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The Morellian's Lament
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| Garik__Taynor | Date: Monday, 16 May 2016, 7:33 PM | Message # 1 |
 Trainee
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| The death of a single Neimoidian didn't exactly make waves on Imperial Center, not even a high-placed Neimoidian mafioso the likes of Ictood Kruus. Life was cheap at the dark heart of the Empire, non-Human life especially so. That Kruus's death had been part of internecine criminal warfare was obvious enough; the assassin, a Rodian named Ziilo Dreek, was well-known to be in the employ of the Hutt Cartel. But it didn't matter. Not to the Empire. Not even to the Coruscant Security Force. One less Neimoidian gangster on Coruscant was something to be celebrated; Ziilo Dreek had perhaps done the planet a favor before he disappeared—probably half-way to Hutt Space by now.
Garik Taynor cared. Not about Kruus, by any means. The gangster's days of acting with impunity on Coruscant—"on my planet," as Garik would say—had come to an agreeable end, as far as he was concerned. But Dreek's employer was another gangster who had acted with impunity here, and probably a worse one than Ictood Kruus. The Neimoidians were a defeated people; they had lost the war and they knew it. Even Kruus had known his place. But the Hutts were ambitious. The so-called "Hutt Space" encompassed a thousand worlds, with many more under the heel of their Cartel. The Hutts knew no limits, not even here on Imperial Center.
The Empire wanted nothing to do with the Kruus assassination, and the CSF, too, was happy to close the case. But the case had landed on Garik Taynor's desk. It was his now, and he wasn't done with it. Part of it was personal ambition; Taynor was the youngest Inspector on the force and had a lot to prove, but not a lot of opportunity to do so. The Empire hadn't declared martial law on Coruscant, but it certainly acted like it; stormtroopers increasingly enforced the law here in their usual shoot-first-and-don't-ask-questions-later style. And the CSF wasn't supposed to ask questions either (especially about the corruption of Imperial officials). The Kruus case was one of the table scraps that the Empire didn't want, and Garik was going to make the most of it.
But he was curious, too. The Hutts weren't at war with the Neimoidian mafia, and Ictood Kruus was a small-fry compared to the Hutt kajidics. It didn't begin to make sense until the CSF impounded a transport at West Championne the following day with an unusual cargo in its hold; photon spiders, valued for their ability to detect aurodium, and often trained and genetically-"enhanced" for this purpose. The ship's owner, a Morellian named Seth Spiegel, hadn't paid his docking fees, and Garik quickly found out why; Spiegel had been arrested for "assaulting a stormtrooper," a frequently trumped-up charge that Garik had seen a lot of in recent years. But apparently Spiegel really had assaulted a stormtrooper, and on the night of Kruus's murder, no less. Smuggling photon spiders would mean another 2 years in prison, and potentially many more for complicity in the hit on Kruus.
Seth Spiegel seemed to be an interesting character, though. Imperial records couldn't agree on exactly how old Spiegel was, but this son of a Morellian Enforcer had a rap sheet a parsec long; a part-time bounty hunter, part-time drug dealer, with gambling debts from one end of the Outer Rim to the other, Spiegel was most recently a smuggler in the employ of the Hutts. His last port of call had been Selonia. Ziilo Dreek had been there, too. Garik had all the evidence he needed to put Spiegel away for a long time.
But he had another idea.
♦ ♦ ♦
Garik squinted through a transparisteel viewport into the cargo bay of the Cretan's Paradox, a chill running down his back as he caught a glimpse of the caged, man-sized photon spiders, their many eyes glistening in the dimly-lit room. However thick the durasteel was between the cargo bay and his quarters, it wasn't thick enough, Garik thought. He turned away from the viewport, zipping up the nondescript spacer's jacket he'd opted for instead of his uniform. In the week it would take to reach Hutt Space, he would have decent-sized beard and wouldn't have any problem blending in on Nar Shaddaa or whatever hive of scum and villainy this investigation would lead him into.
He walked the short distance to the ship's bridge, his boots clanking on the durasteel floor as he did so. There, Seth Spiegel sat at the controls in a frumpy suit, looking none-too-happy about this arrangement. Not that he'd had any choice in the matter, Garik reminded himself. Not much of one, anyway. He had deduced that Spiegel had been transporting the photon spiders on behalf of the Hutt Cartel and had the idea of selling them to another buyer—one Ictood Kruus, on Coruscant. But the Hutts had sent Dreek, the Rodian assassin, after Kruus first. Probably would have snuffed out Spiegel, too, if the Morellian hadn't wisely had himself arrested.
Garik had given him a choice; he could rot in prison on the ample evidence against him, or he could cooperate. Neither choice was particularly desirable—"cooperation" meant transporting his cargo (and Garik, wildly outside of his jurisdiction) to Hutt Space and delivering the photon spiders into his employer's hands. Seth Spiegel was never the suspect that Garik wanted. He wanted evidence against the Hutts—a first step, perhaps, to bringing down their Cartel.
Or getting myself killed, Garik thought grimly.
Seth Spiegel was a marked man, and Hutt Space was undoubtedly the last place he wanted to go. But, as the clouds of Coruscant's atmosphere dissipated and the black of space appeared outside the bridge viewport, that was exactly where he was going. Garik—not particularly sympathetic to the man's plight—couldn't resist teasing him. "Lighten up," he said, slapping the Morellian on the shoulder as he sat down in the co-pilot's chair.
"Maybe we'll find time to stop into a casino on Nar Shaddaa. Just remember the CSF won't be paying your debt. Or paying you at all, for that matter," Garik added, hoisting his boots up onto the control panel.
Garik Taynor
Lieutenant Inspector, Coruscant Security Force
Homicide, Larceny, Special Cases
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| Seth_Spiegel | Date: Sunday, 29 May 2016, 4:44 AM | Message # 2 |
 Trainee
Group: Users
Messages: 6
Status: Offline
| "Hmm" Seth snorted at the casual manner in which Garik treated himself to his cockpit. Then a devilish grin grew on his face. Deducing from his mannerism, Garik didn't know how to fly, Seth took full advantage of this apparent ignorance. "Hey watch your boots..." In a series of sly and well places moves, Seth simultaneous hit the inertia dampers off and twisted the control stick to push the Cretan's Paradox in a spin causing Garik Taynor to get tossed to the ceiling of the cockpit and fall right back down to the floor hitting the back of his head to the ground. The photon spiders only being mildly upset by the rocking of this move began to bump themselves hard against the transparisteel mostly looking at Taynor.
"You ok there uhm what was your name again..." scratching his head Seth innocently asked. "You might need something for that head of yours before it lumps..." He quickly took off his harness off and proceeded to "clumsily" step on Garik's right hand while grabbing an ice pack from the chill unit. He then placed it gently on his head as gently a Zeltron would caress it's child. "Whatever... CSF may not pay for my expenses but I'm sure they'll pay for that lump head of yours. Oh wait technically you are off duty since this outside your jurisdiction... hope your insurance is good..." He said pointing at Garik's scalp whilst proceeding to sit exactly where Garik was and putting his shoes up on the exact same spot.
'It's just my luck isn't it' Seth mused quietly. Seth had gone to some lengths to avoid getting killed by the Hutts. Now he's was heading straight into the proverbial hornet's nest of them for an overzealous flatfoot with an especial obsession for justice or protecting his turf or what have you... Seth didn't really care. It was just starting to sound like another one of his "family outings" with his dad all over again.
Seth had no clue that spilling a beer on a stormtrooper would lead to this mess. Though it was unusual for Seth to be mixed up in this sort of double dealing, as he was already paid half by the hutts to retrieve the Photon Spiders when he had received an offer from Ictood Kruss that would have payed double of the hutts. Normally Seth wouldn't have taken the offer. As a smuggler he was as honest as they could ever come. Except one little snagged occur. His old buddy Will Ballace bet him 3,000 credits that he couldn't get away with double crossing the Hutts. No force on in the galaxy could get between him and a gamble. One time a Madalorian got between him a game of Sabacc with out even dropping his cards he spun the Mandalorian with one arm and kicked the back of his knee out in one swift move without even moving his eyes off the game. So the game became a super foot.
It did also helped, however, that there was already a rival syndicate of the Hutts that was small time and grown and had been rumored to pay their smuggler's better and had a reputation of looking after their employees. A one Bevar Lurton was Seth's contact into this organization and he had informed Seth that if he could pull this off he would be welcomed into the syndicate with open arms... in reality this was all a calculated gamble. And technically Seth could still fulfill the bet and win some reputations points along the way. Not that Garik needed to know this. So either this plan was going to work or he would get himself killed. Whatever happens...happens...
Seth stared wistfully out of the view port. His arms to the back of his head as if to ponder the course of his life. Garik, behind him, beginning to recover from his "accident". Seth, still spread, relaxed on the copilot seat with his shoes up on the control panel... He looked back nonchalantly...
Whatever Happens Happens
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| Garik__Taynor | Date: Monday, 06 Jun 2016, 11:43 PM | Message # 3 |
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Trainee
Group: Users
Messages: 5
Status: Offline
| "I've been called thick-headed before," Garik grumbled, "I'll be just fine, thanks." He leaned against a bulkhead, keeping a safe distance from Spiegel this time, and keeping his feet under him, too. His instinct was to toss the cold pack to the deck with disdain, but he shrugged instead and continued to use it on his head. "I'm called Taynor, too. Garik Taynor." The Morellian might as well know it if they'd be on the same ship as far as Hutt Space, he figured. Perhaps he and Spiegel had gotten off on the wrong foot (or no feet, as the case may have been). He probably deserved that cute maneuver, too. Garik wasn't a pilot, but he knew Spiegel had done it on purpose.
"You might want to think about how man-sized spiders running loose on your ship would ruin your day before you pull another maneuver like that," he said bitterly. "That is, if you plan on flying the ship at all," Garik gestured to the empty pilot's chair, but this time he wasn't going to let Spiegel win his little mind game—Garik had already accepted the possibility that he might die on this job, and if the pilot had a death wish then at least he'd die sooner than later. "My blaster could have gone off, you know," he lied badly, as if he'd ever forget to put the safety on. "Blasting a hole in your instrument panel, or you—or worse, me—wouldn't be good for either of us. Since I did get you out of Imperial custody, it'd be nice to know you won't try to actually kill me at any point in this trip. After the trip? Sure, you can try."
(It hadn't been easy, either. Garik had to call in a favor with the CSF liaison in Moff Kadir's office to get the charges against Spiegel dropped. Not that he expected gratitude, but Spiegel had agreed to this arrangement, however reluctantly, and Garik hoped the Morellian would hold up his end of it. The Hutts were a mutual enemy, after all).
"I'd rather die on the clock," he added, thoughtfully. "At least then someone would have to do the paperwork."
Garik Taynor
Lieutenant Inspector, Coruscant Security Force
Homicide, Larceny, Special Cases
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| Seth_Spiegel | Date: Tuesday, 16 Aug 2016, 6:44 PM | Message # 4 |
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Trainee
Group: Users
Messages: 6
Status: Offline
| "Hmpf" the air escaped Seth's nostrils with a sense that he didn't really care about the last statement. "Garik huh?" he said musingly, staring lazily out of the view port. He seemed to be lost in thought when he finally flashed a smile. "Those spiders seemed more focus on you." Pointing out that their aggressive nature was focused on Garik. He then crooked his head and looked at Garik's blaster. "Safety..." Seth pops himself to his feet. He walked over to Garik and steely eyed told him these words: "You don't have to worry about me, Garik, killing is not something I generally do. To much chance you'll upset the wrong people if you know what I mean. And unlike the people we are dealing with I actually value life..." he thought better of his wrap sheet. "At least when life ain't fixing to kill me. I made a deal with you and I intend to come out alive." He said intensely, his cooper eyes fixed firmly with Garik's. "Let me make one thing clear though. You have no idea how the Hutts work, to them all life that isn't them it's just pawns and if you cross them their anger knows no bounds even on the hint of a double cross. These guys already know I double cross them and to be honest I have no clue what to do. But I think it's wiser if you follow my lead. Blind may be bad at leading the blind but at least I've smelt the trail before." He flicks Garik's nose up with his finger playfully trying to rile the veteran cop. Added (16 Aug 2016, 6:44 PM)
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And then suddenly time froze on it self and Garik was very still. He had no reaction what so ever and Seth waited for what seemed like an eternity as the entire universe collapsed into a existential crisis. Seth became an isolated prison on the ship and all of his anger issues from his past came back to haunt him. His father's constant overbearing "I'm the Law" attitude. His mother's complete like a self identity and boring one dimensional personalty that drove him so nuts in passivity it made him what to kill him. After 3 weeks of this Seth began cutting himself and humming tunes of holooperas that were in sound registers incapable of being reproduced by the Morellian vocal chords yet in this frozen time paradox Seth was able to do anything so he though. The scars on his arms became highways of boredom and he began rocking back and forth violent as Garik's blank face was frozen between surprise at the personal violation of his space and the beginings of some anger. Seth began to forget Garik's name and even the place he was from. So Seth spent a few weeks throwing cards at his face that would just freeze the moment they hit Garik. And then suddenly as if hit by a stroke of genius he realized that only objects hitting Garik would stop in time... but how? 'Was this man an ACCIDENTAL TIME LORD.' So Seth began throwing more things at Garik to see if things would get 'unstuck' so to speak. He pour caf on Garik's head. Rubbed mechnical lube on Gariks Chrono slammed removable access hatches on him. Nothing worked all things were still frozen in time including the spiders, except oddly enough for Garik's beard... it had grown into a magical wizard's beard. Seth finally gave up and started making paper machete origami out of strips of his pants. Oddly enough the frozen time effect made it so much easier to make origami and he threw it at Garik...
Until one day, after Garik had become a veritable trash sculpture Seth realized... "what if I flick his nose again" These were the first words spoken in months and Seth nearly surprised himself he starting looking for the source of the voice until he realized it was himself... he went up to Garik who was surrounded by all the stuff he had thrown at him frozen in time.
Seth came up placed his finger in his thumb. He then flick Gariks nose and...
Whatever Happens Happens
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