CHAPTER TWO
"Ah, Prince Xalren." The gray-haired Imperial Moff smiled in greeting as the extravagantly-dressed Falleen stepped down the ramp of his royal yacht. "You're here early. The party doesn't start for another three hours."
The Prince of Falleen smiled thinly. "I sometimes enjoy being fashionably early. Besides, there's so much to see here on Orinda. The lush gardens, the magnificent sea...."
"Indeed," Drikl Lecersen said as he fell in step with Xalren Mithric, both of their guards flanking them. "What would you like me to show you first?"
"Your own personal garden if you would please," Xalren said, his tone suddenly business-like. "I have pressing matters to inform you of."
Lecersen nodded and signaled the guards to stay behind while he led the Falleen Prince through the front entrance of his estate and around the great mansion, arriving at an equally-magnificent garden. Fluorescent plants surrounded the path they now walked down.
"Speak, Your Highness," the Moff finally said.
Xalren frowned. "The Vigos. They're all dead."
Lecersen froze and turned to him with wide eyes. "All of them?"
Xalren nodded. "Tyrius, Scav, Varak, Zurn... all of them have been reported dead by my agents. Someone has been on a killing spree."
"Do you have any suspects?"
The prince considered this for a moment before saying, "There is one. His name is Kadar."
"Ah, I've heard of him," Lecersen murmured. "A well-known bounty hunter. You think he was hired to kill the Vigos?"
"It's a possibility. I do have my fair share of rivals." Xalren paused briefly before adding, "Kadar included."
Lecersen raised an eyebrow. "How did you earn his ire?"
"It's irrelevant," Xalren said dismissively. "Anyway, I need use of our contacts, Drikl. Do you know of anyone who could efficiently eliminate Kadar?"
Lecersen thought for a moment before saying. "I know of someone called Mal Banvor. He's been useful to me for the past few years and, as I understand it, used to be a Black Sun affiliate."
"Indeed," Xalren said. "I'm sure he'll get the job done. Otherwise, the Mandalorian will pose a danger to all our plans."
"Not if I have anything to say about it."
* * *
"Have you picked anything up yet, Four?"
"Not much," Trey Courser muttered into his comlink as he fiddled with the communication/sensor device he had built. Sitting against the side of a building located not far from Moff Lecersen's estate, he looked around the corner to see Piggy and Doc carrying similar devices. Both of them shook their heads, indicating that they weren't having better luck.
"They must have something blocking us out," Trey then said. "Either that, or... permission to be blunt, sir?"
"Granted," Face Loran responded.
"This was a stupid idea."
"Probably," Face admitted. "Luckily, Phase Besh is underway. One, Two, Three, and I will be attending the party."
"What about Five?"
"She's attending to other matters. Just hang in there until I radio you."
"Copy that," Trey said before ending the connection. He then returned his attention to his device and saw smoke coming out from it. "Stang."
* * *
Observant eyes watched as the Naboo Royal Starship landed outside the Lecersen Estate. Guests were dropping down from the sky like rain. Dozens- perhaps even a hundred of famous people such as the Queen of Naboo, the King of Onderon, and the Duchess of Drall were arriving to attend the Moff's party. It made one wonder what sort of event would attract these type of people.
The invitation had said it was a celebration of the day the Imperial-Sith War ended and the Empire changed for the best, reforming into the Imperial Remnant. But the woman posing as a stormtrooper guard outside the mansion knew better; an ulterior motive was at work.
As guests continued to file in, the stormtrooper turned to her fellow guard. "Er, I have to use the restroom."
The other trooper sighed exasperatedly, his shoulders sagging. "Fine, I'll cover for you. You owe me a drink though."
Wordlessly, the stormtrooper hurried off to the facility which Lecersen had- rather generously- established for his servants and guards to use. Entering the ladies room, the stormtrooper quickly shed the armor from her bodyglove and donned a completely different uniform, rife with weapons and tools.
She then jumped up and grabbed the grate to the air vent on the ceiling. After using a hydrospanner to remove the bolts from it, she wrenched off the grate and squeezed herself into the ventilation shaft. In moments, Zilaash Kuh was on the hunt.
* * *
Night was beginning to fall on Orinda. The party at Lecersen's mansion was well underway. Now was the perfect time to strike.
Moving through the shadows, Kadar slowly approached the mansion. Standing at the front entrance were five stormtroopers acting alert. But not too alert, luckily for him.
Bringing out a sniper rifle from a sling on his back, Kadar readied it and aimed at one of the five troopers. Bringing down one would confuse the others and distracting them with a rock thrown in the opposite direction would allow himself to slip inside undetected.
Or so he thought.
Hearing the click of a blaster, Kadar slipped out a pistol from its holster and turned around to face a young woman dressed in all black. She appeared human at first, but her flared nostrils and grayish skin indicated that she was an Anzat.
Glaring at her through his visor, Kadar said, "And to whom do I owe this visit? A bodyguard of Moff Lecersen?"
The Anzat sneered. "Don't make me laugh. My allegiance is with the Alliance, not those Imperial scum. In fact, I'm on a mission to exploit them." She narrowed her eyes. "You?"
Kadar kept his blaster trained on her. "I have nothing against the Empire. Rather, I have some... personal business with one of the Moff's guests."
"I see. So we have separate, yet connected tasks." The Anzat smiled wickedly. "What say we team up?"
"Elaborate."
"I help you accomplish your goal, and you mine."
The ex-Mandalorian considered the offer. Although he hardly ever worked with others, he was close enough to his objective that he could not risk loosing his chance. Lowering his blaster, Kadar nodded to the Anzat woman.
"Deal."
No comments:
Post a Comment