Pair-A-Dice City (Brooklyn)

[Ludo Dorian]

Corellia
Coronet City

Things had been looking up for Ludo Dorian. The son of a Black Sun Vigo was afforded certain privileges within the organization, which allowed him a climb through the ranks that had been altogether steadier than most.

That all changed last week. Because of one person... Brooklyn Spencer.

His "career" had gone from smooth sailing to utter panic in mere minutes. It was only after Spencer had left, did he discover that the microchips she'd sold him were dupes. Microchips he'd bought on behalf of Black Sun, with Black Sun's credits... two hundred and twenty four thousand, to be exact. Things hadn't been a complete disaster, however. Ludo had managed to make the discovery before his Underboss, upon careful examination in the bar while in solitude. If the opposite had been the case, Dorian probably wouldn't be working for Black Sun anymore, which also most likely meant he wouldn't be among the living anymore.

And of course, there was the fact that Brooklyn had surprisingly provided Ludo with her real name. A lengthy search of black market databases had turned up her identity. Surprisingly, she hadn't been using an alias when doing business with Ludo. It was a lucky break for him, because now there was hope of possibly tracking her down and making this right again. He needed to find Brooklyn Spencer, and he needed to either extract two hundred and twenty four thousand credits from her, or walk away with real microchips this time. Otherwise, his ass was on the line. Ludo's Underboss was most certainly already asking questions as to why he suddenly skipped town, without a product to show for the credits he had been provided. Ludo knew that more than likely there was a price on his head right now, as Black Sun was not privy to the information. Not that being privy to it would change the situation much.

Ludo found himself on Coronet City. Further database searches turned up Spencer's ship registration, which turned up her docking bay clearance record. For such a masterful thief, Brooklyn still needed to learn a thing or two about covering her tracks. Then again, Ludo himself had a thing or two to learn about not getting scammed. After docking his ship in the same port that he'd tracked Brooklyn's to, he began searching for the same freighter he remembered on Nal Hutta. Not surprisingly, it was the docking bay of one of Coronet City's largest casinos. Ludo wouldn't be surprised if Brooklyn was inside, pulling the wool over the eyes of some other hapless fool.

He had a cunning plan however. First he would disable Brooklyn's hyperdrive, and with that done, he'd find her inside the casino. There was no reason he couldn't have a little fun with her first, before giving her a slow, painful death.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

A cloud of cigarette smoke hung over the table in the high roller suite. Brooklyn sat on a gilt chair, her slender frame shrouded in a one-shoulder (her right) black evening gown, her black hair styled into a fashionable updo on her left side. A single white flower gave some contrast to the whole affair, sticking into the bun, and gave off a gentle scent. It was a nice vacation, Brooklyn reflected as she allowed the handsome gambler to her left to light her cigarette before nodding at the dealer. The game was blackjack, and Brooklyn had a nine facing up and a two facing down.

"Hit me," she told him before lifting her cigarette to her lips and taking a draw before exhaling slowly. The smoke billowed as the dealer set a seven face-up in front of her. She shook her head and the dealer moved to the next player. Brooklyn turned back to the gambler. He was handsome enough, but he was also excessively wealthy. He was Brooklyn's mark for the night. If she could get into his hotel room, she knew she'd find plenty to steal. He was rumored to have a gemstone collection worth over a million credits, according to her research.

"Am I doing it right?" she asked with a sly smirk to him.

He exhaled some smoke and returned with a dashing smile, leaning over to whisper, "You've got nineteen, or twenty. Right?"

Brooklyn feigned admiring surprise. "How did you know?"

His hand touched her knee and he winked. "Lucky guess." The round ended and both received a payout from the dealer. "Another drink?" he asked, slipping out of his seat, removing his hand from her knee. "Let me know how this hand goes. I'll go get us more drinks." And he wandered away, leaving Brooklyn to nudge another stack of chips onto the table.

 

[Ludo Dorian]

A few quick twists with his hydrospanner after some general mucking around the jet engines, and Ludo was finished with Brooklyn's craft. It didn't exactly take a rocket scientist to disassemble a hyperdrive system, or at least impair it beyond the point of functionality. Ludo was quite good at breaking things. He simply pulled wires apart and jammed them into haphazard places until the jets appeared broken enough. This freighter certainly wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon. The only matter to attend to now was dealing with his grease-stained hands. They certainly didn't go well with his tuxedo.

He'd come prepared for the occasion. Ludo had managed to pack a good assortment of clothes before he left, and he had luckily anticipated that he might find Brooklyn in some high-class establishment such as this. He wiped his hands on a white handkerchief that had been in the pocket of his tuxedo pocket. Now completely covered with dirt and useless, Dorian discarded it on the ground as he walked towards the casino entrance. There were certainly lots of people here tonight. Looking for Brooklyn would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

However, Ludo figured that she, of all people, shouldn't be hard to find. If he had to pick anywhere to begin looking, he would start with the high-stakes games. Considering this was a girl who considered over two-hundred thousand galactic credits to be "small time".

Scoffing at that pretense, the Black Sun lackey began scouring the casino. A full nauseating fifteen minutes of bright, blinking lights later, and he'd turned up nothing. Sighing, he rested an arm against a pillar and grimaced. Perhaps his plan was hopeless from the start. That was exactly the time when he caught the glimpse of an all-black clad female through a crowd of people in the distance, sitting at a card table nearby. She sported Brooklyn's signature black hair, and her scheming grin. It was Brooklyn.

Ludo couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor sod sitting next to her. Probably about to be swindled out of his last credit, no doubt. However, instead of confronting her directly now, Ludo decided to wait a few moments. He would enjoy watching her play her little game first.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Brooklyn played another hand of blackjack, winning another two hundred credits, then another, then yet another, before the dapper gambler returned and pressed a glass of champagne into her hand, then wrapped around her slender form, resting on the small of her back in what was, under the circumstances, both a highly forward course of action and a highly promising one, given Brooklyn's scheme. "Thank you," she murmured, taking a sip of the champagne before setting it to the side. Her green eyes locked with his and she gave a look of sly promise before pushing forward another two one-hundred credit chips and tapping the table.

As they played, the gambler's hand moved further and further south, until he leaned over and whispered the invitation that Brooklyn had been waiting to hear. She nodded and they collected their chips; Brooklyn's went into her handbag and she downed the rest of her champagne before turning and in an instantly saw Ludo Dorian standing there. If she was afraid, she gave no indication of it, and instead gave him the ghost of a smile as they brushed past him towards the turbolift lobby.

Inside, her chest went cold. This could end badly--not just for her current scheme but for her life. She couldn't muster any embarrassment or guilt for pulling the wool over on Dorian; if he hadn't muscled her into doing business with him, he wouldn't have gotten screwed over. Still, he would be justifiably angry. She smiled and peeked into her handbag. Under the credit chips, her slim but deadly holdout pistol and spare magazines glinted menacingly. "Do you know," she told the gambler. "I've never seen the Regency Suite. Is it everything it's cracked up to be?"

 

[Ludo Dorian]

Ludo was impressed with Brooklyn's courage to continue her scheme, even after the two had made obvious eye contact. She didn't think or care to run for her life; she even had the audacity to smile at him, as though his act of stalking her halfway across the galaxy and finally revealing himself was nothing. The cojones of this girl.

Grimacing, Ludo followed Brooklyn and her current victim to the turbolift lobby. This had to end now.

Ludo would interrupt their conversation by physically announcing his presence, practically shoving his way between the man and the little debutante who had stolen two hundred thousand of his credits. This would be a little difficult, though. He couldn't simply abduct Brooklyn in such a public place as this. He would need a bit of tactfulness on his side.

"Pardon me," Ludo said to the man she was with, offering a gentle smile, "I'd like to have a word with your piece of eye candy here. She happens to owe me a lot of credits. And I'm sure she'll owe you a good deal by the end of the night, if you're not careful."

Then, turning to Brooklyn, "Well, well. It's been too long, hasn't it, Brooklyn Spencer? We've got a lot of catching up to do."

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Brooklyn punched the key and waited, but was then turned to the side. Damn him. "I'm afraid you have mistaken me for someone else," she said in a Naboo accent, her green eyes narrowing at Dorian. "My name is Lila Broderick and I don't recognize you at all." She folded her arm instinctively through the gambler's and seemed to shrink behind him. The dapper gambler puffed his chest a little and placed himself between Brooklyn and Dorian.

"You're mistaken, friend. Excuse us, we've got an elevator to catch." As if on cue, there was a ding and the doors slid open. "Good luck with finding your... Brooklyn whatever it was." The gambler and the socialite stepped into the turbolift, Brooklyn watching warily over the gambler's shoulder. Her hand slid into her handbag and closed around the grip of her Q-2. If she had to move, she would be ready for it.

She cleared her throat and gave Dorian a little finger-wave over the gambler's shoulder as she waited for the elevator doors to shut, drawing her blaster from her handbag and tucking the handbag under her other arm. At least if Dorian shot, he'd definitely hit the gambler first. Then perhaps Brooklyn could take the keycard and break into the Regency Suite and steal all the gems she could carry. And hopefully get the hell of Corellia before Dorian managed to get into the key-card protected section of the hotel tower.

 

[Ludo Dorian]

"And I've got a thief to catch."

Ludo stepped into the elevator after them. Placing himself between the two of them and the exit doors to the elevator, the Black Sun lackey reached over and hit the "hold" button with an angry fist, to prevent the elevator from ascending, at least for a little while.

"Why don't you get lost before this little rat robs you blind," He told the man, meeting him with a stern gaze. He expected the hapless gambler to no doubt assert his protective male instincts for the woman who was playing him like a growdi. Such was the almost sinful mind-control that beautiful, diabolical women like Brooklyn exerted over men sometimes. "That's no doubt your plan, isn't it?" He said, turning towards Brooklyn.

"Don't believe her lies. Her real name is Brooklyn Spencer, and she's a notorious thief. Do yourself a favor and step off this elevator. You'll thank me later."

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Brooklyn could feel the gambler's doubt begin to crystallize, and she moved into action, wrapping her arm around his waist at the same moment her hand snapped around his head with her blaster, pointing it directly at Dorian. "I don't know what your game is, here, friend," she said, still maintaining her mild Naboo accent, trying to make it out as if Dorian was here to rob the gambler. "But if you've come to rob me and my friend, you've picked the wrong pair."

She made a show of flipping the safety off, her grip dead-level and solid. She was turning a little, the gambler trembling a little in her grip. "Don't worry," she whispered, then winked at Dorian. Sure, she was probably about to die but she had never felt more alive.

Brooklyn then did two things very quickly: she shot the control panel on the door, causing the doors to slide open as the lights turned red to indicate disability, and then she shoved the gambler at Dorian. While Dorian, the more muscular of the men, would probably have no trouble shouldering the gambler out of the way, she was counting on the surprise and delay to give her time to emerge from the turbolift and melt into the crowded casino floor as she thought of what to do.

She darted out of the turbolift, ditching her shoes so that she could move more quickly and more quietly, and ran for the casino floor, blowing past a security guard who had come to investigate the turbolift's distress signal. "Watch out, he's armed," she called over her shoulder before dipping into the nearest crowd she could find, beginning to weave her way through crowds at slots and video poker machines. She snatched a green cloak from a geriatric playing video poker and threw it over her shoulders, hiding her distinctive haircut from anyone who would be looking for it.

Adrenaline pounded, asking the same question each time: what do I do now?

 

[Ludo Dorian]

Ludo was surprised to see the barrel-end of Brooklyn's blaster. His surprise didn't escalate into outright fear; as it were, this hadn't been the first time someone had pulled a gun on him. Instead, he smiled. She seemed to be panicking, and now that she'd drawn her gun, it was as though she was further incriminating herself to Ludo's accusations. If this gambler was no fool, he would know who was telling the truth between Ludo and Brooklyn.

"Go on, shoot," Ludo grinned down the blaster barrel. "Drawing your blaster on an unarmed man? I thought you were innocent, Spencer."

She wouldn't fire her weapon in the middle of a crowded casino... or would she?

It turned out that Ludo was wrong on that front, too. Desperate people turned to desperate measures, he realized firsthand, and lucky for him, the shot wasn't aimed at his face. In a mere instant, Brooklyn was gone and Ludo was left in a damaged elevator with a hapless gambler on top of him. Tossing the man aside, the Black Sun enforcer quickly stood to his feet. "Thanks for nothing, nerf herder," He growled down at the poor gambler as he ran out the door, who had been swindled out of his planned evening festivities in but a few moments.

His one-man search party was immediately cut short at the sight of a few security guards headed his way. He'd heard Brooklyn inform them that he was armed. Even though Brooklyn didn't know it, it wasn't a lie, since he held his own hold-out blaster in the recesses of his coat pocket. But rather, instead of descend into an all-out firefight, he ducked behind a small pillar in the hallway before the guards could pinpoint him. Unfortunately, Brooklyn was by now lost in the crowd. Ludo was forced to scour the casino floor, looking for her familiar face amidst hundreds, to no avail.

Then again, she wouldn't be getting far. Ludo had taken out her hyperdrive system, after all. Then it dawned on him - she might try to escape by doubling back to her ship. Smiling, he slinked back out of the casino floor and towards the exit. He would wait by her ship, which seemed to be her most likely next destination.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

The girl returned to her hotel suite, half-expecting Dorian to be waiting for her. She unlocked the door with blaster in hand and stepped over the threshold, pointing her gun every-which-way until she was satisfied that the suite was empty. She shucked out of her dress and wriggled into a pair of form-fitting black slacks, a white tank-top and a black leather jacket that concealed her real live blaster pistol.

Her hair bundled under a smashball cap, Brooklyn emerged from her suite with her luggage in one hand and her hold-out in the other. She felt exceedingly stupid walking down the halls of a luxury hotel with a gun, but feeling exceedingly stupid was better than feeling exceedingly dead.

Her ship was docked at the hotel spaceport. Brooklyn pressed her palm to the lock and walked in slowly, cautiously. When she felt the coast was clear, she quickened her pace to a jog and ran across the platform, stopping to put her hand up to put her keycode into the control panel. The door slid open and Brooklyn gave one last look around the platform.

 

[Ludo Dorian]

Dorian reached Brooklyn's ship before she did, and thus found himself with some time to spare. This time was spent relishing in the hopefully sweet revenge that he was about to taste, against the woman that had nearly cost him his job and his life. He couldn't wait to see Brooklyn's face when she found him waiting at her ship. It would make the last few days of frustration and perpetual fear well worth it.

When Brooklyn would finally arrive at her ship, she would find Ludo's form creep out from behind it slowly and menacingly. One hand was on the holster of his blaster, seeing that she, too, was weilding her weapon. Ludo smiled pleasantly. At last, sweet release.

"Going somewhere?" He smirked. "Don't even bother. Your ship's been disabled. And put the blaster away. You'll need me to fix it if you have any hope of getting off this rock. But first... I believe you owe me something."

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Brooklyn spun at the sound of the voice, throwing her blaster hand out with her blaster, aiming towards where she thought the voice was coming from. Brooklyn's eyes widened and she dropped behind the nearby security terminal in a crouch. "Mr. Lackey!" she called pleasantly, smiling despite the situation. "Lackey-Dorian, wasn't it? How nice to see you again!"

She glanced around, her green eyes scanning for a way to escape. She wondered if she could run across the platform, back to the entrance. Perhaps if she ran for the exit, shooting over her shoulder towards Dorian, she could delay him long enough to escape. She weighed her options and decided to engage the man. Peeking her head around the security panel, she looked for him.

"I didn't know you were a card player. What's your pleasure?"

 

[Ludo Dorian]

"I'm not."

Ludo sauntered over towards where Brooklyn hastily hid. From his long, black coat pocket, he pulled his hold-out blaster and kept it trained easily at his hip on Brooklyn's position. Part of him still couldn't believe he'd finally managed to track her down. It had been a strenuous three weeks, but here she was. Ludo had nearly given up.

"I just came for what's mine," He continued. "Two hundred and twenty four thousand galactic credits, to be exact. Don't tell me you blew all the money with that loser you were hanging out with inside. I pictured you having slightly better taste in men, Spencer. No matter, ten of your promised computer chips will do the trick. Either way, I walk out here with what I came for, or you don't walk out of here at all. Now put the blaster down. Nice and easy."

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Brooklyn popped up and pointed her blaster at Ludo. "We had a bargain, Mr. Lackey-Dorian," she said pleasantly, moving away from behind her cover. If he was going to point his gun at her, at least they could even the odds. "You agreed to pay two hundred and twenty four thousand galactic credits for ten chips, sight unseen. There was something of a caveat emptor in our agreement, I think. Don't think of it as paying two hundred and twenty four thousand credits for faulty chips. Think of it as paying two hundred and twenty for thousand credits for a valuable lesson which you can now use in your career. When you think about it it's a bargain at twice the price. You're quite welcome."

She smiled at him, but didn't take her blaster off him. "Didn't work, did it? What are you going to do? Shooting me isn't going to get you any recognition with your Black Sun paymasters. They have thugs that shoot people for a living. In fact, I may be more valuable to them than you are. Think about what you're doing." Brooklyn circled, not knowing where she was circling to, but if she kept him walking and talking she was sure she'd keep herself alive. "I mean, really. You disabled my ship. On Corellia. Wherever will I go to get another? Especially since--I don't know if you've heard, but I've recently come into money. About two hundred and twenty four thousand galactic credits."

 

[Ludo Dorian]

"Don't give me any of that fine print bullshit," Dorian growled, gripping his blaster. "I shouldn't have to specify that the chips should be in working condition when I buy them from you. That's not exactly very good business practice, Spencer."

Ludo's pistol aim followed Brooklyn as she circled around him. He didn't know where she thought she was going, but he wasn't about to let her escape him, now that he finally had her cornered.

"Finding another ship first requires you to get through me," He affirmed. "Sure, killing you won't solve my little problem. But it'll sure as hell feel good to take you down with me."

He raised his blaster then and extended his arm, now pointing it directly at her head.

"Now, like I said. Put your gun down and I'll do the same. Then, perhaps we can figure out a deal that will be mutually beneficial to both our parties."

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Brooklyn's eyes followed his blaster up as he raised it towards her head, then rolled exasperatedly. "You have a blaster? So do I. You want to come to an amicable solution? So do I. How 'bout you first?" Her index finger flexed on her trigger and she squinted at Dorian. Despite the situation, she couldn't help but give a little smirk. It was exciting to be in a Rodian standoff, especially with a Black Sun crime lord. Well... to call him a crime lord was putting it generously, but still. And personally, if Brooklyn Spencer had to stare anyone down, she was glad it was a reasonably handsome fellow and not some disgusting-looking Rodian.

The prickly silence was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice as--why, the poetry of it all--some disgusting-looking Rodian emerged from the shadow of her ship. "How interesting," he said in Huttese to Ludo, pointing his own blaster at Dorian's head as he made his entrance. "I have heard many things about your deal... how clever it was of Dorian to get those chips... what a great deal he got for the Black Sun. How interesting to see what the real story is. We came here to kill you, but I think our employer's aims could be reached much more elegantly now that we know this information."

Brooklyn, who was watching this warily, her blaster still trained on Ludo, didn't notice that a few more thugs had materialized from the shadows behind her; they joined her in a semi-circle around the other two, pointing their guns at Dorian. Brooklyn, who did not speak Huttese, glanced around the assembled group of thugs and said, "Well, aren't you going to introduce me?"

 

[Ludo Dorian]

Ludo should have expected by now that his plans would never go as expected. In this case, the worst possible people in the galaxy who could possibly show up to throw a wrench into this ordeal, did exactly that. He had never met the Rodian named Brindo before, but he had certainly heard of him. It was hard not to have. Ludo had done his homework; this fellow was one of Bolg the Hutt's lackeys, who was a direct competitor to Black Sun.

"Well, if it isn't Brindo," Ludo smiled, despite the fact that the odds were seriously stacked against him making it off Corellia alive now. "I'm honored, really. I didn't realize my reputation was sufficient enough for Bolg to want to hunt me down. Though he clearly still underestimates me, since he sent you."

"Silence, scum," Brindo replied, this time in Basic. "Won't your father be displeased when he finds out about this little deal gone awry? You've still got a lot to learn, Dorian. After all the energy you spent stalking this girl down, you forgot to cover your own tracks."

"I don't think you want to be acquainted with these folks," Ludo said aside to Brooklyn. "Unless you enjoy the stink that comes with dealing with Bolg the Hutt."

"Don't be upset because you lost, Dorian," the Rodian smiled. "I'm even feeling generous enough to let you live today, and keep my mouth shut about your little mishap. For a price, of course. Then we'll figure out what to do with this one afterwards," He motioned towards Brooklyn.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

"Woah, woah, woah," Brooklyn called across the landing pad. She didn't like the way he gestured to her. "As much as I enjoy watching you play bad-cop with Mr. Lackey-Dorian over here, you'd better keep me out of it because quite frankly I don't have time, got it?" This, apparently, was not the right thing to say to some Hutt thugs. The weequay to her left turned and pointed his blaster at Brooklyn. Her eyebrows furrowed angrily and she turned and put a hole in his chest.

And that wasn't the right thing. The others all turned towards Brooklyn. Not knowing what else to do, she raised her blaster and shot the one who had been engaging in witty banter with Dorian before throwing herself behind the security panel as a trio of blaster bolts came hurtling towards her. The scent of burned ozone filled her nostrils and she could hear nothing but the pounding of blood and adrenaline in her ears. Popping up, she fired another shot, which went wild, while glancing to see if Dorian was still alive.

 

[Ludo Dorian]

Things were happening far too fast for Ludo to process. Had he really allowed Bolg the Hutt's gangsters to track him down and confront him at the worst possible moment? Had Brooklyn Spencer really just shot two of Bolg's men? Had the entire galaxy turned itself inside out? Ludo didn't have time to think. The only thing he could manage was to fire his blaster, which seemed like the popular thing to do right about now.

Perhaps he should be thankful that Brooklyn had just killed at least one of his adversaries, and may or may not have seriously maimed another. Then again, he wouldn't be in this mess, or on Corellia at all, if it weren't for her. Ludo flung himself behind a crate directly parallel to Brooklyn, just a few feet away from her, and hunkered down.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He shouted at her, as a few blaster bolts whizzed over his head, and one singed his crate, causing sparks to spew in the air. He gestured wildly. "You're... you're not supposed to just kill someone! There are rules. Fucking... protocol!"

 

[Natasi Fortan]

"Here's your protocol," Brooklyn shouted back jovially, flipping Dorian the finger from behind her cover. She popped up and fired another couple of shots at the thugs, who scattered. "These were bad guys, Dorian, and in case you didn't catch the general ouvre--the general mis-en-scene, as it were--they looked like they were after you. So--" She leaned around her cover and fired another flurry of bolts. One of them caught a Rodian thug in the head and he went down like a sack of juuri fruit on Life Day. "--I think the word you're looking for--" she dropped back behind cover as a blaster bolt came sizzling past her head. "--is thank you!"

A few more blaster bolts hit the security console and it began to smoke, then caught fire. "Move," she told him before flinging herself in a roll across the pavement towards him, impacting Dorian before clambering over him to put her back against the crates. She leaned over and fired her blaster at the thugs. Two more fell and the other dropped his blaster and ran for the exit. Brooklyn glanced over the top again and scanned the area. "Well, looks like we're free and clear. And since I just saved that skin of yours it seems like we're square, so I'll be going."

And she stood up, gave Dorian a cheerful wave, and began to walk away.