I am human and I need to be loved (Welcome)

[Peyton Steele]

Peyton Steele had been hunting around. Not much showed up on Tatooine, so that meant a trip off world. She had to watch for [member="Noah Corek"]'s messages, because a job was a job, and she would grab that. Until then? Why not go to where someone could hear nearly anything but the world of Nar Shaddaa. She knew how the galaxy in this corner was being, but getting out of Abrion would be good. Maybe the Suns, or the Ravens, or hell, the frakking Republic knew what happened. Other mercenaries disappearing?

She wasn't sure the best way to do things, but from paying off a slicer, she was able to get herself into a bit of a black market technology bizarre. Meant she needed to dress to kill, as it were. A black dress, heels and her hair done. Something felt off here, maybe it was the lack of gun, but well, she did have a knife strapped high on her thigh. Should do the trick.

Having her hair in a braid felt right, and that was fine, she didn't want to run too far away from what she knew. Hopefully anyone in the Omega Protectorate who needed something to do would follow along. And beyond that? She needed to find anything she could about anyone kidnapping and... changing mercenaries. And why.

Or was she unique here?

That could be more scary as opposed to being part of a movement.

 

[Jynnan Tonnyx]

Kerrel was on Nar Shaddaa to escape. Escape the palace, and its rules, and all the machinations of his younger brother. The only real trappings of royalty he had now were the ship he'd come in, and the large wolf-like creature that trailed alongside him. His long cape and pilot's leathers could have belonged to anybody, particularly the swoop gangs that were so prevalent here.

He stepped out into the main square of the Promenade, grinning at the almost familiar opulence. Who needed a palace, when one could have a gigantic golden statue of a Hutt? He sat on the edge of the fountain under the statue, stroking his wolf, Winter, and smiling contentedly.

[member="Peyton Steele"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Thumbs hooked in her belt, Alec Rekali stared up at that golden Hutt station and thought thoughts of tractor beams. Tractor beams, and four-hundred-metre plasma-jets. She was fairly sure she could grab it. She knew for a fact she'd never get away.

Then again, who was she to claim objective knowledge? Nar Shaddaa was Nar Shaddaa, and the Jedi hegemony had grown weak. Who, really, would stop her if she tried? And maybe she could drop some kind of stink bomb to clear the promenade of collateral damage -- the sentient kind, at least.

The idea sat on her shoulder and whispered redly. Even if the statue was hollow, that was enough gold to fill her tanks for a good while. Maybe she could even buy herself a nice dress, like the one [member="Peyton Steele"] wore.

[member="Kerrel Di Marzullo"]

 

[Peyton Steele]

Nar Shaddaa was home to many different people. Peyton could respect that. And there would be a whole lot of people here that probably couldn't help her. Was just how things happened. And if she could find some work? So be it, she'd take it and run with it. Credits were credits. Watching the group and the people, she caroused through the gathered. Someone would look approachable, soon, right?

Person with a canine, then the other woman, something about her was making Peyton feel the need to go over. That was... new? She thought, her mind was a mess though, so really, the blonde had no idea. Was she able to pick out pings in people before? Would be good for her line of work.

Turning to the center, the focus point, the gorgeously grotesque statue of the Hutt, she nodded. “Somethin', right?” Turning her attention from [member="Alec Rekali"] to the station and then to [member="Kerrel Di Marzullo"]. “Under guard, ya reckon?” The canine herder did look rather bland here.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Peyton Steele"]

"I think it's sort of a collective deal. Anyone screws with the statue, they've got Hutt enforcers on their back from half a dozen families -- that, and all the folks that'd take a swing at'em in hopes of a reward. Might be a similar story in the air. On the other hand, if this promenade is really thoroughly in one Hutt's holdings right now, might be less of a mess for an air-"

Her mouth was moving. Bad idea. She stopped that.

 

[Peyton Steele]

She couldn't help but smirk as she listened to the other woman. Hutt Enforcers, now that would be fun. Of course, this was a personality bit that never changed for Peyton. She enjoyed a challenge. And that golden statute in this cocktail dress? That'd be something for the ages. Quickly forgetting what she was here for, that was not unexpected.

“So, how fast do you think there would be a lockdown if we were to move it?” A distraction would be simple for her to make, obviously.

And fun.

[member="Alec Rekali"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Peyton Steele"] got an appraising grin, leavened with more than a little surprise. "Hypothetically," said Alec guardedly, looking back at the statue, "I'm betting a minute or more if we tried it here, like this, on foot. Carve a hole in the roof, drop a tractor beam through, pull it out and gun for orbit. My boat's a little big to hide in the undercity, not that I've got those kinds of connections that I'd rely on with a Hutt mark staring me in the face. Orrrr, if I was going to do it -- all hypothetical -- I'd punch a plasma-jet through the roof and the statue, and use the mining setting on the tractors to just draw up a stream of gold. Hypothetically."

 

[Peyton Steele]

Lifting it here would be something of a trick, on foot, the way the pair were. In transit would be the way Peyton would do it. Saddle her ship up to a transport, do what she could against the crew, make the moving droids put it in her ship, and hopefully be gone before help arrived. What [member="Alec Rekali"] was suggesting was something else entirely. Especially melting it.

“And if we had two boats, one to blow the roof, get the attention and drag them on a chase, the other, yours, from what I'd gather, to come in, pull it up, a few jumps, meet at a world, fence the statute, worth more together than liquid gold, and hope we're not followed. Though, fencing that, Hutt's find us...” She bit her lip, suddenly not so interested in her drink.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Peyton Steele"]

"Fun thing about flying a miner-salvage scow. You show up at the usual place with a bay full of, say, metal, and maybe it's a little purer than it should be, nobody asks too many questions. If you show up at the right place, that is. Now, fly in the ointment, or maybe two. Whoever's playing bait better be able to trust whoever's flying the mining ship. It'd be easy for whoever's flying the mining ship to run off with a bay full of gold." She refocused on Peyton. "Then again, it'd have been easy for the mining ship's captain to keep her mouth shut entirely, wouldn't it. But then she'd never have found someone who had a second ship. You know, hypothetically."

 

[Peyton Steele]

A grin found its way to Peyton's lips. Now that was something else. A profit without any form of hit on them. Maybe a ship listed on a watch list, but if they could prevent the true IFF, and fake a transponder, or two, then two ships could get out without being identified. “And if you're on a mining scow, how much of that is crewed by droids? Or other people looking for profit?”

This is when Peyton wished she and the other were in normal clothes, could lift some form of identity off the other. “But that would be the trick, because, y'know, the second ship, being more of a mercenary vessel, could be very good at finding their mark... Hypothetically.” She smiled, before turning to the gold statue again.

She was good at a few things. Fencing goods and finding people were two.

[member="Alec Rekali"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Peyton Steele"]

"Hypothetically, all droids. What's gotta be a couple tons of gold, split into just two shares -- that's a good day's work right there. Yup." She scrutinized the statue again. "Those are some nice hypotheticals."

A thrill shivered her stomach, caught it with an edge of nausea, like picking someone up at a cantina while you were still new to the game. Risk, excitement, guilt, second thoughts, screw it.

"My telesponder reads Stangur Mother." Today, anyway. "I'd be in the air in ten, hypothetically."

She walked away.

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Peyton Steele"] [member="Alec Rekali"]

Peyton would get a message from Noah that was rather interesting.

"Hey Steele, I don't know if your Nar Shaada or not but, I ran into a little, well I'm not going to lie, I ran into a lot of trouble. You see, it started when I was buying some less than legal blaster mods that a friend of mine said he had and they worked pretty well. So I went to a vendor and he set up a meeting and lets just say this meeting went a little south and now I'm sitting in a cheap motel room and I might be bleeding out. So if you could help and even if you haven a friend you can bring them along as well. Below is the address."

Noah looked up, reading the message he had just sent Steele, his eyes surveyed the room, well more accurately the surveyed the three dead bodies riddled with multiple slugs from the pistol Noah held in his right hand, while his left held a particularly nasty wound one of them gave him from a 9mm hollow-point. He hoped Steele came soon, he was starting to lose feelings in his legs.

 

[Jynnan Tonnyx]

Kerrel looked between the two women, who were casually discussing melting down the giant statue and stealing it. That was awesome. He decided it was time to chime in. And then the brunette left. He looked over at the blonde.

"Well, good luck. I think I'll take my bit now."

He drew his lightsaber, and cut a nice, deep square into the underside of the statue. Ignoring the molten runoff, he grabbed the large piece of metal in both hands, and slid it out.

"But, I'm still going to watch. This'll be entertaining, if anything, and I love a good scrap. This has the chance to turn into the biggest fight I've ever seen."

[member="Noah Corek"] [member="Alec Rekali"] [member="Peyton Steele"]

 

[Peyton Steele]

All this hypothetical goodness. That was something for a bit of fun, wasn't it? Two shares, that much gold? That wasn't bad at all. No other pilots, no other operatives. It was a matter of getting into the air now, and getting the gold to space. She could do that. When [member="Alec Rekali"] told her that she'd be in the air in ten, the blonde nodded as she turned back to the gold. Figuring they both shouldn't leave at the same time, she was going to wait to get back to her own ship.

And that was when her own comlink went off. Right, [member="Noah Corek"] She was supposed to respond to these messages. Some sort of military position she had. And truth be told, the man did help her out in the pinch. Cheap motel, and bleeding out?

Frak.

She checked the address. Okay, okay, two ships, leaving together might not be the best bet. Make the distraction, lose the tail, and get over to Corek... Just how close was that hotel?

Good luck? Peyton quirked up an eyebrow as she shook her head. What was [member="Kerrel Di Marzullo"] up to? And she bit her lip as she pulled out a lightsaber. Right, she shouldn't know what those are. Play dumb for a few minutes Peyton, get airborne, get rich.

Her ship wasn't far away.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Kerrel Di Marzullo"] [member="Peyton Steele"]

This was a Republic-controlled world, so on top of the Hutt issue, the lightsabre-brandishing Marzullo heir would be dealing with Republic, maybe Jedi, as well as the expected Hutt enforcers. He'd also have to deal with the inevitable splatter burns. Gold melted messily; good way to die, manhandling it.

Alec glimpsed his actions on her way out the door. Spitting a curse, she jogged the rest of the way into the docking bay and up the loading ramp of the Role Model. The mining ship was cleared to leave 'whenever' -- Nar Shaddaa, even under Republic control, wasn't too hung up on paperwork. This spaceport would be locking down, and she wouldn't be the only ship taking off to avoid getting caught up in this kind of incident.

The ship rose into the air, and she kept eyes and scanners open for Peyton's ship.

 

[Jynnan Tonnyx]

Kerrel laughed at the expressions of the brunette, who suddenly quickened her pace, and the bitten lip of the blonde. He was just playing around, really. What did he need with more gold?

"Well, if it worries you two that much..."

He cut off a small square of gold from the inside-most part that he'd cut out, and shoved the rest of the block back into the fat statue. The melting gold didn't bother him, much. The leather was relatively easy to clean, if you knew how, and he was able to shake off most of it before it burned him. He grinned maniacally at the blonde, and pat his wolfhound on the head.

"I don't care much about causing trouble for myself. I have diplomatic immunity, here. But I don't get my big friend here get hurt, and he's a pugnacious thing when it comes to me getting in trouble."

He looked around, and caught the eye of one of his guards, watching from a terrace up above. The man waved at Kerrel, and a Cartel security post near the edge of another terrace fell down with a nasty crumbling noise, right onto the spot where he'd been cutting at the statue before. And scratching a rather worse gash down the side of the golden Hutt's belly

"No way to trace the damage, now. But let's get out of here, anyway."

[member="Alec Rekali"] [member="Peyton Steele"]

 

[Peyton Steele]

What was [member="Kerrel Di Marzullo"]'s angle? Peyton had no clue, but he was causing an issue. Taking note of [member="Alec Rekali"] fleeing, she was doing the same thing. Getting outside, she made her way to the space port, powering up her blue-and-yellow ship. The Cazador, the closest thing she had to home. Taking off, she put out a call to the Stangur Mother.

"This is the Hunter, I see you. Looks like we've got more action than we thought we were going to have. Any hypothetical meeting points?"

And of course her message came encrypted, properly.

No need to rile the authorities. There were going to be a lot of beings fleeing soon.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Peyton Steele"] [member="Kerrel Di Marzullo"]

The Role Model, currently running under a good false telesponder as the Stangur Mother, hovered not far from the promenade. Pointed in another direction, though. Her sensors took stock of her surroundings on a larger scale. For the moment, she couldn't find a pattern in the traffic, though it was speeding up. Soon enough it would resolve into 'to' (people to avoid) and 'from' (people with whom to blend in). Assuming Sith saber hijinks were still a thing people got worked up about.

"Syvris." Between Black Sun and ACA space -- one of the worlds that got lost in the shuffle during the territory deal. "Backup...The place your shoes are from." Nice pair of Corulagi heels, those had been. "You manage to shake the saber jockey?"

 

[Peyton Steele]

And there was a reason people in her line of work remembered everything about their outfit. A perfect way to send a message, for sure. Nodding at the reply, she eyed thr Mother .

"So far so good. I figure I might need to buy a new pair before I meet up with you. " As for the saber jockey? "I can't tell what his deal is. .." Rich kids

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Peyton Steele"]

"Yeah. Screw him. If we're lucky he'll still be near the statue when I liquefy it."

She gunned the thrusters, slewing the mining barge into a tight arc that terminated three hundred sixty meters over the promenade roof. Her mining sensors registered a very pure deposit of gold. Very. Pure.

One of her plasma-jets punched through the roof and straight into the statue. The tractor beams roared to life, drawing four streams of molten gold into her cargo bay. Game on.