Uncontrolled Descent

[Levik Karn]

UNCONTROLLED DESCENT

Leviscerated and Underworld Jobs II from Levik's POV.​

Levik had been told of the attack while he was spiced out of his mind in a hidden spice den somewhere in the Raxus lower levels and by the time he was riding his speeder across the city, trying to wrap his mind around what had just happened, one of his men had called him on his Exchange-encrypted communicator. It was Davik Dyne informing him that no one other that Agent Delevigne had arrived with investigate authority coming straight from the Emperor himself. That was kriffed up. He knew Guinevere had beef with him over what had happened on Wayland at the beginning of Operation Oracle and sending her was the same thing as sending a veritable bloodhound after him.

His penthouse -and he cursed himself for renting a penthouse right about now- had the hidden safe where he kept the Book of Shadows he had stolen from the Imperial Vaults together with Crix Dolan. If agent Delevigne found out about Eccle'baal's Exchange selling copies of that book.. on Taris of all places.. Levik's entire castle could get turned into rubble within a day.

He needed options and he needed them fast.

While Levik had made multiple fortunes selling artefacts through the Exchange he had been forced to hide most of it from the Empire. That meant most of it was inaccessible to be used for a quick escape off Raxus. His illegally modded Fonder Haulcraft was hidden in a small spaceport's private hangar on Quesh, deep in cartel-controlled space and the only other ship he had available was an Imperial-registered peacekeeper shuttle that, while hyperdrive-capable, would be too easy to track by the Imperial Security Bureau.

That left only one viable option at the moment and it wasn't a quick exit from Imperial space. It was pretending to be the victim and banking on the fact that being a Commander in the Imperial Security Bureau would let him influence agent Delevigne's investigation enough to allow him that window he needed to either hide any wrongdoing or escape offworld. Right now he was definitely stuck on Raxus. No starliner or other Imperial vessel, be it from the government or Czerka, would allow him onboard, so he drove his speeder directly to the ISB headquarters and went straight to his office to change back into his black commander's uniform.

To be continued

 

[Levik Karn]

THEME​

It had started raining by the time Levik finished changing into his uniform and he caught himself staring at the empty space he had reserved for the Traitor's Smirk. Some mercs we're supposed to acquire it for him, but had not yet delivered it and he suddenly had his doubts if it would ever grace his office. His eyes then shifted to the bottle of cognac and his mouth watered.

How had it come to this? He had always been so careful by skimming off the top. One crate out of a dozen filled with decommissioned blasters. Open hangar door and Gentis' gang of Klatoonians loaded it up in their speeder van. The sewers on Taris were the perfect place to hide and perfect place to conduct deals with countless exit routes in case a rival gang or peacekeepers showed.

Commander Venn had been a thorn in his side for years, but what if they hadn't booted him? He could have left Imperial service as a lieutenant after the expulsion. The credits to start a new life had been hidden in his apartment. It wasn't nearly as much as he had now, though. Lieutenant Karn would've become a simple cargo freight captain, or perhaps like those former Republic captains he would have joined one of those expeditions into Unknown Space.

Nah, he had worked too hard to end up like his father. A lowly spaceport mechanic that couldn't even afford the good booze or organically grown foodstuffs.

Levik poured himself a drink and warmed the cognac with his hands as he walked over to the large window and looked at the Raxus skyline. He had almost secured a seat on the Imperial Council. Almost. Director Karn would've truly been untouchable right now. Whatever that new Emperor thought of his precious skyline and Levik's operational expenses. Without that bribe on Hollastin and more importantly the bribe paid to the cartel, his life would've been forfeit. Haro Mothkari would've torn him apart and applied rusted cybernetics straight to his nervous system for a laugh. The galaxy say the likes of Darth Andruil, Darth Raze or Darth Tempest as the greatest threats, but Levik knew it to be the Droid Gotra. Greatest threat and biggest opportunity. All of the galaxy's droids would be helpess, no safety protocol could truly protect against a slicer uploading errant code into a droid's brain.

Rain fell and the cognac burned in his throat. He knew he was getting more anxious by the second. Panic was starting to clog his brain, making it impossible to strategize for a way to get out of this predicament and then... her voice. A Siren calling with promises too good to be real..

To be continued

 

[Levik Karn]

<... Delete Personal Databank Y/N: Y ...>

His head had become clouded after the fourth glass of cognac. His access to the Imperial Network had been restricted, but it was hard to miss the buzz going about. A security droid had been stationed inside his office and was scanning him every few minutes. Levik figured it was Designation Control's doing. No doubt scanning him to find any unregistered communication devices on his person. That is, until news reached him about someone slicing into the Imperial Vault Databanks. Not just anyone either, for this slicer had the guts and the processing power to keep up with Designation Control; the human slicer savant made into a cyborg for utmost effectiveness.

<... Personal Databanks deleted succesfully ...>

Levik uttered a defeated sigh. He knew the jig was up. Soon they would move in to arrest him, imprison him and even if they couldn't find any hard evidence he would most likely never see the outside of an Imperial Labor Prison again. He was too high profile. Having the Commander that was speaking for the Empire in the senate be under suspicion of corruption was a media-nightmare the new Emperor was way too smart to ignore.

<Engaging Disguise Matrix>

Levik's head jerked towards the security droid only to see its image shiver and then.. turn into his own kriffing mirror image. "What the kriff," Commander Karn gasped as he rose from his chair. The droid, who liked identical to him now, moved in closer and produced a comms unit from inside his arm. <It's an encrypted line> the droid spoke in a voice so eerily similar to his own that it would even fool himself.

Although hesitant, Levik still took the communicator from his own hand and pressed the button to activate it. For a few seconds it showed only code, but then a familiar face appeared.

<... Establishing Encrypted Link to Holo-Communicator #34-65-12 on Tatooine ...>

The face he saw was that of Kara Zaa Fenn, smiling at him from all the way in Tatooine. Kriff. Those cartel murks had it easy living in the Outer Rim, free from the domineering practices of the total oversight of the Imperial Security Bureau.

"We don't have much time. Eccle'baal called in a favor and I love sticking it to Imperial Czerka-" and thus by extension the Empire. Levik knew Kara's history with the Czerka Megacorporation. He knew she had been indentured to them for a long time, too. All to protect the son she knew about, while the other was indoctrinated by the Empire and on his own mission in Hutt Space. What Levik knew would shatter her, surely, as it would the Devil he had worked with. "-this droid will create a distraction pretending to be you. Mothkari's Droid Gotra have arranged a hiding spot for you in a droid-piloted refuse speeder, from there they'll get you offplanet on one of the Czerka dumping ships." Well-planned, simply yet covering all the important details and possibilities of an operation. Kara Zaa Fenn would've made an excellent ISB Overseer. If she managed to arrange all this, including getting this droid inside, then she was truly worthy of her BHG rating.

"What's the variable?" Levik asked, still somewhat tipsy but clear enough to know how operations like these worked. "What couldn't you plan for?"

Kara was silent for a moment, but then she nodded, realizing she was talking to someone who was as concerned with the details as she was. "Aside from the distraction you're on your own until you reach the refuge speeder. No disguises, no alternative clearing codes."


To be continued

 

[Levik Karn]

Kara Zaa Fenn had ended the connection and left him mulling the whole thing over. Levik could've left a few hours ago when he got the news, but he had decided to come to the office instead and try to rise above the challenge. After all, he hadn't learned to be paranoid for nothing. He knew that it would be difficult to prove anything against him and then he got the message he had dreaded;

"Lopik told them about the Pazaak Den."​

Kriff. Karking Lopik did what any self-respecting corrupt peacekeeper would've done. He had ratted him out and was no doubt handsomely rewarded for it, too. The Pazaak Den was a known weakspot in his defense. He didn't own it. Some leftover scoundrel from the Five Syndicates operated it to broker deals getting spice shipments through Raxus customs and while he sure knew his stuff, the man wasn't as good as Kara, Acklay or indeed Siren Mothkari.

Suddenly the deal offered to him by the Crymorah Syndicate seemed to have it merits and Levik raised his head, diverting his eyes away from his datapad and towards the eerily detailed likeness of himself looking at him from the other side of the desk. "Let's do it," he confirmed and watched his own face curl up into a smile. <Let's make sure we get you in the right trashbin then, shall we?>

That was.. way too human for any droid to sound like, Levik thought as he rose up from his chair, poured another glass of cognac and slung it back as he cast one last look over the Raxus skyline from his office. "Kriff, all this for a comfortable life," he sighed and started to make his way for the door when suddenly the droid killed its holographic disguise and appeared to be any standard Imperial Security Droid. Less than a moment later that same door opened and a squad of armed Peacekeepers walked in; "Levik Karn, you are under arrest for suspicion of stealing from the Empire."

A knee-jerk reaction, something Levik was known for, had him waved them off, "First, that's Commander Karn for you, peacekeeper, and Sec-" one of the grabbed his arms while another quickly slammed a pair of stuncuffs on his wrists, "You're not a Commander, not anymore, but detainee 32-L. Levik Karn."

The Crymorah droid just stood there, motionless, prompting Levik to throw a hail mary in case the Empire decided to send him to one of Imperial Czerka's labor camps. He was too valuable an asset to throw away, though, even the Emperor would be able to acknowledge that, surely. "Send my droid the coordinates of whatever cell you're bringing me to. To come pick me up after I strip the ranks of whoever ordered this nonsense."

The peacekeepers looked at him for a second, then at the droid, "Droid, identify yourself."

<Model S-series Imperial Security Droid dash designation Imperial Automata 12 dash 13>

"Report to Bureau Droid Center Three for reprogramming. You're no longer assigned to Levik Karn."

The droid seemed to nod, then turned and walked out. Under normal circumstances the Empire stripping you this casually of a personal droid would've been infuriating, but as this droid was Levik's to begin with he was sure that it would relay his message to the Crymorah. If he did end up in a labor camp then surely they would come to get him.

Unfortunately, the Emperor had something else in mind altogether.