Absolutely Absolute Absolution

[Rowan Harlow]

The Executive of Trump Productions on Alderaan, Ivanka Kushner, had been a powerful woman in her previous occupation as a member of the mercenary band Dark Sea. Rumor had it that she had scared John Donald into hiring her, though any record of the event spun it as the opposite in him taking pity on a poor woman and giving her a job. Knowing what he did of the man, Rowan guessed that his manhood had been threatened and he couldn't let anyone know he wasn't the best and most manly man out there. He could not wait to oust that waste of space from any position of authority, though to do so he'd need Ivanka's support. Thankfully, the opportunity to get in her good graces had come along fairly recently.

Kushner's old boss with Dark Sea seemed jealous of all the attention she was getting as a network executive, trying to get some clout by blackmailing her with some of the over the top actions she had taken during her fighting for hire days. While it was easy to blackmail people, sometimes saving them from a situation they couldn't handle themselves could create a loyalty stronger than anything forced. Deciding to handle this problem for her, Rowan had called his friend Varyn to go and take care of the blackmail for the executive. Looking at the camp the men maintained, they were just waiting for trouble with weapons at the ready. Seemed that talking would not be the way to go.

OOC Note: I'll create a dice thread for us. The first round of posts are the introductions, the rolls begin with the next post. Have fun!

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Rask]

Varyn sometimes wondered if he was in the wrong Empire. The intrigue and politics of blackmail and manipulation was something that he generally didn't have the patience for. He'd done it many times at the behest of others, but it wasn't his preferred mode of operation. He'd rather be a bit more direct, but that wasn't the way of the Republica, and eventually it was likely to get him killed, so subtlety it was.

Today was going to be one of those subtle days mixed with greater aggression. Rowan was trying to gain control of one of the media stations that had been embroiled in all sorts of underhanded dealings and questionable business. It was very Imperial Republica of them. While Varyn could be involved in blackmail with the best of them, this time, he was not the one holding the sway, but removing it.

Varyn's speeder bike decelerated to a stop outside a tall, large looking building that evidently housed their objective. A glance at his chrono revealed he was five minutes early, and he decided to take a moment to look over the building. He wasn't sure when Rowan would be arriving, but he assumed it wouldn't be long. @Insalius

 

[Rowan Harlow]

Usually Rowan would have arrived early as well, as a habit that had been drilled into him by his family. This time, though, he'd taken just a bit longer to scope out the building. It was a good thing he did, as the information he had gained was quite valuable. It seemed that not everyone in the Dark Sea had agreed to the blackmailing of their former member. In fact, it looked like there was almost an open revolt ready to happen between those that had liked the woman and those that wanted to take advantage of her. They were holed up on different sides of the building right now, perhaps in an attempt to cool off from some heated words earlier. Perhaps one side could be persuaded to turn on the other, or just simply used in an effective divide and conquer strategy.

Slipping from the shadows, he let Varyn see who it was so as to not have the jumpy man accidentally kill him. "Apologies for my tardiness, I'd wanted to give the place another check before meeting up. Looks like not everyone likes the whole 'blackmail our old companion' bit. Near half of them are in an uproar and have put themselves on the south side of the building. Our targets, the greedy ones, are on the north part of the building here. The layout is standard warehouse and offices, big open bottom floor with stairs leading to segmented top floors for different offices and such. Bottom floor has about eight guards patrolling between piles of boxes, probably weapons crates, with four being for the north and four being for the south. There's about that many in the offices above each section, too, so for a total of sixteen. How do you want to play this out? Try to be the nice guy, or just kill them all? I'm down for either, or something else if you've the idea for it."

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Rask]

Varyn saw Rowan approach and gave a slight nod. He wasn't entirely sure what he'd gotten himself into here. It was one of those situations where help was needed, and he'd offered it. He had a feeling that in the long run, it would pay off.

As Rowan explained the situation, Varyn listened and took it all in. They were outnumbered, which meant guns blazing probably wasn't the best route. Perhaps stealth could work or some sort of ploy. Rowan offered both, but it wasn't really his operation on this one. He was along for the ride and the operational support.

Your job, your call. I'm adaptable, he reassured, though he wasn't sure he would play a nice guy very well. That was a bit outside of his repertoire, but most other things he could handle, or overwatch while Rowan played the talkative one. @Insalius

 

[Rowan Harlow]

In that case, the options that Rowan would try would form something akin to a ladder, or a pyramid. He would start with the bottom, the greatest boon they could get though with the greatest chance of failure. If that fell through, the next tier would be attempted, so on and so forth until the only option left was to fight at the top. As for that bottom option, it was to contact the pro-executive side of Dark Sea to see if they would be open to allying with Rowan and Varyn to take down their traitorous superiors. Right now the sides were even inside the building, but with this the scales would tip in their favor. IF they were willing to listen. It wouldn't hurt to try, in this case. At the very least the 'friendly' half of the forces inside would know that they have similar ideas to them, which could keep them off their backs. Taking out his commlink, he keyed the frequency that he'd managed to find out from his recon. This would be a test of his negotiation skills.

The voice on the other end of the comm was suspicious, especially at how Rowan had managed to get this frequency. After explaining the situation, the mercenary wasn't in any better mindset than before. That's when Rowan dropped the deal: If they worked together, he'd make sure that the executive they both supported would be safe and sound from any future attempts. How could they prove that they could protect her? Why, the very act of their current conversation. If Rowan could suss out this comm frequency, what other information could he find, and thus hide if needed? The logic worked for the older man, saying that for now they had a truce. Their men would start the fight and wear crimson bandannas around their arms, so that Varyn and Rowan wouldn't cut down the wrong people. As for them, well, he told his men not to shoot anyone wielding a lightsaber. The negotiation done, the sound of fighting suddenly broke out from the building. Nodding at Varyn, Rowan lit his saber and charged in to the building, which had erupted into an all out firefight. He looked around for his first place to strike, trusting Varyn to either find his own path or have his back. Either way, this would all be over quickly.

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Rask]

Varyn twirled his saber hilt in his hand as he listened to Rowan talk to the man on the comlink. That was all fine with him. If he wanted to do the talking, Varyn was more than happy to not be involved. Instead, his mind wandered out into the world around them, sensing the ebb and flow of the Force around. It was a mix here, but below it all, he began to sense a darkness. The malice and hostility that accompanied violence was all too obvious to someone like Varyn. He'd tasted that darkness before many times, and he recognized it.

His face became stiff at the feeling, and he looked over to Rowan, thumbing the activator switch on his saber. It lit up with crimson sparks as the tip dug ever so lightly into the duracrete sidewalk. This happened only an instant before gunfire erupted from inside, and Varyn made a move for the door.

It burst open with a hiss, and Varyn quickly spotted four men inside who weren't guards firing, but something told him there were more. They may not be obvious, but it was that part of his gut he'd learned long ago was dangerous to ignore. A blaster bolt flew down toward him and he batted it to the side as he moved to his left and into cover. @Insalius

 

[Rowan Harlow]

And so the fight began. Varyn ran right in, lightsaber lit and ready to wreak some havoc. With a flick of his wrist Rowan had his own lightsaber in hand, igniting the ruby blade as his other hand drew his blaster pistol. With the other mercenaries on their side this would be a slaughter, but it still wasn't a fight where he could just let down his guard. Even a stray bolt could end everything he had been working for, from becoming a media giant to restoring his family name. It was a sobering thought, something that kept him grounded and his defenses up. Perhaps that was the reason he was able to make his first kills of the evening, by being on his best for defense.

It was reflex that brought his saber up as the blaster bolt came to him, a slight turn of the wrist and flick of the hand sending that bolt back to where it came. The strangled cry that came over the din proved that the returned shot had killed it's originator, always a good way to start off a fight. Out of the corner of his eye he saw another of their foes bringing his rifle around, though just a hair too slow. Continuing to move with the momentum of his deflection, Rowan brought his blaster up and shot the man between the eyes, giving a small smile at the accuracy of the shot. That was when he decided to get behind some cover, not wanting to press his luck with his initial assault. He'd keep going with the friendly mercs, who he could see fighting fairly close by. This fight would be brutal, yet quick, especially with the two Sith involved.

@Phoenix