Ask Coruscant The Fourth Horseman

Hardy Wren

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Hardy entered the transportation subway which was mostly empty besides maybe three a four other strangers. The tram was going to take him to an elevator that would bring the large masked man from level 82 up to the uppermost levels of Coruscant where he would kill a certain corrupt business man who was in charge of marketing and real-estate for condos and apartments on the upper levels. Hardy was covered almost completely by his very stylish leather bomber trench coat, which hid his Mandalorian armor that was covered in Death Watch insignias along with his heavy blaster rifle and his pneumatic fists on his forearms. He was carrying a brief case in his left hand, which looked like just another brief case on the outside, but inside held the pieces to his Assassin's Rifle that he was going to use to kill his target.

Death was...natural, necessary, and just. It was not picky as to who it took nor how it took them. Death was to be feared- only the smartest beings in the life feared death. Some, however, let it become a weakness and allow that fear to control their every action. Hardy was able to temper that fear and use it to improve his being rather let it degrade him. That was Hardy's greatest fear- letting his fear control him and becoming a paranoid psychopath who willing wore a straight jacket and hid himself in a rubber room. The strange Mandalorian hated things that brought your mental and physical strength down to that of a womp rat. He did not drink alcohol and smoking was absolute suicide for the man with damaged lungs. It was why he wore the mask.

Hardy was well aware of the surgery he could get to cure his condition, but he found that his mask could be used as more of just a tool of life saving. People avoided wanting to piss him off or avoided him all together because of it's added intimidation to the already intimidating figure. Like Hardy, it was big and bulky and unafraid of showing everyone it's purpose. Three of the four normal passengers were avoiding staring at him now that he decided to stare back at them. They sheepishly looked away and acted as if nothing happened, like a child eating cookies from the cookie jar red handed.

All did this...but one. It was a woman. A woman Hardy had seen before and done research on in case he needed to kill her in the name of Death Watch.
Ceris Odrosess.
New Republic naval Captain, working under Grand Admiral Brum. What was she doing down barely beneath the glistening cities of Coruscant? Hardy did not want to press that matter. He simply gave her a more curious stare, wondering if he could use her to his advantage for a while. She was Coruscant military royalty. Maybe her status could help him get to a good vantage point to kill Mr. Hass and potential knock down two birds with one stone with Ms. Odrosess.


"Good evening, Captain." He said, his brilliant blue eyes continuing to study her. She carried only one weapon- a small blaster pistol -and looked fit enough to handle herself in a fight against a common thug, but Hardy was no common thug. He was all that remained of Death Watch! A mercenary who escaped two prisons and planned on escaping another as a way of shoving certain organizations' reputations down the drain. Of course, he masked his escapes with prison riots, but his face would bring up quite a long criminal record if Ceris plugged through any government criminal database. "How was your last senate meeting?" Hardy asked casually, tilting his head slightly in curiosity.

He wasn't interested in politics in the slightest- Hardy resented politicians the most. But this was probably the best conversation starter he could think of.

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Ceris Odrosess

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"Confidence, but not pride, in one self, alongside the desire to work hard, will lead to success." Those were the words Ceris would constantly hear from her grandfather. Unfortunately the old fart forgot to include that it also leads to being exhausted. A long morning scouting out the lower levels of Coruscant, for many reasons that the Captain had. She tried to take a nap on the tram, but it was difficult to fall into a deep slumber. Each little shaky movement kept her awake just enough, each time making sure her dataphone didn't slip through her hands.

She awoke to the sound of a muffled voice greeting her. Ceris gave a disgusted look towards the tall masked man. She took note of his trench coat, which was conveniently zipped up, alongside his brief case. The man clearly wasn't a typical law-abiding citizen. The stranger even knew who Ceris was, meaning he has done research on her specifically.

What gave it away even further was the mentioning of the senate meeting. The meeting wasn't broadcasted at all, although certain members of the media were allowed to watch and write articles. However, too her own knowledge, Ceris was not mentioned in any tabloids. Which meant that the man did even more extensive research than the average individual. She was wary of the man, assuming he could be a potential hit man. She wanted to pull out her blaster and shoot him on the spot, but protocal wouldn't allow for it. Besides, on the off-chance she was wrong about the man, her career would be over in an instant.

"The meeting was quite lovely" Ceris responded, her face quickly shifting to a smile. The phone in her hand would vibrate slightly "Oh, give me one second," Since the man was seated down away from her, it wouldn't be possible for him to see the contents. She would open a messaging app and typed the following message to a co-worker"Tram on level 82, almost at elevator. Bald man, trench coat, mask, briefcase, check cameras and identify." They simply responded with "give me some time."

Ceris locked the phone screen and put it away in her bag, standing up to stretch as the tram was nearing its destination. "Now where was I.... ah" she paused and snapped her fingers "the meeting. It was interesting I suppose, but not enough for a conversation." The tram started to decelerate as it began to approach its destination.


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Hardy Wren

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Hardy stood up almost exactly when she did, but did not block her path to the exit. She was clever but Hardy saw the disgust and skepticism in her eyes that she tried to mask. He was glad it caught her attention, now he just needed to remain cool and turn on his charm. His mask was not meant to charm, but he'd have to over work his charisma to cope for the protrusion that kept him without pain.

"I apologize on behalf of my mask- I cannot complain about it's purpose, however. Most look at me and forget completely about my job and only stare at my rebreather." Hardy tried to downplay the situation. By the initial look Ceris gave him, he'd need to be a little more convincing.

"My company is a huge fan of your battle tactics. Some wish they didn't join the paratroopers so they could work under your brilliance." He complimented with a mischievous chuckle. "I'm off at this next stop. Heading back to my office, do you need any assistance at all? My mask helps depart the large crowds, sometimes." He smiled under his mask, but because she wouldn't be able to see that he made sure his eyes looked as pleasant as they could.

Then the tram stopped and the doors opened, Hardy gestured towards the exit.
"Ladies first- Oh! Forgive my impertinence but I forgot to introduce myself," Now with this particular name, anyone could find his embedded credentials without any listings of a violent criminal past. It would bring up his masked face and everything, but thanks to some well influenced Hacktivists, you were only able to find his criminal records if you searched directly from the inmate system director to find that he was still in prison and never escaped. Or at least for the prison on Coruscant. Mandalore had tight security and wasn't going to allow New Republic agencies, of all people, go poking around their prison databases.

He offered to shake her hand as she passed him, "Sergeant Ronan West. 101st Airborne Corps, 506th Infantry Regiment- at your service." Hopefully this would ease the tension. He had no interest of setting off any red flags and could use her escort to be where he needed to be. Her level four security access card could also come in handy, and if things got dicey, he could kidnap her- or kill her -and hold a ransom where "Ronan" only got money and no one got their precious Captain Odrosess back.

Ceris was indeed brilliant, but she had no idea who she was dealing with and Hardy was bent on keeping it that way until further notice.

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Ceris Odrosess

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Ceris was fairly annoyed as the man tried to explain his mask, background, and current task to her when she didn't ask nor cared. It felt like he was just rambling on and on. Ceris simply put a hand up, gesturing to stop, when he offered a strange request to assist her. Everything felt strange; it didn't even make sense to wear a rebreather in this area.

She looked down at his hand, and back up to him with a frown after he introduced himself formally. "Enlisted huh? You're suppose to salute an officer, even when off-duty. I'll have to write you for a minor infraction for that." Ceris began exiting the tram with her back turned away from 'Ronan'. She pulled out her phone from her bag and continued on "I'll need to take a photo of your service number so I can input it later."

As she exited she checked her messages. A response from her colleague read: "Two profiles matched with feed from cameras. SGT West, clean profile. One Coruscant prison database, but unauthorized access." A clear red flag was exposed. How could a man have a clean profile, but a image match to a prison? Ceris quickly typed back "Can you get access?" A message was immediately sent back "it will take a few days to do so. What is the status?" Ceris continued to respond "Target knew my rank, full name, recent locations, unaware of military conduct, and overall strange mannerisms. Potential hitman?" Ceris left it at that for now, and opened up the camera application on her phone.

A few feet away from the tram exit, she turned back around with a smile. "Hopefully you did not forget your ID. If so you'll have to be written up for a second minor infraction and then taken to the nearest RAPIDS site. Although you probably knew this already." One could not easily deceive Ceris. Her life as an officer puts her in a constant state of watching her back, and reading through deceit. She could sniff out lies from other officers, the man that stood before her did a poor job at trying to fool her. He was better off not speaking or approaching her at all.


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Hardy Wren

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Hardy needed to move fast. The big man had a feeling the woman was onto him- always turning away and slipping something in and out of her pockets. His eyes narrowed a bit as he kept an eye on her- there was going to be a change of plans. Surely a Naval Captain for the New Republic would fair a better prize than killing some poorly named real-estate marketer. Besides, Hardy was a renowned mercenary- not some lowlife trigger happy thug.

When they walked outside, Hardy made a note that there were most likely going to be some sort of New Republic personal waiting for him at the top of the elevator floor he needed to be on. Ceris was indeed a genius, but she was built like a toothpick compared to the large masked man next to her. He could simply grab her by the neck and shove his thumb into her jugular until it crackled, snapped, and then popped.


"I'll grab my ID..." He said casually as he unzipped his trench coat to reach for his RSKF-44 Heavy blaster pistol instead of the ID he never made a copy of. He very discreetly and stealthily moved behind her, jutting the end of the barrel of his gun to her back, right under her shoulder blades to make it more uncomfortable. "Keep your hands out of your pockets where I can see them. Move in any way that I might find discomforting and I'm afraid your own mother won't recognize you when I'm finished." He whispered in her ear. His trench coat did a good job of hiding the actual situation at hand to the public.

He then guided her towards an alleyway in the opposite direction of the elevator, pressing his gun into her back if she slowed her pace. "We won't have much time before your contact realizes your missing." Hardy wasn't a fool either. He had a hunch that she was trying to get someone to figure him out before he did something she didn't like- now it was too late.

Once they reached the alleyway, he moved her further away from the main streets. He was planning a negotiation with her, but if push came to shove, he'd just kill her and take the body with him to dispose of in a way that would grab the publics attention.
A hanging from the senate building sounded quite nice for publicity...

"Now," He pushed her a few feet in front of him so that he was guarding her main exit. If she ran to the other end of the alleyway, she was easy pickings for the terrorist and if she tried whipping around to do anything stupid, he'd blast a couple good sized holes in her back. Though Capatin Odrosess was in a pickle, she was still the Infamous Ceris Odrosess who's stratedgy and tactics were almost unrivaled, so regardless of the power play Hardy just made, he'd have to be extra careful with the platinum haired character. "Remove your weapons and any other items of importance to you. That includes communicators of any sort. Any sudden movements and you'll be dead faster than you can say 'Demoted to Private'. I wish to discuss...business."

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Ceris Odrosess

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Ceris chuckled feeling the barrel of the blaster on her back. However she would change her expression to that of fear, but not because she was scared or uncomfortable; it was a facade to trick the people around. The nearby people would see the large man behind her, and immediately assumed he was some sort of creep sexually assaulting a women. A few people would pull their phones out to take pictures of the man. When he led Ceris to an alleyway, some even began to call the police themselves.

Once in the alleway Ceris dropped her facade and continued her chuckle. "You realize they are already on their way? The moment you talked to me they've been watching you. You would have been better off just trying to run. You think this alleyway will keep you hidden? They know exactly where we are at right now."

Inside her bag rested her phone which was being tracked for her location. It was also helpful that the citizens took photos and called the local law enforcement.

Ceris still held onto her bag "I have no need to drop what I have, because I have no fear unlike you. Whether or not I die right here, you'll be caught. So I don't care about talking business, unless it involves you begging me to save you." Blaring sirens would be heard in the distance. A small surveillance droid would fly over the buildings and spotted the two. Ceris looked up and took notice, then looked back down at her "captor". "The clock is ticking. What will it be?" Ceris was prepared to pull out her own blaster and shoot the man if he did try to run away. The area would soon be surrounding by law enforcement.


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Hardy Wren

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She was good, but arrogant. Ceris took his natural caution as fear- and her venomous words fueled Hardy's fire. So, he simply squeezed the trigger to his blaster sending two heavy stun blasts right into her being, and though he only needed to shoot once with such a powerful stun, the second shot was a bit for fun and bit of making sure she stayed down for a couple hours.
He'd give her a proper beating once they were back onboard Last Lament.
"I gave you your options, Captain. So now I must break you, as you have requested."

That was when he saw the droid watching from overhead- opportunity to show the world the rise of Death Watch! This woman was perfect! Everything the Captain did was perfect for grabbing the attention of the galaxy. If he were able to escape Coruscant, he would have to make a quick announcement of who he was, what he was going to lead, and how he was going to do it.

The best way to cripple a society is tell them your plans right before they're taken out. You gave them hope that they could stop these plans, and then have them become overcome by crippling doom right after the bomb explodes as previously explained. If one can feed thousands hope, that same man or woman can strip it of them with one pull of a trigger.

The sirens got louder and louder, but only a sigh of annoyance escaped Hardy. From one of his inside pockets, he pulled out a thermal imploder and then armed it. He listened to it's escalating ticking for about three seconds before throwing it over his shoulder down the entrance way he took to enter the alleyway. The explosion was brilliant- Hardy didn't turn to look at it and his trench coat protected him from the incoming debris, but he felt the shockwave and chuckled. It would have killed several innocent people alongside any officers that had arrived at the scene.

The Mando had more where that came from, as well. From simple frag grenades to smoke and Dioxis gas as well. He did not come unprepared, and though his original target was a business man, he would have to settle for the almost albino New Republic Naval Captain.

The dust and debris were the perfect mask for their escape as well, and luckily his rebreather kept all of the nasty air particles out of his lungs, but he couldn't say the same for Ceris. He wasn't sure what else had been caught in the explosion, but fire began to race up the street-facing side of one of the buildings the two were in between, the caustic smoke and blazing fire adding to his act of terrorism.

Oh, what a day!

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Ceris Odrosess

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Ceris quickly turn and pulled out her own blaster to shoot the scumbag, but she was a half-second late to the draw. Hit by two heavy stun blasts she fell on the ground unconscious.

The explosive took out a few officers, but there were still a few on their feet. With the motion sensor information from the surveillance droid, they fired down the alleyway towards Hardy. More law enforcement arrived on the opposite entrance of the alleyway. Hardy would be trapped.

"You are surrounded, drop all your weapons and come on out right now!" One officer yelled out with a megaphone. The kidnapping of a prominent military officer was different than some random beggar on the street. Soon enough, the entire airspace would be under tight security to ensure Hardy's capture. Two combat droids would also arrive and be flying up above, with their integrated blasters aimed right down at Hardy.

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Hardy Wren

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"Hm, I'm going to enjoy this." Hardy stooped down and put the limp Captain into an armlock, using his free arm to keep his blaster pistol trained on the side of her head. "You don't get to make the demands, officer. Do as I say and you all might survive my wrath." He called out to the opposing forces. Part of the masked Mando didn't want to kill Ceris right away, but if this nonsense continued then he'd do just that.

He put his back to the wall so he could survey his opponents while also being mostly shielded by the captains body which he could maneuver around to take a few shots for him if it came down to it. Luckily, his bounty wanted him alive for interrogation mainly because he knew of a bunch of other small bands of Death Watch loyalists that the New Republic thought they could destroy. They would never destroy Hardy and his growing fire- the many reinforcements surrounding him were proof of that.

The fire from the explosion engulfed Hardy's entrance, making sure to block off any surviving officers from getting in. Hardy thought about dashing through the fire, but wasn't sure if it was worth it. There was a plan to get caught and sent back to prison, but he wanted to go to Kessel- he needed to get caught on Kessel or ISC space. Not fickle New Republic ground.


"Call off your droids first," Hardy quickly shifted the aim of his RSKF towards the woman's thigh and squeezed the trigger, sending a blaster bolt straight into her upper leg. "Now. Or Ceris will lose her leg entirely because of your disobedience."

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There would be no response for a moment, until another voice came through the megaphone. "You don't seem to understand Mr. Wren. We're tired of you. If any further harm is done to the Captain, we will unleash everything onto you. You won't get to see the fruits of your labor anymore."

The sirens grew louder as more law enforcement came, on both sides of the alley now. A few men now stood at the rooftops of the nearby buildings brandishing BM-548 Blaster rifles took aim from above. The blasters were set to stun, but Hardy wouldn't know. The voice continued "Put your weapons and the Captain down, and you get to spend time in a brand new extra secured cell we made for you. Your other option is death. Any sudden movements, you die. Reach into your pockets, you die. Point your gun at anyone else, you die. Any more demands, you die. Do I make myself clear, Mr. Wren?"

The smoke was fully cleared now and on each end of the alleyway stood numerous Riot police officers with their blasters pointed. Whoever was speaking through the megaphone was much farther away, out of sight. "I'll give you 30 seconds to decide your own fate."

The man on the megaphone would start counting down from 30.


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Hardy Wren

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This was going smoother than Hardy had thought it would go. The new guy seemed to be more up to speed than the last officer, which peaked Hardy's curiosity. The Mando thought for a moment while the cop began counting down the seconds until Hardy's untimely demise. The prison on Coruscant would welcome him with open arms- again -but he'd risk tighter security to actually break out of prison.

Hardy always had a knack for improvising, and maybe this new path could lead to the Chancellor and the Seantor of Coruscant looking like even bigger fools. The big intention was originally to make Emryc Thorne look bad, but the galaxy seemed to have other plans for the masked Mando.

Before the officer got to thirty, Hardy Wren dropped his weapon and the Captain letting her fall to the floor, smirking smugly behind his breather as he raised his hands up awaiting his arrest.

What a day...


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The instance Ceris fell to the floor, a barrage of stun blasts would hit Hardy from all directions. One was usually enough, but they wanted to make sure he was out for awhile. "Cease fire." The man on the megaphone called out. Police officers ran to the now two unconscious beings. Ceris was carried to an ambulance while Hardy was completely stripped of all of his possessions, including his mask.

Many hours later Hardy would be in his cell, wrapped up in a straitjacket. It was a ten by ten metal. There was no bed, but there was a toilet. There was no door to the room, atleast any visible door. The ceiling would be about 25 feet above the floor, and a very small slit opening could be visible; plastic wrapped food would be dropped through from there. There were multiple cameras up on the ceiling, and a few holes that indicated a speaker.

Ceris would wake up hours later in the hospital, with her leg wrapped in bandages. There were news reporters outside her room wanting to know what happened, but they would be held back by the hospital security.


/exit thread
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Hardy Wren

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What a joke.

Hardy shook his head in dismay as he laid eyes upon the wrapped food before him. He still had his mask that kept him from feeling immense pain on and wore a straight jacket- both of which restrained any movement necessary for consuming food. Were they taunting the terrorist? Did they dare try and play jokes on him? Hardy was going to personally rip the throat out of each and every single guard in this establishment when he got the chance.


"I hope you all watch carefully." Was the first and last thing he'd say in that cell as he gazed up at one of the prison cell cameras. He wouldn't say another word until they got him into a proper cell. The masked Mando wasn't at all worried about getting out of the straight jacket- he'd gotten out of one before -so all he really needed was to rely on his instincts and trainings.

He criss-crossed his legs when he sat down and closed his eyes to help him focus on his breathing. He began meditating, letting his mind wander far beyond the prison the New Republic thought would hold him. The Captain he shot came to mind- surely she'd come to visit along with an interrogator or two. Hardy wouldn't say a word however- simply because it wasn't apart of the plan to talk, but to do.


And I will do everything I intend to...

/Endthread
 
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