| Blackfire_Contacts | Date: Tuesday, 17 Apr 2012, 5:49 PM | Message # 1 |
 Lieutenant colonel
Group: Users
Messages: 110
Status: Offline
| Phoren Jusuf was a very unlucky Corellian miner. The sayings about Corellians beating the odds never seemed to apply to him. In six ventures along the Outer Rim, mining asteroids, he'd suffered attacks from pirates or raiders and lost hundreds of thousands of credits in equipment and lives. The remaining work crew he had now had only agreed to work for him still if he provided a large enough security deterrent towards pirates. What his work crew did not know, a fact that Jusuf kept hidden, was that he was completely out of cash reserves and on his last legs. It was the reason that he jumped at the chance without thinking twice really when a strange benefactor came forth with an offer: in exchange for the three million and five-hundred thousand credits it would take to purchase a new CR90 for defense in exchange for forty percent profits that Jusuf would make until twice the value of the corvette was paid off.
Having hidden his financial status from everyone but himself, and having no family, Jusuf gleefully accepted, seeing a chance to reverse his luck. He informed his work crews that they would indeed have the security they wanted. Lo and behold, when the CR90 was delivered in pristine condition, Jusuf's work crews agreed to work once more. Jusuf was even willing to hire on eighty crew that his benefactor had suggested for him; men who were used to dangers of the Outer Rim and willing to face them. Jusuf found the request from his benefactor, a Mr. Kelvin Stahl, who wished to accompany Jusuf on the mining venture a tad odd, but his spirits were high enough to grant the request. The ship was registered under Corellia as the New Luck and considered a private trade vessel. It was with great happiness that Jusuf departed Corellia for the Outer Rim via hyperspace. The trip to the mining site he had picked out was roughly twenty-four standard hours away. Making their home among the ship and making friendly conversation with the crew, who were equally as friendly and as curious about mining as the miners were about flying, had easy conversation. Knowing the days ahead would be long and tiring, the workers turned in early.
It was late, 2348 Coruscant time, and Jusuf could not sleep, so he responded to a request from Stahl to join him in Stahl's quarters. The older man was awake, a small bottle of Corellian brandy opened before him with two glasses filled. "Sit, sit Mr. Jusuf. I've taken the liberty of opening this small reserve in honor of our friendship and indeed, partnership. Please, sit and drink."
Jusuf took the offered seat across from Stahl and both men lifted their glasses in salute. "I find it a little strange that you'd be willing to back me, Mr. Stahl-"
"Please, call me Kelvin. We're all friends here now."
"Kelvin then, yes. I still find it strange that you'd back me. I mean... my ventures haven't been all that successful, as you might have guessed."
"Precisely why I chose you, Phoren. You are an unsuccessful miner who works on the Outer Rim and, as you've told me, you were constantly beset by pirates. Bad luck and all. Of course, things tend to change."
"Things do tend to change, Kelvin... but now that I have more time and we're on our way, I can think about this a bit more. After all, I don't really know you all that well."
"That's the point of a mysterious benefactor, is it not? I'm just a simple man who is willing to lend a hand where I can and take only minor profit in return. You needed a ship, I wanted an adventure and that was it."
"Nonetheless, it does seem rather odd of you that you'd be so willing to help a stranger in need. One doesn't find that much in the galaxy any more."
Stahl sighed slightly and looked upwards for a moment. "You know, Phoren... you're quite right. One doesn't."
Jusuf distantly registered the sound of the blaster and then could not quite comprehend why the room had spun ninety degrees, or why he was on the floor, or why, for that matter, he couldn't move his legs. He died that way, with a quizzical expression on his face. Agent Thirty-nine, the kindly older man posing as Kelvin Stahl, sighed again and placed the blaster he'd been holding on his lap on the table. Retrieving a comlink from his pocket, he paged the crew on the bridge over an identical com. "Execute the operation. I'm sure it will go off without a hitch."
---
The New Luck never turned up at the mining site, though nobody thought to look for it until it was long overdue back at Corellia. 'Kelvin Stahl' had never been known on Corellia, other than to Phoren Jusuf and the New Luck's crew had been ferried in at the last moment. There was not so much as a holo to go off of in this case. It was unfortunate, many people would say later, that Jusuf had had so much unfortunate luck. The mystery of Phoren Jusuf's disappearance and his work crew of nearly two-hundred would become a strange mystery on Corellia in some ways, or not, depending on the interest of the people. In the grand scheme of things, it was a small matter, and likely chalked up to pirate activities. There were only two constants at the end of the day though: somewhere, out in deep space and likely scattered since their drop-off, were nearly two hundred corpses that had been, for the most part, neatly and efficiently executed. The second and more lasting truth was that Blackfire had finally gained another vessel that they needed, one that could be modified to their ends.
The Citadel's Contractors
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