Who You Gonna Call- Huttbusters [Sleheyron, Close]

A well of unwillingness began to form in he pit of Darvek's stomach as he came to the realization that he was about to come out of hyperdrive and would need to switch to manual controls to make the landing on Sleheyron. He pulled up the controls with his left hand and did his best to keep the Snakehead from swerving and ducking as he made his drunken descent into the atmosphere. With his right hand, he held a strip of cloth and an icepack up to a bleeding welt at the top of his forehead, making it as difficult to see as it was to drive.

Bypassing the spaceports, Darvek instead decided to land his ship directly in front of Loro the Hutt's palace. His ship finally touched ground, a violent thud and a shake reminding him that he had to replace his landing gear. He sat there in the cockpit, settling his nerves with a few heavy breaths, and wiping himself off so as to look even slightly presentable in front of a cartel overlord.

After a brief moment, he kicked open the cockpit and hopped out of his comfy leather chair, and onto the harsh dusty terrain, throwing his wet bloody towel to the ground as he did so. He stretched, popped his knuckles, and spun on his heels to face the ship again. He focused his attention on the figure bound, gagged, and slumped in the passenger seat behind his own.

When he was told he had to bring Loro a "Pretty Jedi," Echani had been the first species on his search list. Many were Force-sensitive, and you could always trust the children of Eshan to have pretty children of their own. There was only one thing he had overlooked when he had picked out the pretty Echani Jedi, and that was their feisty martial-arts prowess. First step had been easy enough, catch her off-guard somewhere she felt safe. So he stuck a tranquilizer dart in her cute butt while she was in the Corescant spaceport and smuggled her out Sure he had probably been seen by about twelve different surveillance devices, but he really didn't care at that point. What he hadn't bet on was a Jedi's great resistance against things like tranquilizers, and she woke up twenty minutes earlier than expected, and caught him belting her in to the passenger seat. Sure she was drugged out of her gourd, but that didn't keep her from punching him in the head. Three times. In the same spot. He tranq'd her again, put his beast into hyperdrive, and the rest was history.

So here he was, lightly slapping her face, commanding in a loud voice for her to wake up. When she seemed to be coming to, Darvek reached behind her and untied the rope which had been keeping a ball of cloth in her mouth. "Get up get up get up! We're here." He said in a hurried tone. "The sooner you wake up, the sooner I can give you to a giant slug so he can fondle you, now c'mon."

He all but lifted her out of the seat himself, setting her down as gently as he could on her knees before reaching back in to grab a few items. "No Mind-tricks, and no Mind reading either! I'll be thinking of Twi'lek...um...instructional vids for the duration, so keep out." The last thing he pulled out was a keyring with about five lightsabers linked to it, including hers. He stuffed that into an inside pocket in his jacket, then he pulled her to her feet. "We're all ready now, move."

And with that, they made their way inside.

The harsh light of reality began pouring into Lana's nervous system as her eyelids fluttered open. Before she even surveyed her surroundings with her eyes, the Echani felt with the force.

Immediately she knew something was wrong. Not because she sensed something wrong, but because she couldn't sense much of anything. Now that she realized it, she couldn't really concentrate on anything. She tried to remember how she had gotten there, but it was all so fuzzy.

She was awakened by a Weequay man slapping her face lightly and hollering at her. This irritated the usually defensive padawan, but the tranquilizers in her system made her drowsy, compliant, and very, very dulled. She felt suppressed, but very real, disdain, almost horror, when the man had placed her lightsaber with a collection of others.

Unfortunately for Lana, the drugs made her both unwilling and unable to retrieve the silver cylinder. If it weren't for those drugs, she would easily be able to retrieve her weapon and take this man captive. But she wasn't thinking about any of that at the moment.

The man was saying something, but Lana wasn't listening. She was looking around the room in a dazed state, the effects of the tranquilizers ever so slowly dissipating. Unfortunately, her force enhanced metabolism would never process the drugs quickly enough for her to make an escape.

The Echani Padawan, now a mere drugged damsel, followed her captor as he led her out of the ship and into another place. She didn't really know (or care at this point) where she was going or what she was going to do when she got there.

Sleheyron was pretty much a slime-ball of a world, or so Sirius thought. The planet's economy seemed to be based off of tibanna gas, which made the city they were in full of smog. The Knight coughed as he stepped off the shuttle into the lazy spaceport. There didn't seem to be much activity today.

The shuttle was a non-descriptive piece of junk, with no markings of any kind. It was like it's passengers, dressed in civilian clothing with their lightsabers hidden away. They didn't want to advertise in Hutt Space that they were Jedi. Sirius was dressed in his usual green jacket and denim pants, with his lightsaber tucked into his jacket.

Sirius was on Sleheyron with another from the Order, a Jedi named Theron. The other Jedi was a rare sight in the galaxy, he was from an alien race known as the Chiss. Theron sported blue skin, black hair, and red eyes, the former of which had a tendency to creep Sirius out a little. He always assosciated an eye color like that with the darkside. Theron was anything but, though. And as Theron was the elder Knight, Sirius would be following his lead.

The two Jedi were here on a rescue mission. Another Jedi had been abducted, had taken here from what they knew. At least, Sleheyron was where the distress beacon had taken them. If the Jedi was still here, they didn't know for certain. The recording that Sirius and Theron had seen of the abduction was vague at best. They could tell who the Jedi was other than an Echani, and they didn't know who the kidnapper was. But it was clear the man had not bee a Force user.

In fact, if the distress beacon hadn't been activated, Sirius doubted whether or not they would've actually found the Jedi. They had so little to go off of from the start, that it had been hard to piece things together. Then again, Sirius wasn't the best detective. He was better with assignments that were straight and to the point.

The Jedi Knight produced a datapad from inside his jacket and flicked the screen on. The distress beacon was still operational, as they could tell from the display. It showed a top-down view of the city, with a blinking red light where the beacon was and an arrow where the Jedi were. The map itself was very plain, and they could tell nothing apart from buildings, the size of the structure, and streets.

“Good, the beacon hasn't been found yet. I say we go find out just where it is, and then try to look for a back way in.”

The Knight started in a low voice. He didn't want to be overheard by anyone that didn't need to hear. Sirius left the display up, studying it and waiting for answer from the other Jedi.

Lana was led through a massive gate, and past a veritable legion of guards. Security was alert now, and it would take a veritable army to make it through the main gate. Loro's fury at losing his prized slave had been anything but slaked, and it had been continually building.

The throne room itself was eerily quiet, devoid of dancers and music. Loro had found flaws with every single one and had thrown them all into the dungeons to be whipped, video records of which he would later watch, savoring the gruesome pain. It was all he had left now that his carnal vices were so frustrated.

Guards stood at regular intervals gripping blaster rifles and polearms, and into the center of the floor the Weequay and his captive were taken.

Loro's bulbous eyes took in the details of the captive, summing her up like a customer at a meat market. She was a prime cut all right, tender and succulent. She was slender, with snowy hair. Loro liked what he saw.

"Ohohohoho..." He chortled, a low rumble in his throat. "I like your offering bounty hunter, you may go. But bring me her lightsaber first."

The new Major Domo stepped forward and spoke in Basic, translating.

"The splendid and regal Loro the Hutt is pleased with your tribute, and will allow you to depart as soon as you present him with the Jedi's lightsaber."

The first thought to cross his mind as he was lead through the big doors and down the hall was, Wow, Loro's really stepped up security since last time. No longer did one solitary, drug-addled guard stand watch outside of The powerful Hutt's palace. Replacing him were three, abnormally large Gamorreans, each scowling down the stairs as if there was an invisible enemy at the bottom who they could only kill by leering through them. Looks like he learned his lesson since I was last here. That made the Weequay feel slightly smug as one of Loro's goons waved for him to follow.

Once again he was greeted by a musty smell, but he found it lacking the sounds of tableware clinking against plates, music, and a large slug making displeased grunts in his ugly language. Inside the room he found not only a sulking, rage-filled Hutt, but even more guards with more guns. Darvek leaned down to the intoxicated snow-maned maiden and whispered "Overkill." so that only she could hear. Two bulbous eyes widened as they stepped into the light, and a great chortle echoed through the room and down the hall.

<I like your offering bounty hunter, you may go. But bring me her lightsaber first.>

Obviously, Darvek had just brightened what was otherwise an awful day for the Hutt, judging by the unusual amount of exercise the slug was getting, wriggling in anticipation. A new, yet equally greasy majordomo approached, and putting out his hand he said, The splendid and regal Loro the Hutt is pleased with your tribute, and will allow you to depart as soon as you present him with the Jedi's lightsaber.

Darvek stuffed his hand into his pocket, grumbling as he did so. "Yeah yeah I know what he said. <I speak it>." He retrieved his keyring and searched through them. His memory not being what it used to, he had to count through them to remember which one he had jut added. To check if he had the right one, he hit the button, and the room was flooded with Cyan light for a brief instance. As the blade leapt from the hilt, one of the guards who had been nodding off leapt to attention, having been startled by the noise, and waved his gun around the room, causing several of the others to chuckle lightly.

The blade deactivated as quickly as it had been ignite, and Darvek put it in the majordomo's open hand. As the domo began to turn away , Darvek gripped the hilt tighter, pulling him back into earshot so he could murmur, "Splendid and regal? If you sound like you're trying too hard he'll give you the same treatment as the last guy." Then he let the unsettled man return to his boss' side.

"That's her lightsaber no doubt. Just watch yourself around her," He pointed to the ugly gash above his right brow. "She's a feisty one." Darvek was relieved to be leaving, the Jedi Distress beacon hidden in his ship was probably running out of juice.

It was safe to say that Lana was pissed off. Not only had she been kidnapped like a helpless schoolgirl, but she had been brought to the slimiest, sleaziest place in the galaxy. She, a senior Jedi Padawan, was unable to defend herself, much less other people.

As she was led through the palace, the Echani began to slowly recover a sensible level of sobriety. Her force enhanced metabolism combined with the musty rank of the Hutt's lair gradually wore down the sluggish effects of the tranquilizers.

The Jedi captive became vaguely aware of a great number of guards, who were all brandishing weapons of various make and model. She began to process the scene, albeit, slowly. Her dazed mind concluded that there was slim-to-none chance of escape, and it was best not even to attempt it until later. Much later.

Now only slightly under the influence of the tranquilizers, Lana was quite aware when she was brought into Loro's chamber. Her captor, still blurry, exchanged words with what looked to her like an overfed slug and another figure she couldn't identify. Sometimes they spoke in Basic, sometimes in another language. Either way, the Echani didn't understand much of anything. She did, however, notice her lightsaber being handed off to the unknown figure.

She objected, but all that came out was an unintelligible babble, much to the amusement of Loro's cronies. Lana couldn't read them, as her connection with the force was just as fuzzy as her eyesight. It worried her, made her very uncomfortable, when she was not one with the force.

At least she still had her tunic.

Having followed the small, undescriptive on the datapad, Sirius soon found himself outside on the the largest buildings on the street. It was a large, square structure with a dome on top. There was no tactfulness to the building. No attempt to hide it. And the armed guards outside did nothing to help that fact, only keep ordinary people away. Sirius supposed the smell of the gamorreans helped as well.

The little bleeping dot on the datapad, which marked the beacon, was on the otherside of the building from Sirius. Had anyone been looking on, they would have just assumed he was a tourist, looking at a map like he was lost. And that was exactly how Sirius wanted to look. So causally he walked around the side of the building, giving it enough of a berth to not raise suspicion.

Once on the otherside, one could clearly make out a few small landing pads through gaps in the wall around the estate. And one of the pads was occupied at the moment by a freighter. The map was showing that the beacon was either inside or underneath the freighter. Then the small glowing dot was gone. It just vanished off the pad. A look of confusion crossed over Sirius's face. Either something was jamming the signal, the beacon had bee destroyed, or it had died. Whatever happened, it had done it's job and gotten him here.

A small debate went on in Sirius's head. He knew where the Jedi was now. Or at least, where they had been. He should fall back, and call in some reinforcement. But by the time they got here, the Jedi could be gone. Moved off planet again. He had to act quickly to save them. That was the priority for this mission, after all. Save the captured Jedi.

Stowing the datapad in his jacket, Sirius made up his mind. He'd try to get into the building as quietly as possible, and look for any signs or clues. Smoothly vaulting over the side wall with a Force-induced jump, Sirius landed quietly on the yawn on the otherside. The sun was getting low in the sky, stretching the shadows of the wall and the Jedi Knight.

Luckily, the guards weren't patrolling this area right now. It, like the rest of the estate, was lavish and beautiful. A few trees dotted the landscape, short and blooming with flowers. The trees protected all sorts of plants underneath them. Flowers, ferns, bushes. A cobblestone walkway ran though the area as well, circling back on itself in several areas.

The docks were anything but he same as the garden. Cold, dark, depressing. Greys filled the area, devoid of color save for yellow markings on the durasteel. And the place was untidy. An oil spill there, stacks of cargo going in and coming out there. The cargo created pseudo-towers, up to two stories high. What looked like little streets wove in and out of the city of cargo. A shabby freighter, the one housing the beacon, was the only ship around.

Sirius ran as silently as possible to the landing area, ducking into the maze as he did. No sooner than Sirius having found some cover, a small group of thugs came around. Four of them, two Rodians, a Bothan, and a Gamorrean. They were all armed with blaster rifles. Sirius thought that whoever owned this place was paranoid, or he expected some sort of rescue. They didn't need to be that armed to protect crates. Either way, things would be more difficult.

The Jedi Knight round the crates as the thugs came around, keeping out of eye contact. One of the Rodians looked around, as if he heard the Jedi. Sirius hoped he didn't. He caught his breath, staying as silent as possible. Leaning against the wall of crates, Sirius listened for anything that would tell him he was found, and he and used the Force to tell how far the guard was from him. If he was discovered now, before he made it to the Jedi, then it was all over. They might as well take them off-world, as he wouldn't have a second try at this.

But the guard soon forgot about it, and went back to the topic at hand with his co-worker, particularly the Bothan. His accent in Basic was one of the better ones Sirius had heard from an alien, but still had a slur to it. None the less, he was perfectly fine to understand. And Sirius wanted to just that. Any information was good information.

“Sho, did you shee the new shlave?”

“The Echani girl? Kind of hard to miss her.”

“I heard shhe wash a Jedi.”

“Was being the keyword, Kenti.”

The Jedi was Echani? The first thoughts that sprung to Sirius's mind was that of Lana. His friend, using the term for lack of a better one, was also Echani. Worry swelled up in Sirius. Sure, they had decided to not take thing any further because Sirius left for the Blades. But that didn't mean he stopped caring. Sirius tried to tell himself that the same worry would come around for any Jedi, despite who it was. A little voice in the back of his head told him that he was wrong, this only popped up because he thought about Lana.

Sirius shut that voice out for now, though. He didn't need it affecting his thinking. But this train of thought was absurd. Lana was still a padawan, and therefore confided the to the Temple. There were plenty of Echani in the Order, too. Running into Lana like this was a one-in-a-million chance. Sirius tried to use reason to calm his mind. He needed to focus. If that didn't happen, well then this rescue was going to go very poorly, no matter who was involved.

The soonest the guards passed, Sirius climbed to the top of the stack of cargo, using the Force for small jumps. From there, he could get a clear view of the area. The landing pad. The maze of cargo. The back entrance and the guards there. In a low crouch, he saw it all. And across from him on the building, there was a balcony on the second story that was unoccupied. That was how he could get in.

Taking a jump at the platform, Sirius threw Force in yet another jump. It was just enough, as the Jedi Knight caught himself on the yellow stone railing. Releasing a soft 'Oof' from the impact, Sirius started to pull himself up and get into the building.

Loro laughed boisterously over the proclamation that the Echani girl was feisty, and he just said one thing.

Good!

---

In the security office, a Bothan man frowned as he looked at an alarm.

"What is it?" A Weequay guard asked as he cradled his blaster rifle like a newborn child. He was annoyed by the beeping sound.

"The balcony in the garden has an alarm on it. Do you think Danari forgot the code again?"

The Weequay scoffed. "Probably, that Zabrak b*tch doesn't know a damn thing. Why Loro keeps her around is beyond me."

The Bothan shrugged. "Well, she's pretty, and good smugglers are hard to come by. Go check it out. Take another guard with you, just in case.

---

In the room, Danari Ost frowned in the middle of changing clothes. There was a noise on the balcony, which meant just one thing. Tarnl was probably throwing stones at the window from the garden. Damned lecherous oaf, always causing trouble. Why couldn't he realize that no meant no?

The black-skinned woman put on a bath robe and walked over to the door, opening it and starting to talk before she even looked.

"I swear to god Tarnl-"

She blinked, and a look of confusion appeared in her amber eyes.

"Who the hell are you?"

"So...I guess I'll just be..." As the Hutt seemed smitten with his newly acquired Jedi, and Darvek wasn't getting paid for this job, he turned to leave, knowing that reinforcements were probably not too far behind. Slowly he crept backwards until he was out of the room, then he turned and proceeded down the hallway and out towards the landing pads. But about halfway from the compound to his ship, he heard something interesting. A guard hustled by, heading back into the palace. The Bothan, was talking into his com unit, but all Darvek could make out was "Go check it out." Darvek grinned. Oooh, a disturbance! He thought to himself, This could turn out to be interesting. And so, without any further hesitation, Darvek turned and followed them back in, making sure to keep several paces behind them so that he wasn't spotted.

He got passed the Gammoreans at the gate with a simple "Forgot my keys inside." Meanwhile, the Bothan rushed up a flight of winding stairs to the right of the main hallway, and Darvek followed suit, only to be stopped at the top of the staircase by another guard. The Rodian had his back turned to the stairs, watching his comrade make his way down the hallway.Hmm, is it worth it? It might just be a false alarm. But if it isn't... Darvek waited for him to disappear around the next corner before he worked his magic on the distracted guard. Taking one of his sheathed vibroblades from over his shoulder, Darvek struck the man in the solar plexus as he was turning. He let out a statled 'Oof' and keeled over, grasping his chest as the air was knocked out of his lungs. A jab to the throat ensured that he would be without oxygen for another painful moment, keeping him from fighting back or calling for help. He crossed his arm over the Rodian's shoulder, knee'd him in the gut, and flipped him over onto his back. For the finishing touch, the Weequay grabbed the alien's fallen blaster rifle, and smashed the butt of the gun into the man's temple.

He was out like a light, so Darvek picked up the lifeless form and draped him over his shoulder. He walked over to the nearest door, and opened it. The room was empty, so Darvek set the body down in the corner and closed the door behind him. He then made his way down the corridor, and around the corner, where the man he had been following had went. He finally caught up to him, he peered around a corner to where the Bothan was walking. He knocked on a door above which was a plaque which read "Security" in Huttese, and it slid open to reveal a Weequay guard. They nodded to each other, and began walking down another hallway together.

On an inkling he peeked inside the security room. One man, a Rodian, sat reclined in his seat, cradling a blaster with one hand, while munching on Corellian fast food with the other. In front of the Rodian, a light was flashing and beeping, as if it were some sort of alarm. Well we can't have that now can we? Darvek looked down at the blaster rifle he had taken from the fallen guard. He found a switch on the side and set the weapon to stun. Then he crept up behind the man in the chair, and reached over his shoulder, snatching a sausage off of the man's plate and snarfing it down. The other alien spun around, and grunted "Oy!" But in return he received a blast to the chest. He fell back in his chair, comatose, and looked as though he had merely fallen asleep. Darvek reached over and turned off the alarm, then he turned, and bolted from the room and made his way down the hall after the Bothan and the Weequay.

Here's to hoping it's NOT a false alarm.

Before Lana knew it, she was being led into a narrow corridor. In front of her was a humanoid of some kind, (the drugs were still affecting her judgement) who seemed to be a lieutenant of some type. Behind her were a pair of guards, a Weequay and a Gamorrean. She wouldn't be escaping.

Suddenly, she was (not so gently) forced into a room to the right. Though a bit blurry, Lana could make out a female figure, a bathtub and a table with a wide variety of grooming and beauty products arranged on top of it.

Her escorts left the room and Lana was gently guided into a chair. She couldn't quite make out the woman's face, but she appeared human. The gray hair flowing down to her shoulders meant that she was probably several decades older than Lana herself. Despite the circumstances, the Echani was almost amused by the fact that this much older woman had nearly the same hair color as she.

As far as she could tell, she was being undressed. She felt an inkling of despair as the tunic parted from her skin, leaving her in nothing but undergarments. It wasn't long until they too were gone.

So there she was, an attractive girl naked and alone, save for a complete stranger who had just undressed her. Oddly, she didn't feel exposed of uncomfortable in her nudity. Perhaps it was the tranquilizers, perhaps it was the increasingly soothing aura of the strange woman.

Lana was led into the bathtub, which she found to be filled with very warm, pleasantly scented water. From the residual crystals on the bottom of the tub, she guessed the scent came from bath salts in the water.

Within the next hour, Lana completely lost track of time. She felt as she was scrubbed and cleaned from head to toe. Her hair was shampooed, rinsed, dried, and brushed, which, despite the circumstances, was quite nice.

Once she was cleaned and dried, the captive Jedi was allowed to rest. The drugs made her very drowsy, and she needed to sleep off their effects anyway. Clothed in a bath robe (which was really more like a hospital gown) she was again led into a room, this time by the woman. Lana found her way to a bed-like structure and passed out.

* * *

Lana Kindari awoke to a dark, cool room. Her initial feeling was alarm. The padawan had no clue where she was, why she was wearing a gown, and why her neck was so sore.

As the now sober padawan surveyed the room, she slowly recollected the events of the past day. Though they were fuzzy, Lana had memories of being taken and brought to a palace, then bathed. That was all she remembered.

The Echani quickly sprang out of bed and frantically searched for her clothes and lightsaber. Unable to find it, she studied the room a bit more. Stucco walls with no decoration, a single light fixture, and a tiny slit window that contributed no light to the dim room. There wasn't much in the way of furniture either, just the bed and a small table on the wall opposite the bed. Other than that the room was bare.

All of the commotion must have alerted Lana's caretaker. The aged Human woman came into the room more quickly than one might expect from a woman her age. The Echani identified her as the woman who had bathed her earlier.

"Rest child, you're safe for the moment." she said. Her words were kind and soothing. Lana guessed that she was in her sixties, perhaps early seventies. She had a weathered, weary look to her, as if she had seen it all. It also occurred to the Echani that this woman was probably a slave.

"Where exactly am I ma'am?"

The woman frowned. It wasn't a look of disdain or irritation, but genuine sympathy.

"Poor child, this is Loro the Hutt's palace, on Sleheryon. They've chosen you as a dancer." She paused for a moment to let it sink in. "Are you really a Jedi?"

Lana didn't answer for a minute. She was still absorbing the information presented before her. She had been captured by a bounty hunter of some sort, dragged across the galaxy, and sold to a Hutt to be his dancer girl. The Echani's first thought was escape. She had to escape and return to the Temple.

A wave of despair and hopelessness hit her when she remembered that her lightsaber was gone, and she was completely unarmed. She almost forgot the woman was there.

"Uhm, yes, I represent the Order and the Republic."


She carefully selected her words, so they sounded impressive. She said them as if the theoretical authority of the Jedi Order would be enough to deter a lecherous Hutt.

Nodding, the aged woman stood and walked over to the table, where she retrieved and impossibly skimpy outfit and presented it to Lana. The captive looked at the woman as if to say, "You must be joking?"

"I used to be a dancer, and the only way I was able to make it this long is by laying low and doing what I was told. Do your best to please Loro, and you should be fine. If your lucky, he'll grow tired of you soon and you'll be reassigned to the kitchen, or if you're really lucky, your Jedi friends may come looking for you."

Rescue. The thought hadn't occurred to her before. Perhaps the Jedi would send some Knights or a master to save her. But rather than ponder the possibilities, she decided to follow the veteran slave's advice and do as she was told for now. It would be hard, but she would have to swallow her pride, for now at least.

A couple of minutes later, she managed to slip into the outfit, which showed parts of her no one had ever really seen. She was kind of embarrassed really, as Lana had always been the modest type.

No sooner had she gotten dressed than a knock came at the door. A twi'lek in light armor came in seconds later, ready to take the new slave to her new master.

Realizing how quickly everything was moving, Lana composed herself. She would pretend like these were just diplomatic negotiations, Loro the other party. She would have to show him exactly what he wanted to see, nothing more, nothing less. She revealed no shame, no contempt. In fact, her face revealed nothing at all.

Lana ignored the homely green alien as he looked her up and down, and walked out into the corridor with him. Before the door slid closed, Lana gave the older woman a glance that said, "Thank you." The woman mouthed, "Good Luck" to her before the sliding door separated them forever.

To the throne room they went.

Swinging one leg up onto the banister, Sirius began the awkward movement of pulling himself up onto the faded-yellow stone balcony. As he stretched, the Sirius could feel a few muscles in his chest tightened. They were just probably hurt during the impact. Sure, they wouldn't make the mission any easier, but they were just sore. Nothing permanent or serious. He'd be fine as long as he could get his other leg up and over the railing without falling off.

But then a voice broke through the cool evening air. Female, with a hint of annoyance and anger, as well as confusion. Sirius stopped in the middle of pulling himself up, one leg on the railing, the other dangling off the side. If it were any other sort of situation, someone could probably find it quite comedic. But he wasn't laughing right now. Instead, he was just stunned. The Jedi Knight really hadn't expected this one to be occupied. Out of all the balconies and entrances into the building, it was just his luck that he picked this one, wasn't it?

Looking up from his perch, Sirius laid his eyes on a Zabrak. And she was pretty alright, with charcoal colored skin and enough curves to sink a cruiser. It was only emphasized by the fact that she came out wearing nothing but a bath robe. Or at least, Sirius assumed nothing besides the bath robe. Either way, it wasn't helping his plight to get up and over the guard rail.

And she wanted to know who he was? Well, telling her he was a Jedi, in the middle of Hutt Space, didn't seem like a good idea at the time. He had to think of something quick. Though, nothing came to mind. After all, there was no reasonable explanation as to why someone would climb their way onto the balcony of a woman. Looking at the Zabrak woman once again, Sirius decided to rethink that. Okay, there was a reason. But still, it wasn't worth it to risk the fall.

"Just, er... the resident balcony inspector. Gotta make sure your rack - I mean railing – is all in order."

As Sirius spoke, and made a complete fool of himself, he swung his other leg up and over the railing and smoothly slid on the balcony. The Jedi Knight gave the Zabrak woman a nervous smile before he stuck his hands in his pockets, not quite sure what to do now. Though, she didn't seem satisfied with his response. Not in the slightest.

Still, Sirius couldn't tell her he was a Jedi. But he had to come clean somehow, it was always the best option. Who knew, maybe she'd even help him a little. Give him a keycard or point him in the right direction. Though, she could just call the guards too. Sirius could deal with them, though. Perhaps a short, paraphrased summary of his mission wouldn't hurt to share. It was better standing here, doing nothing at least.

“Look, ma'am, I'm going to level with you. One of my, erm, friends was kidnapped not to long ago. I'm certain they were brought here. I'm just trying to get them back, and I didn't think going through the front door was the best way.”

Sirius mustered up as much sincerity as he could in his voice, speaking calmly and plainly. It was a drastic change from the blubbering foll he'd been when he first saw her. Hopefully, the Zabrak could see that. And hopefully again, she'd take his word this time around. Sirius was able to get his story across though, and without leaking any details about being a Jedi. Though, she probably already heard about the new captive. If she was any kind of smart, she'd piece two and two together.

Then there was a noise at the door. A loud, obnoxious banging. Sirius could sense two beings outside of the doorway, alert and cautious. Guards, then. Had he tripped a silent alarm? Perhaps the Zabrak woman had called the guards before she came out. Sirius's eyes went wide with the sound. Well either way, there went his stealth approach. At least he was almost inside the building.

“Damn, that's probably for me... Can you do me a favor and tell them it was just a false alarm? I'd really appreciate it. Like I said, I'm just after my friend. Nothing else.”

The Jedi Knight looked the Zabrak woman in her brown eyes as he spoke, still calm. He was trying to read her face, see what she was going to do. But she didn't allow him this luxury, and instead kept him in suspense. More banging from the door, and then a voice spoke out, cutting away at the silence in the room.

“Danari, open up, or I swear we're going to bust this door down!”

So, the woman's name was Danari. That was very useful, a good thing to know. Sirius melted back out of sight from the bedroom door, taking cover against the door frame to the balcony window. He couldn't physically see what was going on but he could hear everything, sense everything. One of the perks of being a Jedi.

When the Zabrak went to answer the door, Sirius called out to her in a last ditch effort. It wasn't begging or pleading, really. It may have sounded like it, but if only because he was trying to convince her to send the guards away. If she didn't, that was her loss. Sirius's cybernetic hand snaked into his jacket to withdraw his lightsaber, just in case. He held it at his side, unlit.

"Danari, please..."

As the Zabrak answered the door, Sirius took the few seconds to expand his senses over the building, closing his eyes and looking for anyone that showed a strong connection to it. At this range, Sirius wouldn't be able to tell who it was or how much power they had, only that the Force was strong in them. But that would be enough, for now. He just needed a guide.

There, on the bottom level. It was like a pin head in the Force to him. Small, almost not noticeable. But it glowed a dull white. Perhaps affected but drugs or other suppressants, to keep the use of the Force out of reach. Still, it was the strongest manifestation of Force in the building. And Sirius could tell it was a person. He looked for some way, a prod, reaching out to them, to try and tell them he was coming soon.

The Zabrak woman raised one eyebrow and frowned before finally sighing. Everybody and their stories. If she wasn't such a sucker for them, business would have been a lot better. But, it couldn't really be helped. Even if she did turn him in to the guards there was a chance Loro would blame her anyway. Her room was compromised, she was the one targeted.

"OK," Danari said softly as she turned towards the door. "But it's my ass on the line."

The ebony-skinned woman paused at the door and opened it, revealing a pair of guards.

"Alarm went off. What's going on?"

The Zabrak laughed a little, sounding truly clueless and airheaded.

"Sorry, guess I set off the alarm again."

The guards looked at each other pointedly. The Weequay had a distinct 'I told you so' look on his face.

"Remember, it's T711H8. Not that hard to remember, yes?"

Danari padded over to the panel on the wall and tapped in the code.

"Sorry, it won't happen again."

The guards turned and walked out, heading back to their posts. The woman in the bathrobe closed the door and walked back out towards the human. Only then did she see the lightsaber, and she grimaced.

"A Jedi. Great, just great. Do you have any idea how much shit I'm going to be in thanks to you?"

Darvek walked quickly down the dimly-lit corridor, keeping a watchful eye out for any signs that he had been detected. His near-jogging slowed to a stop as he reached a corner around which he heard talking. The two guards he had been pursuing had stopped as well, and were banging on a door above which wore the label "Balcony." They kicked and cursed until eventually the door slid open. Unfortunately, Darvek could not make out who had opened the door, though it seemed to be someone they knew. They talked about some code, and then the door was closed and the two began to make their way back up the hall towards the corner where Darvek was spying. Oh shi- Darvek panicked, opened the nearest door, and backed into it quickly.

What felt to him like hours turned out to be only minutes. During those minutes Darvek tried to regain his composure as he listened to the two guards outside jaunty by casually. Once they seemed to be gone, he breathed a sigh of relief which he had been holding. He bumped into something fleshy, and whirled around to see the two heads of a Paaerduag merchant staring back at him. They stared at each other for a few moments before the green half raised his hand as if to call out to the guards. "Wait wait wait wait!" Darvek cautioned frantically, "Just pretend I was never here." The two heads looked at each other for a moment, and then the green one looked up at him again wearing a smug grin.

<How much is it worth to you?>

Darvek exited the room, grumbling something to himself about moneygrubbing aliens costing him a fortune. Unaware was he to the Bothan guard coming to the realization that he had dropped his holo-communicator back at the room. Darvek crept up to the door where the guards had been standing. He pressed his ear up against the door while covering his other. Inside he heard a voice, a female one, though it was muffled and he couldn't make out any of the words. He waited there for a good few minutes listening to the two talk inside, before he decided he'd need the door out of the way to actually know what was going on in there.

Just as he was about to crack the door open for a peek inside, a fuzzy hand grabbed him by the shoulder and whirled him around. The Bothan grabbed both of his wrists and squeezed, causing him to drop his blaster to the ground, and the guard kicked away. Fortunately, he had turned his head to look at where the gun had fallen, so Darvek smashed his forehead into the other man's nose with a crunch and followed it up with a knee to the gut. While the Bothan reeled, Darvek pulled out his sheathed sword, and used it as a club to smash the other man in the head with. The momentum knocked the Bothan into the door, denting it, and he fell to the ground concussed.

"Well now that that's done with-" Darvek didn't get to finish his sentence, because as he turned around, he barely had enough time to react before the Weequay guard opened fire. He thought it was over, but the guard's eyes shot down in a panic as his weapon jammed and failed on him. Darvek lifted his long leg in a sweeping motion and kicked the gun to the floor, but it was an awkward kick, like the first one you ever throw at a dance class, and he nearly lost his balance. Therefor, he had no way of protecting himself when the Weequay bent over and drove his shoulder into Darvek's gut.

They hit the weakened door, and their combined weight and momentum carried them right through it. For half a moment the world was a terrifying spinning mess of broken wood and bits of metal to the two Weequays. Then they both sprawled onto the floor, aching and dizzy. The other Weequay stood first, and Darvek followed suit. Darvek's kin bent over to try the same move again, but Mavros was ready this time, he bent lower, and did the same, scooping the other alien's legs out from under him and sending him head first into the balcony door, after which he fell limp to the floor.

Darvek had to sit after that, and it took him a short while to realize that there were other people in the room. Dizzy and hurting, all he could muster at the moment was an awkward "Hi."