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The first time had been her brother Corven, in a furious fit over her stealing his ship. He really should keep it locked. Granted, the Drommund spaceport is heavily guarded and secure, but the guards would never stop her from getting on her brotherâs ship. Unless of course she did something drastic like murder four sith acolytes in the middle of a busy public square, then storm out of the city in a stolen speeder; apparently the spaceport guards, however, didnât get the memo.
It wasnât her fault that those acolytes were arrogant mongrels deserving of painful death; she was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time! It also wasnât her fault that Corvenâs ship The Accomplice was the quickest way to get halfway across the galaxy without committing several more crimes.
Always a victim of circumstance, she thought with a sigh, then answered the buzzing device.
âTalk to me.â
âMs. Spark,â Agent Caphus Stirkâs voice crackles, as a miniature holographic projection of him hovered above the round device in her hand. His was a thirty-something, thin man with a chin that could pop a balloon, and a personality equally as sharp. âIâm in need of your⊠erm⊠unique skills for a task of great importance.â
âStab it, Caphus,â she groaned, âI deactivated my imperial holocom for a reason. If you havenât noticed, Iâm not part of your little Empire anymore.â
From the day she had joined The Academy, to the day she graduated it, The Empire had merely been a tool for one thing: to gain the power she desired. The moment her training was complete, she left the Academy, and the Empire behind. Occasionally she helped her brother with something, and she visited Drommund Kaas on rare occasions which usually ended in someone dying at the end of her lightsaber, but she and the empire were about as close to being friends as fire and dry paper.
âYou often work with Agent Spark on missions of importance to The Empire,â he said matter-of-factly.
âOnly on common interest occasions.â
âYouâre on his ship right now.â
âWhat, are you stalking me now? Look Caphus, youâre like sixty, Iâm nineteen. Itâs weird.â
âAmusing, Ms. Spark, but Iâm no stalker⊠just well informed. You didnât leave Drommund Kaas quietly the last time you were here. More to the point, this is a job offer, not an assignment. You will be rewarded considerably.â
âI donât care about your stupid credits, Caph.â
âThen perhaps youâll care for the prospect of a challenging task, worthy of your skills, with lots of people to kill by any method of your choosing. Itâs been a while since youâve seen any real action, hasnât it, Ms. Spark?â
âBleed you Caphus⊠for speaking my language,â she smiled, âso whatâs the job?â
âThe leader of a rebel terrorist group on the imperial besieged planet Beiertahk has been giving us trouble- holding off our entire effort to take the planetâs capitol. He has friends in almost every level of power in the capitol, and wonât even let our transmissions go through for us to try to negotiate terms of the planetâs surrender. But because of the lies this terrorist had been spreading about The Empire, theyâll never surrender peacefully now anyway.â
âSo just blast the city off the face of the map; build a new capitol.â
âThat would be an option, if it werenât for the fact that the city is not only a major trading hub, but also houses the largest mining operation on the planet.â
âSo you want me to sneak in to the city, find the punk and remove his head.â
âIn short, yes.â
âAlright Caph, Iâll do it. But this job better be worth it. You do not want to make me angry.â
âFully understood and noted, Ms. Spark.â
âIâll need to call in some help though,â she said, thinking out loud, âand I know just the lady for the job.â
âHire whomever you want.â
âI wasnât asking your consent, stupid. Now go away.â
Caphus half-groan half-sighed, âVery well. Iâm sending you the coordinates. Meet me there in 48 hours sharp.â
âDonât count on it,â she mumbled, ânow get lost, Caph.â
Without another word, his image evaporated.
Ariadne smirked, turning toward the cockpit of The Accomplice.
***
âWhy her, Caphus?â Corven stormed in, fists clenched tight, âWhy recruit my sister? Itâs a suicide job for one person and you know it!â
âBecause, Agent Spark, she can do it. Because once she puts her mind to something sheâll stop at nothing to accomplish it. Sheâll have that terrorist trembling in fear before sheâs even standing before him⊠and when the people of Beiertahk find out that an imperial teenage girl defeated their greatest hope singlehandedly, theyâll surrender in a second.â
***
Ariadne activated The Accompliceâs holocom, typing in Malign Juneâs contact number. After a few seconds, the projector flickered to life with a staticky blue image of the bounty huntress, who was sitting at a desk, examining a small vial of liquid. Blood, Ariadne presumed.
âSup, huntress?â Ariadne said cheerfully, âHow goes the bloodshed?â
Mal looked up and smiled, placing the vial of liquid in her hand into the container in front of her. âAriadne, itâs been too long. And the blood is shedding more than ever Iâm happy to report. Iâve missed your presence. What brings me the pleasure of conferring with a fellow murderess such as yourself?â
âI just had a nice chat with opportunity. Heâs paying big bucks for the deaths of many hapless individuals. A big time rebel terrorist with friends in high places has been outsmarting imperials trying to take the planet Beiertahkâs capitol. Heâs been blocking transmissions, spreading lies, outgunning imperial troops⊠and poor little Caphus Stirk, imperial intelligence big-wig, has called upon me to hunt the guy down and take his head off. Terrorism, deceit and torture from us, met with violent opposition from his friends⊠all likely. You in?â
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"As a matter of fact, I've been developing a few nasty surprises that I've been tempted to try out lately. This, for example," She returned to the holocomm.
"Genetically modified parasitical worms from that planet with all of the fungi... Felucia. These have been altered to release a lethal toxin that will cause severe pain in the nervous system, eventually resulting in death as the toxin builds to dangerous levels. Hopefully I'll have a chance to test it out on a few 'subjects', eh? I'll have to convert it into a dart form, though."
She placed the syringe on the table, "So tell me, what have you been up to these last few months?"
As she spoke, she was programming the ship's navigation-computer with the coordinates to the planet Beiertahk. With the pull of a lever, the ship's engines hummed, and the stars outside the viewport became streaks of solid white as The Accomplice accelerated to lightspeed and beyond. She then turned back to the holo-com and began typing on its keypad.
"I'm sending you the coordinates to Beiertahk now. They lead to my contact's ship, which should be drifting in high-orbit above the planet. Got any exciting stories since we last spoke?" she asked.
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After a moment or two of chatting, she said goodbye and entered her suite, opening her closet. Ignoring the priceless, exotic dresses and formal wear, she went to the back of the closet and pulled out a heavy chest. She opened it, revealing the dark black and pink armor inside. After putting it on, she checked her weapons, humming to a cheerful tune as she strapped the double-barreled pistols to her sides.
As she left the compound, her assistant, Cyan James, ran after her, clutching a datapad. "Ms. June! Ms. June! I hate to slow you down but-"
Malign sighed, blowing a strand of crimson hair out of her face. She turned around to face the short, thin intimidated young man. Cyan was 25, one of the best assistant managers and organizers in the galaxy. His knack for securing deals was invaluable, and his position was permanent in the corporation.
"Whatever do you want now, dear Cyan. Can't you see I'm busy? I'm off on a killing spree," She said casually, beginning to walk again. Cyan trailed behind, frantically speaking.
"Malign - you know that our business conference with the Collocoids is this weekend. They won't take kindly to your abscence! I know they've been looking forward to seeing you again after your last discussion. They loved how you ripped the claw off of the one who wouldn't bring down his price."
"Certainly you can do it this time. Or in the very least bring some insecticide to threaten them into submission with."
"I would get snapped in half! From you it amuses them. From me.... I'm just prey. And where are you off to? Hopefully nowhere dangerous-"
"You are the one in danger. I hope you remember the last time you made me angry, Cyan? You had to buy a new datapad and required two days of surgery to get the bits of glass out of your forearm."
"Oh um... Yes. That was erhmm.. I see your point. I'll postpone the meeting. Just please, Malign. Alert the corporation of your position on occasion. We'd hate to think you were deceased."
"Me... Deceased. That's real funny, isn't it?" She said, turning once again to face Cyan. By now they were on the landing strip, right below the boarding ramp of The Empress VIII. She pulled her arm back and smacked Cyan's cheek once, grinning. "I'll be fine. You, on the other hand, will not be fine if you don't keep this company running. Best of luck... and Cheers."
Then she was off, leaving the man rubbing his now-stinging cheek on the surface below. "Let's find this fancy ship, shall we?" she said to herself, intering the coordinants.
As the planet grew closer and closer, she could make out its landscape. It was covered in mostly in vast forests and snowy tundras, and dotted with large, dark lakes. big, shining golden-and-silver cities were connected by what appeared to be highways or train systems over otherwise vacant, forested land.
Caphus's ship was visible now, big and impressive, just like his ego. She smiled at the thought, making a mental note to start calling it The Ego. She piloted The Accomplice into the hangar bay of The Ego, then stepped out into the hangar bay and waited for Malign to arrive. When she did, they were led by Caph's imperial guards to the ship's bridge. She made a conscious effort to walk much slower than the guards as she and Malign had a pleasant chat, forcing the men to slow down for them. When they finally made it to the bridge, Caphus was all but tapping his foot impatiently.
"Ms. Spark, nice of you to finally join us," Caphus said in his normal, snobby monotone.
"Thanks, Caph," she said cheerfully, "This is Malign June, founder of the Lorrdian Cybertech and Medical Corporation. You will treat her with dignity and respect, none of that snarky know-it-all attitude you give me, understand?"
"I'm afraid I'm not sure what you're referring to, Ms. Spark."
"Oh, right, I forgot that your moon-size ego prevents you from judging your own character flaws.â
Caphus acted like he hadnât heard her, turning his attention to Malign. âPleasure to make you acquaintance Ms. June. Iâd very much like to hear more about this business of yours.â
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