It Started With a Shortcut

[Sebastian Thel]

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Another work day came to an end with the soar of craft descending from landing ramps. Power lines connected to towers beyond the thick pane separating Sebastian's office from the industrial sector and as the seconds ticked by, he eagerly awaited fresh air and a cup of coffee. The chatter of his client pressed his nerves, filtered through the voice of an interpreter who tried her best to ease the situation until they were all relieved of each other's company.

"He is demanding a reevaluation before a making any further investments in the company." The woman sitting beside the Muun interpreted his speech, although Sebastian could not tell if the translation was broken.

Becoming increasingly stressed, Sebastian shifted in his chair and nodded. The report was overdue and he had no choice other than to accept the extended requirements. Since returning to Balmorra to work as a freelancer, he had managed to gain clients from the starship industry and silently observed the labyrinth of contracts connecting each company, and the rivalries which threatened to break them.

"I'm sorry the report was not satisfactory." Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, Sebastian spoke quietly in effort to reassure the businessman. "I will present a reevaluation tomorrow and hopefully provide some more useful statistics." His eye shifted to the clock as he waited for the man and his interpreter to leave. The Muun scoffed with a hearty nod and spoke, the woman beside him opening her mouth to translate.

"This is the last chance I'm taking with you." She said, a bead of sweat rolling down beside her eyebrow. "That will be all." His interpreter repeated in basic. The businessman rose to his feet, straightened the front of his suit and took heavy strides out of the door with the woman following behind him. With a thud, she shut the door and left Sebastian alone.

Star craft soared outside of the window as more citizens traveled home for the day. Taking a breath, Sebastian exhaled deeply and relaxed, dropping his pen in front of him as the numbers ceased to roll beneath his grip. He shuffled his graph paper and notes into a neat pile, which he slid into a briefcase with writing tools and pens. Wearing a plain white shirt, he removed his long coat from a wrack and threw himself into the sleeves, taking off his glasses and hiding them away in a pocket.

The small firm housing actuaries and accountants beeped as doors began to close. With a view in mind to repay the money his mother had lost gambling, Sebastian took any work he could find, and he often found less than legitimate clients. He gripped his briefcase and locked the door, striding through the small corridor and out of the entrance. Air laced with the smell of fuel and machinery was welcomed by his senses and he felt suddenly refreshed as he stepped onto the pavement.

With the day behind him, Sebastian decided to take a short cut through the shipyards, something he liked to do when he left work later than usual. As he walked along the steel ramp, he noticed a speeder drive off the sky lane and land in the center of the dirt. Structures and gargantuan frames of steel were hauled by towers around the dirt yard, where the speeder car had stopped in a random manner. Sebastian paid no heed for the time being and was more interested in the ships being constructed.

"Hi Sebastian!" The Twi'lek lady who worked at the make-shift coffee stand waved with joy. Sebastian's eyes were immediately pulled away from the car and looked at Kasey as he walked towards with a coy smile.

"Just a cuppaccino, Kasey." He said as he leaned against the bench. From the opposite end of the site, a fearsome man approach, keeping to sidelines as though he tried to hide his presence.

"Gee, that looks a little odd." Kasey chimed as she prepared Sebastian's coffee. She wore grimy overalls and a pair of goggles around a headscarf. As she placed the cup on the bench, Sebastian placed a credit chit in her hand and turned around to check on the situation with the car. He creased his brow in suspicion and Kasey left the stand to join him outside, cocking a blaster in her hands.

A group of men exited the car, some wearing hard hats and others carrying maps. From the opposite side, the Muun businessman employing Sebastian stepped out, cursing and shouting in his alien tongue. He felt Kasey lean in next to him as the man in the shadows approached. Only then, did Sebastian noticed that he was armed. Perhaps his client was constructing on rival territory, or owed a debt in blood. The scene seemed to unfold with the beat of a heart and raised voices did not aid in subduing any tension.

"Stay back, love." Kasey warned as she readied her blaster. Sebastian backed into the coffee stand, having suddenly lost his taste for caffeine. He placed the cup on the bench and planted his back against the wall as the warrior walked closer, until he gazed directly into Sebastian's eyes. He now hoped that the mercenary did not have witnesses on his mind.

[member="Khonsu Amon"]

 

[LT-137]

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Balmorra, a world of industry and corruption that was nestled within the comfort and aged opulence of the Core Worlds. It was upon this system’s mechanical surface that the mercenary, Khonsu Amon, would find himself tasked with hunting the head of a Muun - who’s own greed fueled the endless cycle of perverse decadence. While his mysterious contractor had admirable intentions, seeking to free this world of its criminal embrace, the man knew the unspoken truth. He, like the formerly nameless Muun, wanted the power and wealth that such authority brought, but was too cowardly to take it for himself. Thus, the shadowy figure would be forced to hire someone from the outside, who would wring the life from his competition and create the opportunity for gaining position amongst the social elite.

Having translated to the surface of this industrious system days prior, the Sun Guard had busied himself with garnering whatever scraps of information he could about his target. While his client had provided him with a plethora of data, much of it turned out to be worthless in the grand scheme of things. Outdated schedules and various hangouts were helpful, but they could easily be changed at the snap of his fingers, and thus were ultimately unreliable. That’s where his training as a former special forces operative had come into play. While his skillset was more attuned to the ebbs and flow of the battlefield, they found some use when a target was marked for death. More often than not, subtly wasn’t a concern - nor was he contractually bound to adhere to such restrictions.

The man relished the exultation that came from forcibly entering a target’s humble abode and stitching their collapsing form with a plethora of kinetic slugs.

Instead, the Thyrsian would have to adopt the guise of the patient hunter in order to accomplish his client’s wishes. Something that he had desperately wished would have never been enforced in the first place, as that was dreadfully boring. However, as the payout was substantial, Khonsu supposed that he would endure the daily tedium of tracking down whatever details he could in order to carry out his contractor's wishes. It was only to take a week of his time, at most, to see this job through to completion. That meant he wouldn’t have to bellyache for much longer, before he was back within the armoured confines of his combat gear, and seated in the pilot’s chair of the Sunrunner. He would just need to last for a few more days, and chase as many proverbially frayed ends as possible until he stumbled onto what he needed.

That moment came when the Sun Guard had found himself stalking the side streets of the Industrial sector nearest to one of the shipyards. He had found the place on a whim, but smiled with sadistic glee as he watched his target burst out of the small firm’s entrance and house himself within his armoured speeder. There was no chance that he could have taken the risk of being spotted, so as the target was made, the Thyrsian slipped into a nearby alcove which had allowed him to drink in the details of the vehicle - storing them for later use. While his contractor had proclaimed that everything he would need was within that data packet, it turns out that it the device had forgotten to include the IdentPlates of this armoured speeder, something that would’ve made tracking the alien down so much easier.

Nevertheless, now that he had the missing piece of the puzzle that had been mistakenly forgotten at the beginning of this assignment, Khonsu was able to carry on with confidence knowing that the task would soon be complete.

In the time it took for the speeder to cycle its engines and race away from the nearby structure, the Sun Guard had overheard his target and the accompanying woman speak of returning to this establishment upon the morrow. Something that involved the closure of a contract and the reassessment of some corporate figures. This would allow him the chance to spend the evening preparing for the insidious deed, which would see him deliver the message from his client and strangle the life out of the alien thereafter. It wasn’t going to be pretty, and depending on when the Muun had returned to the facility, the Mercenary was most likely going to find himself surrounded by witnesses. That wouldn’t have been an issue if his rippling musculature was adorned in his golden armour, but as it was resting within the hold of the Sunrunner, they would remember his face. That was an issue and thus would force him to be mindful of his surroundings when the time had come.

However, ensuring that he wouldn’t be remembered was something that would have to come when the appointed hour arrived. Until then, he would have to scope out the area and follow the tracking telemetry that was wirelessly attached to the navigational programs of the vehicle before it had sped off towards the horizon. It wasn’t a sure-fire way of tracking a speeder moving through the various sections of the industrial sector, but it would keep the man abreast of where the transport was headed. Something that had been sorely lacking when this assignment had begun. As there was little to do but bide his time, Khonsu figured that it would serve his needs to nourish his body and mind with a steaming cup of Caffa. Thus, the mercenary set about scouring the area as the sun slowly began to set and ended up finding himself walking down the street towards a stand that was reportedly favoured by many of the locals.

When he was making his approach, however, the Thyrsian noted that the transport from earlier had appeared on his tracker nearby. While it was a fortuitous circumstance that they were in the same area, it was also crowded with a few too many wandering eyes for his liking, despite the comfort the shadows had provided. So, the plan woul-

Out of nowhere, as his attention was focused on the device in clutched between his fingers, a seemingly faceless stranger had collided with the Thyrsian, nearly causing his tensed digits to drop the portable terminal. Cursing underneath his breath, and checking his person for all of his belongings - an act that openly revealed his sidearm and the leather-bound holster that resided above his barrel-chested breast - Khonsu waved the man off once he had ensured everything was where it was supposed to be.

Shaking his head, the Mercenary brushed off the sudden collision and carried on towards the curb-side establishment. Once he stood within a few feet of the stand, the man first looked the craven figure who sought to retreat into the stand’s embrace, and then looked at the curiously garbed alien - who held her blaster at the ready. “Is that how you greet all of your customers?” the Thyrsian stated aloud, coating his every word with the sonorous tones of his desert-etched voice. “If so, business must be slow.”

[member="Sebastian Thel"]​

 

[Sebastian Thel]

The shadow of the tall figure bathed the space where Sebastian and Kasey stood. From a short distance away, he could see rays from the sunset reflect in the surface of the man's gold armor. Chatter traveled from the parked speeder as men filed out, the client Sebastian had served pointing furiously at a map held by one of the architects. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he winced in a moment of disgust as Kasey tried to pull him away.

"Sorry hun, I know you don't like to be touched." The Twi'lek said as she retracted her hand from his shoulder. "... But you should stand back, I think there's something going on." While she spoke, Sebastian watched the men with a rising curiosity, borne out of natural intrigue and concern for his welfare, as the client employing him appeared to be a target of somebody else's ill-will.

Sebastian bit his index finger between his teeth, thinking on his feet in regards to his action. The mercenary picked up his pace and Kasey tugged at Sebastian's coat, trying not to touch him as she pulled him behind the coffee stand. As he remained standing, she drew her blaster and aimed directly at the chest of the approaching man. With one glance towards the men at the speeder, Sebastian darted forward, only to collide with the mercenary as he prepared to make his move.

The weight of the fierce Thyrisian almost shoved Sebastian onto the ground. Feeling the impact of his armor, he staggered backwards and clutched his upper arm where a bruise had formed beneath his sleeve. A portable terminal was revealed on the mercenary, along with a holster brandishing an array of firearms. His intention was surely violent. With her blaster still drawn, Kasey aimed the barrel at the man, who simply responded in jest, as Sebastian brushed down his front between the two.

"You don't look like no customer of mine." The Twi'lek threatened as she kept the weapon at the ready. Swallowing a gulp, Sebastian splayed his hands against the air in a calming gesture, trying to reassure Kasey that if the man wished to harm either of them, they would not still be standing.

"Kasey, just calm down." With his glasses still resting over his ears, Sebastian spoke while he stood between the two of them, speaking with a soft and tempered voice in the hopes of appeasing the situation. "That man is a client of mine." Motioning over to the speeder, he pointed to the Muun wearing the suit. "My guess is he has made somebody very angry." Sebastian shrugged and creased his brow in thought, turning away and avoiding the gaze of the men at the speeder.

"I'd like to know just what he has done to earn your blaster at his head." His voice dropped to a serious tone as he considered any possible outcome. Perhaps the Muun was a criminal he could assist in rooting out, benefiting both the starship industry and the mercenary. "Kasey, please take an order for this man." With that, he looked at the Twi'lek with a cheeky smile. She glared into the dirt with her mouth hanging open in bewilderment.

"If his crimes are financial, I may be able to offer a more delicate solution." Sebastian smiled towards the man, still repressing his fear at the sight of the many weapons adorning his body. Kasey slipped into the stand and prepared a cup of coffee, placing the blaster on the counter as the man ordered anything he liked.

[member="Khonsu Amon"]

 

[LT-137]

It was said that the radiance of the Sun worked in mysterious ways; tricking those that traversed through the dunes of hidden oases just beyond the horizon. They were mirages, brought about by a dehydrated mind unconsciously wishing for relief from their boiled torment. However, such trickery wasn’t limited to just the rolling sands. There were times when the heat of the concrete jungle had become too much, that those within its embrace began to hallucinate. Seeing things that were nothing more than a trick of the mind.

As he approached the curb-side establishment, and the two figures thereafter, the Thyrsian noted something in the human’s eyes. It was a subtle flare of the lids, likely a flicker of fear brought about by seeing someone dangerous dressed from head to toe in combat armour.

Taking a moment to look down at his plain clothes, Khonsu figured that it would’ve been easy to mistake the canary-hued fabric as armour when bathed in the sparse sunlight. Hell, the man figured that he would’ve made the same assumption if the shoe was on the other foot. However, wearing his armour whilst on this job would’ve drawn too much undue attention and possibly have spooked his target.

That wasn’t something he wanted to do; figuring that the mundane outfit would allow him to blend into his surroundings, more so than his myriad accoutrements of war.

When he was shrouded in his burnished armour, it seemed that he had drawn more unwanted attention than he would’ve liked, but that was the intent whilst on the battlefield. Let his foes consign their munitions in futility, it only meant when they reached their lines - they’d die with empty clips.

Khonsu’s attention snapped back to the fore as he watched the Twi’lek level her blaster in line with his chest. Should she pull the trigger, it was doubtful that his clothing could protect his flesh beneath from the plasmatic fury - but depending on where the bolt struck - there was a chance he would survive the lethal impact. Was it a risk he was willing to take? He couldn’t draw his weapon faster than she could pull the trigger; it was an impossibility as the alien woman had him dead to rights. But, there was a chance that he could play it cool and reach for something else instead.

Maybe if he -- That was when the Human shot a troubled glance towards the bugged speeder and threw his weight forward. With a cocked eyebrow, the Thyrsian turned his head in time to watch as the man cast himself against his muscular frame, before crumpling to the floor clutching his arm.

“That was foolish,” the Sun Guard stated plainly, before turning his attention towards the armed Twi’lek. Had he been a more compassionate man, Khonsu would’ve offered the man a hand in restoring his balance, but since the truth was the opposite; the Mercenary did nothing of the sort.

Instead, he kept his focus on the armed woman, whilst doing what he could to keep his intended target in his peripheries.

“You’re right,” His dark eyes shifted towards the Human from earlier as he splayed his hands outward; seeking to calm the escalated tensions to a more peaceable state. It seemed that the Alien knew this man well enough to take his words seriously, and the muscles in her fingers seemed to relax. “I’m not one of your customers, yet.”

Khonsu remained silent as the Human went about piecing his assignment together, and smiled. Whatever this man’s name was, he was very smart - so much so that it impressed the Mercenary. It seemed the man had a knack for drawing accurate conclusions from the barest shreds of presented evidence, which would make him more of an asset than he first believed. Perhaps the man could be beneficial with this assignment after all.

Pushing the thoughts of bringing him aboard aside in favour of listening to the mixture of his questions and demands, the Sun Guard respectfully waited until the man was finished before starting to give him the answers he sought. While it was an uncharacteristic gesture, the Thyrsian believed that the Twi’lek might take offence if he had interrupted and opened fire.

So, it was better to play it safe for the time being.

“You’ve guessed right,” Khonsu began, before turning his gaze towards the nameless Human. “That client of yours has powerful friends, and even more powerful enemies. I never cared to ask about the details between my Client and yours, so as far as I can tell - it’s a move to stake claim over a rival’s territory or operations.” With those words said, the Thyrsian began moving closer towards the counter, following after the Twi’lek woman as she had been directed to take his order. From what he could see, whilst trying to be cognizant of his surroundings, it wasn’t something she was happy about.

When he came to stand before the sill, Khonsu gently leaned his weight into the surface. Without even waiting to see what would happen next, he withdrew a credit chit from his pant’s pocket and placed it on the counter - sliding it towards the Twi’lek. His gesture was accompanied by a request for a cup of recaf but never allowed his intense and attentive eyes to trail from the Human.

“You’ve intrigued me with this delicate solution, however,” Khonsu stated. “Tell me more and I may cut you, and your friend here in on my profits.”

[member="Sebastian Thel"]​

 

[Sebastian Thel]

Sebastian sipped his caf apprehensively, directing a stare past the shoulder of the larger man. As Kasey lowered her blaster, he placed his cup back on the bench of her stand and tugged at his white tie. The details of his assignment seemed to please the man in the armor, which calmed him his nerves, even if it was unknown to both Kasey and himself that Sebastian was uncover. When the man affirmed his suspicion, Sebastian nodded, his glasses tilting slightly and wondered if he would take kindly to working with an agent of the Saraaisash.

"My name is Sebastian Thel, I uh..." Sebastian began to introduce himself, right as he forgot the name he had been assigned for the mission. "Oh chit!" He cursed out loud, almost throwing down his briefcase in frustration. These undercover missions were fine when he just had to slip into companies and leak their funds, but it was talking to people that always caught him up. Wiping a layer of sweat off his brow, he shifted his eyes awkwardly away from the man to look at Kasey. "Kasey, um, would you leave us alone for a minute?" He asked and the Twi'lek nodded, before walking inside the factory.

"Listen I'm with Imperial intelligence." Sebastian said to the man, feeling relieved to have that fact off his chest. "The Muun who owns this factory is leaking funds from Imperial businesses and they want to take him out." He explained, the analysis he had originally supplied to the tycoon having been intended to determine the rate at the certain industries in the Empire were losing money, as well as the sources of the leaks. "I need to infiltrate his headquarters and halt the leaking process, as well as restore the lost funds, but there will be guards and the tycoon himself won't be alone." The details of the mission came out abruptly, almost as though Sebastian was desperate to have somebody else along for the ride.

"I don't like my chances of sweet talking the guards in my finance geek ensemble." Convincing the guards that he was a financial analyst had been part of the original plan, but Sebastian wasn't convinced that he could pull it off. Eyeing the mercenary from the side, he stifled a bout of awkward laughter and put his hands in his pockets. Sebastian had to admit, he would rather somebody just kill the guards so he wouldn't have to talk to him, as brutal as it sounded.

"To be honest I'd rather you just blasted them so I can sneak in." He shrugged, noticing the eyebrow of the other man raise a tad.

​

A speeder car pulled up outside the headquarters of the company Sebastian and his new ally were going to infiltrate. A mercenary by the name of Khonsu Amon, he had revealed himself to be and the mathematician had no doubts that his brawn could be used along Sebastian's brains of the mission. Inhaling the smell of metal and speeder fuel, Sebastian looked out the window, where the grime of industry had been replaced by a sleek, glistening headquarters.

With one at the clock of the wrist device, Sebastian noted the time, which told him that Khonsu and himself only had a good ten minutes to take out the guards and slice the security system before reinforcements were called. Turning back around, he tugged his tie and shifted uncomfortably in his disguise. He hated when intelligence made him dress up as a finance geek, when he could have monitored the mission from his computer in his army pants and T-shirt.

"Okay, reinforcements will arrive in exactly thirteen minutes after you take out the guards, so you need to do it swiftly and quietly." Sebastian said to Khonsu, adjusting his glasses as he looked at the guards from inside the speeder. They were well-armed, but he was certain it was nothing Khonsu couldn't manage. "Don't go making a mess." The mathematician said, in a tone which could have passed as threatening. The black rings around his eyes he had earned from looking at his computer all day looked strangely menacing as he spoke.

"Once you've taken care of them, I'll slice the door and sneak into security to shut down the alarms." Sebastian offered the next stage of the plan, which would require Khonsu to stay out in case any reinforcements arrived before then. "Stay where you are and I'll contact you when I get there." He affirmed, taking another look at the guards. "I'll transmit a map of the HQ to your comms, then I'll give the all clear for you to head to the CEO." He said, fairly certain of the plan.

"Meanwhile, I'll stop the leak and restore the lost funds." Sebastian said with a nod. With one look at the time, he gave a signal to the driver, who opened the door and let Khonsu step out. "Right, let's go." Sebastian said, preparing himself to jump out Khonsu had taken out the guards.

[member="Khonsu Amon"]