Private A couple of thousand seconds

[Lord Baricon Zolfran]

Baricon Zulfran did not ask for a meeting like a man requesting a favor, he asked like a man already halfway inside the room, already reading the exits, already deciding where the knives would go if the conversation soured. His message to the woman who stood at the head of her faction was polished with charm and just enough swagger to feel effortless, the kind of smooth talk that carried a blade tucked neatly beneath the smile. He proposed they meet at a dim cantina on Nar Shaddaa, where neon would bleed across the windows and every whispered deal in the sector seemed to start with cheap drinks and expensive motives. Baricon framed himself as a liaison and strategist, a fixer with the instincts to connect power to purpose, the sort of man who understood when to lean in, when to listen, and when to let silence do the threatening. But beneath the velvet pitch was a sharper curiosity: he wanted to know about Sikarra, that desert Hapan world wrapped in heat, tradition, and political elegance, where a benevolent Queen ruled not by brute force but by the vote of three estates that held the architecture of government together. To Baricon, Sikarra sounded less like a distant world and more like a puzzle box with a crown on top, and he intended to open it, one careful smile at a time.

Tag: Irulan Al-Zahir
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[Irulan Al-Zahir]

Planet: Nar Shaddaa
Location: Unnamed Catina

Summons like these, Irulan would have normally ignored especially one that such bold words coming from someone who she had no knowledge about. Even more so that this meeting place would be on Nar Shaddaa of all planet. Irulan had no love for the Hutts and she did not want to remain long within their territory. Like the Pykes, the Hutts were also a rival in terms of the spice and drug trade. The Hutts have far more considerable resources and the knowledge of centuries of criminal expertise. Irulan knew not to tread on them lightly, even if she did not like the over bloated ugly slugs. This meeting though with this man, it will be quickly hopefully.

Irulan had arrived on Nar Shaddaa on a private transport, with her was a couple of servants and members of the royal guard. Precautions were taken naturally as this was crime ridden world and Irulan knew there could be many sentients who can try and ransom her. Or worst. As the transported landed, Irulan would then get onto a speeder and made way for the metting spot, her guards in tow along with her servants. Upon entering the cantina, Irulan scanned the room before then selecting a booth in the corner of the noisy, dirty cantina. A simple message was sent. She had arrived and now it is time for the man to come to her.

Lord Baricon Zolfran​

 

[Lord Baricon Zolfran]

The moment Irulan's presence touched the cantina, the air seemed to adjust around her, like a room realizing a queen had stepped into a gambler's den and deciding whether to bow or bite.

Baricon Zulfran had already noticed her before the message reached him.

He stood at the bar, half-turned, a glass in hand he hadn't touched. Not because he wasn't thirsty, but because men like him preferred their senses unclouded when royalty walked into a room guarded by wolves in uniform. His eyes flicked once toward the booth she'd claimed, then away again, casual as a man deciding whether to order another drink. Anyone watching would miss it.

That was the point.

He moved when it mattered, not when it was obvious.

By the time Irulan's message reached its destination, Baricon was already crossing the cantina floor, weaving through smugglers, spice runners, and debtors like he owned shares in their bad decisions. No guards flanked him. No entourage announced him. Just presence. The kind that didn't ask permission.

He stopped at the edge of her booth, letting a small beat of silence settle like dust before speaking.

"Your Highness," he said smoothly, voice dipped in velvet and edged with amusement. "I was starting to think Nar Shaddaa had finally scared off a woman with sense."

He slid into the seat across from her without waiting to be invited, posture relaxed, one arm draped along the back as if this were a friendly chat and not a meeting balanced on a knife's edge.

"Baricon Zulfran," he added, as if the name should already mean something. "I run a network. Information, influence, opportunity… depends on who's paying." A faint smirk tugged at his mouth. "Some call it criminal. I call it efficient."

His gaze flicked briefly to her guards, then back to her, unbothered, unpressed.

"I answer to myself," he continued. "No syndicate leash, no cartel collar. Which means when I make an offer, it's mine to keep… or break."

A pause. Calculated. Letting the weight of that settle.

Then, softer, more curious now:

"And you," he said, leaning forward just enough to signal interest without surrendering ground, "came all this way for a man you don't know, on a moon you don't trust."

A small, knowing smile.

"So let's skip the polite dance."

His fingers tapped once against the table.

"Tell me about Sikarra."

 

[Irulan Al-Zahir]

Planet: Nar Shaddaa
Location: Unnamed Catina

Irulan remained quiet for a moment, but she did raise an eyebrow at the man whom named himself as Baricon Zulfran. Already he seemed to be exuding confidence as he was the one in control. There was nothing said she would let him do his opening pitch to her. As he spoke, Irulan motioned one of her servants to hand her something. The servant would pull out an ornate rectangular box as she opened it up gently revealing a white and gold ornate pipe. Irulan would gently take it and took a long puff from it, before blowing out a circle of orange smoke into the air. She gently tapped the pipe to empty out some very small remnants of spice from the end, as she turned to Baricon after he had finished.

"Your plan was to invite a member of the Sikarran nobility out here to the Outer Rim. Give her a pitch about you are an independent man whom runs his own network of informants or information. But then you ask me to tell you about my homeworld?" Irulan seemingly gave perhaps an unamused chuckle "Baricon, I think you know about my planet, otherwise why would you have invited me here to this place? If you truly do not know what Sikarra is, then this meeting is going to be very short."

Lord Baricon Zolfran ​