Press attention and rabble rousers (Eire Saf'Voak)

[Lucien Cordel]

The press conference had thus far had be relatively cut and dry. The Department had discussed statistics on law and order within the Union. A few individualised Legal committee heads were singled out for praise over their turnaround of crime figures in their recent acquisitions. All relatively boring but this was also the first conference Lucien was holding as head of the department of Law. He had called the press in so that he could run over the new enforcement strategies. Law enforcement in the Union was about to take a draconian turn.

"Ladies and gentlemen we now come to our flagship announcement ... I look around at the various planets of the union and I see progress but still criminality dogs our efforts. It is nowhere near an epidemic but eventually even papercuts can kill. It is time the union took a hard stance on this criminal hive to this end I am pleased to unveil our new tough but fair enforcement program. In addition to making a capital sentence mandatory for a list of 25 crimes, murder chief among them, A full list is found in your press pack. In Addition new service programs have been enacted to allow for penal servitude of varying degrees to be imposed upon criminals who enact certain crimes, full lists again present in the press back, with these measures in place I hope to have the prison population down by a third in the next ten years" Granted the mines and graveyards would be swelling but that mattered not "However the most wide reaching new policy is the three strikes principle" he slammed his hand down on his podium "Career criminals are a plague on our society and only force can answer force from here on in any criminal found guilty of three offences be they petty or otherwise will be liable for a potential capital sentence and this becomes mandatory in cases where over 10 convictions are present"

Let the criminals quake for the gallows had their number.

"I will now take questions"

[member="Eire Saf'Voak"]

 

[Eire Saf'Voak]

Pushing his way into the lobby, his cameraman Steve following close behind, camera on his shoulder, the two quickly ran over to a nearby desk. "Hello! I am THE Eire Saf'Voak, a reporter. A very, very important reporter." He flashed an arrogant grin, before clearing his throat. "Now, point us in the direction of the....uhm...the press conference, I believe. And please, hurry the kark up, I'd rather not wait twelve hours just to listen to some wealthy bootlickers talk about...whatever the hell we are supposed to be here for." He said, turning back to Steve.

"Steve, get some shots of the lobby." He barked at the cameraman, who quickly nodded and proceeded to take several shots of the entrance, the wall, and the desk. "So, where the hell is the conference?" He asked, plucking a cigarette from a black pack of cigarettes which had the words 'Sarlacc Reds' printed on the front, along with an image of a Sarlacc below the bold text. Placing the cigarette in his mouth, he removed a black lighter, igniting the flame. Holding the flame up to the cigarette, he grinned as it proceeded to smoke, and he quickly drew in a large amount of smoke, exhaling it.

"Eire, I don't think you should be smoking here." Steve said, nervously. Ignoring his cameraman, Eire removed the cigarette from his mouth, exhaling a thick cloud of smoke directly into the secretary's face. "Again, where is the conference taking place?"

[member="Lucien Cordel"]

 

[Lucien Cordel]

Porcia the guardian of the front desk looked up from her screen " Hmm Saf'Voak ... You aren't on my list so you can't be that important" She grinned. There was alway one slick with a good bag and cheap shoes. "But ... I like your ambition so I'm gonna think about letting you in, you just need to take a left at Your late and a right at your never getting into that conference " She smiled sweetly and returned to work. That was until he mentioned getting shots of the lobby. That was illegal and he was smoking too my the nerve of this guy.

"You can't smoke in here slick" Not that that ever stopped Lucien but he did run the place. she sighed and stood up "You can't smoke in here nor can your lacky take images of the Lobby, had you not been late I could have given you stock images, he's gonna have to delete those or my good friends ... " She pointed out the armed guards " ... Will delete them for him along with a few of your pretty teeth". She liked this guys gaul he was amusing. even if he was risking giving her lung cancer.

"Listen Mr. Cordel will come out to the steps at the front to pose for pictures for all the rube reporters who couldn't get past me, run along and wait out there ... you can smoke as much as you want"

Just at that moment a reporter with a press badge left the lobby toilets to return to the conference. Perhaps [member="Eire Saf'Voak"] knew him? or could at least pretend to.

 

[Eire Saf'Voak]

He watched as another reporter walked past, shaking his head. Bringing the cigarette back up to his lips, he drew in more smoke, shaking his head. "Steve, if you stop recording or delete that film...I will personally rip your lungs out." He said, quickly removing the cigarette from his mouth, glaring at the woman behind the desk. Then suddenly, his arrogant grin returned as he flicked out the cigarette. "I see...Well...How about this..." He cleared his throat, quickly adjusting the collar of his suit and placing his circular, red lens sunglasses back over his eyes.

"...We'll just take a few-" Quickly, he spun around, sprinting towards the door, he gave a hard shove to his cameraman, sending him sprawling on the ground. Quickly, Eire gripped onto the camera, proceeding to sprint out of the building. Turning his head, he nodded arrogantly at the guards. The moment he turned back to the exit, he crashed face first into the glass, missing the exit by three or four feet. Grabbing his nose, he watched as blood poured out, dripping onto the floor and onto his black dress shoes. On his knees, he reached over, attempting to grab the camera once again.

[member="Lucien Cordel"]

 

[Lucien Cordel]

Porcia turned and smiled, this man was beginning to vex her. She thumbed for the silent alarm and turned to Steve "I would stop If I were you My boss can hurt you more than yours" The she watched as the slick began to calmly put out his cigarette and prepared to just go, it was suspicious. then he sparked and off he ran pushing his cameraman on the floor and snatching the camera. all this for some Lobby pictures. Perhaps he was a spy ... how exciting. As he bolted off Porcia came to address steve, let security handle the excited 'reporter'. she knelt by steve "You're in the Poodo now old chap" she smiled at him. placing a hand on his chest.

Porcia watched with some amusement as [member="Eire Saf'Voak"] collided with a glass pane. How foolish he was and now he was caught, one of the staff walked over to step on Eire's wrist and cuff him whilst another retrieved the camera. The guard who had come to attend upon the reporter chained his hands behind his back and given his lithe escape attempt it was decided it might be prudent to zip tie his legs as well. The guard attempted to do this. as the same treatment was inflicted upon steve by another guard. They were now quite convinced that this 'reporter' was a spy or worse a terrorist.

If Eire was successfully detained then the security commander would issue orders to the effect that Eire and steve should be taken to the department's holding cells and the floor and glass be cleaned before Lucien and the media came out. Eire would be dragged down to the dungeons, stripped of his effects and redressed in ragged shirt and pants. Dependant upon his level of cooperation Eire would either be allowed to change on his own or he would be changed forcibly. The condition he and his suit were in at the end of his procedure would reflect his level of cooperation. Then he would be put in wrist and ankle restraints and thrown into a holding cell to await the pleasure of Lucien or one of his torturers.

 

[Eire Saf'Voak]

Groaning in pain, he did not resist as he was cuffed and zip tied. Muttering nothing but profanity under his breath, he glared at Steve. "You son of a queen. Hand over the camera! We have extra footage on that camera!" He was then carried down to the holding cells, forecfully undressed, a large crack in the left lens of his circular sunglasses.

Sitting against the wall in the holding cell, he sighed. Desperately attempting to slip a hand into his pocket to remove his lighter and cigarettes, in an attempt to tame his nicotine cravings, however his attempt was in vain. Shaking his head, he attempted to stop the blood from his nose from entering his mouth, but was unable to do so.

Spitting blood on the floor, he slowly glanced up, waiting for someone to arrive. "T-they...they just can't kill us!" He shouted for Steve to hear, who Eire assumed was in another cell. After hearing no answer from his cameraman, he sighed, shaking his head in disbelief.

[member="Lucien Cordel"]

 

[Lucien Cordel]

[member="Eire Saf'Voak"] could perhaps be considered Lucky ... or not because upon being told of this 'spy' he'd wanted to handle the treatment of this guest personally. No one spied on him and got away with it. He had forgone his tie and jewelry, not wanting to give his prisoner any easy way to hurt him.
"actually I can" He smiled as he stepped into the dark of the cell. Lucien was Law and Order in the union and if he sentenced someone to death then they would die. However first he needed to get the full story out of this man.

Following him into the room was a pair of assistants one carrying a chair for Lucien and the other pushing his instruments trolley. Lucien tutted dressed in rags and slightly blooded this man looked like any other prisoner, Lucien had hoped for better. Lucien kicked the sole of the prisoners right foot "eyes on me" He tossed a tissue at Eire "You've been a busy man, sir" Lucien said turning to select a shock baton from the Trolley.

Then he sat down his assistants fading to the back of the room. "Here is how it's going to work you are going to answer the questions I ask and If I like your answer your situation becomes more comfortable, If I don't well then I will make your situation more uncomfortable either by making the environment more inhospitable or by hurting you directly, probably both" He smiled slightly, in lucien's experience the mix of violence and kindness was often more effective than extreme violence.

"Let's begin with your name old sport"

 

[Eire Saf'Voak]

With an arrogant grin, he nodded at [member="Lucien Cordel"], chuckling slightly. "The name is Eire Saf'Voak. And...could you light a cigarette for me real fast?" He asked, watching the man carefully. "I'll cooperate IF...You give me back the camera, ya' can delete our current footage but not anything that was not recorded in the last hour. Next...I'm havin' serious nicotine cravings. I really need that cigarette."

Staring at the man, he shifted uncomfortably, obviously nervous as sweat dripped from his forehead. "...And...I apologize for m-m-making demands...but could I have my suit b-back?" He asked, staring at the pack of cigarettes that were sticking out of his pocket.

 

[Lucien Cordel]

Lucien shook his head "No" He smiled "You are in no position to be leveraging me sir" He stood up "Fix him to the roof" He ordered his two assistants who came to yank [member="Eire Saf'Voak"] to his feet to dangle him from the roof by his wrist restraints. Eire's feet would not touch the floor once suspended, putting all the weight on his shoulders.

"Bring me a cigar" He ordered to add more salt to the wounds. Then he began to pace around his prisoner, thrashing at him with the baton striking at his shoulders, chest , legs and occasionally as low as his feet. This beating continued for a few minutes then Lucien sat down again to finish his cigar.

"Don't vex me Mr. Saf'Voak it won't end well" He took a drag of smoke before blowing it to rise into the rafters "Let's move onto question two, why are you here ?" He asked locking eyes on Eire "Oh and do try to just answer my question without making silly demands"

 

[Eire Saf'Voak]

His eyes went wide as the men grabbed him, restraining him in the wall. Groaning in pain, his groaning quickly grew to shouting and muttered profanity as the baton came down on him. Visibly shaking, he stared at the floor, slowly glancing up. Slowly, he began to speak, his voice weak and pathetic.

"I...I-I'm here...j-j-just to report o-o-on the conference!" He gritted his teeth, slowly glancing up at the shackles, still in an immense amount of pain. "P-please! J-j-just let me outta here! I-I wont even think-Hell, I-I won't even look at t-t-this building f-f-for the rest of my life!" Struggling with his shackles, he groaned, shaking his head as the black pack of cigarettes fell from his pocket, hitting the floor and popping open, sending the remaining cigarettes all over the floor.

"P-p-p-please, man!" Begging for mercy, he desperately attempted to break free from his shackles, but again, his attempts were in vain. He proceeded to shout, moving his hands around frantically. "Please..." He barked. "...Let me the kark down! Please, sir! P-p-please!"

[member="Lucien Cordel"]

 

[Lucien Cordel]

"Good, thank you" He nodded, this man was clearly a reporter, no spy would be this pathetic, but it was cathartic to torture this scmuck. "Of course not, you have been very stupid really" He smirked. The man was getting stressed now, he was going to chafe his wrists. He was about to order that Eire be eased down but the the reporter called him 'man' . Lucien tutted "You were doing so well " He sighed "Get Mr. Saf'Voak something to stand on ... perhaps a hot plate or an ice block something unpleasant " He ordered and one of the assistants left with a nod.

"Yes, Sir, sir is better than Man for that I'll give you a tip, don't thrash it will make your wrists sore." His assistant returned then pushing a block of ice on a cart. Ice was an excellent tool of torture, extended exposure sparked extreme pain and left no marks ... perfect for high ranking prisoners. "Now question 3, My staff think you're a spy and they tell me you were warned to delete the footage of the lobby are either of these things true?" He asked then with a twist of his head "Tell you what if you give me an answer without upsetting me by being rude I'll let you down, even if I don't like your actual answer , If I like your answer you can also have a cigarette"

Lucien had a deep distaste for poor manners and [member="Eire Saf'Voak"] was no doubt paying the price for general societies turn from politeness. It was a shame for him.

 

[Eire Saf'Voak]

His eyes going wide as he was forced onto the ice, he began to breath heavily before beginning to speak.

"S-s-sir...I-I was warned to delete t-t-the footage, but I a-a-am no spy...s-s-sir!" He was speaking rather quickly, the pain on his feet unbearable. Gritting his teeth, he took the man's advice of not thrashing...for about three seconds. Jerking his hands around like a maniac, he muttered to himself to keep himself calm, but the pain in his feet was growing worse. "I'm really just h-h-h-here to r-r-report on t-t-the conference, s-s-sir!" He nearly barked, unable to move his feet off of the block of ice. Closing his eyes, he attempted to ignore the pain, waiting for the man to answer as he stood in silence, one and awhile pulling on the shackles.

[member="Lucien Cordel"]

 

[Lucien Cordel]

Lucien smiled "Good you're Learning" He did so love it when he could civilise the savage prisoners.

"Let him down" Lucien ordered with a lazy gesture. Then he stood up and collected a cigarette off the floor and moved to [member="Eire Saf'Voak"] as he was eased to the floor the Ice pulled away again. He put the Cigarette between Eire's lips and lit it. " Now you ignored an instruction before and that was rude, there must be a cost for that but I am a fair man and since you learned so well I'll let you pick how you are punished" He looked over the reporter definitely not a spy. "we will continue our conversation after you have been punished but mind if your too lenient on yourself I'll put you back on the ice for the next four hours interspersed only by beatings to punish you for your lack of remorse" Was it harsh to make him pick his own poison? Of Course but it was deserved when people were rude and Eire had been very rude.

Control could be such a painful burden.

 

[Eire Saf'Voak]

Ignore this post))

 

[Eire Saf'Voak]

"I...I-I...Do I have any options? I...I-I can't really think of a punishment, s-sir." He said, drawing in a thick cloud of cigarette smoke. "...And thank you f-f-for the cigarette, sir." Leaning against the wall, he shook his head slowly, attempting to calm himself with the cigarette. "C-could...y-you give me a f-few choices o-or suggestions, s-sir?" He asked, clearly trembling in fear.

Standing in silence, he stared at the floor, waiting for the man to answer. Sweat dripped from his forehead as the trembling continued.

[member="Lucien Cordel"]

 

[Lucien Cordel]

"Hmm " Lucien mused "It's rather close to cheating if I think of the punishment ..." He moved back over to sit in his chair " ... however I respect a man who respects me and you seem a quick learner so fine I'll give you suggestions" He looked over the man as he spoke they had informed him this man was cocky and brave, he'd been her less than an hour and broke already.

"You clearly didn't like the Ice so I would accept your remorse if you took that again for a time of your choosing, or you could do something nice for the staff you disrespected ... clean their kitchen or something like that or if neither of those appeal to you you can think of your own or opt to have the conditions your under now diminish voluntarily, I need but a gesture " Mind you it needed to be a good gesture. Lucien continued with his cigar whilst he waited on the reporter's answer. This torment was amusing now , hopefully [member="Eire Saf'Voak"] would be leaving politer for the experience.

 

[Eire Saf'Voak]

"I...H-h-how large is the kitchen?" He asked. "Ah, n-never mind! I'll....I-I'll clean the k-kitchen, s-sir. I...J-just to prove my sincerity, sir, I'll d-d-do one more task of your s-s-staff]s choosing...s-s-sir." He said, still trembling. "I'm...I-I-I'm ready when you a-a-are, s-sir." He said, sitting in silence as he finished the cigarette, smoking it clear down to the filter.

He nervously stood up, once again waiting in silence.

(Sorry for these short posts.)

[member="Lucien Cordel"]

 

[Lucien Cordel]

Lucien nodded, [member="Eire Saf'Voak"] had chosen to avoid physical pain in favour of humiliation. Not the choice Lucien would have guessed he'd pick but then Lucien would perhaps choose to avoid pain also. "Clean the kitchen , your second task for them can be heartfelt notes of apology, you can right those when I'm done with you I still need to determine whether your a spy ... " Under Lucien's new sentencing plan spying was a capital offence. Once Eire had finished his cigarette Lucien nodded and his assistants helped the reporter stand and led him out . There were only a few people in the lobby of the department of law, people tended to avoid the place normally, but no doubt some embarrassment was caused to Eire due to his current appearance.

Once in the kitchen Lucien went to perch on the edge of the rooms dining table "what a day ..." He sighed "Make me a cup of coffee , wash up, clean the countertops and the floor, If they are done to an acceptable standard then I'll be satisfied of your remorse and we can go back to our discussion on whether you're a spy" He waved Eire off "You may begin" The kitchen was not in itself really messy or indeed all that big, the floor was a touch dusty the worktops a little greasy and the wash bowl full but the task was hard not because it was huge but because it was degrading.

(No worries, I'll post again tomorrow It's late here in the UK)

 

[Eire Saf'Voak]

Stumbling into the kitchen, he shook his head, muttering to himself. He proceeded to stare at the coffee maker, glancing around nervously. "Alright...alright. If Steve can do this, so can you." He muttered to himself, slowly he took a small coffee filter. Nodding to himself, he continued muttering to himself. Pouring in six ounces of water, he slowly proceeded to pour two tablespoons of coffee into the coffee maker.

Plugging in the coffee maker, he quickly flips the machine on. Waiting impatiently, he glances around nervously. Finally, he removed a coffee mug from a nearby cupboard, proceeding to fill it. Throwing the paper coffee filter in a nearby trash can, he grabbed the mug, rushing over to [member="Lucien Cordel"], forcing a smile he passes the mug over to the man. "I've...I-I've never really brewed coffee before but...b-b-but I think I got it down...s-sir." He said, nodding his head slightly.

Taking a clean rag off of a nearby counter top, he quickly put the rag under a sink spigot, pouring cold water onto the rag. Quickly, he brought the rag down on each of the counter tops, wiping away any dust or filth on top of them. After a few minutes of doing this, he sighed, slowly dropping to his knees on the floor. Proceeding to wipe the floor down with the rag, he crawled on his knees, reaching under the refrigerator to clean the floor underneath and anything else. This took significantly longer than cleaning the counter tops. Once he was finished, he rose to his feet, heading back over to the man.

"Sir, I'm finished."

 

[Lucien Cordel]

Lucien watched [member="Eire Saf'Voak"] with some fascination , had the man never made coffee before? He seemed unsure of himself but perhaps that was the result of his chains. Then again judging by the security footage he treated this steve as something of a domestic servant so it was plausible that this was his first time.

after a few moments Eire presented Lucien with a cup of coffee. The reporter even smiled "Thank you" Lucien replied taking the mug. The coffee was passable, no where near the standard Lucien received from his paid staff but it was the effort that counted. He was pleasantly surprised at the humility on show from Eire a far cry from the man who ran into the glass panes in the lobby. Lucien did suppose being forced into rags and change would cut even the biggest egos down to size.

As Eire cleaned Lucien took a moment to appreciate the silence such a rare pleasure for a man in his line of work. There was always some paperwork to do, a prisoner to interrogate or a conference to partake in. He lost track of time completely until Eire returned to him. He glanced around "Very good the staff will be pleased ... I've not finished my coffee so you can have a small respite, Do try to avoid disturbing my relaxation it's such a rare opportunity and if you spoil it I might get cross and put you back on the ice block" He would remain quite for the next five or so minutes if allowed to do so before ordering Eire be led back to his cell once his coffee was done. They had more talking to do.