[IC] Nar Shaddaa City Shuffle

[GAThraawn]

Nar Shaddaa
Corusca Sector - District 26B - Level 1138

Mist rolled in over the duracrete alleyways, thick with sweat, engine grease and the permeating scent of dampness. It was a twilight night, the perpetual twilight of the Smuggler's Moon: streets too drenched in shadow to ever be free of the oppressive weight of the thousands of storeys that squatted above them, so saturated with gaudy neon glow to ever be dark. Overhead, the sky rumbled with the dull roar of starship engines cruising past, churning the hazy fog hundreds of levels up. Huddled figures, muted and faceless beneath robes and helmets, scurried through the streets to illicit liaisons, to the relative safety of their homes, or simply to collapse out of sight in darkened alleyways.

Nar Shaddaa
Corusca Sector - District 26B - Level 1362
Private Suite of Reelo Teemek

Hundreds of storeys straight up, faint strains of Jatz music wafted through the air. An industrial freighter lumbered past the broad, high-ceilinged windows of a palatial private suite. The sweeping curves and open arches of the architecture boasted of the greatest luxury on Nar Shaddaa: wasted space. Inside, a trio of Bith and Ortolian musicians played upbeat tunes on the Fizzz and Kloo Horn. A three-tiered repulsor-chandelier floated delicately in the centre of the room above the crowd of finely dressed beings that mingled and chatted on the dance floor. A pair of Rodian dances writhed on a stage in one corner, and nearby a Gran couple twirled and spun in time to the music.

Beside the table that was set up to provide hors d'oeuvre, flagging but repeatedly reinforced by the small army of caterers and serving droids, a small crowd had formed around the unmistakable bulk of Priscilla the Hutt as she expounded upon some popular topic of interest. A Bothan couple, a Twi'Lek well-fed enough to well on his way to Hutt stature, a group of Weequays and the Rodian crime boss Reelo himself all gathered around as she held their rapt attention. Elsewhere around the party, small groups exchanged murmured conversations and the clink of Corellian Brandy snifters. Between them, wait-staff and serving droids ducked and weaved unseen, slipping back and forth to the kitchens, wielding platters of food and full bottles of Whyren's Reserve brandy.

Nar Shaddaa
Corusca Sector - District 26B - Level 1362
Exterior

Two airspeeders zipped alongside the building tower with erratic, high-pitched engine whines. The mists swirled in their wake, sparkling with ionization and dust particles. Two hundred storeys above the nearest street level, the atmosphere was thinner and laced with ice, a wet chill that buffeted the building with every ship that sped past.

I don't mean to interrupt... Ly'ar's voice filtered through the comlink system, faint and slightly bored sounding. Since he had managed to remotely access the building's security systems, there had been no need for him to be on the scene, and he sat at the control panels on the ship, many levels away. But the security system just started cycling; if you're not in and out again in fifteen minutes, I'll lose my window to be able to help from here.

The skylane washed neon blue as a YT-1500 took off for the stars, filling the artificial canyons with the deep bass rumble of its sublight engines. Heat radiated off it as it shot past, and the thin tensile wire hanging from the side of the building whipped back and forth like a whipcord. Aeruna briefly halted her descent to brace her legs against the durasteel exterior as she dangled outside the upper-floor windows, two hundred levels above the ground and held in place only by the durability cable.

Honestly, what could possibly be taking you so long?

[Amberfire]

Aeruna dropped down to the darkened window, peering inside with her infrared eye. The furnishings looked lush enough to be Reelo's, and the schema on her datapad confirmed that this was the correct window. She clipped the 'pad back onto her utility belt, rolled her shoulders, and examined the window. The fun of rappelling was over. It was time to get to work. She pulled out the electronic lock breaker and hoped she remembered what she'd learned about this shiny new OutlawTech model.

SWEET. I rolled 1 Success and 2 Advantage.

"All right," Aeruna muttered as the window finally snapped upwards. "That went better than expected." She switched on the subcutaneous comlink. "Ok everyone — I'm in!"

"About time," said Ly'ar's voice. Aeruna switched the comlink off.

She slid gracefully into the room. According to the schema, this was Reelo's sitting room, where he took his fancy guests to impress them. Fluted glass tumblers and faceted decanters lined the sideboard; cushy settees surrounded a coffee table, made of a golden wood and inlaid with some sort of glass mosaic.

The door on the left went to Reelo's bedroom; it was shut. The door opposite the window led to the party, where Priscilla would be working her magic. The faint strains of music were barely audible. However, the door on the right led to Reelo's study, and it was open.

Aeruna flicked a lek; now wasn't that interesting? She'd been tailing Reelo for two weeks now, and everyone said he was tight-fisted with his money, downright belligerent about his work, and a little bit paranoid about his business partners. Well, that wasn't so odd in a crime boss, especially a rich one in Huttspace: but unlocked doors on Nar Shaddaa were either due to carelessness, larceny or a trap.

Still, her job wasn't to go into the study. It was right here, in the sitting room. She padded over to the sideboard. It was full of common and rare vintages and liquors, just as she'd been told.

Three slim bottles of Corellian Reserve went into her backpack, strapped in and padded so they would not smash against each other. Her textured burglar's gloves made handling the bottles easy, too.

But that wasn't the real prize: far back, behind the brandy bottles, were five tiny, dusty bottles of liquid credits: Idlewil liquor, incomparably rare, dating back to before the Clone Wars. Aeruna's eye couldn't make out the colour, but she could tell the elegant bottles would be iridescent under light.

Aeruna, being a professional, didn't hesitate: those bottles went straight into her pack, each wrapped in a cloth and placed in separate pockets.

She could go. She could turn around and leave. But that open study door taunted her.

"I've got the bottles", she informed everyone on the comm. "My part's set. But I'm just going to check one more thing out."

She left the com on this time.

At the entrance to the study, she did a quick check for any booby-traps or sensing devices.

I figured this would be an Easy Perception check? I rolled 1 Success and 1 Advantage.

Feeling secure, Aeruna stepped through. Underneath another big window, partially covered by blinds, was the Rodian's desk. It was covered with what looked like an explosion of paper. She closed her bio-eye, and focussed on the writing.

"Well, now, this is interesting..."

[GAThraawn]

Nar Shaddaa
Reelo's Suite

...so then he says; "That wasn't a Kowakian Monkey Lizard; that's my wife!" The Bothan released a thunderous guffaw that overwhelmed the polite laughter from the rest of the circle. His mate concealed her expression with her brandy glass as she cast her gaze around the room, letting it linger on a Whipid that dominated a far corner of the room. But, even better, that reminds me of my involvement with the Corporate Sector. Now, let me tell you...

Reelo inclined his head respectfully and excused himself towards the other clusters of his guests before the Bothan could get underway. The Weequay were conspicuously silent, while the Twi'Lek dispensed with feigned interest and allowed his focus to be entirely dedicated on the platters of food beside him.

Across the suite, 5M1LE impassively surveyed the party, a tray of drinks held in one hand as he deftly avoided the drunken stumbling of the Gamorrean couple who wavered back and forth between the dance floor and the serving droids.

I've got the bottles. My part's set. But I'm just going to check one more thing out.

The droid's predictive algorithms raced even as his internal communicator registered Aeruna's transmission, analysing the beings in the room and extrapolating likely movements. Already in the centre of the room, Reelo was not on course for any of the other clusters of guests that surrounded him. In fact, his immediate trajectory directed him straight at the doorway that led to the other half of his suite. Where Aeruna was currently pilfering his valuables.

Inside Reelo's office, the desk was covered in a disorganized stack of paper and flimsiplast: lists of names, schematics and floor plans, and columns of dates and places. Instantly curious, the Twi'Lek whipped out her data-scanner and began snapping holos of the disorganized documents.

Ten minutes and counting. Once the system finishes cycling, you'd better have another route out of there, because that window will be tripping all kinds of alarms. Not to rush your important sidetrack, whatever it may be.

Outside, the Bothan guffawed at another of his jokes.

You see? Because...a-heh...he had forgotten his encryption code! A-heh heh.

[DaniRainbow]

Priscilla laughed politely at the Bothan’s jokes, even the ones she’d heard a thousand times before, with the tired, predictable punchlines. Of all the guests in the crowd, she could tell that he was trying to impress her in particular, though for what reason she had not discerned. Between glasses of wine, she had dropped hints here and there that she was well-connected with relations to Hutts in high standing all over Nar-Shaddaa — particularly in the Entertainment Sector, but he had yet to inquire further. Perhaps his wife’s lack of enthusiasm had something to do with that. Or maybe she smelled competition.

Either way, the Bothan was only a peripheral concern tonight. Reelo was who she was meant to entertain, and he was clearly losing his patience for the company. With one dainty arm, she reached over the table for the bottle of Corellian Brandy, prepared to refill his glass and invigorate his interest — maybe when the Bothan let anyone get a word in, she’d tell Reelo of her adventures in the Holovid industry. She was practically a star, after all.

When she turned around, Reelo had vanished into the crowd. None of the other guests seemed to have noticed, either fascinated by the Bothan’s stories or reluctant to give up their spot near the buffet table. While she didn't stoop to hounding the man like an amateur, Priscilla hadn’t let Reelo out of her sight the entire night, and she wasn’t about to start now.

Being a Hutt had its advantages; when Priscilla moved through a crowd, people gave her a wide berth, dispersing from their little clusters, craning their necks just to get a good look. Reelo couldn’t avoid her sight for long. She spotted him across the room, making a bee-line for the suite. Not about to let Aeruna get caught red-handed, Priscilla attempted to catch up without drawing attention to herself. Meandering through the crowds, exchanging off-handed greetings with various partygoers, “Yes”, “Hello”, “Good evening”, “Lovely night, isn’t it?”, she pursued her target.

“Ah, darling!” she sang out when she got within earshot. Unable to ignore her, Reelo turned around just before entering the suite. Priscilla locked eyes with him and took that as her cue to approach.

“Reelo, darling, aren’t you forgetting your promise?” she chimed.

There was no promise, of course, but she was betting that Reelo wouldn’t remember.

He tilted his head to the side, puzzled. “And what would that be, Ms. Priscilla? It’s been a very long night.”

Priscilla put on her best imploring smile, her wide mouth curling to bring out the pink in her rouged cheeks. “Oh, I don’t mean to impose if you were planning to retire for the evening, but… I did so wish to catch a glimpse of your wondrous gardens you told me so much about earlier. I’ve always had a fondness for flowers and natural beauty can be so hard to find in a city like this.”

[GAThraawn]

Reelo paused, his hand moments from the control panel into the next room.

I don't believe I... He cocked his head to one side, apparently trying to recall extending such an invitation to the Hutt. He wavered in brief indecision, apparently not wanting to offend her. I'm afraid now is not the most opportune time for me; I have a guest here with whom I must have a short business discussion. Perhaps after its conclusion? He indicated the large Whipid with a nod, a mild tone of regret in his voice. The Whipd had spent much of the evening seeming out of place, looming quietly in one corner as the other guests socialized, but he was now lumbering slowly towards the pair, and the entrance to Reelo's study.

Priscilla rolled 0 Successes and 5 Advantage, so Reelo is not going to be swayed away from his meeting, but you have 5 Advantage to spend (which could include delaying him where he is).