They Said It Was 99.9% Effective! (PM to Join)

[Kalous Anson]

Bakura - 1047 Hours Local Time

Bakura, a planet that rained as much as any in the known galaxy--a place nearly wet enough to remind Kalous of home--but was as beautiful and varied as any other. The scenery wasn't the primary attraction of this mercenary however; instead Kalous was drawn to his next life-saving credit payment from a local mining company. Of course, this company wasn't exactly on the most legal of status' within the grand enterprise that spanned Bakura. This company--like many others--was simply a front for a criminal syndicate that was led by a woman by the name of Cellaica Oyuax.

Miss Oyuax wasn't one to typically outsource jobs that didn't require anyone to leave the planet, but this was a special job, and a special job required people with particular skill sets that her own hired goons did not possess. She had taken over the Oyuax Syndicate from her father before her--it was an entirely generational affair that had been established hundreds of years ago--and she would relinquish control to her son, one day. This mission of hers, however, was clouded in the utmost secrecy and so only the bravest of mercenaries dared to inquire as to what would cause this crime boss to throw credits at a problem that she could usually solve by her lonesome.

The meeting was scheduled for 1100 hours, but for Kalous, fifteen minutes early was barely on time. It was a matter of preparation--parking, getting equipped, having breakfast--the simple things were the most important for a job. Going into this situation was knowing that you would accept this job regardless of its parameters. There was no choice when it came to whatever Cellaica allowed you to have--as she gained her fame for skinning her opposition alive--and you would thank her for any amount of credits you received. The intrigue for this job was just too good to pass up!

Upon arriving to her office--walking into a waiting room composed fully of transparisteel windows to signify her lack of fear--the mercenaries who arrived to be briefed on this job would be received by a simple protocol droid of a generic make and model. This droid would lead them inside, mainly to get better acquainted with whomever would be working on this job. The transparisteel room was fitted with chairs, couches, tables, a fully stocked bar, and dancers of a plethora of species and genders. It was almost as if it was a room for miss Oyuax to scout her own attendees, and it was.

Kalous hadn't been the first to arrive--no--he was the third. The first two were a duo that went by the names of Thanis and Ravir. They were from some backwater planet in the Outer Rim. When one looked upon them all they could see was dirt, grime, and an obvious lack of formal education. It was as if you could tell that they were cousins that were inbred by their own sibling parents. For them, however, Kalous had no words--he simply took a path toward the nearest chair--moving it to a wall that was facing the main the entry points of the room--and taking a seat.

[member="Ultimatum"] [member="Mit Tuxaire"]

 

[lordmitmar]

Bakura - 1053 Hours Local Time

Seven minutes. Seven. Six. Six minutes. Five. Mit couldn't stop himself from constantly checking the watch strapped to his wrist. He had expected to be sitting down and watching the doorways for the other mercs by now. Not racing past pedestrians, and hopping over cars. This contractor, Miss Oyuax. She wasn't one to wait for slow fighters. While the meeting point was only a few hundred meters away, five minutes early was still far later than Mit had hoped. It felt like he had been running everywhere for the past hour. Running from his temporary apartment to a newly opened diner. Running from the dinner to the street. From the street to the bridges spanning over the many chasms that ran through the area Mit had been running around in for the recent weeks.

His hurried breathes and pounding footsteps could no doubt be heard from the building. But he paid no attention to that as he glanced at his watch yet again. Four minutes. He could only wonder how early the others had come. Or if there we're more mercs racing towards the same door he was. With a loud thud he slammed against the wall, a few feet away from either of the two doors. He turned and ran through the doorway. Noticing a protocol droid attempt to stop him before he raced past. He had already known where he was meant to be. A droid would be of no use. Thud, thud, thud, thud. The sound of his feet slapping the ground was deafening in the tight hallway. He burst through another door. Into a larger room. He fell to the floor and looked up at the person sitting in front of him. "A-am I late?"

[member="Kalous Anson"] [member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Bakura - 1054 Hours Local Time

What an interesting planet, very humid, but unlike many other it had a varied environment. Overall, quite a nice planet, so the organics would say he was certain. Of course, Ultimatum was not an organic so he couldn't say anything on that matter. He admitted though that he enjoyed the rain, and some of his sensors were particularly nice about the smell of the ground. He had read that the smell was created by rain kicking up bacteria in the dirt. It was an intriguing concept that had been discovered.

However, he couldn't allow himself to be distracted. He had gotten on planet, but that was as far as he had gotten. The security on planet was decidedly lax... that was until a droid arrived without an organic owner. He had been taken in for questioning, supposedly vigorously. He had been stabbed with a stun baton four or five times and he had the new electrical burns on his shiny metal skin to prove it. Now he had been protected from any actual internal damage by a special covering over his wires. He had pretended to react and had continued to tell the truth throughout the entire procedure. The people had let him go in the end and he was now late for his intended arrival time.

It took him five minutes to navigate the streets, and eventually make his way into the building. He was able to relax when at last he entered the room. His memory core recognized one of the organics in the room. The Nautolan, though again his memory wasn't perfect in identifying aliens. He felt something of an annoyance on the fact that he was now later than intended. He preferred to be perfectly on time, but he had planned the journey to finish right when he stepped in the door to be the last possible moment. Due to the uncontrolled circumstances at the spaceport, he had been forced to arrive early. How very irritating, it seemed no matter where he went he couldn't evade that damned facet of organics. As it was he simply stood inside the room, near the door but not leaning on anything. He wasn't even paying that much attention to what was going on around him.

[member="Mit Tuxaire"] [member="Kalous Anson"]

 

[Kalous Anson]

Bakura - 1055 Local Time

Eight minutes had passed since Kalous had taken up residence in the chair that was now his only solace. Thanis and Ravir had already raided the bar that was stock full of assorted alcoholic beverages. It was as if they didn't know how to act in the office of a prospective client--let alone a civilized planet where your grandfather wasn't your father, brother, cousin, and uncle. Regardless if that combination of relation was possible, or not, Kalous had already decided that if those two were hired he might as well asked to be killed before he was skinned--unlike the rest of Miss Oyuax victims.

On the bright side; there were two new entrants into the room--one a previous associate--that seemed to be more civilized than the others. The first among the two seemed to be in much more of a hurry than anyone Kalous had ever seen before. Thud, thud, thud; those were the only sounds you could hear until he burst through the doors that barred off this grand waiting from from the rest of the building. It seemed as if it were the only entrance in this entire structure that was so heavily reinforced. It was a curious thought--why is it so sturdy--but that's neither here nor there.

When [member="Mit Tuxaire"] burst through the door and ended up looking up at Kalous, after falling through the floor, all Kalous could do was shake his head from side to side in response to the man's question. It was a non-verbal "no" that Kalous had to limit himself to as he tried to stifle a small amount of laughter from overtaking his reserved position in the room. Knowing that he didn't have an exorbitant amount of experience in negotiations--demanding clients--Kalous had to make sure he could at least act the part of the supremely confident mercenary that he was.

It wasn't until a familiar heap of metal, [member="Ultimatum"], marched through the door that Kalous became certain that this opportunity was as special as he hoped it would be. Having worked with the droid before; Kalous was set more at ease that he would have at least some form of chemisty with the team that Miss Oyuax had tried to assemble. Kalous also had the fortune of allowing his mind to think that if he didn't kill those two nitwits--Thanis and Ruvir--Ultimatum may do it for him. Suddenly the pieces were falling into place and there was just enough time for a quick introduction before Kalous believed the festivities would begin.

"Interesting seeing you here," Kalous said in the general direction of Ultimatum before turning his attention to the other organic in the room with a functioning brain. "I think you'd rather stick with us than those two."

Kalous was obviously referring to Thanis and Ruvir--who were now arm wrestling to decide who would have to stay sober enough to pilot their shuttle after the meeting. These two would be the largest nuisance that Kalous had ever met in his entire--fledgling--career. Where Miss Oyuax found those two was far beyond the knowledge of Kalous and he wished it to remain that way. And as the clock continued to tick; the room suddenly felt as if gravity itself had increased upon Kalous' shoulders--mainly the nerves before meeting the employer--but he wouldn't give anyone the satisfaction of showing his fear.

 

[lordmitmar]

Bakura - 1057 Local Time

Mit jumped to his feet, dusting off his hands and knees before looking to the Thanis and Ruvir. "I'd rather stick with one of those dancers than those two. At least i'd die with company. Much better than dying fighting alongside some idiots. I'm going to hope you two won't be those idiots." He said as he turned to the person sitting down. With a grin he reached out to shake the man's hand.

The two dim witts had finished their wrestling match, with Thanis ending the battle by slamming his knee into Ruvirs groin repeatedly, while choking him. He got up and walked towards one of the bar stools. He had gained an obvious limp about halfway through the match. Mit shook his head and turned towards the droid who had walked in a few moments after he had. "I doubt those guards at the spaceport let you in without much of a fight?"

Spoiler

Sorry for the short post, rushed on time
[member="Kalous Anson"] [member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Bakura - 1058 Local Time
1835 - Mustafar Time

Ultimatum nodded to [member="Kalous Anson"]. He didn't enjoy the look of the two barbarians. It would have been painful to watch their little wrestle, had he not turned his attention back in towards his own programming. He had found an interesting quirk that often had his backup processors collecting tactical information on many different situations that he found himself in. This was probably a left over from that discovery he had made with a friend. It had saddened him at first, that he had been made for battle and battle alone, then learn that his rebellion against himself had in fact only led his old self to wanting to take it a step further... galactic organic extinction... He had only recently learned just how far that old Ultimatum had gone, hiding information prints, battlestation plans, and even organic weaknesses. He had removed it all, destroying all the information save one copy held on a datastick safely stored in his personal laboratory. He was still cleaning up the smaller less obvious programs that had been hidden away.

He had just pulled the last parts out and touched up some of the code so that it was more aesthetically pleasing, at least as pleasing as a gaping wound in his code could appear. That was when the other organic, one of the two that so far hadn't made fools of themselves, said something to him. He looked at his blackened marks and replied, "It will come out, some buffing and minor repair work and my chassis will appear as good as new." He smirked slightly, the planet it would be accomplished on would be a little dirty for that purpose. Mustafar, his current home, was actually quite sterile, the intense heat of volcanoes could do that to a planet. He would have to take off the piece of metal and clean it before returning it on his body, which would be easy to accomplish, however it would be awhile before he got back there... He hoped Legion could handle it... But then he was getting a hell of a lot of experience from all the trips Ultimatum was taking. That droid probably ran the planet more efficiently than he did. He wouldn't give it command though, the droid was still a little too unpredictable.

He turned his attention back to the two near him, not those ruffians, and he asked, "So any ideas what the mission might be?" He had been calculating possible parameters, however the idea was still too broad to come to any conclusions.

[member="Mit Tuxaire"]

 

[Kalous Anson]

Bakura - 1100 Hours Local Time

"I think we're about to find out," Kalous whispered as the transparasteel room began to become frosted in tint. It was obviously a measure to limit visibility from the outside world and that could only mean that Miss Oyuax had decided to show her face.

With a woosh of a hidden door--behind the bar at which the two most inspirational people in the galaxy, Thanis and Ruvir, were partaking of--Miss Oyuax appeared with her hand clasped behind her back, and a stare that was not limited to disgust, plastered upon her face. She was dressed in all white--similar to a pants suit--with her hair dressed short just above her chin. It was obvious from a first glance that she was someone who was very strict about her personal choices and not one to be crossed.

Without saying a word, however, she raised her left hand--a blaster pistol in her grasp--and nonchalantly fired enough shots at Thanis and Ruvir to make them resemble more air than organic being. She never flinched--nor did she show any emotion--as she walked around the bar to take her seat at the desk toward the largest set of windows in the room. It was there where she sat and faced the remaining job candidates--carefully watching for their reactions to her actions.

Kalous was a little more shocked than he should be--his mask still doing the best job of hiding his reaction--as he watched everything unfold. He decided to now show his back to his prospective employer as a sign of respect--and fear--as to not get the same treatment of the two brothers who had just happened to enter a better existence than the one they had. In less than a minute Kalous had already lost two pieces of competition but he wasn't going to put it passed Miss Oyuax if she attempted to kill them all after whatever job they arrived from was a failure--or success--in fact he feared failure most of all.

[member="Ultimatum"] [member="Mit Tuxaire"]

 

[lordmitmar]

Bakura - 1100 Local Time

At first Mit had been afraid of the person sitting at a bar stool, watching himself, the merc to his left, and the droid behind him. Then, a foolish burst of confidence forced him to take a step towards the woman. "Hey. You going to tell us about our job, or shoot us?" He snarled. Miss Oyuax started to get to her feet. Her face expressionless as she reached towards the blaster she had put in a holster on her hip. When Mit shrank back and saluted the woman.

"S-Sorry, It was nothing but a question." He dropped his salute and took a few steps back, and glanced toward Kalous. The man had obviously been frightened when Miss Oyuax entered the room. Mit almost wished he had a mask. Just to hide his now ghostly colored face.

[member="Kalous Anson"] [member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Bakura - 1100 Local Time
1837 - Mus-

Ultimatum's thoughts were broken by the unexpected blaster fire. He had to admit that only part of him had been watching what was going on over at the bar. He had more focus on internal issues that all he had noticed was two organics and a third joining them. Then the blaster fire had erupted, turning the two poor organics into little more than free molecules. It was enough to jolt Ultimatum back to reality, leaving a rather messy job of cleaning up his program. This irritated him, but the sight of the two mercenaries, or what was left of them, on the floor quickly forced the thoughts out of his head. Interestingly, it wasn't fear that had affected him, instead it was a strange, possibly morbid, fascination with the woman who had accomplished this. Much like a professor startled from his paperwork to find an even more interesting subject brought up.

He had always looked at organics who appeared to have no conscious with suspicion. They were so rare that he almost wouldn't believe in their existence. It simply did not fit the organic profile that they didn't care for those around them. Certainly he knew that some had suppressed that natural instinct, but to never have had one. That was simply not possible. However, it was. It was such an oddity that when Ultimatum learned of these outliers he would try to study them. That was what he was trying to do right now. He was silently memorizing information on the woman, anything. He was still trying to find what connected these strange people, what was it that made one the way he or she was? He believed that if he could figure that out then he would have a way of understanding emotions better.

He stayed silent as the white, no silver, haired organic stood up and asked for a job, before being cowed by the lady. He stepped up next, almost finding amusement in it. "I believe that my organic compatriots are wondering exactly what the job is that we have been hired for. Evidently it is important enough that you do not trust such imbeciles as the two men on the floor. If you have any doubts of our capabilities, then please let us know now, so that we may address the issues while we are all still capable of speaking." He kept his voice cordial, trying not to sound overzealous, nor apathetic. It was a difficult balance to obtain and in the end he wasn't certain whether he had accomplished this or not. He watched closely for the woman's response, saving everything to memory for later analysis. While not an immediate concern, he hoped that the two surviving organics were alright with him stepping forward. He didn't know the strength of the blaster the woman had, so he couldn't be certain whether it would pierce his body armoring, but he was confident.

[member="Mit Tuxaire"] [member="Kalous Anson"]

 

[Kalous Anson]

Kalous, repeatedly, mouthed obscenities as [member="Mit Tuxaire"] attempted to step forward and assert himself to Miss Oyuax. Something just told Kalous that doing anything besides responding with 'yes ma'am' would have gotten a normal person brutally murdered. His own suspicions weren't quite alleviated due to the sudden deaths of Thanis and Ruvir. This perpetual mind game that was being played upon those whom had entered this room was now coming to a head as [member="Ultimatum"] stepped forward to speak. He was the first to do so without recoiling, and why would he?

Ultimatum was a droid by nature and hardened by various metals and minerals. It was hard enough to kill a droid--let alone one that could transfer the contents of his mind on a datapad. It--he--was a variable that was so unique to this situation that Kalous had decided to keep his own mouth shut and let the droid negotiate. Kalous was a squishy Nautolan that had the ability to sense feelings with his tendrils but that gave him no solace from the whims of one such as Miss Oyuax. She was like a vortex of mysterious, deathly, energies.

"

"I believe that my organic compatriots are wondering exactly what the job is that we have been hired for. Evidently it is important enough that you do not trust such imbeciles as the two men on the floor. If you have any doubts of our capabilities, then please let us know now, so that we may address the issues while we are all still capable of speaking."

"Doubts," Miss Oyuax asked rhetorically as she began to saunter around her desk--the fingers of her right hand slithering across the pristinely cleaned wood. "If I had doubts you would be them."

The words she spoke were obviously in reference to the two who lay slumped against the floor--pools of red beginning to stain the floor around them--with nothing but surprise plastered on their faces. Her tone was rather raspy in nature--more sinister than one would expect from her looks--but not all too unpleasant for those with ears instead of sound receptors.

"You three will undertake a mission for me," she began again as she slid her bottom onto her desk--leaning against it in a semi-seated position--as her arms crossed with a blaster held in her left hand. "You will obtain, for me, the newest software created by Cyclone Mining. Their software is better than mine and I simply cannot allow that. Understand?"

It seemed to Kalous that this information may be all the three of them would receive for this mission. There seemed to be no options of yes or no, there were no salary negotiations, and no direction besides being told what to steal and from whom. This was definitely going to be more trouble than it was worth but Kalous would not dare try and cross someone as ruthless and power as Miss Oyuax. Therefore, Kalous silently nodded in agreement before watching the other two and their reactions. "Please don't get me killed, guys!"

 

[lordmitmar]

"We're dead. We're all so dead." Mit had to use all of his willpower to keep from freaking out. Miss Oyuax had sounded threatening, actually meeting her in person? Why were any of them even there? Well, to grab that new software. Besides that? They were there to die. If they failed, they would be killed for stealing such valuable data. If they succeeded, they would more than likely be killed by that crazy woman. They hadn't even started this mission, and it was already too late to back out. "So, are we going or what? I'm tired of sitting here cowering while you threaten us. We obviously can't leave, so what the hell is the point of trying to terrify us?" He had obviously been talking to the woman, though he had settled his gaze on the spot where Thanis had been. If anyone was going to get them killed, it was him. He knew that, but he really didn't care. Any more time spent in front of this nutjob was time wasted.

[member="Kalous Anson"] [member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum nodded as he listened, recording the entire conversation to permanent memory hidden in the HoloNet. He would go over all the information on the trip. Obviously there would be a trip somewhere and that would require travel and that would then require time. Which was a luxury that this woman appeared to want to shorten for all of them, specifically their lives. He wondered if the woman enjoyed killing or if there was simply no emotion to killing. It was a question that at this time he couldn't really ask, perhaps after the mission was complete, if it were. The only upside really was the fact that if he had a restraining bolt put on him in being captured he would be fine. His internal systems were vastly different and restraining bolts had no effect other than marking up his chassis, which he abhorred.

The downsides were if he succeeded, but failed to please Miss Oyuax then it was likely that he would find his body scrapped. While he could live with that, he really didn't want to lose this body. He had become attached to it like a man became attached to his life. He had spent the last months in this body, building and fighting. His most recent job had been quite painful, having taken quite a few beatings, as [member="Kalous Anson"] could probably attest to. But this body had pulled through valiantly, it hadn't given up no matter how many blasts the enemy had put in it. Even that explosion hadn't done it in. The thought that it would be destroyed by this woman, who had probably not seen the combat that Ultimatum had endured, was repulsive.

It was from that emotion that he drew his strength. He would succeed and he would excel. After all, that was what droids were good at, being given the impossible task and excelling beyond anyone's imagination. He looked forward to the challenge. There was fear, but it was countered completely by his will to live and his knowledge that nothing thrown at him would defeat him. Even if his mind died now, he could truly die with the knowledge that his plans were in motion and that there was no stopping the future. When the future is a droid that makes it all the much easier to look death in the face and laugh. He would have literally laughed, had he decided not to test his luck. He didn't know how this female organic would respond to that. He smiled instead saying, "I agree. Let us be off to accomplish that which you have tasked us."

[member="Mit Tuxaire"]

 

[Kalous Anson]

"Do these two not understand how crazy this woman is? Oh my gosh, please do not give her an excuse to shoot us all and find someone else," Kalous thought to himself as he gently nudged his body to move forward--putting less distance between himself, [member="Mit Tuxaire"], and @Ultimatum--and to have a small insurance policy of being behind Ultimatum in case he needed a metal shield to protect from a few blaster bolts. Wishful thinking.

"So, are we going or what? I'm tired of sitting here cowering while you threaten us. We obviously can't leave, so what the hell is the point of trying to terrify us?"

It was obvious that the trio's new employer was becoming ever so agitated the longer that this interaction persisted to be drawn away from her terms. Her lips began to curl and her eyebrows began to furrow as she allowed Mit to speak at her, yet again, without her usual repercussions. Normally, she would have had a great many things done to his living body before she turned him into a corpse in a matter of days, but today, Miss Oyuax was far more forgiving due to the time constraint that gathering this technology had placed upon her. If she didn't need this new software before the next day's technological show then she would have just ended each and every one of them where they stood. It was then, after she allowed Mit to speak, that the droid had decided to chime in one last time before Miss Oyuax showed her true level of disdain for the three mercenaries.

"I agree. Let us be off to accomplish that which you have tasked us."

"Then what's stopping you," Miss Oyuax exclaimed using an emotion reserved for the brink of fury! She was tired of these games and wished nothing more than to see these three--especially the quiet one with the tendrils--hanging from a trophy wall. Nevertheless she extended her arm toward the door and gave a firm point as the doors squealed open with a sound that was reminiscent of a last gasp before death.

"Pleasure, ma'am," Kalous remarked as he attempted to grab the other two from behind to drag them out of the room as quickly as possible. It was as if Kalous was the only sane one in the bunch that knew the ramifications of speaking in such a way to a powerful crime boss such as Cellaica Oyuax.

It wasn't until the trio were outside of the room--the door shutting firmly behind them--that Kalous spoke again with exasperated breath. He knew that they had barely made it out of that room alive, and he hadn't even been the one to antagonize the crime lord this time, either! It was amazing that Kalous had been the one with a level head and a shut face-hole.

"Were you both trying to get us killed," he exclaimed as he began to walk toward the main door to exit back to the city.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum smiled despite the somewhat dire situation. He found it amusing that the crime lord was so angered at their not leaving. He apparently not understood this organic's way of thought. Most organics preferred to not be walked away from without telling the others to do so. In the end it appeared that this organic liked control, but at the same time she didn't want her underlings to wait for her to tell them to go. It was a strange contradiction, but then organics tended to be a large bundle of contradictions. Their very survival was a contradiction to the massive lack of efficiency that was their body.

When they were all out of the room and Kalous yelled at them, Ultimatum decided to let the organic vent. He knew that this being wasn't a coward, he had faced down blasters and uneven odds, but something about a maniacal female crimelord looking for lackeys was too much for him. Ultimatum pondered this, there was a large difference between a crowd of heavily armed men who were out to kill you and a single crimelord who was wielding little more than a pistol and who was not as likely to kill you. He could understand the fear of both, but to be almost completely cool with the former and very scared of the latter was more than a little strange to Ultimatum. He didn't mind and he wouldn't mess with [member="Kalous Anson"] about it.

To that end, Ultimatum decided not to mention the blaster hidden safely in his right arm. In a moment he could have his arm eject the blaster right into his hand and he could fire at will. He hadn't expected to use it at this point, but he was always had it on him. The advantage of the blaster being in his arm was that scanners simply picked up an arm with varying components. He simply followed until he was outside, there he said, "So we will rendezvous at the location?" He didn't know about the others, but his ship could only carry one other individual. He was still looking for a ship to be his troop carrier.

[member="Mit Tuxaire"]