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It was rare, a moment of peace amidst a war. And yet here, in this tiny pocket of space, the soft babbling of a fountain and the soft singing of violin strings created the illusion of peace. Steam rose off the in-floor pool, stones and verdant flora ringing the marble pool gave the illusion of a Terran spring from ages past. Lavender, chamomile, and lemongrass blended in the pool and rose with the steam and, coupled with the honeyed whiskey settled neatly in an alcove barely an arm’s length away, left the High Inquisitor with ample distance from her daily duties that her Whispers were little more than gentle taps at the back of her mind, rather than the incessant buzzing from her normal life. She smirked as one thought slipped through, the disdain and disregard of one rebel her minions prepared for an interrogation session amusing her.

It wasn’t that she didn’t care for her own kind. It was more that she truly only cared about herself and no one could argue that the Empire was the winning side. The Rebellion was cute, but what would it ever amount to? It hadn’t been able to break the status quo since the Emperor and Lord Thanos neatly tucked the Sol system’s throat under their boot and with all current modeling predictions, wouldn’t ever be able to. Mutants, humans, aliens… the difference didn’t matter. All that mattered was she survived, and she’d slaughter as many life forms as it took to maintain her well deserved commodities. Just because they shared a gene did not endear them to her. They were faceless strangers, and they would be faceless corpses for all she cared. 

[color=lavender]“High Inquisitor, Brigadier General Hoffman requested an audience.”[/color] The music faded away as the AI that served as her personal assistant interrupted her relaxation. Nothing good ever lasted and she sighed, the mechanical bathing assistant whirring to life and approaching the pool with heated towels. [color=lavender]“While Brigadier General Hoffman has declined to offer any information to me, a preliminary bioscan suggests he is both pleased and terrified, and is at a high risk of a heart attack.”[/color] The Inquisitor shook her head as she stepped from the pool and onto the towel laid out for her, taking the other while she considered. 

The Brigadier General approaching her was a strange thing. Being a human, and a mediocre one at that, his resentment and fear rolled off him in waves when any mutant or alien so much as passed by him. Whatever information he held was likely the result of punishment for some mistake. She knew full well the main bulk of the Empire’s authority feared her- she’d spent a lifetime cultivating that fear. So either this information was of the utmost importance and they’d decided only one of Lord Thanos’s pet freaks could handle it, or the pathetic excuse of a man failed at some menial task and this was his punishment. Either way, she decided she was [i]displeased[/i].

She took her time after permitting him entrance into her office’s antechamber. He interrupted her during her personal time, so she wasn’t in any rush to help the little worm. The white dress she chose boasted a gold belt around the waist with a opal center and sleeveless to compliment the high gold collar that rose up to her left ear but smoothed down to the right shoulder, the metallic fibers in the collar acting as a solar charger for the various energy implements she employed in her line of work. A pair of opal earrings followed, both acting as a link to her AI and capable of deploying an opaque face shield, and an opal necklace, bracelet, and anklet, which all acted as deployment points for her energy armor. 

Once she was ready, she moved to her office, a comfortable room with only one chair behind her desk that overlooked the Imperial plaza. Various pieces of alien art decorated the walls, each one commissioned after a successful mission, interspersed between bookshelves, system access panels, and a holo-map of the solar system with an array of dots scattered about it. She contemplated how to receive him for a moment before activating her face shield, leaving but a blank white surface. She knew it’d unnerve him. 

[color=pink]“Permit the Brigadier General entry.”[/color] A moment later, the antechamber door hissed as it slid open, revealing the short, impish brute that interrupted her. She didn’t need to brush his mind to feel his emotions. For an officer in the legions of the Empire, he regulated his expressions poorly. Yet still she reached out, basking in the apprehension and revulsion he felt just by crossing the threshold. 

[color=mediumspringgreen]“You certainly took your time, Inquisitor.”[/color] Hoffman bit out, clearly holding back whatever it was he wanted to say. It seemed the Brigadier General was wiser than he seemed, though not too much more considering she’d been in his head since she walked into her office and he seemed none the wiser. [color=mediumspringgreen]“I informed your assistant that this intelligence was of the utmost importance and to have you keep me waiting, despite the General themself sending ahead an authorization missive, is basically insubordination! You will remember your position is only granted to you by the grace of Lord―”[/color] He balked as she stretched out her hand. 

[color=pink]“The files, if you will.”[/color] The high Inquisitor demanded, the conversation unnecessary after sifting through the mental pigsty behind Hoffman’s eyes. He clicked his tongue irritably, but withdrew the data unit as requested and placed it in her palm. “Thank you. You are dismissed.” His face turned red at the casual dismissal and although he opened his mouth to argue, nothing came out as his eyes glazed over and she mockingly used two fingers to walk him out of the room. She permitted him his mind back just as the doors shut, just in time for her to chuckle at the intense swearing that slipped through the crack.

She placed the data unit on her desk as she took a seat, the white lines of her AI circling it while the virtual screen appeared and populated a table of context. It would be a few more minutes until Persephony summarized the various contents of the unit and the Inquisitor amused herself by scanning the various highly scientific reports included. Clearly, someone was playing with fire if they thought creating more mutants was the answer to the aggressive regime the Empire maintained. 

Finally, Persephone populated her report and the Inquisitor smiled as her face shield vanished. This had been an issue her Whispers brought to her a while back, and to have it placed so nicely in her hands was exactly what she needed to take the next step in her career. [color=pink]“Persephone, cross reference the location of our target with any available Bounty Hunters from the watchlist.”[/color] She instructed, as she typed up the job chit. Six names came up, three of them in one group, and a sharp smirk unfurled at the revelation. [color=pink]“Push [url=https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/701082630778650694/1084620425419554928/c0c73921541af65164f9f56c3243301a.png]Dr Haggar's[/url] chit to these six. Then, attach the chit to Project Delphi and begin initialization sequences. It’s time to see the rats run the course.”[/color]

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[Center][pre]Job Request Uploading…

Target: Dr. Timian Haggar
Conditions: Alive
Last known location: Titan, moon of Saturn
Reward: 15 million Imperial credits
Drop location: Terran Orbital Station 1441, platform 6-3[/pre][/center]


The request beeped above the holo-table of the Excelsior, hovering next to the image of the poor target in question. The indicator on the table displayed this was a general job request, a high stake, high reward mission sent out to as many nearby hunters as possible in order to catch the target quickly. With this reward, everyone and their mother was going to hunt this man to the end of the universe and beyond. And if some bounty hunters got shot down in the process, well, the solar system probably wouldn’t mourn them.

Still in hyperspace, finally repaired after a rogue asteroid slammed into the poor, unsuspecting ship, the hyperspace engine hummed softly beneath the mainhold where the holo-table, surrounded by deep comfy chairs and one sofa bolted to the wall, dominated the space. Another section of the room, secured by a bioscanner, boasted a heavy arsenal of weaponry from blasters and a rifle, to good old fashioned knives, and restraints and a few sonic grenades. Various trinkets provided by the three owners of the ship jingled quietly where they were strung along the ceiling of the hold and although the lights in the mainhold were off, a number of crystals strung up by the team glowed in the dark room.

Slowly, the lights in the room flickered to life and the far door from the cockpit hissed as it opened. Danni stretched and yawned, his shirt lifting as he scratched at his stomach. His back was fucking [i]killing[/i] him from sitting in the cockpit for the past hour, barely staying awake as he watched the path prediction bullshit. As much as everyone hated sitting in the cockpit during hyperspace jumps, not doing it was how they crashed Excelsior the first time and no one wanted to go back to begging for credits just to get their shift off the damn ground. Why couldn’t the autopilot adjust faster in hyperspace, then he could do better things like sleep, annoy Dee and Princess, or just cuddle. Instead, it was his turn to sit and stare at path projections like he actually knew any of the numbers on the screen other than “Get ready bitch, asteroid in the path!!!!”

The lights beyond the mainhold flickered to life as well, letting the other passengers know there was movement on the deck. A message would display in all the rooms anyway, so that the team would know a job chit hit the holotable. Danni scanned over it wearily, humming as he did. The face slipped away from his mind almost instantly, but he wasn’t the organizer of their operations so it didn’t really matter yet. Instead, he hummed at the reward and the drop off point, making a face at the empire controlled location, and turned to wander further into the ship to find the rest of his criminal pals, but he paused. His groggy brain cleared very slowly, but was very intent on rereading the details of the chit. Danni turned slowly, suddenly very alert as he took in the information. He reread the reward several times. 

He started screaming.