Lurk intro thread

[southpaw]

Lurk eyed the two blasters leveled at him, gauging the skill of the thugs. They looked tough: two shoots each to take'em down. They'd probably get at least one off at him, and he was missing enough limbs as it was. But he wasn't just gonna jump in with the stranger like some easy mark.

"Depends on who's asking," he said hoarsely, "and what they're offering."

[Wisconsin Wookie]

For a few moments, there is no response and Lurk braces for action. Then, the voice responds, "I am someone who can offer you a better life...and a more lucrative future."

The near-human at Lurk's feet takes advantage of the distraction, and begins crawling away. After crawling a few feet, he stands up and takes off at a sprint, getting as far away from that crazy robo-man as he can.

[southpaw]

Lurk had heard that kind of talk before: he had no time for peddlers of false hope, it was the kind of thinking that made people stupid or dead. But the offer of a lucrative future...

"K, I'll listen to what you got to offer," he said as he stepped towards the vehicle. "I got an hour to kill, so humor me."

[Wisconsin Wookie]

Lurk climbs into the back seat and slides over as the Barabel sits down next to him. The door closes and the speeder pulls up and away into the Coruscant traffic.

The interior of the luxury speeder was all leather, though Lurk only knew that from the feel as it was really too dark to notice anything. The heavily tinted windows kept out virtually all light from the outside and there were no lights on in the speeder, save one faint red light directly above Lurk. Directly across the passenger area of the speeder, about 15 feet away, sat anothe individual. A cloud of smoke hung in the air between, making visual ID very difficult, if not impossible.

After a moment, a scratchy voice speaks from the other end of the limo: "Mr. Urkuloi, I understand your military leave is over in a matter of hours."

[southpaw]

Lurk drew out another deathstick and lit up, hoping the distraction would draw attention away from his eye. It whirred ever-so-slightly, trying to penetrate the haze by scanning on IR frequencies and zooming in close on the figure. He leaned back and dragged deep on the smoke, then slowly exhaled, adding to the smoke-filled cabin.

"Yar," he rasped. "Thanks for chewing those last minutes up for me. Seems you done yer research; I'm touched you think I'm worth yer time."

Search 4D + 1D eye +1D character point : 5 5 5 3 6 4 : 28 (woo!)

[Wisconsin Wookie]

[i]The voice responded: "Speaking of research, I have some here you may be interested in." Lurk, with his robotic eye, notices the figure lean over and grab something off of the seat next to him. He then hears the faint sound of papers shuffling.

"In my left hand, I hold what the Grand Army of the Republic currently thinks of you. There are some unflattering comments about attitude and lack of respect for authorities, but I suspect you are maybe even proud of that...The part that may be of interest to you, is the details of your next assignment." There is a brief pause, all the while, Lurk uses his robotic eye, trying to get some kind of view of the being across the speeder. The voice resumes: "It seems you are to be placed once again in that second-rate unit, under the command of that sorry excuse for an officer, who was responsible for that debacle on your last mission." The voice chuckles and says, "Yep, it seems to me the Republic thinks you are pretty expendable. The way I figure it, you'll not last two weeks on your next tour." (All the while, Lurk's mechanical eye was hard at work. The being at the end of the speeder is definitely a human male. He's tall and thin and though facial features can be more difficult to detect with IR, Lurk is positive there is some type of scar or deformity on the left side of his face and a monacle or some sort of patch over his left eye as well. The man shows no indication that he was aware of what Lurk was up to; then again this guy seems to know his stuff, so who knows?)

"Do you want to hear what the other file says?"[/i]

[southpaw]

Lurk shrugged. "Sure. I'm not going anywhere."

[Wisconsin Wookie]

As the unidentified man shifts in his bench and switches folders, Lurk notices something he would not have caught otherwise. He notices some sort of badge or medal displaying a family crest on the right breast of the man's jacket. Lurk is sure he has never seen it before, but instantly wonders what it my signify.

The man continues, "I am sure you will enjoy the contents of this folder much more than the other one. Says here you have been hand-selected to be part of a special team undertaking a Top-Secret mission that will be leaving within the hour. It lists something about citations for valor in your previous combat experience and even implies that accolades and reward could follow the success of this mission. You'll be working with experienced soldiers and competent leaders."

There is a pause from the other end of the speeder, and for the moment, Lurk forgets all about his Infrared vision, wondering what the catch is. The man continues, "The good news, Lurk, can I call you Lurk? The good news is that I decide which of these folders will be filed."

[southpaw]

Lurk's good eye narrowed slightly at the mention of reward. He listened to the stranger's spiel, committing the details of the insignia, his voice, the strange facial scarring to memory. If only his dead eye had a cam unit built in. Maybe with the accolades hinted at there might be enough for upgrades... even vat-grown bio-parts...

And then Lurk realised that the stranger was just like every other cog in the Republic machine, reminding Lurk once again of just who he was, tempting him with tasty little treats... as long as he was a good and obedient little pet.

"So what is it you want?," Lurk sighed.

[Wisconsin Wookie]

The man responds in that same raspy voice, "What I want, is not so simple and is more than I can tell you. But you can help me get what I want." The voice stops for a moment as the man chooses his words carefully.

"What I want, Mr. Urkuloi, is for you to take this opportunity that I have laid before you. Accept your appointment to this team. Pass yourself off as the guide and expert on how life works outside of the Republic. Do what you do best. In the end, there will be a fat check with your name on it. All I ask, is that you keep me apprised of the team's progress by reporting in to me on a regular basis - without anyone else on the team knowing about it, of course."

[southpaw]

Lurk was silent for a moment. What was on the table was going to get in all kinds of pudu no matter which angle he played it. He thought it through as fast as he was able, aware that this was no doubt a limited offer.

"So...," he leaned forward and sucked in another drag, "you want me to be yer snitch, is that it? Well it's ain't that simple. Firstly, you could be Republic stooges, double-checking their man ain't gonna rat on them at the first sniff of cash. And you'd be right to do so, if you were. I don't need to 'pass myself off as some expert on life outside the Republic'. You checked yer files on me, you should know I've seen what life's like out there beyond the Rim. Ain't pretty. I know the rules. There are none. And most folks would take yer money and run.

"But you say you read my files, you should know I ain't like most folks. Cold blooded killer, sure. But that goes with the territory. And on the kinda world were I grew up, were life ain't worth crap, all a man's got, the only thing worth a damn is his word.

"If I sign up in an hour with those Republic goons, misguided and blind as they are, they can at least sleep tight knowin' I've got their backs. My word is all I got. I ain't gonna rat on them.

"However," Lurk paused to let it sink in, "however... if I knew that what you wanted was something worthwhile, something worth fightin' and dyin' for, something that's gonna make this dump of a galaxy a better place... well I might consider giving you my word first.

"So I need to know. No games, no hiding behind smoke and shadows. You want me to stain my honour? Be a rat instead of a dog? I need to know who you are, and what I'm doing it for.

"We got an hour to kill. Enlighten me."


(OCC And if you want to PM me his reply, and keep the others guessing... be my guest )

[Wisconsin Wookie]

Lurk finishes his answer and leans back a bit more relaxed. He immediately feels the goon next to him tense up, ready to obey whatever order would come from his master. For a long moment, there is no reply from the other end of the speeder.

Finally, the man replies: "It seems that I have misjudged you and your level of loyalty to the Republic." Another long pause follows and Lurk begins to wonder if he had played too strong a hand.

After another exhale of smoke, the man continues, "Alright, I can tell you this much: I am with the Republic too. And it is precisely because of some of those "goons," as you put it, that I am concerned. I just want to be sure the information gathered from this mission is handled appropriately."

"As for the rest of your team, by all means, you should have their backs. I want this mission to succeed. And don't think of yourself as a snitch. Rather, as someone who is making sure the information is going to the right place."

There is another long pause before the man concludes, "Lurk, this is your chance. A chance to turn it around. Do you really want to take the moral high ground now? All you have to do is report back to me every once in a while, help your team complete the mission, and 35,000 credits will be yours."

[southpaw]

"My loyalty to the Republic ain't what you misjudged," Lurk replied. "The mistake you made was thinkin' a man like me has no honour. I ain't got much, but it's there.

"I'll take yer money, ten thousand in advance, and do the job for you... once I know who it is I'm workin' for. You say yer with the Republic, yet yer waving a hefty fee around to convince me. You got no reason to hide from me. I'm just a little guy, and you got my word that no-one's gonna know about our little chat. So put my mind at ease and we will have a deal."

[Wisconsin Wookie]

Had Lurk been sitting closer to him, he would have heard the unkown and unseen man let out a sigh of disappointment. Instead, after a moment or two, he hears the man reply, "Very well. I will happily ease your mind." Lurk squints with his good eye and sees the man reach for something from behind him. But before he can do anything, Lurk feels a sharp pinch on his neck and realizes that the thug next to him just injected him with something.

[Wisconsin Wookie]

After only a few seconds, Lurk feels his body going numb and he begins drifting off into unconciousness. 

(ooc - I really like the way you played that in the limo.  That guy just wasn't ready to reveal himself .  Lurk will wake up in a new thread some time tonight or tomorrow.)