A House Divided - Contract 1 (Morrighan)

Ophelia

20-06-2013 10:26:18

The shuttle pulled up and the man stepped out onto the pavement. His heeled boots clacked as he strode along the street and each movement was accompanied by the gently swish of his long coat that flowed as if made of liquid silver. The musty air flowed around him and his hand rested on the butt of his right blaster the entire walk, the large brimmed hat pulled down obscuring his face from the glare of the street lamps and with each passing moment the shadow beneath his feet elongated as the night drew in.

He walked without hurry as the person he was meeting didn't garner that much respect to be hurried for. The crowds parted around him as the streets became busier, phantom like he made his way without much bother from anyone and the only time he had to stop was when a pickpocket tried to procure a few easy credits from him. So intent on the swipe however the young thief never saw the knife come down and remove his fingers from the palm of his hand. No one paid any heed to the scene; it was just another part of the city they lived in.
It took about half an hour more of walking before he pulled stood outside the cantina he was meeting his contact. Upon pushing open the door the place went silent as all the patrons turned to examine the new comer, seeing the dress style and weaponry most assumed him to be a simple spacer and turned their attention back to their original distractions, some kept their gaze lingering for a bit longer but even they looked away eventually. Only one pair of eyes kept staring from a booth in the corner. The spacer headed that way, stopping at the bar to order a jug of whisky, sitting down by the man he poured himself a drink and nodded but didn't say a word.

The man kept himself in silence also and the spacer felt the eyes on him from around the room, but he paid them no heed. He realised after all the man before him would of brought protection, after all he would have had he been in the man’s predicament. Finally the contact spoke in a hushed voice, as he did so the gently waft of narcotics left his mouth and entered the spacers nostrils, “You are Morrighan Ravenscroft?” He looked at the spacer expectantly, worry in his eyes.

The spacer leant back and nodded “I am he. I take it you are Enzac?” He stared ahead at the man from under his hat. The meeting had been arranged a couple of days ago after the mission had been assigned. “You are the one who contacted me in the past about a message from your master?” He lifted his glass to his mouth and took a sip from it.

The man nodded and looking from left to right leant forward, the narcotic stench increased but the new arrival didn't bulk “I am Enzac, and yes I have a message from my master. Here,” He reached into his pocket, the spacer tensed. “No no my friend, no need for that,” he pulled a datapad out of his coat pocket and slid it across the table.
Picking it up and switching it on it read;

“Dear Mr Ravenscroft,

I hope this finds you well. As you may know our house sits on the edge of civil war, the Summit aim to supress us under the heel of Sith oppression and we, that is the resistance, are looking for loyal Krath and Obelisk to fight this tyranny. I extend an invitation to you as an Obelisk warrior to join our cause and help us push back against this abomination. If you decide not to join us then I understand, if you do however, which I hope you do, my apprentice has orders to bring you to one of secure locations and give you the full rundown.

Regards”

The datapad began to heat up and suddenly it blanked out, screen cracking and smoke escaping from the sides, he looked up at Enzac and gave a wry smile “I presume if I say no, the heavies you have with you are to follow me and take me out?” He stared hard at the man across the table, nothing showing now in his face “Well?”

Enzac shrugged and flashed a rotten grin “What can I say, you’d be a liability and we couldn’t have that, he chuckled and took a sip of his own drink. “I’m going for a piss, give you some thinking time on it,” with that he pushed himself out from the booth and tottered slightly across the cantina and into the toilet. As he readied himself to conduct his business he failed to notice the movement behind him until it was too late. His head collided with the stall with prenatural speed. He crumpled to the floor, groggy he turned trying to draw a weapon on his assailant but it was removed from him before he got the chance. He tried to focus, blood obscuring his vision, finally it all came into focus and he took a deep gasp of breathe. Stood before him, knife in hand was…him “Wha...what is this? You’re me. How can you be me? Who are you?”

His double knelt down before him and smirked “You know who I am, but just before you die for treason I’ll let you know. I’m Morrighan Ravenscroft, but for right now I’m you, an exact copy of you,” he took out a combat knife and stared hard at Enzac. “Now I need the password and your clearance for Forward Data Centre Alpha 2-B.”

Enzac stared at him, through broken teeth he spat at Morrighan “So what you followed me in here? My men will be here soon and I’ll never tell you what you want!” The defiance in his eyes told Morrighan he needed to act quickly.

He tried to yell but Morrighan plunged the blade of his knife into the man’s hand, removing it just as just as quick “No, the man outside I an imposter I hired. Your men are still watching him, I’ve been here the whole time waiting on you, now you will tell me or I’ll cut bits off,” he held the knife at the man’s hand threating to remove the fingers.

Enzac gulped and began to quiver slightly; he had no real guts in these situations. He was used to getting the jump on his opponent or overpowering them in numbers “I won’t tell you…” he moaned into a newly clamped hand over his mouth as his fingers left his hand in one clean cut. He shook even more as he saw the blade travel to his privates and run over it gently “Ok ok no please don’t cut there. The code is Delta Sigma Five Seven Eleven.”

Morrighan nodded, inspecting himself for blood stains, he tapped his comm then searching through Enzac’s coat pulled out credentials. As he left the bathroom a thump behind him told him his men had entered the bathroom and removed Enzac via the large open window. The traitor would be disposed of at a later stage, but right now the new Enzac stepped from the bathroom, staggering slightly as the old had done. The Shi’ido inquisitor moved to the booth and settled down staring at the body double giving no indication he was Morrighan less the man gave something away “Well, your answer?”

The spacer nodded as had been pre-arranged “Yes, I’ll come with you,” he downed his whisky and stood. “Lead the way," he rose behind Morrighan and followed him out of the cantina.

As Morrighan, as Enzac, stood and left the cantina the spacer followed him and as they proceeded to a nearby speeded Morrighan had already scoped as belonging to Enzac and his party he heard the cantina door open again, he looked over his shoulder and noted the heavies leave behind them. They waited then till the others caught up, and as one they clambered into the speeder. Morrighan turned to the driver “Take us to Data Centre Alpha 2-B, I need to pick something up before I can deal with Mr Ravenscroft here,” the driver nodded “Understood sir,” with that he booted the speeder into forward and they shot off into the night.

It took only around forty minutes before they pulled up outside the data centre. As Morrighan vacated the speeder and walked upto the building as brazen as knew Enzac to be when flanked by heavies. “Guardian Enzac Triarck, entry code Delta Sigma Five Seven Eleven,” a subtle amount of pressure from his races telepathy had the guard click his heels to attention and salute, he turned and tapping the code into the door panel gave entrance to Morrighan and the group. “My thanks guardsman, I’ll only be in a few minutes. Alert me if there are any problems.” Without waiting on a response he strode past the door guards and several more checkpoints.

He left the heavies with the spacer in an Ante chamber and entering Enzac’s code proceeded into the datacore, he had informed the officer on charge he needed access to the core for the area cells so he was able to assign the new comers properly. The officer not one to argue with the dark jedi gave him access and now Morrighan moved to one of the databanks, took out a data spike and began the download of any and all information stored on the systems. As he leafed through the files as they downloaded he noted the main roster files, and siphoned them off onto his datapad for instant transmission.

Task complete he left the datacore the same way he had entered, nodding to the officer in charge, picking up the spacer and the heavies as he left. As they approached the speeder and the others clambered in Morrighan leaned through the window “I’ll be back in a minute, just going to empty the bladder up the alleyway,” he turned then and tottered off up the alley, fumbling around to make it look like he was busy he took out a detonator and flicking the cap up, pressed it. In the street the speeder went up in a fireball, heavies and spacer consumed in an inferno. The guardsmen at the door were thrown back and debris began drifting down into the street.

Morrighan turned away from the scene and threw himself into a pelting run down the alley, his form shifting and twisting as he ran, muscle and sinew altering around the face and hands until nothing remained of Enzac. As he exited the alleyway at the other end he walked out into the lamplight face changed and hair altered he hailed a passing speeder cab and took it a block away from his home. As he left the vehicle he pulled out his datapad and via secure network sent the files containing the names to command. As he made his way into the house he moved to the terminal in the study and uploaded the other files he had gathered, sending them via the same secure network.

Once done he turned away from the terminal, storing the datapad in a hidden storage unit and moved to the bar. Poured himself a whisky and sat down, it had been a shame about the spacer but he couldn’t afford any loose ends, after all what use were tools if you couldn’t dispose of them as needed. Talking about discarding he would need to see to his name and identify being changed again, after all Morrighan Ravenscroft died in an explosion this night “not right now though, now I sleep,” he muttered to no one in particular and sinking into the couch he drifted off to sleep.