About forty percent of kidnapping victims are released safely. These statistics are affected by a number of factors, including the nationality of the kidnappers, the age of the victim, and whether a hostage negotiator is employed. The odds go down sharply if no one has any money to pay the ransom.
A kidnapping is a business deal. The bad guys have negotiating power since they’re selling the life of a loved one. But then again, they have a market of one, so they ‘have’ to work with you.
------------------
Sandra and Kross go to a private inn to dress for the occasion.
“This will be a fun first, yes? Here…I got you a nice outfit to meet some mob boys in a nice hotel with. Floral shirt and everything…”
Kross gives a frown and looks a bit uncomfortable.
“How tacky is it?”
“More than we will ever be willing to accept…”
Sandra gets out a bikini from her bag. Some shorts and a long shirt of pink and flowers are worn soon as she dressed into them
Kross snatches the floral clothing and suppresses an audible gag. He then frowns and walks into a corner.
“Hey Sandra, how blaster proof is this, exactly? It seems flimsy.”
“It can take a blaster shot like paper can take a water hose…” smiles innocently.
“They will search us on the way in, so no fun tools for the first meeting.”
Kross leaves a neat little pile of armor and clothing folded beside him. Then he makes a sad look to Sandra as he places his blasters and saber on top.
“You’re lucky I can hold my own in hand to hand combat, Sandra.” With a sigh, he walks towards Sandra, giving a spin.
“How do I look?”
She puts a finger on her chin and taps
“You look like someone who likes a total jerk. I like it.”
“How do I look?”
Sandra does a model pose and a spin
Kross gawks for a moment before shaking his head.
“Are you sure I can’t bring a blaster then?”
“No blaster. Just your head and cunning, for now anyways. Ready to go?”
Kross mutters to himself about how people would be distracted by her anyways, before giving a nod. The pair make their way across the street to a larger building where people are coming and going in. It looks to be a spa of sorts, but for the rather wealthy. They look quite the part of the luxurious few civilians who are going in.
Inside are generated weather with AC modification and projection, given how unpredictable Viscara’s real weather is. The front end has two larger pools and a series of seats with umbrellas along the outside with some bars on opposite ends.
“Looks like they are having all so much fun…”
Kross glances at Sandra and then looks back. “We may as well enjoy ourselves while we’re here. Not often we get to have fun during a war. Shall we then?”
Sandra giggles softly
“May well then. Lets go to the bar.”
Of course, her credit chip picked off someone scanned so their ‘richness level’ would allow them inside. Meanwhile, the pair make their way to the bar.
“Do you drink, Kross?”
Kross looks around cautiously at their surroundings, looking for possible hiding spots, exits, and guards. He takes mental note of them for a moment before paying attention to Sandra again.
“Only light drinks. I’m on duty.”
“Our duty is over there.”
Sandra motions to the couple standing and talking to several men. Two are clearly guards with blasters on their waist. The female is a taller blonde with a large summer hat and a skimpy bikini. The normal large chest, of course.
The lieutenant of the boss’ crew is Laurence Giver, a local who sets up the stings and sets up the missions. He isn’t too tough looking, but as a former Republic soldier of fair rank, he likely had some martial training. He looks to be living the good life right now
Sandra fills in Kross of the pair.
“Pick one. We’ll get them if they split up.” Kross gestures for a bartender to come over, looking away from the couple.
“Have you ever been to jail before?”
“Sure have. Why?” Kross orders drinks for both of them, keeping an eye out for counter surveillance.
“We’re ex-convicts from the Pen on Nar Shaddah. Big enough planet for them to not care, personal enough for people hiding there that they won’t make any proper connections until its too late. A prisoner named Millie Mex, died last week from a stabbing. Was his old mate. He’ll be our in. Mex liked drinking and smuggling in contraband. We have to get creative and listen from there, because that’s all i was able to find…”
“We each spent three years there and got in together, you and I.”
“Understood. We need to get his attention out of public. If we are from the pen, we wouldn’t be walking up to him like this.”
Kross picks up the drinks given by the bartender and hands one over to Sandra. A tropical fruit mixture that smells slightly alcoholic with a slice of lime on the glass.
They make their way over and Sandra engages with a behavior extremely unexpected to him. She walks up to the blonde woman and they exchange cheek kisses.
Sandy: Hello, Darling! Such a wonderful setting you all have here! How long did this all take?
Woman: My boyfriend here, Laurence, set it all up with his earnings from his business! Oh, you are such a lovely. Is this fellow your boyfriend? Acquaintance?
Sandy: This my dear partner! We met a few years back, darling. His name is Decker! I’m Missy!
Woman: OH! Such a pleasure! she waves to kross cutely
Kross crosses his arms and plants his feet apart, like some sort of bodyguard over Sandra. He gives a bob of the head to the wave but stays silent.
Woman: Is he always this quiet?
Sandy: He doesn’t talk much since ‘the incident’
Woman: Oh dear me! It must have been so dreadful!
Sandy: Such a harrowing experience! He’s a veteran, ya know.
Woman: OH! So is my boyfriend! You would all have much in common already!
Sandy: Let’s go meet him! He looks really yummy~
Woman: You have NO idea, little pretty! Lets go, sweetiepie.
Kross looks around to see if the guards follow, keeping a close eye on the woman also as he attempts to discern if anything about her stance or style reveal anything about her background.
The two guards do follow. This woman seems to walk as if she is uncaring or untrained. The guards do seem to walk with a fair pace as if they do have training in some bodyguarding measures.
The group arrives to where Laurence is talking to his two own bodyguards.
Laurance: Baby, Baby, ya went off so quick when de boys came? Ya gat bored again, baby?
Woman: Yes, darling! Your business talk is always sooooo long and serious. I thought we were going to have our own time today.
Laurance: Who ya friends, Baby?
Woman: Yeah, darling!
Sandy: I’m Missy and this is Decker. A pleasure to meet you sir! You look dashing in those glasses!
Laurence: Missy n Decker. Nice to meet ya, fellers. From 'round here?
Sandy: We heard you were in town and looking to offer a bit of our services! You’re our chance to hit the big leagues! The real sause! The bit hitter!
She pats Kross on the chest and giggles happily
Kross allows himself a brief smile at the touch, then resumes a cold and unflinching stare as if this was just another day on the job.
Kross then turns his attention to Laurence, his voice hardened and gritty in nature to make him seem uncouth and straight to the point.
“I understand you are a veteran.”
Laurence: Yeah. Mandalorian War. What’s your credentials, Decker? Got a story?
“Yeah, served during the battle of Serroco.”
Kross gives a look to Laurence as if the simple statement would cover any misunderstandings and did not elaborate further. Kross merely crosses his arms.
Laurence: Ya gat it bad then. Don’t envy you. Ya girl is good too?
clearly seems to resonate with hearing the word Serroco in the least and shifts to a more serious stance, perhaps one of empathy
“Never been to war, but she has other talents.” Kross appears to gaze off into the distance and gives himself a slight twitch as if he was remembering the battle right at that moment. He then looks back to the couple.
Laurence: Alright, what ya do, lady?
Sandy: I was one of the smugglers for your guy in the pen on Nar Shaddaa. Millie, remember him?
Laurence: Yeah, de fellah was good to me. He good?
Sandy: Nah, he got poked the other day, so I’m out of a job, ya know? Figure his old pal could use a new gal, know what I mean?
Laurence takes a sup of his drink as he looks on the pair and ponders a moment. His eyes trace the pool a moment before he responds
Laurence: Millie was good peps. Alright, I got a gig. Meet tonight at the Dex Inn across the street. Pent House. Knock at 2 am, hear?
“You providing the tools for the job?” Kross cracks his neck as he waits for an answer. He then resumes his typical cold and stubborn look.
Laurence laugs.
"I haven’t even told ya what it was yet, but we’ll see. See ya both tonight. Try not to be late, eh?
Sandy: Yes, sir! We won’t disappoint!
Sandra and Kross return to their inn room for now
-------------------
Sandra sighs and sits on the chair in the room as she changes into normal clothes
“I assume he’s going to ask us to do an abduction job to see if we can handle it.”
As soon as Kross enters the inn room, he begins to search for cameras and listening devices, checking behind the curtains and fixtures.
“How do you want to proceed then?”
Sandra looks on her lap and considers.
“I have a tendency to improvise in these situations. Knowing the job is important, but knowing how they resolve their work offers us opportunity for sabotaging it.”
Kross looks up looks under the bed, and in the bathroom, still looking for monitoring devices as he replies.
“You aren’t actually considering we do it.”
“I am suggesting so. To get to the root of an issue, sometimes you need to invest in your actions to convince the enemy of the role you are playing. It is not always a pleasant thing, nor should one do something terrible, but just enough…”
Sandra sits at a table and looks on some devices in her bag and takes out two datapads and begins to dismantle them.
Having searched the room enough, Kross sits down in a chair in the room, looking over at Sandra. He crosses his legs and folds his hands over his stomach, looking curiously at what she’s doing. Kross also looks around for anything in the room that can be used or moulded into a concealed weapon.
“What are you doing with those, Sandra?”
“These are simply datapads. Cheap and fair for what we’ll use them for. We essentially making bugs. We will have to plant this on whatever transport or person they will use. It only has a battery of a few hours, but that should be more than enough for now.”
She tinkers a bit and gives a bug to Kross. It’s not large, as a 1x1x1 in size, but being placed badly can be troublesome. Kross examines the bug closely before stashing it in one of his socks to prevent detection during a search.
“I don’t suppose we have any adhesives for these?” Kross then goes up to a light fixture, disassembling it for wires which he weaves into a makeshift garrote.
Sandra motions to her bag.
“There is some double sided adhesive. You’ll have to give it a little cut. I wouldnt peel the other side off until you’re ready to place it though, hehe… It’s kind of strong.”
Kross experimentally checks the wire for tension and breakage before he winds it up and places it in his pocket like it was just some leftover wire from a previous job. He then moves over to her bag to withdraw some double sided adhesive, applying one side to the bug and very carefully placing it back in his sock to make sure the other side does not peel.
“Right then, do you need a weapon fashioned, just incase?”
“Do you have a reliable blaster…?”
Sandra takes out her own HoldOut Blaster and gives it a pat
Kross takes out a holster with a blaster pistol on it. The blaster pistol appears rugged and short, but appears to be high powered.
“I have mine here, but I prefer to also make something for a quieter takedown.”
Sandra nods and finishes making the last listening device.
“Alright, do you have everything you want to take? I have a bug, blaster, flash grenade, and slicing datapad.”
Kross lays out his equipment carefully on the bed sheets. A garrote, a pair of blaster pistols, three incendiary grenades and two smoke grenades. Finally, he also takes out the bug.
“That’s all I got. I can take care of the military end of things.”
She nods and they get dressed for action. They make their way to the room for the meeting. Laurence is waiting with his two goons. He nods to the pair and they begin…
Laurence: "Listen up, nah. Ya goin to grab a kid, real quick. Speeder will be by in 20 minutes. Grab, drop off, disappear. Meet at da club in 16 hours and drinks on me. The kid is in the house next door. Pull it off quick like, ye?
Kross gives a nod as if he did this for breakfast. Not a hint of surprise nor emotion. A job is a job for him it seems. “You leaving, or you watching?”
“Ya two seem sharper than I might realize. I’m leaving. If ya mess up, the heat will be here quickly anyways, and if ya succeed, then we all in da free. Easy in and outta there.”
“You got any intel on who’s next door besides the kid? Any armed nanny we should know about before we go busting in there?”
“Parents usually bail in da morning, so if they ain’t sleepin yet, then it could get extra fun, ye?”
“Otherwise, no one else there. Real easy one for ya introduction.”
Kross gives a bored look over to Sandra.
“You got any questions for the man here, sweet cheeks?”
“Yeah, what kinda speeder we should be lookin out for?”
L: “Look out for da mid sized one. Grey color with a girl driving. Good questions, crew.”
“Any last questions then?”
“None. I am ready to go! You ready?”
Sandra looks to Kross
Kross nods to Sandra, checking over the room they’re in one last time. “Let’s go.”
The duo get their things and make their to the house a few meters next door down the street. A fairly nice place for a small family. Most of the building is glass for that modernity look, but slightly reinforced to resist the weather shifts on the planet. The dark grey paint of the outer building was nothing to be excited about either. The mechanical blinds on the windows were closed, of course, but with anything mechanical, there is a way to mess with it.
They get to the back of the house where there’s a panel for maintenance. You’d think they would put water pressure panels and other such things on the inside, but such things are designed for easier time with mechanics so they don’t need to usually bother housed people. Convenient for mechanics, and two nosey neighbors.
The slicing of basic maintenance is child’s play at this point and security is disabled. They then make their way to a corner of the house that has a window opening to reveal the basement.
“So far so good, ya? …I’ll slip in here and open the side door for you. Then we can look around for what room has the child.”
“Wait, are you sure the parents aren’t home and the neighbors can’t see us?” Kross remains standing to avoid looking overly suspicious as he cases the rest of the area. Particularly looking at neighbor presence and surveillance equipment.
“I suppose we will not know until we wander about and find the truth for ourselves, but for now…it is nothing we cannot handle.”
Kross walks to the front door, taking his time as he cases out the area. He keeps a close eye on the neighbors especially, making sure no one decides to be nosy about it. He eventually reaches the front door.
Sandra’s slender body slips through the basement window and she stands in a faintly lit room with many pieces of equipment. Likely for maintenance, mowing the barely real genetically modified grass, or just because daddy likes big powertools to compensate for whatever issues he has deep down inside. Or maybe it’s her tools. Who knows.
Sneaking around up to the basement door was simple. She looks out the mini window of the door and sees a single lamp lighting only a minute part of the room. Sandra opens the door and the home is now available. Lovely cushioned seats, large flat screens, gorgeous kitchen, and more. She walks to the front door and makes sure the alarm is still off, then opens the door for Kross.
“…Miss me?” Sandra smiles kindly.
Kross gives a quick 180 sweep look around and quickly enters into the house.
“Its been too long Sandra. Did you find the target yet?” Kross looks around the interior, a hand on his blaster holster in case he needs to quickly shoot something.
“Not yet. I came to let you in, but no one is in this living room, basement, and kitchen. There is another two rooms on this floor and some upstairs I do not know of yet. Do you want to split up…?”
“How many floors are we looking at here?” Kross continues to look for any surveillance inside the house as well as any escape routes. He draws his blaster and holds it at a ready position, both hands at the ready.
"…There’s one more floor from this one. Just the two rooms here and the few upstairs are rooms we haven’t checked yet. Why don’t you go up, ya?
Kross gives a nod and moves slowly and methodically, moving to and up the stairs with side steps, making sure he makes as little sound as possible. As he approaches the next level, he peeks around the corner.
The top floor is…quiet. Two doors on the left and right of the hallway are very little intrigue at the moment. As Kross approaches the first door on the left and methodically listens before opening, this seems to be an office. Documents and notes are streaming on datapads on the table. No kid so far
The second door on the left is just as uninteresting. Inside seems to be the office of someone more affectionate. Pictures on walls of the husband, wife, and child. A lovely setting and far more organized that the previous room. Clearly a mental difference in organization and emotional context.
Kross gives a look around both rooms for any hidden entrance ways. When he reaches the office, he gives a quick scan over the documents to see if he could discern what this family did for a living. He is careful not to touch anything. Afterwards, he sidesteps back towards the stairs to see if Sandra was at the bottom of the staircase.
His search for secrets is needless as this home seems pretty average. He does find a stash of lewd holovids, but maybe that’s best left unexplored. Meanwhile, it seems Sandra was not there, though he can still sense her to some degree. She was likely in one of the first floor rooms still.
With this in mind, he finds the last two rooms. First room on the right is a playroom of sorts. Playful pastel colors and various plastic and cloth toys fill the room in a cute chaos. Looking around here would net him a blue faced elephant.
The last room…a baby sleeps in an automatic rocking cradle. It stands at about 3 feet high for easy access and less stress on the mechanism. This pale pink baby sleeps comfortably in its place. Only the night’s moon light to highlight the features of this predictable room layout and the baby.
Kross very cautiously enters the room, looking around for any alarms or surveillance systems once more, careful not to trip anything if it existed. He holsters his blaster, reaching out with the force to alert Sandra.
There is a baby monitor near the crib. This seems separate from the house’s innate alarm system. Sandra gets the telekinetic itch in her mind and comes up stairs
“…Parents are sleeping downstairs. The baby is in here, no?”
Kross gives a nod and continues to walk into the room with great care, looking to ensure that he doesn’t trip over any alarms that may be laying around. He carefully adjusts his angle of entry so that no shadow is cast which can be picked up by the baby monitor. He approaches from behind the baby monitor and looks down into the crib.
There is a tiny human in the crib which seems to be sleeping all comfy and out. Seems easy enough to pick up and go.
Sandra looks downstairs to make sure their way to the back is all clear still.
Kross picks up the baby, again, staying out of the view of the monitor as much as possible. He cradles the child against his chest and gives a nod to Sandra.
The both head out back, carefully, and do their due diligence of checking corners. They get to the front of the house and a car rolls up. The driver nods.
“Hop in, lets ride.”
----------------------
The pair hop in and Sandra sighs in the car. She looks to Kross who is holding the baby and nods. The drive is not very long or exciting as they pull up to a warehouse by the space docks. The warehouse is not very large, likely the size of one of Kho’s large house designs, but they are left at the door to the building when Laurence comes over.
“Good workin. Little fella will be a good ransom. Ya did good. Got a place for you to wait for ya cut.”
He motions them to a small shack a few meters away. Two guards stand by the door.
Kross looks to Sandra, giving a fake stretch and yawn then putting his hands on his belt, close to his holsters. She runs a hand in her hair and reaches into the back of her shirt.
Kross nods to Sandra and walks towards the shack, stopping right in front of the two guards and looking to them expectantly.
The two guards motion inside, but it’s not Sandra and Kross that end up inside…
Laurence looks around at the two dozen kids he has lined up with names and tags like a rancher.
“We’re gonna make a killin. More that the Republic gave their ‘war heroes’ for comin back from da war. Nothin but lies and treachery! They deserve their sons and daughters ransomed for all da credits they got!”
Laurence paces around and what was not there before, was now a woman pointing a blaster in his face.
“Tried ta give us the zinger, eh? Me and Decker play no games!”
Two guards now aim at Sandra, leaving themselves exposed.
*Kross grabs the two blaster barrels and lifts them up in the air, aiming a kick at the guard on his left. He channels his force powers for the remaining guard, looking to scramble his thoughts for at least a brief moment of confusion. The kicked guard goes flying a small distance and stays down. The mind boggled one stands in a daze.
“Woah WOAH! Listen, I ain’t trynna do you in, alright?”
Sandra rolls her eyes and slaps him with the blaster.
“Try again?”
“ALRIGHT! Listen, I was just tying up loose ends. Sell the kids back and skip town, see? What you gonna do to me?”
“…I got an idea. Still have those zip ties, Decker?”
Kross chops the back of the remaining guard’s neck. He disarms both of the guards before walking back to Sandra. He takes out the makeshift garrote.
“Why tie him up?”
“I think he’s gonna hang around until they get some armed visitors.”
“W-What does THAT mean?”
“What that means is, why shouldn’t we just do you in right here? What do you have to offer us?”
Kross pulls out the energy cells of the blasters and throws them away before tugging on the garrote to test its tension, an obvious move to intimidate.
Laurence winces and swallows some air.
"Guys, GUYS, HOLD ON! What do you want? Come on, Decker, what do you want?!"
Kross looks over to Sandra then looks back at Laurence.
“First, you’re going to tell us if there are any more of your grunts around here. Then, you’re going to tell us where these kids came from. After that, you’re going to tell us who else you work with and work for. Lie, and we’ll know, and the consequences will be dreadfully unpleasant. Is that understood?”
“There are guards all over this joint, alright? And the kids are tagged! Their information is on the tags by the bed. And, I cant tell you who I work for! That’s insane!”
Sandra wacks him again
“Y-YA guys are serious?! COME ON?!”
Fires of a shot.
“BLOODY! OKAY! Giovanna Mikka! GIOVANNA MIKKA!”
Kross walks close and puts the garrote to neck height. “Anyone else? Last chance to talk and convince us its worth leaving you alive.”
He shakes now.
“Th-That’s it! THAT’S IT! Please! COME ON!”
Kross shrugs and gives an “I don’t care look” before turning back to Sandra. “You got anything, or are we tying up loose ends?”
Sandra puts a hand on the guy’s forehead and confuzzles him before he collapses.
“A nice gift for the police. They will deal with the children and all this mess. We did our part. Place the tracer on the wall and we’ll be off, ya.”
Kross reaches into the sock to take out the tracer, carefully ripping off the plastic from the double sided adhesive and planting it in a hidden location on the wall before he turns back and nods.
“Lets be out of here then.”
The pair end up walking off and a few minutes, the police get a frantic call from an anonymous redhead and all is well in the world. The pair end up back at another inn.
“We did well…”
“We were lucky there were only two guards. Anymore, and we would be subject to collateral damage.”
Kross obsessively checks over his equipment once more at the inn, making sure he didn’t drop anything that would have given his identity away at the scene.
“We need more options to stun and incapacitate in the future.”
“A fair analysis. Thank you for your assistance on the matter. It is nice to have a…partner, on occasion.”
Kross begins to pack up his belongings and head towards the door.
“It’s always better to work with someone capable than alone. At least then you know you have some back up should things go wrong. Let me know if you ever get another job that needs a partner, Sandra.”
She nods and smiles a slight
“…See you around town.”
END