The Glamorous Underworld

[Hideous]

It was about 12:30 AM in the particular District of Coruscant, meaning that the clubs and bars were all packed, buzzing with activity. Chastity was making her way to one of the higher end establishments known as Club Talisman, infamously known as one of the places favored by many successful criminals. They often used the privacy of the club's back rooms to conduct business, and Chastity was on her way to do just that. After she'd contacted her most recent employer, a man whom she only knew a Tanner, they'd agreed to meet there in order to carry out the exchange.

As promised, she'd retrieved the data drive that Tanner wanted from the security deposit box on Corellia. The rate had been set at forty thousand credits, which was twenty-five more than it had cost her to put the operation together. Hiring a competent team, bribing the right people and purchasing all of the equipment had just about drained her personal bank account dry, but it was a calculated risk that would soon be paying off. Chastity was already visualizing all of the magnificent clothing and jewelry that she was going to spend some of her prize on, though she still planned on saving at least half of it.

She stepped out from the taxi wearing a sparkling red and gold sequined dress, a pair of strappy stilettos and most importantly a sleek black clutch which contained the data drive. She greeted the large, four armed Besalisk working the door with a smile and a playful wave as she walked by him, skipping the line completely since she was a regular. It probably didn't hurt that she looked great in addition to that. Gracefully maneuvering her way through the energetic crowd, Chastity made it to the elevators which would take her to the 4th floor where most of the private lounges were located, including the one that Tanner and his boys could be found in on most nights. In fact, he rented the room out so often that he'd even gotten the club manager to move a desk in there.

Room 44, second one on the left when going down the hallway which was on the other side of the dance floor. There was another guard watching the entrance to the hallway, although this one was human and Chastity had never seen him before. Apparently he'd been alerted that she would be showing up, though, as he moved the black velvet rope blocking the way before she'd even uttered a single word. She knocked on the door of room 44 and was promptly let in by one of Tanner's bodyguards, but she was surprised to see that the boss himself wasn't actually present.

"Well, well, if it isn't our dear Chastity, fashionably late as usual!" exclaimed the very dapper gentleman sitting behind the desk.

"Sebastian," Chastity acknowledged his presence unenthusiastically, not even bothering to pretend to like him. Sebastian was Tanner's second in command, a nitpicky and generally all around obnoxious bastard, but she had to admit that he was at least quite crafty and good at his job. "Where is he?" she asked bluntly.

"Probably still at the morgue by now, darling, nice of you to ask," Sebastian replied smugly before picking a nail file up from the desk and putting it to use on his impeccably manicured fingertips, not even bothering to look up at her.

"I see..." Chastity's reply betrayed a slight sense of concern over the revelation, as it meant that she now had to deal with the arrogant twat sitting in front of her instead. She remained silent for a moment, thinking of how to properly approach the situation. The only thing that she was pretty confident about was that Sebastian had probably orchestrated his superior's death.

"Anyways, I won't be needing the data that the boss - I mean former boss - sent you to fetch, so be a good doggy and run along now."

Chastity still didn't really know what to say. It wasn't surprising that Sebastian would try to pull such a stunt, as he'd always been a snake, but she needed those credits or else she'd be left with nothing but a bunch of files that nobody else had any interest in. She'd always been able to sweet talk Tanner into letting her get her way, but it was quite obvious that Chastity was about as far from being Sebastian's type as possible - namely because she was a indeed a woman. "Listen, that's actually not how things work. If you're taking over as Tanner's successor, then you're also covering any debts or contracts that he may have had," she tried to reason while sounding quite firm in her position.

Sebastian rolled his eyes, being his typically insufferable self, but before Chastity could get another word out she could feel the two thugs behind her getting closer. She tired to turn and leave but it was already too late. One of the two monstrously large men grabbed both of her arms, spinning her back around as she struggled in vain to break free. She could have screamed, but it would have been pointless since the rooms were all soundproof.

Placing himself behind Chastity, the gorilla pinned both of her wrists against the small of her back and shoved her down against the desk roughly. Once she was bent over with her chest pressed firmly against the piece of furniture's hard surface, he grabbed a fistful of her hair, forcing Chastity's head backwards far enough for it to be considerably uncomfortable. She was left with no other choice than to look up at Sebastian, who'd gotten up in the meantime and produced a chrome handgun from one of the desk's drawers.

"You slimy son of a -" Chastity was cut off as Sebastian shoved the barrel of her gun into her mouth, dropping the thin veil of civility that he'd been maintaining until that point. She froze instantly, her eyes wide with fear and shock as he leaned in a bit closer to her.

"Now you listen while I explain how things work in the real world. I have power, I hold all the cards. You're just an irrelevant whore who nobody gives two credits about, and I happen not to like you, so I'm finding it very difficult to come up with a reason not to blow your pretty little face off right now." Sebastian's tone was both venomous and mocking, and he was even moving the barrel of the handgun around in Chastity's mouth just to taunt her further.

At once terrified and immeasurably frustrated, she could do nothing but fight back tears while the sadistic crime lord made up his mind on whether she would get to live or not. As that was happening, the second thug that had been in the room decided to go outside and make sure that nobody would disturb his boss. As he stepped out into the corridor, he bumped into a young man that happened to be passing by, presumably on his way to another one of the private lounges. The door remained half open for a few seconds while the colossal bodyguard took the time to shove the younger man out of the way and warn him to watch where he was going before finally shutting it.

 

[Wit]

With more than a few drinks within his system, Kalen was in a good mood, feeling much better than he had in some time. Good food, plenty of drinks, and beautiful company, Hylo surely knew how to throw a party. He had been expecting a grand party, but this time Hylo had outdone herself. Not only had she managed to book a lounge in the Club Talisman, she had managed to somehow bring together all of the people she had ever worked with. Hylo, Kalen's one time mentor and partner in crime, was getting married and throwing a farewell party for all her old associates and she had gone to great lengths to ensure that everything was perfect. Kalen was meeting people he had not seen in years, some whom he had presumed to be dead.

After what seemed like hours, Kalen had excused himself momentarily from the revelries and stepped out from the lounge in search of a washroom. Walking out into the corridor, he had headed down it in hopes of finding one when a door he happened to be walking by suddenly opened and a giant of a man stepped out and bumped right into him. As he was caught by the shoulders and shoved to the other side of the corridor, Kalen turned around to give the man a piece of his mind when he managed to look through the open door and get a look at what was going on within.

Slightly inebriated, but still very much in control of himself, Kalen walked up to the door and knocked loudly. After some time, as the same man once more opened the door slightly, Kalen smiled goofily and asked, "Hello, is this the washroom?" Growling slightly the man stepped out and catching hold of Kalen's shirt, lifted him bodily off the floor. "Didn't I tell you to get lost?" As the door swung shut behind him, Kalen suddenly became much more sober and looking straight at his eyes waved his hands in front of him. "You do not want to hurt me. You want to help me. You want to tell me exactly what is going on inside." Kalen's words, layered with the Force as they were, got a positive response out of the thug every single time, repeating his words and telling Kalen what he wanted to know. Done talking, Kalen drew one of his lightsabers from his coat and whacked it's pommel into the giant's temple to knock him out.

As he was dropped to the floor, he quickly jumped into action, knowing full well that the ones inside must be getting suspicious of their friend's delay in returning. Opening the door, having been left unlocked by the thug as he had stepped out, Kalen walked right into the room. "Oops, this isn't the washroom." Immediately all eyes were on him, the man he assumed must be the one in charge drawing his gun out from within the woman's mouth and pointing it at him. "Who the hell are you?" As he was about to fire off a shot, Kalen quickly brought out the blaster he has taken from the thug outside and threw it straight at Sebastian, knocking the gun out from his hand. In the same instant he ignited the lightsaber in his hand and pointed it at the oter thug who was about to draw his own weapon, "Don't." As he froze in his steps, Aden drew his own blaster with his other hand and pointed it at Sebastian. "Now, why don't you let the lady go and no one needs to get hurt."

 

[Hideous]

From her position, Chastity couldn't really see what was going on behind her, although from the sound of it somebody had barged into the room. For a few terrifying moments, she felt as if there was a good chance that Sebastien might pull the trigger as a reflex. She closed her eyes and squealed in fear briefly until she felt the gun leave her mouth right before the thug that was holding on to her arms forced her back into a standing position, using her as a human shield from the would-be attacker.

It was at that point that Chastity got a good look at the person who'd walked into the room. He was tall, dark, and handsome - very handsome, in fact - but she still wasn't sure if he was there to rescue her or because of some other reason. That question was answered soon enough though as Kalen easily disarmed Sebastien before revealing that he was a Jedi and ordering the thug to let Chastity go. As soon as the gorilla's grip loosened, she pulled her arms away and went around the desk. Taking advantage of the sudden reversal of fortunes, she went up to Sebastien and lifted her knee into his groin as hard as she could. As she turned her back on him to walk towards the Jedi and the door, she could hear him whining and swearing uncontrollably which was almost enough to bring a smile to her face.

Once she and the Jedi were out of there, Chastity pressed her back against the black corridor wall as she cupped her face with both hands, still choking down tears. Normally, she probably would have just let them flow freely in order to gain sympathy and manipulate somebody, but she was far too thankful towards her savior to even think about playing those sorts of games. She'd rarely ever really feared for her life, and never as seriously as in the past few minutes so she realized just how lucky she'd been that Kalen had stumbled into the picture.

"I'm sorry," she finally managed to speak. "I really thought that I was dead back there. Thank you so much!" Feeling quite overwhelmed by the happiness of simply being alive, Chastity launched herself forwards away from the wall and threw her arms around her savior, embracing him tightly before planting a long kiss on his lips. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she repeated several more times in quick succession before finally letting go of Kalen as she began to calm down gradually.

 

[Wit]

Kalen was about to ask Chastity if she was alright when she suddenly rounded the thug and stepping up to Sebastien, kicked him in the groin. As she walked up towards him, the crime boss wheezing and cursing on the floor behind her, Kalen's eyebrow's shot up in amused surprise. She was a fiery one. As soon as they were outside the room Chastity flung herself at the opposite wall, at which point Kalen decided to give her a minute and turned around to face the door from which they had just emerged. He waved his hand over the lock, screwing up the electro-mechanical system within so that the door wouldn't open form within. It would be best if those guys stayed in there for now.

As he turned around he was surprised by Chastity as she flung herself at him and wrapped him in a tight embrace, all the while thanking him for helping her out. He was about to tell her to think nothing of it when she surprised him even further by planting a long deep kiss on his lips. As she ultimately stepped back from him he was at a loss for words, he had finally managed to take a good look at her and was pleasantly surprised as he noticed that she was very beautiful, stunningly so.

"You're welcome." he finally replied after a few seconds of idiotically staring at her as she thanked him a couple of more times. Extending his right hand towards he continued, "I am Kalen, Kalen Navarr." As the occupants of the lounge they had exited began banging on the door from within, Kalen took a look towards the door before turning to face Chastity once more. "What do you say we move away from here? It would be best we weren't here when that door opens. Come on, this way. I think you could do with a drink."

Leading the way he walked towards the lounge where Hylo's party was still going on. A few minutes later they were seated at the small bar, full glasses in front of them. Kalen took a long sip before turning to face Chastity, "So, get stuck in situations like that often?" The humor in his tone was evident, but at the same time he was curious as to why she had been in such a plight.

 

[Hideous]

Chastity gladly shook Kalen's hand, even though it was rather pointless when considering that it was quite a step down from the kiss they'd just shared. Still - force of habit. "Chastity," she replied simply, unconsciously omitting her last name. Another force of habit. Agreeing that it was best to go somewhere safer, she followed the Jedi to one of the large private lounges where some sort of party was being held. It seemed a bit classier than most club parties, but Chastity had no problem fitting in when it came to higher end events. It was the lower end of the spectrum that gave her the most trouble.

In any case, she was extremely thankful for the open bar since she could really use a drink - several, actually. Of course, she was thrilled to be alive and all of that, especially in the moments immediately following the period of time where she thought that she was going to die, but the realization that she'd still been screwed out of her entire bankroll was not far behind. Chastity was broke, and there was nothing more embarrassing to an entrepreneur such as herself than bankruptcy. She had no idea what she was going to do, but the prospect of getting wasted and enjoying the company of the hot guy sitting next to her seemed like a good way to temporarily forget about her woes.

"You mean with foreign objects being shoved into my mouth?" She teased before smiling wryly at the Jedi. "But seriously," Chastity took a large gulp from her drink, recoiling slightly from the burning sensation. "No, I can't say that I've gotten into a mess quite like that before. It was just a very unfortunate series of events, you know?"

Looking down for a bit, she moved her glass around in small circles on the bar counter, causing the contents to swirl around as she thought about what to say. She preferred to avoid going into the humiliating details that lead to her being ripped off, and basically any questioning from a Jedi altogether, so it was a good time to change the subject. "So, what about you? Don't take this the wrong way, but this doesn't seem like the typical hang out spot for somebody belonging to your...organization."

Chastity normally avoided Jedi like the plague, but having one save her definitely softened her feelings towards him as well as pique her curiosity. After all, he must have realized that if she was in that back room with those goons, it strongly implied that she was also operating well outside the confines of the law and yet he seemed to have no intention of busting her. Then again, he clearly kept unusual company if he was partying at Talisman in the first place, so it was quite intriguing indeed.

 

[Wit]

Kalen couldn't help but smile at Chastity's smile, fiery and witty, he was liking her more and more by the second. "Oh I know all about unfortunate events. Have a unique way of sneaking up on you, don't they?" Having drained his glass he got a refill, noticing her hesitation to discuss what those series of unfortunate events had been. But that was fine with him. After all they had only just met, he couldn't really expect her to be that open with him.

Listening to her question caused Kalen a moments confused before he realized what she was hinting at. Remembering his use of his lightsaber, he realized that she must be mistaking him for Jedi. It was after all the logical conclusion to come to. Laughing slightly he took another sip before replying, "I think you've mistaken me for something I'm not. I'm not a Jedi, haven't been one in a long time. The lightsaber was just a memento from a past life. These are actually a few old acquaintances of mine, friends made in a life before I tried and failed at being a Jedi."

This time Kalen was the one reluctant to speak more, he was alright with letting her know that he wasn't a Jedi, but why he left and his current affiliations was information he wasn't comfortable sharing with everyone. Realizing that he was about to change the subject in an almost similar manner to what Chastity had done, he could't help but smile slightly.

"How about you? Visit places like this often?"

 

[Hideous]

"Oh?" Chastity's interest perked up suddenly when she heard that Kalen was in fact not a Jedi. Not a boy scout after all, then, she mused after he'd explained his situation briefly. White knights had never been her type anyways, even if she would have made an exception if one happened to save her life. Regardless, it was a pleasant surprise to find out that she and Kalen had much more in common than she'd initially expected. It also explained what he was doing at the club in the first place, which made a lot more sense following that revelation. The party that they were at actually seemed to be crawling with plenty of pretty big players, causing Chastity to assume that Kalen was relatively well connected already.

Basically, that just made him all the more appealing to her, as if he wasn't remarkably attractive and charming enough already. Whether it was for business or for pleasure, Chastity already felt like she wanted to pursue some sort of relationship with Kalen. For the moment, she was perfectly content with knocking back a few more drinks while they got to know one another better. Before getting to Kalen's question, she matched him by emptying her own glass and ordering a refill from the bartender.

Chastity wasn't entirely sure if Kalen was fishing for information or simply trying to make small talk, but it didn't really matter either way. She spent enough time in places like Talisman for half of the staff to be on a first name basis with her, so it would have been pretty difficult to keep that a secret even if she'd wanted to.

"Hun, I practically live in places like these," she almost purred the words. "I'm guessing you're no stranger to them either, judging from the company that you keep." Chastity glanced back over her shoulder, checking out a few of the people that were present before shifting her focus back on to Kalen. "So, what's your area of expertise? Other than rescuing damsels in distress, obviously," she said while making eye contact. It wasn't an icy glare, but rather a warm and focused gaze which said that she was genuinely interested in listening to Kalen's answer.

 

[Wit]

Kalen was not entirely surprised by Chastity's answer, he had been expecting something of the sort after seeing how some of the staff seemed to treat her. But then again, from the situation he had found her in, she had to have had some deep connections with the underworld or have been blessed with tremendous amounts bad luck. The answer satiated his curiosity a little, after all his question had been a mixture in parts of both curiosity and his attempts at keeping the conversations flowing. His natural curiosity was sparked by the way they had met and her beauty, charm and wit only made his interest in her grow further.

But despite all this he was still unsure what to tell her when it was his turn to provide the answers. A lot of people did not know that he was a member of the Shade Order, somehow a story had spread that he had been thrown out of the Jedi Order due to him being unable to forget the ways of his old life, a lie he had done nothing to refute. It seemed Chastity had also come to a similar conclusion about him, his familiarity with this crowd making her think that he was still something he wasn't.

"Slicer, mechanic, public relations, demolitions, whatever gets the job done." It was true in a sense, though his definition of a "job" was surely different from what she must be thinking. The kind of assignments he had been taking up recently had at one time another required him to take up one of roles. "Though my true love is fixing things, hyperdrives, rusty old speeders, droids, doesn't matter. As long as I have something to tinker with, I am satisfied."