Laughing All the Way to Market

[Karl the Unfettered]

Sometimes, a fool had to play Hard to Get. Naturally a good game of Hard to Get had its time and its place, but when Missus F was expecting a payment to come through was NOT such a Time, and whoever got in the way of said collection was in the wrong Place by default.

Or so she explained it to herself as she skipped merrily down the streets of Nar Shaddaa, short skirt flipping with her movements as her hammer bounced on her back. One hand carelessly held the strap of a large machine gun, painted a gaudy pink with a grenade launcher crudely attached below the barrel. Sometimes the skip became a cartwheel or a handstand or some other acrobatic foolishness, but she didn't miss a beat. Vivi the Hammer was too good to miss beats!

But if she didn't hurry up, Missus F was gonna make her miss her head!

"La de da de dum de day..." she hummed, skipping merrily along. Crowds parted before her, knowing that if they didn't, she'd show them why they called her "the Hammer" with that sickening glowy rocket sledge of hers!

It wasn't just one store, though. A whole square of merchants had banded together and hired a small but apparently effective group of mercenaries for their protection, and were thus refusing to pay the monthly fees. Missus F could have simply had the necessary funds sliced out of their accounts, of course, but that was too subtle! No, a message had to be sent! "Don't fuck with Missus F!" Vivi yelled at some random beggar, who goggled at the fit young lady. But she had no time for beggars, and kept right on with her skipping and her singing!

Until she reached the square in question. As expected, mercenaries milled about, heavily armed and armored, and nervous customers did their shopping and fled quickly. That was probably smart, get the marks out the door with merch in hand to make room for more marks; they probably hadn't thought that far ahead though!

In any event, Vivi scampered up to the top of the two-story warehouse overlooking the square, and settled in to wait for her plus-one for this little outing. Why she needed a plus-one was beyond her; it was just a bunch of mercs! Whatever, she couldn't argue with Missus F.

[Fromikeable]

Protection money was a funny thing on Nar Shadda. When the average galactic citizen thought of the term, it carried incredibly negative connotations. After all, being forced to pay just for peace of mind was dastardly, especially in sectors of space where that same peace of mind was supposed to be afforded by law enforcement. Why should people pay for something that was a publicly-funded common right?

The thing was, Nar Shadda had no law enforcement, no inherent peace of mind, and certainly no assured rights.

Vance had to remind himself of that on days like today. Walking down the street bathed in the afternoon sun, it was a rare moment of peace on an otherwise chaotic moon. When everyone was armed, totally independent, and only governed by the personal consequences that they would incur, gunshots were daily occurrences, death was a norm, and tragedy was a ground state. The peace of mind needed to go about daily life, normal commerce, and basic activities could still be found, but only by people willing to risk trying to tame the madness.

Strangely enough, those willing people were the crime syndicates. The Exchange was no exception.

Thus the strange knot in his stomach as Vance came upon the market square he needed to deal with today. At each corner, mercenaries of every shape and size stood, armed to the teeth with rifles and pistols held at the ready. Compared to the rest of Exchange territory, the place seemed uneasy; customers exuded a grave silence, merchants doing what little they could to coax responses out of them. Even as he arrived, Vance could see many of the former leaving, the latter eyeing him coldly.

There was no getting around it. But where the hell was Vivi?

Popping out his presence, Vance spotted her atop a nearby warehouse, perched above the square. Moving over to her, he looked up from the ground at her pose, machine gun in one hand, hammer in the other.

"Hey Vivi." He pointed up at her with a perplexed expression, an eyebrow raised.

"What are those for?" Dead merchants wouldn't pay anybody, and killing their mercenaries would only vindicate them. "We're here to talk, not build the galaxy's biggest radioactive birdhouse."

[Karl the Unfettered]

Bored, bored, bored... where the hell was this guy? She was about to get started without him when he finally appeared; a big silly grin crossed her face and she waved happily. "Vancy! Hiii!" she called back, proceeding to hop and skip her way back down to ground level in an impressive display of gymnastic ability. Right down the fire escape, like it was a stepladder.

"Maybe you're here t' talk, but I'm here ta kick ass 'n take names!" she declared, her voice going even higher and more grating for a moment. "An' this ain't radioactive, it's just energetic!" She swung the hammer idly a few times, as if to prove her point. "Don't even try cuttin' it up either! I know yer type! Now c'mon, I'll handle these clowns 'n you go git our money! I'll play nice though, don't worry!"

And with that she walked into the square itself, raising her gun and firing a few rounds into the sky. "ALRIGHT BOZOS! EVERYBODY GET TH' FUCK OUTTA HERE WHO DON'T WANNA DIE!" The customers all scattered in a panic, and of course the mercenaries focused immediately on her. "So who want'sa die first, huh?!"

"Little girl is leaving immediately!" the nearest merc threatened, waving a large axe at her. "Is no room for Exchange! Here is belonging to-!"

"Aww, that's sweet! WRONG, but sweet!" Vivi leveled her gun and fired a grenade right at the guy, turning her head aside and covering her ears right after; he tried to dodge but was just a little too slow, and it struck his arm! Immediately a blinding flash and deafening bang filled the square, and anyone caught off guard was immobilized!

Vivi wasn't caught off guard, though, and she skipped ahead to start taking the goons out. "Take THAT! And THAT! HIYA! HA! HOO-AH!" Well, at least they weren't dead... Yet.

[Fromikeable]

The minute Vance watched Vivi level her gun at the mercenary, his body tensed. If her plan was to start blowing people up, not only would no one ever trust the Exchange again, but moreover, he'd have to restrain her. They were agents of an organized crime syndicate. Not serial murderers looking for their next future crime scene.

Fortunately, the grenade turned out to be a flashbang, making Vance's ears rings as he blinked away the pain. Judging by the sounds of flesh smacking into flesh that graced his recovering ears, she wasn't that crazy, and was fighting them all instead. How exactly that would work out for her with a half dozen armed mercenaries in the area...

"Don't get anyone killed!" He hated to say it, but he'd be far more upset over innocent casualties than her. With that said, if they could get through this without needing a kolto tank, it would be best.

Leaving the pandemonium to her, Vance walked comparatively casually up to the largest merchant stand, a group of the street businessmen there pointing shaking blasters at him with distinct fright. He hardly needed to check their presences to see what their eyes were already telling him; this was their nightmare scenario. Between refuting the Exchange and hiring mercenaries, the men and women had clearly feared some sort of violence in their square, and now that it was here, all was lost.

It would be difficult to convince them otherwise, but Vance would be damned if he didn't try.

"Good morning." Resting his hands lightly on the display they were all gathered behind, Vance cleared his throat, his tone as polite as could be. Behind him, he could hear Vivi and the mercenaries' fight cracking tables and destroying tents.

"I represent the Exchange, and-"

"I fucking knew it!" One of the female merchants in the front, a Cathar woman with a pistol leveled at Vance's face, screamed in outrage. "You've come to sick your maniacs on us!"

"No, no! She's not a..." Another table splintering to pieces behind him made him wince, pausing to reorganize his train of thought.

"She's not here to kill you." Looking back over his shoulder, he shouted, "Or anyone, for that matter!"

"I don't believe that for a godsdamned second!" As the Cathar cocked her gun, a smaller Quarren man in front of her raised a hand in front of her gun, speaking up with a tone between horrified and suspicious.

"Then what is she doing?"

"Disabling your mercenaries, apparently." Vance slowly pointed over his shoulder with a thumb. "Say what you will, but you have to admit that your hired help isn't doing a very good job."

The Cathar woman snorted. "She'll be dead in two seconds! And so will you when they're done with her."

Vance sighed, rubbing the back of his head with a hand. He couldn't give Vivi any orders, lest it seem like he had indeed endorsed her actions. With that said, however, these merchants hadn't shot at him yet. Perhaps they'd be willing to talk if they saw just how easily their defenses could be dismantled, and non-lethally at that.

If Vivi kept kicking their asses, this might work.

[Karl the Unfettered]

Maybe a dozen guys altogether, any more and the square would have been too crowded for customers. Nothing Vivi couldn't handle! She had six of them laid out cold before the flashbang wore off, and the blasters started cutting bright lances of color through the glum morning grayness. Why couldn't it ever be sunny on Nar Shaddaa? She wouldn't need to waste a flasher on these morons! Oh well.

"You LOSERS couldn't protect the broad side of a hangar!" she crowed, standing over the sixth goon and the shattered remnants of the table he'd been bodyslammed into. "Now put up a fight! Earn yer pittances!" The remaining goons finished shaking the stars from their eyes, or puking, or whatever the flasher had done to them, and gripped their weapons to return the favor!

But Vivi was too fast, and danced around their fire before swinging that hammer, catching the nearest goon with the broad side of the head and sending him crashing into the guy next to him; they both fell against a tall cooler, and before they could react Vivi was on them, opening the door and knocking them both inside before slamming the door shut again! "Chill out fer a while, morons!"

Four left, and she was running out of tables to dodge around. Two of them came at her at once; she feinted left, swarmed right and tackled that guy into a tent, grabbing the ropes and wrapping them around his neck to choke him out. Just for Vance she stopped short of killing him, of course, but also because the first guy had sorted himself out and had grabbed her from behind. "GIT YER HANDS OFF MY BOOBIES!" she screamed, letting go of the second guy to spin around in the first guy's grasp and headbutt him hard, then turning to kick the choked guy in the head and do the same to the butted guy.

Two left. Vivi stood, casually dusted herself off, and turned to face them. "These other guys was too STUPID to know when to give up, so lemme break it down for ya! Piss off outta 'ere, 'n ya gets t' piss off outta here on yer own two feet!" They gave each other terrified glances, looked at their pals who'd been knocked out flat in less than a minute by this, this... this cosplayer, and decided this paycheck could sod off.

"You win!" one of them cried as they both ran away from the square.

That made Vivi giggle hysterically. "I usually do!" she called back, still laughing as she turned to join Vance with the merchants. "Alright lamebrains! I'm sure you've got excuses as to why Missus F's money ain't been comin' in, so let's hear 'em!"

"Times are tough, we can't afford the Exchange anymore!" one of them protested. "We, we sent an envoy-!"

"Tough times? Really? THAT'S funny!" and she made a show of looking up and biting her lip in thought, "cuz I coulda sworn I overheard yer shelf boy there braggin' 'bout the size a' his paycheck at the cantina last night!" and she pointed accusingly at an unassuming young human male, busily sorting merchandise and desperately trying to stay under the radar. He froze in terror and dropped the box in his hands, which of course busted open, and power cells rolled everywhere underfoot.

"Oh wait, or maybe he was braggin' 'bout the size of his- eh, I don't need'ta finish that sentence!" and she laughed while the boy's face reddened. "Either way, it wasn't THAT impressive!" Turning her back on him, she faced the merchants again, idly twirling her hammer. "But still, you had them goons out there standin' around an' they need paid! Can't be doin' TOO badly! So anyone ELSE wanna waste my time or d'ya wanna cut right t' coughin' up all the money you owe us?"

"ALL of it?!" one of them spluttered. "You cannot be serious! That's- um, that's...!"

"Another birdbrain, eh?" Vivi cut in harshly, folding her arms and rolling her eyes. "Well let's see, you skipped out on three months' insurance, at five hundred creds a month from each a' yas, an' there's twenty merchants in all usin' this square so that's THIRTY THOUSAND CREDITS right there!" She didn't give them time for the figure to sink in. "An' yer greed 'n yer gluttony made Vancy 'n I hafta come allll the way out ta this SHITHOLE so that's gonna compound the interest quite a bit! Plus processing fees, reinstatement costs 'n a little extra on top cuz I chipped a nail 'n hadta listen t' yer WHINING! Makes FORTY-TWO THOUSAND CREDITS!"

There was silence for several seconds, as none of them had figured someone like her even knew how to add, let alone that she could tally up finances like that. Served 'em right for judging a lady by her cover!

[Fromikeable]

"Forty two thousand..." The poor Quarren merchant holding the Cathar's gun down seemed genuinely distraught at the news, about half of his fellow merchants clearly feeling the same. Vance couldn't help but feel the surge of anger from the other half, however, the Cathar and her mixed ilk less bothered by the news and more furious about it.

Vance seemed to have two options. Double down and risk a new round of fighting or extend an olive branch.

He sighed, crossing his arms. "Who was the boss here?"

"I was." The Cathar woman's voice dripped with spite. Her gun shook in her hand, her chin jutting violently at the Quarren. "Malcolm was my second."

"Then you had to know that operating in Exchange territory without chipping in wouldn't end well." Vance motioned a hand at Vivi. "If we were the Hutts, our friend here would've ripped this entire square apart with slugs."

"Like she won't still? I'm not about to play by the new Compeer's rules, and I've been in the Exchange a loooooooooong time, son. I know what you're all about."

"I really don't think you do." Letting out another short sigh, Vance rubbed his face for a minute, buying himself time to think. He had a solution, but it was inelegant, unfavorable to everyone, and was bound to be unpopular.

Seeing no other choice, however, it would have to do.

"Like I said, we didn't come here to kill people for not paying up. I meant that. So I'm going to give you guys three options, and you can all choose individually what you want." Clearing his throat, Vance held up a finger.

"First, you can sign back on with the Exchange, stay here, and things go back to normal. You follow the new rules, you pay your part plus what you owe over time, and we provide security, services..." He rolled a hand to indicate the "etcetera" before holding up a second finger.

"Second, you can go it alone or with the Hutts. Either way, you're going to need to leave." Pointing specifically at Vivi's hammer, he shook his head. "I think you just saw that we can definitely kick you out if so inclined. I'd really rather not do that, but you're all adults." The final, third finger was raised.

"Last option is that I buy anyone who wants to leave a ticket off Nar Shaddaa. I don't care where you go or what you do, just so long as you don't stay here."

The Quarren and Cathar seemed to split further in their reactions, the former speaking up first. "Sir, please, you've got to understand that we can't just go back. All we dealt in was trafficking." Motioning hands at himself, the aquatic man's tone turned to pleading. "We have children to feed, homes to pay for, food to-"

"Nut up, Malcolm. Don't stoop to bargaining with these two."

"Then we can help you set up a new business." Vance offered an outstretched hand, the Quarren man looking at it with serious consideration. "We're not trying to screw you ov-"

The Cathar's presence betrayed her intent to kill before she even began to raise her gun, aiming for her fellow merchant. Staring at her with vitriol from the corner of his eyes, Vance was only just fast enough to tug on her gun with the Force, tossing it free. Before it hit the ground, the Cathar was snarling, drawing a knife from her boot and charging both men.

"Vivi?"

[Karl the Unfettered]

Vivi arched an eyebrow at Vance's offer, wondering if he had the authority (and more importantly the credits) to back it up. But it didn't matter, she supposed, as long as Missus F got something back to show they hadn't been screwing off this whole time.

And maybe having a few less deadbeats out of the way would make the remaining deadbeats less likely to start shit next time they were feeling salty? That was a nice thought, and she told herself to keep it up with that. Find a positive in every situation!

...was probably a thing her mom would have told her, if her mom had survived. Dammit, now the positivity was gone and she wanted to hit something. And hit it hard.

Fortunately the Cathar seemed to be volunteering! Yay!

"Back off, girly!" Vivi snarled, stepping in and blocking her rush with a straight-armed clothesline! "No one's doin' any physical threats around here but me! An' I take my job VERY seriously!"

The Cathar snarled and tried to stand up, and Vivi had to pin her down with a boot to the neck. "You'd betta calm down, kitty-cat, 'cuz I don't hafta play nice," she went on, grinding down on the woman. "In fact I'd just LOVE it if ya gave me an EXCUSE t' stop playin' nice here! So go on, gimme a reason!"

She stopped struggling, but still looked angry, glaring up at Vivi and Vance from beneath the studded black boot. "That's better," Vivi said with a satisfied smirk, bending down to pick up that knife; the way she bent managed to show off a lot of flexibility, and gave the Cathar a nice upskirt view to boot. "Wow, what a piece a' junk! I hope this ain't yer own merchandise, kitty-cat!" and she broke the knife in two, blade and handle, with a seemingly casual ease.

"Anyone else wanna make a fuss?!" and she looked around at the rest of them. "Vancy's offer's one-time only, ya got yer choices! Now make 'em! Pay up 'r piss off!"

[Fromikeable]

For a half second, Vance thought he'd made a mistake delegating their protection to Vivi, afraid she wouldn't get there in time. That fear quickly turned to concern as the Cathar was put down without reservation, Vivi's boot tough on the woman's neck. Would she kill her? That would ruin the mood of the rest of the merchants real quick.

Fortunately she didn't. He made a mental note to pay her a small bonus for keeping to the non-lethal request.

The rest of the merchants looked down at their pinned colleague with trepidation, waiting to see what would happen. Taking stock of that, Vance looked down at the Cathar, who glared daggers back up at him.

"Looks like you'll be going with 'offworld'."

"Fuck you!" The woman's voice was winded and raspy, the boot clearly making it hard to breathe.

"Anyone wish to join her?" Turning back to the merchants, no one else spoke, some looking actively nervous. "It doesn't have to involve being clothesline'd unless you want it to." At that, a duo of hands in the back of the group went up. Pulling out a datapad, Vance was silent for a moment, moving some money around a few accounts. With it done, he produced a credit chip. The two merchants stepped forward, allowing small transfers to theirs before taking a final look at the Cathar woman. They left without another word.

"That leaves you guys. Who's leaving, who's staying?" After some shuffling, the Quarren finally spoke up, clearing a shaky voice as he did so. "I'm... I'm staying." He raised a trembling finger, pointing it at Vance.

"Only so long as you promise to help. Please."

"I do."

After a look back at his fellows, the Quarren stepped forward. "Then I'm returning to my stall." With a forced confidence in his step, the man departed down the row to his stall, ducking inside before no doubt collapsing into a chair.

The rest of the merchants, seeing his example, were quick to split into two groups. The smaller one declared their intent to leave and did so, abandoning the square. The rest meandered back to their shops.

Bending down, Vance grabbed the Cathar's chip. Making an equal transfer to her, he slipped it back into her pocket. "I think she gets the idea, Vivi. She's free to go." Glancing at her from the corner of his eyes, his tone became just a hair too polite, its threat coming across loud and clear. "She really ought to beeline for the spaceport though. I hear it gets dangerous around here after dark."

[Karl the Unfettered]

Vivi shrugged and stepped off the Cathar, letting her stand up and glower while rubbing her throat. She seemed about to say something, but after a reconsidering look at Vivi's hammer she shook her head and turned to walk off. "Smartest move a' yer life, kitty-cat!" she called after the departing alien, to which she got an upraised middle finger. That just made the busty troubleshooter laugh, but when she turned to regard Vance, the laughter died off.

"Sooo Vancy..." she began, throwing an arm around his shoulder and poking him in the chest with her other hand, "now that all th' violence is done an' I didn't get ta shoot nothin', I can't help but notice we ain't really got nothin' ta show fer Missus F."

Up til now she had seemingly enjoyed herself, but now it didn't seem so fun anymore. "S' far as I was told, we was comin' here ta kick these chumps back inta shape 'n git th' money flowin' back upstairs again, yeah? But now some a' them chumps is gone 'n th' rest ain't paid up what they owed yet! Y' see where I'm comin' from? I dunno what you was told, but I was told I gotta have a pretty stack a' creds t' show!"

She waved her free hand, as if to emphasize how empty it was. "D'ya see a stack a' creds in my hand, Vancy, pretty 'r otherwise? NOOO, cuz we scared 'em all off without makin' 'em PAY FIRST! Next time I'm takin' th' lead 'n I'll show ya how extortion REALLY works!"

She let him go and looked around again. "Eh. Some a' this shit's gotta be worth a bit towards payin' us off. Hopefully Missus F won't mind if it's physical goods this time... Oh, an' fer YOUR sake that better a' been yer OWN creds you was payin' all them off-world tickets outta! Or else we got LESS 'N NOTHIN' a' show fer all 'is 'cept I chipped a nail!"

The merchants had abandoned this tent, so as far as she was concerned anything they had left behind was free pickings. And if they came back and got uppity, well, she'd just remind them of the rather sizable debt they still had to pay off!

[Fromikeable]

Vance blinked at the arm that was thrown around his shoulder, Vivi's tone suspiciously serious. The money? He'd been sent down here to resolve the situation with the merchants, not to turn a profit. Granted, he had the benefit of being employed full-time by the Exchange (or whatever exactly the underworld equivalent would be called), but still. Their task had been to see to it that after today, the merchants were no longer in open opposition to the organization that controlled their square.

They had succeeded, though Vance might have predicted far less bone-breaking earlier today.

"If 'Misses F' is upset about the money, I'll point out that it was my idea. You don't have to worry about that one." Vance shook his head a little, trying to imagine Lidah grilling him on something that pedantic. The Exchange was far too big to worry about 20 merchants jumping ship when it came to finances. The real worry today had been image and reputation, and between the beaten-up mercenaries and the reasonable ultimatum, both had been relatively maintained. Dealing another blow to the slavery business on their home turf was just another plus.

"If any of them ever come back into Exchange territory, they know that there's a forty two thousand credit bounty on their heads. I don't think any of them will risk it." Maybe the Cathar woman. Then again, she hadn't seemed incredibly bright, nor incredibly thoughtful.

"As for having things to show for it, the square is back in business. You can help yourself to the empty stands. Plus-" He wiggled his credit chip in his hand, making one last deposit on his holopad before returning it to his pocket.

"I've got your payment right here. A hundred credits off for starting a fight, but an extra thousand on for keeping it nonlethal." That was worthy of a reward on this moon.

[Karl the Unfettered]

"Th' hell you'd expect bringin' ME along, bustah?!" Vivi shot back, rifling through some of the abandoned goods. Tsh. Nothing worthwhile except some energy cells and a grenade or two. Eventually she found a knife, better than the one she'd busted up before, and sighed as she stuck it through her belt. "Fuckin' cheapskates," she muttered dejectedly. "I don't care WHAT you say, Vancy, still feels like I let Missus F down. Whatevah, let's just head back I s'ppose."

At least she was getting paid for all this, which was enough to perk her up a little as she ambled on out of there. "I guess it went alright, though, even if I didn't get t' shoot nobody," she remarked. "Oh well! I'll shoot 'em next time!" There was no way those mercs she'd beat up would let that humiliation go unanswered, and if they tried anything later?

Hoo boy! They'd figure out how much she'd been holding back the first time! Not like they'd live to realize the fullness of said lesson, of course.

[Fromikeable]

"That's the spirit?" Deflating a little, Vance waved for Vivi to follow. Together, they trekked back to their speeder, the afternoon sun illuminating their way back to the Eye. The moon about them bustled, unperturbed by the business in the square. After all, by Nar Shaddaa's standards, a run-in where no one had died and a resolution had been reached was downright civilized. No one had even suffered irreparable injuries.

Well, one of those mercenaries might've lost a tooth or two, but in an age of cybernetics, even that could be fixed.

The Eye came into view like the ornate fortress that it was, towering above its neighboring buildings. Pulling the speeder down toward the front, Vance popped out and waved for one of the valet's. The employee took the keys and disappeared with the vehicle, leaving Vance and Vivi free to walk through the front door. Within, an elegant lobby of fine carpet and marble greeted them, headed by a front desk. Therein, a middle-aged Echani woman hummed as she worked away on a holopad, flicking her eyes up to greet them.

"Hertz wanted to talk to you when you get a minute, Thel. He's waiting at security."

"Thanks Curie." Waving Vivi onward, Vance led her through a set of ornate glass doors, entering the security checkpoint of the hotel. Submitting himself to a search, a Firrerreo man appeared alongside the inspecting security guards, the lot of them armed to the teeth.

"Hey Hertz." Vance gave the man a smile as he entered the radio scanner, stretching his arms up. As the device hummed to life, he motioned a finger at his companion. "Meet Vivi."

"Miss." Giving her a small nod, Hertz cleared his throat. "She's upstairs and expecting you guys." Eyeing Vivi's weapons, the security head cocked an eyebrow. "Those are going to need to stay with us."

Nodding in agreement and surrendering their weapons, Vance led Vivi to the building's main elevator. Punching in one of the top floors, their trip up was smooth and quick, groovy tunes playing at a light volume to pass the time. With a ding, they were released, and with a few more steps, they were outside of Lidah's office. Stopping before it, Vance looked at Vivi.

"We might need to give her a minute. She was busy when I left." Creaking the door open, he held it so for Vivi, motioning for her to enter first.

[Neology]

[googlefont="News Cycle"]

It had been a slow evening so far -- or at least one with no major fires to put out. Lidah Faine relaxed in her office, browsing the endless data as it streamed into her comconsole. Operations reports, finances, the odd personal interest, the last arcane and deeply embedded within the others. The vidscreen bathed her profile in bluish, smokey light. ”Mr. Arkandri and Ms. Hawke to see you, ma’am.” Curie’s voice hung in the air and summoned Lidah slowly back to herself. She brought up the lights with a flick of her wrist, followed the motion through by stubbing out a thin marcan cigarette, gone mostly to ash in her distraction. ”Thank you. Send them in, please.” Lidah stared at her ashtray for a moment, then opened a drawer and swept it inside with an audible thump and shuffling of plastic flimses. Despite the years she still felt embarrassingly compelled to hide her bad habits from her former apprentice, if only as far as it was convenient to do so. There not much to be done about the smoke except cycle on the air conditioning. Correcting her posture and straightening her hair, Lidah drummed her fingers idly on her desk until the pair filed in. She studied them openly for a long moment, saying nothing. To say she’d been uncertain about these two agents working together would be a gross understatement. For starters, Vance was habitually soft-hearted while Vivi was enthusiastic about her work to a nearly unsettling degree. And yet … Here they both were, seeming not much worse for wear. Good. Despite reality to the contrary, she wanted Vance to at least pick up something of a reputation to suit his position. ”Well? How’d it go? I assume the Rust Town market is safely under our auspice once again.”

[Karl the Unfettered]

Vivi felt naked without any weaponry, which wasn't always a problem since she had no qualms being literally naked and she could do things to people with her bare hands that most folks couldn't and shouldn't even dream of. But to feel naked in front of Missus F? That was something else entirely!

Ah well. Not like she could do anything about it. Not yet anyway!

They finally could file inside, and Vivi tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach that Lidah always inspired. She was just so pretty... so pretty, and so unapproachable, always out of reach. She never failed to tongue-tie the normally brash Vivienne, a rare feat in and of itself. Like right now, as she had to clear her throat a couple times before she could reply to the question.

"Yeah, we got it back," she began, glancing about and unable to stand still as per usual. "Vancy went 'n did that social shit while I beat up a buncha clowns, then I went 'n backed 'im up 'n we talked about, oh, a third of 'em inta jus' leavin' completely. But if they come back there's gonna be ALL the bounty huntahs gunnin' fer 'em on account a' th' creds they owe us!"

She bit back a wince at that. Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned credits? Oh well. "Anyways! It's unner control again an' no one died, no mattah 'ow we gots there!"

[Fromikeable]

Vance was content to let Vivi talk, following her into the office. Looking to Lidah, he couldn't help but notice the look she gave them both, her posture impeccable. He knew the gaze well, by this point in life. It was scrutinizing, almost uncomfortably so, but not in the way that many others pried at things. That look wasn't hunting for flaws or triumphs. It was completely neutral; a simple, necessary curiosity to see how exactly something had come to be.

Given that she'd just sent him to work with someone that carried a giant hammer in broad daylight, Vance couldn't blame her. He'd be more than a bit curious how that had worked out himself.

Following Vivi's recollection, Vance cleared his throat lightly. "The other two thirds moved out. Half of them are going to Hutt territory, the other half are moving off-world. The rest that stayed are setting up new businesses." Flicking his eyes at Lidah, he got to return her gaze. It hadn't been any secret that the merchants had been upset over the Exchange's newest, smallest move to stop trading in chains, but he hadn't exactly cleared his approach with her before he'd left. What did she think of the remaining merchants having to tear down their old businesses just to build new ones from scratch?

"I'll get to work filling the empty stands tomorrow." At the very least, he could make sure that word got out that there was space in an Exchange-protected square. It would fill, though perhaps with less lucrative business.

[Neology]

[googlefont="News Cycle"]

Lidah stilled her hands and listened attentively, lips thinning, eyes flickering away from her guests to contemplate some indefinite point near the ceiling and over Vance’s head. Her particular distaste for slaving hadn’t made her many friends within the Exchange, with her peers. The Unseen were proof of that. Exacting even this much change was a slow, transformative process. There was nothing better for witnessing the limits of her own power, really. How far could she make someone bend and still take a hefty portion of their profits home with her? But this was hardly the same thing, here in her her void-damned backyard. Running to the Hutts, her primary rivals in nearly every area of business? Unacceptable. It could not be seen to be an option. ”Thank you both for your work. It is, as always, appreciated. But … Maybe one or two of them do deserve to die for what they’ve done. For what they intend to continue doing.” Her fingers wrapped around the armrests of her chair, candy blue nail polish catching the light. ”This was not to be a negotiation. Those flesh-peddlers have had all the time in the world to clean up or pay up. “So. I would like you to track a few of them down again – the ones that stayed here on Nar Shaddaa. Illustrate how fucking stupid it is to turn your back on the Exchange.” Lidah punctuated that statement by favoring Ms. Hawke with a knife-sharp smile, ignoring Vance for the moment. She knew he wouldn’t like this pronouncement even though it seemed perfectly fair to her. Take away someone’s future for a handful of greasy Huttese peggats and, given an opportunity, she would take away yours for the pure cold satisfaction of it. Even if someone else had to be her hands. ”The louder the better and I promise you will be fairly compensated. Though do try not to start a war with the cartels while you’re out there.”

[Karl the Unfettered]

At the mention of 'one or two of them' deserving to die, Vivi perked up. And the more Lidah went on down that line of thought, the more she perked up, until when the order came to kill them loudly and messily she was almost cheering. "Yayyy! Ya won't be disappointed, Missus F! I'm gonna take them fuckos an' FUCK 'EM UP HARDCORE!" She'd just snag a few demolition charges on the way out, grab her gun...

"Oh, an' I can take Vancy with me too, right? Right?" and she pulled the man into another one-armed bear hug, yanking his face into her chest along the way since she'd grabbed him by his neck. "Boy's gotta learn how t' handle 'imself when chatty-time's ovah wit'!"

Whatever she'd said about not starting a war... meh. It was over Vivi's head.

[Fromikeable]

Vance's mouth went a little flat as Lidah made out her newest hit. He understood it; these people had literally been trading lives for credits, and that was just about as low as it got. If anyone deserved to be straight-up murdered as a service, it was them, the same people that ran similar services without second thoughts. What was more, Lidah was right. If the Exchange expected people to respect the idea that slaving wasn't as profitable as it used to be, then they couldn't let people out of that business scot-free.

Even still, it spoke to some inherent disgust in him. Solving slavery with violence seemed strange to him.

He kept quiet through it all though, not nearly so off-put by the concept that he seemed distressed. The most of his protest came in the form of a light shrug. "I had most of them followed. If you're quick, you can probably catch a few before they le-"

He was cut off by an arm wrapping around him, a cheekful of boob, and the exclamations of a soon-to-be-murder-happy Vivi. Scrunching his face unhappily, he quickly pushed off of her, resisting the urge to wipe his face off with a sleeve.

"I've got other stuff to do today. But we can find you some new help." Settling for a quick wipe of his cheek on his upshrugged shoulder, his expression dropped back to a neutral appraisal. "I know a few people just waiting for contracts."

Finally rolling his shoulders, he sighed lightly. "In that case, it sounds like we're done though. You can handle those merchants at your discretion, you're all paid up, and the square's back in business." Regarding Lidah as he spoke the last bit of his sentence, he raised his brow sheepishly at her. He'd find them new merchants to fill out the square again; that was probably going to encompass the rest of his day.

"Nice work, Vivi." With that, he opened the door, holding it for her before they both left.