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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 11:46 pm Post subject: Shady meeting
Beruk is on his T-Wing deep in space trying to get to the Crimson Palace as fast as he can, he knows time is of the essence, after all it’s not everyday that you are summoned by Camron Devall, “I wonder what the hell does he want from me.”, Naja speaks to himself, all that vast space around him takes his breath away, he had never been on such a long voyage, but still the idea of what might happen is not awe inspiring.
“Ok, I think I have arrived, let me check the coordinates.”, Beruk tries to take a look at his datapad while flying his fighter, he has some difficulties doing it but in the end he’s able to check them, “Great, exactly as I though, this is the place alright.”, he looks at the establishment while talking to himself, he has a habit of doing it, not many friends and seclusion has that effect some times, he thinks to himself.
When finally he’s able to land his vessel, he begins getting his gear in place, he puts on his black robes, he doesn’t want people to be able to recognize him, not that many people actually know him, after all much of those people were ‘marks’ as he calls them, and being so effective in his work, none survived, with the black robes and his weapons in place he finally decides to put the hood under his head and leave the T-Wing, he finally feels ready to get this show on the road.
Once he enters the Crimson Palace he feels like he’s being watched, he has the distinct feeling that Mr. Devall is already aware of his presence, “Interesting, his paranoia is more acute than I could imagine, his security seems pretty tight, an interesting ‘mark’, for a distant future of course.”, Naja smirks as he thinks to himself, after all he does love a challenge, suddenly a large man comes into his line of sight and tells him, “You’re late, my boss doesn’t like to wait, what’s your excuse?”, the man states expecting an apology no doubt, but instead Beruk just stands there looking at him, without even muttering a word, suddenly he gets nearer to him and says, “Are you Mr. Devall? Because, if you are not then you won’t speak to me in that tone, would that suffice as an excuse?”, the man is taken by surprise and takes a few steps back.
Seeing this a few men go in their direction, they were clearly watching events unfold, and the reaction of the men made them suspicious, but with a quick move of his hand he dismisses them, “You’re bold, exactly what expected. I am Bern, I am to take you to the private quarters of my employer, follow me.”, Bern starts walking in the direction of some stairs on the opposite direction of the bar, Naja follows him while watching his surroundings.
Once they reach the top of the stairs they walk a little passing by two doors on the left side of the walkway, Beruk can’t help to feel alarmed, suddenly Bern speaks to him clearly noticing the worry in Naja, “No need to worry, by the way, how exactly did you had the chance to kill Karnak? I thought he had a very tight security in his personal residence.”, Bern asks with great curiosity expecting an elaborate response for sure, “That is none of your business, Bern…”, states Beruk with a cold harsh voice, suddenly Bern stops, “Here we are, this is his personal chambers, follow me.”, Bern looks at Naja with a bit of hate in his eyes, clearly not liking him one bit, but Naja doesn’t care, he never did, he just gives Bern a blank stare clearly not impressed and heads for the door.
Bern enters before Naja and points at another door inside, “That room is his office, he’s expecting you there, don’t try any funny business, we have this place locked down tight, you wouldn’t survive.”, Beruk looks around the room while walking towards the office, a neat pressed bed in the center of it, all very tidy and a few elaborate things, all crime lords are the same, he thinks to himself, when he finally reaches the door he stops for a second trying to gather his thoughts, “This is it, break or die my friend, break or die…”
Camron Devall sat at the desk in his office, a holorecording playing before him. He was watching security footage from the registration party, which was still very much in full swing. He was studying it carefully, his frame hunched over the desk and his eyes wide with unflinching concentration. He had one or two vested interests in that room and he had resolved to keep a very close eye on them. He didn't trust most of his staff to trail them satisfactorily. In fact, Devall didn't trust them to do much of anything satisfactorily. With a weary sigh he realised he would only ever trust himself to meet his own impossibly high standards.
He rubbed his raw eyes and pondered sleep. He couldn't remember the last time he had had a few decent hours of slumber; it was coming less and less these days. If he was lucky he might snatch an hour or two here or there, but mostly he spent his time awake and in constant thought. He once again dismissed the idea of sleep and returned his attention to the recording. This time, however, his mind wasn't fully on the images before him.
He was expecting a guest. His favourite kind of guest; a guest in his debt. He smirked smugly as his brain accessed the memories he had of Beruk Naja. A former employee of the late Karnak the Hutt. An assassin, and the sole reason Karnak was now dead. A man good at his job, if rumours were to be believed. Camron Devall did not put much stead in rumour. Instead he preferred to rely on figures, hard evidence of accomplishment. And Naja's numbers had impressed him. Not an easy feat by itself and possibly the only reason the assassin still drew breath. Although he had never liked the Hutt, he had brought Devall good business and had paid his regular dues, and for that, his killer would have no choice but continue to do so.
A subtle red light flashed on the desk's communications console. Activating it Devall was greeted by Bern's voice, informing him of his guest's arrival. Eagerly punching a few buttons he brought up the security display of his own private chambers, providing a view of the assassin now standing outside his door.
“Enter!” He barked, his voice slightly hoarse from fatigue but a tone of impatience still evident. He deactivated the holorecordings and sat back in his leather chair, waiting to get an overdue glimpse of his latest project.
Beruk enters the room rather quietly, with an unnerving look in his eyes, he takes a look around as he walks toward Mr. Devall, he can see what looks to be a glass window behind him, before him it’s Camron’s desk, with a couple of red chairs in front of it, with a bookcase in his right side, probably a safe around, perhaps behind the horrible painting on the left side, “Damn, look at that awful thing, if he likes it he must be more demented than I thought.”, Naja’s face twists a little as he thinks about it.
Once he finally reaches his desired destination he comes to a sudden stop, he’s not interested in sitting down and being with his back turned to the door is not such a good idea, so he stands near the bookcase with his arms crossed looking deep into Mr. Devall’s eyes, “I have come here as requested, tell me Mr. Devall, why exactly am I still alive? I never imagined you for the merciful type.”, Beruk asks waiting for the man’s response, he can’t help but feel a little curious to what he wants from him.
Camron Devall's eyes followed the assassin as he entered the room. A silence ensued as the man took account of his surroundings, and took account of the syndicate head himself. He noticed Naja did not sit, as most were inclined to do, some out of habit, others out of nerves. Instead he remained standing, crossing his arms tightly against his chest and questioning his own presence at the Crimson Palace; in Camron Devall's office. At this question, Devall raised an eyebrow, and smirked.
“A correct observation, Mr. Naja,” Devall responded, leaning back even further in his chair. He swiveled the seat slightly so he could look directly at the assassin. “I do not have the reputation of a merciful man. I do, however, have the reputation of a shrewd business man.
Devall rested his elbows on the arms of his chair, pressing his fingertips together as his stare bore into his guest's mistrustful eyes. “You are alive because you have inherited Karnak's debt. A debt accrued long ago and yet to be repaid. And you are here because I want you to pay up.”
The corners of Devall's mouth curled as he allowed Naja time to digest this statement. “There is work I want you to do for me, Beruk Naja. Something suited to your obvious skills.”
Naja listened with great attention, trying to fully understand the situation, it was as he thought, his skills were needed by this man, he would make use of them no doubt, Mr. Devall’s body language was being fully analyzed by Naja, “He’s very sure of himself no doubt, almost appears as if trying to impress me, probably my imagination.”, Beruk thinks to himself.
“I had a feeling it would be that way, I will do what I must.”, Naja suddenly stops talking and looks in the direction of the door as if he had heard something and holds his ground for a few moments, when he is satisfied he looks to Mr. Devall’s and continues, “Now why don’t you tell me, what exactly do you need me for Mr. Devall?”, Beruk asks with curiosity.
Devall nodded once, sharply, when Naja informed him he would do what he must. He had been expecting more of an argument, and he couldn't say whether not getting one disappointed him or just merely surprised him. Obviously Beruk Naja was smarter than many of his counterparts. In Devall's experience, despite his infamously cold reputation, employees of a more independent nature generally put up something of a fight. If nothing else than to reassure themselves that even in his presence they were still very much hard core.
Devall decided he was pleased. The fact that Naja was intelligent enough to realise there was no other way out of this predicament bode well for the assassin. An amused expression crossed his face as Naja's attention was drawn to the door, as though he had heard someone just outside. Devall knew that this was merely Bern, keeping an eye on proceedings. He expected nothing less from his right hand man.
A small red light flashed on the communications console on the desk but Devall ignored it. As many pressing matters as there may be requiring his attention at that moment, they could wait until he had completed the matter at hand to his satisfaction.
“As you may have heard, or indeed noticed, Mr. Naja, I am currently holding a little event called The Independent Games,” he paused slightly, as though he would wait for Naja's response. He then thought the better of it and decided his acknowledgment wasn't needed, and he ploughed on. “There is an upcoming event, a Hunt. In this event I have two interesting individuals, both of whom have been...convinced...to participate.” He pressed his fingertips together again, his index fingers touching his smug mouth.
“It is not my wish that either of these people reach the end prize. And that, my latest and greatest employee, is where you come in.”
Beruk listened with great curiosity to Mr. Devall’s words, he was talking about his now famous Independent Games, nothing but pure stupidity in his mind, but still good profit, “He sure knows how to manipulate the masses.”, Naja thought to himself while hearing Camron, “This ought to be fun Mr. Devall.”, he replied with a faint smile to his new employer.
He then pondered for a few moments as if thinking about something, he then continued, “No need to praise me, that was what Karnak did and I hated him, you seem to be more…interesting…”, he was quite pleased with himself, he knew he had to play along so he might as well enjoy it, “So, who are these ‘marks’ you’re talking about, can I handle them in my own way or do you want to request a special order?”
Devall blinked rapidly in succession as Naja spoke of the late Hutt. Naturally he disliked him, most did, Devall himself included. And Karnak's number one assassin wasn't exactly treated very well by his former employer. Not that Devall would treat any employee any better, but he did believe in compensating his staff monetarily for any job completed that met his extensive expectations.
He leaned forward in his seat, his hands coming to rest on the desk's shining surface as he did so. Now they were getting down to business, and Devall had a feeling he would enjoy seeing one of his many plans come into play.
“You will have free reign Mr. Naja, to do things your way. Providing the job is completed to my satisfaction, of course. If I feel the need I will intervene.” He studied the man before him closely, his gaze unflinching. “Let's hope it won't come to that.”
He sat back, returning to his original position, and lightly tapped a console. A small drawer in the side of his desk slid open noiselessly, and from within it he produced a datapad. He placed it on the desk before continuing the briefing.
“You have two targets, neither aware of the other, and I would like it to remain that way. The first, the woman, a small time smuggler during recent times. Resourceful, unpredictable and a fresh mouth. Despite this I sincerely doubt she will be any trouble for you. After all, she's just a woman.” Devall's mouth curled into a sneer as he said those last words. While he knew that the fairer sex could be dangerous in certain respects, he was quite the chauvinist and genuinely believed a mere woman could pose no threat to the greater strength of man.
“The second target, however, may pose more of a threat. He's freelance, proficient in one or two interesting fighting forms. He managed to take out one of my best assassins and a handful of my guards before capture. He's one to watch. Do not give him room to maneuver.”
Devall nodded at the datapad. “All the information you need is there. The most important thing to remember,” he added, raising his hard eyes to the assassin, “Is that they read from the same script. They play by my rules. This ends the way I want it to end. Now, have you any questions.”
Naja continued listening very carefully to Mr. Devall’s words, he had heard a lot of him, his plans and schemes were a regular theme in his former employers lounge, most bounty hunters and assassins he knew always talked of Camron with respect, at least with the respect that a reputed crime lord could expect from his subordinates.
When he heard he would be permitted to do things his way he let out a dark grin, he specially enjoyed the planning before the kill, it was exhilarating for him, all the possibilities were intoxicating, he had already dozens of images flowing though his mind, he even drifted for a second before returning to his usual self when he heard that one of the ‘marks’ was a woman, “If she has caught your attention then she isn’t a mere woman, perhaps something else.”, Beruk replied.
“I don’t usually give anyone room to breath, but I’ll keep a closer eye on that one, for now I would like to be left alone to do a bit of thinking, I would also request permission to roam free among the Crimson Palace.”, Naja said before pausing for a moment to gather his thoughts, “I want to fully assess the place and mingle with the contestants to better understand them, if I have any questions for you in the future I’ll make sure to find you and ask them.”, he said with a blank expression.
Devall grimaced slightly at Naja's comment. He did indeed have other reasons to involve both unwilling participants in the Games, but he wasn't about to give that information to the assassin. When Naja had finished his requests Devall nodded his head slowly, beginning to feel an increasing pain niggling at him behind his eyes. Now that he was sure the assassin understood his orders Devall felt a pressing need to draw this meeting to an end.
“You will be allowed freedom of movement throughout the Palace. Do whatever it is you need to do to complete this job. You will be here as my guest. See Bern outside on your way out, he will show you to your temporary suite.”
Devall nodded once more and tapped a couple of buttons on a console, as though by no longer looking at him he was signaling the end of the meeting. “I look forward to seeing the results.”
Beruk kept looking at Camron as he spoke to him, when he saw that the meeting had come to an end he felt his presence was nothing more of a nuisance to his new boss so he headed for the door, “You won’t be disappointed Mr. Devall, I assure you.”, he replied while walking to the door.
When he opened it he saw Bern patiently waiting at the couch for him, “Take me to my quarters, Bern…”, he said with obvious disregard for him, the large man just stood up and made a gesture for Naja to follow him and so he did, he followed Bern as he took a left turn at his new master chambers, they walked for about 5 meters and took another turn this time to the right, at the end of the walkway Bern stopped at the last door, “Here is your suite, if you need anything make sure to let me know, don’t disturb Mr. Devall over petty things assassin.”, as he said this he opened the door and gave Beruk the key right before walking away from him visibly holding his anger bottled up, “Good, I’ll make sure to use it in the future, Bern…”.
He walked inside and looked around, walls red, a king-size bed on the end of it, a door leading to the bathroom on the left side of the room, a small desk and a few furniture’s in it made it a pleasant accommodation for him, it would suffice to his needs, now he was ready to roam free and make his arrangements, he was ready to have fun.
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