Crime Circuit

[Mara Kellarov]

Nar Shaadaa - Circuit​

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]​

​

With her recent resurfacing, Mara had decided to return her old tradition of checking out the local clubs and bars. Back then it had been a welcome breather, a break from the all the murder and subterfuge. There was something to be said about just taking a night of dancing and drink to released all the pent up stress that always built up.

It had become a habit, one she had to quell when she had gone underground. But now that she was back, and likely on the Smuggler's Moon for a time, she figured it was a good enough time to see what new establishments had arisen in that time.

Circuit was one such place. Mara had heard the club supposedly didn't contain the usual bars, or rather had a specific feature that certainly drew in the crowds. And while she wasn't interested in the drug side of things, she was rather intrigued by what drinks they could concoct.

She was stopped at the door by security, the blaster that hung at her belt was a clear indication she was armed. There was at least some measure of hesistance when she handed it over, alongside a couple of knives too. She didn't particularly like being defenceless, but rules were rules and she wasn't going to pointlessly dispute it.

Once Mara was inside, she was blasted by the music that thundered across the nightclub, neon lights moving about to the rhythm. Mara smiled, she had missed this.

Now a question was laid out before her; immediately head to the dance floor or the Alchemy Bar?

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Mara Kellarov"]

Sitting on that Alchemy Bar was on Elizabeth Sabine Castille.

Ordinarily she would never lower herself to such things, she didn't like to show herself off and she most certainly didn't like to mingle with the locals, but tonight was a special night. Circuit had just had it's five hundred thousandth customer. The Landmark was not something that she'd expected for months and months. In fact she wasn't even certain it was true, but still it was an occasion that could be, and would be celebrated.

A broad grin hung on her features. "Now ladies and gentlemen!"

She called over the music, her voice booming out to an almost unnatural volume. People glanced at her, some flocking to where she stood and others simply remaining where they were. The dancefloor of course was still bustling, the music being far too loud for her to call out to the entire club. Still, those around the Alchemy bar heard her well enough, and those that weren't already intoxicated were apparently very keen on listening to what the owner of Circuit had to say.

"For the next fifteen minutes." She could practically feel the anticipation. "Drinks are on me!"

It wasn't really all that generous but by the sudden surge of the crowd one wouldn't be able to tell that.

 

[Mara Kellarov]

For a club that had only recently opened up, it had seemed to have grown popular rather quickly. It probably helped that it was located in the Promenade Sector, situated comfortable in the centre of one of Nar Shaddaa's most popular areas.

There was always traffic coming through the air, always someone wanting to quench one sin or another.

Mara's gaze fell over towards the dance floor, eyes watching as bodies moved to the music, against one another.

"Now ladies and gentlemen!"

She turned in the direction of the voice, impossible not to with how the woman was able to carry it over the loud music. Quite impressive really.

From where she stood Mara listened and raised an eyebrow at the sudden declaration of free drinks. Certainly something she wasn't going to pass up, however the look of the crowd that immediately gathered around the Alchemy Bar said otherwise.

It was probably going to take nearly fifteen minutes to get to the machines. Though with the drink potentially off the table, Mara fell on something equally as enticing. Curiosity.

With the crowd occupied with getting their drinks, Mara was able to slide into the spot next to Elizabeth.

"So, what's the occasion?"

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]​

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Mara Kellarov"]

She looked down at the woman, still sitting on top of the bar with a drink of her own cradled gently in her fingers.

The Alchemy bar that Circuit had put into place was most definitely one of the top attractions. The concept wasn't all that unique as far as clubs went, though here on Nar Shaddaa it was like the second coming of the Sith Emepror. Most of the places on the Smugglers Moon carried only a few types of alcohol, and if you were lucky they would actually be what you ordered instead of some cheap knock off. Elizabeth however had made sure that everything here was the real deal.

Part of the attraction. "Me."

She told the woman without even a hint of irony in her tone. Elizabeth wasn't one to shy away from the credit when it was there for the taking, especially when it really was hers to have. She had built Circuit from the ground up, sure with some help, but everything had been her design.

"My success." She took a sip of her drink. "And my continued longevity."

Elizabeth almost hummed the words.

 

[Mara Kellarov]

There was the slighest of grins on Mara's face, her expression saying all see needed. Oh, is that so?

Now the question was the identity of the woman. Perhap someone who had gotten a promotion, had some all around good news that they wanted to be generous and share with the club's attendants tonight.

Something told Mara that wasn't quite right, and instead she looked at Elizabeth a bit more closely. Keeping her intentions covert, and remained unassuming. She looked at how the woman held herself, how she had spoken moments before.

It clicked immediately after, but before Mara could speak she caught sight of an opening. With trained precision she threaded the crowd and managed to reach one of the now unattended machines. She quickly adapted in how to use it, and soon enough her a drink of her own.

Done in just under a minute and Mara was back where she had been before, only this time she actually took up the seat next to Elizabeth.

"Must be quite something to bring you down into the pit..." Mara paused, taking a sip of a drink and savouring the taste before her gaze shifted back to the blonde. "Miss Castille."

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]​

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Mara Kellarov"]

She smiled slightly.

If being recognized bothered her then Elizabeth didn't show it. Circuit wasn't a place that most would call dangerous, and her face was already well known within the Promenade itself. There was a certain quality to that, mostly in the networks that she ran in, but eventually her name would spread beyond even that. It was part of the game that she was playing, part of reaching for something new, bigger than just one nightclub. "Well I'm always up for a celebration."

Elizabeth answered finally, placing her drink down onto the counter.

"Besides." She glanced over towards the rabble still crowding the alchemy bar. "They like it, it makes them happy to know someone like me is just like them."

A shrug rolled over her shoulder. "Even if it isn't true."

No not at all. Elizabeth Castille was better than them, smarter than them, and it was more than obvious she considered that to be the absolute truth. The way the woman carried herself most would think that she was some kind of royalty.

 

[Mara Kellarov]

Mara had to refrain from letting the laugh slip from her lips, instead covering it with a smirk.

It amused her to see someone in the higher class mingling with the lower, at least that's what she gathered from Elizabeth. Though it wasn't out of spite or anger, but rather because in Mara's mind it seemed trivial.

Especially when compared to her own past, 'playing pretend' in many different roles over the years.

She took a larger sip of her drink after that, to drown out that particular train of thought.

"I'm Mara Kellarov." She greeted simply, turning to face Elizabeth directly.

The name was an unknown, unless you had been around during the time she had been inducted into the SIS. In that moment 'Mara Kellarov' had ceased to exist, erased from the records. In her place was an entirely different name, as an Agent. Now that was all over for her, why not make use of the name that held no bearing in the galaxy.

Not yet, at least.

"I have a proposition for you."

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]​

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Mara Kellarov"]

For a few moments Elizabeth seemed to ignore the woman.

She'd been approached by more than a few as of late. Cartels, people, assassins, slicers, and of course wanting men. All of them came to her door and all of them promised her the moon. The organizations were the worst however.

It seemed that most Neutral entities on Nar Shaddaa were quickly sought after. Everyone wanted a piece of everything, the Hutt's, the Black Sun, even the swoop gangs were getting in on it. More often than not these propositions ended up with one or two people coming to Circuit and talking to her, sometimes they offered money, sometimes they offered power, but they always fell through.

Elizabeth was probably a little too demanding.

The Underlord shifted on her seat a little bit, her hand slipping around the glass of her cup before she plucked it from the bar and took another sip. She supposed that this sort of thing was natural on Nar Shaddaa, more common than anything else. Besides, eventually someone had to bring her a decent offer. "Do you now?"

She said with amusement.

"What would that be?" Elizabeth took another slow sip, watching those around her.

 

[Mara Kellarov]

She showed no indication that she was particularly bothered being ignored, after all she wasn't about to annoy someone she was potentially going to do business with.

The name Elizabeth Castille wasn't exactly difficult to find or track, at least in terms of her time on the Smuggler's Moon.

One didn't just buy up a sizable portion of the Promenade, tear it down and build something in its place, without drawing attention to yourself. Whether it was the more naive crowd who only saw a new shiny club, or the various crime outfits that saw a neutral place to do business.

It was all profit to Miss Castille, and further exposure that no doubt brought more people to her doors offering deals. Mara was doing just the same thing, only she was an independent, one who no ties to any of the other syndicates.

What she saw; and most likely others had too, was someone who was making a move on Nar Shaddaa.

"To help expand your foothold on Nar Shaddaa." Mara took a sip of her drink, her eyes lingering around until they settled back on Elizabeth.

"I have information that can uproot and undermine certain individuals, key places that would be of benefit."

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]​

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Mara Kellarov"]

She perked an eyebrow, but didn't say much.

Elizabeth had heard a lot of tall tales from a lot of people over the last few days. There had been a slicer, Lok...something that had promised her the moon. She'd paid him a small fee in expectation of at least something, but so far she hadn't had word just yet. Of course he'd proven useful in other ways, but the young Underlord wasn't exactly inclined to believe people coming into her club and telling her they had some sort of information that could rock her world.

It just didn't work like that.

"Do you?" She mused out loud. "Why would you want to give it to me?"

Her eyes glanced down towards the chrono on her wrist. She had time enough to play this little game for a while at least, but if she was displeased in the end...well it wouldn't end well for whomever this person was. Elizabeth was quickly growing tired of the whispers in her ear.

Yes she wanted information, yes she wanted to grow her operation, but she had little time for games.

 

[Mara Kellarov]

"Because I work better as a piece, rather than the player."

It had been her life for the majority of her years. Working as an Agent, a pawn that got moved around the holo-chessboard. She excelled in that, and while she had every intention of finding her place as a player at some point - it wasn't right now.

"I have a datacard full of dossiers on several other players on Nar Shaddaa. They're prominently in the low-to-mid level, but are situated in key locations in other sectors."

No, Mara hadn't come to Elizabeth with something that would rock her world. Instead she came with information that she could actually make use of, rather than sitting on it where the information game was always changing. Especially on a planet like Nar Shaddaa.

"The reason why? Because I want to place my chips with a neutral party."

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]​

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Mara Kellarov"]

"I see." She considered for a moment.

Information was always valuable. There was a level of tiers of course to determine that value, but undoubtedly even a scrap of someones name was worth something to someone. Elizabeth had learned this quite early on in her career from her father. The man had kept a list of informants as long as Elizabeth's left leg, something he'd always said helped the family survive for all that time on Anaxes.

Even if it did no good in the end.

"Well that does sound tempting." If it was true anyway. "What would you want in return?"

No one did anything out of the kindness of their heart, no one intelligent anyway.

This was about business, it always was on Nar Shaddaa.

 

[Mara Kellarov]

Mara smiled slightly, bringing her glass to her lips.

"Work." It was a simple answer, and Elizabeth had made it apparent she preferred to not faff around. "Need someone followed, tracked, killed. Need information on someone specific..."

She let her words linger, there was no need to bore the woman with every single detail. The examples given were more than enough to get the idea across. While the reason she had been trained was now long in the past, Mara wasn't about to let that skillset go to waste.

"Keep things neutral, I help you out, you help me." Credits, favours, both left unsaid but obvious all the same.

Ultimately, Mara had no issue going to one side or another, hell she'd play both sides if it proved to be beneficial to her. But those situations tended to get messy real quick, and remaining in the more neutral zone was always preferable.

That's what she saw when she looked at Castille and Circuit.

Neutral, but with potential to find other doors to open.

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]​

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Mara Kellarov"]

She perked an eyebrow, the request was something Elizabeth could certainly comply with. Circuit employed dozens of agents and contractors, most of them digging up information and completing smaller tasks that would lead to profit down the road.

Still, Elizabeth worked hard to maintain the air of neutrality that she had cultivated over the last few months. She didn't want to step on anyone's toes and she was woe to upset the Cartels and Syndicates that operated here on the planet. The trouble with contractors was that they often had a history, usually with one syndicate or another. Her lips thinned for a moment as she looked over the woman, considering her position before slowly taking another sip of her drink.

"We may be able to work something out." She stated plainly, though there was obviously a 'but' coming.

Elizabeth needed to be careful, especially now.

"But." Her drink was placed down on the small table besides her. "I need to know what you're running from."

Her voice was even, cool. "Why you'd come to me instead of someone more powerful like The Hutt's. I understand the need for Neutrality, for wanting an air of safety, but you'd make more money with the Black Sun. So why?"

 

[Mara Kellarov]

She had known it was coming, Mara would've been surprised if Elizabeth was any less cautious with how she did business. Especially as someone who had placed herself in the middle of Nar Shaddaa.

Far too many things could go wrong with the various Gangs, Cartels and Syndicates that littered the Smuggler's Moon. Most she assumed, now found Circuit as a means to do business on neutral ground, the potential to be shot in the back or betrayed drastically lowered.

Though that was probably not a hundred percent guarantee. Guns and blades were confiscated at the door, but it didn't stop the fists from flying.

"It's not a matter of power, or credits - not entirely anyway." Sure she could've gone to one a specific group, but she had spent years stuck to one side of a conflict. "I'd much rather offer my services to someone that hasn't picked a side, that keeps themselves firmly in the middle. Yeah, going to the Hutts or Black Sun would probably be more beneficial, climbing the ranks easy with the right skills. But those are already firmly established, they're boring."

Mara took one last sip of her drink, finishing it.

"I'm not running from any of the groups here, if that's what you're concerned about." Which probably didn't alleviate it much. But for the moment, Mara was hesitant to reveal that particular piece of information. She was SIS one after all, and depending on the perspective that was worse than just being part of a gang. "What I was running from, I've already outran." Mara glanced over at Elizabeth, eyes still fixed on her waiting for a straight answer.

"I'm former SIS."

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]​

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Mara Kellarov"]

She perked an eyebrow.

"Really now?" Amusement flickered across her gaze, though why was hard to tell. She remained silent for a moment, almost as if in consideration. A blink pulled across her lids and then slowly she leaned back within the bar stool.

A heavy breath fell from her lungs.

"Very well." The reasons Mara had given all made sense to her. Neutrality had it's own place within the criminal Underworld, especially in these days. The Hutt Cartel, the Syndicates, even those fringe groups were all either coming together or fighting. Everyone was all over the place doing everything they could do get what they saw as theirs. Being a part of a more neutral and balanced state? Well that had advantages all it's own.

Like not getting shot. "Let's head up stairs."

She stated plainly.

"Away from the rabble." She didn't want to speak openly about anything important.

 

[Mara Kellarov]

Mara's expression remained neutral, watching as Elizabeth's shifted in response to the information.

It wasn't a reaction she was entirely expecting, which both relieved and worried her. But then again, it wasn't like she made a habit of telling people her former profession.

But in this instance it felt necessary, or perhaps not. Either way it got the message across that she was skilled as she said. Albeit the reason she was former was left in the air, a variant of different scenarios as to why.

She gave Elizabeth a nod, taking a moment to finish her drink before the agent slid out of her seat.

It seemed like she had at least got the interest of Circuit's owner now.

"Lead the way." Mara would follow behind Elizabeth as they made their way upstairs.

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]​

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Mara Kellarov"]

Elizabeth walked with an almost too confident swagger, holding her back straight and her chin high. The small crowd that was still gathered on the dance floor parted ways for her, forging a path directly through Circuit and towards the upper levels. She didn't glance back once, confident that Mara was following along as she ascended the steps and finally headed out of range of the loud thumping music.

The two women would pass through a shield, meticulously kept in place to cut the VIP section off from the music below.

The Underlord didn't stop as they reached the top steps, instead giving a listless wave to one of the security men who stood there. The guard nodded and stepped in front of them, quickly leading the way towards what appeared to be a large glass box just at the end of the balcony. He opened the door for them, giving them a small wave so both Elizabeth and Mara would step inside. As soon as they were in the man closed the door, taking his place in front of it so no one would disturb them.

"Now." Elizabeth said as she rounded the small table in the center of the room.

She took a seat opposite Mara, shifting slightly to make herself comfortable.

"Here we can talk in peace." She said with a smile. "I will be needing that datacard."

 

[Mara Kellarov]

She walked to the side and just behind Elizabeth as the woman carved a path through the crowd. All eyes were on them, or specifically Elizabeth anyway.

They had taken a route that took them straight across the establishment, a deliberate move it seemed on the other woman's part. A statement made as the people on the dance floor parted to allow them to move through.

It made Mara uncomfortable, although she didn't outwardly show it.

Her skin crawled at all the eyes that lingered on her. She was much more use to keeping hidden, staying in the shadows and being unseen by everyone.

But she pushed on and followed Elizabeth up towards the VIP section. Passing through the shield was a welcome change, as it completely cut the music out.

Mara took a seat at the table, getting comfortable for a moment before Elizabeth spoke up.

"Of course." She reached into one of her back pockets and pulled out the datacard in question. With a slight flick of her wrist, she sent it sliding across the table.

If Elizabeth were to examine the contents, she'd find it contained a list of six individuals. Each had their own dossier with a wide variant of information. Full names, family members, friends, connections. Their frequent habits, any potential rivals and enemies that could be taken advantage of. Hell, even their HoloNet habits.

To say the least, they were thoroughly detailed.

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]​

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Mara Kellarov"]

She spun the datacard in her palm.

It was something that would likely come in handy, but just how much would remain to be seen. The Underlord frowned for a moment, inspecting the device before she slowly slipped it into her coat. The data would be inspected by her own slicers later, though she suspected that the woman in front of her told no lies. She shifted her weight back in her chair, glancing towards her drink before she considered her next move.

"So." Elizabeth began.

The Underlord hadn't expected someone like Mara to step through her door today, but perhaps it was a blessing. She could always use more people, more agents, but...in the end she would have to see just how loyal this woman could be before she assigned her anything truly important. For now however there were a few things that could be done, some things that would allow her to grow her operation here and elsewhere within the galaxy. A small smile touched her lips.

"You need work." She mused for a moment. "How much do you know about the Sith Empire?"

A slight expression of amusement crawled over her features.