The Union: The business behind getting contraband

[Jaqen H'ghar]

Hax walked into pne of his favorite cantinas for a meet and greet, it was located in a dock block, that is to say a block of buildings used as spacedocks for private ships, providing quick access to his getaway, being away from his baby made him nervous anyway. This of course, was all well and good and he was in the mid sec section of coruscants underbelly, which was also good.

There was a business, you see to smuggling. A Union if you will. Some people were part of it knowingly, providing, moving and purchasing goods that were otherwise outlawed, much like Hax himself, and the person he was here to meet, a cat girl, apparently. Then there were those like the bartender here, the owner of the fine estate who simply took a nice tip, usually in the ammount of credits Hax was even now laying down for him to look the other way. The bartender knew the basic idea of what went down in his establishment, giving a knowing wink as Hax ordered his favorite tatooine style spiced rum. But he didn't know the exacts. He didn't ask questions and that was how he liked it. Plausible deniability.

Then of course there were those who knew nothing at all, simply taking credits that went into bank accounts, to purchase food, new boots, that then went into boosting the economy of a given area substantially, sometimes in cases like Nar Shadaa even on a planetary scale. These people know nothing at all of the high percentage of money they get in their pay checks for doing honest work is funded by dishonest means and bloats the economy.

That was the beauty of the Union, as Hax affectionately called it as did several other smugglers. These thoughts crossed his mind as he took his rum and found a seat in the darker corner of the room and waited for his contact to arrive.

 

[Empress]

Glass shattered in one of the back rooms accompanied by a deep bellowing roar , and the unmistakeable sound of bodies hitting metal flooring, plasti steel supports wining in protest as another thud echoed from the back.

Several individuals, obviously the type not typically up to the most noble of deeds darted for the exit of the dimly lit establishment, clothing tattered with deep gouges in for horizontal lines down their backs, and faces. things became quet form the back room for a moment. Leaving a question as to what had occurred.
From the sounds and initial panic from the men, one could almost imagine a pack of starved dinko had escaped their confines and searched out an easy meal.

What came out of the back was much different. The Large, even for the species Female Horansi, of the Kasa breed moved slowly, she had dropped to all fours and was smelling the ground, mouth partly open as she huffed in aggravation, her ears pined back. The Horansi's white and black striped tail snapped in concentration as she plotted the path of her prey. chuckling once she realized they had made a break for it.

" HA!" she finally exclaimed, brushing her dyed black and violet mane from her blue eyes. " That will make those kirffing bastards think twice about double crossing anyone again."

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

Hax watched the whole debacle, then saw who came out of the back. Matching perfectly the description he was given. He put a palm to his forehead. "Well so much for a quiet meeting...not bad looking though." He said smirking to himself before waving her over.

"So you're the contact then, given your the only one who matches the description and my man said you had a bit of a penchant for fights..." he said with a slight relaxed chuckle.

 

[Empress]

Asami offered the man speaking a toothy grin, flashing her large fangs in an almost playful manner " Fight? pfft, that was no fight, that was a reminder to a band of half brained monkeys to quit trying to double play 'Caireen' " The Horansi folded her arms over her chest and sized up the male before retreating to a corner booth, tail curling in a " come hither" manner indicating for the individual to follow.

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

"Riiight..." he said finishing his drink and heading over to her booth, unsure of why they moved seatings, enjoying the view of her backside till she sat down before switching to a more nonchalant forward look. "So I'm told you need things moved, but there wasn't really much in the way of specs. Alot of cash involved though apparently....now that makes me nervous when there's alot of cash and not much in the way of information, so you'll apologize if I'm hesitant to pick things up eagerly. Unlike those monkies, this particular primate likes to use his whole noggin'." he said rapping his knuckles on the side of his head underneath his hat.

 

[Empress]

The large feline smiled once more as her ears cocked at angles giving her a rather confused look for a moment. " well...lets say the cargo is more valuable to those who need it, than all the credits we could throw out" she stated. Before saying more the Tigress unzipped the top portion of her half body glove to mid chest and pulled out a small key card sized device. Placing it on the table , masked by her own arm. There was a faint chime, and the Huntress once more spoke.

" you are right though, there is alot of money in this, and I could not promise it will be exactly the safest run of your life, but also should not be as bad as what many in the profession are asked to haul" Asami tapped a claw against the table as her ears perked forward, forcing the man before her to seek out any answers himself, she was not going to spill it all right then and there. It was a test of sorts, too many questions, and he could be trouble. Too few and he could be reckless.

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

As she unzipped her clothes Hax became somewhat confused until she pulled out a card of some sort though his gaze lingered a bit. "I wouldn't mind storing my cargo in a place that comfy..." he said with a playful wink after the tapping claw brought his attention away from her more than ample breasts. "But as far as business goes, how dangerous are we talking, and where am I needing to transport it? You're talking in circles love." He paused, for a moment letting his mind shift gears. "Now things that generally are worth more to individuals without are things like medical supplies, clean water...which means getting involved with the war. Running a hutt blockaid given that the republic aren't to fond of treating civilians like dirt..."

 

[Empress]

The horansi laugh at this, and seemed to tighten her shoulders slightly, forcing her chest to shift ever more to visual height. It was more than apparent that the huntress was playing, her very posture and build gave more than enough evidence that the former pirate and merc was quite familiar in how to " test" a roguish charm
" It's not fond of it at all. I dont think anyone with half a heart would be...Unless they were utter slime." The horansi paused for a moment as she recounted the days at the old empress club when it was under Hutt management, and the eventual uprising she, and her cousin Jiang helped the Zeltron house mistress stage. " Granted in this case I think it's pretty apparent who the slime really is."

Her lips peeled back as she bit back a chuckle. " Look, Caireen made it very clear that the cargo is just that, food, medical, more primitive ' and less monitored ' communication systems and in a few cases something that makes bad people go away. "

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

After finally getting her to talk squarely about what the job was he seemed to straighten up a bit. "Alright, well my ship can get the job done. Generally for this kind of thing people want to tag along, make sure it's done right, given that often enough the other party may or may not be able to communicate with the provider they got the message. Usually they're boring soldier types, or some secret agent man with no name sillyness." He said with a chuckle.

"However for you sugar, I might just allow a ride on the fastest ship this side of the core." He said proudly. "Given that you are neither boring nor silly..."

 

[Empress]

Asami held her shoulders square as she eyes the primate for a moment and laughed deeply. " Typically women don't always like " fast" but given were on borrowed time already..." the large horansi ran her fingers through her hair, brushing a few stray strands from her eyes.

" I think that can be arranged, and to be honest, I could use a romp into trouble, These desk jobs have been driving me mad" Asami flexed her hands to illustrate this point, her claws lightly scratching the tables surface. " I can offer about 70 thousand right here and now as a " down payment" for your time, I would suggest using it on getting ready, I have a few toys I can bring myself later." Her ice blue eyes shifted for a moment looking at others about the establishment, slightly amused that the sound dampening shield had made their conversation die to the greater universe beyond the bubble.

" watch this" she stated, eying an older human woman whom stood by the main bar, and squeezed into a cocktail dress several sizes smaller than she should have. unable to resist the urge anymore. " HEY!!!!, You!, Schutta there at the bar. If your ass got any lower you wouldn't need a bar stool, why dont ya let me hold it up for ya!"

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

"I...what...how can she not kriffing hear you..." He said, then noticed that no one else had responded either. "Well...that's a nifty little trick..." He said thinking it over. "I want one..." he chuckled. "whatever it is..." He scratched at his scruff for a moment on his neck continuing to think over the deal. "70k up front, and more when I'm done?" He nodded. "Sounds great, though all you had to say was that I'd get to see you play with your toys." he winked with a smile.

"Which planet are we going to? I'll need to know in order to plan."

 

[Empress]

The large feline shrugged while she continued laughing, reaching her hand back into her top to pull out a small folded piece of hand written paper " Bloody magic for all I know" she teased " Caireen gave me it just today for meetings like this, lets see...' a sonic dampening field' limited to a 3 meter range, don't break this " she read, hardly able to hold back her continued laughter " well that was sweet of them... Wish I had something like this in my pirating days, My bunk mate on the Drunken Whore held tea parties in his sleep or something, kept you up." tapping the card sized device the horansi offered a mischievous smile, her ears pinning back slightly. " just one of the few toys I mentioned being able to bring along. " The feline had to pause a moment when asked the planet, or rater planets, he may be visiting. " Kril'Dor, and new cove to start, Mid rim worlds..."

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

"Multiple planets huh?" he said curiously, though his eyes once more seemed to be a bit more focused on her breasts. "Well, I'm always up for exploring bre-er new planets. Plus I'll have enough credits to start my own operation if you keep this up." He said with a chuckle.

"My ship is good to go, though I think I'm going to buy a bit of an upgrade to her stealth field generator given the obscene amount your paying me...we can come in behind one of the moons to avoid detection when exiting hyperspace and the rest is a cake walk from there. The real question is, what will we do with all that freetime?" he said with a slight smirk.

 

[Empress]

Asami could not help but pound her fist into the table and snort. She should have expected the comment, but found her self, for once caught off guard. " It depends, if your as stealthy as you say you are, Im sure alot will be done without my notice. " her brows narrowed as her ears tipped sidewise in a playful manner. " best to just see how things go, and what comes up, I guess" Her tail swayed lazily under the table, briefly touching the smugglers leg. she too could play this game.

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

"Never hurts to have a plan, but..." he said feigning a sigh. "If that's how it must be, then that is how it must be." he said waving his hand about. "Now..." He stood and offered her a hand up, not that she needed it. "Shall we get to loading my Ship then? She's in dry dock seven."

 

[Empress]

The Horansi noded once, and reached to the side of the table she had kept her own drink, making sure to leave the glass dry before taking her sonic device and slipping it back into the safety of her top . " I will need just a few to let the boss know I'll be headed out, I don't think they will miss me at my desk job...it was a pain in the kirffing ass anyway." Asami stretched before making any motions aimed at the exit. " I'll be sure to meet you there, and I'll make sure to have plenty of toys" her voice almost purred as she said this, looking at him from over her shoulder, as she moved with the natural graces of an apex predator, throwing an extra sway to her hip, and allowing her tail to dance rhythmically behind her.

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

"I'll certainly be looking..." he said trailing off watching her walk away. "Forward to it..." he finally finished. He turned and headed for a different exit, one that would lead him to the street nearest the dock yards. "Credits, beautiful women, new toys...hopefully toys that I get to watch that lovely little cat play with if I'm lucky..." he paused to light a cig, inhaling deeply. "It's a good life."

It took about twenty minutes to negotiate the price, and transport the cloaking device he'd wanted for so long to his ship, but once there they began outfitting it immediately with Hax watching every step of the operation making sure his baby didn't get scratched during surgery. It was probably the five thousandth time of him saying "Watch what you're doing, be careful!" before everything was ready to go.