(MIA) Mistress in Action

[Tmoxin Temi]

Location: Stormtrooper Command Center on Coruscant

Major Ulysses sat at the desk in his office and reviewed the results of their latest trooper recruitment drive. It didn't yield the results he was looking for. Was it the location? The personnel who ran the drive itself? Or were the rumors of Sith atrocities on the battlefield just making recruitment difficult as of late? Or was it...

"Major Ulysses, sir."

He looked up and in his doorway stood one of his Blood Monarchs, a female trooper. "Yes private?"

"I performed a sweep of the barracks again and... could find nothing. Do you want me to..."

"No," he said with a frown. "Thank you that will be all."

As soon as she was out of the vicinity he pulled up the database of Imperial Agents available for field work. He decided upon Senior Agent Maximilian Vinticus and sent him a message:

//begin transmission

To: Maximilian Vinticus

Senior Agent Vinticus, this is Sergant-Major Ulysses of the Stormtrooper Platoon Unit 101, also known as The Blood Monarchs
I have an assignment for you and I see you are stationed here on Coruscant. Can you meet me at The Outlander Club tonight? I will follow up with the appointed time. I'd have you come here to the Command Center but it's a private matter and the Underworld will afford the privacy we need.

//end transmission

Major Ulysses checked his schedule and followed up with another message stating the appointed time.

[member="Maximilian Vinticus"]

 

[Davin Jusik]

@Tmoxin Tori

A moon hung low overhead and the sounds of birds could be heard in the distance. He stood on a calm beach with white sand, watching the clouds drift lazily through the darkness.

Max was abruptly awoken from the dream when his com went off from it's place by his nightstand. The agent lazily rolled over to glance at the screen's lighted screen that illuminated a small portion of his darkened apartment's ceiling.

O' the joys of being a spy.

The lights flickered on as he pulled himself out of bed. A Major wanted to meet him and had decided to contact him over an electronic device. Max gave a sigh after memorizing the location and time of the meet before wiping his com's limited drive. He prefered dead drops, which had been the only way to safely communicate on the IR's turf. Too many rebels posing as friendlies to risk electronic interference.

Max made himself a lite breakfast in his sparce kitchen before dressing in one of several disguises he had and leaving thru the apartment's back door. The agent had yet to break the habits formed in his time infiltrating the various factions that'd caused such strife in the Remnant. He prefered to dress differently when meeting a comrade. The current one was just a standard civilian one. He appeared as one of those billions of invisible office workers that occupied the planet.

He'd likely see the Major before the Major saw him.

A small blaster sat concealed in his waistband and he whistled as he strolled towards the nearest stop for Coruscant's public transit system.

 

[Tmoxin Temi]

Sergeant-Major Ulysses didn't frequent the Outlander Club very often but he did spend time here whenever the Galactic Games came around from its dormancy, even sleeping over in the club's gambling quarters when the games got heated enough that he couldn't tear himself away. He would leave the club in the morning with an exhilarating exhaustion and only a hint of shame at not having more discipline. But it was once every seven years, he reasoned. I can allow myself a slip in judgment once every seven years.

He also came to bet on the fight clubs once a week but Ulysses would normally place one wager and leave. And now with war afoot, he figured he wouldn't be frequenting the Outlander much anymore.

Ulysses sat in a back booth on the Digisee Gaming Floor and he reviewed the material he would share with Agent Vinticus. He appeared nonchalant and ordered a Corellian whiskey neat. He watched patrons and gamblers, smoking deathsticks, reveling or cursing their bad luck. No one was watching him. Exactly how I want it, he thought. The assignment he had for the Senior Agent was perhaps different than what the man was used to and it's why the Major didn't feel the need for absolute secrecy. But at the same time, he was disobeying his superior officer's superior, Lieutenant-Colonel Gunnar Rube. Therefore he didn't feel comfortable meeting Agent Vinticus anywhere near the Command Center or Sith Army facilities.

[member="Maximilian Vinticus"]

 

[Davin Jusik]

[member="Tmoxin Temi"]

The speederbus began to slow down a few blocks away from the cantina and Max shuffled his way off with the rest of the rabble. The street was packed the way that Max had learned only Coruscantian streets could. With trillions upon trillions stuffed onto one giant city it was an unavoidable result.

After making his way through the throng of beings he entered the establishment through the front and was immediately hit with the smell of the place. The pungent combination of alcohol, death sticks, and various other substances that lingered even after the place was closed. With a bit of scanning Max found his eyes resting on a very military looking man in the corner.

Max made his way to the table and took a seat.

He ordered a house ale and waited for the waiter to leave before speaking.

"This is a tad unusual isn't it Sergeant Major?" Max asked casually, looking and sounding every bit a lawyer or bureaucrat.

 

[Tmoxin Temi]

The Sergeant-Major looked up at Agent Vinticus and said, “Why yes, I suppose it is.” His eyes flicked to the sound of glass breaking near the bar and then back to the agent again. His face appeared conflicted, but undeterred he spoke:

“The assignment is of a somewhat personal nature.” In one gulp the Major swallowed his glass of whiskey and hailed another from a waitress who sailed by. He pulled out his own datapad, tapped a few keys and slid it over to Vintincus.

“I’ve sent this information to you so you have it. In short my superior, Commander Tmoxin Temi has been missing for seventy-two hours. She left on a forty-eight hour leave and didn’t return to base as scheduled. When I asked Lieutenant-Colonel Gunnar Rube to send out a search party for her, he didn’t want to spare the men and resources. He is convinced that she’s deserted the Imperial Inquisition. In his words, she was quote, "expendable.” He assessed the man across from him. “I tend to think she is not as disposable.”

Agent Vinticus would see Commander Temi’s dossier on the datapad and Major Ulysses gave him time to review it.

“I did some research of my own and found that Commander Temi went back to her home-planet of Hapes and visited a clinic called The Fountain of Youth. She was sighted in the clinic on the first day of her leave and was seen conversing with a patient in the clinic, a woman named Mistress Malkite.

“After you read Mistress Malkite’s dossier I beileve you’ll be just as concerned as I am about the whereabouts of my Commander.”

Agent Vinticus wouldn’t be able to tell if the Major sought to find the Stormtrooper Commander for a purely professional reason or if something more intimate was involved. “I would like for you to locate, Commander Temi. I believe her to be in trouble. And of course, I hope you’d keep this a private matter, including accepting private payment not connected to the Imperial Inquisition.”

"Questions?"

[member="Maximilian Vinticus"]

 

[Davin Jusik]

[member="Tmoxin Temi"]

"What's my insurance if this blows up and you're wrong about Temi? If she is a deserter?" Max asked as he began to pour over the file Ulysses had handed him.

Max gave him a concentrated gaze, moving his eyes up and down the soldier as he thought of the SM's reason for this meeting. The meeting in itselfwas dangerous if it wasn't sanctioned by command. He doubted that a career military senior nco would risk something like this without a reason, and Max doubted that reason was professional courtesy.

 

[Tmoxin Temi]

“You tell me what it will take, Agent.” the Sergeant-Major answered, frustration beginning to creep into his voice. “What kind of insurance are we talking about?”
He spread his hands a bit helplessly. “I’m not a rich man. Like you I live on an officer’s salary…”

He stopped for a moment and Agent Vinticus could see the wheels turning in his head. “I may not have credits but I do have contacts. Can I open the door for you anywhere? Facilitate a meeting with the Lieutenant-Colonel? Or even someone with more influence at the top?”

The waitress came back with his whiskey and he took a grateful sip. He rambled on with more choices for Agent Vinticus: “Commander Temi has contacts as well. It doesn’t seem that she has impressed Gunnar Rade but she knows certain galaxians in the upper echelon of society. And I know her credits are good. Why just the other day she was bragging to me about… well, let’s just say she doesn’t have to worry about where her next meal is coming from, unlike us Agent, am I right?” he asked presuming much about the Intelligence Officer in front of him.

The Major began to sound quite desperate to have his Commander back.

[member="Maximilian Vinticus"]

 

[Davin Jusik]

[member="Tmoxin Temi"]

"I'll take the meetings and a written set of orders that you'll write out yourself and forge the Lt Colonel's signature. I will not end up in a cell or against a wall for this, but I'll help you." Max said with the same tone as before.

He took a drink as he continued to read the file.

"What's your stake in all this? She a lover? Friend?"

 

[Tmoxin Temi]

Major Ulysses nodded. "Those terms sound reasonable. And I understand your hesitancy." He sipped his whiskey and sat back in his chair more relaxed now that the negotiations appeared over for the time being. "But leave no man left behind is my motto, no matter who signs our paycheck, Agent."

He hailed a waitress over and while Agent Vinticus read through the dossiers, he placed a quick bet on one of the up-and-coming fighters who would be fighting at the club tonight. The odds weren't good but he was hoping his gamble would pay off. When the Agent asked a question about his motives for seeking out the Commander's whereabouts he said: "Commander Temi recruited me from my old platoon which was about to be deployed into a conflict from which I knew I wouldn't return. She saw potential in me and requested that I join her team. I owe her my life."

He finished his second glass and added, "So to answer your question, no. She is not my lover." Doesn't mean it hasn't crossed my mind, he thought. His datapad pinged with a message and he distractedly checked it with a tap of his fingers. He examined the message and then asked Agent Vinticus:

"Do you work alone or with a team?"

[member="Maximilian Vinticus"]

 

[Davin Jusik]

[member="Tmoxin Temi"]

Max gave a nod. It'd been a while since he'd felt that sort of comradery towards anyone in his field. The game tended to be different in this line of work. Too much intrigue and plotting, not at all like his trooper days.

All his friends were dead.

The only thing he had left was duty, Max was only interested in what advanced Imperial aims. A true patriot.

"Alone." Max replied solemnly. "Especially when discretion is required."

The Agent waved the waiter over and ordered a brandy. Such thoughts soured his mood.

 

[Tmoxin Temi]

"Very well," said Major Ulysses. "Alone it is. Now I suggest you start with this Malkite character and the clinic both of them were seen together on Hapes. There has to be some connection there."

The Major signaled to the waitress to bring the bill and he paid both drinks with his credits. "I'm going to the fight clubs on the lower level." He nodded to a set of stairs.

"If you have any questions along the way, you know how to reach me. Also if you need extraction..." he paused and smirked. "I trust that you are experienced and that extraction wouldn't need to be considered. Good luck, Agent Vinticus. Bring her home safely."

And with that he disappeared down the stairs his hands already reaching for the next credits which which to bet.

[member="Maximilian Vinticus"]

 

[Davin Jusik]

[member="Tmoxin Temi"]

Max gave a nod before picking up the file and downing his shot. He then proceeded to pull out his com as he exited the building, routing the number through another, for his underworld contacts. The com rang for a moment before a gruff voice answered.

"Yeah."

"I need a ride, offworld capable, level 50, one hour."

"Got it."

-----------------------

After a few preparations Max had been offworld within two hours after the meeting. The short hyperspace trip was spent brushing up on the files and reading through the "official" account of Temi's disappearance. Damned thing read like every other lie IIA had put out the past ten years. They all seemed to be written by the same bureaucratic dreg.

Who had this woman pissed off?

Apparently someone with some sort of sway the way the condemnations read.

What was Max getting involved in?

The agent gave a bit of a grin as he docked on Hapes under a false identity. Something more interesting than the standard fare.

"Now to meet this Mistress" Max mumbled as he strolled into the bustling cityscape towards the mark's place of buisness, with the clothes and demeanor of an arrogant, and rich young man.

 

[Armand Temi]

Mistress Malkite's latest assignment started with a fortuitous meeting of a new client in of one of her favorite places, The Fountain of Youth clinic. She was there for her inaugural treatment in the Age Renewal Chamber, that she had commissioned Dr. Armand Temi to build. The treatment itself was quite unforgiving and of course the Mistress always begged her doctor to stay in there a little longer than was safe, so afterwards she sat in a recovery room with a bacta-infused mud cleansing mask on her face to swiftly heal the hundreds of needles marks now on her face. A beautiful Hapan woman entered the recovery room shortly after. Lady Dah'ma from Gallinore it seemed had also just finished a brutal treatment of facial injections and rough-as-sandpaper skin scrubs. After reclining next to her in a black leather chair, the Lady began to make polite conversation with Mistress Malkite. "I know the doctor from an old family friend. Do you know that the Temi's are heir to the estate on Viceroy street..." This family gossip went on and on and on until luckily Malkite's eye began to bleed from the tear duct and the Lady, recoiling in horror, finally stopped her chattering. "Don't worry," Mistress Malkite said, seeing the woman's alarm. "My treatment causes this to happen." She dabbed at the blood with a white towel as it made a rivulet down her pert nose.

Lady Dah'ma was undeterred and continued with her gossip wherein Mistress Malkite zoned out until the Lady stated the following: "...In short, the eldest sister, who used to be a very active member of my cult, has run off and joined up with the Imperial Army. Her mother T'ga wants me to bring her back. We had an arrangement that Tmoxin Temi, if she followed in my footsteps in the Ni'Korish, would inherit my rainbow gem mine. I have no daughters you know."

How this sounded to Mistress Malkite was "blah, blah, blah, blah rainbow gems, blah, blah, blah."

Sparks went off in her head. Or maybe that was just the treatment. Either way a rainbow gem mine was an extremely valuable asset. Prized by Jedi Knights, even one rainbow gem was worth as much as a Calamarian cruiser on the open market.

"And have you reached out to Miss Temi?" Mistress Malkite asked.

"I have but she won't meet with me. The thought of inheriting my empire and coming back into the Ni'Korish fold doesn't appeal to her in the slightest. But make no mistake," she added as her tone became firmer. "I need her or ... someone to continue the Ni'Korish traditions. The Jedi order is a plague we need to eradicate."

Mistress Malkite could give a kark about the Jedis and Lady Dah'ma for that matter but she did like the sound of a fat cache of rainbow gems to keep for retirement, immediately sell or commission into fine jewelry.

"You know I'm a very convincing woman, Lady Dah'me. I would be happy to find her and talk to her."

The two women appraised each other like valuable antiques. The Lady said, "Very well. Let's see what you can do."

[member="Maximilian Vinticus"]

 

[Davin Jusik]

[member="Mistress Malkite"] [member="Tmoxin Temi"]

After roughly two hours of searching and charming through some of the local aristocracy Max located the Mistress's most probable location. An extremely expensive "clinic". The air in these areas bothered him. Despite working for an Empire with a very lifted elite Max had a largely negative opinion of the privileged in most civilizations. Though he had a knack for playing the most annoying of their kind well.

The arrogant man child with a dash of ambition and a substantial amount of credits. Someone who'd make a good friend to like minded elites.

Max entered the Clinic with the same attitude he'd held since he arrived on planet and talked the receptionist into calling back to Malkite, who no doubt would be aggravated until Max pulled some bull numbers for the con.

 

[Tmoxin Temi]

Aerona the young Hapan assistant at the Fountain of Youth clinic inspected the young and well-to-do man who asked for information about Mistress Malkite. While the medical assistant wasn't allowed to give out the personal information of Doctor Armand Temi's clients, this particular dominatrix had always creeped her out to such an extent that Aerona really didn't give a flying Banta flarg whether her information was compromised. But if the private data was traced back to Aerona... she didn't like that idea one bit as Mistress Malkite was quite intimating and well, a quite sinister figure with a bad reputation around Hapes. Still she was one of the clinic's best client, the top paying in fact. Dr. Temi would continue to treat her as long as her credits continued to be available to him.

"I'm not supposed to do this, but here is the Mistress's contact information," she whispered to the disguised Agent Vinticis. "But I have to ask you for payment and your silence on this matter. This could cause me my job or even worse if the Mistress finds out about this. I'm not sure if you've met her before but that woman is as cold as carbonite."

[member="Maximilian Vinticus"]