Security Minister Zaq looked down with an annoyed expression on his face. “A weapons malfunction?”
“Yes, sir,” his aide replied.
“How the fuck!? I’ve paid this fucker for years and all he had to do was look the other way. Now when we finally need him to come through for us, the idiot shits out this bullshit?” Zaq’s aide didn’t reply to his comment. It was rare that the security minister mentioned his business in the office. The aide knew all about it of course, that he had used his role as security minister to single handedly take control of the various criminal enterprises on their world. But instead of shutting them down—Zaq had begun to run them himself.
Zaq’s aide was one of the few in the government who actually knew, and he grateful for the extra bonuses that came with knowing this information. Knowing and not revealing it to anyone.
“Get out, I’m getting a call,” Zaq fiddled inside his robe, producing a communication device not dissimilar to the government sanctioned one already on his desk. “Oh, before you go, contact the other ministers and tell them my investigation is ongoing. Let’s make sure Coruscant doesn’t find out about this before I put a lid on it. Any misstep here and we can kiss our hopes to become a full member of the republic goodbye.”
“Yes, of course, sir,” his aide relied graciously as he left the office. With his aide gone, Zaq activated the blinking communication device in his hand and a hologram materialized before him.
“Dammit, Zelluk,” the security minister said angrily. “What the fuck is going on down there?”
“I’m sorry sir, taking care of the jedi got a little out of hand.”
“Obviously.“ Zaq paused. “Is the one bit of good news in this report, true?”
“Yes, sir, the Jedi is dead. And I actually managed to get the little girl on this morning’s transport,” Zelluk answered proudly.
Zaq chuckled to himself, imagining the little jedi girl as a sex slave, “And the woman…”
“Thermal detonator caused her to fly clear across the room and smash against a row of shipping crates, she bled out on the warehouse floor.”
“Excellent,” Zaq relaxed, slightly. “If they’d only stuck to my itinerary and not gone off on their own…”
“Do you think the republic will send more jedi to investigate?” Zelluk asked.
“Fuck, I hope not, but it seems likely,” Zaq looked at the pad on his desk that contained the incident report from the shipping facility. “But we have more pressing concerns. This fucking incident report is the biggest piece of shit I have ever seen. There’s no way I can keep this from blowing wide open. The other ministers will demand answers. So I need you to clean it up. I’m issuing a warrant for the facility manager and taking him into custody. The moron is going to get what he deserves for coming up with a story of two jedi dying from a chance weapons malfunction. Surely, he must have known I was going to put the whole thing around his neck if he fucked it up!”
There was a brief silence as Zaq paused for a moment to think, “Route all future shipments through the Chokell province. I’ll give you an hour to handle the cleanup. After that, I have to send in my team. I’ll make sure our people will be given immunity for rolling over on the facility manager.”
“Understood.”
“With a little luck, we’ll still be on the right path to full membership in the republic.” Zaq sat forward. “I still grt hard thinking about the new shipping access we’ll have. It will be a game changer for our little enterprise.”
“I’d hardly call consolidating the entirety of Pokoczek’s criminal operations little,” Zelluk noted confidently..
“Very true, it really is quite the accomplishment, isn’t it,” Zaq reminisced before going on. “That shipment that went out today, it will be best if it comes to the capital for inspection. Besides, I think I’d like to break in the little jedi girl myself. Divert the ship to my main security hangar for inspection and I’ll clear it in the morning.”
“Very well, sir,” Zelluk said before signing off. Despite the incident, Zaq was in a rather good mood. Even though the jedi woman had actually been his friend, he knew it was for the best that she was dead. He’d been nervous of her finding out about his new little criminal empire and relented that this was one of the best results he could have hoped for. He’d had a suspicious Jedi putting her nose in his business and was about to come out of it clean. If the republic sent more Jedi, he knew he would have to be more cunning next time.
As for his fellow government ministers, he’d have them eating out of the palm of his hand as usual. He had no concerns there.
Moving swiftly, Zaq put his plan in motion, ordering the arrest of the port manager and getting on a call with republic ambassadors to share the unfortunate news: that the jedi had found the very last remnants of the planet’s criminal past and unfortunately, had met their end.