Ask Prison Blues

[Emryc Thorne]

While it had been several years since Emryc ran in the Syndicate circles, he still kept his connections for intel. He had operatives in the Bothan networks that always kept tabs on Syndicate activity supplied by the intel he provided. The latest move by Gareth Gin was not something he could ignore, not when it finally gave him the chance to devastate Zaa Fenn. There was a time when he had been an admirer of Preef Callo and Zaa Fenn. However, when he learned Callo had threatened to out his identity, it was a slight he would never forgive. Even if the galaxy would never believe the Rodian, it was enough to mark the group as an enemy.

Not long after his address in response to Gareth, he was on a private flight over to Rothana. This was one of the countless times he was called away to work when he thought he had down time, but an opportunity like this couldn’t be ignored.

Emryc preferred cold climates, and the biting winds and chill on Rothana were a welcome change from the warmer Core planets he had been frequenting. The ISC President found himself in what was normally used as an interrogation room at a high security prison. He waved off the guards, who didn’t need to be told twice after seeing his size.

The half Sephi was patiently seated across a table, a datapad in front of him. He knew this prisoner would be critical to the next moves he made.

@Nefieslab

 

[Tacitus Agrippa]

His ambitions had run away with him and ran him right into a hole.

If he had thought that they would lead him to an icy hole on Rothana he would have done his best to try and learn some humility. But it had run counter to so much of what he had learned growing up so... he probably wouldn't have stopped to think about why it could be a bad idea to raid a Rothana Heavy Engineering transport ship. Why worry about the consequences when you were going to succeed after all?

He wasn't even sure how long he'd been locked up by the semi-corporate, semi-government, people here. They gave yard time so he hadn't decreased in mass at least but it was a constant struggle against the boredom, the anxiety and the back-stabbing politics of prison.

A visitor was a first.

It was both a welcome change and one that he was nervous about too - who the hells would visit him? If it was Zaa Fenn they'd probably just do a jailbreak rather than visit him through the proper channels. He didn't bother struggling against the guards after the first two attempts he'd made at an escape had proven he wasn't getting out without either a lot more prep-time or a lot of assistance from the inside.

Still, even the short list of people he could have been visited by was completely blown out the water by who was actually there to see him. Tacitus stared mutely at the President of the ISC who sat across from him as his guards shackled his manacles to the table to prevent him from moving away from the metal surface.

Once they had stepped out, Tacitus took a moment to organize his thoughts.

Oddly enough the first thought he had was that he respected the hell out of the man's lifestyle coach. Whoever he had training him did great freaking work because he was better sculpted than Tac himself, and he literally had nothing better to do with twelve hours of the day.

The next thought was the one he spoke aloud.

"Mr President." he greeted the politician quietly, "Gotta say... I was not expecting you when the door opened. Rothana a member of your ISC now or something?"

@Sreeya

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc nodded in greeting, eyeing the man. Truth be told, they had met several times before and had even shared Emryc’s homemade moonshine at a party while getting blind drunk. He had been smaller in stature then, but he couldn’t help but wonder how Tacitus would react if he ever found out the ISC President and that lanky DJ boy were one and the same.

“Not yet,” Emryc responded to the question rather boldly. After all, many planets were joining the ISC in droves. A corporate natured planet like Rothana would no doubt find the appeal. However, instead of speaking further on the topic, Emryc pressed a few buttons on his datapad and slid it over to the prisoner to view. Tac would see the Holonet broadcast made by Gareth and the responses that followed.

Emryc waited for him to digest the information before speaking again, “As someone that’s from the Outer Rim and with Hutt territories as my neighbor… I hope you share my sentiments on exactly how self destructive this move was,” He paused for a moment, “As someone that was strongly affiliated with the Zaa Fenn in the past, this no doubt puts you in a sticky situation once you are out….if you are out,” He let the words hang.

The half Sephi didn’t mention how he knew about Tac’s connections to Zaa Fenn. He didn’t need to. Emryc had other topics to cover.

“However, since I am a galactic President, I have some pull on getting things done much quicker. If you were in a divulging sort of mood, perhaps we can visit an early release or even a full pardon and new identity,” Emryc’s tone and body language didn’t suggest he was lying, “But remaining here as a prisoner can also guarantee your safety in a way..” He looked around at the walls around them, “So the choice is yours.”

The man could wait for his eventual release and go back into a world forced to defend himself against multiple fronts seeking to eradicate him because of his ties. Or he could be pardoned and walk out with an entirely new identity and immunity. Tacitus would know that as the President of the very governing body that declared war on the Syndicates, Emryc had that kind of power.

@Nefieslab

 

[Tacitus Agrippa]

Not yet?

Kark, the balls on this guy must have been made out of sheer bronzium for him to just casually drop in a line like that. From half the stories he'd heard about the President of the ISC... if the dude did have bronzium balls? Half the Galactic senate would have wicked bruises on their thighs.

Ugh prison had, apparently, changed him more than he thought.

"Yet, huh?"

He still didn't know when to leave well enough alone but what he was shown on the datapad immediately made him shut up. His mouth literally snapped shut with an audible click of his teeth against one another as he swallowed a bitterly sarcastic remark in favour of staring at the data presented to him.

Did he care about the deaths? Not in themselves.

Did he care what they meant in relation to Zaa Fenn? Yes because it meant something in relation to him! Sticky situation when he got out? He would be lucky to avoid being shanked in the kidneys during the lunch hour by some of the Quarren prisoners he shared a cell-block with.

"Fuck."

He hadn't meant to say that aloud but it didn't really matter much did it? Emryc Thorne had him between a rock and a hard place whether he knew the full extent of it or not... and he probably did.

"Look... I tell you anything, I'm a snitch - only I think we both know I ain't living long enough to get stitches if I stay here. We're talking skipping straight to the ditches." he pointed out as if he wasn't quoting some children's rhyme as if it was gospel, "Before I even think about telling anything, I gotta have assurances all ironed out. I will need a new name, a ship, an astromech and a head-start before you start raiding or burning or whatever. Deal?"

@Sreeya

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc didn’t react externally to the barrage of very expressive reactions from the prisoner. The half Sephi calmly sat and let Tacitus finish. A few seconds passed before Emryc took the datapad back and began to swipe through a few items before presenting the datapad to him again.

“There are five pre-loaded identities and occupations you can walk into day one. You may choose any,” He explained calmly, “You will be provided a ship, astromech and protocol droid to help you navigate any planet you choose to visit. You will have asylum on any ISC planet.”

The half Sephi let Tacitus review the information as he pleased, “You are far more valuable to me when you are content than otherwise, so rest assured you will be taken care of.”

He leaned back slightly in his seat.

“Now then,” He said, “What are their strongest economical operations and where are they located?”

@Nefieslab

 

[Tacitus Agrippa]

This... was all kinds of messed up.

He was sat here in a prison interrogation room with the President of one of the major powers in the Galaxy because the family he had pledged himself to had managed to not so much kick the hornet's nest and light the damned thing on fire. The hells were they playing at? He wanted a drink but the best he could do was some prison wine and he had resisted that 'tempting offer' for his entire stay so far and he was in no rush to change that.

Having his pick of pre-loaded identities and occupations was appreciated but it didn't stop him from giving Emryc a bit of the ol' stink eye for a moment. The President's bronzium bollocks came back into the equation - he had these already set up because he had been so damned confident that Tacitus would fold and do as he was asked.

Part of him wanted to cut his nose off to spite his face and flip the guy off but the other part of him (the majority) liked his nose right where it freaking was and he wanted to live.

"Freelance trader." he muttered, tapping the datapad to stop it on one of the identities he preferred, "Might take you up on the ISC citizenship... even if your roster has probably changed a lot since I got tossed in here."

He breathed out a slow breath.

"Alright... depends, is the honest answer. We used to shift based on need. Before he lost his damned mind let Gar go off the deep end, what's Preef been doing? Based on that I can tell you where's more important than other places."

Of course the media blackout for prisoners might make some of his information a little stale.

@Sreeya

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc couldn’t help but grin as he noticed the gears turning in Tac’s head. Truth be told, the arrangements were made in advance to offer to anyone willing to cough up information. Tacitus was certainly at the top of the list, but the President was a resourceful man. The question posed by Tac caught him slightly off guard, though it didn’t manifest on his face.

“Callo is deceased,” He said curtly, “This Gareth character is the de facto leader supposedly,” While Preef was an imbecile when it came to diplomacy, he at least was intelligent enough to hire the right people for the job. Gareth, on the other hand, was brash and was doing the family absolutely no favors with his galactic announcements.

“As I understand it, you were instrumental in putting down some of their most critical foundations in the Core planets,” Emryc said, “I want information on all of that and their most profitable funnels of wealth and resources.”

@Nefieslab

 

[Tacitus Agrippa]

Preef was dead?

"... Mon Cala makes a lot more sense now."

There was some legitimate grief at the knowledge that his boss was dead and it actually came as a surprise to Tacitus. He was caught off-guard by the realization that he had actually, kind of, cared about his boss. It had seemed so damned impossible to begin with, that their relationship would only ever be self-serving on both ends but... knowing that the Rodian was dead?

It felt hollow.

"Gareth has a superiority complex the size of a small moon - thinks that Zaa Fenn should be on top of everything. I can see why he thought that the best way to do that was an attempt at genocide." he admitted with a sigh, "Shame. He's not a bad guy over a hand of cards."

He pushed the thoughts away.

Gareth had made his bed and was doig so i the name of Zaa Fenn as a whole... so had tried to make Tac's own bed for him and he wanted none of it.

"Eriadu is burned - nothing of value will remain there." he crossed it off his mental list, "Nar Shaddaa would have a lot of combat power, Callo used to talk about droids there and when a guy like that talks about droids he's not gonna be talking protocol droids in single digits."

His own part in it?

Tacitus drummed his fingers against the table.

"Coruscant... The Lower Five. My biggest addition to the pot as it were. They still run under their old names, by and large, but they swear to Zaa Fenn - so they'll probably keep doing business like that and funnel it to the Fenn proper undercover." he reported, letting out a slow breath, "Well there it was, me slipping on the snitch noose. Karking hells..."

@Sreeya