Criminal Politics

[Sleven]

In the wake of the sacking of Coruscant, even shit piles like Nar Shaddaa were seeing their fair share of action and loot just asking to be taken. Between fleeing civilians and military---or ex-military there was more to grab in Hutt space than even the Hutts had manpower to grab. That’s where Aidan came in; he was recently hired on by a local crime boss by the name of Moksha to do some of crime boss’s “heavy lifting”. Moksha could afford Aidan, despite the high price tag, and that’s all Aidan needed to say yes to most contracts. This particular one was a “salvage” mission of sorts on one of the more “lucrative” and well defended ships. It would have been a waste of Aidan’s time to be grabbing anything else.

The ships in currently in orbit of Nar Shaddaa were like ripe low hanging fruits, and they would have dotted the sky of the Smuggler’s Moon if it weren’t for the spherical haze that engulfed the entirety of its polluted atmosphere. While they had initially planned for a space raid, word had just reached Aidan that the ship had landed on-planet in a warehouse for its goods to be unloaded for a different crimelord. That wasn’t going to fly.

With his men strategically positioned outside the docking district’s warehouse, Aidan was ready to call in the raid. “What do you got on your scope right now?” Aidan spoke over the encrypted military grade comm.

“They’ve just started unloading, if we hit now we can probably just fly the ship out ourselves,” a sniper in his team spoke.

“Give me a head count.”

“Easily sixty, possibly more, assorted thugs around this cache. That’s only counting the armed ones not prepping the ship for unloading. Big catch for them to situate that many men around it, just like you said.”

“Alright, then, upload the positions to our HUDs, we’re moving in.”

With that, Aidan’s men began moving to strike hard and fast.

 

[Just Matt Now]

Coming home for the first time since Yuri had taken him to Corellia, Slick was coming off of the boarding dock of the shuttle. Surrounded by scoundrels and thugs alike, he was used to the atmosphere that was brought in to Nar Shaddaa. Ever since joining the Reapers, the priority for caution had become more and more so needed, therefore the caution provided with his protective vest was not overly irrational. With his piece never too far from his chest, Slick came home with not much other than his person.

The crowd moved fast, people bumping and pushing into each other, Slick made it clear not to push him, his large torso shrugging people off. The cigarette in his mouth was about the only thing keeping him calm right now, that and the realization of seeing his old friends and people he had considered family. Speaking to them only through communique and transmissions, they knew of his arrival.

Being a keener and more environmentally aware being, Slick could see all of the drug distributing that was going on even as they left the ship.

"This place has really turned into a shithole!" He exclaimed to himself as he neared closer to the docking bay. Not caring for the protocols or any of the regulations, Slick kept on smoking his cigarette.

The ship's crew workers began unloading cargo into a warehouse that was connected to the docking zone, it wasnt far from where they were walking to.

Soon enough there were shouts and people started to run. Slick looked back and could see a small group of men rushing passed everyone. Slick's body now faced the intruders, they looked like they were going to rob everyone.

"What the frak!?"

One of the mercenaries was shoved by a thug looking Evocii. "Who the hell do you think ya are?!" He yelled back. Slick was getting shoved himself, though by more people who were trying to get past the incident.

The long haired Human started moving faster in the other direction. He saw more of the mercenaries head into the warehouse, obviously going to steal whatever was being unloaded. After forcing the crew workers out with threats of death, Slick decided to try and stop this, or at least see what was going on. He headed for the warehouse.

 

[Sleven]

OOC: Sorry if it wasn’t clear. This isn’t occurring in the most “public” place. It’s in a private warehouse owned by one of the local gangsters. So for the most part it’s just thugs and people affiliated with said gangster milling about the warehouse. While there are people outside the area it is not many, mostly just hobos and the random passerbyer.

IC: Aidan had two snipers at his back perched up on one of the nearby abandon warehouse buildings, two to the left of the warehouse they were raiding and one to the right. Most angles were covered by their scopes; however he couldn’t position any to the front due to the ownership of the buildings suitable as other high points past the warehouse they were raiding.

Aidan and his men had cut near man-sized pieces of metal out of the walls surrounding the warehouse just a few hours before the ship had arrived and there were far less gangsters around. Sliding the cut out pieces off, his men entered the warehouse stealthily, with fifteen of his men with him on the ground. His men were heavily armed an armored with military grade weapons and armor, well beyond what was typical of a criminal raid. But then again, he wasn’t a criminal, just a man for a job. And he did things professionally.

Hiding behind the numerous crates, machinery, and racks typical of most facilities like this, his men waited for one another to file in before the real show began. Once all his men had entered and were in an organized tactical forward line formation, they began to move. Shots were being fired from the high points, only at thugs who were not near one another so as to ensure that no one would notice, and help would not be called. Around twenty of the thugs had been cleaned out in this way before Aidan and his men even got within firing distance of the others.

Once in range, Aidan waited for confirmation from his snipers about the position of the thugs around the complex.

“Some of the men are moving about, they’re about to notice some of our handy work. The largest concentration of men is inside the hanger itself. I spot thirty in there with an assortment of men still on the outskirts. If you go in the side garage door to your front, you should be able to catch most of the men in the warehouse from behind. We’ll take care of the men on the outskirts once you start opening fire inside.”

Aidan simply tapped his comm. twice to confirm that they were about to move in. Once inside his men waited until most of them had positions behind safe locations, making sure to go unnoticed by the thugs inside. Nodding to his men, Aidan and his men on the ground began to open fire inside the warehouse. His two snipers to the left of the warehouse and the one to the right could see inside and began killing the thugs that ran for cover from Aidan’s ground troops. With help from one another both Aidan and the snipers flushed thugs out of their hiding spot to be killed by either party. Most of the men trying to enter the warehouse and figure out what was going on inside the building were being shot down by the two snipers behind where Aidan and his men had entered. Between all the crossfire the gangsters were being cleared out FAST!

 

[Just Matt Now]

Soon enough shots had started to go off like wildfire. Slick did not realize that he was in the middle of some sort of gang related assault on this warehouse, though he supposed that it would be safer inside than outside getting his head shot off by snipers. The sounds of them so distinguishable, Slick was sure of what he had heard. Seeing more thugs in the warehouse was not comforting in the least. Keeping a hand on the gun in a pocked in his jacket, Slick found a safe place to take cover behind. Taking cover behind a large durasteel pillar that clearly held the building up, he could see the other thugs take out their small arms and wonder what the heck was going on.

Slick knew that there was no chance if he ran out there, those thugs were going to be attacked, this warehouse was obviously their prime target. Slick's initial thoughts were wrong, coming in here to confront who lead the mercenary assault, though it was more thugs instead.

Clearly the drug selling was more than coincidental, all of these thugs had something to do with the same problem. Slick was fortunate enough to not have brought any of his recreational drugs with him.

Flicking his cigarette away, he didnt want anything that would point him out once the shooting started. Slick was not scared, though he played it smart. He knew that he was backed fully by the Reapers, though no one knew he was a Reaper right here and right now. So for now, it was about survival.

Soon enough, as the firing had started, Slick would be the last one to remain due to his intuition. Surely there was a mix up, Slick was not here to deal drugs or meet with any gangsters, he was here on a simple trip.

 

[Sleven]

Even the durasteel crates Aidan and his men were hiding behind were getting chewed up by the small arms blaster fire that was being focused on their position. That being said, most of the cover for the thugs was inadequate against Aidan and his men’s larger assault weapons. Continuing to lay down suppressing fire and clear out more and more thugs, Aidan waited for word from his snipers on overwatch for a sit rep.

In between reloads Aidan got word over his comm, “Most of the thugs on your right have been cleared out, you’re free to make a move around that side of the ship. Careful, there may be more inside.”

With that Aidan signaled to his men to begin fanning right, keeping crouched as they moved low around the massive transport, maintaining as much cover as possible while they continuing firing at thugs they found tucked behind the occasional piece of cover. A large group of unarmed workers were situated next to the unloading ramp to the right of the ship. Aidan stopped his troops briefly and spoke, “Use this group of workers as shields as we make sure the back and left side are cleared out. The ones that survive we’ll use to reload everything they managed to unload before getting out of here with the ship.”

With that three of his men stayed behind to keep the unarmed workers tame and under control. The other 12 men in his unit each took a worker with them as a shield, placing them in front of themselves with their own weapons strategically pointing out from behind their living shields. They advanced on the leftside through the back, encountering the occasional remaining thug and opening fire upon them. Not hesitating to kill anyone in front of them who was armed. The unarmed ones, they ushered back to the three soldiers remaining guard over the workers.

 

[Just Matt Now]

Once Slick caught eyes on who was leading the assault he knew that whatever was in his path, or whoever was in his path was going to be killed. Fleeing to the next pillar, grabbing nearby thugs to shield himself, Slick moved opposite of the man and his team of soldiers. They moved with precision, they were no ordinary thugs or mercenaries. Slick managed to get to the front end of the ship that was docked in the warehouse, he was opposite of the incoming soldiers. He made sure that he could not be seen, staying low and moving quickly as he ran now using the ship as cover from fire and cover from sight.

The sounds of shots would not cease, and the screams and yelling grew lower and lower as more and more thugs were being killed off. By this time, the soldiers were gathering the non armed thugs and crew members near the boarding ramp, at least they showed some sign of mercy. Slick made sure to keep his piece tucked in and out of sight. If he were to be caught, then he would drop his gun and explain himself, though now he was to avoid any contact.

The transport was massive, large enough to be the greatest cover as the remaining soldiers scoured the rest of the warehouse. Slick crouched under the ship, heading for the nearest landing socket that protruded from underneath the transport to allow it to land. Since he was near the head of the ship, then the nearest would be the single socket in the front. Crawling into it, using the landing plane to boost himself up, he figured he could stow away on the ship.

 

[Sleven]

Once his soldiers had finished working left, Aidan and his men began sweeping the area while he signaled to those by the workers to begin loading up the transport. As they began loading, Aidan took five of his men and moved inside the transport itself, preparing to clean out any workers who remained inside. There was only the spare thug or two, hiding and not wanted to die in the all out fire fight that had happened outside just moments before. Aidan headed to the cockpit and began firing up the engines as he orchestrated with his men over the comms.

“The warehouse is clear.”

“Outside is clear.”

“We’re re-loading the last couple crates, should be good to go in just a moment.”

“Inside is clear,” one of his men said behind him, after having just sweeped the ship. Apparently forgetting to check the landing gears where Slick had been hiding.

Aidan nodded and finally spoke, “Alright, we’re taking off. Load the workers, as potential slaves for Moksha. Kill any of the resistant or non-obidient ones. No witnesses.”

“Roger that,” rang over the comm from all his men.

“Snipers, you know what to do, clear out of your positions and meet up with us at the designated point.”

With Aidan’s final order the men loaded onto the ship, stuffing the workers in below deck. Two men remained topside to pilot the ship in Aidan’s place while Aidan went down below deck to take count of their catch and see if the intel about the transport was right. As the workers cowered in the corner surrounded by Aidan’s men, Aidan took quick inventory. There was an assortment of spice, rare minerals, and a cache of small to medium arms just like they had been informed.

As the ship flew out of the warehouse, the landing gears churned and tucked back up under the ship. Time to get back to Moksha with the goods. Mission accomplished.

 

[Just Matt Now]

Slick fit through the landing gear with room to spare, even as the large spacecraft closed it's gear and the landing plane retracted into the ship, Slick avoided the plane and snuck into another compartment that would lead him to the interior of the ship. Opening and removing some panels,replacing them behind him and crawling through, soon enough he could hear voices of those inside.

At first he heard the thugs talk about this being their last ride or what have you, though he paid little attention to them. Crawling passed them, he searched for another entryway so that he could get into the interior. By know he figured that the transport was in air, off to somewhere he could not imagine.

Finding the panel he needed, kicking it in with both of his feet. Slick sprawled through and got to his feet. Not looking to see who was around, he dusted himself off. Soldiers had aimed their weapons right at him, and as Slick noticed he put his hands in the air. At this point he did not know that Aiden was in charge, or who he even was despite him standing not a few meters from him.

"Now now, listen up. I am armed, but I have no intent to resort to any violence ya here!" Slick remained still, waiting for the guard to search him and find his very peculiar [thread=47208]piece[/thread] and ask him what he was doing.

 

[Sleven]

As Slick burst through one of the panels of the transport, Aidan’s well train men quickly honed their guns on him at the sound, then the sight, of the man crawling through. The only thing that stopped them from immediately firing their weapons was the fact that Slick had put his hands up before delivering his piece of dialogue.

Aidan nodded, “Search him.”

Upon word from Aidan two of the mercenaries gave Slick a thorough search, finding only his handgun to be of any real immediate threat among the assortment of drugs and cigarettes the man carried. Removing the weapon from his persons, the two guards stepped back, the one that had been searching training his gun on Slick once more.

Putting down the minerals he had been examining from the crates at the time, Aidan diverted his attention to his new quarry. “It would have been smarter to stay in hiding until we scraped this ship,” Aidan spoke as if to state nothing more than an obvious fact. While he spoke, Aidan took note of the fact that one of his men had obviously failed to perform an adequate search before continuing unenthusiastically, “So what do you want?”

Aidan wasn’t usually the type to humor guests such as this one, but in Aidan’s mind Slick would most likely end up shot or amongst the group of slaves anyways. But then again, it wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility that the man had something useful to say.

 

[Just Matt Now]

Slick was kind of relieved that they found his piece. Knowing that as long as they did not know, they would assume he was armed and shoot him if anything went down, at least now they knew for sure. Listening to the man who seemed to be in charge speak, he might have been right. He could have waited until the ship was scrapped, though in truth he had no clue what they intended to do with it, or even where they were going. Slick was in the dark, and he made the best decision he could think of.

"I dont want anything. Clearly there's been a mix up as I have no business on this ship. I dont even know who you are. If you're tryin' to shake everyone here down, which I doubt on the count of dead bodies back in that warehouse, then I dont see the point in holding on to everyone. Ya see, if I didnt hide in the ship I would have been shot like a dog, and my peoples would prefer that I live." Slick said, his last sentence putting much lighter than reality. His people would in fact go rampant finding out what happened to their Sgt. in Arms.

Slick remained with his hands up, as he was not instructed to do otherwise. Though still wondered the question that was asked. It wasnt what Slick wanted, it was whatever this guy wanted that was important.

 

[Sleven]

Aidan didn’t care for the way Slick beat around the bush. It was obvious by the last phrase in his sentence he was trying to imply he was something important, or important to someone important. Either way it didn’t matter. Aidan didn’t give one iota about criminals or their politics. Having faced the harsh realities of war, smelly Hutts behind fancy curtains and an unorganized mob of thugs couldn’t even come close to his days as an operative. He was hired to do a job given his skill set, and if people with less than his level of training were moronic enough to come after him based on that fact---well it’s better they not, and leave it at that.

“That you don’t, but at this point you’re a witness. Anyone else who knew what happened is either dead or on this ship. You’re a smart guy right? Figure out where that places you. I can throw you in the stack with the new “slaves” I’ve acquired for my employer or kill you outright. Either way “your people” would be none the wiser,” Aidan was speaking the truth. All that Slick’s people would be certain of is that he was missing and a warehouse had been hit by a group of professionals. Which professionals? Well that became impossible to tell when you had half the galaxy running from the Sith and into Hutt space. Aidan ended his speech with a final statement, “So if you want to live, tell me something worth my time, because my patience is wearing thin.”

 

[Just Matt Now]

It was obvious that this mercenary was all about business, all about making the credits and completing his tasks. Though if h was smart as he let himself on to be, he would at least heed Slick's warning. If he knew Yuri, and he did plain and simple, he knew that there were resources beyond Slick's knowledge at his disposal. If he wanted to find his buddy, then he could. Though his captive did not know this, nor did he know Slick and Yuri were nearly brothers.

"You're all about making credits right? What if I told you that there could be a very wealthy and lucrative business between you and I. Have you heard of Sharp Industries and it's founder and CEO, Yuri Sharp?" Slick banked on the hope that this mercenary was not a stick in the mud and actually looked at the news here and there. If that were the case than he would have undoubtedly heard of Yuri's existence and how 'generous' he could be.

 

[Sleven]

Aidan let the mild insult slide, seeing as a lust for credits was a complement to most of the low lives on Nar Shaddaa. Aidan had never been about credits or glory, what he sought was intangible, something that no man could give him or take from him. No, it was something he had to get for himself.

“Yea I’ve heard of them,” Aidan stated plainly, seeing where this conversation was going. So he’d picked up someone connected. But it was a mistake to think Aidan gave even one iota about who was in bed with who. He took jobs out of his own volition. “Quite frankly, I don’t care if you’re his daughter,” he continued, making a stab at the man’s long hair, “and could set me up with easy contracts for the rest of my life. That’s not what I’m about.” Aidan took a moment to think to himself before speaking again, he recalled Moksha had been trying to set up a meeting with this Yuri. “However, today’s your lucky day. I see where you’re trying to take this conversation, and depending on your connection to Yuri, my employer might be interested in speaking to you. Just know that, if you’re not worth his time, you’re liable to end up dead. For now, I’m going to make sure you have no clue where we’re going while you tell me your relationship with Yuri Sharp.” With that one of the Aidan’s men threw a black bag over Slick’s head, while another spoke to the pilot on the comm. They were going to take the transport for a spin to insure Slick was good and lost before bringing him before Moksha.

Ugh, criminals and their politics.

 

[Just Matt Now]

Slick didnt mind taking insults while in this position. He was at the will of this man, whom he'd still not know his name. Regardless, there would be a time in the future where all this boldness would be brought up in fold, and it would definitely not aid this man, nor would it aid his contractor. Slick let them bag him, though he had no idea where they were headed regardless. Slick just hoped that the informality and jaded remarks would cease while they were still level headed. There was no need for things to get out of hand. Though Slick knew his chances of taking them on alone were slim to none.

"You could say that Yuri is a brother to me. I dont know if you have any siblings, but we are very close."

 

[Sleven]

Aidan comm'd Moksha. It appeared his employer wanted Yuri Sharp's "brother" at a meeting he was holding later that night and that Aidan was to let him go on the condition that Slick attend. It was the worst ****ing plan Aidan had ever heard of. But he wasn't getting paid to say so.

As Aidan's men dropped him off with two of his men in a random location with a bagged Slick, the rest returned the transport to Moksha's hideout without the group.

"Well," Aidan spoke, removing the bag from Slick's head, "Be at this location in less than an hour." He handed Slick an address to a local opium den. Aidan took Slick's handgun from one of his comrades, emptied the bullets at his feet and handed it over to Slick empty. What Slick couldn't see was that before the bag had been removed a small tracking device had been placed on the handgun, insurance in case Slick decided to make too many extra trips in the ample time he had to show up to the designated meeting.

Aidan stood reposed, waiting for Slick's reaction. If Slick wanted any chance of retaliation for what Aidan had put him through, now was his chance. But Aidan didn't really care. For Slick's sake it would be best if he could understand a mercenary's role in all this. For Aidan it was just another job, making things personal is what so very often got people killed.