I never much cared for Byblos. It was a strange, sterile world covered in megablocs and skyscrapers. It didn't have any personality to speak of. No style. I could say the same thing about Sheegoth's office, but there was definitely some kind of underlying theme, but it was just as boring as the city outside the big ass windows. Everything in here was designed to make you feel small, from the massive desk that was probably worth more than my ship to the statues, art, and other decorations that were all larger than life. And then you have the old dragon himself who managed to make everything else in the room look small by comparison. He looked so funny towering behind his desk; a big, scaly thing clothed in a silk suit that looked like it was ready to break at the seems. It was be laughable if he wasn't so sundamn terrifying. From the spikes on his head to his gob full of fangs. He radiated a carefully curated flavor of scary.

Being alone in his office reminded me too much of days spent in detention, of adults lecturing me about failing grades or whatever. It wasn't a great feeling. And just like in those days it just made me want to act up more. With my leg draped over the arm of the plush chair, coat and hood over my armor, fidgeting with some kind of weird cube thing I grabbed from the desk. Gotta be cool. Gotta look like you don't give a shit. They can't make you feel small unless you let them. And I'm a big ass fucking deal.

"Coruscant? You do know that those civilized assholes don't care much for me, right?"

"I am very aware. I have intentionally kept you away in Mid and Outer-Rim until your name has faded a little from memory. You have fixed that issue yourself when you changed you name; but still I felt it prudent to keep you away. What was it again you called yourself before?"

"Bloodhawk."

"Yes. Congratulations on a successful rebranding. You carry a much more... positive reputation since becoming Abaddon. It is finally time for you to return to Coruscant."

"Better be a big job if I'm going all the way to the blasted Core. I've got a lot going on out here."

"So I've heard. Hanging around Jovan Station a lot from what I hear. It is a big job. Perhaps the biggest I have ever given you."

"I dunno about that. That job out in Wild Space was pretty crazy."

"Yes, it was. And you were wonderfully compensated to never speak of it again. This job is bigger. I want you to find this man..."

The projector on Sheegoth's desk sparked to life and a guy's mug popped up. Human. Old. Bald. Goatee. I would say boring but he had a kind of glint in his eye that was unsettling, even for a Bad Ass Mother Fucker like me.

"Some old guy? Please tell me this isn't another baby sit escort mission."

"Hardly. This is Doctor Zanon. He is one of the Empire's most wanted fugitives. He was a well known geneticist and former state researcher for the Empire, and possibly the Republic before it. He has a penchant for not staying dead, and has many confirmed cases of being killed in the field or dying in custody; but he always comes back. As you can imagine that really upsets the Empire. The specifics of his crimes are not even listed on the bounty. So classified that even I cannot say for certain what he has done; only what is rumored. They say he creates genetic monsters and super soldiers, that he has absolutely no morals and will do anything to push the boundaries of science. He may look like an old man, but he's been alive for more than a hundred years, does not stay dead, and is considered to be extremely dangerous. The payout for his live capture and return to the Empire is a million credits. He has never survived long enough to reach the Inquisition, which he has now outlived, and the Imperial Knights have not been any more successful. You see, he usually commits suicide. Cyanide pills. Explosives rigged through his laboratories. I've been told he even bashed his own head in on the walls of his cell. Dead. Always dead. And then he resurfaces five to ten years later on another world, in a different system."

"And you are telling me that he's on Coruscant in the Empire's own backyard? Fuck me. I'm not going to compete with the Knights to grab this guy first."

"I would not have brought you here if I did not have absolute certainty that he is out of their reach. I have very good sources, the likes of which the Empire has yet to purchase, that Zanon is indeed on Coruscant. I should say, not on, but under. He is somewhere in the Coruscant Underworld."

"Oh wow, let me get right on that. The Coruscant Underworld? That's what, like five thousand levels the size of the entire planet's surface, with each getting more fucked up the deeper you go? Oh count me in, I'm sure I'll have that whole place searched sometime in the next ten thousand years. Come on, Rath. You can't be serious?"

"Mister Sheegoth, Abaddon. Do not get too familiar unless you want me to start using first names as well."

"Right. Sorry. But seriously. That's a crazy brief."

"Steady yourself. Do not think so little of me. I have good intel that will narrow down your search. Zanon is running a operation of some kind down around the thousandth level. Civilizations still exist down there. My informants are there, and you will have to put in some effort to track Zanon down. It is far from unreasonable. The payout is incredible. I have even generously increased your share from thirty percent to fifty. Five hundred thousand credits could buy you a ship, a home, the new BlasTech spring collection, and still have enough left over to purchase the baronship of a small moon and perhaps even a personality."

He always found a way to needle me. Always. I didn't even see it coming this time. I was still so absolutely reeling from just how crazy this mission is. The last thing I needed was to go stomping around in the sewers of Coruscants asshole trying to find some old guy who probably fucks corpses by the sound of him. This was not the kind of reputation that Abaddon The Black, Destroyer of Armies needed. Oh look, Abaddon caught some crusty old dude in the sewers. Yeah. Real fucking cool that one. I'm not getting any pussy with a rep like that. What I wanted was blaster fights, near death escapes, and some sundamn explosions. This sounded like none of that. Fuck this shit. Rath looks so smug over there, with that big toothy grin on his sundamn face. He's doing this on purpose. Always sticking me in some mission he knows I'll hate. Tell me it's good for me or some shit.

"I've secured you clearance to travel to Coruscant, and a temporary Bounty-Hunters Guild Pass that will allow you Guild Access and permits for your weapons. All of them. You're going to need them. The Coruscant Underworld is ruthless and dangerous. They say there is no law down there except the law you bring with you. Imperial Knights don't travel below the two thousandth level. You will truly be on your own. You may want to field a partner or two, but you will be responsible for whatever hell they bring down on this operation. Oh, and try not to die. I have a lot of credits invested into this, and into you. Do not let me down. Now get out of my office."