The Likable Kovan

Prompt:

When I hear the word Gangster, I think of old school Al Capone.
Show me a likable character that still falls into the gangster category and what is their story?

The Likable Kovan

     An explosion flattened a tall building to the ground within seconds. Metal, stone, and even body parts flew outward from that building. “I’m going to get blamed for that too,” Dazin said as he watched the video monitor in his medical chamber.

     “Maybe you didn’t do it personally, but you are still responsible. You obviously couldn’t have done it yourself being on your death sleeper. It was one of those trying to take your place as Kovan leader for this region,” said Kortessa as she entered that chamber.

     “There are six of them. They think if they do things like this it will get me to select them as the new leader. Even if I could pick one of them I wouldn’t, but it’s not. The Kovan Council will make that decision.”

     “They aren’t doing this for you. It’s for the Council.” Kortessa pushed a button on the side of Dazin's sleeper. A small platform popped out. She sat on that platform and started staring at the monitor toward the ceiling like Dazin did.

     Dazin looked at Kortessa. “If you aren’t here to accuse me of this then why are you here?”

     “Couldn’t I be here just to visit an old friend. We have been doing this for the past fifty years. I started with law enforcement when you began KOVA. The first ten years weren’t too bad, but the last forty have been. You are the worst Kovan leader Yonnus has ever had. We can’t wait for your evilness to end once and for all.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     “When a planet ventured out into space it was only logical that the criminal element would venture out too. Only once out there it didn’t take them long before they realized that the universe was a lot bigger than they thought. That’s when KOVA was born.” Dazin read from a large data monitor in a small room with several rows of chairs. The mid-twenties Dazin sat among fifteen other individuals also reading it out loud.

     “We have all read this statement a million times, but do you really know what it means. If you say no I understand. No one does.” Sorvan, in his late forties to mid-fifties, stepped in front of the monitor once he heard the mumbling stop.

     “All anyone really knows about us is that we started several thousand years ago and that we are on almost every planet, spaceship, etc. If it has a population we are there. We don’t know exactly how it began or where. All we know is that we are here and we aren’t going anywhere.”

     Sorvan took a deep breath. “You are here today because you have chosen to join KOVA also known as The Kova. True, you didn’t have too much choice in this occupation. One or both of your parents are Kovans.”

     “Welcome to KOVA. My name is Sorvan and I am going to be your supervisor for the next few years while you learn all about The Kova. During that learning you will see what you like and don’t like, and what you're good at. After this briefing, we will talk individually.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     Dazin stood before Sorvan after twelve others stood there. Sorvan didn’t look up from the papers he flipped through. “I understand you don’t really want to be here. ”

     “Yes. That is correct.”

     “You might have the gem of a Kovan embedded in your palms, but that doesn’t mean you have to be a Kovan. We aren’t pure evil like everyone thinks we are. If you don’t want to be here you don’t have to be.”

     Sorvan looked up at Dazin. “I am curious about one thing. If you feel like that then why are you here.”

     “I’m here because of my parents. They wouldn’t be ashamed if I wasn’t a Kovan, but they insisted that I give it a try.”

     “If you don’t want to be here I don’t think you will be.” Sorvan started looking at a piece of paper next to the papers she had been looking at a few minutes ago. “I think I will start you out with something simple. For the next four months, you will be working in a secret shipping building.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     A long oblong hovering transport sailed down a solid dirt road. It stopped behind a small building with a large group of individuals stood impatiently in front of it. As it got there the transport lowered itself to the ground as a female walked up to a small box separated only a few inches from the oblong one. Four armed individuals nervously glancing around them walked behind her.

     The female knocked on the side of the small box. A few seconds later a square opening appeared to show Dazin behind the controls of that transport. She gave Dazin a piece of paper. He looked at it for a minute before he gave it back to her.

     Dazin pushed a button on his controls. “One thousand units.”

     A few minutes later a panel almost the length of the oblong transport slid out three feet. White bars one foot long by three inches wide and one inch tall slid out in rows of ten by five deep and five bars tall after the side of the transport disappeared the length of the panel.

     The female quickly counted the bars. She appeared to talk to herself for about a minute. A few seconds later six individuals with three floating platforms came running up to the transport. They started transferring the bars from the transport to the platforms. About a half hour later with the platforms full they were taken into the small building.

     After the female returned to the small building the oblong transport became solid again and the panel slid back in. Within that transport, Dazin tapped a few buttons and the transport shot forward. “This occupation is boring. All I do all day is transport Maridene Plus from one distribution center to the next.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     Both of my parents were soldiers. My father was one of the best. I think I’m going to be more like my mother. She was a soldier, but she didn’t like it. The only reason she did was because of my father.”

     “Would you stop doing that,” said Wilti who walked the inside of a metal wall beside Dazin. “You are going to get us both killed. Talking like that distracts both of us.”

     “Sorry, I didn’t realize I was talking out loud again. I do that a lot when I’m nervous.”

     “Oh, great. You are going to get us killed. Do you even know to use your weapon?”

     “Of course, I do. I just hope I never have to use it.”

     Just then massive weapon firing began. Dazin and Wilti stopped and looked at a large residence a thousand feet away. They pulled their hand weapons off their hips and pointed them toward the weapon fire. “It looks like someone else is trying to kill our Kovan leader,” said Wilti.

     “Who is trying to kill her? Does this happen a lot?”

     “It could a nearby leader trying to take over our region too, but it’s usually someone within our ranks who wants to become the leader the easy way. As for how often it happens, it doesn’t happen too much. It’s usually only one or two Kovans about once a week.”

     Just then a female backing out of a wooded area still firing her weapon collided with Dazin. Both falling to the ground. Dazin’s weapon skidded a few feet away. The shooter got shocked hitting the metal wall. Dazin reached for his weapon while the shooter was recovering from her shock and fired at least ten laser bullets into her. She died before she hit the metal wall again.

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     Dazin walked around a large very decorative room with about fifteen chairs and six three individual seat chairs. In most of those chairs sat a beautiful female clothed in overnight clothing. They talked among themselves until a male walked up to them. A few seconds later she got up and headed toward some stairs leading to a second level.

     Next to the only entrance into that room an older female sat behind a desk. She spoke to each male as they entered that room. About a minute after the male entered he gave her some paper credits then walked into that room. The female behind the desk counted the credits then put them in a hole on the desk. A hole that sucked the credits out of her hand. She entered something into the data monitor on that desk.

     A couple headed upstairs while another one walked down. At the bottom of the stairs, the male left through the front door. As she entered that room the female stopped by the desk and gave the older female some credits. The older female put those credits into one of about twenty holes on her desk. It sucked it away too.

     Just then an early to mid-twenties Kortessa came storming in there with seven other law enforcers. “Spread out. Search everywhere.” Two of the seven went into the large room. The other five headed for the stairs.

     Dazin quickly stepped in front of the five. “Stop! You can’t come in here like that. Sex Stores aren’t illegal.”

     Kortessa pushed her way to confront Dazin. “They are if children are involved. We got information that there are children here.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     A fist swept across a wood board filled with breakable products that broke into tiny pieces when they hit the floor. “Stop doing that.” A panicky older male kept shouting.

     “Give me the credits you owe us and I will,” a hulking female said.

     Dazin stood next to that female. He scanned the very cluttered store. At least half the floor had broken products on it. “I don’t understand why you are doing this. How do you expect them to give you what they owe if you destroy their products? This is the sixth one today and we only started a few hours ago.”

     “I do it to get their attention. It helps them remember that they do have the credits after all. Nine out of ten times they are lying about not having it.”

     “I’m not lying to you. I don’t have the credits this week. You have been monitoring my store activity. So you know I haven’t had that much product reduction.”

     “That’s not my problem. All we want are the credit. We don’t care where you get it as long as you do it.” The bulk sighed. “I’ll give you until the end of today to get it. If you still don’t have it then I will start breaking you.”

     Once outside Dazin stopped. “Why does he owe us credit? You never told me about this one.”

     The bulk kept walking. Dazin had to run to stay up with her. “He asked us for help to increase his product supply.”

     “I still don’t think destruction is the answer. There has to be a better way to get the credits.”

     “There is, but this is faster.” The bulk laughed. “You aren’t going to last very long in collections with an attitude like that.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     “Kovan weapons are unique. Because of our palm gems the weapons have to be made to fit them. The world government has passed several laws trying to stop us from protecting ourselves. That’s why we have to make them secretly.” A Kovan male picked up a hand weapon and tested its grip.

     Dazin tested another hand weapon as it came out of a large Square metal opening. “Why do you do that? You have done that every day for the past three weeks.”

     “Like I keep telling you, it’s because it’s important that you know why we do this.” The male started walking down a long square metal tube. He glanced into every window along the way and saw another weapon being created. Dazin walked right behind him doing the same thing.

     “Hand weapons and long weapons aren't the only ones we create. When are you going to Show me the death weapons.”

     “You’re not ready to know about them. You won’t see them unless you chose this occupation as your final occupation or it’s the best one you should be doing.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     “It’s been almost three years, and you have tried every part of KOVA.” Sorvan didn’t look up from behind his desk. “Now it’s time for you to decide what occupation you think you should have within the Kova.”

     “I’m kind of surprised that you are still among us. When you first started you weren’t sure if you were going to stay.”

     Dazin stood in front of Sorvan's desk. “At first, I didn’t think I was going to do it too long. I only did it because of my father. Once I started learning I quickly changed my mind.”

     “That’s good to hear. Does that mean that you have made your decision?”

     “I have, but you might not like it.” Dazin hesitated for several minutes. He started to speak very so often, but he didn’t.

     Sorvan suddenly looked shocked. “I don’t understand. The way that you just spoke it sounded like you want to stay with the Kova.”

     “Don’t get me wrong, I do want to stay. I’m just not sure if you want me to.”

     Dazin hesitated for about a minute before he continued. “While I was learning I saw just how bad KOVA can be. No wonder everyone hates us. I'm not like that. I like to be liked. In fact, whenever I could I helped those who needed it.”

     Sorvan smiled. “We know you did that. That’s why we want you to stay. The Kova needs more Kovans like you who can show Goeron we aren’t all evil.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     About two inches of a long weapon bucked up as a single laser bullet shot out of it. That bullet struck the forehead of a male around a mile away who was addressing a large group of individuals. The male looked dead before he fell backward and fell off the raised platform he stood on only a few seconds ago. Chaos and panic started among the crowd listening to the male. All the law enforcers there started scanning in the direction the laser bullet came from. A scanner in one hand. Their long weapons pointed upward in the other.

     A One Eye could barely be seen. It fell to the side of a body on a string of some kind. Hands took apart the long weapon. They placed them in an open cushioned container that the weapon parts fit into snugly. Dazin closed the container once the weapon got placed within it.

     “I can’t believe I wanted to help these individuals only a few years ago. Most of them liked it when I helped them, but the others only saw me was a Kovan.” Dazin spoke out loud to himself.

     Dazin walked out of that dirty dusty room. “I loved killing ever since I killed my first individual. I'm not surprised that I became a SpaceKiller. In fact, I’m one of the best that the Kova ever had.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     “I knew you killed him,” an older Kortessa said. “You would have been on moon prison two dying instead of in your residence if I could have found someone to admit you did it.”

     An older Dazin coughed as he tried to laugh. “I wouldn’t be on our second moon. You would have killed me a long time ago.”

     “Maybe I should have killed you back then anyway. If I did Yonnus wouldn’t have had our worst Kovan leader ever.”

     “You would never have done that. Even though it was your partner that I killed, you were still a good law enforcer back then. It was your obsession with stopping me that turned you bad.”

     Kortessa glared at Dazin sharply in anger. “I’m not a bad law enforcer.”

     Dazin tried to smile. “You’re not a good one either. That’s why I asked you here. It’s why I am telling you what led me up to my death.”

     “I was wondering when you were going to tell me why I'm here. For the past three hours, all you have done is ramble on about your life in the Kova. Why are you doing that? I hope you’re not doing it to make it official before you die.”

     “No, that’s not the reason. I’m telling you this so that you know who is killing me.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     From an overhang walkway, Dazin shouted at about a hundred individuals in a manufacturing room below him. “Some of you already know me. The rest of you will soon. I’m the new manager here.”

     Dazin spoke up even more. “before anyone asks I don't know what happened to the last one. All I was told is that this Maridene Plus production plant needs to be doing a lot better.”

     Bending down his fingers Dazin mumbles to himself. “This is my seventeenth problem that I have been brought in to correct. I’m not sure what that problem is yet. They didn’t tell me what it was, but they never do. I like to figure that out for myself. It helps me to decide what to do about it.”

     “For the next month or two, I will be spending a lot of time with you, working right beside you, and asking you questions. The sooner I discover what that problem is the faster I can correct it. Whatever it is I will find it and correct it, and if you are involved I will discover that too.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     Almost two months later Dazin sat behind a desk in a floor to ceiling cluttered room staring at a bunch of papers in his hands. Over the last two months, Dazin walked among his worker and worked beside them. He talked to them as a group and individually.

     Dazin spent a lot of time in his office looking over one piece of paper after another and groups of them. He also hanged behind the other room workers talking to them and seeing what they are doing. Day and night he spent at that plant. Dazin came in early and left late. If he left at all. He sometimes slept in a small sleeping room there too.

     Mumbling as he looks at one of the pieces of papers in his hands Dazin flipped to another paper and then one toward the top. After he finished reading the first paper Dazin placed the papers on his desk. “I knew I would find it. Now I know what happened to the last manager here.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     “A lot of you individually told me one of the problems here is extra time. You also mentioned it at group meetings. Another problem was your product production.” Once again Dazin stood on the overhanging walkway addressing the workers below who didn’t stop working while he spoke.

     “I listened to you and I discover you were right. It’s not that I didn’t believe you, it was because I had to find it out for myself before I could do anything about it. Which I have done.”

     Dazin smiled. “I have found out that you were correct. The last manager was a Kovan fake. He was only here to cause trouble. I have dealt with them before. Only he was worst that the others. He was also stealing from the Kova.”

     “It wasn’t just the stealing. If it was he has been dealt with the Kovan way. No, he didn’t just steal he also was tampering with the Maridene Plus. That’s why it hasn’t been as popular as it should be.”

     “I have solved that problem too. Not only have I corrected this problem I have given your extra time back to you and the product production has been lowered back to the normal level.” Dazin smiled again as the workers below started celebrating.

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     “You knew that the last manager of Maridene Plus Production Plant six was a fake Kovan. They all have been, haven’t they?” Dazin shouted as he stormed past four Kovan protectors into a large living room.

     At the far end of that room, Nalei stood up from a big fancy desk shouting too. “What’s going on?”

     “I tried to stop him.” All four protectors said something like that as they ran in right behind Dazin. “He won’t be bothering you for long.”

     “Never mind,” Nalei said as she came around her desk. “I will deal with it. You can return to protecting me.”

     As the four protectors left Nalei walked up to Dazin. “Why are you here? What are you yelling about?”

     “For the last six years, I have been solving Kovan problems. I always thought there was a connection between them I just didn’t know what it was until now. After this last problem, I went back over the others and I discover that connection. They have all been fake Kovans. Did you know they were fakes? How many more are there?”

     Nalei didn’t say anything for several minutes. She just paced around mumbling to herself. Finally, she turned to face Dazin. “I did know they were fakes. So are about two hundred others that I know of. Probably a lot more I don’t know about.”

     “I will take care of them too and any others that there are, but that’s not the only thing you have been doing. Has it? You have been using that knowledge against them. The last manager had to steal to keep that knowledge a secret. I wonder how many of the others have been doing that.”

     A few seconds later the four protectors just outside that room heard a single weapon fire. They quickly stormed into that room with their weapons drawn. Only to find Dazin standing over a blood leaking body of Nalei with a weapon in his hand.

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     Dazin sat behind the fancy desk looking at several hundred floating backless monitors in front of him with individual faces within them. “I am the new leader for the Yonnus region of Goeron.”

     “Our former leader knew that there were fake Kovans within KOVA and took advantage of that. I already took out seventeen of them, but there are a lot more out there. I’m probably talking to some of them right now. If I am I will be coming after you too.”

     “Whether I am talking to you or not I will find you and kill you. I might be the new leader, but I’m not like any other leader you have probably known. I’m not the kind of individual who just sits behind a desk, I am going to be a part of rebuilding KOVA back to where it should be.”

     “Over the next few years, I am going to get personally involved with every part of the Kova. We are going to get KOVA back no matter what we have to do to do it.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     “I want all entertainment and customers down here in five minutes,” Dazin shouted toward the second floor. He walked into the main meeting room and bent over the desk almost blocking the entrance. “Contact all the entertainment. I don’t care how much clothing they have on or how involved they are with their customers I want them down here now.”

     About ten minutes later Dazin walked down a row of entertainment and customers. All the customers covered themselves up. The entertainment didn’t. When he reached the end of the row Dazin returned to the desk. “Is that everyone from the second floor?”

     The older female behind the desk quickly scanned the row. “Yes, that is everyone.”

     “I hope so. If we find any children up there you are in a lot of trouble.” Dazin whistled and twelve individuals came running in. They headed to the second floor.

     “You have probably heard that I am personally investigating every sex store and what will happen to everyone here if any children are here. We have found four stores so far with children in them. All entertainment and customers were killed for it. I hope you aren’t number five.”

     Dazin turned back to the row. “Once we verify there are no children here you will be allowed to return to the second floor.” All the customers started to panic. A few even tried to leave. About fifteen minutes later Dazin got his answer when the twelve individuals returned to the first floor.

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     After entering a small oblong room with a long table in the center of it Dazin glanced at each one of the ten individuals seated at that table before sitting down at the end of it. “You all know why you are here. We have a big problem with Maridene Plus.”

     “If it’s because of plant six that isn’t my fault,” one of the five female Kovan said. “I just got there a few months ago.”

     “We did lose a lot of addictions because of plant six, but it isn’t the only reason we have to get new addictions. There have been a lot of lost addictions all over the region. Only a small
portion of them has been because of tampering. We don’t know why we lost the others yet.”

     “There has to be a faster way to get addictions than we have been doing. We don’t have the time to do it that way. It has to be done quickly. The quicker the better. Any ideas on how we should do that?”

     The ten Kovans started mumbling among each other. After several minutes a Kovan male spoke. “I think we should give some samples of Maridene Plus into their water and food.”

     “We can’t do that. If we put it into the communities public water supply and their food everyone would become addicted. That includes law enforcement and those already addicted. It would probably kill the addicted ones.”

     “It’s not a bad idea, though. The water is a definite no, but the food might be possible. It just can’t be all the food. We need to do it to the food young ones like that us older ones don't. They are the best ones for addiction. The young ones outnumber us three to one.

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     “When I was learning collections and protection I didn’t like the way the Kova collected what was owed them. I promised myself that if I ever became the leader or someone higher up who could make changes I would. Now that I am the leader I can do that.” Once again Dazin sat behind his desk with several hundred backless floating individual monitors in front of him.

     “From now on we aren’t going to almost kill someone because they can’t give us what they owe us. The medical will make it even harder to do that later. What does that mean? We have to kill them. Right?”

     “We monitor their businesses or their personal reasons for what they owe us. So, we know if they can give it to us or not. That also goes for breaking up things. It won’t be as bad as medical, but if they have to replace things it’s going to make it harder for them to give us what they owe.”

     “So, from now on if they have a good reason not to do it they don't have to. We will give them six months to get caught up. That’s almost half a year. If they don’t do it by then we might have to get more rough with them. I don’t think that’s going to happen too often, though.”

     Dazin waited a few minutes for any comments, questions, or complaints. He didn’t get any. “As for protection, we are going to eliminate it completely. It doesn’t give us much and we don’t really need it. We make a lot more from our other businesses to take that loss. Besides, the business owners hate us for that protection. By eliminating it we make KOVA look good.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     “Why are you telling me all this?” Kortessa asked. “So far, all you have told me is the likable side of KOVA.”

     “That’s because I wanted you to realize the Kova isn’t as evil as everyone thinks we are.” Dazin coughed in between each word. He continued doing that as he spoke. “I’m not as evil as you think I am. In fact, most of the Yonnusans refer me as The Likable Leader.”

     “I know what they think, but they are wrong. You are one of the worst. There’s nothing you can say that will make me change my mind about that.”

     “You might be likable when it comes to the sex stores, collections, and protection but what about everything else you did? How many individuals did you kill over the years?”

     “You’re right about the killings. There was about two thousand of them, and there is no excuse for that. We are the Kova, and killing is the evil side of it, but you already know about that. That’s why I was telling you the good side.”

     “If you think telling me all this is going to get me to like you too it won’t. I thought you asked me here today because you wanted to tell me who you think is trying to kill you.”

     “I’m about to tell you that, and it’s not one of the six that I thought it was. I have just one question to ask you before I die Kortessa. Why after all these years that you chose now to kill me and why does it have to be so painful?”

     “Isn't that two questions?” When Dazin didn’t respond Kortessa looked at him. The edges around his sleeper glowed red. “I guess I don’t have to answer those questions after all.”

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