Ulu lifts up his hands in a 'I give up gesture' as he laughs. "Goood! Har.. har.." His huge ears flick at the air slightly. "I've been waiting a long time to get back into the game, and I hope this lead on Skywalker will show the uppers I can be trusted again," he says as he takes out a cube-like object the size of a small jewelery box that he puts at the center of the table. "I am very excited about this piece of intelligence I was fortunate to come across... quite by accident, actually. There is no doubt in my mind though, it is Master Skywalker! See for yourselves..."

Pressing a small button at the side of the device, a holo image springs up, its blue light casting shadows across the room. The recording has no sound, but it has obviously been taken from a 30 degree angle above two figures discussing in an alleyway. One of the two is a Neimoidian. The other appears to be wearing a dark cloak and cowl, and though no lightsaber is visible - you clearly recognize Luke Skywalker as he lowers the hood of his cloak and starts a conversation with the Neimoidian.

The image clearly show them bantering, and finally some credits exchange hands, with Luke taking possession of two items from: a datapad, and a small, square object, about the size of a fist. It looks to be made of a black substance - with perhaps some type of script on it - but it's impossible to tell in the holo. Eventually the holo-recording ends, and the Gran picks up the cube again and waves a small data disk.

"This is good, eh???" he says rubbing his hands together.

[Private to Zala Quel'falri:

You immediately recognize the Neimoidian as Nute Findos. He makes his living as an information broker who lives and has offices here (you know where)... with a private army of droids at his beck and call, no less. He's not exactly your friendly type either.

Master Skywalker, you know what everyone else has seen on the newscasts about him. Let me know if you need information on that.]

Her brow furrowed as she watched the holo.  When the two figures appeared, her expression changed to one of recognition and then discomfort.  She fidgeted nervously.  Master Skywalker?  They are looking for him?  Who are these people?  Jedi-hunters?

When Ulu decided to start playing the holo in front of their guest, Kal momentarily thought of trying to stop him, but instead he just looked back at Mi. He was a Jedi and could probably read his mind. If not, his facial expression.

Several questions sprang to mind, though Kal first complimented the Gran, "Yes, that is quite good. Excellent work. So where did you get this recording, Ulu?"

Kal also looked to Mirax for confirmation of Skywalker's identity.

The Gran smiles at the praise and leans forward, "I put my spy drones everywhere. This one happened to be on a wall, and caught this interesting bit of info."

Kal drew a breath in slowly and remained patient, "Which wall was it on? And who is the Neimoidian?"

Watching the holo, Mirax found herself genuinely surprised.  She had half expected the lead to turn up false.  However... that was clearly Luke Skywalker.  Seeing Kal glance back, she meet his eyes and nodded.  It was their target - no doubt about it.

However, that wasn't what was most distressing to Mirax.  She recalled that Master Skywalker had taken a Sith Holocron with him when he disappeared from the Jedi Temple.  Yet, here he was, purchasing what appeared to be another Holocron.  Any one could have dangerous knowledge and information - two?  The danger would only be magnified with this.  There were also future implications... why would he need more than just one?  Was he collecting them, searching for pieces of information?  If so... he might need more.

Of course, that all depended on that holocron actually being a holocron - and that it was indeed his second.  She couldn't be sure if the holocron hadn't simply been stolen from the temple, and that Luke had left in search of it.  Only time would tell.

Mi watched the others as they approached their contact and after a short exchange the holo-vid was shown.  Mi watched from under the rim of his hat  eyes narrowing at it all.  Something didn't make sense, why would Master Skywalker come out of hiding after so many years just to get what looked to be a holocron.  He understood the value of a holocron very well, there was a entire group of wardens that spent all their time doing nothing but hunting them.  This however didn't fit, was it just a thrust for knowledge that prompted Master Skywalker out into the open like this.  Also why lower his hood, it was like he wanted to be identified if anyone was watching.

He cleared his mind of these thoughts, there was plenty of time for this speculation later but for now his duty was clear.  Maintaining his cover he continued to watch the room keeping his senses alert.


[Private to Power of the Darkside: 05:04, Today: Mi Truev rolled 16 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 10. perception.

Was just going to keep the last roll for stealth till a situation called for him to break cover or you tell me otherwise.]

The Gran looked a Kal, "That was recorded here on Koshibal, one of the back alleys in one of the rougher districts. That Neimoidian would be Nute Findos, a former chairman within the Trade Federation. His syndicate lost much to the Republic during the clone wars, and during the peace that followed. He's manage to avoid arrest by staying out of Republic space. Now… he makes his living as an information broker. He’s managed to avoid the pressures of the Hutts – most of which want to own him. He most likely has blackmail-worthy information on each, which is why he's been able to stay independent this long," the last bit of information was most likely speculation, but was proably accurate in its own measure.  "He lives and offices here in the city… with a private army of droids at his beck and call, no less. No one messes with Nute Findos. He controls nearly everything here."
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:26, Thu 21 July 2011.

Kal grunted at the response. "Sounds like he's done a pretty good job of staying out of the limelight. Though he must have received a significant sum of money to get personally involved with someone powerful enough to kill him with a thought. I would have thought he'd trust such to a lackey. Since he didn't, he obviously likes to conduct his business face-to-face. So where does Nute live and work? And how does one get to see him?"

Ulu laughs, as if it weren't obvious how to meet Nute Findos. "He's a Neimoidian," he says waving his hands airily. "First and foremost, there's one thing they are born to do, and that's to buy and sell. You want to see him? Have something he wants to buy. And there’s three things Findos wants: information, pretty twi’lek women, and spice - glitterstim only, HIGH quality stuff. If you have any of these three things to sell - it should at least grant you an audience. Findos keeps a protocol droid outside his office - he sets up all appointments through it, which I can try to setup for you..."
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:53, Thu 21 July 2011.

Kal shook his head, "Ulu, you seem to be consistently using the wrong word here. The one you're looking for is 'us' not 'you'." Kal stabbed a finger toward Ulu, "You will be coming with us for this meeting. Meaning that if you set something up, you will be setting it up for all of us.You don't need to say a thing once we're there, but it would be better for all involved if you brought us there since you seem to know quite a bit about the person we're dealing with."

In reply to Kal Wennyn (msg #425):

"Ohhh no, Nahn-Takai," Ulu said waving his hands in a slow down motion, "he's easy enough to find; he's not exactly hiding, you know. Besides, you're Republic Intelligence, and you're more than able to go there by yourself. Besides, knowing RMI, you need to chime in to your uppers to tell them that the Skywalker sighting is true, and if my memory serves, they told me you didn't have a way off this rock, yet. I'll try to get you that too while you meet up with Findos, if that's what you intend to do."

Kal waved his hands in the same way that Ulu did. He also echoed his speech pattern, "Ohhh no, Ulu. You will be going with us. While I chime in to my uppers, you can secure us transport. Once you've secured that transport, we'll all go to meet this Nute. I know a Twi'lek that I can trust completely so we can use that as our 'in'. Once it's all gone off without a hitch, I'll give you the package that we intercepted that was on its way to you..."

In reply to Kal Wennyn (msg #427):

"What package?" he asks with an annoyed growl.

Kal sat back in the chair with a with a slight smile on his face and seemed to pay particular interest in his fingernails for a few moments. He then looked up and responded to the question, "The one that apparently belongs to a Hutt. I'm trying to remember which one..." Kal looks around at the others for confirmation. "Was it Jabba? I think that was it..."

Kal looked back to Ulu to see how he reacted.

In reply to Kal Wennyn (msg #432):

Ulu bursts out laughing, "And just what is it you're getting at? The spice shipment I just acquired 10 minutes ago from some Dug and Duros? You can't possibly be that naive?" his laughter resounded throughout the room.

"You know, if you want to use blackmail as leverage, you have to be quicker than the people you left that shipment with, instead of hitting on the women on your team.. While you were busy giving that girl," he said waving towards Mirax, "a spiked drink, the crew of the Black Comet came through the back door and left shortly before you decided to burst in on me and the ladies. Don't worry, the 2nd mate and her Captain decided to part with it for some extra profit... They got a good price for the last v-wing too... So you see, I'll be staying here, trading my spice as I've always done since RMI relegated me to this hole."
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:20, Thu 21 July 2011.

And there it was.  All things considered, they had enough reason - Mirax in particular - to ruin this guy's life, and no one would fault them for it.

"Sounds to me like you don't quite understand your situation," Mirax replied.  It was hard not to just slam the scum up against a wall the old fashioned way, but she had to keep some restraint. "You know who we were sent to find.  You know how potentially dangerous he could be.  Do you really think we're not capable of ruining your pathetic little life?" An idea came to mind.  "That spice shipment of yours.  Is it glitterstim?  High quality stuff?"

Kal sat back while Mirax did her work. He thought that it was good to have all the cards on the table, but was a bit miffed that RMI set him up with a captain that was so quick to sell them out for such a small sum. He didn't seem like someone that would want to cross the Republic. Though like any who did, he would soon find out what it meant to sell out the Republic military.

Ulu also didn't seem to be bothered by it, which meant that Kal's small amount of trust in him had just gone to zero.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:50, Thu 21 July 2011.

"That crate belongs to the Jabba," Ulu said as he waved down Mirax's argument, "and is no longer any concern of yours as it's already being loaded on a freighter. I have a cover to maintain, and I'm not responsible for the way it gets to me. So long as it does. However, it's rather interesting that it made its way to me on the same vessel as you, when Pugwis had been rather clear last time that he'd want nothing to do with any more Hutt cargo, so I'm not sure just who convinced him into bringing it this time. I suppose I should thank you for its safe delivery, this way I won't have Jabba breathing down my neck, and my cover is still good."

The Gran stretches his legs, "I respect the balls you have in trying to use this against me, but don't forget you're in Hutt Space. Things can get ugly for you really quickly if you piss up the wrong tree. I suggest you concentrate on the mission you were given. I'm ready to help, but don't abuse my hospitality," he warned.

"If you want some Glitterstim as bait, I suggest you buy some."
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:12, Thu 21 July 2011.

So the crate was off the table.  However, Ulu Teem was a Spice dealer last she checked.  The Glitterstim, as he assumed, would get them an audience with the Neimoidian, the person who would be able to tell them more about Skywalker, one way or another.  However, she didn't particularly like the idea of buying the spice with their own funds, considering how expensive it was likely to be.

Considering how unhelpful Ulu Teem was being, and how little Mirax wanted to deal with him further, she figured it was time to take a risk.  Using the Force for suggestion like this wasn't a major use, and Skywalker obviously had a mission on his mind, whatever that might be.  So, she used one of her many tricks.

"How about you procure some for us?  Then we will use it to meet this Findos, and be out of your hair - or lack thereof," she said, narrowing her eyes at him as she touched his mind to make the idea feel like the best choice for him.


14:19, Today: Mirax Bey rolled 26 using 1d20+15 with rolls of 11. Mind Trick, vs Ulu's Will Def.  If that's not enough, I'll be adding a Force Point to the roll.

"Sure, I'd be happy to get you some," Ulu said with a vacant smile.

Kal pressed his lips together, "How quickly can you make that happen? If it will take some time, we can use the twi'lek angle instead."

Kal wasn't about to let Ulu out of his sight, assuming that he would take any opportunity to make some small profit. Having already been sold out by the transport captain, Kal wasn't about to give this one the opportunity to sell them out as well.

Ulu thinks for a moment, "I could have some to you by the end of the day," he said finally.

Kal nodded. "And how quickly do you suppose we could set something up with Nute for a twi'lek?" he asked, desiring to follow this lead as quickly as possible.

In reply to Kal Wennyn (msg #441):

"No telling without making the arrangements... Findos keeps a protocol droid outside his office - he sets up all appointments through it, which I can try to setup for you... Or you can attempt it yourself."