Well color me pink with tiger stripes

[Breanna Volsh]

The lights of the Palace lit up the skies above it, the shimmering shades of pink stretched up towards the sky fanning out till everything around it was bathed in pink.

Breanna stood on the small balcony outside of the office looking outwards. She was embarking on something that would take her dangerously close to the darkness of emotions that she had escaped from just months ago. Months ago when the emotions of so many filled with hate, angry, and deception filled every waking moment. Infecting her until she no longer was Breanna the zeltron she was Breanna the shadow.

But here on Nar Shaddaa among all the thoughts and emotions of deception, hate, and anger she had the Palace. A lifeboat for her and others who needed time to consider the joys and pleasures of life.

What she was going to be doing would take her dangerously close to where she promised him she would not go. She wanted his council this night, as she wanted his council most nights. There were things that he had experience with that could give her incite. But the palace now had been open a few months, and her new endeavor was weaving slowly through to the people she needed to make contact with.

She thought of him as she stood there the gentle tones of music drifting to her as if knowing what she was thinking

It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now.
Said I wouldn't call but I've lost all control and I need you now.
And I don't know how I can do without.
I just need you now.

Another shot of whiskey, can't stop looking at the door.
Wishing you'd come sweeping in the way you did before.​

And I wonder if I ever cross your mind?
For me it happens all the time​

​

Where are you [member="Jericho"]

It was time to go down and meet someone with the same ideas she had, someone would could help provide a rest station and transportion.

[member="Chiasa Kritivaas"]​

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

For the most part Chiasa left Nar Shaddaa to [member="Khaleel Malvern"] but she still split her time between the two Casinos so she was on planet often enough that she caught a fair bit of the gossip. Of late whispers had been reaching her. Interesting whispers.

A new business venture was no big suprise on the Smugglers Moon, and even before her agreement with Khal, Chiasa had never policied them all that heavily. If you wanted Raven protection and to ensure no trouble was started in your property you paid a percentage. If you didn't it wasn't like she'd ever hunted anyone down. Really the only competition she objected to was criminal competition if they didn't acknowledge Red Raven supremacy. After all, the Ravens themselves were proof of what happened when a small up and coming organization was ignored by a larger one. Ask the Black Suns how that had gone.

What was a surprise was that this one seemed to have more going on than it seemed to. Henbeddestr could be counted upon to find any new place with women and booze, and he could also be counted upon to catch gossip, and what he'd brought to her was a tale of slaves.

And someone helping them escape and start over.

Chiasa was not.. She was not what one would call a humanitarian, by any stretch. She was firmly fixed on profits, but as someone who had been sold as a child. As someone who had been raised largely as an object, a belonging.. She didn't wage war on slavery, she was allies with some who practiced it and never protested, but she was not in favour of it. Her Casinos employed none. Everyone was paid a slightly above average wage, and they had dental. This was partially to ensure their loyalty, and partially because that was how she felt things ought to work.

In any case, she wanted to get a feel for the situation herself, and so she was here at the Pink Pleasure Palace. The zeltron pheromones in the air made for a heady brew, even to one who was used to the cocktail Dakita pumped out almost constantly. Still, even as she lingered on a drink, enjoying the setting her attention was keen and her mind was sharp.

[member="Breanna Volsh"]

 

[Breanna Volsh]

[SIZE=12pt]Zara came running into Bree’s office, “you won’t believe who is in the Palace, you have to see come here” She went around and grabbed Bree’s arm bringing her to the door to look out.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“See there, the tiger stripped Twi’lek, do you know who that is?” Bree could hear a cross between urgency and awe in Zara voice.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Bree had to think it was obvious that this was someone that she should know who was, and if she did not she could count on Zara knowing.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]She bit her lip for a moment, “Oh..I think I do. Hmm, I wonder if she’s sizing us up, or if she’s here to relax” Taking a deep breath she put her hand on Zara, “I’ll go talk to her, you chill” Adjusting the lightweight dress she wore for the evenings here in the Palace Bree made her way towards [member="Chiasa Kritivaas"][/SIZE]


[SIZE=12pt]What to say? Bree shrugged she would be herself as she approached, “Good evening, I’m Bree, can I help you, refresh you drink perhaps” Bree stood now to the right of the twi’lek from here she could take in the details of the woman’s form. She was stressed for certain, but that did not tell her what she wanted.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Bree would need patience to find this out. She smiled. Always smile. She had to.[/SIZE]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

The Twi'lek turned her head, taking in the Zeltron who spoke to her. Bree? Then this must be..

"[member="Breanna Volsh"] then, I assume."

She said easily with a smile. Not as a Crime Lord might, looking at someone and letting them know that she knew exactly who they were, where they lived, where they're family was. Rather as one might greet a colleague one has corresponded with but not met in person. She didn't have much on the Zeltron, she'd not bothered to set the Slicers loose, she'd just checked to see what name the permits were registered in. Easy. Still, sometimes a little edge was all you needed.

"My drink is fine, you're staff have been very attentive as far as keeping it topped up. I'm quite impressed with your operation. Chiasa Kritivaas, Red Ravens, by the way."

Likely the other woman already knew, but just in case. Nar Shaddaa was one of the few places where the Twi'lek was well known. She wouldn't say famous, nor infamous, but known. Nar Shaddaa and Antecedent. Everywhere else the Ravens were fairly hands off. Well. Drogheda would likely remember her as well. That thought amused her, though she kept the laughter internal, maintaining instead her friendly smile.

 

[Breanna Volsh]

"You assume correctly, I am Breanna Volsh, everyone calls me Bree though" How very interesting the Red Raven's Leader was here in the palace. Bree looked in her eyes and saw no animoisty, not challenges. "I'm glad you could come and check us out, and thank you they try hard, they're happy so they are motivated" Bree's head nodded as she spoke.

So now what did one say to the Red Raven who already had her drink did not seek to have it filled up, "Care for the half a credit tour?" There was more to see than the bar, and the entry way the belly dancer was wandering around the bar, and they had not had a fire eater since the opening night. But they did have a band and they played almost anything anyone could think of.

Bree stepped back she wanted [member="Chiasa Kritivaas"] to come with her that way any uncomfortable questions would not be asked in the open. Under scrutiny of anyone eyes that should not be looking.

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

"Morale is important."

She agreed with an amused quirk of her brow and a slight smile. Even more so when you ran a business and organization in which people you didn't even know wanted you dead. Loyalty. Loyalty above all else. She kept her employees happy because she knew that the subversion of even a seemingly unimportant employee could end in death for her. Disaster for the Ravens. That it also made them better at their jobs was really only a convenient by product.

Still, if the whispers were true, what [member="Breanna Volsh"] said could be read into even further. Could be read as they were happy and motivated because they were free and working a job of their own choosing that they were actually being paid and valued for, rather than doing what they were instructed because they were owned.

"I would be happy to take the tour, and I am sure it is worth more than a half credit!"

 

[Breanna Volsh]

"Ahh now that remains to be seen does it not [member="Chiasa Kritivaas"]?" Bree felt as if she were checking them out and over, "Many of those you see here in the Palace are people I grew up with on Zetros, once the Sith came..they needed, or wanted a change. So..they came here. Zara who is the sarcastic mothering type was one of my closet friends, and still is."

Bree had just given a piece of information to Chiasa if someone wanted to hurt Bree they need only hurt Zara, or any of the workers considering they were all friends. Bree walked Chiasa past the curtained rooms to the lift that would take them a floor up, "I have a room for gambling Zeltrons are very competitive and the lure of gambling seems to satisfy the need at home. But here where they get to play games against others that are not of their species that seems to get them really revved up." Bree laughed as they entered the lift within moments they were one floor up and looking into the casino, "I know the Ravens run a few casinos, can I ask you a business question?"

It was hard sometimes when making decisions to know whether she was doing the right thing with all the information she could get.

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

"Mmm, two major ones."

The Twi'lek agreed. The Dragon Palace and Golden Nautolan were almost obscenely successful, as well as providing a convenient front and home base. And they could launder their own credits. Always useful.

She was busy puzzling over the information [member="Breanna Volsh"] was choosing to give her however. Saying that she'd grown up with many of these people was one thing. That could imply as much strength as weakness. That they were loyal and would not turn on her. The bit about Zara however.. It was like Breanna had just rolled over and offered her underbelly to the decidedly predatory Twi'lek.

Kst, you are too used to dealing with criminals. Not everyone plays dominance games and hides or is even aware of their weaknesses.

"The Sith do have a way of upsetting things. And of course, ask away."

 

[Breanna Volsh]

[member="Chiasa Kritivaas"]​

​

Bree was not accustomed to playing any kind of game when it came to speaking, she spoke truthfully and usually respectfully. She knew Chiasa to be a leader and anything that the woman would share with her about Nar Shaddaa she would consider a mitzvah. She smiled at her, "Are you wondering why I am talking soo much, I'm a bit nervous I could use a friend or two, or even the appearance of a friend or two" Bree was't sure how to approach some of the subjects that she was thinking on.

"There are rumors about leaders having been raised as slaves, and escaping to exact a price from their prior owners" Bree walked very slowly, "I know that there are slave pits here on Nar Shaddaa, and I know that the galaxy is not an easy place to make trusted friends, or even frenemies." Bree took a deep breath, "What do you think of slavery?"

It was out, it was all she could do and now she had to wait to see what Chiasa thought.

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

What a bizarre conversation this was, but amusing.

"I'm not entirely certain that's a business question, though I do not employ slaves. The Ravens used to of course. Dancers and the like mostly. Now we do not. Largely because they're a security risk. No matter how well you treat a slave they are still a slave, and more likely to act against you to gain their own freedom. Why should they feel they owe you loyalty or anything else? Such concepts are for people, not belongings, and owning a slave reduces them to objects. So. I do not employ slaves. I pay above industry standard wagers, bonuses, time off, dental care and so forth. The end result being a highly motivated loyal staff, and likely one of the reasons I can afford to carry on my day to day life as I like with a bounty on my head."

There was the business answer.

"On the personal side, yes, leaders can be raised as slaves. Why not? I did. Though I never bothered with vengeance"

She did not elaborate fully. Not yet in any case. While her past may have shaped her, she did not dwell on it. It had been, it could not now be changed, might as well focus on the current day.

"I am not in favour of slavery, but this is Nar Shaddaa, and I am a criminal. For me to try and stomp it out entirely.. It would take too much of my time and earn me too many enemies, and even then it would likely fail. Nar Shaddaa is Nar Shaddaa. To try and police it or tame it.. Largely impossible. I could kill every being on this plant to try and bring it under control. In a week it would be back to business as usual. It occupies a legendary place in peoples minds and the galaxies stories. Those who make their living illehally come here. It is as it is. The Ravens as a group do not indulge in slavery. But we employ those who do, and they are too valuable an asset for me to dictate what they may or may not do when I am not paying them."

"That is what I think of slavery."

She finished, with a small shrug.

[member="Breanna Volsh"]

 

[Breanna Volsh]

Bree was bazarre anyone who met her could actually say that their conversation bounced from one item to another very quickly perhaps she had a form of ADHD for a zeltron. Maybe that was why she tried to keep everything soothing with low lights, and music. Who knew even Bree did not know she only knew that in her mind she had an agenda and tactfulness was not her forte and when she had the ear of someone so important like [member="Chiasa Kritivaas"] how could she first not be nervous and second try to make the best of every moment that she had with her.

The answer she got Bree felt was honest.

"I do not agree with slavery myself, as I have already said these are my friends. They needed work, I couldn't let them" Bree half smiled and looked at Chiasa, "be with out it." they took a few more steps. "There are many places across the galaxy that use slaves, and I'm not talking about the indentured ones. I'm speaking about ones that are taken against their will and forced into servitude."

Bree was saying too much she knew this, "So you do not like slavery but you know that in order to remain in your position you must turn a blind eye to it" She took a breath thinking on her words trying not to jump all over, "Do the Ravens deal in drugs?" Bree remembered the visit by Sempra and how she had felt about it all, but perhaps there was a way around some of this, and to find out if the Ravens would help her with escaped slaves, so long as it was not headline news on the holovids.

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

"Not an entirely blind eye but.. Selective blindness shall we say?"

She offered after a moments thought. If every major group in the galaxy came together and outlawed slavery, it would still exist in some form on some out of reach world or hidden beneath layers of seeming. The Ravens alone.. Not only would it cut into profits and waste an ungodly amount of manpower but at best it would just drive credits and business out of their corner of the Galaxy.

"Drugs? Yes."

That was.. an understatement. While they might not deal in slaves, they absolutely dealt drugs, their networks were extensive and incredibly lucrative. Of course there again there were standards not seen before. The drugs they sold were pure. Some might kill you, some might be addictive, but they weren't cut with the kind of crud often seen in other organizations. They also didn't sell to kids and they rarely accepted anything other than credits, which might not have seemed like a big step forward until you thought of all the women who had sold heir bodies for drugs or the parents who'd traded off their own offspring.. And since that at least was one forum where she was well and truly justified in removing any competition with extreme prejudice.. Her standards were largely maintained.

[member="Breanna Volsh"]

 

[Breanna Volsh]

Bree nodded she still had the bag that Sempra had given her, and he was preparing a new batch for her to sell. She was still quite concerned about drug trafficking it just felt wrong.

She was definitely at odds with herself still. "I get people in here all the time making me "offers"" Bree shook her head, "I'm concerned that if I don't take an offer that they'll sneak em in here drugs that is. Drugs create traffic and I don't want to see.. " She stopped again she had been close to telling [member="Chiasa Kritivaas"] what she was doing.

"So..." It was then that Zara came running around a corner. She stopped looked from Chiasa to Bree, each time opening her mouth to speak and yet nothing came out.

"Zara, what?" Sometimes It only took a reminder but this time. Bree could see she was struggling with words, "Oh for the goddess' sake spit it out"

"There was crash, some of them are hurt...and and I don't know...." It was Brees turn now she had not gotten to this part yet and, Bree walked to Zara, "how many are hurt Zara"

She nodded ' Um m...I think they said four and the pilot they're were coming in over the Black Hand's district and no one knows the ship went down"

Bree looked to Chiasa, "I have bad history with this gang, and these are my friend that are down..I can't leave them there..."

Zara was jumping around, Bree grabbed her, "stop" her friend was very emotional everything was worn on her sleeve. At times it was quite cute like when she was all warm and fuzzy trying to tempt Miles into her bed, but right now it was annoying.

Zara started to fuss, "BUT WHAT IF..."

Bree clenched her teeth hard, "I have to get to that ship before anyone else" Could she ask her for help, and if she did would she give it. "Can you help me?" It was precious cargo getting to them, and then getting out not so easy.

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

"This is your business. Your territory. If you do not wish drugs here, do not have them, though it is common practice to have at least the softer varieties available. I will not force you to carry certainly, and you may use my name to keep the smaller predators at bay if you like."

This one needs to find her teeth and claws if she's to last.. She wants to protect all these people, that is clear, but you can't save people just with love and good intentions. Not here. Not on Nar Shaddaa.

This was a feeling the Twi'lek could relate to. Threaten a Raven and see what happened if she found out about it. Her wrath was both immediate and lasting. Most people were either fire or ice when angered. Chiasa was both, and the majority of it was triggered when she felt the need to protect her territory and her people.

Then the interruption. A secret ship, injured, some little gang that had not even ranked on her radar. Well wasn't this just getting interesting?

"I can. And will. In what form?"

Without knowing Breanna and the situation better, she didn't know what the other wanted. A word from the Twi'lek would see Raven forces and droids descending en-mass at any location. Or perhaps she just wanted personal, individual help. Maybe she even just needed medical assistance, and if that was so the FAU-V1's could do the job nicely. Technically they were trauma droids, but they could do the fiddlier work at leisure as well.

[member="Breanna Volsh"]

 

[Breanna Volsh]

[SIZE=12pt]Bree looked at Chiasa this was a strong woman before her, one that she wasn’t sure would tolerate stupidity. This made Bree smile for she really wasn’t a stupid zeltron she was bright, she pretended at times to be stupid it worked in her favor, sometimes.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Chiasa was a woman that Bree had been trying to get a sense of since they began talking it was her way to know, to feel who they were, what they were using her natural talents of sensing emotions. The Ravens Leader was hard to read but her language said something, her body said something.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]She took Chiasa by the arm gently to pull her closer to hear her, “There’s so much I could tell you right now but I had to know if you were someone with some kind of moral compass. I think you are, everything about you, from the way you hold your head, position your body, and speak and now helping without really knowing anything. ”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Bree smiled she couldn’t help it she may have found someone to rely on in this, keeping her voice extremely low, “that ship is bringing in a group of people from Sith space, they are on the run. I need to get to them before anyone else realizes who and what they are, and get them here. I have…” deep breath, “contacts that will help them but I have to get them here to the palace”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Now this was the tricky part she had just admitted to doing something that anyone could turn her in for, take the Palace from her, or just out right kill her where she stood.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“Am I right about you that you can’t stand to see others enslaved against their will just because someone can make them.” Bree wasn’t talking indentured she was taking forced labor.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Here is where her senses either made her friend, or got her killed.[/SIZE]

[member="Chiasa Kritivaas"]​