The Huntress I.VII
Lana stuck close to Prikesshk, eagerly sucking up the elevated brisk morning air as the duo strode across the small landing platform, it was sparsely alive with grounds crew. They passed a formally marching squad of Nar Shaddaan Customs soldiers made up of the typical hodge podge races of Hutt thuggery, heading towards an idling ship. Outside a simple utility door at the base of the repulsor platforms tall and narrow main structure, a lightly armed Customs Officer stood guard at attention and a lavish dressed stout and husky blue skinned Twi'lek gentleman seemed to anxiously beckon them his way.
His head-tails were clipped on a slant, so that they hung only to his shoulders, somewhat of a eunuch status amongst his kind. He was dressed in purple robes of layered appearance and varying hues. Hundreds of small glittering gem studs and small precious metal rings were planted along the rims of his ears, nose and lips. His entire body was heavily tatooed in various heavy black lined cultural and social markings, both Twi'lek and Hutt. They were much different in pattern than those on the adolescent Zabrak Ock'lana.
"Come, come!" he called out over the whine of a shuttle warming it's engines, his speech salival and clumsy from his many facial adornments. The Trandoshan hissed a greeting, then having to duck and followed by the young Zabrak, they entered the door. The Twi'lek followed and pulled the door closed behind them resulting in a much quieter atmosphere.
"I um Boosadee Clans Ooffishell Meeneesturr ohb Invoostoogatons, Voodok Kahja, I um obbaseer for Lord Ahnju," he began in lightly garbled speech as he led them through the narrow corridors of the construct. Prikesshk had to angle her head so it didn't scrape the bare piping and conduit running along the ceiling. They passed several passage ways and made a couple turns, many doors were closed, others open revealing small rooms and either empty or randomly populated here and there with the official looking being who'd apparently be interviewing another being clothed in casino or hotel employee garb. There were a small handful of guards standing at attention about the halls, dressed and armed like the one outside on the platform.
"I veel show you oww fundings thush fah on thee imshedent," he clumsily clanged. "In coonnucshun weth Customs, Imprulll and Clumn resoors, vee hab uncovered much,"
Lana interupted from behind Prikesshk as they walked on, "Imperial?"
"Yesh," he motioned in to a compartment as they passed, a pair of bleach white armor clad troopers stood at one wall while an olive clothed and capped officer sat leaning in on and angrily pressuring a Duros who was vehemently denying some accusation. The officer's black gloved hand was shaking in the aliens face. Lana glanced in as she passed, furrowing her brow at observation of the image that'd always been painted for her by Master Ragara. She'd never been so close to an Imperial Agent, she grew anxious and hurried her step closer behind the Trandoshan with the verbal and even visual confirmation,
"Why do you guys need the Empire's help figuring this out? Isn't this Hutt Space?" she asked, adding a tinge of snark to the end.
As they entered a turbo-lift and the doors slid closed she let out a tightly clenched breath of tension in her gut. They waited only a moment as it hummed upwards a few levels.
"Vee wook wiff the Empur en zay wark veeth ush, day reeshpuct oww vays ahn versh. Empur Peepole come to Shmugglerss Moon, they come to Booshtok to, Mooch to gann froom another," he answered.
Lana quietly scoffed at the mention of the Empire and Respect in the same sentence, Ragara had described the usurpation of the Republic by the master schemings of Senator turned Emperor Palpatine to her many times and laid out the history of it all as he knew it. Because of his particular charge of the unique padawan Ock'lana in distance from the Jedi Temple and Council, few members of the Order even knew of the girls existence or his location. Bo-Ka had never had any contact with Yoda, one of few to know the true dark depths of the Emperor, and wasn't even sure the unaccounted for Master was even alive. Throughout The Purge, most of the few and dwindled survivors who clung to existence in secret isolation had little working knowledge of one another other than rumor and word of mouth.
Lana had not set eyes upon another Jedi, nor person she could trust, since Ragara's demise, an event still somewhat cordoned off in her psyche. She knew enough about Palpatine and his Empire to fear and loathe them. She had a dream once about killing a hooded and robbed man who was never visible beyond a shadowed visage even in her subconscious imagination. Long before Bo-Ka Ragara had even told her about the demise of the Republic and the Jedi Order and Palpatine. Since then she'd always imagined it was Palpatine. Ragara preached the fluidity of things like destiny to her, and cautioned her against becoming set on a path of anything besides worship of Light.
The doors hissed open and the trio exited on to the roof of the Beshtak, leaving behind only a short squat exposure of the taller narrow structure of the Hovering Command Platform hugging the side of the much larger building that they'd landed on and entered. Ten meter tall panoram transparisteel glass lined the roofs ledges, blocking the consistent strong Nar Shaddaan breeze and providing an unimpeded view of the surrounding region. Several large typical humanoid sized holes were neatly cut out of it in some places. The roofs ground was visibly blackened and scarred in many areas especially along ventiliation outlets and other exposures. Far across from where they walked, a large several meter wide portion of the roof surface itself had collapsed entirely in from the intensity of the flame. Broken chunks of metal and material hung down. A dozen or so workers were in the process of repairing it with various manual and technological tools and raw or fabricated materials. There were numerous other beings about the roof. A News crew was filming in one far corner and at the one across another pair of white-armor clad Imperial troopers stood.
Prikesshk and the Twi'lek exchanged some queries and information regarding the various investigators findings about the obvious roof insertion. At one point, the reptilian Tracker stopped abruptly and stooped down to pick up a tuft of dark fiber or hair and examined it while walking on before tucking it in to a small pouch on her chest. Lana overheard the topic but was rather more interested in the various goings on about them. In the immediate vicinity and the distance, all at once. The roaring speeders and crowded commotion, the larger distant starships coming and going from ports. This world was alive more than she'd ever imagined. Catching glimpses only in the past in her occassional displays for Ahnju's manipulation, now she felt the massive dense concentration of life coursing about. It was inundating to her senses almost to a point of intoxication if she didn't Forcibly block some of it out.
They approached the roofs main service turbo-lift berth, where outside another one of the now familiar uniformed Customs Officers stood guard. The arch of the door way was heavily scarred from fire and smoke. They entered and the reptilian and Twi'lek continued to exchange as they traveled down only two or three levels,
"..Seecund entwee poyent, diss lift tunnel. Though lift noot reculled, ant otter blast dows open via unknown muns, no hock ob terminal, credit ond utiletes hockun nebba breech strooctors leeft contwols,"
The turbo-lift stopped at the 28th floor. The door whooshed open to a precisely tailored olive garbbed Imperial Officer and his small attache of personnel whom he was addressing directly in front of them. He was standing stoic with arms folded behind back, he wore no cap but sported a sleek dark brown mane of near-shoulder length hair. A finely dressed short human woman of small build and nearly shaved blonde hair save for short up-swooped tufts in front stood with her weight shifted to one leg with a datapad in hand entering information while a tall white armored and masked trooper stood behind them holding his large blaster rifle against his shoulder, his helmet design marked in the ever evolving permanent black fiendish grin of the would be designated Stormtrooper.
Lana's eyes widened as the trooper seemed to stare down at her, she took half a step partially concealing herself behind Prikesshk's large intimidating form, though trying not too obviously to draw even more attention. Her heart pounded and her fears raced, maybe she should have made her dash for freedom already, but to where? dive off the side of a thirty story building? Oh, to be tasting freedom from the dank imprisonment in Ahnju's clutches and delivered directly in to Imperial hands..
"..make sure we have enough fuel to make it straight to Coruscant, I don't want to have to stop in another filthy alien infested bombed out hovel along the way.. Ah! Minister Kahja!," he casually diverted long after taking peripheral notice of the lifts exiting occupants.
"..you're just in time for me to bid my gracious partings upon you!" the well manicured and postured man announced, placing a small holo-disk in to the stout ornate Twi'lek's hand while palming it, then summarized "..a field report of our findings. Myself and my team are returning to Ubiqtorate, I'm satisfied here that there are no Jedi meddlings.."
The veil of worry in Lana was pierced by a link peaking her interests. The mere mention of Jedi flooded her heart with butterflies. The Twi'lek interuppted the Imperial Officer, "Cun stel credeet without fwonting Defel. If noot Jedah, Den who?"
The Intelligence Officer was annoyed and countered, "..I was getting to that.. Our analysis of blast residue from the detonation point indicates a plasma based Triethylene glycol dinitrate of simple structure and known to be used by Bothan Terrorist Cells. They are themselves more than qualified covert infantry operatives. The Defel, a distraction from the real gain. Nearly Nine million credits, a sum surely to cost the Empire ten fold elsewhere,"
The Imperial Officer and his company then pushed through and passed the arrivals who were displaced from the lift and turned to face them, Lana stuck to Prikesshk's side still and breathing half a sigh of relief at being seemingly ignored. Then, the Officer glanced down at her,
"Maybe if you enlisted some help other than senseless lizards and toddlers, you and the Hutts would be able to figure these kinds of things out for yourselves," he finished with a cocked smirk as the turbo-lift slid shut and shot upward.
Lana had allowed insult to trump fear and managed to react with a scowl for him before the doors hissed shut, then glanced to the Twi'lek, "You were saying something about the Empire and Respect?"
Prikesshk did not react to the humor. The Twi'lek grimaced sorely while pocketing the holo-disk and ignored her, ushering them on to observe the scene of the Defel floors attack. . .
