Xakrea downtown, Darkknell, Knel'char System, Grumani Sector, Trailing Sectors, Outer Rim
Directory:
-Kav's story begins...
-Kav's last chapter…
-Kav's next chapter
-Kaaza's last chapter...
-Kaaza's next chapter...
The Requiem dropped out of hyperspace, engines shuddering from the abuse sustained over Enarc, before sputtering on and sustaining constant thrust once more.
Might have blown a plasma injector after all, Kav thought to himself. One more thing to replace – but not here. The short jump had given him a few hours of rest after the chaos on the Federation stronghold, but now he needed to focus.
The three dying multicolored stars of the Knel’char system flickered in the distance, casting barely enough light to see the black rock which was Darkknell a few thousand kilometers below him. Only the twinkling of the cities and orbital stations gave away the shape of the planet. Forever in twilight, it had become a popular location for intergalactic nightlife, as well as other more sordid types of recreation. Also gambling. Pazaak. Kav did need to blow off some steam, after all.
Fighting off the whimsies of fatigue, Kav donned his ubese helmet and reached forward on his console to engage the shuttle’s short-range communications array. Carefully, he punched in the information he had been provided to contact his new client. After a moment, a somewhat obscured voice emerged from the console.
“This is a restricted channel, identify yourself.”
Kav took a deep breath, before responding as he’d been instructed in his own filtered voice;
“This is the Courier. I have your package. Please provide landing coordinates.”
There was an uncomfortably long pause, as nothing but static filled the air, before the voice returned.
“Two hours from now, planetside, capital city of Xakrea. The traffic controller will have reserved you a landing pad outside of Zodoh’s Gambit. Be at the entrance of the Green Room, it’s the private Hutt lounge at the top floor of the casino. Ask for Sol. Don’t make us wait.”
The comms went dead. Kav sucked in air, before letting out a long sigh. His opponent was holding all the cards. Kav would do everything he could to prepare, but in the end, he’d simply have to gamble.
The small shuttle wove between the neon jewels that dotted Xakrea’s skyline; large clubs and casinos and brothels and spice dens that stretched on for miles. No building was particularly tall – especially compared to the megatowers of Enarc – but the cityscape was dense and alive. The skies were thick with traffic and below he could see the streets were choked with tourists and partygoers. But what struck Kav the most was how clear the air was – through Darkknell’s thin atmosphere, he could perfectly see the black of the perpetual night sky, adorned with countless stars swimming in wispy red and blue nebulas. The city lights stood no chance against it.
Finally arriving at his destination, he brought the Requiem about and circled the sprawling casino as he waited for the traffic controller to direct him to his landing pad. Despite its elegance, the very structure of Zodoh’s Gambit reminded Kav of a hutt. The large crook-shaped building was assembled from flat tiers and roofs, each stepped up floor by floor until coming to a peak at the end of its twisting footprint.
“Pad 87-AA,” the soothing voice of the casino operator instructed. Kav blinked hard at the familiar number, but quickly put it out of his mind, focusing instead on the words of the controller, guiding him down to a busy corridor of coming and going starships, and eventually, a cramped set of landing pads a few floors below the top of the casino.
The Requiem set down gently on the narrow pad, slightly out of place between the smaller and sleeker executive shuttles and sporty air speeders that dominated the rooftop. Kav powered down the ship, and once all systems were cold, stood, and looked at R3-S7.
“Hey, listen to me. If things go south here, or if I’m not back in a few hours, you gotta take the ship back to the Farm. I know it’s a long way back to Vasch, but we should have just enough fuel, even if you avoid the Enarc system. I’ll find my own way back. Okay buddy?”
R3 whirred and beeped softly. Kav patted his head before descending out of the cockpit, and down to the forward equipment room where he gathered his gear, and grabbed the small black box.
Kav made his way through the floor of the casino, assailed on all sides by sounds and lights and aliens he had never seen before. Everywhere he looked there were people crowded around strange games and machines. He recognized the classics; hintaro, dejarik, sabacc. But there were countless others he did not recognize. He sighed. No sign of a pazaak table. At least he didn’t stand out.
It wasn’t long before he had entered the large lift at the center of the room, where he stood a moment, trying to decrypt the huttese symbols next to the buttons for each floor. The highest one was colored with a tint of green and denoted by gold text – good enough for Kav. He punched it, and the lift began to rise.
It was a short, uncomfortable trip to the top, until the doors opened on a small but luxurious waiting area. A few well-dressed patrons sat on the green-themed cushions that adorned the room, and spoke with each other in soft but confident tones. Across the way was a wide green door, where a particularly large Feeorin bouncer stood, arms crossed. Kav might have blended in outside, or down on the casino floor, but here, in his battered helmet and salvaged chest plate, wrapped in a mundane brown cloak burned through with more than one blaster bolt hole, he couldn’t stand out more. Yet, the clientele barely noticed him as he approached the door.
“Courier, got a delivery for Sol.” Kav said to the bouncer, who looked him up and down, eyes drawn to the black box.
“They’re expecting you. VIP booth back of the room.” The Feeorin retorted, before stepping aside and opening the door.
Kav stepped through the threshold and into the Green Room. Inside was small private bar, and an assortment of luxurious albeit overly ostentatious tables and booths, all in viridian green with gold and black trims. Wealthy friends of the hutts ate and drank, paying Kav little attention besides a few judgmental looks. He got the feeling mercenaries and guns for hire often met with high end clients here. Several booths and tables had no seats, but large plinths and slabs, clearly set aside for hutts should they decide to visit the lounge and mingle with their special guests.
Kav quickly spotted the VIP booth – a large inset table with plush seats wrapping around in the shape of a “U”, framed by a large window looking out on the Xakrea skyline. Two more armed guards – these ones weequay – stood just outside the booth, and Kav could make out two figures on the far end of the table. Spotting Kav as he approached, one of the figures snapped their fingers, and the guards responded immediately to the silent order, and went about the room ushering the guests out, until only the hutt representatives, their guards, and Kav remained.
He walked across the room and came to a stop at arm’s length from the booth. He could see now the two figures were a small, casually dressed human man, and a well-dressed purple twi’lek woman. He stood there for a moment, waiting for them to speak, but they remained quiet. The woman took one more sip of her drink, conveying her intent to wait. Already tiring of the games, Kav wasted no time, and stepped forward to speak,
"A man named Bode asked me to find your lost package here,” Kav began, patting the black box. “Seems like your last runner got in a spat of trouble, but I pulled it out of the fire. So let’s say I hand this over to you, get out of your way, and you both can get back to enjoying your evening?"
He hefted the dense little box onto the table, and slid it over to the two hutt middlemen, miming with his hands, your turn. The sound of the two bodyguards shifting behind him made it clear he was not yet welcome to leave. The man on the other side of the table turned his head toward the twi’lek, a hand held out to the box, offering it to her. She raised an eyebrow before reaching out and pulling the box over toward her.
“This?” she asked, lifting the box.
Her partner offered her a smile and a small shrug, “Orders from above.”
“Sol, I should have left on my normal schedule. I should have been on Takodana yesterday,” she hissed. “I’m going to miss first practice.”
The man named Sol reached out and gently put a hand on her arm, silencing her. He quickly glanced toward Kav, searching for any sign of recognition in the twi’lek’s words. Kav’s body gave nothing away, his face fully obscured. Giving up, Sol turned back to the twi’lek.
“Orders. From. Above,” he emphasized the final word, conveying the weight of this request, which seemed to calm the twi’lek’s frustration, at least towards her partner. Instead, she redirected her ire back toward Kav.
“We wouldn’t have had any issues if you had been on time,” she said, her eyes squinting and her posture forward, resting her elbows on the table and chin on her interlaced fingers.
Kav’s eyes flicked between them, an inquisitive yet unamused look forming on his obscured face.
"Well,” he began, annoyance hidden by the voice modulator, “maybe next time you can hire a more reliable runner, so such an important package doesn't require rescuing."
The words did little to calm the twi’lek down. Instead, a heavier frustration crept onto her face. Her jaw tightened and her teeth clenched shut.
Unimpressed by the antics, Kav responded, “Are we square?" He looked back and forth between them, hoping to solicit a more concrete response from one of them.
“You’re right,” Sol began, ignoring Kav’s question entirely. “We certainly could use more reliable runners…” he trailed off softly, musing aloud to himself, before snapping back to the moment, “but for now, how about your reward? A token of gratitude and a promise of... repeat business." He finished with a wry smile.
"If the business between us is settled, then I think that's reward enough," Kav said, ready to be out of the snake pit.
“No, I insist. We’re very reasonable people. You do a job for us,” he said, pulling a wide box of his own from under the table, “and then you get paid. It’s true for everyone under our employ.” The words sat heavy between them for several seconds before Sol began pushing the box toward Kav, making an uncomfortable scraping sound.
Suddenly, the twi’lek’s arm shot out. Kav instinctively moved for his gun, before stopping himself, shifting only an inch, but the two bodyguards grabbed at him almost immediately. Despite his instinct, no weapon was in the twi’lek’s hand. Instead, she had grabbed out at the reward box. Her eyes remained on Kav, unfazed by the small commotion.
“Tomorrow,” the twi’lek said plainly, pulling the box back toward Sol. “If I can wait, he can, too.”
Sol looked toward her sagely, either unsurprised at the interaction, or his true feelings well hidden. It appeared this was not uncommon behavior for his companion. Sol turned back toward Kav, exhaling an exaggerated sigh. Kav had assumed this Sol character was in charge, but perhaps he had misjudged the situation. The back and forth made the power dynamic hard to read.
“Tomorrow then, same time, meet me here. Why don't you enjoy this fine establishment for the night while you wait, play some games… have a go against the house?” Sol said with a wink, before nodding at the guards to let him go. Kav shook the men’s grip off as they released him, standing square and tall.
For a moment, he considered going for his gun again, despite the guards, despite the army of hutt men that must lurk below, to simply wipe the grins off these two fool’s faces, before reminding himself he had bigger fish to fry.
“I think I will,” Kav said instead.
The twi’lek woman picked up her glass and downed the remainder of her drink. With the original black box in her hand, she stood up, still staring Kav down, before straightening the skirt of her dress.
“I have a ship to catch. Pleasure as always, Sol,” she says gruffly, offering a wave as she started walking back toward the door.
Sol, now alone with the Courier, chuckled and returned to his drink. “Seems like it’ll just be us,” he says finally, waving his hand dismissively to mark the end of the conversation. “The guards will escort you down to the main floor. You’ll have a room within the hour.”
Directory:
-Kav's story begins...
-Kav's last chapter…
-Kav's next chapter
-Kaaza's last chapter...
-Kaaza's next chapter...
