To secure gainful employment [Jak Sandrow]

[Lucien Cordel]

Lucien sighed and struck yet another name of his list. He needed a new heavy enforcer and bodyguard, Having promoted his former right hand and the fist of his organisation, Captain Scott, to Head of security . He placed Adverts far and wide on the holonet, in cantinas in periodicals it was safe to say, he got word around and it had paid off he had in front of him an applicant list numbering nearly 40 and that was after a rigorous vetting process based off of background check and consultation with references. Sadly things had gone down hill rapidly from there and every candidate he'd seen so far had failed to reach the end of this the final interview. He had arranged to hold the trials on Lok in the Morpho sports arena a venture he held hefty shares in. This allowed him to test the candidates on their physical capability for the job. Boasting a running track, a shooting range, batting cages etcetera.

As stated the physical performance of every previous candidate had fallen short and Lucien was getting tired, he was on his third large pot of tea and had gone through more biscuits today than he normally did in a week "Send in the next one " he sighed into the intercom not bothering to check who the next one actually was. He had therefore been quite surprised to see a familiar face ... [member="Jak Sandrow"] . Lucien inclined his head yes Jak Lucien had known him in the fringe, quite the gifted mentalist if he recalled right. For now he would keep it hidden that he knew who this man was "Hello" Lucien said standing up one hand to she the other trying to rub some soreness out of his neck "Please sit down and tell me about yourself, any special skills things like that" He did need to leave with this person being around him most if not all of the time and he certainly didn't want to spend his time with a silent brute who's only use was as a blunt instrument.

 

[Jak Sandrow]

After a rather long and boring exile, Jak had been kind of wanting to get back into action. And so, when he saw the advert for a high-security bodyguard job, he leapt at the opportunity.

And that led him here, in front of a desk of a fairly well-established office. He shook the man's hand with an honest smile and took a seat.

"Well, you might say I'm a, uh, Jak of all trades. I've had combat experience, some use with a variety of weapons, and... extra, superfluous skillsets." He wanted to sell himself good, but not play all the good cards just yet.

Plus, he was being modest. It wasn't vain to say that his proficiency was far greater than that of the average gun hand. Add to that a fairly impressive resume, and he figured it wouldn't be too difficult to secure employment - what with being an on-again-off-again smuggler, soldier, or slicer, depending on the situation.

And he told the man as such.


[member="Lucien Cordel"]

 

[Lucien Cordel]

Lucien nodded along as Jak reeled of his resume, to say he was a jack of all trades was perhaps a subtle understatement. If Jak could really do everything he claimed then he would make an excellent addition. His hand shake was firm, he could still hold a conversation. Definitely the pre exile Jak Lucien knew.

"Thats quite impressive Mr. Sandrow , I can see you being a fine addition to my team ... If you are as physically capable as you claim" Lucien saw no point in waiting around "Follow me we'll head to the target range first" Lucien told him before leading him out of a side door and down to the target range he'd had reserved "In each cubicle you find a ranged weapon from a rifle right down to a throwing knife, demonstrate with each weapon you are capable with " He gestured to the nearest lane "Inside alongside the weapon you'll see a red button press that to activate the target dummies then push it again when you are satisfied all targets would be dead where this a real thing, you may begin"

 

[Jak Sandrow]

Jak nodded, and looked over the assortment of weapons. Picking up the rifle, he hit the red button, and had at it.

When he was finally done, he surveyed his handiwork with a small wince. Apparently, he had lost a bit of skill with time...

The dummies were fairly well shredded, but not to the accuracy Jak had remembered he had. To be sure, the dummies could very well be considered dead, but, for example, not all the blaster holes were within the chest or head, and the knife was only in the chest, not the forehead as Jak had been aiming for. Still, it was (he thought) fairly good marksmanship.

So he hit the red button again, signaling the end of the test.


[member="Lucien Cordel"]

 

[Lucien Cordel]

Lucien watched as Jak 'had at it'. It looked like jak could shoot a gun but Lucien couldn't be certain as he couldn't actually shoot a gun himself.

He was however joined by one of his top men and they good fire a gun. "Good?" Lucien asked "Good" came a reply. Lucien nodded, Jak had been fast and all the targets were definatly dead, He would need to work on cleanliness though.

Jak had passed, which was good "Very good , We'll move on to a proficiency test in hand to hand and melee combat now" Lucien said then stopped and turned back "Unless you need a break?" Lucien asked, this was a test too, there would be no breaks in a real fight so there were no breaks here, well not if the applicants wanted the job anyway.

Once the break issue was done with Lucien led jack into a gym type room containing two fighting rings , "There are two tests in this room you can do them in either order, the one over there Melee" He said pointing out the closed ring and a table of weapons "You should find a weapon to your taste there, then just fight ... The second over there is Hand to hand " He pointed to that as well "Fairly self explanatory, you'll find clean sparring clothes over there if you want then just stick in, there are no rules just don't lose" [member="Jak Sandrow"]

 

[Jak Sandrow]

As Jak was approved for the weapons test, he let out a stealthy sigh of relief he didn't realize he had been holding. He wasn't worried that he didn't pass, he was mildly worried that he hadn't passed well enough. However, it seemed to be sufficient, so he resolved to make time to re-train himself. He needed to get back to one shot, one kill.

They moved over to the sparring arenas, and Jak's shoulders relaxed a bit. This was a bit more his forte, and he had a small smile as he asked, "Who am I sparring with?"

He glanced over the table, and saw with appreciation that there were non-lethal weapons, too. Good, his potential boss wasn't just about 'kill everyone who comes to my doorstep'.

Politely declining the clothes, as he was comfortable enough in his current attire, he took two medium sized vibro-shivs, and climbed into the first arena. "Oh, and do I kill them, or do I make it an obvious victory?"

[member="Lucien Cordel"]

 

[Lucien Cordel]

Lucien noted Jak relax as he announced the next trial was sparing. Perhaps that meant that this was more his speed. Lucien indicated one of the arena personal trainers as he entered "Him" The trainer was a little bigger than Jak but there wasn't a huge difference between them.

As for his policy on killing lucien was rather against the idea, it seemed massively unproductive to kill someone when they could be taken alive, As Jak got into the arena lucien passed him a sensor vest "Put that on it will detect when a blow gets landed. Jaks opponent had one too. "Aim to incapacitate your opponent , if that means a killing blow so be it" Lucien replied Once Lucien had explained the trial Jaks opponent entered a pair of nightsticks in his hands. "You have five minutes" Lucien did hope Jak wouldn't fail here he really couldn't stomach interviewing someone else.

 

[Jak Sandrow]

Jak mentally surveyed his opponent. He knew he wouldn't get much of a chance to do this in an actual combat scenario, so he used what time he had now.

The man was larger, but not by much; still, this could be used both to Jak's advantage, or not - it would depend on how good the trainer was.

Here, Jak planned to win, and that meant by all means necessary, including dirty fighting and secret advantages. The goal of being a bodyguard was not to be courteous, in his opinion; it was to win, and win easily.

And so Jak poked out very faintly with the Force, even as he put on the sensor vest with a nod. And based on what he found, he judged his opponent.

The man was very, very skilled. Without the year or two Jak had had to himself, training, the odds might have been more even. However, Jak had two very large advantages. One, his opponent did not know the Force, and two, being a plant, Jak had no bones - meaning, he had far, far more flexibility than his opponent. Still, Jak could tell by the way the man carried himself, that he knew very well how to win.

However, Jak let himself smile a little. He was going to win this, rather easily.

As he stepped into the ring, he watched the man's eyes gleam with mild amusement. Jak was rather young, and it showed.

Jak cleared his throat as he held his knives loosely, but with a steady grip. "I'll try not to give you any permanent damage," he offered, grinning as his body fell back into old, well-trained habits.

"Likewise," said his opponent, stepping close and swinging.

Jak saw it from a mile away, and, from anyone outside, it would seem like he melted away from where the swing was aimed. A well-placed kick landed on the back of the man's knee, an elbow in the small of the back, and a vibro-shiv was snug, but turned off, against the man's neck. The whole thing had lasted a second.

"...Dead," Jak said, letting out the one breath he had taken.


[member="Lucien Cordel"]

 

[Lucien Cordel]

Lucien watched Jak with a slight feeling of surprise, he had been confident that Jak would be quite formidable given his biological advantages however this was considerably better than he expected. Lucien had felt [member="Jak Sandrow"] reach out to probe the trainer with the force and he recalled Jak was a plant hybrid , so perhaps he shouldn't be surprised.

Lucien applauded "Quite impressive Mr. Sandrow quite impressive" His performance had earned a smile, "you can take the sensor off now and put the weapons away, Let's see how you go hand to hand" Lucien neared the ring "You two fill spar again ... do try not to break him He doesn't belong to me" He said addressing both men , Tmoxin Temi would kill him if he got one of her best trainers wounded.

Lucien went to sit down on the edge of the weapons table, it had been a long day. He yawned and focused his attention back on Jak short of a colossal failure he was ready to offer Jak the job. That way he could relax properly, perhaps a nice bath and a glass of wine ... sadly a less pleasant night awaited Jak for his final test. Unless of course he dropped the ball.

The trainer cracked his fingers he was embarrassed to have been dispatched so fast he refused to let that happen again. He charged at jack refusing to let him asses the situation this time.

 

[Jak Sandrow]

Jak kept an eye on his sparring partner as they took off their sensors and put away their weapons. He easily noticed that the other man was both embarrassed and ticked. Good. An angry enemy often made mistakes.

So when the larger man rushed him, he was all but grinning. Moving into the man's instep, he used the own guy's momentum against him, pulling him and tripping him up so that he landed on his face. It wasn't hard enough to break the man's nose, but enough to bruise it, and the sight of his own blood dripping over his mouth was more than enough for the trainer, and the man redoubled his attacks.

However, Jak just melted under his punches, and the man could never land a blow.

Jak was toying with him, trying to wear him out. Suddenly, he went on the offensive, landing light, distracting, but still powerful blows, forcing the other to spread out his actually impressive defense.

Jak had had enough fun, and, his pseudo-muscles practically singing with joy, he decided to end it, right there. Hooking a foot around the other man's heel, he pulled, driving two elbows into the other man's solar plexus, and the trainer hit the arena floor, gasping for breath.

Just to be completely clear who won, Jak's hand was delicately around the other man's throat a fraction of a second later. "... and dead," Jak finished, breathing only a little harder, and he stood up, helping the trainer up good-naturedly.

The final take-down had taken only two seconds. Jak was actually pleased with himself; he had been training against logs and vines, not people, so he was glad that it had been more than enough training.


[member="Lucien Cordel"]

 

[Lucien Cordel]

Jak was nothing if not consistent. A second victory, a second 'kill' and a secound round of applause. Lucien had been surprised at Jak's dexterity until he remembered his plant based body. That explained things but it was still quite exceptional to watch. He had grimaced as the trainer planted the floor his nose blooded. It looked rather unpleasant, He very quickly sprung up and struck at Jack again and Lucien watched as Jak just melted around the trainers punches. It was odd to watch.

That seemed to go on for awhile but Jak still seemed to take no damage. Then the battle snapped and Jak whent on the offensive and in what seemed like seconds the trainer was 'dead' on the floor.Lucien rose as Jack helped the trainer up. "Very good , we will move onto the final assessment stamina " This was a lie the stamina test for in fact the penultimate test but the last test Loyalty was a covert one.

"Follow me" Lucien said leeding jack out to the arena proper the late afternoon sun reflected off the white walls of the arena. the stamina test was to take place on the arenas running track. "How many laps do you think you can do ? ... " Once jak had answered he carried on "Take that and do ten more " What good was a bodyguard if they couldn't push their own limits.

Once Jak had set off on the laps lucien summoned one of his many statuesque members of staff " Prepare the final test.

 

[Jak Sandrow]

When he was asked how many laps he could do, he inwardly winced. He hadn't had water in a good while, so he wasn't exactly in peak condition at the moment. Still, that wasn't really an issue in the long run (heh).

"I think I can do about 200, ish." He didn't breathe like a regular person, so he had much higher stamina when it came to physical exercise.

At the command, he was off running, setting a steady, but quick pace for himself; he wanted to finish before all the sunlight was completely gone. At that time, he'd be running on reserves till he got food or water.

Nevertheless, he managed to finish all 210 laps before the sun started to sink below the horizon. Jogging off for a while, and stretching, he finally stopped to hear his assessment, breathing very heavily, but otherwise trying to keep his exhaustion non-evident. Not as a matter of pride, but as a matter of withholding potentially valuable information from (possible) fresh enemies. A simple tactic he deemed necessary.


[member="Lucien Cordel"]

 

[Lucien Cordel]

200, that was quite a bold claim and that meant Lucien would be here for awhile. He supposed he ought to bunker in, he took a seat on the arena bleachers "Someone bring me a martini , we are going to be here some time it seemed.

He received his alcohol notably fast, Alcohol was one of a select few things that got lucien through the stress of the dark side and the business world. His life was harder than it looked. So much harder. Jak as setting a quick pace through the laps and lucien was setting a quick pace through his glass.

As the sun began to sink over the horizon Jak came back "Yep you've got the job, we'll discuss salary tomorrow ... for now I have a job for you to do" Lucien stood up and walked toward jak "In 1 hour a package, a very important package will be dead dropped in the men's toilets of the arena bar " A pale woman dressed all in white stepped forward from the players entrance "You'll accompany Elveria , one of my new hires to get drinks to avert suspicion" of course there was no package and Jak would likely be unconscious in an hour .

Lucien took his leave and Elveria turned to Jak "Ready to go down you'll be doing the actual pick up?"

 

[Jak Sandrow]

"I will do it," Jak nodded. And as his new boss departed, he turned to the lady.

"Can I grab a weapon or two? I don't want to do a job unarmed. Unless... that's against protocol, or something." Jak was kind of eager to learn the ropes.


[member="Lucien Cordel"]

 

[Lucien Cordel]

Elveria shook her head and pressed a vibroknife into his hand "Don't be seen with that, words first if your attacked he name Cordel will scare off most petty criminals if that doesn't work kill fast and get out"

"Now lets go, Tonight we celebrate your new job" She smiled and led him to the bar. It was sparsely populated at this time , too late for sports fans but too early for drinkers" In truth there was no one in the bar not on Lucien's payroll. Elveria dragged Jak to the bar "Club soda for me and ..." She said turning to Jak "What ever this guy of mine is having " She smiled at the barman and lent forward "He'll be paying" She said pointing to her name badge 'Elveria Jurash Admin-Cordel investment and finance' the same title given to all of lucien's top heavies.

Now Jaks drink, whatever he ordered would be laced with strong and fast acting sedative. The type of sedative they sedated Rancors with. Jak was going to have quite the sleep if all went to plan, for an hour or so anyway.

[member="Jak Sandrow"]

 

[Jak Sandrow]

"Alright," Jak nodded, slipping it into his sleeve. "Good to go." Inwardly he crunched the name. Cordel, Cordel... where the hell do I know that from?

When he was prompted, he thought for a split second. "Ah, just two fingers of rye, thanks." Taking the drink, he rose it briefly in salute. "To new life." He downed the glass in one go, rolling the flavor around on his tongue. It... seemed a bit off. Still, that may be expected. For all he knew, this was... was... uhh...

He blinked, eyes watering a bit. Sumthn... off...

He finally realized he was on the floor. Aw crap... drink... was laced... way to go.

As a plant/human hybrid, he was immune to alcohol's effects, but sedatives and drugs worked just fine; the proof was right there, sprawled, out cold on the bar floor.


[member="Lucien Cordel"]

 

[Lucien Cordel]

"To new Life" Elveria echoed as Jak's head was likely beginning to swim. As he began to fall she grabbed him and eased him onto the floor "Got him , Names [member="Jak Sandrow"] ... Cordel hired him to pick up the package, didn't hear where the dead drop would be, cordel wouldn't tell me" She spoke into a communicator as his eyes fluttered shut. Once she was certain he was out she bound his wrists and Ankles with Zip ties. She couldn't have him fighting back if he woke up early. Then with the help of the bar man dragged him into a waiting speeder. Jak was likely having a very pleasant dream right now.

Lucien had procured an old imperial detention centre for the final test. Loyalty was what Lucien valued most in his staff, it was all that truly mattered to him, well that and ability. one candidate had reached this point before, that candidate was likely a skeleton in the deserts of LoK. The cost of betrayal was high very high. None of that mattered to Jak right now though as he was pushed into the boot of the speeder to be driven 15 miles into the Lok wastelands.

 

[Jak Sandrow]

When he finally managed to wake, he sighed. Am I no more dangerous than a pair of zip ties?

Cutting them took little effort; the vibro-shiv was thankfully still up his sleeve. And now he needed to figure out what the hell was going on.

He pieced together what very little he knew. He had been sedated, and to have hit that hard, that quickly, there must have been a lot. Which meant he was far from the drop, and for all he knew, it had been compromised. He didn't know who drugged him, though he had an idea.

Taking a few slow breaths to calm himself, he let his plant self surface, felt power seep back through him. He didn't know how long he had, so -

The speeder slowed to a stop, and he froze. He could hear voices, and felt the speeder lift up a little as someone got out.

Turning himself around in the boot, he coiled his muscles to jump out and knock over whoever was the unfortunate one to open the trunk.


[member="Lucien Cordel"]

 

[Lucien Cordel]

Elveria walked around to the back, She could hear him wriggle around in the boot, his dedication was to be commended. She turned back to the other three members of the team in the speeder "He's awake bring guns, he'll need to be put back under so we can prep him. She cursed herself for not taking that shiv [I knew I'd forgot something]. "I think he's free of his ties, set your blasters to stun we need him unharmed" The team circled around the boot guns pointed at where Jak was likely lay.

"You shoulda stayed still Jak " Elveria cooed as she slowly opened the boot then went to stun Jak, With a shock baton she she was at the end where his feet where when she put him in. She wanted to avoid that blade of his so she thrust the baton into the boot to strike what's she assumed was his ankle. then the other 3 fired. she did hope non of them got hurt Cordel would be displeased if that happened. She was going to use stronger chains when they contained him this time so this type of mess didn't happen again.

[member="Jak Sandrow"]

 

[Jak Sandrow]

Jak was cursing himself over and over, as he lay, stunned and unmoving, but just on the verges of consciousness. Idiot. Should have gone with the plants. He was his regular human complexion again, and really hoped that they hadn't seen his much more unnerving green makeover. He wanted that to be secret, for now

The shiv had dropped from his senseless fingers, and now lay in the trunk next to him. Idiot. He had committed one blunder after another, not the best way to start his job. So he decided to wait it out, to see what would happen. And when he was alone... he'd start on his self-extraction, and then bringing double-crossing Elveria down.

Where the hell have I heard Cordel before??


[member="Lucien Cordel"]