[Game Thread] Chapter 2 [Empire]: On the Hunt

[Craigthulu]

"I, agree with Vullze corporal." IIc spoke up after Vullze answered the question about having proper gear for the mission at hand. "Dissenting forces have proven adept at subversive assault tactics. Assume lethal armament is required until proven otherwise. Standard survival tactics for an active war zone."

[grenadierman]

"Understood. With the Inquisitor's sanction I'll have a talk with the ISB and see what they know about the locals, and then the droid and I will knock on some doors starting from the top of the list."

IIc's statements of the situation draws a chuckle from Corporal Molta. "That is one way to think about it IIc, but it all depends if we are trying to earn the support of the locals here or not."

[stitchlipped]

"The Corporal is correct," Vullze states, nodding his head, "People tend to resent overt aggression. On top of that, I have some experience with criminal bosses. They tend to be proud and to posture. Go in too hot and an avoidable firefight might ensue. Expect danger, of course, but do your best not to trigger it."

The anzati turns smartly back to Marquesh, waiting for her to confirm where to find Miss Belos and either ccept or deny his intended use of the droids. Before she can give her reply, however, a final thought occurs to him.

"Ah! One more thing, Inquistor Marquesh."

With his left hand, Vullze gestures downward across his torso, indicating his dark garments. Dry now, but definitely not at their best.

"A change of clothes is in order. A representative of the Empire must be presentable."

[Melchior]

"I'll inform Detention that they are to make Miss Belos ready for questioning," Inquisitor Marquesh agreed with a nod towards Vullze. She glanced over towards where the droids where standing, "Unit C, accompany him. Use whatever methods you wish, but do not kill the prisoner."

"While you speak with her, I will meet with the governor. I am certain that I will be able to persuade him to allow us access to Councillor Lovnos."

Marquesh raised an eyebrow at Vullze's suggestion that Molta and IIa lead up an independent investigation of potential suspects. If she thought it strange to assign a lone stormtrooper to such tasks, she didn't say anything about it. "Very well. I will ensure the Corporal is granted the appropriate clearance and inform the ISB to have the information ready. Unit A will assist you in this manner."

"Affirmation: Yes, Mistress!" the dutiful droid chirped immediately, slamming a metal fist against its chest plate in a salute.

The Imperials moved to attend to their assigned tasks, but before their could disperse fully, Vullze brought up one final issue which had been plaguing the beleaguered anzati for some time: the miserable state of his uniform.

"Of course," Marquesh said when Vullze requested a proper change of uniform. Her eyes glanced down to look over the tattered remnants of his original uniform and for the first time Vullze thought he might have seen the ghost of amusement tug at the corner of the woman's mouth. "I'll have the quartermaster arrange something for you."

~~~~~~

Nearly half an hour later, Vullze - with a pristine new uniform - and IIc made their way through the bowels of the IMperial complex. Their destination was the large set of double doors at the end of the hall. 'Detention' was marked plainly on a small sign above the doors.

A stormtrooper standing guard saluted them as they approached. "Sir. The prisoner is ready for questioning. You can go in whenever you wish."

~~~~~~

Several floors up, a similar situation was playing out as Molta and IIa made their way through the halls. It hadn't taken Molta long to arrange things with his squad and now he and the droid were making their way towards the office of the ISB liaison that had accompanied the Imperial forces to Corellia.

"Statement: Corporal Molta, you have been given our assignments and I have been ordered to assist you in the completion thereof. Therefore I shall defer to your judgement until such a time that I have deemed your incompetence detrimental to the completion of our mutual objectives," the droid said in a conversational tone, seemingly cheerfully unaware how insulting its words could be taken. No doubt, the droid thought it was being extremely generous by offering Molta the opportunity to prove his competence in the first place.

"Inquiry: how shall we proceed?"

[grenadierman]

Corporal Pasam Molta kept things on the hush-hush even with his squadmates. He only told them that the Inquisitors required his services until further notice, but he would keep his best to stay in touch with them. He did not bother to bring his arsenal with him before meeting with the ISB - however scary they might be, he isn't expecting a routine meeting with the Empire's boogeymen to devolve into a standoff.

The battle-scarred stormtrooper lent his ears to IIa's attempt at conversation though it was hard not to notice the condescension and self-importance oozing through the droid's words. Molta replies with the fairest hint of sarcasm, dropping any sense of the formality he had in the meeting with the inquisitors. "I'm flattered, Unit A. You have a nickname I can use? It doesn't roll off the tongue that well."

"Well. I prefer things by the book. But seeing as how we're both grunts being sent on a spy's job, we'll have to improvise at parts. I'd say we go for the big fish on the list, ask them *politely* at first, and if that doesn't work, we'll go to plan *B*. There is a pause as Molta plays out plan B in his head, and he has to resist the urge to crack his knuckles. "Only if they're lying, of course. We'll minimize collateral as much as possible."

Molta looks at IIa from head-to-toe as they continue walking towards the office, "Asides from combat, do you have any other skills? We'll also need a speeder for storage and transportation."

[stitchlipped]

Vullze nods to the guard then catches IIc's sensor units.

"She's sure to find you terrifying, so you're the stick. We'll try things my way - reason backed by a looming threat. That's you. If she fails to respond to that reason, you'll have free reign to do it your way. Short of crippling or killing her."

The anzati smoothes the lower hem of his new uniform's jacket, then pushes through the double doors into the spartan detention chamber beyond. As the stormtrooper informed them she would be, Lyzerna Belos awaits at a table alone, uncomfortable, probably terrified. Vullze crosses the distance between them, pulls out the chair opposite the aide, and settles into it. He watches her intently for a long time.

"Well Miss Belos," he says eventually, steepling his hands on the table in front of him, "it seems you're in a whole heap of poodoo. I'm sure you had no idea when you approved those access passes that your falleen friend intended to blow up the building... But what matters is the end result, not intent. The falleen has fled, by the way. Left you alone to take the fall in this very big mess he's made for you. So perhaps he's not a "friend" after all?"

Pausing to let his words sink in, Vullze watches Lyzerna's face and gestures intently, keenly interested in how the woman reacts. But the inquisitor doesn't wait long enough to give her a window to speak, leaning forward to reduce the distance between them and create a sense of closeness and collaboration as he continues.

"Let me be frank with you, Miss Belos. You'll face the Corellian courts for your part in what has happened. But I can ensure that your cooperation in bringing the true perpetrators to justice is taken into account when your own judgement is passed. Think about your best interests. And think about the best interests of the hundreds of victims and their grieving families. Give the monster up. I want his name, I want every detail you know about him. His ship, his haunts, his habits, his friends. The people he was with, of course. And everything else you know about him, however trivial it may seem to you—kriff, give me his favourite flavour of yoghurt! And Miss Belos, I have a great deal to do. I can spend only so much time here with you. So I recommend you be thorough and honest, both now and when you answer any follow-up questions."

At this point Vullze deliberately sits back in his chair, returning the distance he had previously closed, restoring and reinforcing the power dynamic between them before he introduces the "stick".

"If I feel like my time is being wasted, I'll have no choice but to let IIc here take over. I'm sure you understand."

OOG I've pre-rolled 29Persuasion and 26Perception (to detect Deception) in case either are necessary.

[Craigthulu]

Following Vullze down the hallway IIcs audio scanners listened to his prattling. This rookie inquisitor seemed to think IIc had no files on interrogation. Tchhhh A glitched audio file triggered at the word. Based on the amount of trauma IIc had recieved memory issues were most likely cropping up. IIc would have to see Dr Yurishima about this particular glitch. The soft interrogation; Tchhh Tchhh aproach, (IIc twitched slightly and ran a diagnostic systems check) was a standard procedure.

Walking down to the detention block without taking preparations to meet the prisoner was a waste of time. While recording Vullze instructions IIc opted to calibrate its sensors to judge Miss Belos answers. Sub-audio sensors recorded Vullze heart beat while infrared visual scanners made a thermal map of the biological system. Based on the amount of combat and stress from the mission IIc judged Vullze to be agitated but calm. A good baseline to judge the prisoner during the questioning period.

When the door opened IIc followed Vullze inside, closing the door behind them. Not as physically imposing as a wookie or trandoshan, IIc had several options available. While listening to the questions that Vullze asked, the droid was focused on subject Belos' answers. The sub-audio sensors listened to her heart beat while the thermal vision recorded her body temperature. Physical signs of stress like an increased heart beat or flushing of the skin should be easy to read.

The time between answers and questions would be the ideal time to interject and increase the threat level on Miss Belos. Such an action would increase Miss Belos stress levels making lies harder to detect. The threat had all ready been made by Vullze, taking the time to make additional threats would be inefficient. Based on that analysis continuing to observe would be the best course of action.

[Melchior]

The stormtrooper standing guard dutifully stepped aside to allow Vullze and IIc to enter the detention chamber.

The room itself was bare with slate grey durasteel walls that offered little comfort. A single light sat embedded into the single, providing dim illumination. In place of one of the walls was a large mirror taking up half the wall. Vullze guessed that there were security officers in the room on the other side of the mirror observing and recording the interrogation. There was no furniture in the room except for a single metal table, with two chairs. One of the chairs was occupied by a young, blonde human woman. The other chair on the opposite side of the table was empty. Vullze claimed the unoccupied chair for himself, while IIa took up a position behind him, looming dangerously in the dim lighting.

Belos looked up when the door opened and then almost immediately shrunk in on herself with a fearful whimper when she caught sight of Vullze's imperial uniform and the obviously well-armed battle droid filing into the room behind him.

For a long while after Vullze took his seat nothing was said. Vullze was content to let the woman suffer in silence while he eyed her over. Lyzerna Belos would have been considered very attractive according to the standards of most sentients, though at the moment her beauty was marred somewhat by the poor state she was in. It was clear she had been crying. Her eyes were red and puffy, and there were streaks of smeared makeup on her cheeks were she'd tried to wipe away the tears. More than once she tried to open her mouth and say something, but she'd look into Vullze's blank expression or catch sight of the light of IIc's ocular sensors watching her and she'd shrink back again in fear.

Finally, Vullze spoke, breaking the silence so abruptly that it caused the woman to flinch back. The anzati proceeded to lay out what he knew and what he wanted from her, paying attention to the woman's reactions. There was fear and panic aplenty, and it even looked for a moment like she might burst into tears again when Vullze brought up the fact that she'd helped blow up the building and killed hundreds of people, but when the topic turned to what she knew about the perpetrator her expression grew pained.

"N-no, that's not... We were... Anazider wouldn't..." she protested weakly. Her eyes were wide with unshed tears growing in the corners. An almost desperate edge slipped into her voice as she grabbed the edge of the table, "He couldn't have done this! S-something must've... there were Jedi right? They- They must have done something to him!"

Unfortunately, Vullze and IIc didn't have all day to deal with whatever delusions this woman had about a dangerous criminal. And when Vullze pointed as much out to her, Belos' eyes shot open even wider. Her gaze shot frantically over to IIc, naked terror flitting across her face.

"B-but... But I don't know anything! I didn't-!" she pleaded. From the back of the room IIc's sensors could see that the woman's stress levels were raising. Her heart was hammered loud enough that the droid's auditory systems could pick it up from across the room, and from her accelerated breathing it seemed that she was on the verge of hyperventilating. "I...I..."

~~~~~~

"Patronizing Response: the novice commander chose the moniker 'Hack' after a similar complaint. I find it quaint that organics are incapable of remembering the simplest of numerical designations. But I will be mindful of your limitations. This is an acceptable 'nickname'."

"Self-aggrandizement: The HK-XJ II series represents the pinnacle of the Galactic Empire's droid engineering and development. My assassination protocols are the finest in the galaxy and I am equipped with a wide variety of anti-Jedi armaments and systems to counter all of the most widely observed Jedi capabilities, as well as several of the less-universal, but more formidable, abilities." IIa began when Molta inquired about the droid's capabilities.

"I have also been equipped with state of the art sensors and tracking protocols, in addition to the foremost slicing and information gathering sub-routines."

"Placation: Do not worry, Corporal. Using my superior deduction capabilities I foresaw your request and have already requested suitable transportation. Preparations will be complete by the time we are finished meeting with the ISB."

Ideally that would not be far off. If did not take long for the two of them to reach their destination. The temporary room assigned to the ISB detachment on Corellia was not very large, and when Molta stepped in the first thing he noticed was that they appeared to be trying to fit far too much into not enough space. Cluttered did not even begin to describe it. Even desk, shelf and available surface appeared to be filled by datapad, computers and even the occasional hard-copy dossier. In the center of it all stood a man in an imperial security officer's uniform, who turned to regard Molta and IIa as the entered.

"Ah yes. You must be the stormtrooper I was told would be coming by," the man said, his crisp accent marking him as a Coruscanti native. The man was rather plain faced, of average height with simple brown eyes and short dark hair. In fact, were it not for the uniform Molta would have hard a hard time coming up with any distinguishing characteristics about him at all. "You'll have to excuse the mess. The Corellians have not been terribly expeditious in regards to our request for a larger space. Understandable, perhaps, given recent events."

The ISB officer clasped both of his hands behind his back as he regarded them, "I am Agent Tarben. Now Inquisitor Marquesh's message informed me of some of the details, but perhaps it would be best if you were to lay out exactly what it is we are looking for."

[stitchlipped]

Vullze reaches across the table and clicks his fingers, the sharp report resounding loudly in the small, enclosed room. The gesture is intended to draw her attention, despite her panic, to the hand and beyond it to his face. To his eyes. The eyes of a snake charmer. Or simply a snake.

"You are calm. You will breathe. You will tell me everything I want to know."

The words are laced with the Force, as potent as they are reassuring. He's distracted by Belos' agitation even as he attempts to quell it, resulting in a lackluster effort. Yet even at his worst Vullze's power in the Force is strong, and his "lackluster" effort is still powerful by almost any standard.

"Begin with your relationship to the Falleen you call Anazider."

OOG Mind Trick: Use the Force result of 20. Spending a FP to improve her attitude 1 step +1 additional step per 5 points by which her Will Defense is exceeded.

[grenadierman]

Molta replied in what he hopes is a neutral tone, not being sure how to acknowledge the droid without feeding its already bloated ego. "Alright Hack. We'll see what an assassin droid and a soldier can do." Truth be told he was already becoming a little agitated with him, even if it is R&D's finest model.

It really needs a social etiquette protocol.

The makeshift office for the ISB was cluttered to say the least. From their reputation and the odd, casual run-ins with them Pasam Molta expected everything to be neatly organized, and sterile. He couldn't fault the agent's remarkably unremarkable appearance, since he himself was still wearing his helmet and armor that also covered his prosthetic arm. He could only guess how the security bureau distinguishes between the faceless soldiers they have to deal with at times.

Corporal Molta made light rapport to test the waters, though he did not expect much reception from the agent. "It's nothing compared to a foxhole."

Though he suspects Agent Tarben already read his complete service records, Pasam Molta made an effort for formal introductions, "Agent Tarben. I am Corporal Pasam Molta, of the 231st Legion, and this is HK-XJ IIa." The soldier tried to read the droid's reaction as he introduced him for the agent.

Out of habit, the soldier adopted an at-ease position similar to Agent Tarbern's as they go over what is required for the operation, "We are looking for a list of any and all criminal elements on Corelia that might know about Anazider or his ship the Emerald Flash. Given the limited resources at our disposal, the lack of experience the two of us have dealing with the criminal underworld, and our specialized skill set, our plan is to extract what we need from the list directly, avoiding, or minimizing any unnecessary collateral damage."

"We're open for suggestions if you have them." Corporal Molta glanced expectantly at Hack, whose circuits may or may not be on full throttle at the idea of taking feedback.

Molta realized he hadn't asked Hack whether he has had dealings with the underworld or not, but he suspected he will find out soon enough.

[Craigthulu]

"Confirmation" Miss Belos was in a near panicked stated and was divulging information, readily without prompting. The information provided was so disorganized that it provided almost no context of time or subject. This problem was almost as bad as a refusal to answer questions. Knowing the background information of the questions IIc began filtering the information for broadcast.

IIc opened radio contact with with ISB Network and began to relay information. "A connection between Miss Belos and Anazider has been confirmed. Locate any and all information pertaining to the new target. A detailed search of all communications is required, regarding Miss Belos, Councillor Lovnos and the ship Tyvan Lily 34, sub name Emerald Flash. IIc sent a time stamp of with the information that coincided with the mission on Selonia. "Focus the search on this time frame, the Emerald Flash departed Selonia just prior to me, arriving on this planet ahead of me. Despite the amount of ship traffic, calculating for a hyper space jump, the Emerald Flash should have entered Corellian air space in this time interval. That should narrow your search. Additionally scan for all communication on the Emerald Flash during the recent dog fight. Record and send the information to me.

The current information sent to the ISB network IIc saw another opportunity to collect data. Vullze was adopting behaviors similar to the Jedi. The area around Darth Vader was storm of outlier events happening on a microscopic scale. Focusing its sensors IIc decided to calibrate its sensors, using the complex mathematical functions to determine if, when and how much of the force a person was using. Purely for research purposes, there was no need to regard Vullze as an enemy (yet).

[Melchior]

With the young Miss Belos quickly working herself towards a panic attack, it had become clear to Vullze that getting any sort of coherent answers out of the woman was going to require alternate persuasion. Before she managed to get too carried away, he spoke up with an instruction for her to calm down. Even distracted as Vullze was the results were swift, and Belos quieted down, her breathing slowly returning to normal.

The woman's mind was not strong, certainly not strong enough to resist Vullze's power. In better conditions, the anzati might have been able to bend this woman's will to whatever ends he desired. But her tumultuous mental state made manipulation more difficult. Forcing his hand, as it were, might have got him immediate results but pushing too hard would likely end up destroying her mind. For now he would have to be satisfied with more subtle results.

At least she was quiet again, and seemed more compliant.

"He... We met years ago," Belos began, her eyes slightly out of focus as she began recount the relationship between herself and the Falleen they were searching for. "My father used to sit on the government commission that oversees contract disputes. I was helping him with a case involving Xin'dan Transports Unlimited when I first met Anazider. We dated for a time, and we were even going to get married, but then he disappeared." Though her eyes were still somewhat distant, Belos' face drew into a small frown. "I didn't hear from him at all after that for years. Not until yesterday."

While Belos answered Vullze's questions, IIc was busy communicating with the Imperial network, sending requests for information and informing them of details of interest to investigate furtherto the ISB computers. The droid received confirmation for the computers that its recommendations would be considered, though the ISB computer did take the opportunity to point out to the droid that they already knew where the ship in question, the Tyvan Lily #34, had gone during the time frame requested. Upon passing through Corellia Atmospheric control it had gone directly to the Lovnos estate, where IIc itself had found it.

While it waited on the ISB to process its requests - the communication with the network had only taken a few seconds - IIc turned its attention back to the interrogation.

~~~~~~

"Ah yes. Well there are plenty of criminal elements on Corellia. The natives are far too lenient and self-centered to try and properly deal with them," Agent Tarben said with a disproving frown. "If you ask me, the Empire will be good for Corellia. We'll help them clean their streets of the filth."

"But that is neither here nor there at the moment," Tarben conceded, picking up a datapad and keying up some information. "There is actually little in the way of direct ties between this Anazider Xin'dan and the local gangs. We know that he has extensive ties with the Lovnos family, though considering his ship was caught on their estate red-handed, that is not much a surprise at this point. Councillor Lovnos has already been taken into custody, and we are in the process of investigating his estate for any information that might be gleaned."

"Besides them, it would appear that our friend has had little to do with Corellia. A preliminary investigation of CorSec's Traffic Control files revealed that this was the first time in over two years that either the Emerald Flash or any of its known alias' visited the planet." Before it could look like their search might be ended before it even had a chance to begin, Agent Tarben pressed another button on his datapad and looked up at Molta with a smile.

"However, we do have a sighting of a Falleen matching Xin'dan's description visiting a local establishment, the Oviir Tapcafe, shortly after landing on the planet. He was apparently familiar with the owner, as well." The agent once again folded his hands behind his back. "If you are looking for a trail, I would recommend starting there."

[grenadierman]

Corporal Molta nodded approvingly, "That can't come soon enough Agent Tarben. Coruscant's lower levels aren't safe to walk alone anymore, and we don't need that in Corellia." The stormtrooper in fact hadn't been back to his home planet in years, but it was no stretch of imagination to believe the criminal underworld was just as vibrant as it had been in his childhood.

Agent Tarben's conclusion echoed his own thoughts exactly. He'll get time to muse and think of home, as there are more pressing matters at hand. A terrorist needs to be apprehended to pay for his crimes, and while he was initially expecting grunt work for his first assignment on Corellia he did not mind. This will be a good way to prove himself in the eyes of high command here, and perhaps even Lord Vader himself.


Gurluko will be throwing a fit if she hasn't heard of my reassignment already. Corporal Molta repressed a chuckle. While Lieutenant Colonel Gurluko was not his direct CO, she had enough leverage with the command staff of the 231st that the corporal was denied a promotion several times over and gave him extra duty whenever possible. He was certain he'll get *somewhere* after doing this special assignment, whether Gurluko likes it or not.

Corporal Molta didn't know about this Lovnos family, but made a note to do a little research on them later.

Corporal Molta considered the Tapcafe from a tactical standpoint and asked,"What do we know about the owner of the tapcafe, and what kind of neighbourhood is it? Got an address and a blueprint?"

[Craigthulu]

Miss Belos had the personal will power of wet clay. Her mind was caving into Vullzes tactics rather easily. After years of silence she agreed to meet with a former romantic partner, agreeing to a favor at great cost to herself. IIc could not understand the prerogative that biologicals had to risk everything they have for an non-quantifiable emotional connection. If miss Belos new more than she was letting on IIc was a jawas mother.

Softening the voice modulator IIc made an effort to appear more congenial. "Miss Belos. Your continued cooperation is noted. Please continue, what happened after initial contact was made with Anazider?"

[Melchior]

Belos’ jumped slightly in her seat, startled. Her vacant gaze shifted slightly to look over at the droid, a glimmer of confusion in her glassy eyes. It seemed like she had forgotten entirely about the droid in her mental fog.

Still, Vulze’s effort to make the woman more pliant to his questions seemed to extend to the droid as well. After a momentary pause, Belos nodded slowly.

”Anazider said he wanted help with a new show of his. He said they just needed to shoot a few scenes on location. I tried to tell him it was a bad time, but he promised that his crew would be discrete, and that they’d handle things while he took me out to lunch. I… I thought he might be trying to make up for everything. So I said okay..”

”They showed up on time this morning. Anazider’s crew went to take care of their business while he and I went to the forth floor. I didn’t even get a really good look at them.” She frowned briefly, but dutifully carried on with her explanation. ”I needed to get something from my office. It was on the way back that the alarms started going off. I tried to get him to the evacuation exit but he said he needed to take care of something and ran off. That was the last I saw Anazider.”

~~~~~~

”It’s a small, low-class establishment near the Spacedocks, Tarben indicated when Molta inquired what else they knew about their destination. ”Cheap watered-down alchohol, barely legal narcotics, and the sort of clientele that such things attract. That it keeps the gutter-rats in one place is the only good thing that can be said about it.”

”In other words, it’s very much the same as most bars. Spacing types are so very fond of their vices,” he added dryly, glancing at his data pad.

”The Oviir Tapcafe is owner by one Wallus Sousa, a Barabel. He has a few marks on his criminal records, for minor crimes, but nothing which CorSec saw fit to imprison him over,” the frown on the agents face suggested to Molta that CorSec’s regulations might soon be coming under scrutiny by the ISB as well. ”Regardless, he knows Xin’dan.”

Agreement: Indeed. My navigation systems have already made a note of the location of this ‘Oviir Tapcafe’’s address and have already plotted our route for maximum efficiency. Hack’s eyes flowed brightly as he turned to look down at Molta. “Corporal Molta, let us be off. I am eager to commence hunting protocols.”