Private Grand Toff Markin

[Shot Sutaz]

THE WHEEL

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On datapad, it was a simple job. But only from the lens of a datapad. Sutaz and the fixer both agreed on that, but she took the job immediately. Complicated or not, it had all the hallmarks of a job she was built for. Systems to slice, vents to skitter through, and throats to slit if it came to it. The hostage is where things became complicated. Sure, the hostage could just walk free if she killed everyone in the building, but she wagered they had reinforcements. On top of that, keeping up stealth for that long without a firefight breaking out was probably beyond even her.

This meant she needed a crew for the job. Two aside from her would do. Some muscle and a getaway driver. She already had one of those on hand. Her fixer would have to provide the other. From the dark and mysterious shadows of wherever the Nautolan resided as her base of operations, she sent out messages accordingly, along with a directed meeting place. The Wheel, in a week's time.

Sutaz was the first to arrive at the cantina. This was by design. She gave them a meeting time that was about an hour or so after she herself planned to show up. As one would expect from a discreet plan like this, she picked a booth that was tucked away in a dim corner of the cantina. She was idly leaned back in her seat, feet on the table while she idly held a glass of light alcohol in her hand.

She was dressed in simple attire. A black bodysuit that clung to her curves with a leather belt that had multiple pouches with gadgets stowed away. A holster extended down from the belt on her right hip, an extra band on her lower thigh to hold it in place. The pistol within the holster was an A-180. Not that she'd be using it that much if her stealth was successful. The final piece of her outfit was a simple grey short jacket.

Those pupilless black eyes scanned over the cantina, keeping an eye out for her contacts of the day. Upon spotting either of them, she'd raise a wagging finger to gesture them over to her.

Ti'sonta Eaton Waters

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[Ti'sonta]

SH1-FU Let out a mechanical hiss of white noise from his vox, the droid sighing contentedly as he stepped into the hotel room he and Ti'sonta had rented out on the Wheel. It was...cosy. A small, drab two bedroom apartment with a kitchenette tucked into one corner of the living space, and a vid screen mounted on the wall along with a small recaff table and a sofa pushed against the opposite wall. He had to admit: After their last jobs, a small vacation was definitely in order. The full service, oil bath, and maintenance he had just received was just what the engineer ordered, and he could feel the improved response times of his servos and microprocessors. Ti'sonta did what she could with the tools she had scrounged up, but there was no beating a proper workshop and professional team for his antique chassis.

Speaking of whom...
The venerable droid looked over to the closed door of the bathroom, where the muffled rhythmic thudding of industrial dance music was blaring. His partner had been in there ever since he left for his maintenance. This was rather common for the twi'lek, SH1-FU mused. Whenever she wasn't fiddling with the Dolly Dagger, she was either soaking in the bath tub, or in one of the various clubs around the station. Oddly enough, he mused to himself, she had never once slept in her bed.

He discarded that thought and returned to his original task. Looking down at the datapad he clutched in his hand, SH1-FU stepped up to the bathroom door and knocked. After a few seconds of no response, he knocked a little louder.
"Ti'sonta?" He called out, earning a small muffled yelp and the sound of rapid splashing from the other side of the door. A few moments later the door opened, revealing a sight that immediately caused the old droid's head to rotate a full 180 degrees.

"What is it, Shifu?" Ti'sonta yawned, using a towel to wipe off a thick mass of froral-scented bubbles from her long lekku.
"Good afternoon Ti'sonta." SH1-FU greeted, his head still facing behind him as he stood at the doorway. "You really must learn some sense of modesty, you know."
"Huh?" she asked before looking down at herself and shrugging. "Eh, nothing important." she commented absent mindedly as she sent a quick pulse of telekenisis to switch off the sound system, silencing the music. "How was your service?"
SH1-FU frowned inwardly and filed that particular data packet away for future parsing, along with the growing amount of evidence that spoke of how little he suspected she cared about her wellbeing. "It went exceedingly well, thank you for asking, but that is not what I interrupted your bath for." He held out the data pad for Ti'sonta to view as he spoke. "A mission came through to the private comms. One addressed specifically for you."
The red twi'lek groaned at this. "Ugh...we're on holiday, Shifu! Can't we forget about work for a while longer?"
"Just look at the mission, Ti'sonta." SH1-FU answered. With a tut of resignation Ti'sonta took the offered data pad and scrolled through the message. The smuggler quietly mumbled for a few moments as she speed-read the message before her eyes locked on to one specific word.
"...A hostage rescue?"
"Indeed."
"Gimme ten minutes."

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Ti'sonta entered the cantina and casually looked around with a practiced eye. The smuggler was dressed in her usual attire. A pair of black, form-fitting trousers with sturdy boots encased her lower half, where a holster was strapped against her thigh. Above this was a simple white cropped tank top, over which a black bomber jacket covered her torso. A black headband completed the look, resting around the roots of her long lekku that draped down her back.
Her eyes finally rested on a familiar face, causing a small smile to cross her face as she made her way to the beckoning slicer.
"Well well well, if it isn't miss Shutaz." Ti'sonta greeted as she slipped into the booth opposite the Nautolan. "It's been ages since I last saw you. How's the galaxy been for you?"

 

[Eaton Waters]

Even for someone as respectable as him, he sometimes needed to make a trip to the corners of the galaxy he preferred to not visit. Eaton was looking a bit too gaudy for his taste, but while his ship was secure, the most secure place for his sword was on his hip. Dressed like a Chandrillan noble, cape and all. Off of one shoulder at least, kept his sword mostly hidden, and the purposefully-new-looking blaster pistol on his other hip would keep the focus there.

Now, for the reason he was on the Wheel? If anyone asked, refuel, and he did pay for fuel this time, but for the real reason? He was here to pick up a job. Making his way to the destination, he looked around, glad that the Wheel was set up for all species.

Nautolans would be fine here, and when the Twi’lek approached the other, Eaton nodded to himself. Throwing back a shot of firewhiskey and making his way over. “Ladies.” He said, not derogatory, or at least not meant to be derogatory. He had a data puck in his hand, some of the schematics to his ship.

Ti'sonta Shot Sutaz

 

[Shot Sutaz]

As Ti'Sonta approaches. Sutaz takes her feet off of the table to lean forward, placing her elbows upon it instead. She takes a slow sip from her glass, a slight shrug given in response to the Lethan's question. "Same as usual. Enough jobs to get by, but not enough pay to thrive. I haven't heard a peep of anything regarding you, so it's safe to assume things have been quiet on your end? Or at least, nothing you've done has backfired." She went silent for a moment, pondering whether or not it was worth it. Finally, she broke down and commented on it. "It's Sutaz. Not Shutaz."

Given those big black, pupilless eyes, it was hard to tell when a nautolan was focusing on someone. They could be looking at someone out of the corner of their eye and not a soul would be able to tell. Sutaz had done exactly that when she spotted Eaton after he entered, and he had been on her radar ever since. When he finally made his way to the booth, she gestured for him to sit. "Was wondering when you'd finally make your way over. Surely you're not a shy sort. I hope not, given the work ahead."

She points at the puck, then taps the table. "Show us what you have. Your part of the equation is the most important one. If you don't have a ship that's up to snuff, we get snuffed. Plain and simple." How she had known that it was ship schematics on the puck was anyone's guess. There were many machinations within Sutaz. Literal ones. How much of the Nautolan was real and how much of her was wires was a secret she kept close at hand.

Ti'sonta Eaton Waters

 

[Ti'sonta]

Ti'sonta let out a small chuckle at the correction, the twinkle of mirth in her amber eyes shining at her jest. "Business has been the usual, Shot. Mainly ferrying people from one system to the other these days. Big galaxy and not enough people willing to cough up the credits for the proper jobs. You know how it is" She paused to quietly order a drink from a passing twi'lek barmaid before turning back to the other two at the booth, her eyes moving to the Blonde man standing at the table before them.
"Gentleman." She answered in kind. He was alright, she supposed. The mission briefing she got had told her enough about what kind of mission this was, so she was curious to know what he was going to bring to the table in terms of skills.

She raised a tattooed eyebrow at Shot's words as her eyes flickered to the data puck in the man's hand. A ship? Why would they want her if not for the Dolly Dagger? Her mind began to whir as she revised the previous plan she was forming in her mind. She'd need to get more information before she could properly plan ahead.