Private Fortune For The Forlorn

[Oshin Jantu]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Amid the dense districts of Crystal City, a settlement of crystalline skyscrapers whose spires actually stabbed the sky, there were the rich elements, the wealthy elite, and there were the denizens of the destitute in their midst.

Even with the beautiful, hexagonal, colossal crystals suitable to forge civilizations out of, where cities were born, where the very rock was their support, not everyone could afford to mirror their splendor. In that way, Christophsis was no different from any other planet with this dichotomy.

In a shadier neighborhood, where seedy inhabitants walked the streets and thieves stalked the alleys, the turquoise towers all around cast their glow into the void, bathing the background, as the night sky gave way, and the rats came out to play.

While the cats were away, some may say, but that was always the case in this place. Criminal organizations, from gangs of punks and thugs to full-fledged syndicates, owned and roamed this zone. A person had to be careful, never knowing if they would be pickpocketed, kidnapped, or worse. Murdered, perhaps.

By an assassin… She licks her lips, tongue running over her fangs, tasting the remnant of red liquid. Wasn’t blood but the nectar of an energy drink. On a rooftop… Amusing, really, and admittedly empowering; knowing that her target can’t see her, but she can see him, clearly.

On the edge of a roof, behind a small wall, she’s kneeling. A dark figure garbed in leather, toting a trench coat, explosives, blasters, daggers and other weapons to boast. She isn’t cloaked, but she has the advantage of not being seen from her vantage. She stares through the scope of her sniper rifle while the wind blows at her hair.

One squeeze of this trigger and it’s sweet dreams, mister. Oshin, the assassin, grinned. The wind shifted, she breathed, but her gaze never wavered from her quarry. He was a Neimoidian, a rogue, some vigilante bloke, maybe, but who knows? He paced the maze of streets a distance away, on the frozen ocean below Oshin.

Got you. His head on her crosshair. Boom. Finger on the trigger, the assassin released air, and squeezed—pretended to, really. She didn’t actually. Would it be that easy? “I see you,” Oshin transmitted into her earpiece. “Moving smoothly. And nice hat.”

She shifted her vision further ahead to the end of the street at a crossway between alleys. “Our Devaronian friend seems to be taking a left at the junction.” That Devaronian just then stopped at a hotdog stand. “Oh. Guess he’s simply hungry. It happens.” Like a woman who was ever thirsty, especially with a blaster in her hands.

Zengel Felgreen

 

[Zengel Felgreen]

Objectives:

• Discretely follow Quixeli’s Henchman (immediate).
• Kill Drafel Quixeli (overall).

Tag: Oshin Jantu

Christophsis. Zengel Felgreen had seen it in dozens of travel advertisements over the years, but this was his first time on the planet itself. The reality of it was rather different than the glittering crystal spires he saw in the ads. They existed all right, but they were quite literally just the surface-level. Down here, they looked less like beacons of inspiration, and more like monoliths of judgement. But all of this was of very little surprise to Felgreen. Planets, like people, rarely ever showed their full faces to strangers.

This was especially true for the target Felgreen was pursuing today. This target was a Xexto of many names. He was most commonly known as Drafel Quixeli, but at this time, he was operating under the alias of “Rogulek Ivafvich”. He was a con-artist, burglar, and self-styled master criminal; who had a record spanning from Corellia to Nal Hutta. But if Felgreen did his work up to his usual standards, that record would end here. And he wasn’t alone on this job.

Felgreen’s benefactor had contacted him at the last minute to inform him that he would be working with an accomplice this time. This was unusual for him, but hardly unheard of. Truthfully, he didn’t mind having backup on this particular assignment. From what he had heard, Quixeli was a notoriously hard Xexto to pin down.

The backup Felgreen had been provided with was in the form of a freelance assassin whom his benefactor had identified as Oshin Jantu. He knew a little bit about her by reputation, enough to respect her, but definitely not enough to fully trust her. He trusted his benefactor though, and if his benefactor trusted her with this mission, he felt safe as he reasonably could. Despite this, he could not shake an odd feeling that she was aiming her rifle at him a bit more often than he would like.

At the moment, Felgreen was discretely following a known associate of Quixeli, as Jantu provided rooftop support. The associate in question was a lanky, red Devaronian with an elongated pair of horns on his cranium. As Jantu reported, he had stopped in front of a hotdog stand. The odd part was that he did not seem to be buying anything. He was just standing there, chatting with the heavyset Kerkoiden running the stand. Speaking into the earpiece linking him to Jantu, he said “It… doesn’t look like he’s here to eat from down here. Unfortunately, I don’t think I can get close enough to hear what they are discussing without being noticed.”

As the two continued to talk, Felgreen saw the hotdog vendor gesture across the street. Directly at a large building labeled with a sign reading “Marcellsior Central Crystal Reserves”. Not long after that, their conversation ended, and the Devaronian appeared to slip the vendor a stack of credits. “Based on what I saw though, I would hazard a guess that Quixeli is planning to steal from the Crystal Reserves building across the street...” Felgreen said into his earpiece, as he noticed an unmarked armored vehicle driving towards the general area. “…and I think he’s going to do it very, very soon.”

 

[Oshin Jantu]

Spoiler: Music OOC

“I lost visual.” As much as their positions were different, top and bottom, their angles also differed. Getting closer would be a gamble for Felgreen but he could see at least. Meanwhile the roof offered Oshin a wide view but the food booth faced away from her and she couldn’t see the man behind it. So this was just as much a moment for her to trust her partner’s information as he relayed it.

Relying on her vantage, she shifted her scope back to Felgreen—it was important to check his position from their target—then she moved over to the building in the distance. Across the street was definitely one way to put it given the less luxurious district they were in, but the building was appropriately enormous even amid its contemporaries.

Security was going to be heavy, especially with it being at the periphery of both zones, though that wouldn’t prevent the sly likes of Quixeli. He was indeed a bit of a greedy bastard. Going at it alone, though? He had talent but he was never an idiot. Not yet, at least. Things changed, and the more desperate, the more likely to be sloppy.

Oshin noted the armored lift heading toward the complex. It could be a delivery of payroll as much as it could be delivering a group of armed convicts. “I have a feeling this vendor wasn’t giving our Devaronian friend directions.” The structure was hard to miss even from a distance.

“An exchange, maybe, or to indicate everything is in place.” For all she knew, this was no longer the planning stage, but the execution. The move. “And, given the elements, I wonder whether our Xexto has employed the choice services of a syndicate to pull this job off.” It was his MO for others to do the dirty work, though the spy also liked his disguises.

Whatever was going on, that armored vehicle was approaching the gate of the crystal reserve. Ever curious, Oshin shifted her scope back toward the hot dog stand. She spotted the Devaronian walk past it and enter an alley. “Where’s red think he's going, then?”

Zengel Felgreen

 

[Zengel Felgreen]

Objectives:

• Discretely follow Quixeli's Henchman (immediate).
• Kill Drafel Quixeli (overall).

Tag: Oshin Jantu

Felgreen continued to eye the Devaronian as he listened to Jantu’s assessment of the situation. He definitely agreed that their target wasn’t looking for directions. In response to her suggestion that he might be working with the aid of a criminal organization, Felgreen said “It’s definitely possible. But I think he might have assembled his own crew for this. With a reputation like his, I don’t know if any of the Five Syndicates would trust him enough. But then again, he is known to be very persuasive…”

After shaking the Kerkoiden vendor’s large, mustard-stained claw, the Devaronian turned around, and left the hotdog stand. After a moment, Felgreen continued on after him, keeping a healthy distance from both the Devaronian, and his hotdog-vending associate. When Felgreen’s quarry made a sharp turn into an alleyway, he did not immediately follow. Had he caught on to the fact that he was being watched, and was testing that theory? Or was he about to lead Felgreen straight to his hideout? Felgreen waited at the entrance of the alleyway, pretending to be interested in a sign advertising a new type of security droid built by the Glolmark Corporation. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the horned humanoid walk further into the alleyway, pull a small communicator out of his pocket, and begin to speak into it.

The Devaronian was speaking barely above a whisper into the device, so was difficult to tell what he was saying. But it sounded something like “I paid him, just as you instructed. It’s all ready to go whenever you are.” Felgreen was too far away to hear what the voice on the other end said back to him. Whatever it said must have pleased the Devaronian. He chuckled, and said “Yes, as we discussed. I’ll see you there soon enough.”

By the time the Devaronian had put away the device and turned to exit the alleyway, Felgreen was already a safe distance away, inconspicuously waiting next to a hoverbus terminal. Speaking into his earpiece, he said “He went into the alleyway to speak into his commlink to someone. Judging by what I heard, it was probably Quixeli. He said something about “it” being “ready”. And I don’t think he was talking in the theoretical sense.”

Just as Felgreen said this, he looked back in the direction of the crystal reserves building, and noticed something… very unusual. The entire building was being evacuated. “Jantu, are you seeing this?” he asked into his earpiece. As he listened to her response, Felgreen began approaching the building in order to get a closer look. As he did, a panicked salaryman pushed past him, and shouted “Stay away from that building! Don’t you know there’s been a gas leak?!” Getting past the distressed human, he caught a glimpse of the unmarked armored vehicle he had noticed earlier. Now, he saw that its passengers were unloading. They all wore face concealing enviro-suits marked “Department Of Toxic Chemicals Disposal”, and were carrying various pieces equipment through the building’s doors. As well as a few secure-looking black crates. Crates which looked just perfect for carrying a stolen payload of Christophsis crystals.

So, that was Quixeli’s plan. It never was just a simple robbery with him, after all. Even Felgreen had to admit, it was actually pretty clever. Speaking into his communicator once again, he said “It seems that Quixeli has faked a gas leak in the building to cover his theft. I’m willing to hazard a guess the gang getting out of that vehicle is his team. I don’t see our Xexto with them, but I have a feeling he’s near by.”

 

[Oshin Jantu]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Oshin waited patiently as her partner did his thing in the streets. Others came to that hot dog stand and walked off. Who was the vendor? If he was being bought then he could be a link between the facility or a local criminal element. There were the Syndicates and then there were simply syndicates.

It was all just speculation, though, something to keep the assassin busy on the roof, gazing through a scope with little else to do. She monitored the armored vehicle, steadily on the move and not speeding through. Guards at the gate, waiting like her. Life as usual on the streets in between, if with one vehicle that still hadn’t moved.

A sleek speeder, black and silver, a driver and a passenger. It had been idle for some time on the opposite side of the hot dog stand. Quix himself? Another crewmember? A rival criminal? An undercover peacekeeper? Or two idiots waiting for their girlfriends to call them? Could be something, could be nothing, but Felgreen was definitely onto something with his speech about the comlink in the alley and Quixeli.

"He said something about "it" being "ready". And I don't think he was talking in the theoretical sense."

“Maybe he just meant his order of bratwurst with mustard is served.”

"Jantu, are you seeing this?"

“With both my bright eyes.” The facility suddenly opened the floodgates as its occupants began pouring out because of the ‘gas leak’.

They were being herded by sweeping security teams, one of which approached the armored car’s inhabitants. They paused long enough for one figure in an EVA suit to offer his clearance and, like that, the team was given entrance. Forged IDs was but one more of Quix’s tricks up his four sleeves.

"I'm willing to hazard a guess the gang getting out of that vehicle is his team. I don't see our Xexto with them, but I have a feeling he's nearby."

“Hazard a guess? Pun intended?” Oshin focused her attention on the entrance even if her tone wasn’t so serious. The hazard disposal team was in the building. That was one step. Next they would use all of their equipment to get through to the vault. It’s what Jantu would do.

“Ladder at your three. Facing me.” Although Felgreen didn’t exactly know of Oshin’s position. “East wing of the building.” It was built in, unlike emergency ladders for civilians which descended. “Maintenance access. Should get you to the roof. No security.”

Not for the time being at least. “Move.” Felgreen didn’t have to but it was the best option his partner spotted from her elevation. Things could look different from his point of view.

Whatever his decision, Oshin would cover him over the distance, though her right snper’s eye wasn’t limited to her scope. Her left eye was closed though her third eye was open. Her ears listened to the wind. Her mind heard the darkness and saw a parked car. She saw a city, heard its streets, but heard an ocean, saw the sea.

Zengel Felgreen

 

[Zengel Felgreen]

Objectives:

• Enter the crystal reserve building. (immediate).
• Kill Drafel Quixeli (overall).

Tag: Oshin Jantu

When Jantu pointed out the ladder leading to the building’s roof, Felgreen replied “On it.”, and approached it. But when he started to climb the rather rusty metal bars, he saw the door of a nearby black and silver speeder open out of the corner of his eye. A bald, brutish man wearing a visibly worn-out maintenance uniform exited the vehicle, and began walking towards the base of the ladder. Once he was within shouting range of Felgreen, he yelled at the top of his lungs “Hey, you in da suit! Get down from there ya miserable pencil-pusher! Maintenance personnel only!”

At this, Felgreen only began climbing faster. Speaking into his earpiece linking him to Jantu, he calmly said “I may need some assistance dealing with the friendly gentleman down on the ground depending on what he decides to do next.” Just below him, the “Friendly Gentleman” was following closely behind, furiously producing a long stream of profanity directed towards Felgreen.

When Felgreen reached an outcropping of the roof, his pursuer managed to catch up to him, and hit him square in the back of his head. Felgreen staggered forward, but managed to stop himself from collapsing on the ground. When the his adversary swung his fist for another punch, Felgreen caught it with his hand. Soon the two combatants had locked into a pushing match, each trying to force the other off the roof and onto the street below. The problem for Felgreen was that his opponent definitely had a strength advantage over him. While he could probably think of a “creative solution” to deal with this predicament, he decided it would probably be best to call in some help for this one. Speaking into his earpiece, Felgreen said in a voice barely above a whisper “If you have this guy in your sights, take the shot.”

 

[Oshin Jantu]

Shit. [“I see him,”] was all Oshin responded regarding the friendly gentleman down on the ground. The sniper followed the figure with her scope, shifting between him and Felgreen. His position had been free, the area clean, but both knew things could change any moment as they had so quickly. All it had taken was for a door to open. Such was the nature and the danger of their game but it was one that the assassin loved to play.

Two men climb the ladder with hands and feet. One woman climbs the same ladder with a circle and a cross. Her eye doesn’t blink as she breathes steadily. Her body doesn’t move as wind wraps around the skyscraper, teasing the flaps of her black jacket, but she’s motionless as a statue, or a gargoyle perched on the roof to death’s silent tune.

“From a place you won’t see…”

Oshin whispered to herself. Long rifle, small datapad, two tools hand in hand. The former offered death, the latter offered information for the former’s coming. Winds shifted, readings shifted with, offering calculations and measurements for drift, velocity, trajectory. A virtual eye for the naked eye watching the bald guy walk across the rooftop.

“Comes a sound you won’t hear…”

“If you have this guy in your sights, take—”

-PHWOM!-

[“Done.”]

Yet the blaster shot wouldn’t be heard. All Felgreen would see was his assailant’s body drop. It did not get back up. Oshin shifted her scope to check for more threats and other elements.

[“Rooftop entrance to your left. Got a panel on it.”] Unfortunately shooting everything wasn’t always a solution. [“Watching for tangos.”] As silently as a ghost.

Zengel Felgreen

 

[Zengel Felgreen]

Objectives:

• Enter the crystal reserve building. (immediate).
• Kill Drafel Quixeli (overall).

Tag: Oshin Jantu

“That was quite an impressive shot.” Felgreen said, speaking into the earpiece linking him to Jantu as he looked down at his assailant’s lifeless body. It was evident that the shot had been a direct hit, straight through the sides of the Human’s bald head. A grisly sight to be sure, but Felgreen had both seen and inflicted worse over the course of his career. There was also the fact that if he stopped to ponder the gruesome nature of his work for too long, there was every chance he could end up like this fellow had.

Now, Felgreen’s attention turned to the task of accessing the building’s entrance. Jantu pointed out an entrance door to his left that he could use. The only problem was that it was secured behind an access panel which required a keycard to open. He momentarily considered forcing it open, but quickly reject the idea as too impractical. Looking at the dead Human in the maintenance uniform, he had a better idea. If he had a uniform, there was a good chance he had the access card associated with it. Bending down next to the corpse, Felgreen rummaged in its pockets for the item he needed. His search was successful, and shortly thereafter, he inserted the card into the door’s security panel. The panel sounded an electronic chime, and the door automatically slid open.

Walking through the door, Felgreen found himself in a drab and odd-smelling hallway which was clearly not used (or cleaned) often. Speaking into his earpiece, he reported “I’m in. There appears to be nothing of interest on this floor. Keep me informed on the situation outside.” Walking to the end of the hallway, he saw a room labeled “Security Monitoring Room 06”. Entering the room, Felgreen saw a wall covered in holographic video feeds showing various important areas of the building. He also that all of the cameras displayed empty rooms, and no sign of the “Hazard Disposal Team”. Reporting back to Jantu, he said “Currently in a security camera room. All cameras appear to have been sliced to loop with empty footage. Seems I have no choice but to search for the manually. Any updates from the outside?”

 

[Oshin Jantu]

"I'm in. There appears to be nothing of interest on this floor. Keep me informed on the situation outside."

“Copy.”

As soon as Felgreen left her scope, the limit of her vision, Oshin shifted it away from the roof and to the greater building. Crosshair crawling across the wall, spotting a door open for a maintenance section. If it’s broken. Oshin crept her deathly gaze downward, along the floor, walking between pedestrians in the street, spying a droid tweaking a machine. Fix it.

Nothing of interest at the moment, she swept her vision over the main entrance. Vehicles, laborers, other persons and things and activities unfolding in each and every direction. Normalcy. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Security Monitoring Room 06. Oshin noted. Had only herself to keep herself company on her own rooftop, apart from comments over the comm, not that this was a breakfast club conversation or any such druk.

"Currently in a security camera room. All cameras appear to have been sliced to loop with empty footage. Seems I have no choice but to search for the manually. Any updates from the outside?"

“Clear as fear out here.” Camera room. Sliced to loop. “Might have an insider or they might be within proximity. Feeding false feed is dangerous business for the quick-and-in.” She stated the obvious. A guy like Felgreen probably already knew this.

“I’ll hazard a guess that they’ve got two teams running top and bottom. A distraction team, as with those camera feeds, and an extraction team for the meat and potatoes.”

Ever moving despite being motionless, Oshin shifted her vision across the wall, spotting another vehicle disappear down a ramp. “And that means the vault.” Then again, it was just a theory in the end.

Zengel Felgreen

 

[Zengel Felgreen]

Objectives:

• Search the crystal reserve building. (immediate).
• Kill Drafel Quixeli (overall).

Tag: Oshin Jantu

Felgreen began making his way to the stairs as he listened to Jantu’s reply. Apparently the outside was still clear. In response to her remark about the dangerous nature of the false feed, he said “Quixeli must be unusually scared of retribution for this job. And not just of typical law enforcement. I would say that means one of two things.” Felgreen paused for a moment. “Either he knows about us being here, or whoever he is stealing from has the means to track him down. Do you happen to know who owns this building anyway?”

Opening the door marked “Emergency Stairwell”, Felgreen was greeted with a utilitarian cinderblock room which extended downwards to the lower floors. The only bit of decoration was a screen displaying a floor plan of the building and an emergency evacuation route. It indicated that the Main Vault could be found on the basement floor. While taking the lift would have been easier, it could have also given away the fact that he was coming. (The panels at the lift access points indicated if they were in use.) The stairs would have to do. Speaking into his earpiece once more, he said “Currently going down the emergency stairs to the vault.”

Several flights of stairs later, Felgreen reached a door marked “Basement Floor”. He opened it, but then immediately got out of the way of the doorframe in preparation for an ambush. The suspected ambush never came, and Felgreen slipped through the door into a dimly-lit hallway. A decent distance away, there was an elevator access point with a humanoid standing guard in front of it, its back turned to Felgreen. The humanoid’s “Department Of Toxic Chemicals Disposal” enviro-suit concealed its identity, but told Felgreen everything he needed to know about it. Criminal.

Whispering into his earpiece, Felgreen said “Now at the basement. Quixeli’s team is down here. I am moving in to neutralize them.” At this, he pressed himself against the wall, his visible form becoming barely more than a shadow in the dim light. He approached the enviro-suited humanoid from behind, barely visible and completely silent. By the time the humanoid realized something was off, the handle of an ultrachrome knife was already sticking out of its back. The humanoid let out a muffled gasp, and collapsed on the ground in a heap. One down. Several more to go.

 

[Oshin Jantu]

He knows we’re here. Now that possibility was definitely a running theory. Quixeli was no idiot, even if desperate, whether he was working with this that or the other syndicate. Syndicate. Stealing from this crystal reserve but, on the other hand, what if it was connected with more than government but a criminal organization with that amount of influence? Kriff. That meant trouble for more than Quixeli. You don’t rob from the mob and expect to get away with it. Then again, it was just a theory in the end.

“Do you happen to know who owns this building anyway?”

“No. But I have a feeling we are going to find out somehow no matter how this plays out.”

Though the rest of her words would be filler so she kept her thoughts and theories in her head for the moment. Onward, her partner ventured. Emergency stairs sounded like a smart idea. Good. He isn’t an idiot.

“Copy.”

However, this of course meant that the deeper Felgreen went the less Oshin would be able to see him or witness whatever happened. Yet she kept the ramp covered, knowing where it led, and the treasure in its depths.

“I am moving in to neutralize them.”

“Careful.” Oshin cautioned the obvious. “Don’t take on a handful.” Whatever her partner’s skill level it would only make their endeavor more difficult if their target hadn’t already caught onto them until the next moment.

What’s this? Another vehicle approached to descend the ramp toward the vault but turned to park topside. The speeder was not like the others. No delivery truck. A man in a black suit lined in pinstripe white with a gold tie came out with bodyguards on either side. Criminal.

“Third party just arrived on the scene outside.” Oshin relayed the position and description as she scrutinized this guy with her quiet eye. “My guess is...syndicate.”

Zengel Felgreen