Being Watched [Danee]

[Mara]

[...from Gathering Dead Ends]

Looma's yellow nose wrinkled in disgust as she stepped off the ramp of her transport and out onto the terra of Bilbousa, the capital of the Hutt world of Nal Hutta. Everything around her seemed to be rotting and stagnant, and the air was thick with pollution. If she hadn't been so intent on her quest, she probably would have turned and ran back into her ship and asked the droid to get her the hell out of here. As it was, a bit of her was regretting her decision not to go directly to Nar Shaddaa, which was relatively more cosmopolitan, if not slightly cleaner.

But she had been somewhat hopeful in her thought that the Hutts on this world may be more susceptible to talking to her than those on the moon. Isolated from all the business being conducted on Nar Shaddaa and all the other scum that went along with that. No ulterior motives to steer her away or change the subject. Though, as she looked around, perhaps it would be the other way around. Unless it was just wishful thinking on her part, hoping to get her answers before she passed out from the smell. Maybe this would be a short visit, after all.

She had traveled from Korriban to Ryloth and here to Hutt space, looking for any traces of her sister Leef, who had been sold into slavery over a decade ago. Her parents' decision to do so had destroyed her and had probably indirectly aided her descent into the dark side of the Force. But it hadn't been until a few months ago that a plan had began forming in her mind. During one of her darkest moments, haunted by horrified visions and dreams of her sister, she had decided to settle it once and for all. Only then would she feel whole enough to return to her training as a Sith.

Ryloth had been a dud; none of the slave traders she had found had any information for her. If they even deigned to speak to her in the first place. Many had sneered at her and slammed doors in her face. Looma had figured it might be a longshot; though her sister had been born on the planet and sold from there, it was likely the buyer wasn't native to Ryloth anyway.  And so her next destination had been Hutt space, the hotspot of everything bad in the universe, as far as she was concerned. But before she poked around on the Smugglers' Moon, she had wanted to take a shot at Nal Hutta, hoping to uncover a stale clue to her sister's whereabouts.

Leaving her ship in the care of her pilot droid, she hurried around freighters and other starships of various sizes, needing to put the spaceport behind her. Looma was still clad simply in bland beige clothing with her black cloak covering all, including her head. Her yellow lekku disappeared into its shadows. But while on Ryloth she had left all weapons behind, believing her touch of the Force to be enough, she had snapped on her lightsaber at the last minute before departing. Nal Hutta might prove more dangerous than the planet of the Twi'leks. And though she was not proficient in the least with the blade, its presence comforted her.

The first place she elected to try and gather information in was a cantina just a block from the spaceport. She hoped she wouldn't have to go door-to-door. Listening in on conversations in a crowded bar could give her some leads on which establishments to knock on first. Looma was also hoping that here away from the Republic's prying eyes, proprietors of the slave trade wouldn't be so disguised. No hiding behind business fronts, likely advertising out in the open.

Stepping through the door, she walked unobtrusively among the patrons and found an empty table towards the back where she could sit in peace. A few moments later a young female Twi'lek with reddish skin came up to her. Looma tried not to stare too much, horrified at the lack of clothing the girl wore. She merely just ordered a water, keeping the evidence of her species hidden within her hood. As the server walked away, Looma carefully stretched out with the Force, amplifying her hearing so that she wouldn't have to reveal herself and could still listen for anything interesting. It was time to get started...

[Danee]

Nal Hutta, one of the planets that Litin highly doubted she'd ever especially willingly. It was one of those shit holes in the galaxy which just seemed to act like a point of gravity for slavers, bounty hunters and other scum which traveled the Galaxy. Why Litin was there? Well, she was not there to see the wonders of Nal Hutta, no she was only there to follow and, hopefully, capture a Force Sensitive.

The Echani stepped outside of the carrier she had snuck on to get there and now she was stretching her arms and legs while looking around in somewhat disgust of what she could see. She wanted just to get this done and then leave for Korriban and then leave that shit hole as well. She had been looking around for various systems within the Outer rim and decided to take a look at Shogun when she was done here. 

Looking around again the Echani grabbed the edges of her hood and tossed it up over her head and began walking around the harbor. She could feel the occasional beat against her hips as the lightsabers bounced against her while she walked along the harrier sides, keeping her eyes open for her target. The one who had told her to track her down the Force Sensitive only said, Yellow skin, Togruta or Twi'lek, now, it would be a lot easier if he had specified it a bit more but that was all that she got to know about her job because so far she had seen around four Twi'leks, none of them had been yellow which ruled them out but she also had seen one or two Togruta as well.

So far she couldn't sense the person either but that just meant she wasn't close enough to pick her up in the force yet. Nevertheless the Assassin continued her search for the Yellow woman she was going to kidnap and bring to Korriban. 

After around two hours of constant walking she sighed and shook her head, so far this seemed like a dead end and who knew, perhaps the yellow person had already left Nal Hutta. Litin decided to go and get something to eat, it'd help her refocus and it'd also give her some more patience.

When she slipped inside one of the hundreds of bars in Bilbousa she looked around the bar to see if she could see anyone who might fit into the description of Yellow Skin, Togruta or Twi'lek and force sensitive. So far, she could see a few Twi'lek, wrong color though. She looked around to see if she could see a place where she'd be able to sit down. Seeing a free seat next to the counter she walked up and sat down, pulling down her hood as well, she didn't care if anyone saw her as she, to her knowledge, was unknown to almost everyone. 

When the bartender came up to Litin and asked what she wanted she looked at her. "Some Answers and perhaps a glass of water." Litin spoke to the Twi'lek who nodded and disappeared for a few moments and came back with a glass of water. "Now, Answers aint cheap, watcha wanna know?" The Twi'lek asked as Litin sipped her water, humming to herself briefly. "Actually... nevermind." she said and dropped a few credits in front of her on the counter while she looked around the room.

So far no luck, or so she thought, she reached out with the force briefly and felt the presence of a Force Sensitive, which she hadn't sensed since she got to Nal Hutta, perhaps, it was the one she was looking for, but for now, she'd remain in her seat, sipping her water silently.

[Mara]

"I need a fast ship... No questions asked."
"Well, buddy, then you came to the right man."

"And so I told her, if she wanted to get paid, she'd have to go all the way."

"Ever almost gotten yer ass handed to you by a Republic patrol? I have. And it wasn't fun.
It was... exhilarating."

"Barkeep! Another round for my friend here! On me!"

She sipped from her glass of stale water as she listened to the snippets of conversation around her, searching for any traces of what she was looking for. Beings speaking about slavery, slave trade, trafficking, anything that might give her a lead, no matter how small. Any kind of in so that she could pick up the trail of her sister. But so far, it was all the usual chatter from spacers and pilots, the riffraff from the spaceport that this cantina was picking up. Looma had thought the proximity would bring what she needed, but perhaps even on Nal Hutta lowlifes kept a low profile.

The Twi'lek sighed to herself and set down her drink. Perhaps she would have better luck further inside the city. Away from the prying eyes of visitors and passers-by. Hardened criminals meeting their informants and lackeys in secret, away from the bustle of the spaceport. She took a deep breath and then stood up. Looma almost left without leaving a tip, since the girl had only gotten her water. But then thinking that any money could be helpful--believing that the other Twi'lek's attire was a way to generate more income--she laid down a few credits in the shadow of her glass.

Making sure her cloak and hood were still securing her anonymity, Looma glanced around her surroundings once more, just in case. But seeing, and hearing, nothing that piqued her interest and quest, she passed through the room. As she did so, she tamped down on her presence in the Force; better to wear her abilities close to the chest, only using them when necessary, even on this Hutt-controlled planet. She wanted no trouble, only to disappear into the masses as she focused on her mission.

However, right before she did so, something caught her attention. A brief touch of another Force user. It took all her self-control to just continue through and out the door and not turn to look behind her. Looma knew it was probably nothing. There were plenty of Force sensitives in the galaxy, many of them unknown and untrained. She had bumped into one back on Ryloth, after all. Plus there was also the chance that she was just mistaken, feeling jumpy from being in this strange place all alone. Feeling things where there were none.

Looma shook her mind clear and put her attention back on her important task. Back to her search for information. She opted to just walk instead of calling for an airtaxi. This way she could continue to eavesdrop and pick out any likely locations to investigate. Not to mention she wouldn't have been able to tell the driver any specific destination. And after being cooped up inside her transport, it felt good to be out in the open air, even if it wasn't so fresh. So she went down a few blocks, going around corners whenever she fell lead, moving deeper into the city, ever alert for any clue.

[Danee]

(Short post, sorry.)


The touch, brief, yet so acknowledging. Grinning Litin took a sip from her glass as the source stood up and moved through the establishment and towards the door. In the corner of her eye she could see the sensitive, taking another sip from her glass she put it down and pushed herself off the stool, walking out of the bar just a bit after her assumed target. As the Echani exited the bar she grabbed the edge of her hood and raised it above her head again, covering herself as she began to walk along the street in the direction the touch.

She walked along the streets for a couple of minutes, keeping her distance, occasionally touching the mind of the other Force sensitive to make sure that she was still walking in the right direction, and so she was. She planned on coaxing her target into approaching her, so, she kept increasing the intervals where she bumped against the other's mind, over and over, going from every five minutes down to every thirty seconds instead.

[Mara]

As she kept walking, she wondered more and more if coming to Nal Hutta had been the right choice. So far in her brief time on-planet, she hadn't any leads at all or even the hint of a lead. And her prospects didn't appear to be changing any time soon. Perhaps it would be best if she just headed back to her ship, perhaps hopped over to Nar Shaddaa, the Smugglers' Moon; there would likely be a far greater chance of finding out information there. Even though she had thought it the other way around, heading to the Hutts' homeworld first instead.

At least she could get away from all this stench if she left. The moon was sure to have its own aroma of unpleasant odors, but Nal Hutta was a disgusting bouquet all its own. Looma felt like she had been stuck in an unwashed Hutt's armpit for the past couple of hours and was tempted to pinch her nose from time to time but settled for wrinkling it in disgust. It had invaded everything, her clothing, her pores. She wasn't sure if she could ever get rid of it. Using the Force as a shield hadn't worked, either. And so she was stuck with it, as it threatened to suffocate her.

But it wasn't just the smell that gave her that feeling. Light had fled, darkness settling around her. Looma paused then, pushing away her thoughts to really study her surroundings as she slowed to a stop. The assault on her nasal passages, as well as her despondency towards ever finding a clue to her sister, had distracted her. She had taken a wrong turn somewhere and gone further into the city than she had ever planned on. Leaving behind the more civilized area near the spaceport and entering into the not-so-hidden squalor of the Hutts' domain. Some sort of warehouse area.

Looma circled around slowly, looking for the best way out. Not that she was scared or frightened; she felt she could handle herself if she came upon a Hutt or other being unexpectedly. She just preferred to somewhere where the air flowed a bit more freely, where she could find her way back to her ship. And on top of everything, she couldn't push away the sense of uneasiness that had been with her since the cantina. That someone was watching her. It was like an itch she couldn't scratch, a morsel she couldn't quite reach.

The feeling was growing stronger. And really started to bother Looma. That's all she needed now, was some kind of stalker or would-be  mugger to keep her from her quest. She sighed, exasperated, and then reached out with the Force to see if she could get a handle on whomever it was. Gradually she increased the area around where she was standing, looking for a presence nearby. Soon, she found it and immediately withdrew, not wanting whomever it was to know she had discovered him or her. For she had realized it was a Force user, maybe even the same as the one from the cantina.

She concocted a plan to get rid of her tail. First, she got herself walking again, every so often lifting her head to look upwards or as if to read a sign on a building. Keeping up the ruse that she was still on the search for something, unaware someone was following her. But after a few more minutes of that, she went around the next corner she saw, ran a few feet, and stopped. Looma dropped into a crouch in the shadows of some big containers that filled up part of the dark alley she had ducked into. If she was right, this being would come around any moment now...