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Post by Revan Jast on May 27, 2010 1:05:56 GMT -5
Kurt nodded. "The law is a stickler sometimes. I've never had trouble with them because I usually keep my ass in the dark, and they're too blind to see past their fat guts," he said, chuckling.
He finished up his lunch and sat back. "Alright, let's stop beating around the bush here. I said I'd help you out, so let's get on with the fucking show. I know you've got something on your mind, so talk."
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Post by RobbyL9 on May 27, 2010 1:33:15 GMT -5
Blades eyed Kurt blankly, his expression remaining neutral (his personal Pazaak face for feigning ignorance). "I don't got no idea what you're talking about." he said reaching into his left pocket "I'm just going to have a little talk with some lawyers and bureaucrats and ask a few questions about why I ain't allowed to do my job. If they cooperate, then I'll see about looking at their files on the case. Nothin' more." Although his expression was neutral, his voice carried a certain air of cynicism about it.
Blades pulled some cash chips out of his pocket and scattered them on the table, not concerned with a couple credits' change. Quickly, he frisked his pocket quickly to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything and exited the cafe by vaulting the waist-high railing to his left. He motioned for Kurt to follow him and swiftly jogged over to the alley in between the cafe they were at and the one next door.
Unzipping a black bag underneath one of the trash bins, he called out "Gimme a sec. Gotta get dressed." Inside the bag was everything he could spare for this mission without attracting attention: his mask, his vest and his FW-G5 pistols. "Hello, my dear sweet darlings. Sorry to interrupt your nap but I might just need you in a few minutes." he muttered to his pistols, zipping up his vest and twirling them into the breast and hip hostlers on his left and right, respectively.
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Post by Revan Jast on May 27, 2010 1:48:40 GMT -5
"You done yet?" Kurt asked, booting a metal trash bin. "Don't want some chick to pass by and see your scrawny ass hanging out in the wind."
As Blades finished gearing up, Kurt turned around and stared into the shadows at him. "Oh, never mind. We're not in the business of women today. That's always good, I suppose. Women have a habit of dragging you down. I should know. It's because of a woman I'm here anyways." Kurt spat onto the ground and shuffled his feet, as if impatient. "Bad subject, so ask about it later and I'll chose between telling you or putting a bullet in your foot."
He noted the guns Blades was now wearing. "Psssh, 'no idea what I'm talking about'... sure you don't. Now get your ass out here and lets go already!"
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Post by RobbyL9 on May 27, 2010 2:13:45 GMT -5
Blades just listened to what his former colleague was saying as he impatiently waited for him to finish gearing up. "Geez-oh, brother man! Didn't your momma ever tell you that patience is a virtue? And you don't gotta cover your eyes, it's not like I'm unpacking my wookiee over here." Clipping his knife sheath back onto his vest, Blades emerged from the alley. He wore the same clothes as before, he just looked a bit more paramilitary than before.
Flipping his mask down, he sighed and shrugged at Kurt. Leaning against the wall, he hesitated a second before leaning in. "I didn't want to risk saying it in the cafe, cause you never know who's listening." he whispered in Kurt's ear "I'm going into that office to shake it down. I've never had a problem with Legal Affairs before. If the Lady in Blue has really been off limits this whole time, there's only one reason I'd have a problem now. Someone blew my cover."
Blades retracted his head and walked to the edge of the alley, sneaking a glance toward the Office of Legal Affairs "Whoever blew my cover is going to keep doing it and may be protecting the Lady in Blue. This is my best chance to catch a lead on her identity or whereabouts, so I'm going to find out who did it, by hell or high water. There, now you wanted to be filled in and you're in. Ya satisfied?"
Blades waited impatiently for Kurt to answer. Every moment they delayed was distance between him and the bitch who killed his wife.
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Post by Revan Jast on May 27, 2010 2:25:18 GMT -5
"Satisfied? Does a cannok shit in the jungle?Yes, I'm ready to go."
Kurt reached down and pulled his balaclava out, putting it on. His entire head and face, save his eyes, was covered. He put his helmet on next and tapped the side of it so that the small holoscreen would activate. Once it did, coming to life with a blue light, he raised his right arm and tapped on the small wristpad computer there.
"Okay, you said Legal Affairs. I'm uploading a full employee name count to my system right now, along with records and shit. In other words, you want someone specific, I can spot them on sight."
Kurt started walking in that direction with Blades. "I presume we're going to walk right in and talk nicely, then pull out the guns and threaten to fuck them over if they don't speak?"
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Post by RobbyL9 on May 27, 2010 2:35:48 GMT -5
Behind his mask, Blades grinned and nodded "Something like that. And you have a full HUD read-out on that helmet of yours, right?" he asked, queuing the HUD on his mask up "Can you laser-tag targets with it? Because if you can, then I may have a slightly less direct approach. Let's sync our systems up and see, my code is 1068133." Blades laid against the wall and programmed his mask to receive the first incoming sync request.
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Post by Revan Jast on May 27, 2010 3:00:31 GMT -5
Kurt nodded and kept walking towards the building while typing in Blades' code. He waited for the connect line to disappear and for it to tell him he was in.
"Can you hear me?" Kurt asked, speaking through the mic he wore as a part of his helmet.
Nothing yet. He'd wait for a response. He flashed his I.D. at the guard at the door and entered the lobby. It was noisy enough in here to drown him out till Blades got through to him.
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Post by RobbyL9 on May 27, 2010 3:25:38 GMT -5
Blades noticed the tiny picture-in-picture screen appear and quickly disappear into the upper right corner of his HUD and knew that the sync had been complete on his end. "I gotcha." he whispered, pressing the comm bug in his left ear "I'm gonna worm my way around the alleys and try not to be spotted. I need you to look for a guy named Victis Amad. He's the guy in charge of the enforcement division."
As he talked, Blades kept himself hidden behind whatever he could find while he made his way through the alleyway. A box or a junk pile usually sufficed. Little by little he shifted from cover to cover. A few times he had to go out into the open, but as was usual with Taris nobody stopped to look at him or give him a second glance if they had thrown him one by accident. Mercenaries were still a much-hated tool of the elite.
Finally, Blades reached the alleyway across from the building. As he looked up at it, Blades realized the other reason he hadn't brought his rifles. The office of the guy he was looking for was on the second floor, the fire escape was just out of reach and his rifles were too damned heavy. Blades would have to scale the intricate molding bare-handed for about a floor before he could use the fire escape to get where he wanted.
Blades brought up the HUD and switched on the laser beacon in his mask. It was like a normal laser-tagging but marked Blades' silhouette white instead of red for enemy or green for civilian. "Kurt, I'm in position just across from the building." he reported, ducking behind another trash bin "I'm marking my current position on the HUD. I am holding here, awaiting an update on Mr. Amad. See if you can get a private conversation with him in his office and tag him."
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Post by Revan Jast on May 28, 2010 2:07:15 GMT -5
Kurt almost nodded before he remembered Blades couldn't see him. Sighing, he responded with an "affirmative" and headed off for the reception desk, where the woman behind it was busy typing away on a computer.
"Hey pumpkin, got a sec?" he asked, tapping his fingers on the counter top.
"Uh, sure. What is it?"
"I need to know the office number of a Mr. Victis Amad. I'm here on official business," he said, flashing his I.D. again.
"Second Floor, Room number 34."
"Thanks, peach," Kurt replied, heading for the elevator. "I've got a location," he said into the mic. "On my way up now."
He pushed the elevator button as he got in and headed up, whistling a tune to himself. When they slid open, plush carpet lay before him. "Fancy," he muttered, moving down the row of doors till he got to Amad's office. Luckily the man was in.
"We need to talk," Kurt said, walking into the room. He tapped another button on his helmet and lit Mr. Amad up like a Holy Tree on Blades' HUD.
"Get your ass over here," he whispered into the mic.
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Post by RobbyL9 on May 28, 2010 2:35:19 GMT -5
"Acknowledged!" Blades whispered sharply into his comm. Just then, he noticed the already large crowd around the alleyway get bigger. The people all seemed to be rushing over to something in the center square. Taking advantage, Blades dove into the thick of it, pushing and shoving his way through the largely teen-aged pedestrians.
He activated his HUD again and looked up at the second floor from the alley. Amad's office was further into the alley and to his left a little. Blades stretched his fingers in preparation...
---
Meanwhile, Victis Amad sat at his desk sorting through files in his datapad. Even though he held a seldom-respected and often thankless job these days, the director of enforcement and policing was looking snappy in an elegant blue suit. His short, parted black hair was so well-gelled that it didn't move an inch when he looked up at Kurt.
"Can I help you?" he asked, lightly rubbing his forehead and rising to his feet "I received a call from downstairs that a representative of His Honor the Admiral has come. I would hope this is important, as my attention is already quite swamped, you see."
Outside, the white silhouette of Blades hung from one of the many metallic notches on the outside of the building and looked for the next good grip point going towards the window.
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Post by Revan Jast on Jun 11, 2010 22:51:22 GMT -5
"I'm not a formal man, Amad, so don't be offended if I don't bother to shake your hand. I'm here on... discreet business. The type that should stay between me and you, understand?"
Kurt reached behind him and shut the door, then drew the shades to block off view from the hallway. He was careful to keep his eyes directly on Amad himself and not the windows, where Blades would be showing up. He didn't know how focused Amad was, so the slightest movement could give something away.
"Alright, that looks good," Kurt said, then tapped a button on his helmet to activate his EMF vision. He was searching the room for bugs, but there appeared to be none. Almost satisfied, he walked over to the desk and placed his hands on it. A picture sat nearby, and Kurt picked it up. It was a woman. "She's pretty," he said, almost adding a smile before he remembered he was wearing a balaclava. "Wife, eh?
Kurt let the picture slip from his grasp on 'accident' and watched as it hit the floor. Exhaling sharply, he crouched down and reached for it, swiftly drawing his knife with his other hand and driving it into the carpet, sliding it an inch to the right. And just like that he had hidden it again and was standing. He hastily replaced the picture on the desk. "I'm sorry," he said, sounding apologetic.
What he had done was cut the wire buried under the carpet that led to the alarm button underneath Amad's desk. With the door shut, shades drawn, and no 'Get Out Of Hell Free' button, Amad was fucked.
Behind his balaclava, Kurt grinned. Now they just needed Blades.
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Post by RobbyL9 on Jun 12, 2010 0:34:55 GMT -5
Amad grabbed the picture from Kurt's hand, repressing his offense at the mercenary he knew was in Sora's pocket. As if being the bureaucratic enforcer of laws on a planet struggling to rebuild for thousands of years wasn't enough, his men were rapidly being re-purposed and replaced by these... animals!
Amad put the picture in its place on the table and stared at Kurt "What is the meaning of this visit? Am I under some sort of investigation?"
---
Blades hung precariously from the side of the building as he made the final stretch toward the window. It wasn't until moments like these that he really appreciated how much military training he had received. Scaling a building wasn't quite the same as doing a cliff face freehand, ironically it was actually harder for him, but he managed.
Finally, he found his way to the window and quietly lifted his body into position. He could see Kurt and Amad arguing about something, most likely the political crap that he thought he was being called on. Oh if only he were so lucky, but not today. Lifting himself up onto the windowsill, Blades lowered his head and sprang all at once into the office.
His body flew rapidly toward Amad, and grabbed him from behind. When he attempted to cry out, he got a face full of desk instead when Blades tripped him. Blades quickly covered Amad's mouth with his hand and pulled out his pistol.
"You there, shut the fuck up and sit down, you understand? SIT!" he whispered sharply, shouting the last word. His mask made it appear to Amad that he was being accosted by a demon sent by his higher-ups to destroy him. Amad simply nodded and got to his feet then sat down as instructed.
"Keep your hands on the armrests!" Blades demanded, nervously looking around the room while reaching into his pockets and retrieving two zip-ties. He slipped one around each of Amad's arms and bound them to the armrests.
"What do you want? Why have you two..." Amad began before he was cut off with a pistol pointed at his face.
"You listening? Shut the hell up, I'll ask the questions here." Blades said firmly, backing a few feet away
"Very well, what do you wish to know?"
"Do you know who I am? I'm a private sector contractor investigate a case on behalf of the victim's family. A case I was arrested as a traitor to the Republic for investigating."
Blades noticed Amad blink and look away momentarily before looking back up at him. "Yes, by 'case' I assume you mean the ongoing case of the Lady in Blue? And?"
Blades rolled his eyes at Amad's skill at feigning ignorance, or lack thereof. He rubbed his temple with his pistol and continued calmly in a somewhat perturbed tone "Well I want to know what's going on."
"Well, let's see." Amad crossed his legs and looked right up at Blades "You have been arrested for committing a crime and instead of attempting to plea your case in the courts and probably get out, you have decided to assault a high-ranking Republic bureaucratic officer. And unless the situation has changed at all, you shall soon be formally indicted for both crimes."
"You need to be arrested and taken to prison to be processed and tried." Blades said, stepping forward.
"Yes, and?"
Blades flipped up his mask, causing Amad's eyes to widen "And I didn't make it all the way." Immediately Amad made a mad dash for the underside of his desk toward the distress button. Even though he was bound and not easily able to reach the button, let alone press it, Blades quickly forced him back and punched him in the face.
"Wily prick." Blades snapped, grabbing him by the shirt and pushing him around so he could pull the chair away from the door. Once he had puled him a safe distance away from the button, Blades spun Amad back around and looked at him.
"Lemme tell you something, Mr. King-shit Cop. You may not like it, but I don't give a real damn so I'm gonna say it anyway. All those stories you've heard about me? They will all come true ALL OVER THIS OFFICE in the space of a minute and a half if you don't start talking."
Blades pulled out his other pistol, pointing both at Amad's head and looked down at him, an ever-intensifying glare now fully apparent on his face. "And if you ever try to screw me over like that again, you'll regret it. Now, TELL me. How did you know that I was investigating the Lady in Blue?"
Amad looked up at the pistols and over at Kurt, clearly intimidated, but still silent.
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Post by Revan Jast on Jun 13, 2010 17:39:13 GMT -5
Kurt stood with his arms crossed. "I'd talk if I were you, pal. If you don't talk, he'll hurt you. If you still don't talk..." he said, bringing out his knife, "I'll hurt you."
He put the knife away and smirked behind his mask. "I once tortured a man by driving nails into the tips of his fingers and toes. When that didn't work, I got a screwdriver and some screws and went to work on the webbing between his fingers and toes. He talked after the first try. Screwdriver is a lot slower, see. Hurts more."
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Post by RobbyL9 on Jun 13, 2010 19:15:00 GMT -5
Listening to this was too much for Amad and he shut his eyes tightly. "Please, please. Don't talk anymore, just..." he said looking around "Look. I don't know how the police found you. Your report didn't come to my attention until the incident on the transport that you were being taken on."
"Okay, fine. I was arrested totally out of left field, after who knows how many years of uninterrupted investigation." Blades said with a scoff "So just look me in the eye and tell me that you weren't involved." He leaned in and tried to put his pistol underneath Amad's chin to lift it up, causing him to jerk away. "Look me in the eye, damn it!"
Blades re-holstered his left pistol and grabbed Amad's face, turning it up towards his. "I want you to look me in the eyes, Vicki. Right here." he said, pointing to his eyes "And tell me. How did your guys know I was investigating the Lady in Blue?"
Victis Amad looked up nervously for a few seconds, and straightened out.
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Post by Revan Jast on Jun 13, 2010 19:20:43 GMT -5
He was getting impatient. Walking around the desk, grabbed Victis by the hair and pulled his head back. "Talk or I cut your tongue and you won't be talking to anyone. Your wife would be disappointed, Amad."
Kurt looked up at Blades. "He's probably never even gone down on her. That right, paper pusher?"
He let him go and stepped back. "The sad fuck isn't worth wasting my energy on. Shame too, I was looking forward to making him yell a little."
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