The Hutt's Armor: Scales of the Wyrm

[Tiberius Semper]

NAL HUTTA, Y’TOUB SYSTEM BILBOUSA, OUTSKIRTS OF THE BILBOUSA BAZAAR​

THE VOSADII FAMILY PALACE​

Arok sat on the dais inside the Vosadii family complex on Nal Hutta, taking a well deserved break from his previous and tiring operations, both on Onderon as well as on Nal Haaska - taking down a Swoop Gang had turned out to be harder then he had thought, and he had had to resort to a bunch of very underhanded tactics to complete the mission and acquire their racing track for his sometimes partner in crime Jaz Corban. Arok had always enjoyed working with the soldier, and he always knew that he would get the job done - unlike some other agents of the Cartel who he had the misfortune of working with. Arok remembered glumly his first mission for the Cartel after his return from disgrace and his old gang - the Exchange, and the annoying human he had been forced to work with and thanks the Hutt deities that he was now more in control of his destiny. Arok knew that now that he had shown his father (if his father even cared, he had heard nothing from him for months now), that he was worthy of carrying the Vosadii name and that he had rapidly ascended to the rank of Enforcer during the short time of his return from obscurity, his access to the Vosadii family accounts was reinstated and his old rooms in the Family palace were made available for his own use. It was good to be back Arok thought to himself surveying the undeniably majestic and luxurious Palace around him. He looked at the other Hutt reclining next to him and raised the glass of Whyvern's Reserve to him with a toast, before draining the glass and motioning for a slave to refill it. He grabbed a sandmaggot kidney from the bowl and with his other the Hooka that was always at arms reach, before alternating between deep hits from the Hooka and massive bites from fermented sandmaggot eggs. He grinned at Nodja and motioned to the bearded Hutt to enjoy himself. "<I am pleased that you have come, my friend.>" the fat slug slurped and gobbled "<It's been too long since our last meeting, and I was hoping you would grace my house with your presence. I am sure that we have lot's of things to discuss, and I am sure that we are only plumbing the early starts of the wellspring of wealth and power that we can achieve if we work together>" at that Arok grinned and busied himself once more with the marvelous and sumptuous feast that lay before the two Hutts, as well as watching the incredible dancers and acrobats that he had arranged for the bearded Hutts enjoyment as well as hoping to awe him into submission. If he could overwhelm him with sensations and experiences, the jaded Arok thought, then he would be more malleable and I'll have the advantage in the business deal I was hoping to close. As the entertainment continued on, a line of beautiful woman dressed in lovingly crafted costumes walked onto the center stage and then slowly waded into the giant pool that was a greater part of it. Soon enough they grabbed a bunch of chains that had descended from on high and swimming forward handed them off to a another line of costumed actors. As they anchored the chains a giant construct looking like the vague outline of a Hapan Battle Dragon descended from the ceiling and on it were draped a group of acrobats, dressed like ancient seafarers. As they began their elaborate and breathtaking performance Arok looked over to Nodja and nonchalantly motioned for the bearded Hutt's attention. "<So my friend Nodja, how do you find the accommodations? Is everything to your liking? Please let me know if there is anything that you want or have a need for, my staff will do their outmost to cater to your needs, whatever you wish for will be brought to you>" As he watched one of the actors make a death defying leap through the air Arok grinned with pleasure and excitement, forgetting himself for a second as he watched fascinated and enraptured at the daredevilry of the acrobats. Turning once more to Nodja he said "<So how goes your business? What do you have to tell me about your recent breakthroughs? Have you created anything new? I will admit that after using the new hoversled that you and young Gemma had worked to create for me, I find myself fascinated with the application and usages of technology more then I have been in the past. In my recent readings on the subject at large and on Hutt technology in point, I found myself fascinated by Hutt Armor and its usage in the past. Tell me - have you heard of the Shell Clan?>" Arok had just opened up his first gambit, and although he was aiming for something more then just a technological discussion about technology, it was a good place to start off with the technologically minded Hutt. Arok felt that it would be good to butter him up some small talk before checking to see if Nodja was interested in forging a deal between the two, and naturally Arok wanted to have the Hutt feel as much at ease as he could. With his plans for Ryloth coming to a long last fruition he knew that his other big project - the construction of a large multi-complex training facility and its organization - could begin, and he wanted to have an insider do the security work for him, just like with Zel Transportation & Shipping. He felt it was always better to keep things in the "family" (so to speak) then to outsource it to outsiders who knew nothing of the Cartel and could only be trusted as far as their paychecks stretched, and even then sometimes not at all and Arok knew that the mutated Hutt could probably come up with some amazing and highly efficient security measures for the building, seeing as there was no one to limit his research practices or his fields; in the undercity of Nar Shaddaa there were hundreds of "secret" laboratories with much the same nature that - ironically - turned Nar Shaddaa into one of the galaxies premier R&D grounds.

 

[Pureblood-Sin]

It had been a very long time since Nodja had been on Nal Hutta; he had been a Huttlet when he was flushed down a Gamorrean's toilet...it was best unsaid how foul-smelling such a place is. The hairy Hutt had came to the planet in a simple hooded jacket so as to conceal himself from his own Kajidiic; only taking it down once he was in the safety of Arok's family compound. Here were luxuries that Nodja had desired to reclaim that peedunky of a brother of his; yet for now, he was content to lie here, drinking the wine that his host had offered. As Arok toasted him, the artificer returned the gesture before proceeding gulp down an entire bowl of honeyed Nexu foetuses. As the hairy Hutt began to inhale a draught from his own hookah, his host began to speak.

"<I am pleased that you have come, my friend.>" the fat slug slurped and gobbled "<It's been too long since our last meeting, and I was hoping you would grace my house with your presence. I am sure that we have lot's of things to discuss, and I am sure that we are only plumbing the early starts of the wellspring of wealth and power that we can achieve if we work together>"

Nodja nodded with a smile of his own on his face in response.

"<As am I; we are merely scraping at the surface of such a gold mine.>"

He said with a chuckle as he watched the entertainment unfold; it was clear from the sheer flamboyance and scale of the things he was witnessing that Arok intended to awe him into a more malleable position. If di bombad fool tink mi a pahpysho, im av anudder ting comin'! As much as the dreadlocked Hutt desired all this, he knew full well that the fruits of one's labours tasted sweeter than those given on a silver platter. That is what life had taught him, and it is a message few of his species would ever heed. As he flicked his dreadlocks, his host began to speak again.

"<So my friend Nodja, how do you find the accommodations? Is everything to your liking? Please let me know if there is anything that you want or have a need for, my staff will do their outmost to cater to your needs, whatever you wish for will be brought to you>"

Stroking his beard, the Enforcer gestured towards one of the male Twi'lek slaves to come to him. This one cried a tray of spicy-smelling fish, as he drew near, Nodja then chimed in.

"<I think you'll be heavily spoiling your Huttlets when the time comes my friend, pray that they don't get too attached to the golden teat. As for Twi'leks, I hope you don't mind if I eat just one?>" Indeed, the slave began to shiver at such a thought. The hairy Hutt was joking...or at least half-joking; he winked as he continued. "<Speaking from experience, they do taste quite nice...especially when swallowed whole and alive.>

After watching with amusement the masterful prowess of an Acrobat, it was then that his fellow Hutt had cut to the chase.

"<So how goes your business? What do you have to tell me about your recent breakthroughs? Have you created anything new? I will admit that after using the new hoversled that you and young Gemma had worked to create for me, I find myself fascinated with the application and usages of technology more then I have been in the past. In my recent readings on the subject at large and on Hutt technology in point, I found myself fascinated by Hutt Armor and its usage in the past. Tell me - have you heard of the Shell Clan?>"

His own response followed after a sip of wine.

"<Business is well, I'm currently working on a repulsor lift-equipped droid that explodes after lodging in a solid surface; perfect booby trap if I say so myself. It pleases me that mine and the Human's work pleases; client satisfaction is something I value highly, makes for better business I think you'll agree.>" Finishing the contents of his glass, Nodja then fluttered his nictitating membranes with intrigue at the mention of the Shell Hutts. "<Who hasn't heard of the Shell Hutts and their armour? I assume that this fascination is also a business interest as well?>"

 

[Tiberius Semper]

Arok nodded at Nodja's words and inclined his head in assent "<I have long been interested in their affairs, and now that my little adventure on Onderon has reaped so many fruits -" Arok smiled at the thought's of all those rare gems, artworks and other artifacts he had recovered from the old plutocrat's vaults, now safely stored in his own, thus jumpstarting his own - modest, for now - collection. "- I have had the thought of maybe seeing for myself their technology. I am growing tired of sitting inside all day and making sure that my business runs on schedule - I can hire people to do that for me. What I need is something new to rekindle the slowly slumbering fire in me>" With a wave of his hands, and a subtle flick of his fingers the entire room started to shake and quietly hum as the platform on which the dancers performed slowly rotated away from them, before a smooth durasteel wall slid down and hid them from view; a glassteel surface slid across the water filled bowl, leaving the beautifully smooth liquid to be seen from the "floor"; and as if from the very ground itself, command consoles lifted from the ground and then locked into place, giant screen flickered to life across the room. In the space of less then five minutes the entire room looked a hundred and eighty degrees different then the elaborate and regal looking dining and entertaining hall that it was a moment ago, and Arok guided his hoversled towards the center of a room where a Holographic projector rested in its small pod. With a click of a button it flickered to life and a revolving 3D map of the Outer Rim and Hutt Space in particular exploded into being inside the room. The tiny planets revolved silently around in a precise orbit as dictated by their real movements, and with a tiny wave of his hand Arok zoomed the map onto one planet in particular - Circumtore. Arok motioned for Nodja to come closer and he manipulated the small ring he wore on each hand and with a short pinching gesture the planet he had selected zoomed into focus, while the rest of the planets disappeared. Arok pointed at the planet and then turned to Nodja "<This is our destination, Circumtore. According to my sources the planet was an artificially made planetoid that was colonized by our esteemed brothers. They derived the practice that gave them their name because of the dangerous radiation that plagued them - and not, to my surprise, in honor of the ancient armor that we have used to wear. It still gives them an incredible advantage though, as the repulserlifts embedded into their "shells" enable them to fly around at their convenience as well as being heavily armored.>" Arok then waved the whole thing away, "grabbing" the HoloImage and flinging it outwards. Immediately the Holographic image returned to the revolving planetoids and with a curt gesture, they too winked out. Instead a large image of a slimy looking Hutt covered in great sheets of clumsily welded durasteel appeared and started to revolve slowly on its own. "This is Tagoonta, a fairly high ranking member of their clan who has graciously deigned to meet me on his Palace, and speak to me about a possible business arrangement or two. I would like you to accompany me on this mission and help me assemble a team that will assist me in "acquiring" a specimen for my collection - as well as also making the "shell" my size and combat ready. You will be handsomely rewarded, and I am sure that you would love to be given the chance to study such rare pieces of our own technology. What say you?>"