Private A Diamond in the Rough

[Darth Morrow]

Nar Shaddaa
Surrounding Space

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"We are approaching Nar Shaddaa your Eminence, do you wish to make landing for the capital?" A young pilots voice cut through the bridge of the Evelon, a luxury Hutt transport, previously silent aside from the distant roar of engines and silent chatter of the systems surveyors. The scattering of slaves feet could be heard by the rattling of chains, all of them scattering at the wave of the hutts hand; only then was it followed by the gargled answer of Huttese.

"Make landing, we must resupply, and off put some of our fine cargo." There was a disgusting laugh following the words, a deep seeded chuckle that could only belong to the slug race.

"Prepare landing transport! Making ground fall!" The crew skittered to life as the pilot announced orders over the intercom. The engines roared in full force as the ship slowly began descent into atmosphere, meanwhile, in the cargo hold the slaves were less than pleased.

Every time the ship met surface more and more of them disappeared, traded of for meaningless wealth and more food to satisfy the gluttony of their master Lord Sarphorgg, Lord, what a stupid title Rhynne thought. The only thing the slug was lord of was fulfilling his own damn greed. He had no claims, no cities or planets, just his ship, and his contacts. The young girl stood by holding a plate of the Hutts strange fruits and cheeses, she didn't even want to know how long they had been in a deep freeze to keep them from spoiling; she wondered if the thing even had the ability to taste anymore, considering it gorged itself about a half million times a day.

As the ship came to a shuttering halt, the Twi'leks dancing for their lord were finally given rest, collapsing to the floor in a sit as their chains rattled, weighing them down after hours of stress. A palanquin was brought to escort the Hutt away, and a handful of slaves were brought with him bound and gagged, likely to be sold at market.

Luckily, Rhynne was yet to be among them; one of the lucky few left in the slaves quarters once their master departed, given their daily rations and a moments reprieve from their work. Other than the remaining handful of guards the ship was relatively empty, parked in the designated landing zones in the capital.

---

Kimora Min

 

[Kimora Min]

​

A nearby bar was being enjoyed by a small group of Nikto men drinking the time away. From the outside looking in, one may assume they were just celebrating something only known to them. This was not the case at the time. From the other side of the bar, a lone Nagai woman took a sip from her glass of water as she eyed this group. To her, this group were persons of interests to the Empire. They had a bit of information she needed. Well, in truth, it was only one of them. The others were acceptable losses.

The three Nikto finished off a couple of other drinks and made their way to the exit. Kim left a few credits on her table before sliding out of the booth and following the group out of the bar. She moved in secret, careful to not reveal herself as she tailed the Nikto. She turned a corner to see the Nikto speaking with a pair of guards standing on opposite sides of the loading ramp of a ship. Kim hid back behind the corner and peeked around, keeping an eye on the Nikto. After a brief moment, the Nikto were allowed onto the ship. Kim lost sight of them for a moment as she approached the ship and ensured no other eyes were there. As she walked up the guards approached her and, before they could say a word, Kimora quickly threw zenji needles into the throats. Before she stepped foot on the ship, she moved the bodies to somewhere hidden from view.

As Kimora stepped onto the ship, she pulled her blaster pistol from her thigh holster. She pointed it forward as she moved through the ship, searching for the Nikto men. In their conversation with the guards, Kimw as able to discern that they were there to see whatever special cargo was on the ship. Surely, it would be something of potential value to the Empire. If it wasn't, one of them still had the information she needed.

Rhynne Urdreth ​

 

[Rhynne Urdreth]

The insides of the ship were polished to a shine. Slaves lining the halls on hand and knee with rags and buckets cleaning whatever grime remained while the ship was docked. Others loaded on goods, mostly food, that their Lord purchased, and some, though rare, relaxed while the guard weren't in sight; though it changed the moment they saw Kimora, returning to post quickly with a terror of punishment spurring them along.

Guards who stood in her path were few and far between, mostly those take a breather with the absence of their master; they wouldn't stand much of a chance, the best guarding the Hutt personally off ship.

As she delved further into the belly of the transport she would find the hold, full of cages, tarps, blankets, all strewn around. Inside the cages were some slaves, the older being left chained in place inside on makeshift bedding to keep their bones from grinding against the bottom bars. Down a ways could be seen the Nikto, discussing with a noble looking man, and behind them a few slaves were gagged and bound to posts, one of which being a very strange looking... Sephi? Chiss? Though she had horns, and her hair was green? Another beside her was a Twi'lek, barely dressed though seemingly resigned to the fact; and third was a zabrak, no older than ten, pale skin and broken horns on the crown of its head.

Overheard could be the quiet discussion of a purchase. "Mutt is 15k creds, Twi'lek is 23k cred, and the Zabrak, 5k, though we can throw the boy in free if you buy the others, he's damaged goods."

The Nikto seemed to discuss among themselves for a moment, considering the proposition while the noble waited impatiently.

Kimora Min

 

[Kimora Min]

The belly of the ship was hardly protected. Whoever the owner was either gone or very complacent. Such a massive ship filled to the brim with slaves and yet only a skeleton crew of guards? Kim would not complain, though. Whatever made her mission easier she would accept. The slaves did not pay her any mind and any guard that would speak up would be greeted by a swift chop to their neck and the butt of her blaster tot heir temple, knocking them out almost instantly.

Ahead, Kim could see her targets as they were distracted by the products before them. She snuck up on them, taking the main Nikto hostage by wrapping her arm around his throat and placing her blaster to his head. The other two Nikto and the man were looked in shock and fear as Kimora revealed herself.

"You three. Leave or he dies. Your choice." Kim says softly.

Her hostage would flick his head to the side, signaling them to go. And they did. Without hesitation, the others would quickly leave the room. As they left, they noted Kim's handiwork as unconscious bodies of guards were strewn about on their way to the exit. After they left, Kim let her hostage go, but kept her blaster on him for safe measure. "What are you doing here? You were supposed to check in hours ago." Kimora questioned.

The Nikto looked fearful as he leaned up against a metal crate with his hands up. "Kimmy. So good to see ya. Sorry I missed check in. I got caught up in some things. Friends came into to town. You know how it is." he explained.

"All I know is that we had an agreement. You failed to uphold that agreement."

"Kimmy, please. I had one slip up. It won't happen again. Honest."

Kimora took a moment to look at the people chained up that the Nikto was eyeing before she interrupted. "You do know that slavery is forbidden in the Empire, yes?"

"We aren't in the Empire, my dear."

"You're right." Kim squeezed the trigger, unleashing a laser bolt through the Nikto's head causing him to drop to the floor. "Pathetic." She returned her blaster to it's holster and walked over to the chained slaves. She pulled a small metal cylinder from her back pocket and pointed it at the restraints. A laser would come out of the tip and begin cutting through the chains. "I'll get you all out of here. But we must be quick."

Rhynne Urdreth ​

 

[Rhynne Urdreth]

The hybrid girl watched the scene unfold, the discussion between the four in plot to buy her and the others for what she thought was rather cheap, but she didn't want to be sold at all. If it were her choice she wouldn't be a slave, but she started to become resigned to this life. Looking at Rhyn and the Zabrak it was clear the two were frequently beaten, disciplined and generally treated poorly; however on the contrary, the Twi'lek had not a scratch, clearly the valued merchandise among the bunch.

As the others were shoed away, Rhyn listened keenly, keeping her mouth shut as she frequently did, that was, until the Nikto was shot and she let out an audible gasp, pressing the small of her back into the post they had the girl chained to. Similarly, the others did the same, distancing themselves as much as they could even if it was a few inches.

"I'll get you all out of here. But we must be quick."

"No! I- we can't go- they always find people who run..." She Twi'lek spoke up in a mousey voice. It was clear she was likely skittish, quiet, her voice cracking with every word like she hadn't said a word in years.

"She's right..." Rhynne finally said, looking to their attempted savior while terrified and skeptical. "They send bounty hunters..." As her chains were cut the young hybrid took a moment to rub her wrists, the marking of how tight her binds showing on her skin. Right after she moved over to the small boy, almost using her body to guard and prevent Kimora from cutting him loose. "He'll get beaten if you cut his chains... I can live with it just, don't make them do it to him..." She pleaded more than asked, looking the woman in her eyes.

Kimora Min

 

[Kimora Min]

Kimora looked upon the slaves with some pity. They were conditioned into servitude so early. She couldn't bear to leave them behind, but time was getting short. The slave master could be coming back at any moment and Kim was without backup. So, she only had one option.

"Poor creatures. Fine. Here. For if you change your mind and want to escape from bondage." As she said this, she'd toss her laser tool to the feet of the antlered girl. "If you do, I'd suggest you make your way to Sith Empire space. No slavers there. You'll get a new life. Should you want it."

Kimora then made a run for the exit. She made sure to hack into the security system and scramble any video footage from the time she walked onto the ship to now.

Rhynne Urdreth ​