Private Edge of the Abyss

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

He gave a nod of his head to that and motioned them closer. "Alright alright you ever seen a wookiee?" He asked it and there was a small look, that child like curiosity of seeing something cool you only heard about. "THere is a few of them and they have these little rat things in cloaks... cloaks in the snow and heat down by the shore but they good with mechanical stuff." He said it as Mistral gave a look as the man was nodding. "Yeah they just throw them up in the air and when they come down they something else and peoples credits are all gone. Worse still they do it to shop owners and move towards the casinos... those little things can go through the vents and sneak in, open the places up and then it is free pickings."

Mistral was looking at him and didn't judge it while they were going down towards it. The boardwalk and shore where the sounds of entertainment came and more tourists. "So they are going for as much credits as they can and I am guessing either pressing the shops or what trying to get the businesses closed to scoop the properties up?" He asked it and Kono gave a nod. "Not sure about that but I know they are working with some talking fish.. like full on fish look like something you catch but they came from some world brag they make healing juice and want to exploit our oceans to see if we have anything like that."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana listened without interrupting, her expression giving away very little beyond a slight narrowing of her eyes as Kono described rat-things in cloaks and Wookiees tossing them like tools. Outlandish as it sounded, she didn't dismiss any of it. The galaxy had never lacked for improbable thieves.

When the mention of "talking fish" entered the conversation, she finally spoke.

"If they're running coordinated hits on vents, registers, and casino access points, they're not improvising."
Her voice was calm, unbothered, the tone of someone assembling a picture rather than reacting to it.

She stepped around a cluster of tourists, falling into pace beside the men again.

"Wookiees don't work with crews like that unless someone higher up is paying—or threatening—them. And creatures small enough to move through ventilation with that kind of efficiency?" She lifted a brow slightly. "They're scouts. Recon. Designed to soften up the ground before someone bigger makes a move."

Her gaze shifted to the shoreline ahead, taking in the piers, the crowd density, and the easy escape routes.

"If they're hitting shops and edging toward the casinos, they're mapping your economic arteries. Testing response times. Seeing how fast locals react and how much security can be bribed or bypassed."

She looked back at Kono.

"The fish-creatures concern me more than the thieves."

Another step. Another layer of analysis.

"Anyone pitching miracle healing products is either running a con… or representing a culture with highly advanced biotech—and no respect for jurisdiction. If they want access to your oceans, they want resources, not commerce. Once they find something valuable, they won't stay subtle."

She paused, considering, the wind tugging lightly at her hair.

"Kono… are they buying their way in, or are the locals too intimidated to say no?"

A simple question, but the kind that could reveal which direction this entire situation was going.

And more importantly—

How quickly it needed to be stopped.

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

He looked at her while moving. "Some might be but others know we are there and no one messes with our grandmother." He said it and Mistral gave a nod as the shops gave way to some larger buildings but then the boardwalk was there. Tourists again watching, the sounds of even more around them while Mistral walked and watched. Then he looked over as Kono indicated to him. "That... is a jawa." He said it and watched a wookiee throw it in the air, catch it and then juggle it. The larger beings were entertaining from the looks of it and he pointed for Ana while he stood at the back. "One in the air, two on the ground." He said it and pointed as two were moving among the tourists weaving and avoiding touching them.

But he was looking at they took credits, valuables that they could reach and slipped back into the crowd when the other jawa's came down. Then he went back into the air as the people were distracted and the jawa's moved. Quick but also efficient as they didn't take when they couldn't grab it quickly. THey moved on ignoring some others entirely that didn't have anything valuable and were just there before leaving the crowd. Kono was leading the way and Mistral walked as he watched on the dge of it and kept going. A good performance he had to admit but he was looking for who was organizing it. "Over there." Kono pointed and Mistral gave a look as he checked it out and there was a walking fish holding a gun on some people down an alley.

"And that is a selkath, which makes healing juice kolto... not as effective or cheap as bacta and cost them a lot. If they are looking for something here it would be to try aand likely corner the maarket again. They lost a lot of credits and influence."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana walked alongside Mistral and Kono with her usual composed stride, her attention shifting across the boardwalk in measured sweeps. The heat, the noise, the mix of tourists and locals—all of it folded into her awareness without ever overwhelming it. It was simply a landscape, and like any other, it could be read.

When Kono pointed out the jawa sailing through the air, Ana's brows lifted by a fraction. Not surprise, not amusement—simply acknowledgment of data she hadn't expected. The wookiee juggling the tiny cloaked creature drew a crowd, and the performance was effective enough to mask the real operation happening a level below the spectacle. Her gaze shifted from the airborne jawa to the two weaving unobtrusively through the tourists, their small hands slipping into pockets, bags, and belts with clockwork precision. She didn't need Mistral's quiet count — she had already catalogued their pattern.

"They work in cycles of distraction and withdrawal," she observed quietly, her voice low enough to blend into the ambient noise but clear enough for both men to hear. "Fast hands. Conservative targets. They're not impulsive—they've done this long enough to know exactly what's worth taking and what isn't." She didn't sound impressed, but she wasn't dismissive either. Efficiency was efficiency, whether practiced by a thief or an engineer.

The jawa troupe finished another exchange—one tossed, two collecting, one vanishing into the crowd—and Ana noted how effortlessly they blended back into the chaos once their pockets were full. No lingering. No hesitation. Their movements were too smooth to be random street crime. "This isn't a grab-and-run crew. Someone trained them or organized them. They're coordinated enough to avoid overplaying the pattern."

When Kono pointed toward the alley, she shifted her stance slightly, adjusting her vantage point without appearing tense. The figure there—tall, aquatic, unmistakably Selkath—held a weapon with practiced boredom, as if the threat itself wasn't the point, only the message.

Ana studied the scene for several seconds before speaking. "If the Selkath are here, then this is bigger than petty theft." Her eyes narrowed, tracking the subtle exchanges between the Selkath and the frightened shopkeepers. "Kolto shortages, loss of trade power… if they're trying to regain footing, they'll leverage whatever market gives them the fastest control. Spira's independent, wealthy, and porous. Perfect conditions for establishing quiet ownership before anyone notices."

Her gaze slid back toward the performing wookiees and Jawas—now clearly the outer ring of a much larger operation.

"The thefts are pressure. A way to destabilize shops, force dependency, and soften the ground before the real move."

She shifted her weight, calm, balanced, already calculating possibilities.

"If they're working with offworld muscle and local infiltrators, they're not just testing Spira's defenses. They're building a foothold." Her eyes met Mistral's, steady and unflinching.

"So the question isn't whether they're here." She nodded once toward the Selkath, voice quiet and razor-clean. "It's how far along they are."

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

Mistral looked at Ana ans then at Kono who spoke. "Hard to say, if they just came here first it would be use but for all we know they could have operations trying to work across the planet. Family goes a long way but not everyone is a single family." He said it but Mistral gave a nod of his head as they were going and he moved in the alleyway quickly and quietly. His footfalls mostly letting him go quicker as Kono motioned for a few others who came as Mistral grabbed the selkaths weapon first. A strike to his arm and then a strike to his snout for a moment. The person being held there running away once it happened.

He pushed the selkath into the two mens embrace as they were dragging him off and he looked at the weapon but mostly just dismantled it. "If they are making a foothold the islands would serve best for it. We have an idea and now lets see where they have a connection to the Grand Lux. Figure out who over there connects to the wife if anyone and we can start putting some pieces together." Kono seemed to have a look about that. "You want to go down to the casino, I gots to get my fancy cloths." He said it with a nod of his head though as he was walking and Mistral looked at him going to talk with a few people. "Okay so he might not be the best but he makes up for it with information and there is no one better to have at your back... also his grandmother scares me."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana followed the quick takedown without flinching, barely shifting her stance as Mistral disarmed the Selkath with the kind of precision that suggested he'd done this more times than he admitted. Her eyes tracked the scene, not out of shock but calculation—patterns, behaviors, leverage points. When the hostage bolted past her, she stepped just slightly aside, letting the airflow tell her more than the panic in their face.

Kono's remark about family earned the faintest twitch at the corner of her mouth—not quite amusement, not quite agreement—just acknowledgment.

When Mistral dismantled the weapon, she stepped in closer, scanning the pieces with a practiced eye.

"If they're working the islands, then they're not improvising." Her tone carried that smooth, calm confidence she always had when the puzzle pieces began to align. "They're building infrastructure. Quietly. That means they have investors… and someone coordinating the movement across districts."

She glanced toward the ocean beyond the boardwalk—waves rolling in under a sky that didn't quite match the tension building under the surface of this place.

Then she looked back to Mistral, voice lower, steady.

"The Grand Lux is too convenient to ignore. Credit laundering, property transfers, private floors that don't report full occupancy… they'll have threads running through it, whether they admit it or not."

Kono's declaration about needing fancy clothes pulled a short breath from her—almost a laugh, but quieter, more restrained.

She stepped beside Mistral as Kono darted off, her shoulder brushing his for a beat before she looked up at him.

"People like him? They survive because everyone underestimates them." A slight tilt of her head. "That's exactly the kind of man you want in a casino full of liars."

A pause, and then, dry: "And yes… I believe you about his grandmother. She terrifies me, and I've only met her for thirty seconds." She nodded in the direction Kono vanished.

"We'll play this the clean way—walk in, look like we belong, and watch who twitches when we breathe near the truth." Another step forward. Purpose settled over her like a second skin. "Lead the way, Mistral. Let's see who thinks they're clever enough to hide from us in a place built on being seen."

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

He gave a nod to most of it... he would never argue that as he was walking and the distance had the boardwalk as it shifted. Larger buildings each getting taller and taller. The casino's and the resorts were something to behold while he walked with Kono eventually rejoining them as he was wearing a formal shirt and pants. It was the definition of not refined but Mistral nodded and patted his shoulder. They were wanting to be seen and talk to people.. he made a statement while he walked. "So if I am helping you go undercover does this mean we are expecting trouble? Maybe I should get one of those swords for defense.... and the holoshows say couples are less suspicious."

Mistral looked at him and shook his head. "We're going but not undercover, nothing fancy for right now we just do the usual. Stand around, look intimmidating, blending in with the muscle and crowd." he said it but Kono looked at him. "But what if I need a weapon." The man looked at him. "I'll ask your grandmother to lend you her slipper." He said it and both of them had a look but were laughing. "That is mean man, you know you can't joke like that... she has ears everywhere and worse... I've seen her throw that and kill one of those sith guys. One shot and his magic blade didn't stop it." He nodded as Mistral laughed a little to himself.

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana had been quiet while they walked, her attention split between the flow of foot traffic and the subtle shifts in posture around them. Casinos and resorts rose higher with every block, glass, and light competing for attention, the boardwalk thick with tourists who didn't notice the muscle moving among them until it was already past. She clocked the cameras, the security chokepoints, the places where crowds naturally slowed or compressed. This wasn't her territory—but it was readable.

When Kono rejoined them in his "formal" attempt at attire, her eyes flicked over him once. No judgment. Just assessment. He didn't look refined, but he looked like he belonged, and that mattered more.

She listened as he talked himself into the idea of swords, undercover work, and suspiciously wholesome holoshows.

At the slipper comment, Ana didn't laugh—not immediately. The corner of her mouth twitched instead, a restrained reaction that suggested she fully believed the story.

"If your grandmother can neutralize a Sith with footwear," she said calmly, gaze forward as if discussing weather patterns,
"I'm inclined to trust the local deterrence methods."

She glanced sideways at Kono then, just briefly, eyes steady.

"And no—we're not undercover."
"Undercover attracts attention when it's unnecessary. Right now we want to be visible enough that people relax, but uninteresting enough that no one recalibrates their behavior."

Her eyes swept the crowd again, lingering a fraction of a second on a pair of security contractors near a casino entrance, then moving on.

"Couples draw less suspicion," she added evenly, not looking at either of them,
"but groups with implied backing draw caution. That's what we want. Caution makes people talk carefully."

A pause, then—dry, precise.

"As for weapons,"
"if things escalate to the point where you need one, we've already misread the situation."

She adjusted her pace slightly to match theirs, blending seamlessly into the moving crowd.

"For now," she concluded,
"we observe. We listen. And we let everyone else assume they know exactly who we are."

Which, based on the laughter, the crowds, and the looming glow of the casinos—

They absolutely did not.

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

"She's right." Mistral said it as Kono looked a little disheartened but he spoke. "Don't worry, I'll get another job and bring you around. Something with swords and a chance to do everything you want to do." He said it and got a nod of fine while walking towards the casino and the Grand Lux came into view. Tall with a twisted exterior of the spire. It was large certainly and able to look over most but it wasn't as packed as some of the others on the street. The sounds of music were there as the people going in were decked out in their finest with several more milling around the twi'lek singer who was preforming. Her voice coming out while there were the crowd was moving towards more doors inside.

The doors of the casino slid open with a hush and guests were greeted by a vision that made the entire entrance feel like a prelude. The stage commanded the far end of the grand lounge, lights dipped low except for a warm circle of gold and ocean-blue that held the Twi'lek singer at its center. Her skin shimmered in layered blues, from deep-tide cerulean at the lekku tips to a soft, luminous turquoise across her shoulders, as if she carried a slice of her homeworld's waters within her. Her cocktail dress clung in liquid silver-beaded waves, slipping light along every curve. Her voice was the first thing newcomers felt a velvet contralto with enough smoke to curl around a listener's spine, touched with an effortless vibrato that rolled like a tide against polished stone.

She sang in a slow swing, each phrase drawn out with a teasing precision that suggested she knew exactly which syllables made the room lean forward. Her lekku moved with their own quiet eloquence: the left curling slightly whenever she leaned into a sultrier line, the right giving faint, rhythmic flicks when the band tightened its tempo, both of them lowering in a smooth drift when she delivered a vocal slide meant to melt credit accounts and resolve alike. Flanking her were two backup singers, a Zeltron glowing rose-gold under the lights and a Human with a satin-dark silhouette; their dresses mirrored each other in midnight shades, catching sparks of gold as they swayed. As the Twi'lek crooned her sultry refrain — "To me, you shine like suns… and stars obey your sway…"

The two dancers moved in tight, graceful geometry, stepping in soft pendulum arcs around her as though orbiting a star. The Zeltron slipped into a slow hip-sway when the Twi'lek deepened her tone on "You take my breath away…" while the Human traced a languid fingertip along her collarbone, turning the lyric into motion. On the whispered line, "I could whisper tana shal'ene… just to pull you near…" the pair spiraled inward, bodies brushing past the Twi'lek in a mirrored sweep that sent their skirts fluttering like dark wings in the stage light. A subtle drum-brush flourish cued a synchronized shoulder roll, matching the Twi'lek's sly lekku flick as she delivered the molten phrase, "Nothing burns as sweet as my desire…"

Their final glide aligned perfectly with her return to the refrain — "To me, you shine like suns…" — all three hitting a soft, precise hip-snap that made their crystalline accents shimmer like miniature supernovas. The stage lighting pulsed gently with the rhythm — blue ambience reflecting off the Twi'lek's skin, honeyed beams warming her face, thin gold highlights tracing her companions. Holo-haze drifted at their ankles, catching every movement like stirred stardust. The casino beyond the stage shimmered with sabacc tables, jeweled guests, and drink-drones weaving through the aisles, yet everyone's attention kept slipping back to her.

Even the sound of the machines blended into the swing as if the casino itself were accompanying her. Her manner was a quiet spell: a tilt of chin that challenged, a half-smile that promised, the faintest slow drag of fingertips along her microphone stand as though coaxing the next chorus into being. When she held a long note, her lekku lowered in a smooth, intimate curve, signaling emotion as clearly as any lyric. When she flirted with a particularly daring phrase, a sharp, playful flick rippled down both lekku and sent a soft murmur through the crowd. By the time newcomers fully stepped inside, they realized the room wasn't just listening to her it was orbiting her, drawn in by voice, movement, color, and presence until everything else felt like background to the galaxy she was making onstage.

Kono was looking at Mistral as they walked and he spoke. "I think I am in love." The man said it and got a few snickers but Mistral was moving and allowing himself to blend in and around the crowd who were cheering for the singers.

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana didn't break stride when the music washed over them—but she felt the shift it caused in the room immediately.

The casino's entrance might as well have been a curtain parting on a different world. Light, sound, movement, and the slow, velvet pull of a professional who knew how to command a crowd. Even before the stage fully came into view, Ana registered the pattern: guests slowing, conversations pausing mid-sentence, credits already loosening in pockets simply because the singer willed it.

Kono's whisper—"I think I am in love"—pulled the faintest curve to one corner of her mouth.

"Get in line."

Soft. Dry. Not teasing, but observational—as though she were commenting on weather patterns, not the sudden infatuation of half the room.

She didn't linger on the stage, even though the Twi'lek's voice was undeniable, even though the performance was crafted with surgical precision to lower guards and open wallets. Ana's eyes moved with purpose, tracking the casino the way most people never could while pretending to admire the show.

Her gaze flicked once to the Twi'lek, pinpointing the practiced elegance of a woman paid to distract. Once to the surrounding crowd, noting which patrons watched with genuine desire, which with calculation, which with the subtle stillness of hired muscle trying too hard not to stare. Once to the drink-drone route, confirming the predictable blind spots it created along the floor. And once to the high-rollers' balcony—two men talking too intently for entertainment, one woman scanning exits instead of performers.

Then she spoke, low enough for only Mistral and Kono to catch. "This place uses its performers as environmental control." Her eyes returned briefly to the Twi'lek's slow, liquid slide into a new phrase—suns and stars, desire sweet as fire—and the room's collective exhale hung like humidity.

"People are easier to read when they're relaxed. Easier to manipulate, too."

She stepped slightly closer to Mistral, aligning her angle with his so the three of them formed a natural cluster within the moving crowd—visible but unremarkable, part of the ambiance, exactly how she wanted it.

"Start with staff patterns," she murmured, eyes fixed ahead while her attention roamed the periphery. "Security positions. Look for inconsistencies. Anyone pacing unevenly, checking the wrong sightlines, avoiding a particular patron or section." A beat. "If the wife has a connection here, it won't be on the floor. It'll be in the blind spaces—the transitions between entertainment and operations."

Her gaze drifted once more to the singer as the crowd swayed, wrapped in her voice.

"Let the room follow her. We'll follow the people who don't." No awe. No fluster. No distraction.

Ana moved forward, slipping into the casino's rhythm—composed, sharp, and utterly unaffected—the one person in the room who didn't orbit the stage at all.

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

He gave a nod of his head acknowledging Ana's plan. It was a smart way to go about it and Kono pulled his eyes away from the singer and dancers soon enough. "This what it always like forr you, get to go to all the nice places?" He said it and Mistral was walking with him. "No sometimes there are women in bikini's." He said it and it was less in a crass way then a joke that got Kono to focus more on them then the singer like the rest of the crowd. "Oh." Mistral was moving with a grin though when he motioned and looked around. "Now come on, this is just like when you are getting a customer you see them you observe for a moment and then know what is needed."

He was moving with the crowdd but away from them as well. He knew plenty of the space and took in for the changes... there wasn't many. He could see one or two new guards but they were not extra so shift or turnover would be the likely thing as opposed to suspicion. THe mans attention going as there was more clapping and singing. The smells of new bottles being opened was potent as someone bought the more powerful stuff for the night. Mistrals form weaved through as Kono moved with a practiced grace for someone his size... he was lighter on his feet then many might have suspected. He was moving and pointed. "The balcony up there is where I met him, good view of the floor and stage."

He weaved through a little more but wasn't seeing anything too different yet. MOstly it all looked the same as he moved to the smaller alcove to look. "The floors layout is simple enough though, between the games there are sensors and pressure plates. It allows them to monitor foot traffic but also when the carts of credits come through they can have it weighed. THey use actual wheels instead of repulsors for security but you'll see it while the guards are going with some of them." He was pointing. "THey are escorting runnerrs thrrough the casino, but each guard is never looking at the man when he is getting the prrotection money... and then he is escorted out. No backroom deals all in front of a hundred witnesses."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana listened without interrupting as they moved, her attention split cleanly between Kono's commentary and the flow of the casino itself. She didn't gawk at the singer or the dancers, didn't let the spectacle pull her off-task the way it did so many others. Instead, her gaze tracked patterns: how people clustered, where movement slowed, where it sped up, which guards stayed fixed, and which drifted just enough to look casual.

When Kono asked why she always ended up in nice places, she didn't answer right away. Mistral's joke cut in first and did precisely what it was meant to do, pulling Kono's focus back from the stage and onto the job. Ana allowed herself the faintest hint of amusement, then let it go just as quickly.

As they reached the smaller alcove, she leaned lightly against the rail, posture relaxed but intent. The balcony he indicated really did offer an excellent vantage point. Too good, in fact. Her eyes followed the line of sight, measuring what could be seen from there, what couldn't, and who might choose to stand where they were half-hidden.

"Your instincts are solid," she said quietly. "This place isn't loud about its control, and that's deliberate."

Her attention shifted to the guards escorting the runners, watching the choreography of the exchange. No one stared too hard. No one pretended not to notice either. Everything happened in plain sight without ever feeling transparent.

"They've normalized the exchange," she continued, her tone even. "Protection money handled in public stops looking like extortion and starts looking like routine. People don't question what they see often enough. They accept it."

A cart rolled past on solid wheels instead of repulsors, and her eyes followed it for a beat longer.

"Weighted carts are a smart choice," she added. "Harder to spoof, harder to skim without setting off alerts. And moving credits during peak hours tells me they're confident—either no one here wants to interfere, or anyone who does already knows better."

She finally turned her head toward Kono, meeting his gaze directly.

"If you met him on that balcony, then he wanted to be visible without being reachable," Ana said. "That isn't how customers operate. That's someone measuring reactions, not making a deal."

Her focus slid back to the floor, her assessment already adjusting as the music swelled again.

"So we don't rush," she concluded softly. "We watch who's watching the runners. We pay attention to who stops pretending not to care. That's where your real connection will be."

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

Mistral gave her a nod of his head as he spoke. "There is a lot here to clock but more so it is old school. Somewhat more..." He seemed to be looking for a word to describe the owner. "Reasonable... no not that but he is practical about things. He won't risk millions or even billions for something petty. He has people for that." He said it while he was scanning the crowd with a look but he remained there as he gave a nod. The man moved through the casino like a shadow given form and structure, tall and broad-shouldered, his long black hair worn loose down his back, a deliberate contrast to the tailored dark suit stretched over a body built for violence rather than fashion.

The jacket could not hide the thickness of his chest or the quiet power in his arms, muscle pressing against fine fabric as if reminding anyone who looked too long what lived beneath the polish. His face was controlled and severe, eyes dark and steady, scanning without hurry, missing nothing, the expression of a man who had already decided how the room would end if necessary. A faint predatory calm clung to him, something more wicked than blasters and credits, the sense that he had learned restraint rather than been born with it. The man didn't make eye contact but Mistral knew he was keenly aware of everyone there.

He did not announce himself, did not posture or threaten; his presence alone carried the weight of consequence, a silent promise that debts would be collected, secrets erased, and bodies moved without spectacle, all in service to the casino's unseen owner. Mistral spoke. "If you want to know why people behave he is the main one, just don't mistake him for simple muscle." He said it while Kono was looking at the man when he approached and there was something in his look of... not disgust he seemed more apathetic. More he looked at Kono as he spoke. "YOu and your friends should come with me detective.": He said the word and it was both threatening and neutral enough as the implied violence for declining was there as Mistral gave a nod and was walkg with Kono following.

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana didn't react immediately when the man addressed them.

She didn't stiffen, didn't bristle, didn't reach for anything she wasn't carrying. Instead, she let the moment breathe—just long enough to acknowledge the weight of his presence and the intent behind the word detective. Her eyes had already been on him before Mistral finished speaking, not fixed, not challenging, but aware in the way only someone used to reading rooms could be.

He was not a guard. Not an enforcer in the simple sense. And certainly not a man who needed to repeat himself.

When she did move, it was subtle: a shift of posture, a slight realignment that brought her fully into the moment without announcing it. She glanced once at Mistral—an unspoken confirmation rather than a question—then inclined her head toward the man who had summoned them.

When she spoke, it was calm, measured, and deliberately unhurried. "Of course." No defiance. No submission. Just an acknowledgement.

As they began to follow, she let her gaze drift—not scanning wildly, not looking for exits, but mapping the space as they moved through it. The crowd, the tables, the sightlines. Who watched them go and who very deliberately did not. She catalogued it all without breaking stride.

After a beat, her voice came again, pitched low enough that it carried only to Mistral and Kono. "If this is the person who keeps the floor honest," she murmured, eyes forward, "then being invited instead of intercepted is already a good sign." There was no fear in her tone. No bravado either. Just assessment.

She fell into step easily, hands relaxed at her sides, expression composed but alert—every inch the professional Mistral knew her to be. Whatever lay ahead, Ana wasn't walking into it blind. She was walking in informed. And ready.

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

He walked with her and Kono was coming behind them as the movements through the people was different. Smooth and orderly as most people avoided him and two doors slid open as he walked through leading the three of them. Stopping at a door as he opened it and looked in. THen closed the door and waited for a moment as voice filtered out for a moment. "Tenal... you made me pop your eye for for that piece of..." THe door closed and the voices disappeared as the man spoke. "It will be just a moment." He said it and it wasn't much of an argument when he backed up and the doorr opened. A man stepping out as his gray hair was covered in a little sheen of sweat.

"Ah you have returned." He said it walking and there was someone there waiting for him as they held a tray of food. The man holding some of it as he offered it to them. "Try some of out berry muffins." He looked at everyone and Mistral took one as Kono seemed to do the same and even the man did none taking their eyes off of each other or the man who gave a nod of his head. Once they all had one he took one and tried it whjile he was looking at it. Mistral nodded to the flavor but the man stopped mid bite as he held his up and motioned for Mistral and Kono. "What the hell is this?" He said it and looked to the chef who had brought the food as the man had moved and was behind him now.

"I said what the hell is this." He said it and turned to look at the man and he wasn't boiling angry it was that stern tone that promised it. "Why does our guests muffin have nearly twice as many berries as mine?" He said it while looking at him and the man spoke. "It.. it is just how it was mixed by the prep cooks sir... we meant no offense." The man looked at him and spoke. "No offense... no offense, if this is what we are giving our guests there is plenty of offense. We are not going to say some are more worthy of more berries in their food then others." It was a small thing in mistrals mind it really was but it was also a sense for the control. "I... I'm sorry."

THe man looked at him as he came over and put one hand on the mans shoulder and spoke low but everyone could hear. "From now on, I want exactly twenty berries in each muffin and you are personally going to count them, not a droid, not a crew... you understood." THe man was looking at him and seemed worried. "But... but that could take all day." The man had a look. "Then I suggest you get started early otherwise we'll have this discussion with human resources to discuss the future of your employment here." The man seemed to pale and was led away as the man turned back straightening his suit. "Apologies to my guests."

He said it while leading the way though with a look as Mistral. "I just got done telling how old school you were." He said it and the man looked back at him with a look. "I am always, that man in the room. Tried to cheat on the table with a shifter. Turns out he was working with a known card cheat on several worlds. As for that." He said it indicating the muffins and chef. "THat is clear disrespect, to our guests. The people who put credits in our pockets, they spend it. Which goes to his pocket. You don't disrespect where the credits come from detective. Not if you want to keep making credits." He said it as the hallway opened to an office for all of them to sit down.

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana observed the exchange without comment, but not without attention.

She had clocked the door before it ever opened—the thickness of it, the soundproofing, the way the man paused just long enough for the voices inside to be unmistakably private. She noted the tone, the implication, the fact that no one nearby pretended not to hear. Power, here, did not bother hiding its edges. It simply expected compliance.

When the tray appeared, she accepted the muffin with a polite nod, turning it once between her fingers before taking a small bite. She did not react outwardly to the taste, though she registered it—sweet, rich, carefully made. Her eyes never left the man as he noticed the discrepancy.

The reprimand unfolded with clinical precision. No shouting. No spectacle. Just rules, enforcement, and consequences delivered in a tone that did not need to be raised to be understood. Ana didn't flinch when the chef paled. She didn't look away either.

When the man finished and offered his apology, she inclined her head in return—acknowledging it as it was meant to be received.

Only once they were moving again, the hallway opening into a more private space, did she speak. Her voice was calm, even, carrying no judgment—only assessment.

"Consistency is a language people understand," she said lightly, glancing once at the now-empty corridor before returning her gaze forward. "Especially in places where money and reputation intersect."

She paused, then added—not as praise, but recognition.

"You make it clear that respect isn't performative here. It's procedural."

As they reached the office and took their seats, Ana settled with the same composed ease she'd carried throughout the walk. She folded her hands loosely in her lap, posture relaxed but attentive, eyes steady on the man as the door closed behind them.

"That tends to discourage bigger problems before they start," she finished quietly.

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

THe man had a grin on his face. "See someone who gets it, the youngsters these days no respect, no honor. They want all of the credits and fast that is why we do what we can." Mistral looked at him and spoke. "We were wondering if your wife is in?" He said it and the man seemed to shift. "No not right now, after I last saw you she said she needed a vacation away from it all so am letting her have her space. Do you have any news for me in that regard?" He said it and Mistral looked at him. "Yes and no, I followed her and the good news, I am ninety eight percent sure she isn't cheating on you. It is more likely though she is involved with traffickers."

The man looked at him with a frown for a moment. "Trafficking... shame. There is too much risk in slaves." He said it and walked behind his desk for a moment. Mistral looked at him. "I didn't take you for having a line." The man motioned to the seats. "There has to be, moving stuff and cargo that is easy, offering protection is the bread and butter of an organization. Moving people we have the freedom of choice and we're going to use it to take away anothers?" He said it and looked. "No, once you start there it is just as easy for you to be in the same place. Same with the spice and the drugs, junkies cause problems, they make a scenes."

Kono gave him a nod. "That is why grandma likes you and your people... as much as she likes any offworlder you don't do the things that harm as maany people." The man gave a nod. "Ha that is good to hear, last time she said I shouldn't marry someone so young at my wedding. Guess she might have been right." The other man returned as there was a moment. "Jackie, come here. I need you to get all of Kira's information. Find everything out if she is involved with selling people then we need to cut whatever entanglements she might have done." He said it as Mistral didn't have to look at Jackie... he doubted he could call him that and live disappear again.

"THis is going to kill our daughter, she loves her mother. Good thing she is offworld." He said it while looking. "Though Alderaan can be just as dangerous. those fancy talking long haired painters convince girls to do all sorts of things." He said it and Kono was looking at him. "The little bird find a boyfriend?" He said it and the man looked at him. "SHe did but he seems to had had an accident recently." Mistrral looked at him as Kono spoke. "What sort of accident?" The man spoke pulling a bottle out. "Totally freak thing. He stabbed himself in the back six times and through himself out of the girl he was cheating on hers window. Jackie told me the tragic story when he took her a new security escort after the collapse of the Alliance."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana listened without interrupting, her attention steady as the conversation unfolded. She didn't react when the man spoke of honor or lines he would not cross; she had already seen the proof of it in the hallway, in the muffins, in the way control here was exercised quietly and absolutely. Instead, she let the details settle—the wife's absence, the phrasing around space, the practiced way grief and practicality were kept in separate compartments.

When the word trafficking landed, she noted the pause before his response. Not denial. Not outrage. Assessment. That told her more than tone ever could.

She shifted slightly in her chair, posture still composed, hands folding together with deliberate calm before she spoke. Her voice, when it came, was even and measured, cutting cleanly through the room without challenging it.

"What concerns me isn't just the activity itself," she said, eyes lifting to meet his without pressure, "but the way it's being compartmentalized."

She let a beat pass, allowing the weight of the room to absorb the words.

"People who move cargo leave trails that can be disguised. People who move other people attract attention—from rivals, from authorities, from opportunists who think they can leverage what you've built here."

Her gaze shifted briefly toward Mistral, then back to the man behind the desk.

"If your wife has been pulled into that orbit, it may not have started as trafficking. These things rarely do. It starts with logistics. Financing. Protection offered by someone who makes it sound…temporary."

She didn't soften the next part, nor did she sharpen it.

"Once that line is crossed, disentangling cleanly becomes difficult. Especially if outside groups see an opportunity to anchor themselves through her."

At the mention of the daughter, Ana's expression didn't change—but her tone shifted, just slightly, toward something more careful.

"Keeping her offworld was prudent," she said. "Distance limits leverage. But it also means whatever is happening here will reach her eventually—through rumor if not through truth."

She inclined her head a fraction, acknowledging the unpleasant reality rather than dramatizing it.

"If you want this handled without collateral damage—personal or operational—then speed matters more than discretion right now. Every day someone else has access to her decisions is a day they learn how to exploit your name."

Ana leaned back slightly, not withdrawing, simply resetting her balance.

"You asked earlier if we had news," she finished calmly. "The answer is yes. Enough to act. And not enough to wait."

She fell silent then, giving the room back to him—not as a concession, but as an invitation to decide how far he was willing to go to protect what he claimed to value.

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

Mistral was listening and Ana had good points in many cases. he was debating what they could do next, he knew they would have to return to the island and search with both more time and fresh eyes... but that was less a matter of being prepared then it was of timing. Once they were aware, once they knew where to look then they would send people which would mean there were less on the island. It was about careful movements and allowing them to make a mistake as well as being proactive. He could see Kono thinking about things and the man spoke. "That business with the boyfriend, I hope she is alright. No one should have someone they care about harmed."

He said it and there was a moments pause... mostly as both Mistral and the owner were seemingly wondering the same thing but neither was going to say anything. "Very true." He said it though and a drawer could be heard opening as he pulled out a small crystal bowl of yellow candies. "Here have a sweet." He said it more with a small smile and Kono seemed to light up as he took one. Mistral looked at the old man who seemed to nod but didn't make it a joke or something more. The old man leaned back. "If someone is trying to leverage my name for something they are not going to enjoy it. I didn't get where I am because I let things slip."

Mistral was looking at him. "What do you plan to do?" He asked it but the man spoke. "For the moment nothing, wait and prepare and see. It does little to jump as shadows and everyone. The credits I bring in with this casino and several others greases a lot of hands, lines many mores pockets. That is not something you want to get rid of unless you have a clear way to replace it." He said it and Mistral gave a nod of his head to that.. it wasn't what he had been hoping for but he wasn't sure what he wanted to hear in that case. his thoughts were mostly racing and trying to figure out their next move before the island and he was thinking about working to track down the wife.

Meanwhile Jackie was moving, he had the information and comlinks could be monitored even theirs. He moved as he had the datadisc secured in his jacket pocket for a moment. Stopping only on the floor when he saw something. The singer had finished for now she would come back in a few hours for another show but for now she was enjoying a drink and something of a snack in the bar. One of the guests talking to her as he seemed to be getting fresh... and that set him moving. He didn't doubt she could handle herself she was used to worse and seedier places... but someone acting up and not being addressed was the problem as he towered behind him.

The man seemed to sense it... dark intent as he stopped and the twi'lek Ghen'ni stilled. her lekku were practically the only things moving with nervous energies as Jackie's voice came out. "Is there a problem here?" He said it casually, most knew not to touch the staff... most knew there were dangerous consequences. The man turning around to look at him. "Yeah there is..." His voice seemed to catch when he was ready to try and fight before he stood looking at the man in the suit and Jackie's hand came out. Interrupting him as he drew his collar to himself. "The rules are clear, no hands on the staff or the singers." He said it while dragging him.

"Thank you Jack." The twi'lek spoke as he was dragging the man off towards the doors leading into the back. He deposited him into another room as he was standing there and two others in suits came. "See that he is taken care of. Trying to mess with the entertainment." He said it and the two men stilled for a moment before giving a nod of their heads. One going towards a clamp as he opened it and Jackie pushed him into the room. He would normally oversee but he had something to handle first. When he went out and stood there in the hallway he could see Ghenni there as she spoke. "My hero." Jackie spoke looking at her and didn't reject it just indifference.

She still didn't give him a chance to leave as she rushed him and wrapped her arms around giving a small kiss on the cheek. "Yeah I did it, now what you going to do?" SHe said it but had already let go and was walking back to the door ahead of him being able to say anything. A small wink when she exited and he was moving into the office. "Sorry, problem with a guest." He said it and the old man as he was looking just nodded. Jackies hand pulled the data disc from his suit pocket for a moment. "There was several pieces of jewelry missing from her room and more clothing. If she is running from something I'll put out an alert."

"Hold on that for the moment." The owner said it as Mistral took the disc and was looking at it. Mostly benign stuff until she got to some of the communications. "She has two accounts which would explain why I didn't find it the first time. THe other she is talking with someone offworld." He said it and was giving it to Ana to look at. "Someone from Nar Shadda who is offering to take her away from a life of crime and.... that is a lot of credits. I don't think I have seen that many zeros." He said it and looked. "Though she is still on the planet at least from the last communication she is just going towards the dark water islands."

"Kono looked up. "Dark water, bad juju there, people are not nearly as friendly but they grow these amazing peppers. Grandma says that most of the island clans don't go there it is... what is the opposite of neutral ground... where we don't go there cause it is supposed to only be for fighting."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana accepted the datapad without comment, her fingers steady as the screen lit beneath her touch. She didn't rush through the information. She never did. Instead, she let it breathe—timestamps, sender IDs, financial transfers—allowing the pattern to assemble itself rather than forcing it into shape.

Her expression shifted almost imperceptibly as the second account revealed itself. Not surprise. Confirmation.

She angled the datapad slightly so the light didn't carry beyond the immediate circle, eyes moving with quiet precision as she traced the communications thread back and forth between the wife and the offworld contact.

"Two accounts is deliberate," she said at last, voice calm, unhurried. "One for appearances. One for exit planning."

She scrolled, paused, then nodded once to herself.

"Nar Shaddaa fits," Ana continued. "They specialize in 'clean breaks' that are anything but. Anyone offering that many credits for redemption isn't buying a conscience—they're buying silence, access, or leverage."

Her gaze lifted briefly to the owner, not accusatory, simply direct.

"If she believes she's being rescued, then she's already compromised. That kind of money doesn't come without conditions, and it doesn't move unless someone expects a return."

At the mention of the Dark Water Islands, Ana's attention sharpened. She didn't dismiss Kono's words as superstition; she filed them where experience lived.

"Fighting ground explains the silence," she said thoughtfully. "No casual traffic. No neutral observers. If someone wanted to move people without witnesses—or test loyalties—it's exactly where they'd go."

She handed the datapad back, though her eyes stayed distant for a moment longer, following the implications.

"She hasn't left yet," Ana added. "That means she's waiting on something. A signal. An escort. Or proof that the deal won't collapse under her feet."

Her attention returned fully to the room, to Mistral, to the owner.

"Waiting is still the right move," she said, aligning with the earlier decision. "But it shouldn't be passive. Let her believe she's unseen. Let whoever is courting her think they're ahead of us."

A pause—measured, deliberate.

"Dark Water isn't neutral ground," Ana finished quietly. "It's where mistakes are made because people think rules don't apply. That's where we'll get our answers—when they move, not before."

She folded her hands again, posture composed, eyes clear.

"And when they do," she added, almost gently, "we'll already be there."

Mistral