Xel-Naga
Feb 25th, 2014, 02:36:58 PM
The alarm chimed an obnoxious shrilling sound that was impossible to ignore. The occupant the room's bed and only piece of furniture rolled over in the thick comforter, and reached out for the device; but his hand paused over the snooze button. There it was. Something in the corner of his eye, but when he turned nothing was there. Thoughts raced through his mind but he told himself to calm down and forget about it. Instead of snoozing he silenced the alarm and sat up on the edge of the narrow bed. The room was small. A person could stretch out on the floor and touch opposing walls with his feet and outstretched arms. Windows were for the rich and powerful who could afford units on the outside walls of Cloud City. This unit was cheap and popular with the lower middle working class; the kind that work all day and then drag themselves home to sleep a few hours before doing it all over again. The kind who blow all their wages on alcohol and girls in some vain attempt to fill the empty hole in their hearts. Xel fit in just fine with them. Despite an income that could afford something a little nicer he preferred the small spaces; they made him feel safer; comfortable.
The unit had only three rooms, the bedroom, a front room and kitchen combo that was barely bigger than the bedroom, and a refresher. The latter he employed immediately, wasting only a moment to look around the room to make sure nothing was missing. His paid bed companion had scampered off after he fell asleep, and he made sure they had not taken anything on their way out. Only a few made the mistake of messing with a Black Sun enforcer, and they rarely get second chances. It wouldn't be the first hooker he buried, and the lads always had such cute little faces that he would hate to see wasting away at the bottom of a service tunnel. As he entered the small refresher chamber he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror; disheveled with days of grown on his face and head, deep circles under his eyes, and a pallor of his skin that revealed just how much time he was spending in the shadows away from the sun. There was something else, on the edge of the mirror; a shape, but once again he turned his head and looked away; focusing straight ahead as he got in the shower, keeping his eyes closed when he could.
A quick sonic wash and he was out, pulling on clothing with the same straight forward, focused ahead demeanor. Trousers, boots, shirt, and jacket. Each item pulled on one at a time, one after the other. Finally a pair of optic shaders for the tough guy image it created and he was out the door; half of a protein bar in his mouth. Xel always felt lopsided without his Deathhammer strapped to his side. What the heavy blaster lacked in maneuverability due to it's weight it made up for with raw firepower; and you could club a wampa to death with it should you run out of ammunition. Instead he had only a small, easily concealed blaster, a shock prod, and a knife on his person. Cloud City did not appreciate openly carried weapons, but the right bribes were in the correct places to keep them from searching him, or reporting them. Cloud City was not the shiny tower on a hill the holonet would have you believe; it was run by corruption. Black Sun competed with other syndicates for control of the city. The little people lived in fear because of people like him who came to shake them down when they didn't pay back their debts.
There it was again, just as he closed his door, his gaze down at the handle as his hand pulled it, but at the top of his peripheral he could see the shape of a person. No. No. No. The door was slammed shut and locked, and he stepped away, glaring at the door, as if daring it to do something about it. Hands stuffed in his jacket pockets he stormed down the hallway, leaving his apartment behind and moving out of this hole in the ground sector for the more grand areas toward the top of the city. The turbolift put the thrum of the forges and machinery of the bowels behind him, raising him out of the darkness into the more picturesque top, with it's giant windows showing the cloudy night skies of Bespin, the sleek surfaces, and the complete lack of any refuse or dirty people. Here everything was clean and perfect, with finely groomed individuals walking here and there. It was very clear that Xel did not belong, but he ignored them, and they did the same. There were not a lot of people up at this hour, but this was the time that he worked within. While the cats sleep the rats will play. The cover of darkness was nearly only metaphor in the brightly lit city, but there was something to be gained when you kicked down the door while someone is sleeping; terror.
And that was exactly what he got when he stood up against the wall beside a door. In a normal city he would kick the door down literally, but the doors up here were thick and fancy, that meant slapping a datadrive into the control console and letting the strong arm system repeatedly bash against the system until it finally cracked. Xel wasn't the type to program one of these things, and they were incredibly illegal, but he didn't question where his bosses got them because they were incredibly handy when boots couldn't get the job done. The door whooshed open and Xel slipped inside, grabbing the hacking device and closing the door behind him. Not kicking down the door had the downside of not startling the owners awake, but it also made you less likely to catch a scattershot before you can cross the room. For a similar effect, though, he grabbed a nice potted plant off the coffee table and slipped into the bedroom, where a couple were asleep amid the silk sheets and beautiful ambient lighting from the cheery map of the galaxy projected on the ceiling. Their blissful rest was rudely interrupted when the pot sailed across the room and shattered against the opposite wall, showering the pair with bits of pottery and shrub.
Even as they tried to throw off their covers, Xel was already jumped on the bed, pinning the woman beneath his legs and grabbing the collar of the man's nightgown and dragging him back down into the bed so that they laid with their heads together, the knife slipped out of his sleeve and held up for them both to see. They were smart and didn't scream. "Fitz Orion, you owe quiet a bit of money to Sasseeri Reeouurra. Your loan was for one galactic year, at a modest interest rate, and you have barely paid back half of it, and you have quite the tab at Cumulus that will need to be paid in full. Ms. Reeouurra is a fair woman and you disgrace her with your tardy payments."
"W-what do you want me to do? I don't have the money. M-my business has soured this year."
"You better find some money then, or I'll take it from you wive's pretty face. I don't care if you have to sell your home and whore yourself out on the corner, you do not take Reeouurra's money and then throw excuses in her face." The knife tilted, biting into the soft neck of the wife, drawing blood, she stifled a scream. Movement out of the corner of his eye caused him to begin to turn his head, but he stopped when he saw it, passing in front of the doorway was a woman, her head bleeding from a head wound, her face and clothing covered in blood from the drip. He felt everything lock up, everything went numb. He was vaguely aware that Fitz was pleading with him, begging him to stop, and then admitting he had some money. Snapping back he looked the desperate man in the eyes and stood up, taking his weight off the wife as the man got up and ran across the room to a safe hidden behind a swing away bookshelf. Clever. He returned with a handful of credit chits, and Xel noticed over his shoulder that behind him the safe was empty except for the kind of family heirloom knickknacks you would expect to be secreted away. Taking the creds Xel moved toward the door, looking around for the bleeding woman but seeing nothing. "This won't cover your debt." He said, glancing down at the credits as he viewed the amounts and then pocketed them.
"But it's all I have!"
"Better find more then, or I'll be back in a week for the rest of the credits, or your wife's face." And with that he turned and left, flipping over the coffee table and tossing the furniture and decor around before leaving. The last thing he heard was quiet sobs and excuses. The hallway outside was empty. Most people were sleeping, or left when they heard any of the ruckus. Better to be off before some bright and shiny copper with virtue in his heart and nothing to lose shows up. They don't last long, but every now and then one of them joins the security force. His feet took him around and around the city. He never went anywhere directly in case he was being followed. Eventually he feet brought him to Cumulus. The Casino never slept, and there were more than a few patrons playing the slots and enjoying drinks even at this hour. Slow perhaps in comparison to it's day crowd. He paused at the bar, contemplating drinking on the job when he noticed the bleeding woman sitting on a bar stool a few seats down. He knew who she was, but once again he turned away, because people look at you funny when you talk to things that aren't there. A drink was needed, and soon, but he was on the clock. Stomping upstairs he located the office of Sanis Prent. He straightened his coat and knocked.
The unit had only three rooms, the bedroom, a front room and kitchen combo that was barely bigger than the bedroom, and a refresher. The latter he employed immediately, wasting only a moment to look around the room to make sure nothing was missing. His paid bed companion had scampered off after he fell asleep, and he made sure they had not taken anything on their way out. Only a few made the mistake of messing with a Black Sun enforcer, and they rarely get second chances. It wouldn't be the first hooker he buried, and the lads always had such cute little faces that he would hate to see wasting away at the bottom of a service tunnel. As he entered the small refresher chamber he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror; disheveled with days of grown on his face and head, deep circles under his eyes, and a pallor of his skin that revealed just how much time he was spending in the shadows away from the sun. There was something else, on the edge of the mirror; a shape, but once again he turned his head and looked away; focusing straight ahead as he got in the shower, keeping his eyes closed when he could.
A quick sonic wash and he was out, pulling on clothing with the same straight forward, focused ahead demeanor. Trousers, boots, shirt, and jacket. Each item pulled on one at a time, one after the other. Finally a pair of optic shaders for the tough guy image it created and he was out the door; half of a protein bar in his mouth. Xel always felt lopsided without his Deathhammer strapped to his side. What the heavy blaster lacked in maneuverability due to it's weight it made up for with raw firepower; and you could club a wampa to death with it should you run out of ammunition. Instead he had only a small, easily concealed blaster, a shock prod, and a knife on his person. Cloud City did not appreciate openly carried weapons, but the right bribes were in the correct places to keep them from searching him, or reporting them. Cloud City was not the shiny tower on a hill the holonet would have you believe; it was run by corruption. Black Sun competed with other syndicates for control of the city. The little people lived in fear because of people like him who came to shake them down when they didn't pay back their debts.
There it was again, just as he closed his door, his gaze down at the handle as his hand pulled it, but at the top of his peripheral he could see the shape of a person. No. No. No. The door was slammed shut and locked, and he stepped away, glaring at the door, as if daring it to do something about it. Hands stuffed in his jacket pockets he stormed down the hallway, leaving his apartment behind and moving out of this hole in the ground sector for the more grand areas toward the top of the city. The turbolift put the thrum of the forges and machinery of the bowels behind him, raising him out of the darkness into the more picturesque top, with it's giant windows showing the cloudy night skies of Bespin, the sleek surfaces, and the complete lack of any refuse or dirty people. Here everything was clean and perfect, with finely groomed individuals walking here and there. It was very clear that Xel did not belong, but he ignored them, and they did the same. There were not a lot of people up at this hour, but this was the time that he worked within. While the cats sleep the rats will play. The cover of darkness was nearly only metaphor in the brightly lit city, but there was something to be gained when you kicked down the door while someone is sleeping; terror.
And that was exactly what he got when he stood up against the wall beside a door. In a normal city he would kick the door down literally, but the doors up here were thick and fancy, that meant slapping a datadrive into the control console and letting the strong arm system repeatedly bash against the system until it finally cracked. Xel wasn't the type to program one of these things, and they were incredibly illegal, but he didn't question where his bosses got them because they were incredibly handy when boots couldn't get the job done. The door whooshed open and Xel slipped inside, grabbing the hacking device and closing the door behind him. Not kicking down the door had the downside of not startling the owners awake, but it also made you less likely to catch a scattershot before you can cross the room. For a similar effect, though, he grabbed a nice potted plant off the coffee table and slipped into the bedroom, where a couple were asleep amid the silk sheets and beautiful ambient lighting from the cheery map of the galaxy projected on the ceiling. Their blissful rest was rudely interrupted when the pot sailed across the room and shattered against the opposite wall, showering the pair with bits of pottery and shrub.
Even as they tried to throw off their covers, Xel was already jumped on the bed, pinning the woman beneath his legs and grabbing the collar of the man's nightgown and dragging him back down into the bed so that they laid with their heads together, the knife slipped out of his sleeve and held up for them both to see. They were smart and didn't scream. "Fitz Orion, you owe quiet a bit of money to Sasseeri Reeouurra. Your loan was for one galactic year, at a modest interest rate, and you have barely paid back half of it, and you have quite the tab at Cumulus that will need to be paid in full. Ms. Reeouurra is a fair woman and you disgrace her with your tardy payments."
"W-what do you want me to do? I don't have the money. M-my business has soured this year."
"You better find some money then, or I'll take it from you wive's pretty face. I don't care if you have to sell your home and whore yourself out on the corner, you do not take Reeouurra's money and then throw excuses in her face." The knife tilted, biting into the soft neck of the wife, drawing blood, she stifled a scream. Movement out of the corner of his eye caused him to begin to turn his head, but he stopped when he saw it, passing in front of the doorway was a woman, her head bleeding from a head wound, her face and clothing covered in blood from the drip. He felt everything lock up, everything went numb. He was vaguely aware that Fitz was pleading with him, begging him to stop, and then admitting he had some money. Snapping back he looked the desperate man in the eyes and stood up, taking his weight off the wife as the man got up and ran across the room to a safe hidden behind a swing away bookshelf. Clever. He returned with a handful of credit chits, and Xel noticed over his shoulder that behind him the safe was empty except for the kind of family heirloom knickknacks you would expect to be secreted away. Taking the creds Xel moved toward the door, looking around for the bleeding woman but seeing nothing. "This won't cover your debt." He said, glancing down at the credits as he viewed the amounts and then pocketed them.
"But it's all I have!"
"Better find more then, or I'll be back in a week for the rest of the credits, or your wife's face." And with that he turned and left, flipping over the coffee table and tossing the furniture and decor around before leaving. The last thing he heard was quiet sobs and excuses. The hallway outside was empty. Most people were sleeping, or left when they heard any of the ruckus. Better to be off before some bright and shiny copper with virtue in his heart and nothing to lose shows up. They don't last long, but every now and then one of them joins the security force. His feet took him around and around the city. He never went anywhere directly in case he was being followed. Eventually he feet brought him to Cumulus. The Casino never slept, and there were more than a few patrons playing the slots and enjoying drinks even at this hour. Slow perhaps in comparison to it's day crowd. He paused at the bar, contemplating drinking on the job when he noticed the bleeding woman sitting on a bar stool a few seats down. He knew who she was, but once again he turned away, because people look at you funny when you talk to things that aren't there. A drink was needed, and soon, but he was on the clock. Stomping upstairs he located the office of Sanis Prent. He straightened his coat and knocked.