The Foundry; Part 3

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Menoetius"]

Business was dirty.

Nel had always known that, had always guessed at it, though had never realized the extent of that truth. When she had received Alric Kuhn's personal files she had been surprised by the volume of more...illicit activities that had needed to be done. Generally these tasks were carried out by Saeva Incorporated, the military arm of Vanir, yet a few of these tasks had been hired out to contractors not within the company.

That was standard of course, though it proved rather difficult with the problem she had now.

"Nira." Nel called to her secretary over the intercom, the small woman popping into her office for a moment to see what she needed. "See if you can contact Mr. Vess. I understand he has connections within the underworld."

Nira looked at Nel for a moment. "There is a...delicate situation that could use a less subtle touch than what Saeva is used to."

That was of course not true. Saeva Incorporated had many forms and had completed tasks ranging from assassinations to wiping out entire planets, but this...this would require a disconnect. It would be okay to send a single Saeva Operative, but the face of what occured had to be from someone outside of the company, preferably someone who could make a name for themselves and claim responsibility. She just hoped the Mr. Vess had the connection to arrange a meeting with a person like that.

 

[Menoetius]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

Deep meditation was disturbed by the robotic voice of a personal droid. "Package for you, my lord," it buzzed, handing a rather annoyed Menoetius a letter.

A letter? Really? Menoetius found himself thinking. Nevermind the fact that nobody sent letters anymore, much less traditional paper ones. Nevermind the fact that he was currently in a bunker a mile beneath the surface of a backwater planet barely on any registries. No, the Anzat was more surprised that someone had used a letter to contact him than the fact that someone actually knew where he was located.

After reading the contents of the letter, the Sith Knight was immediately on the move. Ascending towards the surface in a dingy elevator, he mused on how quickly Vanir Industries had found him and also how quickly they'd requested his help. A corporation like that, though, he thought, obviously has the funds to do anything.

The Anzat felt he'd be a part of that anything soon enough as he reached the surface and made his way to his personal ship. Vanir was supposed to request his services via a hidden dropbox on Endor, at least that was what Menoetius had instructed them to do when he had offered his services, so his assistance must've been required immediately. Sitting down in the cockpit, Menoetius blasted off, en-route to the planet this meeting was due to take place on...

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Menoetius"]

The instructions would be left where Mr. Vess had been told.

Endor was a difficult world to get to, more difficult to actually find anything on. Of course, it helped that the men and women of Saeva Incorporated were the best at what they did, helped even more that one of these men was actually a droid and it came equipped with a full sensor package that allowed it to track the correct GPS formerly installed by the Old Empire.

Rigor stood where the drop box would have been, one hand wrapped around the handle of a briefcase, the other simply loosely hanging at its side.

The droid did not move, did not emote, nor even look to be online. It appeared that it had been sitting in place for more than a day, it's body covered in a bit of sludge and muck from the jungle around it. The only indication that the droid was still functioning was the odd, low, orange flicker across it's face. Otherwise it simply stood in place, watching, waiting for the arrival of it's temporary partner. Nel had not wanted to be foolish, she had not wanted to see this botched. So, for this day only Menoetius would have an assistant.

 

[Menoetius]

[member="Rigor"]

Bits of starship fell off as the rigors (heh) of re-entry battered Menoetius' personal ship. The thing belonged in a scrapyard, and only continued to fly because the Anzat willed it to do so. If he was going to upgrade, it would be in style, which was why he'd even bothered to offer Vanir Industries assistance in the first place. As the fire subsided and temperatures cooled to acceptable levels, the mass greenery of Endor filled the freighter's viewscreen which had a calming effect on Menoetius. Despite being a power hungry, remorseless Sith, he possessed a soft spot for natural beauty.

For Darth Erebos, GPS guidance was unnecessary. He had committed the location mostly to memory and relied minimally on the navcomputer. Rigor would hear the distant rumble of sublight engines approaching, gradually increasing in volume as Menoetius approached. Finally, the roaring would cease fifty meters to Rigor's east, which was also the location of a clearing suitable enough to land a starship in.

Menoetius disembarked and marched through the thick vegetation, which he forced out of his path with the force, and approached the droid, raising an eyebrow as he drew nearer.

"What are you doing here?" the Anzat queried, voice booming through the forest in his signature drawl.

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Menoetius"]

The droid did not response for a moment, or rather, it shifted and seemingly began to reactivate. All of the sludge and murk that had built up upon its skin began to pull off. The slight bit of muck and rust that had gathered on its face were pulled away, the odd green vines that had been tossed around it were torn off, and everything was quickly cleaned from the droids metallic skin. There was a slight shake as Rigor removed the last of the jungle from itself, taking a step forward towards the Sith Lord as it's face began an odd and soft glow.

A scan fell over the Sith Lord, then the droid stopped.

[Sent for your assistance] The droid said simply. [Payment and Mission details within]

The robotic drone of the droids voice seemed to echo well within the clearing, the metallic being clearly not caring if Menoetius was accepting of its aid or not. The fact was that this mission would be rather difficult, even for a Sith Knight. An entire palace filled with guards, droids, turrets, and ray shielding would be rather difficult to dispose of. With Rigor there the droid could at least hack systems that would allow them to move forward without much wait.

All they had to do was kill a governor.

Easy really.

 

[Menoetius]

[member="Rigor"]

The Anzat watched from under a shadowed hood as the droid reactivated, pondering on how long it had been waiting and if the glow that passed for its face were thousands of miniature photoreceptors or a design feature. Irregardless, his bemusement fell like autumn leaves from a tree when the droid spoke.

"Assistance?" Menoetius interjected, before catching himself. His fists slowly unclenched, a moment passed, and he added, "Rather insulting," in a slightly calmer tone.

It will all be worth it in the end, he thought, justifying this predicament to himself. He outstretched a hand, for the droid to pass over the briefcase, and asked, "How are you to assist me?" almost sarcastically.

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Menoetius"]

[Assassination protocols] The droid stated simply.

It was true that Rigor's primary programming had been for medical purposes, but it also had just a tinge of an assassin droid within it. In fact, most of what Rigor had been doing as of late had been assassinations rather than healing. It didn't bother the droid of course, it had no morals no any of the normal organic things that would allow someone to feel remorse. For the droid, it was simply work. Work was a good thing, it was logical, easy, and necessary.

[I will assist in securing the target] The droid continued. [Provide support]

There was no trying to justify itself, simply a statement of mission. [Weaponry and additional support equipment have been provided at drop off location]

Vanir had made sure that everything was set, the two of them just had to carry out the plan.

 

[Menoetius]

[member="Rigor"]

All the Anzat did was nod, after he'd taken the briefcase and listened to Rigor of course, then motioned for the droid to follow him. A smart one eighty degree turn on his heel and the Sith Knight was marching away, back through the same path he had made to reach the dead drop location. He pondered on why a droid had been sent to assist him and not a biological entity, but pondered only briefly. The answer was either surveillance or aptitude, or both, and the answer would make itself clear in due time. In the meantime, however, the Anzat queried Rigor. He had no time for reading mission dossiers.

"What is our destination and what exactly is the mission?"

In the treetops above, some curious Ewoks watched the pair and whispered amongst themselves if they should come down and worship the droid...

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Menoetius"]

The droid stalled for a moment, then shifted to begin walking towards the vessel in the distance.

Long range scanners often made things much faster than simply waiting for direction.

[Vanir Technologies newest project requires the approval of several planetary governors due to it's location in space] Rigor would never understand why the opinions of other organics mattered, in fact the droid was entirely sure Vanir had the funds to simply buy the planet in question. [One of these governors has attempted to extort the corporation for their own financial gain]

This wasn't exactly illegal of course, in the outer rim there were no such thing as laws, at least not really. No greater government presided over that section of the galaxy and thus planets were mostly left to do whatever they wanted. It was standard operating procedure, but Vanir wasn't about to put up with people extorting them for money. [We are to eliminate the governor asking for funds, as well as his entire government]

Simple really.

Or so Rigor thought.

 

[Menoetius]

[member="Rigor"]

"Easy enough," Menoetius remarked as he boarded the freighter he'd arrived on. He waited for Rigor to board too, before closing the exit ramp and walking into the cockpit. As he took a seat, he motioned to the co-pilot's chair which was dusty and covered in flakes of dry blood and said, "Sit."

Whether Rigor sat or not, Menoetius fired up the sublight engines and peeled the smoking freighter from the planet's surface. G-force acted upon his body, pushing the Anzat back in the chair as the ship blasted off into low orbit.

"You still have not told me where we are headed," the Sith half stated, half asked. "And what is your designation?"

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Menoetius"]

The droid pulled out a small datadrive.

Upon it would be the location of the planet they were heading towards as well as several key details that would be required. The Missions sounded rather simple of course, though Rigor doubted it would go as smoothly as the operations planning had made it seem. Of course, there was a chance that everything would go as smoothly, but in the droids experience this was hardly ever the case. [The Governors residence will be our primary target]

The odd glowing faceplate on Rigor's head seemed to shift.

[The man is hosting an annual party for members of the government] The Corrupt government. [Striking this gathering will allow us to mostly secure the objective in one fell swoop]

That was, if they actually made it inside. Rigor had no doubt in it's mind that it would be difficult, had no doubt that they would probably have some issue in getting inside. Once the guards were disposed of however and once the two of them had actually infiltrated the residence...well then things should be much simpler.

Politicians were not fighters, they were just walking corpses.