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| - Vic had to fight back the urge to rip at his face. It stung in several places and in others it was just a constant itch. He had been forced to apply the makeup quickly, transforming himself from an intergalactic outlaw to respected Garnib businessman, Rodbo Valance. The itching subsided a moment later and he cleared his throat. He looked down the prosthetic nose and pretended to peruse the applications hovering just inches above his desk. The applicants on the other side of the desk couldn’t see the forms of course; that was one of the beauties of his “Corporate Shark 9000 holodisplay desk”. “Says that you worked out of Corellia for a while and served on several shipping vessels,” he said in a deep voice to the Human. The man opposite him was dressed in a pair of cargo trousers and an unusually bright floral shirt. He was deeply tanned and had a muss of white hair that sprang from his head. Vic could tell the man had seen some action. He sported a scar that ran along the right side of his face, ending right above an easy going smile. “Well, yes, that’s right. On several vessels, says so right there on the, uh…application. And I’ll tell you sir, it would please me to no end to work for such a fine company as uh…” he stopped and looked around. “Jaded Ivory uh…Corp….uh...” “Enterprises,” Vic inserted. “Yes! I was about to say Enterprises. You guys are the talk of the town in the spaceport,” he said and leaned back in the lush golden chair, crossing his arms and grinning widely. Vic nodded. “Well thank you for those kind words,” he pretended to scan the hovering application, “Kalron.” Vic then turned his attention to the other applicant, a stout Ubese, clad completely in armor and helmet. His breathing came out in a constant mechanical hiss and Vic studied him a moment. “And you would be…” “Vanas.” The voice was like screeching metal. The modulator and breath mask Vanas wore caused his voice to come out as an unpleasant metallic sound. Vic pretended to study the application. “Right…Vanas, you don’t list your last place of employment here Vanas, looks like a gap of several months…did we have some trouble?” The stocky candidate tensed visibly and cocked his head to the side slightly. “Vanas does not cause trouble. Vanas simply did not feel that listing short lived odd jobs for various individuals would be an accurate reflection of his work ethic or nature.” Vic stared at the Ubese. He had little exposure to their race, and knew little about them. He seemed competent and Vic almost always trusted his instincts about people. Almost. He nodded and shut down the holoprojector. Crossing his hands behind his head he leaned back into the chair’s deep, rich leather. His office smelled of burning incense, a rare Vol Kol fruit blend that reminded him of home; he breathed it in, letting his gaze wander to the large floor to ceiling window off to his right. The harsh white landscape of Garnib greeted him and his eyes squinted slightly. “We don’t tolerate troublemakers here at JIE. We are an honest business and we pay our employees well. We have various incentive packages for good pilot teams and the sky is the limit as far as advancement,” he stopped, pulling himself from the chair. Slowly he walked to the window and looked out, turning slightly away from the duo. He quickly dug a finger into the makeup around his neck. It had begun driving him insane just a moment before. The hells of having to conceal your identity, he thought to himself. Proctor would have laughed…the old man had schooled Vic in the ways of identity concealment several years back, on the streets of Lazhan. His face was pulled into a comfortable grin as he turned back around. Smoothing the jacket of his tailored forest green business suit, he strolled over to the front of the desk and leaned against it, crossing his arms. “I think you fellows are exactly what we are looking for. You have the savvy and experience necessary to pull it off as a piloting team. Welcome aboard.” “Excellent!” Kalron said hopping to his feet. Vanas followed and Vic shook their hands. Kalron stopped suddenly and peered at Vic; something was wrong. The hair on Vic’s neck rose slightly and he steadied himself. If this spacer had recognized him…. “Ya know Mr. Valance…you look familiar...like...like I’ve seen you somewhere before.” Vic gave the man a half-hearted grin and chuckled. “I get that a lot, it’s the hairstyle,” he said slapping the other man on the back and steering his towards the door, “Now, if you gentlemen will see Cylon at the front desk, he will show you to your quarters and make sure you are hustling cargo by the end of the day.” Vanas nodded to Vic. “Vanas thanks Mr. Valance,” he said in that raspy almost chittering voice and walked away with Kalron in tow. The white haired pilot stole one more quizzical look at Vic and they were both out the door. Vic had just dropped back into the chair when A’sok and Baal barged through the door. “You are out of your mind! Those droid watchdogs are doing a fine job! You are talking about dropping another several thousand…”A’sok was yammering as they crossed the lush forest green carpet. “And you do not understand that every time we unload crystals here it is a security risk. There are beings…” Vic’s head was about to explode. “Guys! Guys! Cripes, can you just hold it down? I’m about ready to shoot you both.” A’sok lightened a bit but Baal kept that stoic look on his face. Both dropped into the seats vacated by Kalron and Vanas. “Heya Vic. Furball here wants to buy more droid dogs to protect the place. I told him it would be a waste of creds.” The young man said, throwing his arms over the back of the chair. “And he doesn’t even LIKE droids!” “As Director of Security for this company I…” Baal began but Vic intervened. “Guys, come on, it’s not a big deal, let’s talk about it later ok?” Vic stood and crossed to the wetbar on the opposite end of the room. “Oh, and it’s ‘Rodbo’ when I’m in this,” he gestured to his face, “crap…ok?” “Whatever you say Boss,” A’sok said, leaning over and triggering the desk’s holovid. Applications appeared again in the air and A’sok turned the projector so he could read them. “Hey! Are these the apps for those two guys we passed? Man that white haired guy acts goofy! Like he just ran into his all time favorite shockball hero.” Vic returned to the desk and handed A’sok a tumbler of Frostberry Brandy and Baal a bottle of Garnib Glacier Water. He had fixed himself an “Ivory Dream,” a mixed drink he learned to make on his home planet that consisted of cream, alcohol and various berries. “Yeah, well…we can’t all be as smooth with the ladies as you are pal,” he said and grinned, taking a sip of the milky concoction. A’sok blushed and hid his smile by taking a drink of the brandy. The office door silently swung open again and Klux strolled in. He was wearing a deep rich blue tunic and knee-high black leather boots. He almost seemed to float in the room. “Klux…grab a drink,” Vic said gesturing to the bar. The Jedi nodded and held his hand up. “No thanks Rodbo, I’m fasting right now.” “Fasting? For what? And why Now? Did you not see that suh-weet rack of Dewback ribs that got delivered just the other day?” A’sok asked looking over his shoulder at Klux who was hovering behind them. “A Jedi does not let material satisfaction influence…” “Oh whatever man!” A’sok said rolling his eyes and waving the Jedi off. Klux’s passive face turned agitated and he shot a hand out, slapping A’sok in the back of the head. The young hacker jumped and spilled a bit of brandy on his red silk over-robe. “Hey! Watch it man! There’s a beverage here!” A’sok said, grabbing a loose hem of Baal’s robe and patting at the stain. Baal jerked his clothing back and snarled a mouthful of fangs at A’sok. “Hey, are you three done clowning around?” Vic asked. “I called you guys in for a reason, come on,” he said standing and heading for the circular recessed grav couch and holoprojector that was set into the office floor. As the others got comfortable Vic produced a holodisk from the breast pocket of his jacket and popped it into the holoprojector. The lights in the office automatically dimmed and the holo jumped to life. A beautiful woman, no older than twenty-six appeared and began to turn, suspended in the air. As she rotated Vic could tell she was well off…maybe royalty. Sculpted blonde hair framed her milky white face and makeup did a good job of hiding any other imperfection. She was dressed in a blue floor length gown that would have been in style maybe 2 seasons ago. Vic had seen her type before, the kind of girl that can cause a whole shipload of trouble if you aren’t careful around her. “This message is for Terminus the Hunter. Greetings! I am The Assembler” a voice began. The image of the young woman decreased in size and several lingual interpretations began scrolling underneath her. “It has been some time since we have worked together but I have been told that you are taking jobs once again…” A’sok turned towards Vic and whispered, “You worked with this guy before?” Vic eyes were still on the young woman. “No. Terminus did…the real Terminus apparently. Oh, and its no “guy” he said grinning. The voiceover continued: “This is the Princess Askala of the House Mecetti-in the Tapani Sector. Your mission is simple. Find her and return her to me. There are interested parties that are willing to pay good money for her return. You are reputed to be one of the best in the business, which is why I’m contacting you. Any questions can be forwarded through the drop location found on this disk.” The audio cut out but the image of the young girl continued to turn. Vic hit a key on the remote and her face suddenly replaced her body. She stared impassively, her mouth turned up in a polite smile…a smile that didn’t even bother to reach her brilliant blue eyes. Not a hair was out of place and Vic was hard pressed to find any blemish or imperfection. “Well, I bet she doesn’t have any trouble getting dates,” Vic said finishing his drink. Klux looked bored and A’sok was still studying the pic. “So,” he heard Baal begin from across the grav couch, “you are now a kidnapper?” “I prefer the term ‘contracted locator’” Vic said. He wasn’t particularly thrilled about the job but he had to re-establish some of his underworld contacts and this was one way to do that; after he had bombed Akelish’s palace he had unwittingly severed many ties. “Anyway,” he said gesturing towards the hovering profile, “It seems like an easy snatch n’ bag job” the info under the woman’s face continued to scroll…listing itineraries and departure times for several cruise liners. “Say’s here she is supposed to be on an extended cruise. We hop on board at one of the ports, grab her, drug her, and make our way off the ship in a lifeboat…we’ll leave the Skull’ hovering in space and just jump to its coordinates and bang! Mission accomplished.” Klux sat back stroking his goatee. “We?” “Sure…’We’ …that is, unless you would rather sit around here going stir crazy,” Vic said. “Of course,” he added, “there is also this little part…” He hit the remote again and the face of an arachnid species sprung in place of the Countess. “Gah! What the hell is that!?!” A’sok asked, practically crawling out of his skin. Vic nodded with his glass. “That…is Kud’ar,” he said and the dark bulbous face began to chitter. “Oh…anddd Terminussss. I thought you should know that there are other factions after the Countess. Namely a being that goes by the name of Crotoooo the Crusherrrr…” Klux leaned forward. “Croto?” The image continued to speak. “…Apparently his arrangement is not for a “live” capture thouuugh. Thouuught you might be interested in knowing that….” And the image disappeared, once again reverting to the beautiful young woman. “Well, ya know I’m in Boss-Man,” A’sok said, collecting himself. He had produced a datapad and was already jotting notes and ideas down. “And if it is Croto, we can do the galaxy a favor and vape him,” the hacker said without looking up. “Yeah…I got me a nice score to settle,” Vic murmured. Baal and Klux exchanged glances. “I’ll go along Rodbo, but just to make sure no harm comes to the girl,” Klux said. Baal nodded in agreement. “Yes, I too will go. Our missions tend to see a lot of “innocents” get harmed. If this Croto is as dangerous as you say I think you will need our help,” the large cat said, stroking his silver goatee. “And Vic,” he added, casting his large green eyes towards the outlaw, “I do not think this will be as easy as you think.” Watching the beautiful face hovering above them in the dark, Vic nodded in agreement. “I have a feeling you are right Baal…I just hope you aren’t.”
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