Private Night owls

[Ayumi Pallopides]

Senna Lonis

The sounds of the city were always a welcomed sensation. Denon was different depending on who you talked with. Upcity was compared to much of the world... vastly different as they had focused on infrastructure, industry and economy. Crime might be there but it was in balance among itself.. with the gangs dedicated to the accumulation of credits and order... it helped that the entertainment district had its own enforcers of course. Ayumi's tower was central but the real enjoyment was the artificial ocean of the Upcity. Where the district had been able to thrive thanks to the older senator that Ayumi had worked with. Denon stood and avoided the rest of the other more well known districts. The former senator was lounging on the celeste as above the skies were clear.. the artificial sun warm and bright from the dome shield that helped separate it from the rest of the world.

"Lady Ayumi there is a message for you." She said it and looked at the twi'lek Cato who delivered it. Her assistant presented the datapad with a smile for a moment as Ayumi brought the shades over her eyes up and took the datapad as she was looking over the message. Her eyes flicking across it for the moment before she groaned internally... externally she wasn't going to give the joy of seeing her dislike it... she had to go and help if she could. "You did tell them I am retired?" She said it and the twi'lek shrugged her lekku for a moment. "I reminded them.. they said you were still one of the better negotiators that they had met." SHe winced at that and was slowly rolling over to get up as she stood there and spoke. "Fine fine, but send a message to what few friends we still have out there."

The former senator stretched out as she was walking and the platform was already ascending. One of the droids coming with a more formal attire that she would be able to wear as she went up the ramp of her ship and Cato she could feel was waving smugly... more then turning back to look at her. The ship thankfully was nice and the droids had set the course already while she stepped to get herself clean where needed and dressed. The bodysuit simple enough as she got into it and slid herself into a longcoat. The collar coming up before she adjusted her hair to her shoulders with a small look. The ship leaving Denon's orbit and jumping to hyperspace quickly enough. "So do you have a plan or are you just going to go in blind?" The twi'lek spoke on the view screen looking at her from the boat.

"Ehhh I'll figure it out... the quicker I get it done the quicker I can take in the sights." She shrugged while sitting there in the cockpit as Cato spoke. "There aren't many sights on Nar Shadda boss... I mean some places if there are shows maybe but the gangs control there... unless you are looking at the people." She said it offering a grin as Ayumi spoke. "Maybe... maybe I'll find a twi'lek who gives less lip to her boss." That got a laugh. "Maybe.... but then you would just have a yes man or woman or alien.... and you'd hate it. Be like when you had to deal with Senator Lorr who just agreed with anything everyone said asking for her vote and support." There was a moments pause... and some memories. "Maybe... most likely. A persons got to have spice in things."

That got a look as she closed the connection and the ship was coming out. Nar Shadda was like old Denon in some places but she tried to avoid some of the problems. She sent her access codes for a private hanger as the ship was coming in. Business offices were important enough to maintain sometimes and when the Republic was operating out here after fighting the Black Sun. She exited the ship as the ramp went up and the hutt approached from the docking off ice. "You got fat." He spoke looking at her and Ayumi's eyebrow raised for a moment as she stood there looking at him. ONe hand going to her jacket as she slipped the credits out with a small smile tugging at her lips. "Good to see you too. I got your message." She said it and the Hutt looked at her.

"It won't be much, the times are always changing and new syndicates are always popping up.... but Senator you know what they say. Information brokers are always open even on Life day." He moved over and put an arm over her shoulder while walking and leading the way. "But they don't work on imaginary credits, you want your little birds to keep giving information... you got to sweeten the deals senator." The hutt was slimy... smelly and Ayumi raised an eyebrow as she was looking at him for the moment. "I'll have to see the quality of information they are offering any potential threats to Denon are important enough but sometimes you have a habit of keeping some information to make your monthly requests and let it get outdated."

The hutt took a moment to look offended. "Senator do you think I would try and cheat you... you who have paid so much for information to help your Republic when it was around and made things good for us... you who know the value of doing business with others outside the syndicates." He was saying it and getting to the balcony and entrace as one of the skycars came... Ayumi looked at him. "Yes but only because you are trying to sell yourself so hard. You've gotten old perhaps... but better the hutt you know then one who will no doubt have worse motives." That seemed to get a nod as she entered the skycar and was heading towards the lower areas. Some food would be needed so that she could look over things in such a deal... and the new players maybe.

That was the plan at least as she navigated the skycar towards the cafes and upper area food places... the hospitals, the important areas they needed to keep up with were needed. To stick it to Cato she might hire one or two from the refugee sectors who could make the twi'lek jealous. She moved through the streets as her hands went into the pockets of the long coat while a small breeze kicked up the ends of it. her hair trailing behind in the breeze as she weaved through the crowds. She slipped towards one of the dinners and was guided into a seat sos he could order while looking over the information on her interface visor. "Now for something fun."

 

[Senna Lonis]

The shift ended with a cracked stim case and blood on Senna's sleeves.

She'd barely had time to wipe her hands, let alone her brow, when the final patient — a Duros slicer with plasma burns on his forearms — mumbled thanks and stumbled off into the haze. The clinic's outer doors slid closed behind him, hissing with a finality that was both deeply satisfying and vaguely threatening. The fluorescent lights inside the medbay hummed, flickering at the corners. A half-busted surgical droid twitched softly in the corner like it too was done for the day.

Senna grabbed her coat — brown, threadbare, patched with reflective strips — and slung it over her shoulders. She didn't bother locking up. Nobody stole from the Free Clinic unless they wanted the street docs and gutter gangs turning them into a public anatomy exhibit.

Her boots hit the duracrete with a heavy rhythm as she left the clinic's alley behind and slipped into Nar Shaddaa's underbelly — the stretch of cracked roads, makeshift markets, and vertical neon that went by names no one could pronounce sober.

Above, the sky was a web of speeders, lightrails, and hovering cargo haulers. Below, it smelled like oil, sweat, cooked meat, and someone else's lost dreams.

She passed a pair of beggars huddled near a steaming grate, sharing a single synth blanket. One looked up and grinned with gummy teeth.

"Got any spare meds, nurse lady?"

Senna tossed him a wrapped bandage roll and kept walking. The last time she stopped to offer a stim-pack, she got chased by a pack of hungry teens with rebreather pipes and knives made from old droid parts.

A woman outside a redlit shop leaned on a doorframe, kohl-smudged and curvy in a synthsilk catsuit.

"You look tired, sweetheart. Real tired. I give a hell of a massage for a med discount."

Senna shot her a smile. "Sorry, I'm broke and barely functional."

"Then you're my type," the woman purred.

Down the block, a swoop gang called the Chrome Fangs was parked outside the Drunken Mynock Cantina, smoke curling around them as they argued over who got to test the new vibroblade mod first. Their jackets shimmered with hextech plating and painted teeth decals. One of them whistled low at Senna as she passed.

"You look like someone who could stitch us up and rip us open."

She raised a middle finger and kept walking.

---

The diner was shaped like a half-circle chrome dome, like someone had slammed a shuttle pod sideways into the street and never fixed it. Faint music played through worn-out wall speakers — something synthy and sad. Its sign flickered weakly: FROGGIE'S GRILLHOUSE. OPEN 25 HOURS.

The inside was warm, a little sticky, but blessedly calm. Booths lined the walls. Neon strips pulsed gently near the ceiling. A battered Mon Calamari server droid rolled by humming to itself, wearing a smiley-face apron.

Senna dropped into a booth near the corner and plopped her head directly onto the table with a thud.

"I am going to throw my own skull into traffic," she muttered.

The server droid rolled past.

"Can I get you anything besides cranial trauma, customer?"

She lifted her head. "Whatever's cheapest and fried."

---

Across the diner, a woman in a long coat and high boots was already sipping caf and scanning a visor that cast faint lights over her face. Refined. Elegant. Dangerous in a velvet-glove way. Her posture screamed senatorial, but her eyes were hunting for something?

Senna didn't notice her. Not yet.

She was too busy groaning at her bruised arms and aching calves. Her stomach growled. Her ribs hurt. Her mind itched with the leftover taste of the job she'd been asked to take earlier that day — the one she'd said yes to without asking enough questions.

 

[Ayumi Pallopides]

Senna Lonis

The diner had proven a few things... one.... places like it were usually a lot better still. The lack of prestigue where just saying you ate there was a sign of status meant they focused on making the food. Maybe not the most healthy or refined but there was a goodness to a meat smothered in rich sauces. A caf that was potent and strong before anything needed to be added to it and it made sure you were awake at all times. Worth it and as she continued to go over the interface information she was looking at the menu. The droid coming along as it stopped when she se the menu towards the front after she had asked for a little time.

"So what can I get you today?" The droid asked it and she looked for a moment offering a smile. "The soup to start with extra bread." She paused mostly as he was logging it. "Then to eat a plate of the best you make. Surprise me." She said it as her hand went towards her coat and slipped some of the credits out. Several chits. "And if you can keep the caf coming, I think I might be here for awhile." The droid took it all down and the credits for a moment as she remained there with him going off. Her eyes flicking over the other people in and she stopped for a moment. Seeing a woman who looked tired and was that blood?

'Pretty cute.' She mentally said it to herself and flicked her eyes back over to her table while expanding her senses and awareness more then actively reaching out with the force. Just to alert her to proximity and if someone came near her more as she continued to look over the information that had been given to her. The infochants and people on offer from the hutt seemed quite... extensive. She imagined she could trust them as long as she could pay them more then the hutt to secure her information but they would also be able to double dip if they really wanted to. She knew they were loyal as long as there were credits and two sources were never bad.

'Interesting.' She said it looking at the first candidate as a droid came up. Service style from the looks of it and it worked throughout the lower areas but had the ability to go to a number of upper locations. Bars and factories as well as the docks which could be useful but if there was a threat to Denon then they would likely talk about it in places a droid wouldn't be... the chance someone could retrieve the memories and data would be too much.. and it was too specific... but it was not a bad start and Cato had only been being cato she expected her to pick one but she could pick several if she needed to.

The soup arrived with a plate of bread and some extra as she held it and tested it for a moment. The softness was important for science as she dipped it into the soup and pulled it up and to her mouth. Taking a small bite to get the covered portion. Seh flicked her eyes across the diner again to see things but dind't leer or linger. Instead using it as a chance to take in more of the spot and there was a nice quaintness to it. Something she could use like on Denon as the cafes there were themed more and made to attract tourists who spent a lot of credits. She took another bite for herself and enjoyed it while she flipped through.

'Ah.' She said it seeing a zeltron... swooper racer or gang member based on the facial tattoo and clothing. The style was with an emblem as she looked it over and there was some information... mostly prices and how much information or discretion cost with them. As a professional their reputation seemed to be solid even though it wasn't really something you called and tested or asked for references... messed with the point of their skills. Ayumi's amusement though was peaked and she would see what she could do. A more rowdy person entered.. she could feel their attitude radiate off of them in the force as they walked in and she didn't turn.

The first sound she got was the seats of the table scrapping the floor as they sat down without being directed or led. Then seemed to look over everyone who was there with lingering glances to her and the woman from earlier. Without making a move her eyes rolled up in annoyance but the interface hid them as she took another bite of the bread and the soup. The cap being refilled for herself as the waitress who came she slipped a tip to at least make up for what she imagined was going to be difficulty on her shift now. The droid coming with food other others who were around as the woman falleen ordered and her voice was rough.

The droid seemed to know what was being ordered but Ayumi didn't pay attention to that as much as she looked at the pair of twins who worked in a nightclub in the hutts main district. Close easily to everything that might be a danger but they would be the best for getting her information... assuming they could be loyal. Their backgrounds were as former slaves themselves and they might be there at their owners behest doing the job as a proxy. She would have to be more careful with that and there was always a chance she might find someone who was not in these files.. they were just from the hutt after all and negotiating for info could be done with others.

She finished the bread and the soup as she was reading. The meal being brought to her and it was what she had expected and wanted... heavy, fried, glistening with that mixture of grease and gravy proper. Her hand went to the fork as she closed the visor for the moment and sat there inhaling for a moment the scent of it and the meat under it all smothered in friend breading with seasoning... then drowned in gravy. She moved the veggies into the gravy while taking a few bites of it and it she was in heaven. Slipping a few more credits out for the waitress and the droid as she wiped with a finger at her chin. "Perfect."

 

[Senna Lonis]

The silver service droid slid up to her table with pneumatic whirrs, its plating gleaming under the dinelight. In its articulated claw it carried a shallow plate piled high with battered morsels—crisply fried, golden-brown, and smelling of hot oil—and a small ramekin of tangy dipping sauce. A steaming mug of dark caf sat beside it, the surface rippling with heat.

"Your order, ma'am: the soup course is on hold as requested, and our house special, fried and cheap," the droid intoned in its clipped, polite cadence. Its photoreceptors flicked over Senna's visor, as if logging the transaction, before it offered a subtle servo-bow and retreated.

Senna closed her visor's display and leaned back, watching the droid glide away. She tapped her wrist comm-pad and brought up her credit balance: comfortably above the meal's cost, though not by much. A separate window floated in the corner—an overdue currency statement for her lodging's electricity usage, set to auto-collect tomorrow. She sighed, shook her head, then shoved it aside. Survival came first.

She speared a piece of battered meat, its crisp shell giving way to tender churn of gravy-drenched flavor, and closed her eyes in brief gastronomic bliss. As she chewed, her peripheral awareness tickled—another arrival. A heavyset man, immaculately dressed in charcoal weave, tailored vest cinched at the waist; bald, his scalp polished to a matte shine. Two Twi'lek attendants flanked him, their lekku draped over formal shoulders, eyes darting constantly, scouting the room.

Senna's eyes drifted back to the visor's empty cuff; she swirled her caf, tasting its bitterness before swallowing. The diners around her—hungry pilots, jittery slicers, a bleary-eyed spacer—faded into soft-focus. But that well-dressed man and his silent bodyguards held her attention. A subtle prick of curiosity—or premonition—warned her: wherever he came from, this café stop wasn't by accident.

She reached for another fry, as steam curled upward, and let the clatter of dishes and hum of conversation fill her ears. Outside, the city's pulse beat on; inside, the droid's stainless heart marked time. Senna smiled to herself. There was work to be done—and fuel for both body and mind on this rickety little world.

 

[Ayumi Pallopides]

Senna Lonis

The entrance of someone brought her attention around... an eye raising to look for a moment while she was eating but her head never moved.. She took in the sight of the man while she stayed there for a moment before bringing a piece of the food to her mouth and she ate it as the gravy was there mixing with the juice from the meat into the breading. Her internal amusement went a long way and she watched in the force as the man was approaching her in the seat. The serving droid coming over and spoke to her for the moment. "DId you want dessert tonight?" He spoke it and seemed to register the man and his twi'leks but stayed professional for the moment.

"Yes, some pie." She said it and as the droid went away the man came closer and she spoke without looking up. "I would recommend you consider if interrupting my meal is worth whatever you think is so important." She said it and didn't need to look up for a moment as the man made a move and sat down across from her. "Ah don't be like that senator." He spoke and she held a finger up. "Former senator." The man seemed to pause at that... a senator usually meant access to credits and more.. former senators weren't as much and usually were retired. "Former senator, news of your... problems are going around. you need a new information network here on Nar Shadda."

There was more as the two twi'leks remained there but the Falleen seemed to perk up... there could be people to rob after all and Ayumi finally looked up at him. "Dangerous information to have. I pay for privacy above all and coming in here means you are looking to do one of two things.. make a show so I have to accept whatever you are offering or hoping that I will offer you a payoff. I recommend you walk away now." She said it and waited there for a moment as one her slid a credit chit from her sleeve and she flicked it up and over. The Falleen catching it as she looked and it was something good as she seemed to be beelining it towards the man.

He seemed to be thinking about it when the droid came back with the slice of pie. "Here we go, the last piece." He said it and Ayumi remained where she was while one hand came out and she only looked at him. Allowing the force to radiate off of herself as she wasn't worried about a few things where she would be able to manipulate. The droid set the pie down and she spoke looking at him while mentally she was probing. "You are going to walk away from here now." She pushed the suggestion with the force as the Falleen was approaching to handle and get the twi'leks away from her for the moment at least.