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Godric Mand

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The Omega Station was an absolute shit-hole in the back-end of the Galaxy and, for those two reasons alone, Godric had a soft spot for it deep in his heart.

Generally speaking it was a terrible idea to have a soft spot for a place that was so full of the scum of the Galaxy that it made Mos Espa and Nar Shaddaa look like sensible places for holiday homes, but the disguised Jedi Shadow rather liked the element of danger. That and whenever he had need of something that would be hard to get ahold of for a Jedi, this place came through for him.

Now though?

Now he was shopping for something a little bit pricier than old Imperial surplus detonation charges or mines that, just so happened, to look exactly like the maintenance panels on the interdictor field generators on Sith warships. For this mission, Godric had decided that it would be better if he was not appearing before a meeting with a member of the Crimson Dawn as a Jedi, even a Jedi Shadow.

Criminals tended to either get less jumpy or even jumpier when they learned the person they were speaking to was a Shadow after all. They paid well but they also tended to like to stab criminals who crossed certain lines. Having undergone another painful surgery to reduce the mass of bone in his chin, to make it more angular, Godric had happily stepped foot into the Afterlife club on the station. His newly-made ash-grey hair, pale blue eyes and scarification tattoos meant he didn't look too out of place.

Dressing in a worn leather jacket, shirt and trouser combo finished off with a holstered Python blaster pistol and a pair of gloves. The gloves he absolutely hated as they came with "pinky fingers" which were linked to the next finger along so they moved in time with them.

One day he'd be allowed to cut his hands off and replace them with cybernetics but not today.

"I've got a meeting." he grunted to the bouncer, "Called ahead - name's Deacon."

Now to cool his heels with a drink with as little alcohol as possible.


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@Phoenix
 

Terra Lanris

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Terra was conducting her business out of Afterlife as usual, and had moved to one of the backrooms. The thumping of music could still be vaguely heard through the walls, but at a much lower volume than in the main portion of the club.

Her current position left her with an endless supply of Tiefling Trashcans to consume, which was the drink she currently held in her hand.

He comlink buzzed and she glanced over, seeing a notification that her latest meeting had arrived. He seemed the shady type, and there wasn't a whole lot out there about him from the limited info she had from Crimson Dawn. She'd need to work on expanding that info, but for now, he'd said enough to get a meeting. A rather skeptical meeting, but a meeting nonetheless.

Show him in, she typed back. The bouncer would lead the Jedi up the stairs and to the second level of the club before leading him over to one of the private rooms. Terra was posted up on a mobile workstation, but closed it out when he made his way inside.

Mr. Deacon. Have a seat, she said, motioning toward the chair across from her. What can I do for you? she asked, leaning back slightly and taking a sip of her drink.
 

Godric Mand

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Well that was one terrible Sloppy Sith cocktail - far too much vermouth.

Nodding with a small grunt of acknowledgement to the minion sent to retrieve him, he downed the rest of the drink before dropping some credits for a tip and heading off with the minion to the meeting. Part of him was nervous. This woman was one of the criminal underworld's up and comers - the kind of woman who could, and likely would, track him to the ends of the Galaxy if she thought he had screwed her.

Entering the room, he caught his first look at her in person. She was shorter than he expected but her horns looked sharper as well so it was a good balance.

"Thanks for agreeing to the meeting."

The voice he had chosen for this character was a dry, rumbling, sort of voice that was from one of the systems close to Corellia. Not actually Corellia itself but one of the minor planets in its system. Taking the offered seat, Godric made slow moves to reach into his jacket pocket to withdraw a pack of cigarettes.

"Do you mind? Want one?" he offered, keen to light up but not willing to offend if she declined, "I have an In with some members of the Banking Clans and they've clued me in on an opportunity to make a lot of credits. Some people I know suggested checking out the Crimson Dawn but I've never worked with you before. Wanted to test the waters, see if there's any apetite for that kind of work."


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Terra Lanris

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Terra watched as the man came in, studying her as he did. She wasn't unaccustomed to people staring, but didn't say anything. She sipped at her drink and nodded as he thanked her for meeting with him. Hopefully it wouldn't prove to be a waste of her time, but if it was, well... that's what the bouncers were for. And the blaster on her thigh.

Crimson Dawn? she asked. She wasn't going to overtly confirm her affiliations to a stranger. The fact that everyone knew was fine, but the fact that they couldn't prove it was key apparently.

I'm certainly interested in making some credits, she said. The Banking Clan is a serious business, though. And not fond of handing out their credits, she said with a snicker.

You Corellian? she asked. She was born and "raised" on Corellia and the accent was immediately familiar to her as being... at least close.
 

Godric Mand

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Ah.

He had probably tipped his hand a bit too much, acted as though what he had managed to obtain through loose-lipped people on the station was close to fact. Internally he cursed for being so flippant about the information but externally he did his best to control his reaction to a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry - spacer talk isn't always reliable, I shouldn't assume it is."

Of course he had a greater than average chance of being right to assume but he wasn't going to play that kind of game if she wanted to play coy. He allowed a controlled, small, smile at the comment on the banking clan. It was an amusing understatement to be sure but Deacon wouldn't be quite so openly amused as Godric might have been.

"At least not without interest." he agreed, "Which is why I would like to employ... tactics deemed unsavoury by most. A little bit of unpleasantness opens people's minds to a lot of things, I've found."

He could try coy on for size. Already though he could see he was playing against someone who understood the game - her own accent was close enough to his chosen accent that she had probably spent some time in the system.

"Moon-boy." he drawled, "Gus Talon before decided Corellia was just too small for me. Coronet city girl?"


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Terra Lanris

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She snickered again as he mentioned that spacer talk was unreliable. It was exactly why she was interested in expanding her business to the information sector: because the right spacer talk could turn over a lot of valuable resources.

I know all about spacer talk, she affirmed. They like to say a lot of things, often with hints of truth, she said. She'd learned to play the double tongue game quickly. It was a necessity for staying alive... again, so she was told.

You nailed it, she said as he guessed Coronet City. Nowhere else in the galaxy quite like it for better or worse. But if you've been there, I'm sure you already know that.

So what brings you all the way out here to the Outer Rim? she asked. It was a passageway for many people on the crossroads into Hutt Space... but it was a long way from the Corellia system.

And what brings your "unsavory" plan to me? Lack of resources? And don't take this the wrong way, but we don't know each other, she said. Most people she at least knew something of their reputation before doing business with them. Not so much with this one.
 

Godric Mand

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Seemed that they were both dancing around the truth - but by doing that they had both basically acknowledged it as the truth so he could stop treading on so many eggshells. Instead he allowed himself a slightly wider smile than before and arched an eyebrow, specifically the one with the scarification tattoo.

"Spoken like a true native." he commented casually, "Maybe someday somewhere can try and match it but that day isn't yet. Though Omega?"

He glanced around.

"Omega has a charm."

It could have been 'answer' enough on its own but he doubted she would be satisfied by his reasoning for being away from Corellia as simply sampling the charm of Omega. They both knew that the charm of Omega was that it was just as crooked as Nar Shaddaa but not half as rotten through with Hutt influence.

"Outer Rim is the place to be if you want to make your way in the Galaxy - I can retire back to the Core when I've made my billions."

He made a show of thinking about how to structure his next words.

"I can do the unsavoury bit on my own if needs be, but it needs weight behind it. Authenticity that doesn't come from one person acting on his own. And if all goes well?" he smirked ever so slightly, "Funds need to go somewhere before they land in my bank account, otherwise my retirement fund is going to have more red flags than a Communist Sith rally."


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Terra Lanris

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It's certainly lively, she said as he mentioned Omega. It was a place she had become quite comfortable. Her grip on the station had solidified and locked tighter the longer she was here. Nowadays, most people on the station did what she said with a little bit of persuasion.

Most important is I'm not at the bottom of the totem pole like on Corellia, she said, to no one's surprise.

They were still dancing around the issue of what they really wanted, of course, but she was starting to get an idea of what he was after... even if she had no idea how he wanted to accomplish it. Busting in, guns blazing into a Banking Clan building wasn't wise. She knew for now she was a big fish in a small pond... she didn't want to punch a big fish in a big pond.

You're wanting me to legitimize your retirement fund? she asked. Money laundering wasn't something she actually did, but it was something she had the resources to set up. An interesting business expansion in itself, too.

And how exactly do you intend to convince the Banking Clan to fund your retirement? she asked. This was all well and good except they didn't have an actual plan that she'd heard of yet. That was what she was assuming he was here to pitch.
 

Godric Mand

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No, no she certainly wasn't at the bottom on Omega.

He didn't so much as twitch at the comment. They both knew that she was quickly becoming the name that was most commonly said after someone mentioned Omega. Seldom was one mentioned without the other in the circles that they both tended to frequent. That their circles were not entirely the same was something he was going to be playing close enough to his chest that it might as well have been another tattoo.

"If you could help put me in touch with some retirement specialists like that, I'd very much appreciate it."

Appreciation in the form of a percentage - he wasn't the first to request money laundering on Omega after all. Even if Terra wasn't always involved in it, the station itself had the facilities.

"Members of their fraud defence team are rather bad at holding their alcohol." he announced, seemingly unconnected to begin with, "They tell me that skimming scams are on the rise - where between the bank and the retailer, someone has a program in place to skim off the top. A fraction of a credit here and there but incredibly hard to trace. They look for them though and their work is overlooked by a lovely man."

He smiled.

"A lovely man I'm willing to be quite unsavoury toward in order for him to be encouraged to... miss certain things. Fractions of a credit each transaction is nothing to the bank clans. Even if it's on every transaction conducted, say, in the Kuat System. Where the banking clans facilitate roughly 1700 transactions - every second."

Even if they only managed to set up a skimming scam in a single system, they could make credits hand over fist. But only if the fraud team was being steered away from finding the scam equipment - by someone who was forced to be in on the operation "or else".


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Terra Lanris

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Terra took another sip of her drink, tail flicking lightly under the table. She savored the tart flavor of her drink as it ran down her throat, mind turning over several ways to make this a reality. If it were true, then this was... well, it was the potential for one of the largest money-making schemes she'd ever seen.

A very ambitious proposal, she said. You have my interest, but I need to know how serious you are. Such an endeavor may be profitable for me, but also poses a considerable risk, she said.

I'd like you to do something for me first, she said. What she knew that he didn't was that the "favor" she wanted him to do was something that would benefit this operation as well.

There's a man by the name of Yoris Barnstein here on Omega. He owns two of the largest casinos here on Omega and another one off-world. Help me convince him to turn those casinos over to me and we'll talk, she said. It was a monumental task and would likely involve some threatening, murder, and possibly will falsification, but it was nothing compared to the operation he was proposing. If he couldn't help her make this happen, then the Banking Clan was off the table.
 

Godric Mand

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Well so far so good - he hadn't been shot for assuming, incorrectly, that she was a crime boss of some kind and she hadn't immediately decided he was too good to be true and started blasting. They were both concerns he had had in the past as he thought up the plan but he was glad to have gotten past the first hurdle.

Somewhat.

"Serious as a heart attack."
he assured her easily enough, "But I understand - there's risks with trusting this kind of thing to someone you've not worked with before. Not part of the crew kind of thing."

It made sense.

Leaning back in the seat he had been offered, Godric frowned a little before humming as he took one of the cigarettes he had offered Terra before and popped it into is mouth. He would hand another to Terra even as he fished out a lighter from the same internal pocket he had retrieved the cigarettes from. Taking a small pull from the cigarette, he took it from his mouth as he exhaled the smoke to one side.

"... what are the limits?"
he asked with a small smile, "Everyone has their hard limits. The stuff that just goes beyond good business - where are yours? Got to know so I can colour inside the lines."

And see just how much he was going to have to do for the Greater Good.


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Terra Lanris

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Terra puffed at the cigarette as they discussed what was going to happen next. He asked about limits, and she thought for a moment. What were the limits? She supposed she had some, but they were... flexible. She didn't generally deal in flesh, but she didn't see that as being a component of this.

I care about results, Mr. Deacon, she said. I assume that question means you have some sort of a plan in mind already? she asked.

I can get the information we need about his home, businesses, and assets, she said. While she could come up with the plan all on her own, it wouldn't have been much of a test for him if she'd gathered all the intel and come up with the plan.
 

Godric Mand

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Depending on how far down into the muck he had to go was the key here. He had ideas on how to secure the assets she was talking about, sure, but he needed to make sure that he didn't Fall just to prove that he could be trusted. Taking another pull from his cigarette, he thought about it for a moment longer.

"What I need is access not to him - but to his accountant." he decided at length, "And potentially some assistance from some friends or rivals of your who deal in credits."

He tapped out some ash into the used glass he had brought with himself.

"Make our way to the accountant, secure his co-operation or silence. Access the accounts and we start changing the books. Suddenly the accountant has been embezzling and there are massive debts to people he really can't afford to have debts towards." he raised an eyebrow at Terra, implying her people without actually saying so, "People who don't care that it was 'all the accountants fault' - especially when said accountant is missing."

The pressure would build up and suddenly Yoris needed capital - fast. He needed to settle the debts because otherwise his businesses suddenly dried up and the actual debts, for protection and the like, he paid would suddenly start drying up. And when the pressure started to get too much?

"Then you offer a lifeline. The casinos for the debts - an offer he'd be foolish to refuse. Saddling you with a debt that doesn't exist and three perfectly profitable casinos."


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Terra Lanris

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Terra listened to his proposal, turning it over in her mind. She knew at the very least that she could give names of people with large amounts of money. She could pay them for the use of their name, and she would be rolling in with three new casinos.

She liked it, and she decided it was something she could live with seeing brought through.

I think that can be arranged, she said. I'll need to make a few calls, it might take a day or two, but it can be done, she said.

What else do you need? she asked him point blank. Somewhere along the way she had become a force of nature, grinding toward her goals without any hesitation or second guessing.

If you give me a way to contact you, I'll give you a call when I have everything in place, she said. She might have him followed as well, but that would remain to be seen.
 

Godric Mand

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Thank the Gods and the Force.

His plan didn't actually involve him doing anything too vile but he was able to dress it up as less him avoiding something and more about him focusing on being practical. It wasn't practical to torture the guy, for example, and that was totally why he wouldn't do it - absolutely nothing to do with his own moral and Light-focused code.

Absolutely not.

"Take however long you need." he assured her as he took a final drag of his cigarette before snuffing it out inside the empty glass he had been carrying, "We'll likely only get one shot at doing it this way - if we fall short on any step we'll have to go with plan B."

Plan B was a bad thing but still somewhat within his code... but only just.

"Plan B is we can steal the deeds outright by amending his legal Will - and having him killed."

The legal will didn't do much in the underworld in terms of giving them control over the casinos. But what it did do was tell the other crime families that they had messed with a carefully protected document in secret and then killed the man. It was about sending a statement that they had the power and ability to do that - which meant they could do it again if pushed.

Smiling a little bit, he handed her a business card. It was blank save for his com-link number.

"Saves time." he joked lightly, picking up the glass he'd been using as an ashtray, "Got any recs on where a Corellian boy can grab some decent food around here?"


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Terra Lanris

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Terra took the card and nodded. Killing the man and amending his will would have certainly been closer to her original plan, but this seemed like it would work as well. And if not, they always had Plan B indeed.

Three blocks down go to Saavy's, she said in response to his inquiry about food. She supposed there was also Afterlife itself, but if that was what he was looking for he would have just stayed.

I'll be in touch, she said.

---​

True to her word it was two days later that she gave him a call. She'd reached out to a higher-up in Crimson Dawn, agreed to pay him a hefty sum for the use of his name, and had hired some muscle to track down the bookman himself. Now it was just a matter of getting the job done.

She could have - and maybe should have - let him do it himself, but she wanted to make sure it was done right. She also couldn't directly have her hands involved, so she'd come up with an... alternative plan.

She was waiting in a large van across the street from one of the casinos and when he knocked on the rear, the door would swing open and he would be allowed to enter alongside Terra and another, small, nerdy-looking man.

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Godric Mand

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Drifting around Afterlife for a couple of days wasn't a big ask - he was waiting on word and that meant waiting around. He could have taken some smaller, contract, work to pass the time but since he didn't know how long he would be waiting it could come across as trying to blow her off.

Which he probably would have to work hard to live to regret.

Instead he had made sure to buy some new equipment - specifically a suit with some armourweave inserts inside the lining of the jacket, a hidden blade, a vibroknife and a small hold-out blaster that could be hidden easily under an arm. Dressed in the dress trousers and a white shirt, Godric approached the van he had been directed to with an overcoat hiding his fancier clothes. He might need to blend in at the casino but outside in the streets?

He'd stand out like a diet shake at a Hutt's bar.

Still, he was surprised to see Terra herself opening the door. He had thought she was mostly beyond things like this but looked like he was wrong. Could be a good thing - that she wanted to see him work herself.

Could also be a bad thing - she might not trust him to actually get the job done.

Both were valid he supposed.

"... I was going to resist but okay, I'll bite." he joked with a small smile, as if not too accustomed to making jokes, "What is a woman like you doing in a place like this?"


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Terra Lanris

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She waved him inside and settled back into one of the seats. Too big of a deal for me to leave it exclusively to others, she said. It also meant that failure wouldn't be particularly appreciated. But so far he'd proven himself at least intelligent enough to come up with a plan, so hopefully he would follow it through.

I'm not going to be going in with you, she said. She was far too easily identified - what with the horns and tail - but that didn't mean she would be without her eyes.

But I'll be watching you through this. And contributing, she said. It looked like a miniature probe droid, but it would allow her to see what it saw, control it, and even speak through it with a small voice modulator. It was her way of being there without being there. Plus it had a few little features of its own that might come in handy.

You feeling ready for this? she asked.

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Godric Mand

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Godric clambered gracelessly inside before sitting himself down onto one of the seats that were left open. He nodded in understanding - it had been one of the reasons he thought she might be here so it made sense he supposed. Hopefully she might one day get to the point of trusting in his skills but that wouldn't be for quite some time and not until after a fair few jobs he would reckon if the little droid was anything to go by.

He understood why she wasn't going to come with him personally, of course, but the miniature probe droid looked like it might be arguably more useful in many ways... unless she could slice terminals and the like with one of her arms like the droid seemed to be able to do.

"Handy little droid."
he admitted, eyeing it for a moment, "Got any spares? Love drones."

And he could already think of half a dozen missions as a Shadow where such a droid might come in clutch. Still, he did his best to put it out of his mind - if you weren't thinking about your ulterior motives it was much harder for people to catch onto the fact that you had them in the first place.

"Feeling pretty well-dressed and well-prepared." he agreed as he showed her his hidden hold-out blaster pistol holstered to one calf, his hidden blade strapped to his left wrist and his vibroknife hidden underneath his belt at the back of his trousers, "Hopefully I don't need any of them but, well, when have you ever known hope to beat some justified paranoia, right?"


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Terra Lanris

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Terra snickered slightly as he asked if she had a spare. Not on hand, this one will have to do, she said. He was a convenient little thing, though.

Never, she said to his comment. Hope almost never delivers, but preparation usually does, she said.

For obvious reasons, droids aren't allowed near the slot machines so stay away from those and I'll make sure he's not in a position where he's seen looking at other people's cards and all that, she said.

She knew the droid would have to undergo some scrutiny before being allowed inside, but that was fine. Many people tried to use droids to cheat and they were closely monitored for illicit programs. Fortunately, she'd paid someone off to make sure that she knew precisely what they were looking for and to register it as an "authorized" droid. It was amazing what proper time and money could do.

He usually works out of the upper floors, but those are restricted, so you'll have to be creative in how you get to him, she said.

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