Private Tea and Hutts

[Rekha Kaarde]

Rekha was flipping through the tablet again looking for something to do. Jarrod stood in front of her watching her, "Anything?"

"The usual stuff, get your arse shot off in sith space, get your arse shot off in imperial space, get our arse shot off in hutt space. I think I need to flip a coin and see which one wins" Jarrod cleared his throat, "Capn, coin only has two sides how you going to decide between three."

Rekha looked up at him, "Are you trying to be a smart arse?"

He grinned big he was missing a few teeth knocked in in some fights but it was still a grin, "ma'em" He often tried to get in a smart word or two tonight just happen to be his night.

Rekha laughed, "About time good for you. I'll pick two and go from there, now before you get too randy you head home to Zoe and the kids. Give her my love." He nodded as he chuckled he actually got her a little one but he did get her.

Rekha watched him go a big man, big heart, but don't make him mad. Which one was she going to get...maybe she'd roll dice. Or maybe she'd keep looking

NPC Treasury

 

[NPC Treasury]

Rekha Kaarde

Kay needed a few ingredients for her teas. The problem was that they weren't in the up and up. Yes she was still keeping her nose clean like she promised her children, but what she needed wasn't going to harm anyone. Just get them a little high.

And where to go to get such ingredients? Hutt space unfortunately. Kay had been there numerous times in her early political career, spending her time freeing slaves from the Hutt Cartel. Would she still be remembered? Doubtful. Most of the Cartel was gone, instead replaced by various gangs.

How to get there was another problem. Kay no longer had a ship and so she needed to hire one out. Such a task was suitabe for the holonet. Finding one trustworthy wasn't an easy task, however. So she had to tread cautiously.

Needing a Lift

Looking to hire a ride from Altiria to Hutt Space and back again. Transporting a small amount of goods and returning with others in trade. Willing to pay for fuel, food and accomodations.

Please respond asap. Serious inquiries only.

-STC
​

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

Altiria? Wheres that? She needed a map. Wandering into her office she looked up this place. Hmmm. Hutt space. She reached up and rubbed her face. Okkk. One more trip to Hutt Space how bad can it really be? Besides the money is good and this person needs a ride.

Cargo. Fuel. Accommodation. Well she could manage that her ship The Midnight Star was a very nice light freighter with weapons and quarters.

She could just flip the page keep looking but something said do it. Something she wasn't sure was good or bad but she never failed to follow her instincts.

She answered. "I can do this. Heres my bonafide. " she sent schematics on the ship. And then signed it Ms. Sarcasm. Let's see if they bite.

NPC Treasury

 

[NPC Treasury]

Kay wasn't quite expecting a reply. Let alone a quick one. Yet here it was. She read over the message and details sent by Rekha Kaarde and smirked a little at the nickname. Ms. Sarcasm, huh? Very cute.

It all appeared well and good. The sooner that Kay could get what she needed, the better.

Ms. Sarcasm,

Wonderful. Your application is approved. Please go to the Sphaera Tea Shoppe at your earliest convenience. The timeframe for departure can be discussed there.

-STC.

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

Well look at that a response. Cautiously she opened the response hmm accepted. Good...well...time to go. "Ava, Eva you two have the watch I'll be back. Do not burn the place down"

The human and twi'lek smiled broadly, "like ever" Ava chirped at her. They were good at their jobs and kept the Lucky Lady going all the times she disappeared. She wished she could do more for them something that meant something. She knew they appreciated the wages but at times it just didn't seem enough.

A tea shoppe...so a teetotaler? How was that going to work? Rekha liked to pull a cork now and again.

Well at any rate she headed off to the ship with her go bag and took off for, what the name of that place again Altiria and a Tea shop.

Arriving at the Sphaera Tea Shoppe. She was careful coming in nodding to customers as they left. She approached the counter, "Umm Hi..I'm Ms. Sarcasm"

NPC Treasury

 

[NPC Treasury]

The Shoppe was never too busy. Customers trickled in and out again in gentle waves. It was enough for Kay to keep up while working by herself.

The sight of Rekha Kaarde came as a surprise, however. Not so much that she came, but moreso the fact that SHE was Ms. Sarcasm. Such surprise was written on her face. "Oh! It's you! I never would have...I mean..." The last time that the two had seen eachother, it was with Hawk Solo , and Kay wore make-up to hide her face. "You came quicker than I expected. Which is a good thing. Can I get you anything? On the house."

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

Rekha smiled that was quite the welcome wasn't it. Well overly friendly or maybe something in her tea.

"Yep its me....something to drink... sure....I don't usually drink tea so I'll let you choose something." It would be a surprise for certain she couldn't remember if she had ever tasted tea. What was it anyhow something that colored water based upon a bunch of plants?

Rekha smiled though and kept it there. "We should probably talk a bit more anyhow" Not that she would back out but that so they could get a feel for one another.

NPC Treasury

 

[NPC Treasury]

"I have a stim-tea that's sort of like a caf. Would you like that? Or something more akin to liquor?" Everyone had their own tastes. She just wasn't sure of where Rekha Kaarde fell.

Kay put the kettle on to boil anyways and started to get the cups out. "I'm an open book. What is it that you'd liketo know?"

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

Open book she said wow, not like she hadn't heard that before and ended up on the business end of a blaster.

"Well the tea...I like something strong....course pretending something to be like liquor that just fooling yourself you want liquor drink liquor...this is tea...so..strong tea"

Rekha tilted her head, "Your message didn't say anything about.....what kind of pick up....I don't do anything that explodes. I've tried that and it had an ending with a crash and a scar... and I don't ship slaves...of any kind...that..would ruin my calm a great deal" Rekha smiled.

The voice...hints of something in it..."So can you guarantee its not either of those things?"

NPC Treasury

 

[NPC Treasury]

Kay turned right around to her shelves of various teas. Rekha Kaarde had wanted something strong, and there was surely some of that which she had. Much like her Stim tea. It was fantastic for pilots and helped them to focus on their tasks at hand. Such a tea might very well work in this situation.

She brought out a bag and set it into a cup before pouring the water and bringing it to the potential hire. "Just let it steep for a few minutes. And if you find it too strong, I have some cream and honey to soften it for you."

As for the lady's questions on just what she was asked to ship, Kay found herself being a little careful with her answer. "Nothing explosive, that's for sure. Unless of course my teas give you a really bad tummy. I plan on taking some of them there. Back in my younger years I used to rescue slaves from Hutt space and either take them back to their families or get them to safety. I'm thinking of doing so again...Not on this trip surely, but on future ones for sure. It has been a couple of decades since I was there last. I'm sure that much has changed. It was time that I saw it myself."

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

"Cream and honey, wouldn't that be like putting ice in good brandy?" She didn't know a lot about tea at all but she knew something about taste and the way brewers worked. Brewing was an art just the right temp, just the right mix of ingredients and if you did anything to it. Well that was an insult to the brewer. Rekha just couldn't understand the use of cream and honey.

"Hutt space still isn't a fun place to go. They barter in slaves like you and I would barter over credits." Rekha looked down for a bit she didn't know this woman she knew she didn't but something the tone...what was it...nah...she had to be losing her mind or something.

"Well if you want to rescue slaves I'm in the amen corner for that. As for my upset tummy I got to fix it..no local explosion will be generated" She grinned big amazed at her ability to be slightly tactful.

"OK..so I got my two major No's answered, we can go when I finish the tea." So now what else would she say, she looked down at the water, "How dark is dark enough" Green eyes looked up at Kay...eyes...Rekha tilted her head.

"Ya know in my spare time I run a bar on Coruscant and one on Bespin.....have you ever been through either of those places?"

She smiled...keep smiling...course too much an Kay would think her bonkers.

NPC Treasury

 

[NPC Treasury]

"Some people aren't too fond of strong tastes. It's not always easy to guess where any individual would lay on that scale." Some people were pickier than others, and some people that seemed tough on the outside were really softies on the inside that preferred gentler tastes. With the remarks that Rekha Kaarde gave, it was quite easy to see where she fell.

Kay nodded with a small smile as the woman more or less accepted the job. It was almost like old times, back before she had her own ship. She used to be smart back then. But those days were long gone.

"It should be ready now. Have a taste."

The question about Coruscant and Bespin caught her off guard. Kay raised a brow a little as she figured that more information was being fished out of her. But...there was so much on public record already. "Yes I've been to both. Especially in my younger years when I was a Senator for the Galactic Republic. I've done a fair bit of travelling in my life. I'm not so sure if that'll ever stop." She tried to stay in one place, but it just didn't last.

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

True, "I get it like some folks want wine that tastes like soda pop, where others want something a bit more of the cask to it."

Rekha picked up the cup looking down at it. The brew was dark and it was hot, not like ow ow ow hot just hot enough to let her hands know it was hot. A single brow arched as she got a whiff of it, "It's definitely not ale or whiskey." She looked at Kay and smiled.

New things right...ok..a bit of a shrug in her shoulders showed her resolution to it.

"Been to both huh" Rekha sipped letting the colored water lay on her tongue as she pushed it to the roof of her mouth, "Hey this isn't bad don't know that it would be my go to, but for early mornings this could work" She sipped again.

"Younger days...no...that's not it. It seems more recent, or maybe it was some replay of a speech you gave as a Senator...but" Rekha sipped again, "I feel like I've heard your voice...I will figure it out when the time is right."

She sipped again, "So why did you become a Senator?" Might as well chit chat for a bit.

NPC Treasury

 

[NPC Treasury]

"I was never a fan of wine. Commenori brandy however...."

Kay masked her slight discomfort with a pleasant smile as Rekha Kaarde tried to figure out where she knew her from. That was the one thing that her late husband hated about politics; it was the fakery and pretending. But Kay knew how to play her part. Yet she wasn't as fake as most. And that could have been what led to her downfall. At least as far as being a Senator anyways.

"It wouldn't surprise me if you had heard my voice. I'm sure that there's plenty of it archived in any number of places. And as for why did I become a Senator? Well...I wanted to repay the planet that took me in as an orphan by serving them and doing as much for them as I could. Without fighting in the military, of course." Her best battles were in the political arena which at times was far more deadly than any battlefield.

"What made you choose your profession?"

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

She blinked not expecting the question, usually no one asks it. She shrugged her shoulders and stared at the tea for a minute. Was she speechless? No she was just...thinking how to phrase it.

Maybe an archiver of Kay's voice she'd figure it out, she liked a good puzzle.

"Me, Oh...I didn't start out like this, I don't know that anyone says oooo when I grow up I want to be a smuggler." She laughed uncomfortably for a moment. "I own a couple of bars, sometimes we need money....course it was the smuggling that bars....so...I guess that's not a good answer."

Her lips pursed together tightly, "I was slave labor on a ship. It was all I knew, when I finally got free...I just worked my ass off to get my own ship. Stick to what I knew..." She sipped the tea hoping it would take off the edge that she felt creeping up her neck.

"It's not pretty...but it is what it is. Also why I don't deal in it at all..." Not one bit and every chance she had to blow up someone op that dealt in it she took it.

"I think I need a to go cup." She would have to admit to her own discomfort, she needed something familiar right now. Having bared her belly to a stranger that she was positive she knew from somewhere and now she was going to head into Hutt Territory. It was going to be a great day.

NPC Treasury

 

[NPC Treasury]

As Rekha Kaarde spoke about people not dreaming about being smugglers as kids, it made her wonder about her own daughter. What did she desire to be? Kay didn't know and more than likely that made her a bad mother. But she was trying to do good for her children. She was trying to make them proud.

Hearing of Rekha's past drew her attention all the more though. Kay looked at her with both compassion and concern. "I have never been a slave, but I have been blackmailed into doing things that I didn't want to. And at the cost of many lives..." She had to surrender her planet once. Millions had already been wiped out in seconds because she had refused the first time. It was a terrible time in her life and she hoped to never have to go through something like that again.

Kay broke out of her thoughts once Rekha spoke again. "Y-yes, of course. Anything else you need?" The Force knew that she needed to pack before they were to head out.

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

The conversation was uncomfortable but it was the kind of question that always came up and she'd just push through it.

She listened to Kay though, "So you know what its like to be a slave...no choice, and any choice is usually wrong. The consequences high but then there's the living with what you did to survive that crawls around like some worm in your brain and manages to wake you up at night."

She looked at Kay as her words dropped off, "No...I'm good. I got cookies on the ship..." She could finish the tea with it and...be able to function.

"Um ok so um I'm at landing pad 6, can't miss the ship...I assume you need to close up and....do things.."

Hutts were next....that would be the test though...get around them and not lose your cool...a challenge.

NPC Treasury

 

[NPC Treasury]

"Survivor's guilt....I carry that with me as one wear's a tattoo. My son tells me not to be so hard on myself, to forgive myself and that I did the best that I could...." Kay spoke her thoughts out loud, not quite to Rekha Kaarde at all, but moreso as if it was her own personal pep talk. "...but there is no victory when some of those that you had sworn to protect ended up losing their lives."

And now there were more lives to save. Even if it meant taking out some Hutts to do it, she'd do as she did before in her old Senator days. She'd disrupt the slave trade and enrich the lives of those that she saved.

Kay nodded a little as Rekha prepared to go. "Yes. Just give me a couple of hours and I'll be there." With tea in hand she turned from the woman and headed into the back room. There was a few things to prepare, especially different kinds of teas that could be used to give them a keen advantage. This wasn't going to be some smash and grab. Only if they were desperate.

During the alotted couple of hours, Kay had packed up some clothes, gear and boxes of tea and goodies. She carried it all in both a satchel and a trunk which floated behind her on a hoverlift. She approached landing pad 6 of which Rekha's ship was one of only two to pick from. That made it a little easier.

"All fueled up and ready to go?"

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

Rekha stood up, "Yeah there really aren't winners in wars. We claim there is one side gets it way to do things, and other suffer because of it. We have to learn to live with it...until the next round. Yeah..I'll met you on the ship."

Later

Rekha sat in the cockpit her feet up staring off into nothing tea in one hand cookie in the other.

I know this voice, and I rarely forget a face so why is this woman's voice tickling my brain so badly. It's like an itch I can't reach. Rekha thought back on the conversation topic of slavery certain hit sore spots in both of them. Loss of life. Loss of friends..and family. She was alone because of such things. Her heart had wandered a number of times over the years but it had belonged onto one person.

Maybe if she let go she'd move but if she let go she'd forget. Can't do that. She took another sip of the tea, this was not going to become a regular thing that much she knew. But it was washing the cookies down pretty good. She heard footsteps turning her face upwards NPC Treasury came in.

"Yep I'm ready to go...you ready?" She believed she was but it was fun to ask.

 

[NPC Treasury]

"As ready as I'll ever be." Kay stored the trunk and her satchel away in a secure spot before heading over to a seat and buckling herself in.

"I take it you like the tea? I've packed more for us. I'm never really without it." Which was true. Everyone knew that. She drank tea like some people breathed air or ate food.

Yet now they needed to head off. Rekha Kaarde was the pilot where Kay was not. She had crashed a ship before, so her confidence in being able to not crash was very low. "Shall we try Nar Shadaa first?"