Ask Harrowing Intel

[Levik Karn]

Harrowing Intel​

Since the very beginning of the New Republic, the Mothkari Crime Family had made its influence felt. Whenever a senator unexpectedly switched his vote, some suspected them to be involved and usually they weren't wrong. A protocol droid stood nearby as you discussed sensitive information? Crimelord Haro Mothkari would confront you with it the very next day. The droid gotra with all its calculated savagery and subtlety were the Mothkari's strongest and most profitable allies and the slicers operated all the way from Hollastin could penetrate the most secure subnets the Republic had to offer. No one's safety was guaranteed when they had something that the centuries old cybernetically-enhanced crimelord of the Mothkari wanted.

After the collapse of the Republic many feared the crime family would use this vacuum to free itself from the cartel's grasp. After all, the Supreme Mogul Nor'baal Desilijic himself had recently forced Haro to bend his knee and the tributes that the Hutt demanded would cripple any self-respecting crimelord. Yet, nothing had happened. It was a silence that, according to the Imperial Security Bureau, could only mean one thing: they were involved in something bigger.

Cipher Six hadn't been ready for an extraction yet, so the Pugio-class Imperial Frigate called the 'Haradan' was making a detour on its way to Nar Shaddaa. Their fueling stop? Hollastin. There at the fueling station, Commander Karn left his ship wearing commonplace Outer Rim clothes and was accompanied by a woman. They took a shuttle transport to the planet's surface that housed over a billion people, even after the AMS outbreak in Hutt Space.

Surrounded by sentients of all species, Levik found himself to be pressed tight between a rather fat rodian on one side and Kalique on the other. He had written an unflattering report about her actions on Serenno and had heard that it had supported Lieutenant Dram's claim that she had been unjustly promoted to Knight-Captain. She had since been demoted and he couldn't help but feel responsible for it.


@LadyRen

 

[Kalique Baize]

En-route to syndicate territory, Kalique found herself in common traveler's clothes, no real armor with her but her weapons cleverly concealed. It was of uttermost importance for this mission that they'd stay unnoticed, that was as much Kalique knew about the discretion of this mission, but if truth be told she didn't have many more details.

With the window front of the shuttle on the one side and Levik to the other, Kalique watched the fueling station grow closer while her emerald gaze remained directed at the window. She was here to ensure no harm would come to Commander Karn, but obviously, he'd do the talking or whatever was needed.

She basically waited for orders from him and kept her apperance as a simple traveler until then, also not choosing to break the silence as the odor of the Rodian next to Levik posed a challenge to not grimacing and so she mostly but subtly kept inhaling through the mouth.

It did appear that the shuttle would start its descent soon and she was glad over the prospect of leaving the shuttle behind. She had checked out the passenger, but while their was a broad variety of species around, nothing seemed suspicious or whatsoever, still that didn't keep her from constantly reaching out with the Force and staying aware of their surroundings.

@Eccles

 

[Levik Karn]

It took them the better part of an hour to get to their target building. Levik had a credchip pre-loaded with additional operational funds in his pocket, as well as a port scanner and a personav. Of the latter he had two and he pulled them both out now, handing one over to Kalique. "Personavs in case we get separated. They're linked." covert operations like this were a lot different than the missions the pair had done together before. There was no army of peacekeepers backing Levik, not a uniform and its authority to exploit to your benefit. Kalique at least still had the Force, but whether that was an actual advantage was yet to be seen.

"None of this can be traced back to the Empire," he reminded her, meaning she should also be way of using the Force in public, "forget what you see here today. Never come back to Hollastin, never speak about it with anyone."

Without another word, Commander Karn pressed the doorbell and moments later it opened to reveal black and blood-red N-series protocol droid. "Do you have an appointment?" it asked in a surprisingly human way that surprised Levik and yet, perhaps, it shouldn't have considering the Mothkari Crime Family's reputation.

"We do," Levik handed him a datapunch card that he hadn't shown to Kalique and the droid regarded it for a moment before slotting it into a datapunch reader. Half a second later it's eyes flickered, "He's waiting," and it turned around, prompting the pair of them to follow.

The ascended stairs, then descended stairs in what seemed to be a derelicted building. Every now and then Levik seemed to register a SD-6 Hulk Infantry Droid standing in a nook or somewhere off the treaded path. Most of the tech so far seemed ancient.. and yet..


@LadyRen

 

[Kalique Baize]

Kalique was grateful for the personav provided by him as the Knight usually didn't appreciate being on unknown terrain without any set starting points. He had a point about how getting separated would pose an issue and so she made sure she kept it close.

He the reminder her of how important it was that nothing of this could be traces back to the Empire. "Understood. I won't". Obviously, she didn't have any business here and she couldn't imagine how she would ever end up here again. Also, as dutifully as she was, she would neither question nor disobey orders. While she was curious about what exactly was going on, she knew Levik provided all the details she needed, nothing more and nothing less, so that the information she had would need to do.

They had already reached a building and the uncertainty about not knowing whom they were facing did make her a little nervous, but she simply did as he commanded. He spoke to the droid and she silently followed him inside, keeping her senses on full alert but also scanning the surroundings attentively.

She didn't really like how there were so many droids around and while she had learnt how to deal with them swiftly, she was dearly hoping it wouldn't come to that. Her muscles were tense, but she kept following him, memorizing the twists and turns they took and the pattern of the stairs. While it did seem a little fishy to her how they just walked through the unknown house, she refrained from asking questions, especially because they never weren't alone. Would they have to get out of here quickly? She was prepared to take the most direct route back with him, but it surprised her how Levik was so calm, so she wondered whether there was no actual threat around.

@Eccles

 

[Levik Karn]

A few minutes of navigating what Levik guessed was a nearly ancient residential complex, they reached a durasteel door that seemed much more advanced than the rest. The N-series droid pressed a code into a nearby panel and then the door slid open to reveal what was essentiall a large room with dozens of droids with wires attached to their brains that went up into the ceiling. If anything this was the beating heart of whatever operation the Mothkari Crime Family was currently running and Levik couldn't wait to take a peek behind the curtains.

But then the N-series droid lead them to their right and through another set of durasteel doors where they were waited on by.. HARO MOTHKARI himself. His cybernetic eyes seemed to stare right through you as his massive droid frame was eerily similar to that of the SD-6 Hulk Infantry Droids they'd seen earlier. Perhaps it had once been just that, but over the centuries since it had definitely become more refined, more advanced, and definitely more scary.

"So this is who the Exchange sends?" Haro's mechanized voice said in what was essentially emotionless, yet due to its own horrific physique seemed very threatening regardless.

For Kalique this would be new information, but that ancient datapunch card had indeed been signed by the Troig Eccle'baal. Commander Karn had used his connections in the Taris Exchange to get a meeting with the Crimelord of a Crymorah Syndicate crime family. "Or rather, the Imperial Security Bureau?" the mechanized laughter that followed filled the room and its echo remained long after the cyborg appeared to have stopped.

Suddenly four SD-6 Hulk Infantry Droids appeared from all sides, surrounding the two Imperials and the crimelord. "Take him away," Haro said as two of the droids approached a rather stupified Levik and their grapplers grabbed him by his shoulders and pushed him -rather violently- towards another door in the room. He didn't have time to say anything to Kalique, but perhaps it would not have even mattered for as the doors closed the cyborg stepped closer the Imperial Knight and a mechanized chuckle escaped his imaginary lips.

"Him I know, but who are you?"

@LadyRen

 

[Kalique Baize]

Kalique kept following but as soon as the droid started typing codes into the pad, this inner feeling of unrest just grew. Danger lingered in the air, she could simply feel it. She had no idea what she was even doing here, yet she couldn't shake the feeling that they were walking into a trap.

She trusted Levik and followed his orders just like that, but she wishes she did at least have any information on whether or not she should disable any of those droids upon an imminent threat or whatever. She tried slowing her head and controlling her breath and overplayed the tension of her readied muscles by keeping a casual walk.

They went through more doors before suddenly finding themselves face to face with a massive cyborg who immediately sent a shiver down her spine. Keeping a straight face, her breathing did stop for a moment though. Without him even starting to speak she simply knew this was bad.

The Exchange?! Kalique's thoughts began racing at the realization that Levik seemed more involved on Taris as first expected. This, however, didn't even unsettle her, but the Cyborg who began adressing him did. He blew his cover in two sentences and Kalique already knew this was apparently even worse than expected. She senses the commotion but droids filled the room quicker than expected while she just froze up as if a sudden movement would cause any of them to pounce.

'Should I take them out? What do I do?!' she shot him a telepathic message, the desperation in the urged tone clearly audible. She was fully convinced this wasn't exactly going as planned, so she hoped it would reach him, otherwise she wouldn't deviate from what she had been told.

His mechanic gaze seemed to pierce right through her as he now turned to her, the impressive cyborg frame towering in front of her. "His assistant, Sir". She replied as calmly as natural, not wanting to seem to unbothered by this supposed threat either. She was surrounded by droids, but he was part machine, too, so if Levik needed immediate extraction she wouldn't hesitate to at least try, regardless of whether he was apperently somehow associated with them.

@Eccles

 

[Levik Karn]

"Assistent" Haro repeated in his mechanized voice as his cybernetic eyes, the photoreceptors, flickered from red to white and finally to red again. It had not gone unnoticed that this supposed assistent had managed to remain perfectly calm despite being suddenly overwhelmed in firepower from battle droids and facing a crimelord that wasn't exactly a pretty calming presence to look at. It would have been more believable if she had at least pretended to freak and panic at little.

"Tell me, assistent-" Haro came even closer, causing the overwhelming scent of coolants, grease and unwashed skin to be impossible for Kalique to suppress or ignore. "-do you ever notice a protocol droid?"

In the meantime the two Hulk-droids were dragging a stupified Commander Karn passed what seemed like slicer pods and droid command consoles until they finally entered another room. This one, too, filthy and covered in dust. There was only a single chair and one of the droids motioned for him to sit on it before they took position on either side of the door. Levik tried to straighten in tunic, but for some reason he couldn't and as the worry and panic increased he grabbed his golden lighter from his pockets and clenched his right hand around it. This was bad. This was really bad.

As he sat down -for he didn't know what else to do- the door slid open to reveal another human cyborg. Skin pale, almost seeming lifeless, but her modifications were much less severe than those of Haro. Levik had a suspicion that her cybernetic limbs, which she obviously seemed to have, were much more refined. "Hello Commander Levik Karn of the Imperial Security Bureau,", she smiled and her eyes -while seemingly cybernetic- had a lifelike feel to them. Was all of this to show off that the Mothkari Crime Family was moving with the times? That they made advancements not unlike the corporate factions? "Or should I say, business partner to Eccle'baal, or The Tarisian or, as you're known to some mercs on Corellia; 'The Commander'?" Levik's left eye twitched and he didn't think he'd be able to ever unclench his right hand from his lighter. How did she know all these things?

"Who are you?" he heard himself say despite the fact that that wasn't the question he really wanted to ask.

She produced a pack of cigarettes from behind her back, or perhaps she had been holding them the entire time, Levik simply couldn't be sure. "That does not matter," her voice was soft, feminine and pleasing to the ear. Yet, the way she said it made him think even her vocal chords had been altered in some way. This level of technology in criminals hands was worrisome and yet.. why would they have hidden this from their new cartel overlords? What was the-

-her hand went over Levik's clenched right fist and seemingly without much trouble she managed to straing his muscles enough to unclench it and reveal the lighter she apparently knew he carried. He let her take it and light up one of the cigarettes in the pack before blowing the scented smoke into Levik's face. "Tell me, Levik Karn. Do you ever notice protocol droids?"

@LadyRen

 

[Kalique Baize]

Fear swirled through her body as this obviously wasn't good at all. She actively kept suppressing it, yet the cyborg would notice how the short woman in front of him slowly stepped back, eyes now widening as he stepped even closer. The stench was uncanny, nothing she had ever smelt like that before and it sent a shiver down her spine. What was going on here?!

The mechanical, modulated voice went on, the red eyes still piercing right through her as she swallowed. A protocol droid. In a split second Kalique's memories flashed through her mind, focusing on the stuff she had experienced with Levik himself as she did suddenly stop at Taris.

Taris. It seemed like everything was leading back to this place. Their first mission. The exchange. The fact that he was stationed there. She remembered how he had let her shower in his quarters and how when the water was turnt off and she had rubbed the muck of her skin, she had heard a protocol droid's voice behind the closed door.

The droid had brought her clothes. Was that it? Hadn't it even stated it was looking for the Knight and Levik had instructed it to just drop the uniform in the room as she hadn't been present? Did they know everything? Damn, had they infiltrated the Imperial base? Her thoughts spiraled quickly as this reeked of a full-blown conspiracy at once, yet, what was she supposed to do? How had she even ended up in here as well?

She swallowed hard, her eyes focused on the massive Cyborg in front of her. Protocol droids per se were everywhere, but where exactly was this conversation going? "I do...sometimes. Not always" she truthfully admitted, suddenly unsure where else they had been. Should she have looked more closely? Whatever this was, she had never been too involved with crime, yet right now she feared this lack of experience wasn't very helpful now. 'Levik tell me what I should do' she telepathically tried again, her body freezing up right where she stood. Her heart was thundering in her chest and her mind still racing. Where had they even taken Levik? He was conscious, that she still sensed, but the rest wasn't looking good.

@Eccles

 

[Levik Karn]

Levik thought he heard Kalique's voice suddenly, asking him what she should do. How should he know? He understood none of this. None of this made any sense. "I know you're not one of them," he replied in a surprised, yet poorly delivered, evasion. The cyborg, without any facial expression or other kind of sign that she had even registered his reply, put one of her cigarettes between his lips and lit it. Instintively Levik sucked air through it and immediately knew that he -really- should not have. This wasn't a normal cigarette.. this was synthetic Glitterryll.

"Why did the Imperial Security Bureau suddenly take notice of us?" she asked now as his head began to feel dizzy and his vision blurred. Her voice was nice, he found, it was pleasant to listen to. Soothing, calming and it made him want to tell her everything. It was almost like she was a Siren for telling the truth.

The cigarette dangled as Levik's jaw began to tremble. It seemed useless to resist. It seemed inevitable. All he could really do was tell her, "Insurgencies," he revealed, "Matching modus operandi." It took him all the willpower he could muster not to utter the codename of the operation or indeed the name of the suspected mastermind behind it all; the Oracle. "Suspected Mothraki involvement."

Unbeknownst to Levik, the Siren's eyes suddenly flickered as she seemed to relay that information.

"But they notice everything, Imperial Knight Demici." Haro Mothraki laughed, but it seemed like the volume had been turned down slightly and he appeared to be relishing the fear he was inducing on the young woman. "Your relationships. Your career. Your ancestry-" the words were spoken in a slow deliberate way to rattle Kalique and make her think -and worry- about the things that the Mothkari Crime Family knew about her. "-everything."

Suddenly his eyes flickered again from their usual red to yellow and then back to red. His nostrils flared and he stepped back, prompting the Hulk battle droids to step forward. "Your partners are murderers and hypocrites," there was something softening in his voice, "You cannot save them." the door slid open and the N-series attendant droid appeared once again, holding a datapad and what appeared to be a communicator. "But you can still save yourself."

They all seemed to wait for what she would do. Would she take the items, read what was on the datapad and engage the communicator? Would she agree with his sentiment, do as he wanted from her, or trust in Levik's plan despite him having stabbed her in the back once already, reporting her to the lieutenant-general after sleeping with her. Or would she, with the odds stacked against her, think and act for herself.

@LadyRen

 

[Kalique Baize]

He knew. She suddenly had that clarity and it hit her like a fist in the face. She still had no clue who she was talking, but apparently, he knew all about her. Had they truly infiltrated Imperial space? The ISB even? Where exactly did they come from and what was their master plan in all this? "Who are you?" it suddenly escaped her quietly, genuine nervousity bleeding into her tone, overshadowing the parts she played.

The silence that followed his speech was bone chilling and it costed Kalique a lot not to jump as the battle droids stepped forward. Levik had called her with a reason. He had wanted her to accompany him for a reason. He hadn't bothered sharing any details at all, or even provide information about who they were dealing with in the first place and that it was pretty likely how both of their lives were at stake here.

You cannot save them. This particular sentence kept echoing through her mind. Yes she could, and she would. She had learnt that again on Entralla. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made. She was trained for this. She had recently trained and meditated so much, she was all centered and knew how to not let fear get to her. Levik had a plan. He may have fueled the rumors about how she was not on control months earlier after having called her impulsive in terms of her diplomatic strategy, yet it was her duty to serve and protect him. She'd get both of them out alive.

Everything pointed to how this had gone South, yet Levik wasn't speaking to her, urging her to deal with them. She didn't have any other orders than to follow him here and so she would place her trust into him, even if this meant this would end badly and even if he hadn't been fair in her eyes. They weren't threatening her yet and still she was offered something. She kept her gaze on the cyborg for a whole while longer until she dared to look down, wanting to know what had been laid out in front of her, even if cooperating with them was never an option. Her loyalties were straight and they weren't to herself, but the Empire. One way or another, they wouldn't just die here.

@Eccles

 

[Levik Karn]

"Tell me," the female cyborg whispered as Levik's mind faded, "Tell me everything." and he wanted to, he realized. His brain yearned for it as a rhythmic chanting seemed to formate in his head. He felt like he could feel the data going from the planetary HoloNet antenna's straight to this block of seemingly abandoned buildings, right into the heads of the droids and cyborgs that the Mothraki Crime Family employed to scour the Net and find dirt on whoever their current target was. He felt the cold methodic appraoch. The business mind behind the invasion of privacy..

"Republic collapsed" Levik continued, "the Alliance collapsed." and yet others equally ineffective had not. "Suspected Mothraki involvement," he improvised now, stating not the official suspicion of the Imperial Security Bureau but that of the commander himself. "To prevent the Empire is next," he adlipped, "Investigate on Hollastin." His own words were muttered or whispered, barely audible above the constant drums he heard in of the data going in and out of the Mothraki Crime Family's headquarters.

The female cyborg stepped back from him and removed the cigarette from her own lips in order to flick some of the ashes aside, "You chose the wrong cover, Levik."

Meanwhile the monster of a cyborg was silent for a while. He let Kalique make a decision and.. indecision could be considered a decision, as well. "Figures that he never trusted you," Haro Mothraki said as the photo-receptors on the Hulk-droids and even the N-series attendant droids turned red. "I am Haro, boss of the Mothkari." the attendant droid moved closer to Kalique and what appeared to be a report became visible on the datapad. It was the same report as Levik had written up of her actions on Serenno. And yet, while she had never seen the actual report itself, some of the entries looked oddly out of place and confirmed some of her earlier suspicions. It seemed like the Mothkari Crime Family was giving her a choice. Prove that the one that reported her was dirty, and thus earn back the promotion that she had lost, or refuse it still and choose the Empire and her shady superior officer above herself.

"You should really hear who is on the other side of the communicator," Haro's eyes flashed as his mechanized voice filled the room. She could wait no longer. It was time to decide and bear the consequences.

@LadyRen

 

[Kalique Baize]

Regardless of what he said or did, her thoughts kept racing. Mothkari. Damn, that rung a bell. So she wasn't just on crime territory but in the clutches of a criminal family leader? Worse even, so was Levik, and he even seemed to have some unfinished business here that was currently endangering both of their lives.

She glanced back up at the monstrous creature, her breath fully held before she dared to let it flick down. Her eyes quickly skimmed the text, a sudden realization hitting her as Levik had apperently truly framed this in a very unpleasant way. While this surely didn't aid the mental image she had of him, some rage did boil up, but she was more clever than this.

She wasn't going to believe it was true as it was literally offered to her from a crime boss. Not that it didn't make sense - she did find it quite likely - but the reasons didn't add up. What purposes did he have to get her demoted? Was he really believing she didn't have herself under control after she had proven herself for countless years?

The incident on Columex hadn't been good at all, she still deeply regretted that because she didn't trust Dram a single bit as he had openly conspired with the Sith, he had pushed her buttons until she did shove him and there would never be anything that would justify her move, but what reason did Levik have to frame her?

Still, she placed her trust in the man as she was dutifully serving the Empire. She was no Sith. She wasn't going to find a way out, but she was well aware that Levik's life depended on her here. Not just that, the Empire was apperently in great danger and maybe she was in a position to stop this.

After having gathered what the report said (regardless of whether it was faked or not), she looked back up, meeting the mechanic gaze even if she found it harrowing. "Who is on the comm?" she asked slowly, her voice rather cold and distant, actually curious about who it was and why. She questioned the motives of the cyborg and what exactly he expected of her while she had no clue where Levik was and what was happening to him.

He was alive...his presence had grown much fainter but he didn't seemed in pain. 'Levik...please. Tell me what to do. Don't let them get to you'. As they hadn't killed him, she was pretty convinced he was being interrogated. Why? She had no idea. What she did know was how an EMP could solve some of there problems but for now it seemed like Haro was building something up here.

She subtly kept studying his physique and realized he was more of a machine than a man while an idea kept forming in her head. Also, what reassured her was that the ISB surely knew they were here, probably even having their exact location, but without a distress call, they probably wouldn't act. She slowly inhaled. The Force was with her. She was fully focused and waited for an answer.

@Eccles

 

[Levik Karn]

THEME​

Their eyes had already been red. The Hulk droids had already closed in. The Crimelord had given her a choice. She was to either pick up the communicator right then and there or she would not and bear the consequences.

Both of Haro's arms opened to reveal the nozzles of blasters, while the SD-6 Hulk Infantry Droids aimed their integrated repeating medium blaster cannons at Kalique. The N-series attendant droid stepped back to make room for Haro as he shoved both of his opened blaster arms against her shoulders. "MAKE A CHOICE!" the raw mechanized power of the voice actually blew back parts of Kalique's hair as he shouted in her face to stop her indecision.

The door closed, sealing off the room. Kalique was alone with one menacing and notorious crimelord and enough firepower to literally turn her into a pile of molted flesh and bone. She had decided not to choose the non-violent approach. She had not accepted the hand when it was offered and now she was going to endure Haro's own favorite path to learning what he wanted to know. She could hear the blaster in his cybernetic arms heating up. She could hear his excited breathing, so dark, so filled with the intent to not just murder her. Not just cut off her limbs, but to make a sport out of it. Prolonged torture, replacing limbs with rusted cybernetic gear and once he was done with her and she was but a mere shell of the indecisive girl in front of him.. well, she'd no longer be indecisive.

"Left-" he breathed, "-or right."

Meanwhile Levik couldn't help but take another drag. Maybe it was force of habit? Maybe somehow he thought that taking in more glitterryll would help him figure out how to get out of his predicament. Standing a few feet away from him, the female cyborg's eyes flickered violently. "Chose the wrong partner, too," she shook her head and sighed as the door behind her slid open and one of the SD-6 Hulk Infantry Droids appeared with its integrated repeating blaster cannons aimed at the Imperial Commander.

The repeater began to turn slowly, heating up as it did, but then the cyborg gave the droid a soundless signal and the repeater was lowered. It turned slower now until it disengaged completely. "Last chance, Levik," her voice was enticing him to answer truthfully. He felt safe, like he could confide in... was that Kalique's voice again? Why was she in his head? Wait, where was she. Had they been separated? Where was Haro Mothkari, the crimelord he was supposed to meet, courtesy of the Troig Eccle'baal...

"Artefact Exchange," he muttered, along that line of thought, "Vault on Raxus." The one he had robbed and now the Troig made a good commission selling his copies of a Book of Shadows. One the Mothkari Crime Family clearly had no interest or need to obtain. "I have information on," a great deal of things, actually. Imperial, Exchange, Jedi, Sith, Artefacts and even "dataplagues." The Siren's eyes flickered.

@LadyRen