Flower in a Vase [Sleheyron] (Semi-Open)

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

A voice cut through the quiet murmur of noise in a Hutt's pleasure palace, its melodious sounds cutting through the sounds of quiet conversation and the soft clatter of plates and snacks being consumed. The voice was singing, and projecting clearly to every corner of the room.

The tone was vaguely sad, even if the tempo of the music was far faster than a dirge. And the words were bittersweet, testimony to the voice as much as the work of the lyricist, though in this case they were one and the same.

"I saw you, I felt you, once long ago...

I kissed you, I held you, you told me to go...

I fought you, you fought me, and so...

I lie low, my pain will grow."

A booming voice cut through the air and the music died.

"Sing something happy you b*tch!"

The singer cowered, all eyes now on her again. It was as if a spotlight had singled her out, come to rest on her and her alone. And in this case, displeasing the audience would have dire results.

The woman was a Twi'lek, with a heart-shaped face and sapphire eyes that stood out against her reddish skin. Her body was slender, but packed with curves. Her height was very short, only five feet. She was clad in the skimpy purple outfit of a dancer, with long gloves and tight boots climbing up to her thighs.

What was most apparent though was the look of fear on her face. Indeed, it radiated off of her in a fashion so severe it must have seemed as if there was a tangible aura around her. But she had no choice but to obey. She knew the penalties of resisting far too well.

When she'd first tried, Loro the Hutt had given her to the guards, and they'd had their way with her. Her tears had meant nothing, her pleas had fallen on deaf ears. She was terrified of a return to that fate, to revisit her darkest nightmares in waking form.

Sinya'anu changed her song.

It was now a happy tune about wandering through meadows of green grass, which she'd never seen. Not once had the Twi'lek girl left Sleheyron in her 19 years. She knew nothing but smog and city, and dismal poverty. Despair was her only experience.

As she sang the happy words, Sinya made graceful movements around the throne room, kicks and twirls, and supple movements of her arms and legs. In the process she came a little too close to one of the guards, and Loro the Hutt signalled to him.

Strong arms grabbed the Twi'lek and shoved her over to the Hutt, who pulled her close to his slimy body and fondled her with his clumsy hands. The girl started to cry weakly, but quickly banished her tears and retreated to the dark recesses of her mind.

Nothing is real. This is a dream.

The Twi'lek closed her eyes and waited for it to be over.

[Foxfire]

Time and again Reina had attracted many a perv and slave trader. Her singing and unique look gave her that some thing that drove the males to want her. While she had been looking into Heba the hutt she got herself nabbed by a slaver who was working for another hutt. Loro a moldy gutteral pile of trash who was on Je'Baru's watch list. She was working up the list from the lower hutts to find where this Heba was instation and rank. Yet here she was again with a submittion slave collar on. The slaver loved and had used the collar many times in the travels. It was a perv too, getting off on her reactions from the submission collar.

Again at the door of the pleasure palace he hit her again with the remote she dropped to one knee and moaned in both pain and pleasure. The guard too was liking this preshow of Reina. Her emoting tattoes shimmered with red and purple swirls from the areas where the collar had the greatest effects. Up her lower back spine to swirl around her neck they swirled, yet upon her stomch and her groin short yellowish fish hooks shot outward.

The guard let him and her through he half dragged her as they made their way into the depths of the palace. A gentle singing was coming from a main area then the noise she knew all to well the evil laughter and whimpering cry that was common for a slave and master. Reina tried to stiffle the quiet hatred yet it showed as lime green waves from her eyes. Thankfully the slaver did not see this or more pain would have followed. They rounded a corner to see a red twi'lek of near her age being handled by Loro. From the slaves body language she had not know what Reina had, that was freedom.

The slaver wanted to get closer but the hutt's guard was not going to let him. He was starting to get quite vocal about it and Reina saw her way out. She began singing a old hutt love song in huttese. Ofcourse the song was vulger and mostly about money and power with a little some thing some thing on the side. She eased from the slaver's side toward Loro. The thread bare cloth she had on was the slaver's attempt of sexy fashion. What the other slave had on was covering more that she had still Reina let her lekku hide most of her nakedness.

She let the passion of the song to reflect upon her skin as purple swirls with a briliant shots of red splashes behind them. Soon she was next to the other slave singing to the hutt then gently moving her hands to cup the slave's head. She continued to the other slave as she retreated with her to the middle of the dance floor. Then parting in a swirling spin she tip-toed away her body flaring with color. Stopping she turned and looked back to the twi'lek girl and gave a let's dance wave of her hand. She moved to her own voice spining to the words till it was over ending in a low servent's bow.

The slaver then rushed on to the main floor hitting her again with the collar remote. She shrieked in pain and her skin flared red and white splashes. She shook and nearly blacked out the last thing she saw was the slaver being blasted in the back by on of Loro's guard. A evil smile creeped across her face as she rolled on to it trying to gain her legs once more.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Sinya stood, or lay, or rested in some combination of positions limply, allowing the Hutt to touch her. She did become aware of something else though. New singing. It wasn't her voice, and that was how she knew it wasn't her own doing.

The red Twi'lek became aware of another pair of hands touching her, in her face this time, an area Loro avoided. Given that she'd just told herself it was all a dream, Sinya half-believed this was just her mind playing tricks on her, sending bizarre stimuli into her mind.

Sinya opened her blue eyes tentatively to see what was going on, and she saw a Rutian Twi'lek with bizarre tattoos singing and holding her face. The other woman was young, younger than Sinya even, and she was shorter by far, a noteworthy feat as Sinya was herself a diminutive five feet and zero inches. They probably weighed about the same, as the other woman was much better padded in her arms, with more dramatic curves.

She backed out and started dancing, and Sinya felt Loro release her. The Lethan Twi'lek moved away from him quickly enough that he couldn't change her mind, but slow enough that she didn't seem to be recoiling.

Within seconds, the taller Twi'lek was singing harmony with her fellow slave, and matching the dance moves she saw through the corner of her eye, following them through until the other woman stopped. Then she joined in the bow.

Straightening, Sinya saw the other woman fall to the ground with a shriek, then heard a blaster shot ring out. She cowered behind a pillar, hiding her eyes until the clamor had subsided, and then peeking out silently.

Loro the Hutt clapped his slimy hands and gave a booming laugh.

"You will make a fine addition to my collection little one. Now come here and let me get a good look at you..."

Sinya's sapphire eyes darted between the new Twi'lek and the Hutt and she silently felt a nervous compassion, remembering her first day as Loro's slave. When he said he wanted a good look, he meant a good feel, and if you resisted...

The punishments were lavishly cruel.

Yet Sinya didn't dare to say anything, for fear of the consequences for her.

[Foxfire]

Hands, gripping hands, evil things these things were. Gropping into places only the owner's hands should go. Reina had felt hands like this before. The hutts have always been like this. Even when she was being taught the hutt in charge played with her. So young to be broken and yet here she was again putting herself into these same placings for a cause greater then decentcy. The hutts though powerful needed to be felt.... out as it were.

As the hutt played with his new doll she looked around not with broken eyes of a slave but eyes that knew freedom and was taking every thing in and noting all. She also noted the hutt's laughter at leting his fingers chase the emoting tatts up and down her body till they ran toward her neck she smiled and winked at the guard who had the slave remote. In a moment she saw his lust and his fingers mashed the controler at the same time the hutt's hand went to her neck. The ensuing pain from the collar hit both the hutt and Reina. She knew how to deal with the collar, yet the hutt did not.

Flinging her away from himself and recoiled in great pain she shook and once again writhed in pain. The hutt looked to the being with the controler and ordered the removal of the collar and place it upon the being and proceeded to do his worst to the fool. Reina slowly rolled to her side and spoke in huttese.

Grand master I thank thee of the wisest choice of taking me on as a slave. My voice and body are yours to please. May a thousand thousand years be added to your long life.

The words were very bitter in her mouth. She wondered if the hutt would take the bait of keeping her. If he did then she would have a further chance to have a look about and gather information before her savior came. Yes I said savior. Not her Bo the noghri but a hired gun for her rescue. The collar was rigged to activate upon the removal from her neck and would send a single ping to the nearest bounty hunter guild sending a request for retreival of one twi'lek covered in black emoting tattoes. Reina tried to stand but her legs were weaken from pain and were very weary. She closed her eyes and gently sang.

*When I was darkness at that time.....

I cry......hurt me

Nobody can save me............my love

I need your love. I'm a broken rose....

your song...

my life...

-----

I need your love. I'm a broken rose.....

Oh baby, ... Help me from frozen pain

....with you smile, your eyes, and sing me, just for me

I wanna need your love..

I'm a broken rose

I wanna need your love.....

*(OCC- lyrics not of my origin)

[Agent of Greystone]

Sitting in the back of a shifty cab with two nervous, teenage Rodians who probably never bathed, on a little roadtrip to Loro's pleasure palace. Surprisingly Darvek had been in this situation before. Albeit it was two different teenage aliens he had on payroll, and it was a different Hutt they were delivering a different dead body to, but it was basically the same thing. The small rusty yellow speeder warbled it's way to an ugly grinding stop at the steps of the building, and the three passengers hopped out, and Darvek handed a credit-chit to the driver, instructing him to wait there. The two Rodians, meanwhile, scurried around to the trunk, popped it open, and scooped out a large something wrapped in a sheet.

The "something" was actually the carcass of a man he had killed a month prior. He had been causing some trouble on Nar Shadaa, killing some people he ought not to have shot, and Darvek had been sent to take care of him. Sometimes after a job like this just to make a little extra on the side, Darvek would fly the body of his latest kill down to some other Hutt's place and tell them about how he "just happened to be in the neighborhood" and "he caught a Jedi snooping around the place". As long as he threw a lightsaber he had collected from a previous Jedi kill on the body, the Hutts would usually buy it. He would get brownie-points with the big bosses, and usually received a fair sum for the body.

As the made their way towards the entrance, they were stopped by the fat, greasy hands of an equally fat & greasy Gamorrean, who seemed intent on halting their entry. Darvek examined him. Past the flab, slobber, and muscles, Darvek noted several things. Beads of sweat rolled down the large man's scalp and snout. The hand he held out to stop them shook, his breaths fell heavy, also what little Darvek could see of his eyes were bloodshot. This man was addicted to something, and he hadn't been getting it for a while.

It was an educated guess, but when Darvek reached into his pocket and retrieved several vials of neon yellow & red liquid, the guard twitched, and his eyes bolted open. He made a lunge for them with both hands, his ax rattling to the ground and down a couple of steps, but Darvek drew back, withholding the drugs from the pig's reach. He gestured at the door. Not really paying attention, the Gamorrean waved them inside, then snatched the death sticks from Darvek's grasp greedily.

Not even a pat-down or an inspection. Darvek thought to himself. Excellent.

Immediately inside it was dark, and it was a little drab, but Darvek could see lights up ahead, ad he could hear singing, so he instructed for his two companions to follow him as he made his way to the main area. The faint and strangely familiar voice continued to sing, and was soon joined by another, though this one he had never heard before. He held a hand up to stop, and peered in through the open portcullis. On the other side, he saw Loro, who could miss him though. There was an audience dining, guards scattered across the room, and two singing dancing Twi'leks.

The Twi'lek girls were the main focus of the room, both swayed their nigh-naked bodies to the rhythm of their song. Suddenly a man burst upon the scene, zapping the Teal girl with a remote. He was quickly cut down by gunfire, and the Hutt had her brought to him for a feel. But while he was "inspecting the merchandise", the were both shocked by the collar the girl was wearing and she was dropped. As the man responsible was tortured by his own device, the girl spoke words of praise in Huttese. And while Darvek understood very little, he knew that she was praising the Hutt, and that the Hutt was the only one buying it. Then she sang again, reminding Darvek that he knew her from somewhere.

Rather than make a scene, Darvek preferred to wait at the door and watch the scene unfold until he was noticed. So he folded his arms and leaned against the wall.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Sinya stood, half-hidden behind a pillar, holding it with two scarlet hands as she peered around the throne room, not sure if the danger was over. The other Twi'lek was praising Loro, which probably helped his pride and ego, but it was a dangerous route to take, which was something Sinya knew.

Loro did not like his slaves passionate and spirited. He liked them broken and submissive, bent to his will. In fact, if he saw her lively and happy now, he'd go out of his way to crush her soul. Sinya had seen it happen, to herself and to others. So many of the new girls who came in, of all races, were bright-eyed and alert, but she knew what happened after the punishments.

Dead eyes, thousand yard stares.

Just like Sinya, they would sit silently in a corner and rock back and forth, or possibly slip into sleep, to hope for the relief of good dreams. But waking, there was no hope. Some might have dreamed of escape at first, but no one did for long.

The Lethan Twi'lek girl could remember what had happened when someone tried to escape with her. She'd been electrocuted in a torture room, for what seemed to her like days of unceasing pain, kept just barely to the edge where she would have passed out, but denied the blackness of unconsciousness.

Now she was too afraid of someone trying to make her escape. If she was good, if she danced and sang, and allowed herself to be touched, then Loro wouldn't hurt her. She would be safe.

Sinya wanted to warn the Rutian girl, to let her know the danger she was in, but there was no chance. It would be suicide to try to tell her here and now.

The other Twi'lek started to sing, and Sinya stepped out from the pillar and improvised a harmony to the melody, supporting the other Twi'lek, moving her arms and legs gracefully as she sang. Her sapphire eyes didn't look at anything though. She was dead to the world, filled with fear, and unable to run, filled with empathy and unable to act upon it.

Impotent and powerless.

[Foxfire]

As she sang she started to feel an evil intent from the males around her, and none more so than Loro himself. She opened her eyes as she finished the male guards picked her up under her arm pits and dragged her a very dark corner of the main room. There she saw a pillow den. She now knew what was coming she looked over her shoulder to see Loro talking to other patrons and not caring for his newest girl.

Felling herself fly half way to the center of the den Reina landed face down. There she was met by other males which moved toward her to enjoy themselves. Slowly her mind slipped into a blackness as the males played and perved themselves with her body. Only once they were satisfied did her mind start to register what was going on around her. A pair of female zeltroin eased her from the defiled den to a sonic shower to clean her up for the next round of depravity.

Yet though the depravity was to wait she was going to sing again. The group of mixed races and sexes looked upon her with hungry eyes, at least till she started to sing. She sang very old twi'lek love song of lost love. The group swayed and sighed to the lyrics. They even forgot their hungry for the depravity that the palace offered.

Her emoting tattoes which blackened nearly all of her skin was alive with color flaring red, blue, and spikes of yellows tiped with white. Like some living neon sign from Coruscant her black emoting tattoes ran the gammet. The colors and the movements of her body and the tones were hypnotic in a way and just maybe touched with a smallest bit of force.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Sinya stared with worry as she saw Loro make a signal with his clumsy hands, and she knew she was too late to issue a warning. He'd seen happiness and life, and she was too late to warn the other girl about what was happening. The guards took her by the arms and hauled her into an adjoining room that Sinya knew the purpose of.

It was for the most important guests to pleasure themselves with Loro's sex slaves. That was a fate Sinya had been spared, but the other girl was apparently earmarked for at the least being broken in there, and at the most rarely leaving that room.

The Lethan Twi'lek was the prize of the collection, and only once had anyone besides Loro been allowed to use her. She was even kept separate from all the other slaves, only allowed to see others for showers, where she rarely talked.

But she did listen. She'd heard about the cameras in that room, and she'd heard about what went on in there. It caused her to freeze with pain and fear, transported back to the night she'd spent in the Guard's quarters, the sensations of being too weak to resist, of being overpowered. Being helpless against the worst kind of cruelty.

Sinya slumped against the pillar and sank down to the ground, nearly catatonic, her fear and her misery coming back nearly as strong as the first time over the memory of what had happened.

"B*tch, sing me a song!" Loro commanded crassly.

But Sinya was beyond hearing. She barely registered what was happening, that Loro was talking. Vaguely she knew to sing, so she opened her mouth and started a lullaby in as soft a voice as possible.

"She's useless like this to me," Loro said to his major domo with a wave. 'Have a guard throw her into the main slave quarters. But beat her first. And try not to break her too badly. And when the guards are done with the other one, throw her in the slave quarters too."

The major domo walked over to a guard and whispered instructions to him. The man, a burly Nikto, nodded and walked over to Sinya, grabbing her by the arm and hauling her out of the throne room in a painful way, and he continued until he reached the guardroom and opened the door, shoving her into the room and closing the door.

Sinya's blue eyes widened as she realized she was in a guard room, and she thought back to the last time. The time she'd been hurt so badly.

"No hurt!" She cried out feebly, just as the guard backhanded her across the face and sent her tumbling into a table. Before she could recover and rise he crossed over and kicked her in the stomach, and she tried to curl up into a ball. The kicks kept coming. He finally picked her up and slapped her across the face, leaving a cut in her lip that send blood a darker color than her skin trickling down her chin.

Sinya whimpered softly as he dragged her into the slave quarters and threw her unceremoniously onto the ground, locking the door down behind her as he left.

The Twi'lek woman whimpered again and lay still, barely conscious, thinking only of pain as other slaves came over and dragged her to a cushion on the floor propping, dabbing at her cut with a scrap of cloth as the bruises slowly began to form.

[Agent of Greystone]

He disliked the very idea of slavery, having your freedom and choice taken away, being turned into a "thing." Darvek couldn't do anything for the red Twi'lek as she was dragged off by guard into another room, the threat of a beating looming overhead all of the while. I can't let myself get distracted. He reminded himself. If this is going to go through, I've got to focus on the task at hand. He needed something to take the edge off.

Having snatched a drink up off of an empty table, Darvek was enjoying a sip of Juma Juice when he saw something that nearly made the stuff come back up through his nose. He had to support himself on a chair as he coughed, attempting to regain his breath and composure. The Teal Twi'lek he had been watching this whole time, had been Reina. The same Reina whom he had just "kidnapped" from Ithor and taxi'd all the way to Felucia.

WhatTheHellIDon'tEven... Darvek thought to himself in confusion. It's barely been any time at all since I dropped her off, and now she's in trouble again?! Suddenly this had stopped being about money to Darvek. He felt an urge to whip out his pistol, shoot as many people as he could, maybe give Reina a way out of this hell. That's not gonna help, I'll just get myself killed. I need to try to be diplomatic first.

The Weequay brushed any more drops of alcohol off of his chin and coat, trying to make himself look presentable; but not too presentable. He still had to look like scum.

He turned to his two Rodian goons and whistled for them to enter the room with the body. Seeing how he wanted to take as much attention off of the Twi'lek girl as possible, Darvek strode right into the center of the room, attempting to give off an aura of importance with his stance and his expression, trying to take as much attention he could off of the girl. He tossed back the last of the Juma Juice and cleared his throat loudly.

"Loro the Hutt, what an honor to finally meet you!" Darvek boomed.

His eyes darted around the room as he spoke. Mainly he was checking for guards, planning possible escape routes if things went haywire. He only once looked over at Reina, just to check if she was still ok before he continued.

"I am Darvek Mavros the Jedi Hunter, I work for one of your cousins on Nar Shadaa. Perhaps you have heard of me?"

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

A Weequay walked out into the center of the throne room and addressed Loro, and the Hutt turned his bulbous eyes onto the figure, summing up and his listening to his words.

The little being had impudence all right, speaking to the mighty Loro with no invitation. However as Loro viewed the events in the adjoining room on a display he gave a lusty laugh and determined he was in an obliging mood.

"Oh, Jedi Hunter," He said in Huttese with a booming laugh. "I have many Cousins, who mention little. Speak your piece Weequay."

The Major Domo, a snaggle-toothed human man with a hooked nose and greasy hair, translated the comments, his nasal voice holding a quiet cruelty.

"The Great Loro the Hutt has many cousins, and he commands you to speak your piece."

The Hutt and his aide fell silent, and both stared expectantly at the self-proclaimed Jedi-Hunter.

[Foxfire]

Reina had barely finished when she was dragged back into the slave quarters by two guards. Throwing her down one of them spat upon her. He was colse enough that if she wanted she could use a stava strike that Je'Baru had taught her but keeping the cover was her first goal for now. Once they left a slave girl moved over to her and helped her up to a better spot. Slowly coming to a rest Reina thanked the slave and looked about at the other slaves.

The lot of them were broken. No spirit no will to live only to survive the hour not the day. Thankfully she had been trained as a entertainer slave and not one for pleasure. Yes she had been the play thing she knew the darkside of the slave world yet she had seen the outer world, she had seen freedom. What was more the main draw to her was not her body but her voice and her skill at dance. Those to skill sets saved her from the most dangerous and darker life of being a slave.

She quietly spoke to the one that helped her asking about a hutt named Heba. The slave just shook her head with the blank eyes of someone who's mind was not her own. Pervsion and drugs had taken her mind and from the look of the other slaves they were not far off too. Sighing she moved over to the lethan Twi'lek and thanked her of her help from earlier. She looked into this ones eyes and they were at that same stage of being broken, a lost soul of the pleasure palaces.

Thank you. You need not worry about my life and safety. I have some one coming soon and he will come for anywho wishes to escape. My aveneging angel will make a mess of this place. He was what gave back to me what was taken, hope.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Sinya stared at the teal Twi'lek who had been brought in by the guards, and she looked deep into her eyes without a hint of curiosity or yearning. In Sinya's blue eyes there was only pain and fear, and something worse than either.

In the red Twi'lek there was a soul-crushing despair, the look of a woman who'd given up. Indeed, she hardly ate, going without meals because she lacked the spirit to eat, and she barely slept for fear of bad dreams. There was a haunting look in her eyes, the kind of gaze that didn't easily escape someone's memory.

It was magnified by the purple bruise across the left side of her face, an ugly feature marring her otherwise perfect skin.

When she spoke, it was in Ryl, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"No one escapes."

Sinya fell into silence for a few seconds before she added another few words, her tone somber.

"And you can never get back what they take."

The last sentence was especially poignant to her. It was a reminder to her of everything they'd taken from her. Her innocence, her joy, the sanctity of her own body, and her family. Nothing was left for her, and she couldn't get anything back.

Everything was destroyed, even her mind. It was a desolate place, devoid of joy and happiness, in which every breath was another moment of suffering. If there was a hell, she was living it.

And like hell, there was no escape.

[Agent of Greystone]

A wave of the arm signaled the two Rodian teenager to the middle of the room. <You two, set down there!> Darvek ordered, using what little Rodese he knew. They still held the lifeless body wrapped in sheet, which the promptly set down close enough for the Hutt to get a good look at. The reached up and uncovered the head. The man in the sack was covered in recent scars from some sort of explosion. He was a human with short brown hair, a five-o'clock shadow, and a detailed tattoo on his forehead. On the back of his head, and crossing over his left shoulder, the was a sloppily braided tail.

No sooner had the Rodians set the body down, did they back away quickly, as if the Hutt had some sort of disease which they were afraid of catching. They scurried over to the Weequay, who promptly slipped them each a credit chit. With the credit chit, Darvek handed each of them a small black bag. <Part two. More Money.> Darvek told them. They nodded and scurried out of the room , into the dark hallway.

Now it was time to deal with the Loro. Darvek walked forwards until he was standing over the body. He stuck a finger down towards the body and proclaimed, "This my good sir, was once a fearsome Jedi, who went rogue and took up a vendetta against The Hutts. Not as renowned as others you may have heard of, but still dangerous nonetheless." Darvek began to pace back and forth across the length of the body. "He was powerful with The Force and with a sword, I saw him cut down an entire room filled with heavily armed mercenaries once!" He stopped, and turned to look at Loro and his Major Domo. "Now you may ask yourself: what does this have to do with me? Well it's simple. This Jedi was planning to kill you, free your slaves, and take down your whole operation!"

He reached into his coat and retrieved a datapad. The contents of the datapad included pages and pages detailed weapon schematics, blueprints for the building, entry plans, and a five-year journal detailing each week's events, and every mission taken to disrupt Hutt operations, and several pages of assassination plans, claiming credit for the deaths of several lower-level crime bosses over the last half-decade. True, all of this was complete bullcrap that Darvek had been writing himself for the last three weeks, but it looked very much like the journal of a half-crazed Jedi, and Darvek prided himself on his work. He tossed the datapad lightly to the Major Domo. He also handed the Domo a lightsaber he had collected from a previous bounty.

"That is his sword, and that is his journal, where he planned everything, including his attack on you, sir Loro. I caught this Jedi as he was finishing his preparations to storm your Palace, I could have left him to his own business, for it was none of mine, but yet I still confronted him. We had a great contest, and in the end, through broken bones and cuts and burns, I emerged victorious." Darvek made various hand gestures as he spoke, making it sound very dramatic." I am the Jedi Hunter after all." he said matter-of-factly. "But I don't tend to do things for free, and I came seeking payment for catching a dangerous individual that your security network should have been all over by then."

He looked directly into the Hutt's eyes. "And you know what? I won't ask you for any money, I don't want any big houses or fancy guns, or any number of credits." He switched his dialect, so that he could speak directly to the Hutt in his language. <All I want is your new Twi'lek. The blue one with the changing tattoos.>

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

For a long moment Loro was silent, and a tension was heavy in the air of the throne room, as the various beings present were unsure of what reaction to embrace. Like dutiful servants, they waited on their master before they reacted.

It was clear however that some believed him.

The Major Domo examined the documentation, his beady eyes taking in all the information and looking it over for accuracy. He whispered a few words to Loro, and the Hutt remained silent for a few more seconds.

And then he let out a long and low laugh, a throaty rumble that everyone in the room joined in on. The sound of cruel mirth filled the air until it died away, silence reclaiming its throne for a few short seconds before Loro spoke again.

"Do you take me for a fool my boy? Anyone can make a corpse and add a lightsaber. If anyone had plotted against me I would have heard of it long before you. Perhaps, just perhaps I will humor your little charade though..."

Loro chuckled again as he rubbed his slimy hands together, ready for a mockery of an offer.

"You may have the girl if you bring me another, and if you pay back half of my investment. Twenty thousand credits, a new slave, and you walk out of here with the little Wh0re."

[Agent of Greystone]

Just as the obese slug was finishing his "offer," Darvek's two Rodian associates scurried back into the room. One of them tapped him on the shoulder and whispered something into his ear. Darvek turned back to them and whispered something back, handing each of them another sum of credits. They both nodded their heads to him and raced out of the room just as fast as they had entered. <Wait in the taxi!> Darvek yelled down the hallway after them.

Spinning on his heels, Darvek turned his attention back to the matters at hand. "Oh, you are just as wise as they say, oh great Loro..." He said in mock appraisal. "But if you look closely at that document you will notice that, while I may have...fictionalized a few parts, those were the actual blueprints to this room, they cost me a pretty penny, and those red X's did actually mark structural weaknesses in this room's ceiling."

His hand moved inconspicuously into his pocket, and the Weequay pulled out a small silver device with a button on top. Holding it out so that it could be properly seen, he announced, "Your offer was a good one Loro, but I have a better one. This is a deadman's switch. If I die or am incapacitated, this will set off the mines my two friends planted on this room's supports, and the one that I stitched into the body at your feet!"

Darvek began to pace again, back and forth across the length of the body. He had planned this to be his escape strategy in the case that the Hutt found out he was trying to swindle him and took it personally, as they have a tendency to overreact if they think they are being made fools of. He didn't like playing his trump card so early, but a friend's life was on the line and he had to do everything in his power to get her out safely.

With his right hand, he lifted his coat to hoist his heavy pistol from it's holster on his back. "So here's the deal slug, you bring me the girl, I give you nothing, and everyone can get out of this in one piece. And if I see your guards making any funny moves your ass is sausage!"

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Loro was silent for a long moment, and then he started to laugh. It was a deep and booming laugh, the kind which he rarely let out, and a disarming one that took away the urgency of the situation.

"I admire your gall Weequay. Not many would be brave or foolish enough to stand against me."

The Major Domo didn't even bother translating, as he was too busy surreptitiously talking into a comm link, conferring with the guards.

"If the room collapses you will be just as dead as I am. I give you a promise though, if you surrender your detonator, I will let you take the girl, on one condition."

The Hutt fell silent for a moment, gauging the Weequay's reactions, trying to summ him up, to find his weaknesses. Admittedly Loro hadn't planned out what task he'd assign until now. But he decided now would be an excellent time to provide a challenge.

"You will bring me a replacement slave, a beautiful Jedi for me to destroy. If you do this, I will hold no grudge. If you fail me, the consequences will be... Dire."

Loro interlaced his fingers, as calm as could be as he plotted what punishment he would deliver. He would rip everything from this man. He would hunt down this girl he cared for and have her tortured and degraded before the Weequay's eyes, and then he would kill them both slowly.

And the Hutt would enjoy it.

[Foxfire]

Reina was quietly talking to another slave about the where-abouts of Heba when the guards stormed the den, slaves shrieked. A couple of pig faced guards grunted as they rushed her. One of the guards grabbed her lekku and yanked on her. Something snapped in her as she spun in pain and made a stava strike towards the guard's left knee. With a crunch and a snap it dislocated and the fat guard hit the floor. The second guard whipped out a stun stick and swung it at her. Reina, with a dancers grace, ducked the snapping stick of hot pain. A second stava strike and he too fell to the floor. She was happy until the cold muzzle of a blaster was shoved into her back.

Move it!

Sighing she moved as she knew if she did not a sharp smack to the back of her head would had followed. The scene back at the throne room of sorts Reina saw a familiur sight. The hunter who had brought her back to Felucia was standing before Loro. Darvek had been kind enough to help her out yet here he was again trying for the hero possition of the year. With slumped shoulders she moved near him and a very quiet tone she spoke.

Guess thanks are in order, but this hutt is not going to let anyone go. The broken slave girls are the proof enough for any sane being. Je'Baru will make his life a living nightmare if he hunts me. You might want to think of heavier arms.

Reina smiled at Loro and did a small curtsy, and in huttese she thanked him for his graciousness. She also said she would remember the kindness which was given to her on the time she was here.

[Agent of Greystone]

For but a moment, Darvek's expression brightened when his friend was escorted into the room. A Gammorhean guard shuffled along behind her, prodding her with the barrel of a pistol. Darvek quickly became stone-faced again when he turned his attention back to the Hutt. He wanted to show as little weakness as possible when dealing with a crime lord. The Twi'lek did a little bow, and spoke words of kindness to the slug. When she was finished, she moved closer to Darvek to whisper words of warning in his ear. A paltry sum added to the already big price on my head.

"Alright, you've brought the girl. So here is the detonator as promised." He hit a small switch on the bottom of the device, and a little green light on the side indicating it's status clicked off. "Reina, stand behind me and back out of the room. Slowly." He whispered back to Darvek held his arm out to shield Reina from any retaliatory shots that might be coming after them. He tossed the small silver object to the Domo, slowly backpedaling out of the room.

With a flick of his wrist, a small pistol leapt from the sleeve of his jacket and into his left hand. With his right hand, he raised his large Ripper, not directly at anyone, but in an intimidating fashion none the less. He wan't planning on shooting anyone unless he had to, but he hoped the sight of the guns might deter any violent actions.

"I'm sorry Loro, I'm going to have to disappoint you." He said, just before leaving the room. "Because I'm going to get you that Jedi without a doubt." With that, he turned to flee, as he left he murmured under his breath, "And when I give him to you, it'll be the last present you ever get."

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Loro stared at the guards bringing in the Twi'lek, and he let out a gurgle of rage.

"Fools!" He bellowed, "I gave no order to bring her!"

He barely even registered the Weequay leaving with the Twi'lek, he was simply too livid and incensed by the fact his orders had been disobeyed.

The Major Domo stuttered out a reply in Huttese, trying to excuse his actions, but as the guards came forward it was quickly too late for the aid.

"Take this slime to the top of the palace and throw him off it."

A Gammorean guard grunted an affirmative, and Loro paused again, waving his hand.

"But first, cut off his genitals and shove them down his throat."

The Major Domo protested, but to no avail. He was dragged out whimpering after the Twi'lek and the Weequay, on his way to a very nasty and premature end.

Meanwhile in the slave quarters, Sinya'anu was asleep, lying still in the depths of black dreams, with the sad realization that they wouldn't end when she woke up.