Private The Contract

[Aiko Hayata]

T H E_T I G E R
Aiko Hayata|Coruscant|Dealings
Tags: Mercy

The Yokai were a growing nuisance to her operations and rise to public legitimacy, for every killing and skirmish in A-town or Coruscants rich high rises brought another existential and logistical problem for her clan's operations and her own personal aspirations for legitimacy. Moreover, with the long-desired Atrisian senatorship now hers truly, she didn't want to have to risk a public scandal undoing everything her family had worked so hard for.

She hardly trusted non Atrisians with the work of her cartel, and they were nothing better than disposable manpower for her clan's war against other crime families. But they did serve that niche of being easily deniable should they be killed, no one would link such a death or incident to her clan, as her clan was known for being overwhelmingly Atrisian in its membership.

Aiko knew of this little half breed from word of mouth, anything you did in the underworld reverberated throughout, and everyone, both big and small, would hear about it before the day was out. Mercy was a killer, just like the rest of her vast army of murderers and sycophants. Aiko viewed her kind as useful, a means to an end; those that died died but those that lived and proved their mettle served her goals perfectly. She needed competent killers, not brash morons. Aiko had sent for the girl days prior, sending an unmarked car and her men to pick up the brute from whatever dive bar she was in. ​

 

[Mercy]

Aiko Hayata

As a rule Mercy didn't step into unmarked vans or cars without knowing where the feth they were going.

The men involved had been sketchy, but indicated an important client wanted to discuss a contract with her. Presumably if they wanted her killed there were easier ways of doing that. They didn't look like bounty hunters either. No, far too classy and clean-cut, they were obviously uncomfortable in the dive district they had found themselves in.

Bemusing to Mercy... the main reason she decided to go and see what the ruckus was about.

Coruscant wasn't as great as Denon. Sure, bigger, 'pearl of the galaxy' an' all that crap. But it was pretentious and Mercy didn't like that all too much. But she had just completed a contract that pulled in some nice credit.

So really, Aiko found her in pretty high spirits to start with.

About half an hour later Mercy found herself in a deserted waiting room. She sighed. Why was it always a waiting room? Weren't there better places to stash her until the 'boss was ready for you'? Clearly not. "Damn..." Mercy murmured as she tilted one of the magazines she picked up from the waiting room's stack. "That's one hell o' an' engine..."

A whistle.

"Way too overpriced tho."

Absently she stuck a cigarette between her teeth, pointedly ignoring the 'no smoke'-sign on the wall.

 

[Aiko Hayata]

T H E_T I G E R
Aiko Hayata|Coruscant|Dealings
Tags: Mercy

A lone android of the Hato variety approached mercy, with its lifeless porcelain features melded in the visage of an Atrisian Geisha servant, it bowed before the mercenary before the Hayata company jingle played out and the android spoke.

"Miss Mercy, Mistress Hayata is waiting for you inside, please make your way up," the android stated with a painfully cheerful voice before bowing and moving on its way. Several dozen of the Hatos patrolled all over the building, each fitted with automated voices and annoying company slogans, a hallmark of Aikos image and the Hayata corp. Even the venerable Chancellor Tithe had his own Hato droid, albeit heavily modified per the request of Tithe.

The matriarch of Clan Hayata waited for the mercenary in a rather lavish balcony, which had a bar and view overlooking the great corporate expanse of Coruscant's surface level. Aiko was sat by the bars side, dressed in expensive colours and a dress that had cost her triple what the average Coruscanti worker made in a year.

"Ahhh, it is the killer I have been hearing about; I trust my men didn't literally snatch you off the streets?" she asked teasingly, gesturing for the merc to sit beside her. ​

 

[Mercy]

Aiko Hayata

The droid was kinda creepy.

She peered at it, leaning in and tapping on its metallic fleshy cheek as an experiment. "Huh. Yar practically like the real thing." Mercy declared before taking her hand back and instead lighting up the cigarette while striding off into the direction the droid pointed at. "Mebbe I need a droid like that myself..." Muttered to herself as she walked towards the balcony.

"Tho.... nah, too creepy. Even for me."

Which was saying something coming from Mercy. Her left arm was covered in a sleeve-length tattoo that seemed to be moving on its own accord, depending on what angle you were looking at it.

It also seemed to twitch randomly at times. Probably nothing to worry about.

"Naw, they were as gentle as a couple of kittens, ma'am." Mercy drawled lazily before sitting down where Aiko indicated it. Then drawing from her cigarette and blowing out the smoke into the air. Convenient they were on a balcony. It might have been awkward if Mercy was dirtying up her office with the black smoke.

"So what can dis killer do for ya?" Appreciative glance up and down behind the shades. Hayata might be an ice cube of a woman, but she was still drop-dead gorgeous.

If Mercy was into vipers, she might have swung a pass at her just to see how she'd react.

"I am guessing it ain't to literally paint houses or take away the trash." Utilizing two euphemisms after one another with a grin.

 

[Aiko Hayata]

T H E_T I G E R
Aiko Hayata|Coruscant|Dealings
Tags: Mercy

"Cleaning out the trash is an apt enough description, I would wager, but I'm sure everyone has their own idea of what constitutes trash." she quipped with a smile; her trash came in the form of the Yokai, a lowly Atrisian gang of mutts and street orphans who constantly stood in her expansion into Corellia and other Atrisian diaspora communities, Aiko especially hated that stupid little gimmick of a mask the leader wore.

"Although i'm sure you'll be good enough, my men have been fighting the Yokai on the low for weeks now, a shooting here, a message there, I'm sure Kiyoshi and the rest know it's my men, but I'll happily escalate things if they don't take the hint."​

 

[Mercy]

Aiko Hayata

She inclined her head there.

True enough. She broke people that were someone's lovers, brothers, wives an' other assorted family. So maybe it was trash to them, but certainly not to the ones that cared. Thankfully Mercy wasn't one of those. She didn't care. In fact, it was probably impossible to care any less, except if her brain was replaced by a non-feeling droid brain.

Possibly.

"Yokai? Sure, I 'eard of 'em. Not that many o' them on Denon, but based on Corellia, 'hink?" Mercy shrugged. One target was the other, as long as the pay was good the woman was indiscriminate about the violence she exacted.

"What do ya want me to do? Wreck their operations? Put a few o' their heads on a pike outside their operations?" It was most likely not a hit on the Yokai boss themselves. Mercy didn't know much about the Demonhead, or however he called himself, but that wasn't a casual job. Mercy was good- no, scratch that, Mercy was karking awesome.

But self-awareness had to pave way for reality at times.

"I'd ask why ya care so much about the Yokai, but ya dun' pay me to think o' ask questions." A lazy grin there. An invitation to tell her anyway. Some of her bosses just looooved to hear themselves talk.

It wasn't yet clear to Mercy which way Aiko swung. Smirk.

 

[Aiko Hayata]

T H E_T I G E R
Aiko Hayata|Coruscant|Dealings
Tags: Mercy

"They get around," She remarked, knowing full well that the Yokai were not simply confined to Corellia's A-Town slums but instead had presence elsewhere as her people did. But their operations were childs play compared to the scope in which her own people operated, often with impunity as Aiko had meticulously and carefully crafted an artform out of bribing the right individuals and creating a culture of corruption the homeworld.

"Find where they live, sleep, drink and fuck, take my generous little pool of soldiers and take the fight to them, kill them in their beds, behead them, bomb their businesses and hurt everything and anyone associated with them."

Aiko chuckled to herself, leaning against the bar for support as she suppressed an almost arrogant smile as she spoke in-depth as to how she wanted them gone. She'd already made the first few moves, having had several low ranking dealers belonging to the Yokai beaten, mutilated and strung on an overpass in A-town along with many other small shootings and drivebys.

"Easy, no? Don't worry about the law, I know people on the inside, you'll have ample space to get away and if need be have eyes turn away."​

 

[Mercy]

Aiko Hayata

Not the first time she had to do a whole 'scorched earth'-tactic on a gang.

Just the other week someone asked her to put heads on pikes in front of an abandoned warehouse. These sort of things didn't bother Mercy at all. As far as she was concerned it was just business. Messy business, yes. And a karking annoying schutta if too much blood got on her clothes, but nothing some hyper-sonic dry-cleaning services couldn't handle.

"Sure, ma'am. Ain't the first time I be ruining a gang's livelihood an' I doubt it be the last one either." Then a pause, because a question did arise and it was all because of her recent training. Part of her was starting to outgrow the simple minded 'do whatcha told an' shut-up about it' routine.

"They be a big nuisance then, I reckon, since ya looking t'outsource ya point woman."

After all, if this was business as usual Hayata would have put one of her own men as the trigger man for this Yokai annihilation business. Instead she was looking outside of her gang.

That could mean a number of things... and Mercy was curious which one it was.

 

[Aiko Hayata]

T H E_T I G E R
Aiko Hayata|Coruscant|Dealings
Tags: Mercy

"Being more visible these days means, well, it means I cannot resort to prior methods as easily as I'd like to, it can get tiring having to do mental gymnastics in front of holonet press you know."

She hated the press the most, nothing more than a bunch of fickle vultures looking for a scoop or the latest hit piece to circulate throughout the holonet. They played to her tune when the bribes came in and when the money stopped, they went back to being what they always were, opportunistic little scavengers.

"Well sometimes the talent is found outside of the usual pool," Aiko nodded and took a little sip of her drink to hide her real emotions on the matter, wanting to spare the merc of the blatant truth of why Ms Hayata used non Atrisians for dangerous work. If they succeeded, it wouldn't be traced to her people and would be written off, if they failed then it just looked like another death in a sea of turbulence that seemed to hug the alliance like a plague.​

 

[Mercy]

Aiko Hayata

An ah there.

"Luckily I ain't important enough to be interesting to da press." Well, the press also had no idea the chit she got up to. If they knew the amount of political and criminal killings under her belt? They might have been hounding Mercy day and night. And Mercy would love it too. In contrast to Aiko she enjoyed being the spotlight of attention.

The more the better.

She laughed at Aiko's last comment.

"Yeah, sure, sure. An' if I die then yar not inconvenienced nor can it be traced back t'ya." Mercy responded slyly and with a smile. Oh, yes, the bruiser had a good piece of brain inside that thick skull.

Definitely far more than Mercy presented herself to be.

"Anyway, dun' matter to me none. I will get the job done an' will be alive by the end of it to collect. I always am." A wink. "Mebbe... if I do a great job for ya, ya can buy me a drink, ma'am." Drawled with a lazy smile. Oh, Hayata was a looker alright. She also didn't vibe as stuck-up as the usual business honchos were these days.

 

[Aiko Hayata]

T H E_T I G E R
Aiko Hayata|Coruscant|Dealings
Tags: Mercy

"If you die, you die, I sincerely hope you don't; I've got good faith in your abilities to avoid croaking it, so to speak." She didn't mean any offence by that; Aiko was merely being realistic about the matter. If the Atrisian knew Mercy was bound to die, she'd of settled on some common street gang to do it for less and likely die. But no, she simply decided to pay for the better thing and get real results.

"I've found that having money leaves you with too much for choice these days, I have anything you'd want."

Aiko smirked softly, finishing her drink and placing it on the side almost perfectly in harmony with the replicant bartender picking it up and quickly wiping it and putting it away.

"If you live you can have all the drinks you want."​

 

[Mercy]

Aiko Hayata

Oh, Mercy betted Aiko had anything she wanted.

Though maybe not in the way the pristine lady thought.

"Then I will be sure to live, ma'am. Wouldn't want our blossoming partnership to expire so quick, eh?" With a grin and a wink as Mercy began to rise up from her seat. "I bet yar got a ton o' chit goin' on, so I won't take up more o' ya time." She dusted off her hands and stretched lazily. Then send off an even lazier salute to the Lady Hayata.

"I will take mah leave."

Then before she could go-

"If ya got any more info for me, feel free to commlink me. No need to send ya men to pick me off the streets, I be sure they tire o' that kind of chit, nah?"

A little tease for good measure.