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Thread: Pulling the Right Trigger

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    Closed Pulling the Right Trigger

    Ettam was mostly known for its farm and agricultural work on Ralltiir, but what most innocent citizens ignored was that the Western suburbs had hidden a hub for all sorts of black market transactions for centuries. Vilara, Morgana's Zeltron grandmother who had a firm hold on much of the criminal circles on the planet had made sure to seize this area for her own gain and influence a few decades ago. The farmining goods were perfect excuses to smuggle other items off world, and several land owners weren't going to spit on the generous cash Vilara offered them to help outlaws.

    It was why Morgana was waiting at a local café, the Irida Inn, not far from a local lake. Once again, she had volunteered to be middle woman for her grandmother. Even if people recognized her, for she was a bit famous on her home world, especially due to her artistic work as Light Sculptor, it wouldn't look bizarre, since the area was also quite touristic. And frankly, Morgana didn't think that most farmers and underworld types would be asking autographs about her work.

    She was sitting with some horrendous-looking multicolored cocktail in plain sight on her table, which was what her grandmother had decided to use as sign for the bounty hunter she was supposed to meet, to know who to sit with. It smelled much better than it presented but sadly she could only take tiny sips as not to guzzle it until her "appointment" showed up.


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    The small, out of the way town of Ettam wasn't exactly what Alanie had in mind when she got the com call from a lieutenant on Ralltiir, offering her a contract. But, here she was, riding on a rented speeder bike toward a small cafe' on the outskirts of the farming community. Mostly hard working people, the bounty hunter raised in a secluded orphanage for girls hadn't ever seen a place like this, though she had read about plenty. Kids played in the back yard of a modest home while neighbors greeted one another like old friends as she drove by, some even waving at her as she passed. Grinning politely, she didn't want to seem rude, but she was here on a job and getting to know her surroundings was going to be important. If the target that she had been hired to deal with was well ingrained in the society, this may be more of a test than she realized, but as she was taught while growing up, every problem was an opportunity in disguise.

    Finally seeing her destination in sight, she slowed down and steered the bike into an empty parking spot. Sitting up as the engine powered down, blue-green eyes took in the clientele here, most appearing like businessmen here on a sales trip. Swinging her left leg over the fuel tank, the slender, agile hunter strolled toward the front door, pushing her dark sunglasses up and setting them atop her curly, black hair. Entering the establishment, she scanned for the girl with the unique drink and immediately noticed the colorful concoction before a brunette who seemed rather uncomfortable with the sign in a glass set before her. Grinning, Alanie strolled into the comfortable interior, dark wood tables and chairs complimented the rustic feel to the small restaurant.

    "Be right with you," a middle-aged woman called out from behind the long counter, waving at Alanie now meandering between several empty tables.

    "Thanks," the accented Aurebesh reply as Alanie moved to a chair across from the brunette and pulled it out, then sat down. "Hi," the bounty hunter grinned, crossed arms on the table as she leaned in. "Nice place."


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    Morgana was taking some notes for upcoming Light Sculptures in between observing her surroundings. When she saw a brunette enter and make her way towards her, she set her attention upon her. "Hello," she replied with a casual nod.

    She took a sip from her cocktail at last, a real long sip. She grinned devilishly. "Nice indeed. Would have been a shame not to do the honors to the drinks as well." She hadn't known what to expect about the bounty hunter her grandmother had sent her to speak with. Vilara liked to play her game right and uncovered cards when she needed to. Morgana knew that well, but it had also taught her a lot over the years.

    "Heard you had a good profile for the company's project." She said with ease, having grown accustomed to speak in riddles to the larger audience, but knowing that the person in front of her would get what she meant. "That'd require you to stay in the area for a few weeks."
    Last edited by Morgana DeLaTour; Jun 11th, 2016 at 05:34:36 AM.

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    The double speak was typcial and Alanie nodded, "Depending on how things go, never know sometimes. But," she straightened a bit more as the waitress started making her way to their table. "I like it. Never visited Ralltiir before," her blue-green gaze returned to her employer's middleman. "But nice place. Very comfortable," she glanced up to the older woman, smiling warmly. "What do you have in the way of tea?"

    "Just a local brew," the waitress replied apologetically. "Like to try it?"

    Shrugging, "Sure. And some appetizers for us," she motioned to Morgana.

    Nodding, the woman glanced to the brunette as well, then turned to leave. "Be right back."

    Returning her attention to the contact, Alanie had been doing her best to avoid Braddon's own hunters, though could tell that this girl was definitely something different than an assassin. "I talked with your company's rep and he seemed rather eager to have this project taken care of rather quickly."

  5. #5
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    Morgana couldn't help grinning with a hint of pride at the other woman's remarks about Ralltiir. "This world is very diverse. I'm sure you'll find enough to keep you play tourist when you have the chance." She enjoyed traveling off-world but in the end she lawyas loved coming back to where she was born. She had great fondness for Ralltiir.

    She could totally imagine her grandmother's second in command sounding "eager". He had quite a strong and extrovert personality, though he was very reliable and hard-working. "Yes, the company wants this to be handled within three weeks, so we can move on with the next stage of the project." She replied casually, having done that before and knowing her grandmother would likely have her play middle-man again.

    "You'll find the needed information on this memo." She produced a small datachip and slid it over the table to the bounty hunter. It would contain a profile of the target, Spaceport Administrator Eden Fizao, in Grallia. That included professional and personal information about him and his family, and also more data about the spaceport itself. It also indicated that if the hunter was in, 30% of the payment would be issued right then, and the rest after the target was proven terminated.

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    Taking the datadisc, Alanie nodded as she mused on the information gleaned from Morgana's comments. Things like this were becoming second nature even while keeping an eye on the various exits and other faces in the crowd around her, never knowing when another hunter would wish to impinge on her mission or be hunting her instead. "I'll take a look at it," she nodded. "I definitely like the homey feel of the world when I arrived, though I asked for a few things for the ship that the mechanic didn't seem to recognize. I guess certain foods aren't available here, but that's alright. I'm adaptable to just about anything as long as I don't have to chase it around the dinner table."

    Returning, the waitress set her glass of tea before her as well as the plate of appetizers between them. "There you go. Need anything else, don't hesitate."

    "Thanks," Alanie grinned, then raised the glass and took a sip, finding the aroma as well as the taste quite good. "Wow," she grinned. "I'll have to grab a bag of this tea also before I leave."

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    "No risk of having to chase dinner around the table." Morgana laughed. "There's more choice in larger cities as well, though the local cuisine in the Torana region in the very south of the planet is delicious, albeit an acquired taste." She doubted that the hunter would have time to go all the way there as it was far from the area where her target was, but one never knew. Whatever the woman did was none of her business as long as she took down the Spaceport Administrator.

    "If you ever see any "Dirana Tea" shops, you should make a stop. If you like tea, it's a good place to go, except for your wallet." She grinned and fetched one of the appetizers from the plate that had been brought to the table.

    "If you have any question during your stay, I'll be your contact." Her information, via encrypted channel was listed on the memo. She expected the woman not to contact her unless an emergency happened, but so far she didn't have a bad idea of this hunter.

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    Popping one of the breaded pieces of meat into her mouth, she took out her datapad, then slipped the chip into it and accessed the file on the target, though kept the pic of him for later. Her right hand masking the images on the small screen from others to see, Alanie memorized all the pertinent information as well as his family in the area. Uncaring about the why of the contract, she noticed the payment up front which was generous. Clicking the file into a copied folder, she touched another icon to encrypt the information and removed the disc, handing it back to Morgana. "Yeah, looks like everything's set up well enough. I'll get started later once I have everything else I need, and I'll definitely stop by that tea shop when I get the chance," she stated slipping her datapad back into her jacket pocket.

    Taking another sip of the tea, Alanie realized now how hungry she had become as the appetizers weren't going to last, which was a good thing.

  9. #9
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    Morgana observed the hunter with attention as she munched on some appetizers. There was definite professionalism about this other woman and she could appreciate that. Regardless of the situation, Morgana abhorred amateurs. That was something that irked her and she had no patience with them. Of course, she didn't imagine her grandmother going for an amateur but seeing the hunter in the flesh was a good thing anyway. Vilara had no need for her granddaughter to be protective and could perfectly hold her ground as she had done over years, but Morgana still loved her and wanted the best for her.

    "Good. It'd be a shame to skip that." She grinned and retrieving the datachip, she then sent a brief message to her grandmother's second-in-command. The hunter would receive the upfront part of her payment within the next minutes then.

    "If you have time after your current assignment, I might have an offer for you." She also had her own business to take care of, but that would come after Vilara's target was taken down.

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    Enjoying the appetizers, Alanie then heard the opportunity for another contract after this one and nodded. "Sure, we can talk." A few things would have to be determined about this Port Authority figure, though she could already imagine several reasons that he was a mark. Criminal organizations wanted compliance from those that they were paying and sometimes those individuals got stupid and tried to play both sides against the middle, ending up dead. Glancing around, her judging gaze also knew that she couldn't stay long even though a planet like this could definitely be a safe hide, it's comfortable, rustic feel and simpler lifestyle would be easy to blend in to.

    But, that day would be a long time coming, she knew.

    "Anything you wanted me to pass on to the project to make it more personal," she asked, turning her attention back to the contact as she took another popper.

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    "As long as you blend in nicely, this is all we ask." Morgana replied without hesitation. She had asked her grandmother about this before coming to the meeting. "Our client doesn't have as much support as he used to have but it could work to our advantage. This operation can easily play in our favor so there is no need to go overboard." Theatrics weren't needed and her grandmother had several law enforcers in her pocket already so as long as an outsider like the hunter took the target down, the rest would go well.

    Morgana finished her drink and handed a credstick to the waiter, which would cover both her order and the hunter's. "We'll speak again later. Enjoy your stay." She replied with a grin before heading toward the exit.

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    Finishing the last of her tea, now that Morgana was gone, Alanie also popped the last appetizer in her mouth, knowing this trip to Grallia was going to take a couple hours. Though she had learned how to perform a contract and work leads to find her mark, there was something in the back of her mind wondering if this was just a test and the next one that her contact had mentioned was the real mission. Only one way to find out, she mused and pushed herself from the table, and made her way to the long counter sporting all the various things for sale. Pointing at the local tea, "Two," she informed the middle-aged waitress.

    "Like that, huh," the woman smiled as she opened up the back door and removed two of the bags. "We get orders for this all the time." Rising, she placed them next to the small console with a credstick slot attached.

    "Not surprised," the bounty hunter replied as she took out her credstick and allowed the woman to extract the cost, though as the amount emerged on the small display, she was a bit shocked. Morgana was right, not cheap at all, but definitely worth every cred. "Thanks."

    Bagging the purchase, the woman handed it to her. "Enjoy. Take care and come back and see us again."

    "I will, see ya." Turning, she replaced the less full credstick into her jacket pocket and continued outside. Placing the bag into her left side saddlebag, Alanie slid her dark sunglasses down over her eyes again and straddled the seat, then started the speeder bike. Backing out, she turned right and accelerated down the main street, making her way toward the main highway. Passing several farm speeder trucks, their occupants dirty and tanned from lives out in the fields, the orphanage raised assassin could appreciate a hard working community, though didn't necessarily wish to be one of them. Gliding down the access ramp, she revved the engines and was off like a bullet, heading east toward Grallia.
    Last edited by Alanie Herleva; Jun 15th, 2016 at 03:56:24 PM.

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    Two days later, Alanie sat in an open air cafe and sipped on the tea which seemed to be popular here on this world. Dark glasses hid her scanning eyes, keeping her focus on Eden and his three friends enjoying an afternoon meal. In his Starport Security uniform, the leader of Port Authority's police seemed to be oblivious of his stalker, which was a good thing. Learning more about him would help her eliminate this mark without too many feathers being ruffled. The way that the contract stated. Music blared through the open windows of a passing speeder, gaining Eden's ire as he and his friends glared at the younger driver until he was gone. Shaking his head, the miniature bug she planted on his jacket earlier during an accidental brush now allowed her to keep an ear and eye on him.

    "Frakkin' kids," Eden said as he continued eating.

    "Unlike your own," the middle-aged one to his right remarked, chuckling. "How's Tad doing in school now, by the way?"

    "Grades are coming up," the gruff voice replied as she couldn't see his face. "Told him if he actually graduated I'd help him get that Nebulon Q he was looking at."

    "Damn," the younger officer to the left smiled, leaning back. "Whadda I gotta do dad? Love to get me one of those."

    Eden straightened in his chair, "Get on your knees," he replied, laughing. "Think that **** comes easy," he continued, shaking his head. "Not getting paid enough for what we do."

    "Best job I ever had," the middle aged one said, sarcastically.

    "Uh huh."

    Soon after, they rose and moved to the street, getting back into the nice black speeder parked with many others along the sidewalk and left. Slipping her credstick into the slot at the center console on the table, she paid her bill and left as well. Time to get a few other things in place for the big show.

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    The door opened, revealing a middle aged woman whose elegant look told the bounty hunter, now incognito as a security specialist, all she needed to know. "Yes, thank you for coming so promptly." Backing into the entryway, the brunette motioned to the security console. "This thing's been uncooperative for the last two days and thought they'd send someone yesterday."

    "That's okay," Alanie replied as she entered and moved to the white bordered panel, it's deep blue face coming to life as she touched it. "We've been busy lately with the neighborhood. The last big storm we had took out a transceiver relay which sent that over voltage to all the controllers."

    "Eh," Misses Fizao replied as she closed the door and moved toward the main intersection. "Be nice if they could adapt some sort of protection for such things." Continuing on to the stair, Agatha glanced back. "I'll just be a moment, I have to finish getting ready."

    "Don't mind me," Alanie grinned, motioning with her head upstairs. "This won't take long and we'll have you back in business."

    Nodding, the socialite turned and headed upstairs, leaving the intruder to continue with her real purpose here. Reaching into her tool belt, she took out a slender tool, then removed the panel and let it hang on the slender hinge on the bottom. With all witnesses out of the way, a tiny device was then removed from it's clear container, which she then placed onto the sensor cluster. Once touching the block-like, deep grey module, the added tracker blended into the surface as if invisible. Closing up the controller, she then began programming in the subroutine that would allow her to control this security device from outside. Once done, she began running checks as part of her "service" of the system. Lights blinked on and off, inside and out, then the silent alarm showed activity, but went no farther than her own comlink, compliments of a good friend that happened to be a techno geek.

    Returning the security system to an operational status, she returned her gear to the tool belt and then pretended to dial to the main office for the company. "Hey," she grinned and slowly moved toward the door. "Yeah, everything checks out here. About to leave now." A long pause, "Alright, headed there now." Clicking off her comlink, she turned and glanced up toward the first landing to the stairs. "Alright, you're all set."

    "Thank you," Agatha replied from the master bedroom, leaving the bounty hunter to exit.

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    Waning this particular contract to be a quieter hit, Alanie now knew the mark's schedule and once his wife left for their dinner party downtown, the bounty hunter had a window to enter the house without tripping any alarms, having already taken care of that issue. Now dark, the nightlife of the wealthier neighborhood was nearly non-existent. Most being away on business trips or vacations, those that were home remained safely locked behind their doors and enjoyed company or family. Keeping to the shadows, the silhouette glided between the busy spaces between homes and keyed in the override as she neared the back fence. Climbing over once she noticed the continued green light, Alanie jogged across the backyard, keeping to the bush and tree-lined fence until reaching the garage, then moved along the back of it, knowing now where all the cameras were. Even though a looping video could have been introduced, she wanted this whole night to go without any investigators being tipped off to anything other than a freak accident to the mid-level notable of society.

    Reaching the garage door, she slipped it open and melted inside. Closer to the hot water heater, Alanie retrieved a vial from her thin, black jacket and then unscrewed the main outgoing water line, then poured it in. Returning the pipe to the attachment, she closed it once more and then retreated.


    The next morning, sunlight pierced the curtains in her room along thin lines on either side, brightening the bordering walls in a soft glow. Quiet other than the occasional neighbor leaving for breakfast or departing altogether, Alanie pushed herself up to sit, then stretched. Sighing, her arms dropped and she reached for the controls to the holovid and turned it on.

    "...and late last night a call was made to authorities from a frantic Misses Fizao. Because of the gruesome nature of the conversation, we can't replay that for you, but both were found dead in their home by emergency responders. Both were upstanding citizens of Ralltir and will be missed. In other news...."

    Sniffing with disinterest, Alanie slid her legs out from underneath the blanket and headed around the bed and into the refresher. Today would be an interesting day since she now had another mission to apparently be briefed on.

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    Morgana got woken up by a call from her grandmother who had heard the news, that her target was taken down. The light sculptor yawned as she was told to get to the second meeting organized by Vilara's second in command for her and the bounty hunter. She had had little sleep, working all nights on math equations, to the point she had passed out at the desk. She confirmed she would be there and as soon as the call ended, she went to get a long shower and get dressed in fresh clothes, brown pants and a beige shirt, tying her mane up in a ponytail.

    Grabbing a solid breakfast, she then hopped into one of her speeders and drove to her destination, since they were to meet in the same area, but not at the same café. The brunette knew her way around well enough and it wasn't difficult to get there by the middle of the morning. She soon took a table, facing the door as she always prefered doing, thanks to Vilara's teachings. Ordering herself some tea, she then waited for the hunter to show up.

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    Her things packed, the bounty hunter left the hotel and straddled her speeder bike, tying the pack to the seat behind her. Revving the accelerator, she was gone in a flash, slaloming through traffic once on the highway again and continued on toward the smaller town that she had met the contact in. The brunette was definitely someone that had it good as a kid, but Alanie couldn't complain with that either, if she was honest with herself. Most that she had met since leaving the orphanage had harder lives, though not all. The contact grew up in the criminal world and no doubt her life wasn't easy either and as Alanie lost herself in the trip, she could almost imagine Morgana's mother testing her by having the younger girl shoot a servant for some slight or mistake. How else would you harden a child into the life they would one day inherit?

    That's how Alanie grew up, after all.

    Soon, she noticed the outer buildings of the small town and banked to the right as she cruised down the offramp and then underneath the overpass, heading toward the second meeting place which was also a restaurant of sorts. Pulling up in front of the establishment, Alanie left her dark glasses on as she swung her left leg over the tank and stepped off. Walking into the front door, blue-green eyes scanned for the other brunette and soon found her. Meandering through the busy tables, passing a waitress, the bounty hunter nodded lightly to her contact and grabbed a seat. "Afternoon."

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    "Greetings," Morgana said with a quiet smile to the hunter, as the woman arrived, quite on time, which she was grateful for. The Light Sculptor and mathematician had a lot on her plate, and as much as she was willing to help her grandmother, she preferred not wasting time on tasks that could take less time. She took another sip from her third cup of tea and grinned a little.

    "Well done. We'll definitely look forward to working with you again," she added, having head the news even after Vilara had let her know of how things went. "Payment was made an hour ago. Now if you have another week or two available to extend your stay, I have another offer." She had mentioned it during their first visit and the good work had comforted her in hiring the hunter for her own plans, but she knew that people like Herleva could be busy.

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    Digging into her pocket for her comlink, she keyed in a private code and verified that the money was in the account designated. One that she would be emptying soon, she mused, then turned off the com device and glanced up, returning the comlink to her pocket. "Okay," she replied and picked up a menu. Knowing that she was already going to add another cup of the local tea to her meal, she was starving all of a sudden. "Just glad that your benefactor was pleased," the hunter stated distractedly as she then set the flimsiplast menu down and motioned for a waitress.

    "Hope I didn't keep you waiting long." Leaning on the table, fingers knitted together, she leaned in a bit.

  20. #20
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    "It was better for everyone," Morgana replied about her grandmother being satisfied, though the hunter ignored the family relation. She didn't mean it as a threat, but knew that Vilara had taken down people whose performance she found disappointing in the past, even one she had killed herself only a couple of years ago.

    "You were in the right time frame. I prefer punctuality, so all good there."
    If she was going to spend lengthy amounts of time on something, she preferred it to be for her professional and creative projects.

    "If this is in your range of expertise, this other assignment can be yours," she said, sliding a datachip to the hunter. On it, the other woman would find information about a fundraising prominent figure in another region on Ralltiir. The woman in her mid fifties was strongly supporting funding for several academic departments in local universities, despite solid results, and several students having earned awards.

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