Child support

[Asteroid]

Markus sat in his chair on board the 'Gainful Employer' as he usually did, watching the smoke waft off of his cigarette as he looked outside the window of his docked freighter and looked at the city he used to live in. A few weeks ago Markus got a report from one of his narcotic pushers that a women by the name of Risha, that Markus previously has an extended relationship with, was seen with a child named Felicity who was about ten years old. There was no doubt in Markus's mind that that child was his and with the current state of the Republic he wasn't about to have his flesh and blood live under the boot of he Sith. The last few weeks consisted of numerous stakeouts and a burglary in order to piece together a dossier on his child. If he was going to do this he was going to do it right. ​

Now came the time for action which was why he dared to dock his ship, albeit under a fake name, in republic space. Markus swiveled his chair around to address the people that would be securing Felicity. Apophe, queen of the Yahm and a personal friend and Evelyn, someone Markus had not met yet. "Alright let's get this over with." He sighed as he tapped a few buttons on his computer, pulling up a hologram of their target.​

"This is Felicity, my daughter and the person you two are charged with safely returning to me. As you may or may not know for the last few days we've been mapping her every move and have determined the route that she walks home from school everyday and where she lives. In order to do this in a way that minimizes the chance that the local police get involved I've elected to provide you with civilian disguises." Markus extinguished his cigarette as he paused to take a breath. "There are two ways this can be done, number one is grabbing her on her way home from school and number two is breaking into her mothers apartment. Any questions?"
@Retroboy​

@EmilyHuene

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe sat, arms folded. Of all the things she had ever been asked to do, this was one of the strangest. Except, perhaps, that calendar idea one of the Unchained had, but that wasn't what she was supposed to be focusing on right now. It turned out that Markus had a child, an older one at that, and wanted her back. The proposition was an interesting one to her. On the one hand, this was something that could have easily been delegated out to a lesser member of the Unchained. On the other, it clearly meant a lot to Markus and she imagined she was chosen to make certain the child would be okay.

This Felicity was a cutie-pie, to be sure. No older than 12 at most, small and lively looking. She could see a little bit of Markus in her, though perhaps not as much as she might expect. She wondered, privately, how this child would handle finding out her father was a crime lord employed by a violent cyborg giantess. Not well, she imagined. This was going to require her being delicate as possible.

The mention of civilian disguises made Apophe quirk an eyebrow. She wasn't exactly inconspicuous, being well over 7 feet tall, and also being a red-headed cyborg.

"How secure is her apartment?" she said.

 

[Asteroid]

"The apartment she resides in is on the 5th floor of a 20 story apartment complex. From what my agents have been able to gather it's laughably undefended, the only real barrier is the front door. The land lord probably has a key board or you could slice into it if you had the ability. Otherwise there's an adjacent roof top that could be used to zip line onto the balcony."​

@EmilyHuene

 

[EmilyHuene]

"Ooh, she is pretty" Evelyn would say as the hologram was brought up. She leaned forward in her chair to get a better look at her. "And such a little thing too. Taking her from her home will not be an easy experience for her." She tried to sound like she was giving advice. This little girl would surely be scared when two strangers came to steal her from their mother...

She listened to her partner in crime ask about the apartment and Evelyn felt a little more comfortable about this mission hearing it was *laughably undefended*. This wouldn't even be a challenge. She would lean back in her chair and then say, "I for one think our best bet would actually to be to grab her on the street. Whatever defenses they may have we can take their security down by surprise. It'll far easier. Plus, we don't know foe sure what's behind that doorway. However," she paused for a minute, "I'm considering what that might do to someone so young. I'd be terrified if someone randomly stole me away on my way home. Mortified really. So I changed my mind, let's go into the house."

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe shrugged. Yeah, they were going to be scaring the daylights out of Markus' kid, but it was better than her ending up some lunatic Sith's plaything. She would come to understand in time. This was the best course of action. Besides! She'd grow up close to royalty. She'd want for nothing. She might hate Apophe and her father for a little bit but she'd come to understand soon enough.

"Alright," Apophe said. "What are these disguises?"

She had no idea what someone like Markus would come up with to disguise her and her friend here. Tenebris would be easier to hide, but Apophe? As far as she knew she was the only person who looked like her in the Galaxy. She could change her hair colour maybe but nothing could really distract from the fact that she was over seven feet tall and also part robot.

She hoped this wouldn't start a diplomatic incident.

Not that it would matter, now that she thought about it. It's not like the Republic had the power to do much of anything anymore.

 

[Asteroid]

Markus paused for a moment as Evelyn spoke, crossing his hands and letting his index fingers rest against his mouth as he did so. He smirked when Apophe mentioned the disguises and for once Markus was actually excited to show something off to her. "Now this I'm actually proud to put my name on." He said as he reached into his desk draw and withdrew two small devices each about 3 inches long before shoving them across the table. "Strap it to your belt and see what happens." ​

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe looked down at the little doohickey and quirked an eyebrow. She could not possibly imagine what the device might be for. Still, she knew Markus was a consummate professional and whatever he might have for her was going to be good. She strapped the device to her studded white plastic belt and waited.

"Whassit do?" she asked.

 

[EmilyHuene]

Like Apophe, Evelyn would look at the device strangely. She had never seen such a tool, but technology wasn't really her forte. But she shrugged and trusted in her boss and did as she was asked. Evelyn snapped it to her belt and stood up.

"Girl, you just gotta learn to take risks," she would say to Apophe and then push the button.

 

[Asteroid]

A few seconds after Apophe clipped the device to her belt her image shimmered and was replaced by a hologram resembling Apophe but without her augmentations and grisly tattoos, wearing white civilian clothing. The machine took a few moments to color correct the image. Evelyn's disguise would simply change her clothing. "Pretty ingenious if I do say so myself." ​

Markus reached back into his desk and pulled out a holo map and a injector filled with a milky white fluid. "When you leave here go to the bar across the street and meet with my operative, his name is Baskem. He will fill you in with more detail about how to break into the apartment building. Bring whatever weaponry you deem necessary but obviously under no circumstances are you to harm Felicity. If you can't help it, if she resists, or if you're worried her screaming would attract unwanted attention then spike her with this in order to knock her out."​

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe marveled down at herself, checking out what appeared to be flesh and blood arms. It had been a long time since she had those... Almost 8 years now. She grinned. This was probably one of the cooler things she had ever done, and she was glad Markus had enabled her to do this, even if it was to get his kid back.

"I'd never hurt your kid, Markus," Apophe said. "She's gonna be mad for a bit but I imagine she's gonna come to adore us."

She grinned at Evelyn.

"You ready to go save a kid?"

@EmilyHuene
@Tray Tor

 

[EmilyHuene]

After placing the device on her belt the image of herself would shift to simple civilian clothes. She grumbled as she had expected some better sort of illusion. However, it hid her weapons and that was a prize she was more than grateful for. She imagined how easily it would be blended into a crowd and sneaking right into enemy territory. The possibilities were endless. She would nod to Markus and hold her hand out to receive the vial. She too wished nothing but safety for the child and would make sure that was of the utmost important.

"You can trust us with this task, Sir." she said out of respect. Then to Apophe, "Let us go. My ship is closest and is already warmed up."

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe felt energized. It was nice to be going on a mission where she probably wasn't going to be shot at by an entire army. Just some cops, if she messed up. If. Nowhere near as frightening. More than that, she was finally going to get to meet Markus' kid.

"No argument here," Apophe said. "Let's hustle."

She waited for a moment for Markus to say anything else, before she got ready to head out the door and to Evelyn's ship. She could hardly contain her excitement.

@EmilyHuene
@Tray Tor

 

[Asteroid]

Markus was relieved that Aophe was doing this task for him, she trusted him with far more important things in the past and he was certain that she would do things as professionally as possible. "You're never going to here me say this again, but thank you.." He said half broodingly, leaning back with his feet in his desk as the two woman turned around and left his office.

Outside the ship the city of Aldera was a beautiful site to behold. A rare example of innovation mixed with aesthetic ecological beauty which bustled with activity. The bar which Markus mentioned was only a very short speeder ride away from the port. Outside the bar, or the "Aldera Taphouse" as it was aptly named, stood a surly looking Bothan bouncer who was blocking the main entrance.​

 

[EmilyHuene]

Evelyn was sad that the ride was so short and brief, not needing her ship after all. A simple speeder got them where they needed to be and together the two girls would head over to the bar. Having the cloak disguising both of them, she doubted they would be checked by the bouncer and moved her way into the club to go and look for whomever Markus' contact was. Evelyn pursed her lips as she looked around. The bar was a simple kind of place, nothing at all like Evelyn would visit under her own accord. She preferred the late at night scene with loud music pounding your head and flashing lights to blind anyone inside. She was a party girl at heart, something she didn't get to experience very often. Her life had always been so controlled and upkept it was impossible for her to experience the smaller more relaxed things in life. So when she finally got the chance to cut loose, she went all out. But today, today was about work.

"Lead the way, lovely," she would say to the woman beside her.

 

[Retroboy]

"That's awful familiar of you," Apophe warns with a teasing tone. "Don't forget who I am, now."

Her eyes searched the bar. She was at home in places like these, where people simply drank to get drunk away from the prying eyes of the world. She had to find a person named Baskem... That was going to be difficult when she knew so very little about him unless she decided to be direct. Not wanting to waste too much time, Apophe decided direct was probably the smart way to go.

She wandered up to the bartender, leaning over the top of the counter.

"Hey there," she said casually. "Looking for a friend, think you can help?"

 

[Asteroid]

Despite the fact that it was early in the evening, the bar had a decent amount of patrons. Behind the counter stood a pink Twi'lek who was polishing a glass. She smiled as Apophe and Evelyn approached and asked what they would be having. Her mood soured a little after she realized that they weren't going to buy anything. "Depends honey, who are you looking for?" ​

 

[Retroboy]

A twi'lek? No wonder Markus had chosen this place. Apophe remembered a twi'lek she had for a while, one who had fallen out of her life. She wondered what had happened to her.

Oh well, no point in reminiscing about that now.

""I'm looking for someone called Baskem," she said. "You seen'em?"

Hopefully, the twi'lek was going to behave herself. Otherwise, Apophe was going to have to find a way to make her settle down, and that could draw a lot of attention that neither she nor her compatriot really needed. Especially when it would botch any chance of them retrieving Felicity from her mother.

 

[EmilyHuene]

Following her partner in crime, Evelyn would walk behind Apophe while she headed to the door. She would lean onto the counter and cross her arms as her chest set gently on her arms; her butt was also lifted just the right way to stand out from behind. While this sort of trick would work on any man, females were hit or miss. Even if the girl wasn't easily distracted, she was sure her little display was sure to draw attention elsewhere in the bar. Maybe one of them could help their cause? She listened to Apophe and the bar girl go back and forth and Eve could tell that it wasn't going too well in their favor. They needed to win this girl over. Would Evelyn's gesture be enough to lead them forward, or would she have to try another route? If that meant sporting a few coin then Evelyn would gladly reach into her pockets. Markus could always pay her back later....