Location: Smugglers Moon
[Hutta Town]
Objective: Make a Deal
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Ever since she’d departed from her ship there had been an artificial taste of something unpleasant lingering in the air that she couldn’t name. Her sensors picked up a significantly higher percentage of pollution, but somehow, that didn’t seem to be the culprit. It triggered in her memory banks in such a way that it reminded her of an oil slick. It was presented as something sickly. A film that coated everything that existed within Smugglers Moon, regardless, of any suggested opulence that the Hutt population desired. It bothered her, but, not for reasons some might think.
She couldn’t feel the desperation or the negative effects that long-standing depravity left behind—Nor could she feel the inherent suffering. Not the way an organic being could. She felt simulations of sadness, empathy, and disgust. That was enough. She had jacked into one too many mainframes within
Hutta Town and the images that had been burned into her, literally, backed up into her save data were enough to make her want to shut down for the night. For a week. A month. A year. Athena wanted to retreat into standby where thinking ended and blissful dark swept in.
The automaton couldn’t see the wickedness from a dreamless slumber. Her synthetic heart didn’t feel like it was working overtime, passing liquids too fast, while simultaneously breaking down.
It was a passing fancy. An error, a flaw, in logic that she immediately dismissed. It was an impossibility. She was not programmed to watch organics endure in silence. She was programmed to
learn.
Overly bright eyes lifted toward the tops of the skyslums that she passed beneath. Gravel and dirt crunched beneath booted feet while she could hear the distant hum of denizens talking in the distance. People were crowded so tightly together here that their heat signatures became an all-consuming blob that scarcely allowed any detection from one lifeform to the other. The constant gleam of garish neon lights caused her oculars to readjust so they could read the notifications surrounding them.
Athena had read on the Dark-Net that Nar Shaddaa was just like Coruscant. Only, without the bureaucrats.
They were wrong.
The synthetic female had seen people running spice, running guns, fencing stolen treasures and antiquities freely. In public. Laws in the traditional sense didn’t exist here. There were planets with dark and seedy districts.
This was different. The entire moon was dark, seedy, and entirely unrepentant. She had dismissed most of the illegal commerce. Most of it. Until she found one thing that twisted her moral compass inside out. One thing, that should never be traded, as it should never be owned.
A light chorus of cat-calls from local dive pulled her focus downward while a mighty belch registered in her auditory systems.
“Yo, girlie! You ain’t from around here are ya. Wanna join us for a drink?”, the voice carried through the street, obviously intoxicated, and unfortunately speaking to her. She noted bulbous eyes and a long tail sliding from beneath a tatty brown wrap. A half-breed Hutt? Was that even possible? Statistically…
Perhaps?
Athena paused and turned to give the patron her full attention. Her smile was genuine and soft in the dim lighting while careful fingers reached up to brush auburn hair behind her ear.
“Not tonight, friend. But many thanks for asking!”, she chimed in politely, before stepping back to allow someone else to walk ahead of her. He seemed like a nice enough fellow, but, she was going to be late if she dallied too long. A few voices groaned in disappointment but she was already whisking off before anything more could be done.
As she finally approached her destination, she tugged her hood up and tucked her hair inside. Occasionally, her eyes could be seen from within, glowing, while she accessed the data stream. The world in a virtual sense was at her fingertips. These people were cautious. They didn’t use the Dark-Web often. It made it hard to keep up-to-date of their plans, however, she was still able to keep track of them. Their travels, and more importantly, their finances. Following the credit transfers of the Black Sun…That led her here.
There was a familiar buzz. This one, she knew. Comms were in use in the vicinity. She couldn’t hear what was being said without slicing in, but, she knew that this was the place. Too many moving pieces on the ground floor.
“Hi there!”, she announced her presence, though, it might have been unnecessary. Athena passed through the gated area, seemingly, without a thought to her own personal safety. She stopped walking just between members of the Hutt Cartel and the Black Sun. The exchange had yet to pass. Her scanners zeroed in on those that were exhibiting any form of movement, especially, those she suspected might be going for their weapons.
“I’d like to make a deal. Who do I speak with?”
“Who the frack are you!”
Athena paused. It was a legitimate question. Or, it would have been. If she was actually a who, a person, and not a replicant made to look like one. Her hands clasped together and she bowed her shoulders slightly.
“Just a wanderer. Please understand—I don’t mean you any harm. I just want to make a deal.”
A sharp sound rang through the air. It was akin to the sound of a rock skipping over a frozen lake—The sound of a blaster going off. Followed by a howl of pain. Athena had moved, only slightly, but far faster than the eye could follow. Enough that the Black Sun member missed her entirely and shot one of the Hutt Cartel in the thigh.
“You idiot!”
“I was shooting at her!”
“This is what you get working with criminals. Give the Black Sun a kilometer and they’ll take a parsec…Or your leg. You really should offer to pay for his medical treatment.”, Athena scolded, lightly, though she seemed genuinely concerned about the member of the Hutt Cartel with the injury. Her words seemed to send both sides into a flurry and she sighed heavily when they began to whip out weapons, aiming at her, or each other, while forgetting the reason they were there. The arguing was devolving while the tension between the groups mounted and surged, threatening, to boil over.
Another shot whizzed by her frame, a little too close, and she shifted to the right. To the left. Each time moving just enough so that she could avoid taking any damage to her core. A shot nicked the cargo container holding the “
goods”, translation, the
slaves and Athena’s eyes lit up.
“Hey! Stop shooting at—Well, me. Someone is going to get hurt. Didn’t anyone ever teach you to play nice?”
Apparently, they didn’t want to talk anymore either.
She danced backward when a fist came flying in her direction as the distance closed between the groups.
“Grab her! We can add her to the pile. Yeah, she talks too much but get rid of her tongue and she’ll more than cover the damage. The deal is still on!”, the Black Sun leader that had shot first ordered. Rather than to keep swinging, or shooting, they began to come to their senses with the new arrangement. It was eerie when it began to sink in.
“Oh…I’m really not the droid you’re looking for…”, she muttered, but, raised a hand up in a defensive position. Her
gloved hand would provide adequate defense but she was severely outnumbered. Athena could fight. She hated to do it.
She didn’t want to hurt anyone.
She also wouldn’t leave real people, living, and breathing in cages and chains.
“The deal I’m offering is pretty simple. We don’t need to fight. I’m here for your cargo. Hand it over, kindly, and I won’t continue draining your bosses accounts that I’ve sliced. If you terminate me, they drain. If I don’t report back to my ship, they drain.”
Athena thought she was very forthwith and business-like. Her words were even punctuated with a smile. Everyone, loved a smile. It seemed to have the opposite effect. In less polite words…
All hell broke loose.