Chapter 4 - Power Vacuum

Looking down at the "packages" Mirach does her best to keep from smiling, but can't hide her relief at what she sees. j'ames'w, however, doesn't even try to conceal his happiness as his bright white teeth appear from his ear to ear grin.

"He sent them after you as well?" j'ames'w asks as he delivers a swift kick to Kuvo's ribs.

"They work for Mitzback now." he adds, landing one more kick for good measure.

He's stopped as he's winding up for a third kick by Mirach, who goes on to explain that Mitzback has been having meetings with Captain Isskar Cronwick from the site, and has the Captain's backing to become the Imperial representative for Falu.

"Basically installing him as a puppet ruler for the city. These two idiots... she says, pulling her blaster and motioning towards the two Mirialans.

"...have been chasing me and others who have been removed from the force by Mitzback. If these two are here, it means the inspector knows you're not a fan of the Imps."

She readies her blaster and aims it directly at Kuvo's head.

"It'll be nice to be done with these two..."

Mirach pauses, her hand trembling as she slowly moves her finger off the blaster's trigger.

"Bastards! They will come looking for them, and I'm going to make damned sure they don't find them."

She jams her blaster back into her holster and takes a long, deep breath, before telling j'ames'w to secure the two men. The Chiss removes two sets of binders and two dark hoods from his pack. He methodically begins to bind and hood both while Mirach turns to Guy and Kip.

"If they've come here for you, you're not safe - and unlike Gen, Mitzback is not afraid of dropping bodies to get his point across. There's no one left at the FSF to help anymore. We've been weeded out and replaced; at least the lucky ones have."

Crossing her arms in front of her she takes another deep breath in an attempt to calm herself.

"Ask away." she responds to Kip.

Taking a quick look inside the open drawer, Mirach confirms Kip's suspicion.

"Yes, that would be an official FSF communications device. Mitzback isn't even trying to hide the fact anymore and it disgusts me to see that they're being used by the likes of these two. Hold on to it long enough and you may even hear from their handler asking for status."

Hearing Guy's comment, j'ames'w quips, "They're one and the same."

"For the most part, anyway... he quickly adds.

"There are still some good people there, especially in the rank and file, but the leadership will be full on Imperial sympathizers before too much longer."

"Imps have been recruiting people ever since Cronwick took charge out at the Site, but I haven't heard anything specific about miners." Mirach answers.

"We really need to find out what exactly they are doing out there. Maybe then we could figure out a way to put a stop to all of this."

She walks over to the unconscious Mirialans and tugs at Jinvu's bound arms to see if he might be coming around.

"We could always question one of these two, see what they know, and why they're after you - I think we have some time, they've never been known to work with others so I doubt anyone will be actively looking for them."

As soon as she finishes her sentence, the comm device in the drawer breaks squelch. A deep, raspy voice asks...

"Is it done?"

There's a bit of a pause, which is just long enough to cast some doubt on Guy's attempted deception, before the voice responds.

"Three? That would be Mister Buckler and who else from the list then?"

"A bonus!?" the voice responds sharply.

"You two were supposed to have eliminated them days ago. Don't push your luck!"

In the background you can hear another conversation being had, it's hard to tell who might be talking but you can make out someone say "Whaymel and his wife will be dealt with tonight."

"You two, head over to Shipburn's place. He'll have a package for me I'll need for tomorrow. Grab it and bring it to me."