samuel Exel , Saul Whesai

 

[Saul Whesai]

Click... Click... Click... "Come on... Light..." Finally, the old lighter flickered to life, setting the tip of Saul's cheap cigarette ablaze. It had been a hard couple of weeks since his last job but this new gig was shaping up to be just what he needed to get back on his iron feet.

After putting the lighter away in the pocket of his tattered hoodie, he quickly exchanged it for a cheap pair of electro-binoculars and glanced over at his target. Across the street from the condemned highrises was a warehouse with a wire fence around it. Human thugs guarded the front entrance, covered in neo-imperial tattoos on their arms and legs. Rumor on the street was that the building had it that something big was inside that vault. No one knew exactly what and no one dared asked one of the Guards what was behind those metal and duracrete walls. He was gonna find out though, one way or another.

Saul had been casing this place out for the past week after getting a tip that something big was in there. He saw what time the guards changed over and how many entrances there were. Tonight was go time. Once the moon rose and the street lights started to turn on, the Gutterrut was coming out to take his prize.

Samuel Exel , Iliana Röhr

 

[Samuel Exel]

Samuel’s gaze lingered on the offered handshake for a moment, instinctively looking it over for poisons, hidden blades, the usual suspects - as unnecessary and unneeded as checking for such a thing was. When that moment had subsided, Exel’s hand reached forward with a practiced caution, and shook it gently. Namely because he did not want to crush her hand from the power-glove augmentation. It withdrew shortly thereafter, with his footfalls trailing not far behind Röhr as she made her way to the desk. He came to a stop a short ways in front of it.

He watched and listened attentively for what details were given. Silent and stoic, perhaps a sense of professionalism - those would be the characteristics observed of the mercenary, and all he cared to show for the moment. One topic seemed to pique interest, however. “A protection racket?” The Hunter prompted. It was perhaps an irrelevant question at surface-level, but he nonetheless felt compelled to ask. “On who? Other syndicates, I presume?”

His demeanor and tone left little indication as to his approval, or disapproval. The visor tilted only slightly towards the bottle of water offered, before it returned to the person in front of him in a vague refusal. After all, he was wearing a helmet. Not that he’d drink it if he wasn’t.

“What kind of message are they looking for? There’s a few.” He furthered. “Dead, alive. Wounded, otherwise. Not to mention; how big of one.”

Exel had no love for Imperials. The Bounties they put out were rarely taken by the man due to their typical targets and contracts of unscrupulous nature. It was true they paid well, but there was always another buyer when it came to Bounty Hunting, for the Galaxy was a large place with a larger supply of individuals to track down. He conducted his business as professionally as he could muster - which warranted caution with which contracts he could take. Still, he was successful enough to be standing here as he was, with plenty of armaments to bear for any task ahead of him.

--Current--

Again, he found himself surprised and mildly amused by all the provided things. Transportation to a discrete location just a short walk away from the target was helpful. Not to mention the given entry points. Said entry points were among the most useful, to say the least - he was used to making his own way in.

He had already begun to make his way towards one on the far side of the warehouse that would leave him as close to the speeder as possible. Its removal would be loud, and he’d have to be careful not to damage it. So long as he wasn’t having a firefight right over it, that shouldn’t be a problem. Exel remained cognizant of the supposed ‘message’ he was meant to send, his trusted carbine held firmly in his hands whilst an approach was made with black-wreathed armor. From afar, perched on a nook from an overwatch of the warehouse, he would wait for the perfect moment to strike as he trained his sights on the guards. . .

Iliana Röhr , Saul Whesai

 

[Iliana Röhr]

I L I A N A⠀R Ö H R

'Coruscant Ambience'​

Iliana pulled a face at the bounty hunter for refusing her water, it was irrelevant but still an important factor of

human life, "Yes, on.. everyone? Smaller criminal syndicates, small businesses in their territory.. anyone they can get their claws on, I suppose."

"As for the message, it's completely up to you- just make a statement, one they won't forget perhaps.. remember who you're working for, the won't retaliate," she smiled nicely, hoping her vague outline wasn't too vague for the bounty hunter.

With that, he stormed off to complete his mission. "Mr Gorian?" she chimed in through his earpiece, ensuring that they had an open communications line. "I'm assuming you're scouting from a distance," she called in, both due to a lack of movement on the local security systems and the lack of noise. "Don't forget, heavy resistance is expected."

From his viewpoint, three guards could be spotted in-front of the main entrance, with two patrolling along the road as if to keep an eye on the garage entry point. The warehouse would be too wide to judge any activity behind the building, thus requiring the use of droids for a more detailed scouting mission...

Samuel Exel , Saul Whesai

 

[Saul Whesai]

As the day turned to night and the streetlights started to flicker on, Saul started to make his way down from his perch on the old brick blockhouse and shimmed his way down the fire escape. It was time to put his plan into action.

Roaming up the block with his hood up, he glanced up into the windows of the tenements. Families were starting to make dinner as Fathers came come from their work shifts to a home-cooked meal. A home-cooked meal that was probably provided by the creds the Beurys provided to keep their lips shut. What he was going to do would hurt a lot of families pockets, especially in the long term if other gangs thought the Beury syndicate was weak. Blood would run thick across the concrete as the two groups fought it out or more likely other gangs slowly choked the Beurys to death. All of that didn't concern Saul though, all he wanted was his own payday and enough money to keep his belly fun for a long time yet.

Putting his gas mask over his face and his hood over his head, he sneaked his way through the alleys to the back of the warehouse complex where a fuel tank sat to fuel up Beury vehicles. The Gutterrat quickly went to work, cutting through barbed wire with a handheld wirecutter and grunting softly as he twisted the tank's tap open, letting the fuel leak out the ground in a big pool and throwing a lit handheld plasma torch near the growing puddle. Retreating behind a dumpster on the right side of the nearest block house, Saul hoped what was going to be a large inferno would distract all the guards and leave the front entrance wide open, leaving him to work or blow inside the metal warehouse. If only he could calm his heart enough that the guards won't hear it from half a block away as they could now.

Iliana Röhr , Samuel Exel

 

[Samuel Exel]

Businesses. Anyone. Innocents. It wasn’t too hard to figure out what kind of message he was fine with sending from there in his own mind. Outwardly, his actions and supposed morals seemed erratic (if not nonexistent to the wrong people), but there was a line he did his best to stay on one side of. The question for those who interacted with the Bounty Hunter was merely where that line was.

“I see.” The modulated voice acknowledged with an impassive demeanor, before turning and moving out with his newfound contract.

-- Current --

The sleek suit of armor gave Exel the technological advantage as it always did, briefly flickering the HUD to display the differing, vague thermal signatures that dotted the compound. As the voice of Ms. Röhr crackled in his ear, his gaze remained intent through the scope of the carbine as he waited for one of the patrols down the street to round the corner, out of sight. He had slowly circled towards the side of the building to position himself closer towards the end, not being so-obvious as to approach from the front. The ‘employee’ entrance would suffice, and get him far closer to his goal than brute forcing the front. “I’m aware. It will have to be met sooner or later if you want a message.” Exel replied in matter-of-fact fashion, as the scope trained on the skull of one of the pair. “I intend to do it on my terms.”

However, ‘his terms’ would have to have an acceleration to their timetable, as an explosion rocked the place the moment two swiftly placed shots left his carbine and claimed the lives of the guards watching this side-entrance.
‘Hmh.’ A soft groan escaped from his helm, before the comms were opened again. “I don’t know what happened out front; it was not my doing. I’m getting a move-on now. I’m afraid this won’t be as efficient as the initial plan was.” No doubt fine with his employers regardless. They wanted a message, and results. The explosion was not caused by him, but the syndicate would assume it to be when he entered the equation. Good.

More was at play here, but Samuel would not let that stop him; he would get his quarry. The explosion, as a matter of fact, only worked further to his advantage by clearing the way of the guards - his path would likely be cleared by approximately half; only a fool would send out all of their guards to investigate a disturbance. And even better; the blazing inferno and indistinct cries would no doubt serve as a suitable mask for his entrance as sound-dampened flames spat out from beneath him and propelled him to his destination with focused intent.

Iliana Röhr , Saul Whesai

 

[Iliana Röhr]

I L I A N A⠀R Ö H R

'LED Spirals'​

"Crick! Must be rival gangs~ though this could give you an opening~" just as Iliana spoke a number of the guards at the front door

began peeling towards the large explosion in the warehouses yard, drawing the attention of the majority of the Beury Syndicate away from the hotspots.

"~ You know what to do." Iliana chimed in quietly through his earpiece, intent on leaving the bounty hunter to his job until new information came up~ or the identity of the 'rival gang.' "Explosion was rather loud, expect CSF en-route.."

Both Samuel Exel & Saul Whesai would find the front entrance poorly guarded, with now only one or two 'soldiers' at the door- however, Mr. Parcal would most likely have retreated to a safer spot within the warehouse, with a more heavy guard for security.

They were now alert & prepared for an attack...

Samuel Exel , Saul Whesai

 

[Saul Whesai]

As Saul slinked up along the side of the building, he grinned like a madman as he heard the guards trying to fight the growing blaze and arguing over who had set a lit welding right near where the fuel would be. Hiding behind the corner of the warehouse and glancing past the corner, he saw the remaining two Thugs looking all over at the other side of the street for a possible gang attack from where he had been scouting only hours earlier.

Drawing out his air pistol in his right hand and a plastic bag in his left, he charged the pistol to the max and turned the corner, firing at the far guard and hitting him through the neck before running up to the closet one. Before the thug could even try to turn around, a plastic bag was zipped and tied over his head and a knife was through his back. Sensing the injured guard wasn't done just yet, he pivoted to meet the barrel of a blaster pistol getting raised at his head as his knife slashed toward the hand that held it.

Samuel Exel Iliana Röhr