Ask Behind Red Eyes

[Darth Caelestis]

The choice of establishment on Klatooine was thin to say the least, just a pitiful amount of Cantina's dotted around the desert planets few major cities. It was noisy to say the least which would help cover the conversation he was hoping to have with his contact but even then he could not be to safe, two Avillion Royal Guard in civilian clothes were sitting in a booth the other side of the main door. They were drinking and flirting with the barmaid but their eyes continued to scan the room and look out for their Lord and Master.

Perhaps having them was overkill, Artorigas doubted there was a single person on this planet who could do the Sith Lord real harm. His sword had been left back on 'The Morgana' currently sat out in deep space well away from the planet so instead he carried a plain Lightsaber inside his jacket. A blaster was attached at the hip but that was more for show than anything else, if it came down to it a saber and The Force would be better weapons than the crude war instrument.

Adorned in dark brown and beige clothes the Sith Noble blended in the best he can, the main thing standing out was his clean face and hair, looking a little to well kept for the planet. The booth he sat in was occupied by himself and another, a Mirilian dancer who had been paid to spend some time with him before his real target came through the door. They had done little but talk and drink together much to the women's confusion, she had expected more when the large amount of credits had been passed to her but the Sith was only interested in keeping the booth full nothing more nothing less.

@Eccles

 

[23006]

Directive 345/dash/15/tack/43: Destroy all senti[DATA ERROR: INCOMPLETE CODE]

TC-SC 23006's memory had been wiped two weeks ago. Its programming allowed for two holo-projections. One of a Coruscanti human who had been thoroughly scanned after getting stunned on his way home three weeks ago. The other was rodian and the KnowOnes had had it on file from back when the Zaa Fenn Crime Family still operated on Eriadu. It was a detailed holographic image of a smuggler that had been in their employ back then. His job today had been meticulously coded into encrypted executables by none other than Kara Lok, who had signed the files with her KnowOnes pseudonym of LEO404 in case the droid was ever sliced into by a slicer of greater skill than her own.

TC-SC 23006 entered the cantina with the human projection and sat down in the contact's booth. "I am Zak," his voice was well-copied and only the most keen eyes would suspect that it was not in fact a human that had sat down, "here to discuss," he looked at the Mirilian dancer and paused, "the weather."

Their real conversation wouldn't start until the dancer had removed herself from the booth. TC-SC 23006's instructions had been very clear that its programmed audio was only allowed to be heard by none other than the prospective client.

@Braden Drake

 

[Darth Caelestis]

He spotted the 'Human' as it came in the door, less for what it was but more for what it wasn't. As the person came towards him Artorigas could feel nothing within its body, no ambient flow of energy, here The Force was absent, this man was either dead or not what he seemed. He doubted the former so took the later as his answer, as the machine took a seat opposite him in the booth and said some rather coy words Artorigas smiled.

"Go on dear, take the rest of the night off." He said politely to the women before handing her another credit chip and watching her walk away. Once she was out of ear shot he turned back to the hidden machine. "A pleasure Zak, my name is Drystan. I understand you are the correct person to speak to with regards to the transportation of good across the mid rim." This would be the game they now play, a little bit of coy conversation until they are both happy with the relationship and then the real nit picky parts of the deal would be hashed out.

@Eccles

 

[23006]

Directive 586/dash/1/tack/9: Execute Directive 589/tack/12/dash/13

TC-SC 23006 waited patiently until the Mirilian was out of earshot and then scanned its surroundings. It wasn't being monitored, so it was free to execute executable fifteen/dash/3 of the Klatooine Meeting Directive 2. "Transportation of goods across the mid rim," the TC-SC droid replied in the voice of lended to it involuntarily by the Coruscanti human called Zak. There was nothing in the Directive about transporting goods across the mid rim, therefore it was either crude sentient code or it had approached the wrong sentient.

The droid scanned the room again. Of everyone present only the one that identified himself as Drystan seemed to comply to all the identifiers that LEO404 had programmed into the droid. The logical conclusion that thus followed was that the sentient had used crude sentient code to mask the truth. It feared someone was listening in. TC-SC 23006 would follow his lead. "Zak is a good pilot for Transportation of goods-" none of the programming had prepared it to play the role of smuggler, but then a single line of code in an ancient programming language rewrote Zak's programmed persona and TC-SC 23006 became visibly more sentient in its mannerisms. He slouched in his chair, the holo morphed to make him appear smirking and the durasteel fingers tapped on the table in a rhythm that Darth Caelestis would not recognize as Agorander's Imperial Tune. "-but let's be honest, Drystan. You're not looking for a mere transport. Anyone can do that," something in the droid's programming told it that even this particular meatbag would know that anyone could transport goods through the mid rim, "That's not why you contacted Zak."

Had the persona taken control or had it merely improved the young slicer's programming to make it more adaptive and true to character?

@Braden Drake

 

[Darth Caelestis]

The man machine, was seemingly well programmed enough to understand his coy nature that was good. The last thing he needed was to have to wait for a software update before he could actually talk to the contact. "No you are correct, not only do I need something moved through the Mid Rim, I need it both done loudly and with colours unattached to all but the intended ones. Is that something Zak could handle?" Artorigas lent forward as he spoke, placing his elbows on the table and interlocking his fingers a few inches from his face. He peered over his knuckles at now relaxed mechanical creature and smiled.

"Also how much can Zak handle? I hope it is not just you on your own as I have need for a large amount of said cargo to be transported." He ideally needed as much 'transport' capacity as possible as a small crew would not be enough for the ideal impact, he just hoped this Zak and his higherups could pull through.

@Eccles

 

[23006]

Directive 12/dash/12/tack/12 In case of gibberish break glass.

TC-SC 23006 opened a direct encrypted commline with LEO404 according to its directive whenever the words said to it didn't match any of the identifiers. Drystan wouldn't notice as nothing in the droid's holographic pretense of Zak the human changed. The droid and LEO404 didn't exchange audio, but binary code and that allowed them to communicate privately and in a speed as fast as its droid brain could comprehend, which was fast.

Only a single moment passed after Drystan had said his piece when Zak straightened his back, moved a little bit closer towards the table in between them and switched from a smirk to a more serious expression. "Transport a lot of cargo on a big and loud ship," the droid summarized, "If you're too worried to speak plainly, maybe you shouldn't have scheduled the meet in such a public place."

Zak smiled. Its new programming allowed for a smuggler's bravado whenever its logical assessment concluded that the one he was negotiating with was out of his debt in the whole crime department. Kara would probably read the conversation in basic on her own screen in her Coruscant office and scratch her head. This job had come from a line she recognized. An employer she'd dealt with before, but perhaps she should've asked for more specifics before sending in the TC-SC droid.


@Braden Drake

 

[Darth Caelestis]

Perhaps he should have been more on board with the machine's way of thinking, they were in the Outer Rim far beyond the official confines of the New Republic and Free World Alliance but, when you are a Sith Lord in unfriendly territory it pays to be cautious. "I chose a public space because I do not trust easily and I refuse to sit in someone else's yard who I have not met, when dealing with such items that I wish to. And in terms of my own, I believe the phrase is 'Don't shit where you sleep'."

Pushing back away from the table he matched the mechanical Zak's relaxed slouched pose for a matching one of his own, before cocking a coy smile across his face. "Well then if you must insist, I will speak plainly and if the wrong person overhears I am sure a Turbolaser from space can suffice to quieten them."

Artorigas was over the games, if this Zak and his associates could not handle the request it was nothing lost, he would just remove all witnesses and move to the next group of low life's to achieve his goals. "I need a large group to attack a Free Alliance World disguised as New Republic troops. If this is not something you can handle I am sure Crimson Dawn have a suitable crew for the job."

@Eccles

 

[23006]

Directive [DATA ERROR: OVERWRITE UNRECOGNIZED CODE]

The TC-SC droid relayed the words over to LEO404 and for a moment there was no actual response. The droid wasn't programmed to know, but the slicer was aware that the man in front of her droid was bluffing. The Crimson Dawn wasn't in the business of fielding armies, disguising them as Republic soldiers and attack worlds belonging to the Free World's Alliance. There was only one party to benefit from such an act and that was the Sith Empire and there was no way the Zaa Fenn Crime Family would work for the Sith after the murder of Preef Callo. Maybe the Black Sun had been able to pull of such an ambitious False Flag operation, but that was before they failed to even invade Kessel. No, among the syndicates only one had the power and resources to command an army and the Sith killed him.

Still, lines came back to the droid over the encrypted channel and Zak relayed them. "Recruitment, training, equipment, transport, operation, destruction of evidence, disappearance of witnesses on a large scale." the droid listed the jobs, each of them intricate, complicated and above all time-consuming and expensive. Even the droid knew that the success chance of a job like this was a mere 0.02% and yet the Zaa Fenn Crime Family was asked to do it. The next line from the slicer included a price and timetable. "Five months. Twenty million credits plus expenses." The price indication didn't include the fact that believable Republic ships and weapons had to be bought from Republic black markets, spread out so the purchases wouldn't be noticed and then a Republic fleet officer had to be bribed to approve the decommissioning and sale of a Republic military vessel. The actual costs for this operation could end up closer to a billion in credits.

@Braden Drake

 

[Darth Caelestis]

There was a momentary pause as Artorigas assumed that the machine was processing the question before he gave his answer. The Sith Lord kept himself relaxed as he waited his own eyes staring into the fake ones of the machine opposite him. When he gave him a figure a smile moved across the Sith's face, it had expected a number around that figure for the job, though the plus expenses was an annoying comment. Again it was expected but he preferred dealing with defined numbers instead of, it may be this may be that.

"I would prefer a quicker response time than five months, if you want twenty million it needs to be done in four. Otherwise I will pay only seventeen." A waitress walked past and the Sith held up his hand, the women leaned in close and he spoke his order into the women's ear before passing her a credit chip. The women moved on and Artorigas turned back to to the machine. "So do we have a deal?"

@Eccles

 

[23006]

Directive 99/dash/11/tack/66 Never let sentients haggle

The TC-SC droid relayed the information to LEO404 and received lines back in reply. "Half up front to cover initial suspenses," Zak replied as if it was the most common thing in the galaxy, which it was, especially for jobs like these. Fixers like the sentient behind the LEO404 pseudonym, those that had their own permanent crews, even worked exclusively with upfront payments for their services. For a job like this the entire twenty million up front wasn't something she'd expect to get, but half.. half was reasonable. Even the sliver of sentience that slumbered in the ancient lines of code deep within TC-SC 23006's software seemed to agree.

The droid produced a small device someone could plug in a datacard or datapad in to transfer credits digitally. It wasn't a KnowOnes invention, but they infamous slicer collective had encrypted it thoroughly to ensure that the funds that would get uploaded to the device and them the net were untraceable after getting looped through anti-dataplague measures. He put it on the table and slid it over the Drystan.

His lifelike holographic eyes looked into those of the Sith as his lips curled into a comforting smile. Apparently the leeway for LEO404 had been in the timetable and not the credit amount. Once the first payment was made it was time for the droid to get back home for its bi-weekly memory wipe.

@Braden Drake

 

[Darth Caelestis]

Artorigas nodded towards the machine as it spoke, the funds were available all within a secure account none aligned to the Sith or the Avillion Kingdom, floating in the nothingness that was the Free Worlds Alliance banking system. If anyone looked closely they would be invading a small Senators mansion before they came knocking at the door of the Sith.

Picking up the small device he gave it a courteous glance before pulling out a small holopad from inside his jacket. Pressing his thumb onto the bottom right corner of the pad, it beeped a twice before the black screen erupted into light. A small port on the side allowed the passed device to slide into it. A few button presses got everything ready to go. "So four months then?" He asked his eyebrows raised, once confirmed he would transfer the correct amount to the requested account.

Undocking the device he slid it back across the table. "Delivery is to Salecuami."

@Eccles

 

[23006]

The TC-SC 23006 waited patiently, "Yes, four months" and then watched how the sentient transfered the credits into the account. It took a moment, but eventually new lines of binary were received over the encrypted line. Payment of 10 million credits received, no dataplagues or trackers discovered. Execute Directive 34/dash/12/tack/1.

Directive 34/dash/12/tack/1: Upon confirmation of payment, return to origin location.

Zak pocketed the device and rose from the table. "Salecuami, understood-" he smiled with the typical bravado of a smuggler and then made his way out. He'd make all the countersurveillance moves he was programmed for, made sure he wasn't followed, bought speeder rides in cash to return to a hidden ship.

It would be impossible to follow Zak, or by the time he entered the transport, TC-SC 23006, as he'd end the projection to save battery time, back to whatever point of origin he was going. Someone had drafted an offer to the Five Syndicates, a slicer answered and a droid negotiated the deal. Nothing traced or tracked to a specific organization or group.

Except that the group was now 10 million credits richer.

/end thread

@Braden Drake