Needle in a Huttstack

[Tmoxin Temi]

Location: Nar Shaddaa, outskirts of the Undercity​

If I can’t get enough of this voidhole, here I am again, thought Tmoxin landing The Sovereign Stingray in a well-protected hangar for those who would pay the extortionist prices to keep your vessel safe on Nar Shaddaa.

This time the Hapan Dark Jedi Master was not here to gamble at The Golden Nautolan. Or sip wine as she smoked cigarras at an outdoor café on the Promenade. She had only been to the Underworld once before on assignment with the Red Ravens, but that was eons ago. With no reason to go to those lower levels of the Smuggler’s Moon, it wasn’t something she relished doing tonight.

But she’d come to Shaddaa with her lead researcher, Dr. Chima, a female Kaminoan who had revealed that before she joined Morpho Pharmaceuticals, she’d been part of an interesting experiment.

So the two – CEO and Researcher – would be looking for a girl.

Or well, really a specimen, in the physical guise of a human.

Or really some kind of scientific genetically modified species that was mostly human, but a little bit feral.

The background given by the Kaminoan researcher was a little confusing to the Hapan, but this is why she wasn't a scientist herself. All she knew was that finding the nineteen-year-old again was something that would immensely please Dr. Chima who was in her sixties. In fact, the brilliant Kaminoan had threatened to retire if Tmoxin didn’t help at least throw a few resources into this search.

“If we find her, I can complete my research and be at peace. There’s nothing worse for a scientist than not being able to finish her experiment,” she’d said.

Such a fussy alien, thought Tmoxin! And so stubborn. How dare she threaten to retire if I don’t fill this whimsical little request? But her last favorite scientist, Dr. Oovan had been assassinated by the Sith directly under her watch and right before her calculating brown eyes.

In a way I owe it to Dr. Chima to instill a little trust in the Kaminoan community and do as she wishes, thought the red-head CEO.

So yes, they were searching for a girl with feline DNA in the bowels of Nar Shaddaa with a planet population of 95 billion.

Piece of cake.

[member="Shalimar"]

 

[Shalimar]

Nar Shaddaa, it had been the closest thing to Shalimar had known to home. It had been easy enough to hide among the other lurkers in the slums.

She wasn't a picture of health or beauty these days, having been homeless and on the run for far too long. Most days she went hungry. And that ache of hunger in her belly she'd actually gotten used to, and it easier to ignore now. Her figure was growing slimmer as she lost more and more weight and her body started to consume muscle tissue to keep it going. To say that Shalimar was in a bad state, was an extreme understatement.

Her cheeks gaunt, and feeling weak, the tall blonde stalked through the shadows looking for anyone at all that she might be able to lift a few coins from, or some small bit of food to steal. Her clothes were tattered and worn, but down here that hardly stood out. She was just another of the hundreds if not thousands that were in the same position. Though, hers was unique in one way at least, she was a test tube baby. An embryo that was raised in a cloning tube. She had no family. No one to seek her out, no one to miss her. Though the scientists that worked on her, experimented on her might. And it was those same researchers she tried her best to stay ahead of, anything to avoid going back.

Powerful scents wafted through the air, her altered sense of smell thanks to those experiments, picked up almost anything in the nearby area. In the distance she caught a whiff of food, fruit to be specific. An open market - at least that is what Shalimar assumed.

After a little bit of walking, tired and exhausted from lack of food she came into the small marketplace. It was not the usual kind of marketplace but the kind of place that the poor and or criminal frequented. Her attention was drawn mostly to any stall that offered food. Anything at all that she thought she might get away with stealing. Food was what she needed most, before her body finally gave out on her. At the rate she was going, Shalimar couldn't last much longer on her own, without food, shelter, and some remote sense of safety from the people that hunted her.

[member="Tmoxin Temi"]

 

[Tmoxin Temi]

Tmoxin and Dr. Chima took a lift down a few levels to the more seedier areas of the Undercity. The odor of rancid ale and urine assaulted the Hapan’s freckled nose as they walked along a row of bars and cantinas.

Wordlessly the female Kaminoan stopped at a vendor selling street meat.

“With all due respect, Doctor, you should have eaten before we made our way down-"

“Miss Temi,” answered Chima in a clipped, high pitched voice. “I’m not buying the meat for myself. It would not be a bad idea to keep some on hand if we were to run into the subject. She’s a carnivore and highly susceptible to the smell of grilled flesh."

Tmoxin sighed, feeling like this effort was going to be fruitless. But part of her was curious for them to find the experiment. There could be some reverse engineering they could do once they got her back to Morpho on Kamino. “Why didn’t you just put a tracking chip on the girl?” she huffed as the two walked along, closer to a marketplace, Dr. Chima with a huge paper bag of meat now leaking grease onto the sidewalk.

“Dr. Kahoshi, my research partner, didn’t want the chip to interfere with her biorhythms and skew the data results.

At least the marketplace had less unsavory smells, thought Tmoxin as they walked along, just looking for something – anything – that would lead them to the girl. The Hapan Dark Jedi was glad that she didn’t live down here with its lack of sunlight and constant smell of fish.

Not that Kamino was much better.

[member="Shalimar"]

 

[Shalimar]

Shalimar found herself slightly frustrated as she entered the marketplace. There were thus far too many eyes watching the merchandise to actually manage to grab something. So that unfortunately left her in a tight spot. Someone, somewhere needed to look away, to not be paying any mind for her to dream of snatching something here and keeping her hands, and life.

Growing weary, she gave up on the attempt to steal directly from any stall or shop along the way. That wasn't going to work, Shalimar knew too well. Pick-pocketing an unsuspecting stranger was looking to be the easier path to food and survival. Slowly she crept to a shadowy corner and crouched against the wall. Her keen eyes flicked from being to being looking for a good target while she rested, conserving some energy for the time being.

It was at that moment she smelled it. Her eyes closed, drawing in a deeper breath as she lifted her nose in the air to better catch the scent. Meat, grilled .. fresh ... Frustrated she leaned her head back against the wall. As much as she wanted it, needed that savory meal, it wouldn't come easily. It never did. Shalimar's focus had been drawn, away from stealing to seeking the source of the smell. Curiosity and need a dangerous mix, but one that couldn't be helped with the young feral woman. Throw in the instinct to hunt, and that just made it all the more irresistible.

Down here in the slums Shalimar hardly expected much of anyone beyond a bounty hunter here and there to come looking. Darker places certainly had their advantages, keeping most decent folks especially the researchers to come looking for her. Little did she know about or understand the desperation Dr. Chima had to complete the experiment.

With a tired sigh, she pushed herself from her crouched position following her nose down the crowded marketplace. In her state, half starved to death it wasn't the researcher she noticed at all. It was the bag of food. Somewhere between her haste and hunger, Shalimar didn't notice at all just who held the bag. Her only goal had been food, letting her guard down just this once and paid no mind at all to the faces. It was an error. An error she was bound to learn of shortly as she crept closer.

[member="Tmoxin Temi"]