The assassin sent was tall, with black hair and a present beard. He wore very casual black clothing, with a slightly too baggy jacket- where the potential weapon was likely placed. And the moment the man entered the hotel, he nodded at the receptionist- and following the instructions they had recieved from the original one- he nodded back.
Nothing else of note happened, as the man entered the elevator and took it up to the fourth floor. Where the ambush was awaiting, and but suddenly the elevator halted- and the camera was shot down.
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The instant he entered the hotel, he felt something was wrong. His intuition was ringing all sorts of alarms, and he entered hyperfocus nearly instantly. This had permitted him to spot the trap soon after.
The way in which the hotel was quieter than normal, especially when he remembered spotting one of the residents of the fourth floor walking away with the babe in hand, both of them. Which she rarely ever did, almost always leaving one or two behind.
Then it was the receptionist... the way he nodded. How his hand was closer to the edge of the desk than it usually was- especially with some minor details in his appearance that he noticed. The slight difference in eye placements and the way his eyebrows were usually plucked.
He had instantly focused on his escape, as his body moved on instinct. Making it's way towards the original plan, as he entered the elevator and the door closed behind him.
He had studied the hotel's outline, and knew very well its various escape routes. He also knew this was not the work of this so-called 'Onyx Corp', their efforts were ruthless and he'd have been blasted to pieces the moment he entered. They could not hope to get information out of him- that would simply have been too naive.
Pushing said thoughts into the back of his mind, he placed his hand into the back pocket of his sleeve before shooting the camera and then pressing the emergency button. He then shot the 4 screws of the cover holding the buttons, before sliding his hotel card in and breaking it open- and after a few moments, he recognized that the yellow cable was connected to the door. And he cut it open with a knife.
The next moment, the doors opened, and he had perfectly halted the elevator to reach the first floor. Though as he slid through, the door opened and a heavily armed operative stepped through- half a dozen lasers flying instantly.
Though he rolled underneath them, getting to the cover of the corner, as the hallways were shaped as an L. And the next second he ran down the corridor, seeing the emergency exit. Though he decided against using it, as a man who heard the shots opened his door, only for the pistol to slam into his head, and the agent entered his room.
He headed towards the window to see how far down it went, but the glass broke the next second, and a bolt slammed into his shoulder as he fell down. But adrenaline flushed his body like never before, as he ducked down.
His arm stretched out for the mattress on the bed beside him, as he first threw a pillow into the sky- being shot the moment it left the cover. And he vaulted over the window the next second, pulling the mattress with him as he folded it into an L shape, covering him from the laser fire slamming into the mattress; they pierced through but he could not see the agent- and therefore with some luck they all missed.
The landing was hard, but not something he couldn't handle, and he was up the next second. As another bolt slammed into his previous position- and he was lucky enough to spot a taxi sitting right there.
He jumped in and aimed the pistol directly at the driver. "Drive, now!" He screamed, and the driver took off amidst the hail of fire now also coming from the emergency exit. However, they made it out of there.
Sadly, just as he thought he was over it all. The car suddenly exploded in a thermal detonation- instantly pulverizing both the driver and the agent. The result of a device planted on all taxi's outside the hotel, a last-ditch effort to prevent escape routes.
All roads out of there without a vehicle would be very exposed to sniper fire- and the pursuing field combatants. So an escape through a taxi or an extraction was the only possible way. And taxis were perfect, too perfect, and he'd paid for it.
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Another week passed similarly, as Aaron and Hannah continued building their case- transferring over half a hundred into protective custody aboard the 'Leviathan'. And almost instantly after showing them clips of what happened to the people who did not 'speak up', aka the ones they didn't take into protective custody.
But made sure were found dead. None by Aaron or Hannah, but by the Moff himself. And none of them were particularly stupid and had all gone on record and promised to speak up against the Moff.
Of course, over ten had agreed but were still terminated by this 'cleanup effort', which Aaron was still surprised was ongoing. This 'Cleaner' should have known we had gathered almost sixty witnesses and 20 core-witnesses that had objective proof to back up their testimonies. Yet they continued, which meant they either intended to handle these last testimonies in some form or way, or they had a plan to dissolve them in court.
Nevertheless, a shuttle had recently been shot down, transferring 3 witnesses. This had confirmed Aaron's fears that the Moff had clear support in the military block of the sector. Which is also why Dylan's work had been so important, and from his reports had gathered nearly 40% of the sector's military power.
In addition to that mission a week ago, Imperial Intelligence operatives had taken down seven more such assassins, though they had lost on of their teams. Taken down by a massive fiery explosion that had taken the entire house, and the ambush with them. Though both the sniper and non-combatants had survived.
Rysell was getting tired of the Moff's futile attempts at survival. And had already snuck in nearly two hundred Imperial Stormtroopers loyal to him, alongside a single Wraith Squad- while his fleet had hidden in deep space, though with a secure hyperspace route back to the Lipsec Run.
He had just informed the Disciplinary Committee of his findings, names of witnesses, and objective proof. The lack of purchase of military hardware or requests for repair after having sent a detailed report to the Admiralty, requesting funding.
The testimony of the financial officers had been of great use. And they also had camera recordings of one of the 'battles' from on board the 'flagship' of the ship in fighting, and they were not doing shit.
It had taken a day now, but Aaron expected a reply anytime soon. But what he was not prepared for, was barely a few seconds' warning before Grand Admiral Antilles appeared before him.
"Commodore Rysell, your investigation has been taken into account- and through the approval of the Grand Moff, your request to apprehend the subject has been agreed upon. The Grand Moff has taken personal offense to all of this, and is moving his own fleet to assist." He spoke, as Rysell remained calm and composed- though he was very shocked by the Grand Moff's movements.
"Initiate immediately, Commodore. I expect solid results, and hope the Imperial Navy is not in any way included in any of this- though as you yourself stated. I seriously doubt it." Antilles, spoke as Rysell responded sharply. "Of course, Grand Admiral. These traitors shall not escape justice."
"Very good, Commodore. Very good, now be on your way. I expect the Moff has connections and will discover soon enough- but I trust you've made contingencies."
"Naturally." Rysell responded, and the Grand Admiral saluted him. Before cutting the transmission, and Rysell turned sharply around. And crossed the room with ten rapid strides, where men had been waiting these past 34 hours- only for this.
"We've been given the green light; the operation is a go. Begin immediately." Rysell spoke as the room sprang into action, with operatives grabbing their headsets and placing them on their heads- multiple screens lighting up and connections being established to ground forces.
All the while, the I.I were notified, and they all got to work.
In another room, Hannah saw a button blare green and she instantly stood up. She was in a similar room, but larger and with more operatives. Though she had a less important task, mayhaps, to find this 'Cleaner', and clean him out.
All starports were being surveilled; they had taken command of all local cameras and AI facial recognition sequences were running throughout the planet. She knew he was on it, as he had been spotted a few hours ago- though the team was too slow to catch him.
She also felt the slight tremble of the ship as it entered hyperspace alongside the rest of the fleet, Captain Luca having sent the fleet on it's three minute journey to Abridon. And she knew Rear Admiral Dylan was with them as well, and his three Imperial Star Destroyers- the rest remained in his sector.
Finally, they'd be done with this damned mission.
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