A Hutt's Justice

[Tiberius Semper]

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

THE VOSADII FAMILY PALACE​

The table smashed to smithereens from the heavy blow of the fat tail. A priceless artwork went flying through the room and smashed into a glass screen that a second ago projected a vista of inestimable beauty and serenity, and a huge scream of rage and frustration echoed throughout the chambers, as Arok vented his frustration and rage on his surroundings. Arok had never in his life seen such a brazen and insulting act against the very house of the Vosadii and whoever was responsible for this outrage was going to pay - big time. Arok stopped his incessant and increasingly erratic pacing of the room, as his body visibly oozed an oily slime, his tail twitched back and forth, foul smells emanated from his liquid covered body and his eyes darted constantly around the room betraying his agitation and stress. He visibly calmed himself, and mustering his formidable iron will calmed his raging mind and turned his now coherent thoughts to the matter of revenge. He called Shijo into the room, as well as the three new members of his security team and looked at them all, his eyes roving over the four of them as if searching for any sign of treason in them. "<You know why you are here>" he said with a deadly calm, his normally deep booming voice, a deathly whisper and his once mighty roar sounding like the dark cries of a mewling Krayt. There was something even more terrifying about his low voice, as it made its way into the hearts and souls of the four security specialists standing in front of him. They had expected to hear his deep bass voice roar and rage, they had expected him to curse and to blaspheme as he shook with anger against the world, but they didn't expect this. Arok looked at the cowed and sullen looks on his minions and smiled his pleasure, they understood the stakes here and he was sure that they would do everything in their power to please their master. "<Someone has brought shame and ridicule to the Vosadii Kajidic and I will have none of it. I will not abide this nonsense and I personally task you all with finding the culprit and bringing me to justice this fool. I will require two of you to stay here at all times and secure the perimeter as well as supervise the training and formation of a house guard. If whoever was responsible for this travesty has managed to penetrate even the House of the Vosadii, then we will need more then just Gammoreans, Sentry droids and automated defenses. I will require a real team with proper military training and I will have them beholden to me, and only to me! Not Natori, not my father, and especially not to the Grand Council. We cannot trust anyone here anymore, while those fools just bicker and argue over the disappearance of my father.>" Shijo nodded at his masters words and anticipating his masters wishes beckoned for the others to depart. He slowly and silently backed away from Arok and closed the doors noiselessly while his Master attended to the pressing needs of the family, as well finding out who was responsible for this cowardly and insulting attack. Shijo looked at the others, and appraised them cautiously - they were all newly come to the service of his master and he didn't trust them a single bit. No. For this to work out he'd need someone from outside the Cartel, someone with no ties to the Criminal underworld but tough enough and strong enough to survive the raging undercurrents that laced through the seeming laziness and opulence of its Hutt overlords. Shijo left his companions behind him and striding purposefully towards his Masters room's, entered the main hall where he took the hallway that would lead him to Arok's chambers and then knocked on the door in trepidation. Arok's booming voice echoed out through the cracks and Shiijo meekly swiped the access port with his keycard and entered the room. Turning to his Master, who was staring glumly at the hologrpahic image detailed the sacrilege, he said calmly "<Master, I believe that if we are to hunt down this perpetrator then we will need someone competent and tough, who however, isn't a member of the Cartel and thus is someone that we can relatively trust to complete the mission and not betray us. I can scan through my contacts and hopefully see if I can find someone who meets our criteria>". Arok nodded at him, and still a little dazed by the mess nodded his assent to the Weequay to carry out his idea. Shijo bowed to Arok and then left the room and went to the command and control center in the security wing of the Palace, there he used his knowledge and contacts to look through the various databases that were current on anyone who was currently in the Y'Toub system, and specifically Nal Hutta or Nar Shaddaa. The search took quite some time, but eventually he came upon a very unusual video feed from Nar Shaddaa's spaceport security camera's in which an armored Mandalorian was conducting a weapon's sale that went wrong and fought his way out quite impressively. Using a variety of armaments and weapons to quickly extract himself from the situation and leave the place a bloody mess. Shijo eyed the screen with mounting excitement - this was someone who could help them, and by the look of him he could use the credits as well. Shijo called the port authority and using Arok's name to help speed things up he quickly found out the ships name that was docked during the swift battle. It was a cargo freighter called the Udese and it was last listed as flying towards Nal Hutta itself! This was a lucky break for him, and with mounting excitement Shijo commenced to find out as much as he could about this mysterious Mandalorian. Finally after a long and moderately expensive search, utilizing his favorite information broker as well as his old contacts from his Bounty Hunter days to finally sniff out the Mandalorian's identity. It seemed that this particular warrior had been documented fighting off Pirates as well as even managing to fight off Dark Jedi! this indeed was the man they needed, and Shijo sent him a coded message inviting him to Aroks palace on Nal Hutta for a meeting.

 

[Ral]

Kriffing backstabbing low-life scumbags! They're just lucky I needed to protect my merchandise otherwise I would have taken my sweet sweet time causing them pain before I killed them. Ral thought sadistically to himself as he ascended the stairs to his ship's upper quarters. The Mandalorian had just escaped an attempted ambush from a bunch of lower city thugs trying to get the guns he was selling. Although, he was sure they would have stripped them if they had killed him. The risk of doing business as a smuggler.

Luckily, he had dispatched the thugs easily enough and only taken a few glancing hits to his armor. Using his blasters and wrist weapons he dropped the gang leader and his second almost immediately. After having killed half of the thugs and driven the rest off with the firepower enabled by his armor, Ral took his weapons and made his way back to Udese contacting his wife and informing her the deal went sour.

Back at his ship Carii met him on the ramp. Her hands were on her hips making her look impatient for his return. "I would ask if you are okay, but I can see you are fine. What happened to the deal? They try and double cross you?"

Removing his helmet and clipping it on his belt Ral raised an eyebrow at his wife. "What do you think?" He asked curtly walking past her as he pushed the crates of weapons.

"Told ya it was a bad idea. Their price was too good for it to be legitimate... at least you're safe."

Ral ignored her quip as he set the weapons down in the hold of his ship. "Where is the girl? I want to get off this rock."

"She's on the ship. Do yo want to speak to her?" Ral's wife asked excitedly until she realized that wasn't why he was asking. "You just don't want to wait on her... well you don't have to worry. She wouldn't step foot back onto this rock unless there was a good reason. I'll go start up the engines."

Ral nodded before proceeding up the stairs of the hold to the upper levels of the ship. Carii followed him up and went to go get Alora finding her in the ship's galley making some food. "Looks like we're leaving. C'mon, I want to show you some flying tips in case we need you to take the helm one day." Dragging the younger girl to the cockpit Carii showed her the basics of starting the ship up and how to take off. Once they were in space Carii set course for Nal Hutta until Ral gave her a destination. Surprisingly, they received a transmission from the planet. Somebody had noticed Ral's handiwork earlier and wanted to meet him. Frowning both Mandalorians looked to each other. Neither liked attention, they preferred to be relatively unknown. It made their line of work easier.

"What do you wanna do?" Carii inquired. Ral didnt like it, but apparently this Hutt wanted to meet Ral, and he knew better than to refuse a Hutt in Cartel space.

"Take us to this palace. Alora, you're coming with us, you can be of help." Ral remarked looking at the planet looming in front of them. It didn't take long to reach the planet and find the palace of this Arok the Hutt. With his ship touching down on the landing pad, the pair of Mandalorians and their teenage ward exited down the ramp in full armor, proceeding cautiously.

Turning to Alora, Carii whispered. "Stay close. Wouldn't want to lose you."

 

[Alora]

It took Alora a great deal of nerve to fly the ship and land it safely on the landing pad. Carii was constantly beside her, ready to take the secondary controls. But Alora managed to land the ship without crashing. Cold sweat was streaming down her temples and cheeks, eyes wide. The memory of her crash on Nar Shaddaa, which costed Alora her mother, came flooding her mind. But she managed to keep it at bay.
When the ship touched down and Carii shut off the engines, Alora let out a long breath. She didn't even notice that she was holding it for so long.
Following Ral and Carii out of the ship, Alora looked around. This world was so different from the endless city of Nar Shaddaa, that Alora felt lost. But a few things reassured her.
First of all, Alora had a small bead in her ear, a comlink microphone, which was connected to a secure line between her, Ral and Carii. The comlink worked through a communication system, installed into her mother's gauntlet, which Ral was so pleasant to fix for her. They couldn't fix all the systems the gauntlet had, but at least communication was pretty easy to fix and upgrade with a few replacements.
And second, she carried a DL-18 blaster pistol, a spare one that Carii gave her with a few lessons of how to use it. It wasn't a powerful weapon, but it was a tool, very necessary one. Her father's bes'kad was secure in a sheath strapped to her thigh.
Alora touched the bead in her ear.
- Can you see me? - she asked, referring to a location transmission, that the comm system in her gauntlet translated to Carii and Ral. For the first few days she didn't like the idea of them seeing her through their helmets wherever she went, she saw it as a leash for an animal. But when Carii explained, that every team has to know the exact location of each member on a mission, Alora relaxed a bit.
- Bright and clear, - came the reply.
Zeera walked up to her and stopped by her side. Low growl escaped her throat. The strill didn't like this place it seemed. Havoc followed Zeera almost everywhere this days. Sometimes Alora could see the signs of frustration and disappointment on Carii's strill face. He probably tried to court Zeera, get closer. But Zeera either ignored his attempts or simply couldn't understand them. It probably was the same with Alora. She didn't know how she would react if some guy would try to get closer to her. Cut off his gett'se probably. She was as much a wild animal now as Zeera was.
Pursing her lips and keeping herself alert, Alora followed Ral and Carii.

 

[Tiberius Semper]

The spaceport administrator watched as the ship he had been told to watch for landed. The Udese was an interesting looking light freighter, who's chassis was unique and definitely something that would stand out in any starport. To his professional eye it looked fast, sleek and deadly with a host of probably illegal modifications and military grade equipment hidden behind the façade of an innocent looking freight ship - that's how the game was played in Hutt Space, and this ship seemed to be no different. He now knew why the minor official who had contacted him about keeping a watch out had smiled and laughed when he gave him the name of the ship. Seeing as it was one of the Kajidic's who had asked for the notification, the diminutive Sullustan hadn't even batted an eyelid when asked and had even forgone his customary "special docking fee" for the request - after all, no one messed with the Hutts on their home planet and lived to tell about it. Moving brusquely to the communication panel inside the large communications and control tower he sent a message to the number that he had received from the aid detailing the arrival time of the ship, it's location as well as linking the hangar security footage to the HoloNet linkup as directed. Arok watched with interest as the video linkup was completed and the image of the Udese flickered onto the Holoscreen. Turning to Shijo he motioned for him to go and meet the Mandalorian warrior at the Spaceport, and escort him to his Palace. He watched with mounting interest as three armed and armored Mandalorian's walked down the ramp, fully clad in their culture's distinctive armor, and mentally tallied the amount of money he could make by turning them over to the Empire before throwing the idea away - he needed them after all, and once they had completed the task for which he had sent them then he could always turn them in after. Either way, he still comes out ahead and has nothing to lose for it. Arok grinned at the thought and then put it out of his mind for now. He focused on the task at hand and as he waited for the three figures to arrive, he ordered the house staff to clean up the mess and tidy the place to its former glory. Satisfied that his orders would be completed with alacrity the Hutt slowly slithered to his HoloNet terminal and started searching through the Kormtha databases for any word of an imminent or past theft against the Vosadii. In addition to that, Arok quietly sent out word to his usual dealers that he was looking for any information on someone claiming to have stolen from his residence - he knew that it could potentially backfire on him if his enemies ever found out, but he was desperate and would do anything at all to get the stolen heirloom back. ---------​ Shijo exited the large speeder limo that had brought them over to the Bilbousa spaceport and motioning for the six hulking Nikto guardsmen who had accompanied him to follow him; he made his way to the Hangar Bay where the three had last been spotted. As the trio came into sight, Shijo walked up to them careful to keep his arms away from his weapons and making no sudden moves that might make them think they would be double crossed or betrayed at any point. Surprised at their audacity and fearlessness at wearing full Mandalorian armor in Hutt Space of all things, he nonetheless was impressed with their courage and respect for their culture by wearing what would essentially be a huge bull's eye on their back in what was the biggest location for Bounty Hunters to frequent. Holding his arms out wide he called to them in bocce, as his basic was extremely broken, "Greetings, my friends. The Great and Generous Arok bids me welcome you to the glorious Nal Hutta, and he sincerely hopes that you will find your stay on the Glorious Jewl to be enlightening and enriching. He is awaiting you in his Palace next to the Market. Follow me.". Without waiting to see if they followed or not, Shijo turned around and started walking towards the limo that awaiting them on the outside and subtly flicking his fingers in the silent finger talk of the guard he ordered two of the Nikto to attempt to break into the Mandalorians ship and see what they could find. The other Nikto guards fanned out in a subtle square formation, boxing in the three warriors in case they decided to do anything funny or their Boss ordered them to take out the three Mandalorian's for the price on their heads and silently marched towards the waiting limo, fingering their weapons uneasily and looking just a tad nervous at the prospects of taking on three armed and armored Mandalorian warriors - they had all heard the legens attributed to them and myth's or no, they wanted this job to be over with as fast as possible.

 

[Ral]

As Ral walked across the spaceport he saw the limo park in front of them not too far away. Looking at Carii for a moment so she knew to be on her guard he looked back to see six Nikto guards and a seventh Weequay exit the limo. That didn't look good. This situation was becoming more worrisome by the second. While Ral was sure that he and Carii could drop any two of the guards each before getting hit in a spot their armor didn't protect, it was the fact they wouldn't be able to drop them all that worried him. Even with Alora and her strill with them Ral was worried that this would be bad odds for the Mandalorians. He only hoped that the mutual wish to live and to not let this turn into a blood bath would prevent any ideas of money or glory. "Stay at the ready, and don't drop your guard..."

With the guards surrounding them, Ral made sure to note what positions they were in before turning his attention to the Weequay who seemed to be their boss. After announcing that he represented this Arok, the Weequay showed them to the limo that was still waiting for them. The Mandalorians didn't like getting stuck in such a confined space with armed strangers who owed them nothing, but Ral knew when on Nal Hutta you do as the Hutts want you to do, or you don't leave Nal Hutta. "Very well, but can you tell me why we've been summoned here?" He said, his vocabulator distorting his voice slightly and making it sound more mechanical and electronic.

Moving forward Ral let Carii take the first seat, with Alora and her strill going into the limo next. Meanwhile, he used his helmet to communicate with his Basilisk on his ship as well as Udese itself to put them into "Away" mode where the ship would lock itself down and the droid would attack any humanoid who managed to gain access that wasn't Ral, Carii, or Alora. It was a safety precaution he had taken when he first found the Basilisk, one that he had to update when Alora joined the crew. Although, it was fairly easily bypassed, if Ral, Carii, or Alora boarded than anyone else wouldn't attack the other guests. Ral only hoped that it wouldn't trigger this time.

Sitting inside the limo, Ral let the Weequay take them to the palace of his master. "So, do you have a name Weequay? Or shall I have to think one up for you?"

 

[Alora]

- Tion'jor mhi ruusa ibice hut’uune? - Alora asked over the comlink. She used mando'a on purpose, for no-one in the Hutt space spoke mando'a, she was certain about that. Especially the ignorant Nikto or basically stupid Weequay.
Although she was following Ral and Carii without being armored in beskar'gam, she didn't feel any fear. For what she knew, these cowards weren't brave enough to take on three mandos without second thought.
Zeera walked beside her, her teeth bared and a low growl echoing in her throat. Havoc walked beside Carii and seemed to be more calm, but he wasn't as wild as Zeera. Alora's friend grew up on the streets of Lower city of Nar Shaddaa, which left its mark, making her a wild and ruthless killer. And she grew up too big. Comparing to Havoc, Zeera was a monster. And she hated Nikto. She remembered them from the many hunts, when they hunted down and killed gangs of marauders and drug dealers. The Nikto was especially hard to kill, but Zeera took pleasure in it since the day when she got hit by a blaster bolt one of them shot at her. Alora imagined that if any of these "guards" made a sudden move or pointed the gun at them, she wont be able to hold off her friend. And then it would be a blood bath. But she put a restraining hand on Zeera's head. They were in the open space, not a dark narrow alleyway. It wasn't their hunting ground. They would probably die here and there if they attacked, but they will take these chakaare with them. But not today. Ib’tuur jatne tuur ash’ad kyr’amur.
- Ni su'sirbu mhi nu'ru'enteyor olar. A tion'ad ni cuyi gycir?

 

[Tiberius Semper]

The two Nikto guards made their way unobtrusively towards the Mandalorian's ship, keeping to themselves and not making any trouble in the spaceport. They weren't here to extort any more bribes, blackmail and threaten a person or collect protection money - this time they were here for an intel gathering mission. Making their way to the distinctive ship, one of the Nikto fished inside his tool-belt and took out a special datapad - he'd been told that it was an expensive data breaker called an electronic lock breaker - he had been handed before and taking a small tool he pried open the commands consoles surface and jacked the data breaker into the wires. As the machine commenced to run its pre-programmed software it hummed softly to itself and after a few nerve wracking minutes the hatch to the ship opened up. The two Vosadii soldiers slowly crept into the ship, making their way cautiously through the ships rooms hands tightly holding their weapons and senses straining for the littlest of sounds that would alert them of danger - they didn't know what to expect of a ship like this, not to mention one that belonged to Mandalorians - and they were extremely nervous of the defensive system's that might have been activated on the ship. As they passed through the storage compartments, their button cameras located on their armor swept the room recording everything inside, and a whispered command in their headsets bade them open up one of the dozen of crates strewn around. Cursing lightly to himself, one of the Nikto grabbed a crowbar and with some puffing and heaving managed to burst the top off one of the crates. Muscles bulging with the effort, he heaved the heavy duraplast off the top and with a loud clang and massive crash it tumbled to the floor. A minor yelp from his companion was covered by the clanging top and in any case the Nikto was too engrossed in looking at the insides of the crate. With an appreciative sigh he looked at the neatly stacked and ordered blaster rifles lying inside. Making sure to scan the crate's insides with his camera he then turned to his companion and grabbed a rifle, intending to show him the sleek make - only to find to his surprise that his friend was nowhere to be seen. Breathing hard, he tossed the rifle aside and grabbed his own one bringing it up to his chest and cocking the weapon as he looked around fearfully for his companion. A slow clicking sound suddenly erupted from his left and he spun towards the sound firing wildly as he went, the laser bursts scorching the walls of the storage room and lighting the area up with green flashes. There was nothing there.​ The clicking sound suddenly sounded from the top right corner, and he spun around spraying the room wildly as he panted with fright, sweat seeping from him and a lethargy stealing through his body - this wasn't what he had signed up for. This was something diabolical from the stuff of legends and he wanted out. He abruptly pressed the release for his power pack and tossed it to the floor and fished out a new one, locking it into place as he inched slowly towards the exit of the storage and the freedom that beckoned. A slow terrifying scratching sound, as if a huge claw was being dragged across the room suddenly erupted from the other side of the room and he grabbed a smoke grenade and nervously tore off the pin and rolled it into the corner where the sound had come from. Smoke started to fill up the storage room, and in the artificial cover he slowly inched his way towards the exit, backing away, his eyes constantly darting around searching for the monster that was stalking him. A sudden screech coming from behind him caused him to spin around once more, and he cursed out loud as his friends battered and burned body bumped into him, hanging from a chain. He abruptly lost it, and in blind terror he tossed everything he was carrying as a slow wet trickle slowly made its way down his pants. Charging blindly towards the doorway he was abruptly impaled on an eerie looking appendage that as his eyes slowly traveled up the arm seemed to be connected to some sort of mechanical spider-like droid, which with a whirring and mechanical beep then proceeded to blast him to a charred pulp. Shijo looked at the chattering Mandalorian's, and what seemed to be their little ward, and once the two armored warriors got into the speeder and got comfortable he motioned for the guards once more in their private hand signals. Immediately two of them moved forward and barred the door, one of them spoke up in basic and pointed at the two beasts "They cannot come, either you stay here with them or you leave them here. Your choice". Meanwhile, inside the speeder itself Shijo sat facing the two Mando'ade and smiled at them, his eyes seemingly devoid of any emotion "Does it matter who I am? All you need to know is that Arok has need of you, and so you are here. That is all". Casually dismissing the two he looked outside with a frown and eyeing his chrono he impatiently waited for the woman to make up her mind. Arok was waiting on them - and he hated it when people were late. Looking at the woman from behind his helmet, Ral had an annoyed look on his face; he didn't have time for this. "You handle this, I'm going to meet with this Hutt. Alright whatever-your-name-is. Take me to your boss." Carii nodded as she looked at the teenager. If the strill didn't follow the girl nearly every where she went they probably wouldn't have ran into this snag. Oh well, no matter it was an easy fix really. "C'mon, Alora, we'll walk there through the market. I'm sure your master's palace won't be too hard to find, yes? Stretching our legs will be good for us." Over their private line, she said. "Keep your comm open. I want to know everything is okay." Ral nodded before closing the door. The speeder sped off into the city leaving the two women behind, the nearly silent whine of its engines betraying it's power and control as it sped through Bilbousa. As it crossed the Bazaar the Mandalorian could see a myriad of species roaming through the stalls, which sold nearly everything, from exotic looking weapons, different armors, and even a few pieces that might have been battered beskar'gam from the looks of it to foodstuffs, illicit narcotics, repair parts and anything else that could be found in the galaxy - here there was only one rule. Credits. Anything went as long as it enriched the Hutts, and as long as the Hutt's were happy then the merchants were happy. Needless to say, as the luxurious speeder swept through the throng the crowd somehow gave it a wide berth even though it seemed nearly impossible in the huge throng that crowded the marketplace. They knew who owned the speeder and knew to leave it alone. Soon enough the speeder arrived at the main gates to the Palace and they were stopped at the gate's by a armored and armed guard, who checked the transponder code and registration of the speeder before checking the speeder itself. Satisfied that it belonged to the Hutt's he then checked underneath the speeder for any unusual things, that might have "attached" themselves to the speeder as well as looking for any explosives and once he was done, muttered into the comlink that was affixed to his helmet. Soon enoug the gates ponderously slid into cleverly hidden recess in the massive walls, and a giant droid moved out of the way, letting them pass into the great compound. After a ten minute drive through the Palace's exterior grounds that were full of different terrain types and different building zones, they arrived at what seemed to be the residential zone of the giant complex and parked next to the entrance of a large looking building. The driver exited the speeder and opened the door motioning for everyone to exit. Two of the Nikto exited first, and then smiling wryly to himself Shijo motioned for Ral to exit, before the remaining Nikto guards left. Climbing out of the speeder himself he dismissed the driver with a nod and striding forward towards the lobby he entered the building. Inside the foyer a large, corpulent and extremely obese Hutt was lying on a high tech looking hoversled, busily stuffing his face with some unfortunate wriggling creature from a large tank. To his side was a big Hookah and between bites he would take a deep hit from it, and sighing with contentment blow the smoke out in a large ring. Noticing the newcomers he smiled, his face stretching with the effort and drool slipping a bit from his mouth as he swept his arms out in a welcoming gesture. "<Welcome, welcome, I have heard great things about you mighty warrior. Facing down dark Jedi is no mean feat these days>" he said with a chuckle "<I am sure you are no doubt wondering why I have summoned you here to my humble abode>". He looked at the armored warrior and motioned for some slaves to bring him some food and beverages "<I have a slight problem, you see, and I require your aid. Something has been stolen from me, and I want you to bring it back. Oh, and crispo the slimo schutta.>" "<Name your price>"​

 

[Ral]

Walking through the grand decorative doors and into Arok the Hutt's palace Ral found himself to be moderately impressed with the place. Thinking to himself that it must have been in the family for a while for it to have such an impressive array of what Ral would have guessed as art, but he could have been totally wrong about that, he wondered just how old and powerful the family was; Ral wasn't privy to the rise and fall of Hutt Dynasties. Before him was the great corpulent alien slug known as a Hutt enjoying a snack of some kind. Typical. Guessing that this was Arok judging by the Weequay's disposition and body language, Ral took a stand right before the Hutt, but did not remove his buy'ce, his helmet.

Listening to the Hutt speak in Huttese, Ral remained implacable behind his T-shaped visor. When he was finished, Ral remained silent for a moment trying to gauge this Hutt. "I am to assume you are Arok the Hutt? The information your... underlings have given me has been rather... light for my tastes. Like for example how you knew I killed some dark Jedi. Only a handful of people should have known about that." He began adding in pauses, and making sure to put enough disgust in the world underlings to make it clear through his vocabulator. Continuing, "So, you've lost something and you want it back... I'm guessing discretely. If the other Hutt's learned you lost someone of value, they'd think you weak."

This was more of a guess based on what he knew of gangs and the mob as well as Hutts. He also guessed it was of some worth to Arok for him to hire a Mandalorian like Ral and not one of the two-bit bounty hunters or mercs that were common place in the system. "So, recovery isn't too expensive, but since this is of some value it will require a little premium, killing the thief will be relatively cheap, and then there is discretion. Now that will probably cost you, for even you know that there is a chance word will get around that a Mandalorian is looking for your item. So, how does three hundred and... say, fifty thousand sound? Would that be a reasonable price for discrete retrieval as well as taking care of any 'loose ends' as they say?"

---

Carii watched the limo drive away from them and was about to ask Alora if she wanted to stop by the market on the way to the palace, but then she received a notification in her helmet. It was the ship's intruder alarm. The Basilisk had gone active. "Looks like we've got rats in the hen house. C'mon let's check it out and hit the market."

The woman seriously doubted that anyone would manage to get past the Basilisk War Droid, but she had to be sure. Sending Ral a small update about the situation she started off. When she got there, Carii could see the death caused by the droid. The charred remains of the Nikto guards were still familiar to the Mandalorian woman. Turning to Carii, "Well, they learned their lesson, didn't they? Help me get the out so they won't stink up the ship then we'll head to the market."

With that Carii dragged the remains out onto the Landing Pad where they would be left before locking up the ship again and waiting for Alora to join her.

 

[Alora]

Alora felt outraged at the suggestion of leaving Zeera behind, but thankfully Ral and Carii didn't press the issue and Ral left in the limo alone.
Bofore hitting the road towards the Hutt's residence, Carii and Alora had to check out the intruder alert on their ship. It looked like the Bes'uliik dealt with it flawlessly. Few smoking corpses were found inside the ship, which Carii and Alora had to drag outside. Zeera and Havoc helped, grabbing the stinking scumbags by their limbs and dragging them out of the ship. After that Zeera peed on the corpses and sat down with a satisfied grin on her snout. Alora giggled.
After that they started to jog in the direction of the market.
It was rather different from the market Alora knew in the Lower city of Nar Shaddaa. It was very noisy and crowded, with a lot of shops and traders, all calling for attention to their goods. And everything was sold here, from pins and scarfs to blaster rifles, grenades and armor. Alora took a quick look at one of the helmets displayed there, but put it down almost immediately. It was a poor replica of old stormtrooper helmet with no integral comm or combat systems. And it looked as if it was made of simple plastoid. Alora suspected that Zeera's jaws could bite right through it.
The other shop was selling something, which looked like heap of ropes and thin belts. Alora wondered for a second if it was some sort of combat harness to which the holsters and gun clips could be attached when Carii whispered through the comm into her ear: "Twilek dancing outfits. Want one?" Alora stifled a laugh and went on.
The strills were running around the place, scaring and frightening the customers and shopkeepers. Not everyday you can see a huge beast with sharp fangs and claws jumping into your shop and sniffing around like it was looking for a tasty meal. Most customers seemed to assume that the strills can view them as an alluring dinner and ran off. Carii and Alora heard not one but thousand complaints from shopkeepers, but a single sight of Carii's mandalorian T-visor and a predatory look on Alora's face shut them up for good. Alora decided not to pay the shops any attention for there was nothing of worth here anyway.
But one thing caught her attention. It wasn't a shop, it was a small table in the corner of the market occupied by an overweight Rodian. The goods he was selling looked like they came from scavenging on on some distant scrapyard planet. Mostly it was junk, but one item caught Alora's attention. It was an interesting little droid. So small that it could fit into her pocket. With it came some sort of headgear, a thin metal headband with a earphone for one ear and a small rectangular lense for one eye. The shopkeeper explained that the droid was a flying eye, a minispy, that can be launched and directed using the headgear to fly around and transmit the video and audio feed to the user. The head gear could also be used for targeting and aiming aid with the blasters. Earphone could be configured to be used as a commlink as well and the view lens can be lifted up just like the pathfinder on traditional mando helmet. With a simple nod at the device Alora convinced Carii that this thing can come in useful and so they bought it.
Alora immediately inserted her commlink id-chip into the headgear and put it on. When the thing powered on she felt a little disoriented, for the lens before her right eye flashed a cascade of bright blue images, text and lines, but quickly calmed down and went blank-transparent, with only clock ticking in the corner. With a simple push of a button Alora sent the miniature drone into the air. The little droid extended small wings which happened to be anti-graviton stabilizers and shot off into the sky. The picture in the lens before Alora's eye changed rapidly, showing her the view over the great market place from the height of 50 meters or more. Then the droid dived down, flying through the market and weaseling between buildings. Images flashed before Alora's eye so fast, that she decided to let it travel around on autopilot. It took the droid several minutes of really crazy flying to come to a rest just above Alora's shoulder. A simple line flashed on the display: "Data collected". Just as the merchant instructed, Alora quickly blinked twice at the line and the letters exploded into a big bright-blue image. It was a 3-dimensional image map of the surrounding area, with counts of active machines and droids and living beings displayed beside it. Bright-green triangle flashed in the middle of the image map, right where Alora stoop. Little green dot flashed beside her, indicating the mini spy droid. The droid used thermal imaging to count out the live ones it seemed. With a satisfied grin, Alora reached out and took the droid from the air. The little spy retrieved it's wings and turned off. Alora felt like she just received a birthday present, for the first time in long years. Carii smiled at her, seeming to be satisfied with the effect.
And so they went on. As they went, Alora figured out how to send Carii the 3D image through their comm channel, along with how to send her the video feed from the droid. It wasn't that hard a tech, the merchant said that it was rather outdated, but it worked great. The droid had to be recharged after, the full charge only good for half an hour of flight and record. But it would definitely come in handy, Carii assured Alora.
When they passed the exit of the market, Alora noticed a tall guy, arguing rather loudly with one of the merhants.
- I don’t care, how you get it, you signed on and you didn't deliver, - the guy was bellowing. - I want those parts and I want them now!
- I'm sorry, Tal, it was almost impossible to get! Your ship is so modified, that parts had to be purchased on different planets all over the Outter rim.
- Not my problem, di'kut, you deliver the parts to me in three days or we will have a "slight misunderstanding".
Alora cought the mando'a curse and looked closer. The guy didn't look like a mando, he wasn't wearing beskar'gam or signes of any clan. But mando curses were not so common as huttese or corellian. Noticing Alora's interest Carii nodded, indicating that she made note of it as well. But they had other business to attend to so they kept walking.

 

[Tiberius Semper]

The armored warrior stepping into the room did little to deter Arok from his meal. He continued on to eat with abandon and when he was finally done he put the food down and waited for the slaves to take the food away before he turned to the Mandalorian who now stood in front of him. He smiled widely at the impassive and impenetrable form of the figure standing in front of him and idly wondered who exactly was inside the suit - that was the problem with these newfangled powered armors! you could never look your opponent in the eye as you slowly choked the life from his body. Instead of answering he quickly typed some commands on his arm mounted control pad and then watched as the blue-white light of his holographic projector flickered into existence, the waving and blurry light solidifying into a clear picture of a giant statue of a Hutt. Speaking up for the first time since the Mandalorian had asked his question he addressed his concerns "<This is the central plaza that is located in the middle of this palace. It is crowned with this magnificent [url = "---"]statue[/url] to the glory of the Vosadii and as an testament to the personal power and influence of my father - Borga. As of today someone has stolen the statue and made my security force the laughing stock of the city. I will not have such an insult to the Vosadii stand!" Arok's tail was twitching with barely controlled anger at this point, and his fists were clenched tightly, although to someone not familiar with Hutt physiology it would never be apparent just how angry he was. "<I have been forced to put out the word that the statue has been removed for renovations and reworking, but anyone who has half a brain can see through the lie". He swiftly jabbed his controls once again and the scene soon branched out with the image of the statue moving left and hovering in midair over the Mandalorians head, while new images soon blurred into being. Technical information on the statue and it's current worth on the black market scrolled across the screen while other images popped into view on the other side of Arok - these contained the images of three sentients; one - huge Whiphid thug; two - a Rodian mercenary; and three - a hulking brute of a humanoid who's entire body was covered in high-tech looking armor, that was strangely reminiscent of the Mandalorian standing in front of him. They soon expanded to show the various information that Arok had collected on them - their abilities, skills, weapons, armor and anything pertinent that would apply to a potential employer like Arok who would be interested in learning about his employees. "<These are the heads of my house guard, security detail, and my own little special squad of "mechanics" who I have hired during the past year. They are the only ones with the clearance to have pulled off a job like this as well as the requisite skills - I strongly suspect that one of them was involved in the heist and will also have a water tight alibi, so I cannot prove anything. This is why I need you - I will pay you a bonus of fifty thousand credits if you find the rat in my house and clean the infection that has plagued me. Can I rely on you?" Arok conveniently ignored his other question about how he had discovered his complicity in the fight with the Dark Jedi, and just let the Mandalorian think of that as he will. With a slight blink of an eye, he accessed the small but powerful mainframe located inside his monocle and ordered all the information to be downloaded onto a small information disk, which after a few seconds popped out of his sled. He handed it to 3D-4Z who then trundled forward and handed it to the Mandalorian. "<Here is all the information that I have just showed you, if you ever need anything else let me or Shijo know and I will make sure that you have the full might of the Vosadii Kajidic at your disposal. So what is it going to be?>" While he waited for the Mandalorian's reply, Arok silently sent a signal for the Palace's defensive emplacements to come online, just in case the Mandalorian decided to decline the job opportunity. With a quiet hum, automated plasma turrets powered into active mode, defensive shields designed to create barriers and cut off enemies powered on and closed off all the possible exits, and the ion energy cannons that Arok had had installed especially in case of a droid attack or a man with powered armor attempted to assassinate him popped open, visible for a second in the visual spectrum before vanishing to the naked eye when the holographic shrouds activated. There would be no loose ends, and he would just have to search for another mercenary with the necessary skills and independence. Arok smiled beatifically at the armored warrior standing in front of him, and folded his arms together. He knew that he was thoroughly protected no matter the outcome of the talks with him, and that there was no chance that his situation would leak to the outside world.

 

[Ral]

The Mandalorian stood quietly where he was led in front of the large Hutt Arok. His face remained impassive as the Hutt finished its meal of... whatever it could get its hands on. Listening to what the crime lord had to say, Ral waited for the slug to finish before responding to the Hutt's offer. The Hutt seemed like the practical sort, something that Ral could appreciate. Given the current situation this would be anything but an easy mission, but then again the Mandalorian never shied away from the "hard' jobs and this time would be no different. Frowning, the male took several moments to consider what Arok the Hutt had to offer him. "Very well, you've got yourself a deal. I suspect time is of the essence so I'd like to start immediately. When my companions arrive would it be all right if they were brought to me immediately? It is very possible I will have need of them at one point or another."

Ral got the feeling he didn't have much of a choice in the matter of taking the job anyways as he was sure there were several guns or maybe a sniper or two aiming their rifles at him at that very moment in the event he chose to not accept the Hutt's rather generous offer. Looking about, the hall, Ral asked: "I will need a place to conduct my investigations where others will not be able to pass by and discover what is going on."

It was a simple request for him to make, and a reasonable one at that. The Mandalorian didn't want the other suspects or members of the Hutt's palace staff to hear what was going on or be able to tell the culprit what had been learned. Security was still just as important now as it was before. Only now, Ral had to work his way through a short list of people who might have done it. Once everything was in place, Ral would sit down with the first person on his list and begin talking to them. Unlike some of his colleagues Ral would hold off on physical harm, anyone worth their salt knew that violence didn't get accurate answers in these situations. His first target would be the Whiphid.

---

Carii enjoyed the walk through the markets with Alora. It was good to get out and spend time with the young girl and let their pet strills run free among the streets. She was rather surprised when the girl stopped to look at a dancer's uniform. Teasing the teenager they moved on until they eventually came to a vendor who sold a drone of some sort. It looked interesting enough and Alora didn't have much in the way of gear so Carii gladly bought the younger girl the item.

"Well, Alora, what do you think so far? Not quite like Nar Shaddaa, huh? It's an interesting place to say the least. Just wait until we take you to some of the more interesting places in the Galaxy!" She smiled at the girl while Alora played with her new toy. Patting her on the back Carii led the younger Mandalorian to the palace of this Hutt Lord Arok. Walking up the stairs she knocked on the large outer doors. With a wink she stated, "Well, Alora, here we go into the maw of a Hutt!"

 

[Alora]

Alora nodded.
- Hope he won't try to swallow, or he'll choke pretty painfully, - Alora replied.
The palace didn't impress her that much, she's seen quite a number of the similar ones on Nar Shaddaa, although never from the inside. But she decided she didn’t like it anyway. The bigger the building, the more entries it has, the easier it is to infiltrate. And no amount of guards or surveillance could guarantee total safety.
When the doors opened they were greeted by a pack of guards, armed with blaster rifles and carabines. The guards tried to block entry to the strills, but a single word from Carii (something in huttese) broke their resolve. With no further questions asked the guards lead them through the building to a hall which looked like a throne room of sorts. There they saw Ral discussing something with a huge fat Hutt.
Alora lowered her hand into her pocket and stroke the metal surface of her drone. The info on her HUD said that the drone could map any interior as well as exterior. Alora suspected that it will be very usefull in this place.