| abstract
| - The bustle of the days begins to slow as evening approaches. The crowds in the Chianar Plaza have thinned compared to the norm with dinner time drawing many indoors. Yet, a few still wander around the peaceful square enjoying the atmosphere with one of them being the pilot Leo. His path takes him away from the Jedi Temple toward the many other roads that jet out from the plaza and lead to other parts of the city. Tokoga, alone at the moment and slightly overdressed for a stroll through the plaza, is returning to his offices after a power dinner where the Mon Calamari had been trying to regain some of the political clout that this whole series of events cost him. With one of his hands behind his back and the other one wielding one of his signature acrid botanical cigarras that he's puffing thoughtfully on while looking skyward on his little side stroll through some of the less-walked paths, it's difficult to tell which, but it either went quite or quite badly. The sapphire eyes of Leo that wander the plaza eventually come to fall on the Senator a short distance away. With his path changing slightly, he makes his way toward the Mon Calamari, a small grin curving his lips. Once within close proximity, he says, "It's been some time since we last saw each other." His voice is light as his gaze remains set on the other. "Hmm?" Tokoga looks to his left, pausing from the cigarra for a moment to grin at the salutation. "Ah, yes...Colonel." It takes the Mon Calamari a moment to remember who Leo is, but he eventually gets it. "Doing well, I hope?" "Been busy as of late, but that is to be expected. And yourself? I have heard your name in the news as of late, but I believe there is very little of the truth that is actually reported," answers Leo as he comes to a halt near the Senator. "I'd be better off if everyone else was as skeptical as you are," he answers with a small grin. It'd be funnier if it wasn't REALLY true. "But other than that, alright, I suppose," he shrugs and takes another short puff from the cigarra. Leo nods in understanding before asking, "Has the next step been decided on how to approach the issue? I'd imagine that there is a need to apprehend to crime lord who has attempting to overtake the planet." "I think _overtaking the planet_ is a bit more than Nass can do," Tokoga grins slightly again. "Seriously, though, yes, he does need to be put into isolated custody one way or the other. I garnered a few of the votes of support I need for the Incorporation of Crime Act, but it's far from having the requisite majority for passage. For the time being, there's nothing else I can do, really." "Outside of the political arena, have you found support through other groups such as the military or Jedi Order? While they cannot vote, connections exist between them and many senators." Leo goes quiet after he speaks as he considers other methods for the Mon Calamari to form a foundational group. "That's the plan. Friends of friends, you know the idea..." The Mon Calamari extinguishes the cigarra in a nearby ashtray. "But there's still a pretty sizable core of people who just _don't_ want to see it pass. For whatever reasons." He adds the last part quickly. As the Senator speaks, the pilot listens intently. He continues to consider the words of the Dac citizen before saying, "I imagine resources play a big role in this issue. More credits and people would be needed in order to accomplish the goals set by the act. Many seem reluctant to abandon such items when they don't see a direct benefit to themselves." "No doubt," the Senator agrees. Those are precisely the reservations held by many of the Core Worlds about the Mon Calamari's legisltion. "Not everyone perceives men like Nass as a problem that needs to be dealt with. I suppose I can empathize with them; had I not had the experiences that I've had with him, I wouldn't have, either." "That can explain why it was that the Hutts remain in power in so many places. No one gives a care about it and those who do do not have a strong enough voice to be heard," says Leo while his gaze seems to focus on a distant point. As his eyes regain focus, he asks, "Do you think you will eventually be able to get the support you need to pass the act?" Rasi arrives from the Jedi Temple grounds. Rasi has arrived. "That can explain why it was that the Hutts remain in power in so many places. No one gives a care about it and those who do do not have a strong enough voice to be heard," says Leo while his gaze seems to focus on a distant point. As his eyes regain focus, he asks, "Do you think you will eventually be able to get the support you need to pass the act?" "Someday. Not anytime soon," Tokoga chuckles slightly. The Senate's really quite the unwieldly political entity, much more so than the career politician had ever imagined it being. It's progress could be utterly stagnated by even the tiniest of civil unrest and disturbance. In thinking for a moment, Leo asks, "Though I probably should have started by asking this...what exactly is laid out in the act you are proposing?" The pilot gives a small grin as he lets his curiosity be shown. "The Incorporation of Crime Act would extend criminal conspiracy penalties to equal the original charge to everyone involved in the operation," the Mon Calamari answers. "It also provides a number of evidentiary measures--allowing investigators to seize funds earlier to prevent ringleaders from absconding with their illicit funds, for example. More or less, it makes it possible to fight people like Nass in the courts." "A place they always seem elusive enough to escape," adds Leo as his nods his head in understanding. "I would think that there are some senators who would be hurt by the freezing of the funds and deeper investigations. The one thing Nass is doing correctly is keeping powerful groups in business so they don't complain too much." Shanil has arrived. "And that's precisely what makes him so difficult to catch," The Senator agrees lamentedly. "But he's bound to screw up sooner or later, somehow." And when he does, Tokoga's sure to be the first to get front-row accesss to the show. The evening continues to carry on as Tokoga and Leo stand in the middle of the plaza speaking about Nass and his underworld dealings. Only a very small crowd still wander the area with most primarily passing through on their way home. Tokoga eventually sheds off the outermost layers of the former attire that he had worn at his earlier meeting and lets it rest over the back of a nearby bench. Amazingly enough, he had managed to block out some 'not work' time in the week, and this evening was pretty much it. Might as well spend it out here rather than sitting at home reading all the negative press about him on the Holonet. On the way from one thing and to another, Rasi uses the plaza as a shortcut, his years assigned to Ord Mantell having familiarized him with it, in particular this city. A briefcase is carried as he walks towards the nearby military base where the Rapier is landed, a group of tall buildings hiding from view the massive cruiser. A coat is worn as is the rest of his uniform. Ah, the parks at night. Once of Kalna's favorite locations, really. She wears work out clothes tonight as she jogs, intent on exhausting herself into a sound night's sleep. The sight of a familiar form or two ahead, however, causes her to slow her steps, and walk at a more sedate pace towards them, breathing a touch heavily from her exertions. As Leo finishes his conversation with Tokoga, he says, "Well, as the day draws to an end, I should get going. It was nice speaking with you and if there is anything I can do to help your cause, please let me know." With these final words, the man turns and departs. As he does so, he notices Rasi and Kalna and gives a small wave of acknowledgement before disappearing into the prominate of the Jedi Temple. After thanking him for his offer, the Mon Calamari nods in the Leo's direction as he makes his way off, then takes a seat on the bench where his coat is resting to look up at Ord Mantell's color-tinged clouds. No matter how long he looked at them, it always seemed just...out of the ordinary. Leo is noticed from the corner of an eye and his wave returned with a nod of his own. And from that position, it is not hard for Tokoga to be seen, his trajectory changed easily enough and he walks towards the Mon Calamari. "Senator, how do you do today?", the man asks when he draws to a halt just outside of arms' reach for the both of them, a look cast about before finally he settles his gaze back on to the Mon Calamari. Tokoga raises his head unceremoneously to see Rasi standing nearby. "Well, I can't say that I haven't been better," he answers with a grin, getting back into a more normal reclined sitting position. "But, all things considered, alright, I suppose." "Greetings.", no name used given the complication the last time he did so, "How are you doing today?" His memory prodded for a moment as he tries to remember if he had seen the Senator and Kalna together prior to this, his lack of success shown by the shrug he gives. "Did something new develop? I was under the impression the investigation was starting to come down to your benefit?" "Not unless there's something I don't know about," The Mon Calamari answers with a grin, looking in Kalna's direction. Maybe she actually does have something, though in that case he imagined she would have came in more ... NRI-related fashion than a seemingly happenstance meeting on an evening workout. Then again, that *is* pretty spook-like, he supposes. "That depends on if you know about the price on your head or not," Kalna says casually, once she catches her breath again. "Though it's not all that high a price, I have to admit, as far as these things go." Dravin approaches at a rush, very obviously in a hurry. "Senator, I have importain news for you." he states, almost out of breath. He pauses, a moment, "I only just found out that there is a Price on your head of 7.5k. If you will permit me, I have an Idea." Dravin looks around and sees Kalna standing there. "I know that Nass is behind the bounty, and I plan to use this to help you out." The final details of this new bounty are provided by Dravin, the Verpine coming in, or rather rushing in and gives them all what he knows. And Rasi is left rather perplexed by it all. "A bounty, now that is brazen, particularly given that this Nass fellow is only just a criminal and you are a Senator of the Republic." His eyes run from Kalna to the Verpine and back, "How did you two find out about this?" Tokoga shakes his head. "That..." he says slowly as soon as the news gets broken to him, "Would certainly be new." He takes the news quite stoically--that was an eventuality he had thought would happen a lot sooner than it did. Now he had his people wanting to kill him, Nass' people wanting to kill him... Ah, well. If people like Nass didn't want him dead, then he probably wouldn't be doing his job right. It's kind of ironically disappointing that out of the four people there, he's the third one to hear about a price on his head, but at least he has an idea. "What have you got in mind?" he leans forward and asks in a wry voice, interested on hearing what the Verpine has in mind. Kalna shrugs her shoulders at Rasi, without offering a reply. She is who she is? She works for the NRI? She keeps close ties with Ord Mantell's seedy underbelly? She and Nass are close personal friends? Something like that. "I'd be interested to hear this idea myself," she says with wry amusement. "I happened to overhear it in a cantina," Dravin says, "and it seamed credable." Dravin is kind of surprized that the others have heard already, considering he only just found out him-self. "Well, my plan is this," he says starting off, "I want to /kill/ you and claim the bounty from Nass. If I can get him to personaly reward me then we will have proof that He has been behind all of the attacks on you." He looks at the others then continues, "Sence I have so few ties to you, and that it is public knowledge that you general oppose my line of work. I or one of my employies would be ideal to collect the bounty and have it be belivable." The plan is listened to quietly, and Rasi considers it before nodding, "It could work, but there is the fact that your death would have to be faked convincingly. And there is also the chaos that that would throw among certain circles. But still, this seems as likely as anything we have of directly connecting him to a crime." Kalna receives a quick glance from him before he arches a brow, "What do you think?", this being her general area of expertise, at least to Rasi. The Mon Calamari rests his head on one of his hands thoughtfully. Presumably, /killing/ him consisted of something other than actually killing him. "Well, _I_" like it," Tokoga says rather indignantly, slightly annoyed that no one asked his opinion. "And I've got just the event." the Mon Calamari says. "I'm scheduled to address Covenant College's student body in two days. That should be a pefect opportunity for you and your men." Kalna shrugs again in response to Rasi's question. "It could work," she agrees. "But a lot of work would have to go into pulling something like that off. And, of course, announcing that it was faked will cause quite the... ruccus. Plus some political fallout I'd imagine, but I wouldn't know much of anything about that side of things." "For this to work, it would have to be very public. Preferably something that will be broadcasted. Nass will have to be able to see it happen for him to belive it," Dravin says seriously, "Also, one other thing, they will have to see me do it." Dravin looks to the others to see what they think. "I know that there are risks but if it works, then you will finaly be safe, Senator," he adds, "And we will have to find a way to /kill/ you that is not goint to actualy kill you." "That _would_ be nice." Tokoga agrees. Obviously, being able to get up at the end of this is pretty important. "My speech at Covenant was supposed to be fully covered by the press. I thought it'd be a good idea to take advantage of all the attention that the Press has been giving me recently." Two figures can be seen approaching from a distance, both of them wearing cloaks, the outer garments at least should be familiar to one person amidst those gathered. The two persons seem to have come from nowhere for surely anyone looking upon the obvious points of approach could not have seen them until they were rather near. And then, when they are about a good thirty metres or so, the first of two pushes down the hood of his cloak, a Quarren head revealed. "Well, it's possible to fake blaster deaths. Put a vest on, put some cloned or simulated Mon Cal flesh on over that, fire at you, people would even smell the burning fle-" Kalna's voice cuts off as she sees the two quarrens approaching. "Oh, look, more fans of yours, I believe," she comments, moving between the senator and the two men. Dravin follows Kalna's actions and steps between Tokoga and the incomeing Quarrens. He decides to drop the conversation till he knows wether the quarren are friend or foe. To be on the safe side, Dravin places his hand on his blaster, ready to draw it at a moment's notice. Looking to Kalna, he simply nods to let her know that he agrees. Fans. Right. Tokoga _wishes_ he had fans. Tokoga picks up his coat, slings it over his arm and silences himself, watching the two Quarren approach. At least this time they were out in the open if they decided to do anything stupid. The stupid and idealistic rarely care for the improbability of some of their actions and their odds of escaping. And at times there seems little difference between the groups, at least to the eyes of others. The men come to a halt a short distance from the gathered group, and the one who pulled down his hood speaks, "It has been a week, Senator.", he says dispassionately, "Where is the proof?" It's awfully /convenient/ that Kalna is here at just this precise moment, isn't she? Or it seems to be, at least. Reaching into a pouch Kalna removes a data chip, which she tosses over towards them. "Do you have a datapad for that?" she asks. "Or would you like to borrow /mine/?" Dravin watches the Quarren carefully. Till they make a hostile move, he will take no action. "You have what you came for now turn around and leave," he says to them. Dravin hopes that these two dont pay too close attention to him, otherwise, his plan could fail badly. The Mon Calamari doesn't really answer their question; he just smiles a little and gestures in Kalna, who had already finished speaking. "Now, Dravin, don't be so confrontational," he grins apologetically in atonement for the Verpine's words. "They're just doing what they think is right." The Mon Calamari pointedly focuses on the more rational of the two in an odd moment of seriousness. Grossly wrong though they may be, the Quarren are still his constituents. "This is the evidence you wish to use to defend yourself?", the Quarren says after grabbing the little chip from the air, passing it on to his companion who plugs it into a datapad. "How did you find this?", he asks while waiting for the verdict to be given by his companion. "Countless man-hours, from multiple agents, working for Senate security and New Republic Intelligence," Kalna replies easily. "Both of which have a vested interest in rooting out and riding us of corrupt Senators. And both of which conclude that Senator Tokoga had nothing to do with the objectionable funds which were transfered. Now, the identity of who is suspected to be behind the transfers is, understandably, classified. But hopefully you will find enough information there to appease yourselves." Either that or they can attack, and get themselves arrested or killed. Dravin focuses his attention on the silent one, thinking that if trouble was come, then it would come from him. He stands ready and silent. His hand still rests on his blaster, ready for the inevitable. "There is nothing right about what they are doing, Senator." he says in an even tone. "Well, no, not _specifically_, hunting me down and all, but ultimately, they're holding their government accountable. In their own way. Is there anything else that I can do for you gentlemen?" Tokoga keeps his hand on Dravin's shoulder and his eyes focused on the two Quarren playing with the datapad. No answer is given to both Kalna and Tokoga's words, the man waiting in silence until his colleague checks that the information seems at least credible enough. And at a nod from the other one, presumably the more bloodthirsty of the two at the previous meeting explaining why the nod was followed by a sigh, he turns back to the twom. He addresses the Senator first, in Quarren, "You seem to have earned a reprieve. If this information is faked, we will know sooner or later Senator, and then there will be no talking." And for Kalna, Basic being switched to. "Thank your security and intelligence agencies, they seem to be competent enough." And without warning, he turns around and begins walking away, followed soon after by the other. Their presence might have been a bit comical were it not for the deadly serious nature of their threats. "Well, they're simply charming," Kalna replies brightly, pulling out a second chip, and offering it towards Tokoga. "For your own edification," she adds. This one would contain more complete files on the investigation - after all, the Senator had a reasonably high security clearance. Dravin waits till he is sure that the Quarren were gone. "Well, that was tence, well sort of," he says with a light tone to his voice. "I do hope that you will fill me in on those two," he states mater-of-factly. He turns back to face the senator. "Well, back to business, how shall we proceed with this?" he wounders. "I don't know, do you feel 'compotent enough'?" Tokoga grins and takes the chip jovially, putting it into one of his pockets. "I'd say uncovering that information so fast was quite a spectacular, er, actuarial feat on your behalf. There's just no pleasing some people," he shakes his head mockingly and makes a 'tsk' sound before talking to Dravin. "Well, my assistant can probably provide you with the locations of where the news cameras will be. That should help you plan what exactly to do, shouldn't it?"
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