Glitter(stim) Makes Life Sparkly

[Nei Laa]

[member="Popo"] [member="Joran Del-Finn"] [member="Keanu Shan"]

Nei was pleased with herself. She'd managed to secure a relatively easy assignment, and she would still be paid a carp ton.

The orders were easy. Go to Kessel, pick up the load, and travel via hyperspace to Nar Shaddaa, where she would then get the load off of her hands. Easy peasy.

Provided no one else found out it was glitterstim.

As with all smuggling jobs, Nei had put on some loose-fitting clothes ((the right outfit)) over her armour, so that she could stay protected while at the same time not draw too much attention from officials. That was rule number one of smuggling: stay low and stay away from the eyes of the law. Nei was none too pleased to have to leave her helmet off, but hey; if this went well she wouldn't need it anyway.

Her console pinged, alerting her that she was about ready to drop out of hyperspace. Flicking on the transponders that marked her ship as the Lucky Star, the Nautolan awaited her arrival at Kessel.

 

[Popo]

Popo was in the middle of touring his Kessel facility when one of his aides brought him the quiet word. The individual he'd hired had arrived in system and was en route. Popo nodded and cut the tour short, much to his quiet relief. Sure, the facility was nice and state of the art, but there was only so much one could take of such things until one became bored. With this, he would have his mind occupied and be making a tidy bit of credits in the process.

He passed the order along to allow the incoming ship to dock at the facility and to set aside space in one of the hangars. It wasn't a side hangar, thereby drawing attention, but it wasn't dead center in the main bay either. It was close enough to seem regular, but far enough away to appear minor. With things as they were, caution was warranted to some degree. Black Sun space was more or less lawless, but it was better to keep temptation hidden away.

The Hutt made his way to the hangar in question. With luck, he'd arrive there at the same time as his contractor.

[member="Nei Laa"]

 

[Nei Laa]

[member="Popo"]

After coming back into realspace, Nei was given a hangar number and directed where to land. Of course, she fought customs on allowing autopilot to land -- that was rule number two of smuggling. Always land your own ship in a hangar so you know how to get out.

After landing, Nei checked that everything was proper before walking around her ship. As with all smugglers, Nei had many hidey-holes designed for her illicit cargo, and she was now going through and popping the tops on all of them. Well, not all (she couldn't give away all of her secrets) but there were still enough open for a good-sized haul.

Once that was done, she straightened her outfit and exited her ship in time to see a Hutt making his (or her?) way towards Nei. Leaning against the side of the ramp, the Nautolan waited for the Hutt to come to her.

 

[Popo]

Popo saw the ship as he entered the hangar and, as he approached, spotted the female Nautolan who he assumed was the pilot. The massive Hutt wore his usual beskar armor, the deactivated E-Web bolted to the armor poking out from over his shoulder. As he moved forward, he gestured to one of his aides who began heading towards a small section that held a few individuals in work clothes and a sizable number of pallets, each holding sealed containers.

As he drew up to the Nautolan, Popo sized her up. She was pretty, he'd give her that, and knew how to blend in for the most part. He could see the armor she wore under the clothes as she moved, but his eyes were, admittedly, trained to spot such things. For her role in this job, he figured she would do well enough.

"I am Popo," he said without preamble in Basic, his voice deep and resonant. Most Hutts preferred Huttese, but Popo preferred the trade language. It prevented miscommunications and helped start and conclude business that much faster. "I assume you're the contractor I hired."

[member="Nei Laa"]

 

[Nei Laa]

[member="Popo"]

Nei watched the aide head towards what she assumed was to be her load. At Popo's admirably blunt and to-the-point introduction, the Nautolan turned her head back, eyeing the Hutt. As far as they went, this one was admittedly less repulsive than others.

Tresses twitching, she replied, "Depends. Were you expecting someone named Nei? If not, I be on my way." Her tone lacked the usual snarkiness that it carried; it, too, was blunt. Rule number three: be slightly more respectful to your client; the higher the pay grade, the better the respect. And for Nei, this was one of her ways of being respectful.

She jerked her head in the direction of the crates. "How many be there? I'd hate to have to make multiple trips." Rule number four: Get as few trips as possible.

 

[Popo]

Popo blinked once, slowly.

"You wouldn't be here if you weren't," he commented flatly. He jabbed a thumb at the stacks of pallets as the work crews began moving and getting the pallets ready to load. "There's approximately just under eight tonnes of cargo. They're bound for Nar Shaddaa, but you already know that. From what the facility scans have told me, your ship can haul the entire load making this a single trip job."

One of the other aides stepped forward and held out a black box of metal and duraplast. It was the size of a suitcase and had a small amount of wiring attached to the device.

"This is a Tenloss Corporation transponder. The Tenloss facilities over Nar Shaddaa where you're taking the cargo will be looking for the codes this device emits. The facility will comm you as soon as you enter the system and the facility itself is beyond the customs area. You shouldn't have any trouble from customs officials and authorities. Just turn that transponder in to my representative at the facility and you'll be paid the half million promised. If customs finds the cargo or if you jettison the hold, you were never hired by us and a bounty will be placed. Nothing personal, just business. Any questions?"

[member="Nei Laa"]

 

[Nei Laa]

[member="Popo"]

Nei shifted slightly. She didn't like finding out that her ship had been scanned -- it felt like an invasion of privacy.

Nonetheless, she shoved her discomfort aside and took the transponder, listening as Popo gave a run down of the details. The Nautolan studied the box, looking back up at the Hutt when he asked for questions.

"There just be a couple," she said, tresses flicking gently. "First, once I leave here I be switching over to a false name for my ship -- The Ocean Gem. Let your people know. Don't want to be shot down." Nei turned her head slightly, watching the workers load up the cargo. "Second, what if there be problem on your end? Don't want to be hunted when I be innocent. Still be a bounty?"

The smuggler wasn't thinking of double-crossing Popo; far from it. She was just trying to cover as many bases as possible. Rule number five: be prepared.

After the Hutt answered her questions, Nei would then hook up the transponder and hopefully make it to Nar Shaddaa without a hitch.

 

[Popo]

"You can label your ship whatever name you'd like," Popo said as the workers started moving the pallets towards the ship. "The transponder gives off a numerical code that the facility will look for. As for anything going wrong on my end of things, my people know that I'm not one to be disappointed. They're under the same... scrutiny."

The Hutt watched as the pallets made their way up into the ship one by one. Each was loaded down with glitterstim, each was highly, highly illegal. With luck, there would be no problems and the packages would get to the proper locations with minimal interference.

"If something happens on our end, there will be no bounty, but you still were never hired by us and the transponder will be listed as stolen. Those at fault will be... dealt with. All you'll have to deal with are the authorities and their actions."

[member="Nei Laa"]

 

[Nei Laa]

[member="Popo"]

Nei nodded. It all sounded fair to her. "Sounds good," she said. "I be leaving now." Giving the Hutt a casual salute, she began to head towards her ship, watching the workers closely.

Once in the hold, she directed the workers to place the load in various hidden caches. As they did that, the Nautolan set to work hooking up the proper things. Once the transponder was in place, she then switched out her own code, replacing the original name with the false one.

That done, she then shut all of the openings to the caches, and strategically placed the junk-filled crates that she had brought along in order to waylay suspicion.

Walking into the cockpit, Nei made sure everyone was off, then prepped her ship for take off. "Best back off," she said thorough the com. "I'm taking off in three...two...one..."

With a rev of the engine, the newly christened Ocean Gem took off into the Kessel sky before making the leap into hyperspace. Now, all Nei could do was wait with her fingers crossed.