Kal nodded. "Okay, I think we'll take care of making contact. You and him..." Kal jerked his thumb toward Mi, "...can take care of securing transport out of here for the four of us. Go ahead and make your purchase as we might need to fall back on that. Is there any special wording, phrases, codes, or anything like that we need to provide to the protocol droid to get us in to see Nute more safely or more quickly?" Kal shot Mirax a look to make certain she was concentrating on the response.

"No passwords or catchphrases that I know of," Ulu said, "but I'll certainly look up some transports out of here for you. Where will you be going once you're done?"

Kal simply said, "Nar Shaddaa."

He figured that should be close enough since they were already in Hutt Space and they should be able to get passage from there to just about anywhere in the galaxy.

OOC: You said Koshibal is in Hutt Space, right?

OOC: Yes.

Ulu simply nodded that he understood and stared blankly into space for a while.

Kal glanced briefly at Mirax then said, "Okay, make it happen. We'll be in contact with you through him." Kal tossed his head toward Mi. As Kal got up to leave, he walked toward Mi and very quietly said, _{"Make sure he doesn't do anything besides get us transport and get the glitterstim. He shouldn't be contacting anyone else. We can't let him alert anyone to our presence. Anyone who knows who we are is dangerous to us."}

Kal then beckoned for Mirax and Zala to come with him.

Once outside, he quietly said to Zala, "We need somewhere secure and private to talk."

"You ain't kiddin'," Zala muttered to Kal.  She looked between him and Mirax with distrust in her eyes.  "If I'd have known you were involved in that sort of stuff, I'd have stayed outside.  If you want a private conversation, best not do it here.  There are spybots and bugs everywhere."

OOC: We can assume that anywhere will be safe to discuss. You have my word. Scout's honour...

Kal nodded and grinned at her, "We leave ourselves in your capable hands then, Seris. You're the local. Perhaps there's someplace at your workplace that you trust to not be bugged?"

She gestured for them to follow and left the cantina, but she didn't go far.  Entering the ship a few buildings down, she waved to the keeper as she passed through but didn't stop to talk to him.  The store was a maze of shelves and goods not seen on more respectable worlds.  Zala wove her way through and gestured as they reached the back room.  It was a comfortably sized room with several cushioned chairs, a sofa, and a kitchen area with a food synthesizer.  She palmed the door closed behind them and engaged the privacy lock.

"He owes me a favor.  We should be able to talk her without interference."  She took one of the chairs.  "So...," she said, not really knowing where to start.

Kal followed Zala, though kept his eyes open for anyone that might be following them. He also tried to remember how to get to this place in case it was ever chosen as a meeting spot, however unlikely that seemed.

Once they had made their way into the safe area, Kal looked around with a grin. He then plopped himself on the sofa with a sigh and patted the spot next to him with a look to Zala. He briefly tested the load-bearing capacity of the sofa by bouncing up and down slightly before he said, "Take a load off, Seris. I'm sure what you just saw and heard might be a bit...heavy. I hadn't expected everything to go down like that, sorry if we've gotten you involved in something you might just as well have just avoided. I'm sure you have a lot of questions, so go ahead and ask."

Her brow furrowed.  "First of all, Master Skywalker?  From the newsfeeds, I've gathered that he's extremely dangerous.  Why are you looking for him and what do you intend to do when you find him?  That fellow he was with on the holo is bad business.  Ulu didn't exaggerate at all.  Findos has his own private army of battle droids and no one can touch him.  If he even thinks he smells a trap or a deal gone wrong, he reacts with deadly force."

"Also, what was that in there?  Ulu doesn't just lie down for anybody.  He's usually very shrewd.  Then you two give him a song and dance and he's staring off blankly like he's in the thralls of spice?  How did you get him to do what you wanted?"

Now that she was talking, she couldn't stop.  The questions kept coming even faster and her voice rose a fraction.  "And what's this about you offering me transport when you don't even have a transport?  You couldn't trust the one you were on and now you think you'll be able to trust anyone from here?  I've been here for... well... for a bit... and you can't trust anyone.  How do you expect to get passage to Nar Shaddaa and make it there alive?"

Kal waited patiently for all her questions to come streaming out. He was surprised there wasn't one more, "For starters, our target is extremely dangerous, yes, but we're not expected to engage him. Just find him and report his whereabouts. Unfortunately, Nute is our only lead right now so our mission goes through him. We're not here to cause him or his, er, private army any harm so perhaps he'll be reasonable."

Kal looked briefly to Mirax then back at Zala, "As for Ulu, he was thought by my superiors to not be entirely trustworthy, in fact they specifically told us not to trust him which is why we tried to hold something over his head. He's been on the Republic payroll for some time now, but was relegated here due to some failure of his. Apparently he's had problems being addicted to spice, and that addiction got between him and his job at least once before. He's also a spice merchant by trade. Since he knows we're here, I worry that he might attempt to sell us out for profit so that he can continue his addiction. I don't plan to give him that opportunity." He again looked to Mirax. She could add more later if she chose.

"As for getting off-planet, even if no one is going to Nar Shaddaa, which I doubt, the Republic will send someone for us. Either way, we can get you out of here. As for the people we came with, they have also worked for the Republic before which is why selling us out as they did was a bit of a surprise. Given the size of the Republic and the amount of trade that happens within our borders, most merchants avoid crossing us. The two on that transport won't be able to dock in Republic space without a lot of effort concealing their identity ever again." Kal shrugged. Seems like a lot of hassle for a few thousand credits, but maybe they planned to spend the remainder of their days in the outer rim.

"Republic Intelligence, hmm?  You?"  She pointed at Kal.  "How deep are you?  What sort of pull do you have?"  Something sparked in her eyes as an idea came to her, though she was careful not to seem over-eager.

Then, her gaze narrowed a trifle as she thought on something Kal had said about Ulu.  "Actually, you didn't have anything to hold over Ulu's head.  He already had that spice shipment you intended to use as leverage.  One moment he's telling you to do everything yourself in typical smug fashion, the next he's perfectly compliant and willing to do whatever you like.  Did you drug him?  Or was it something else?"

Kal nodded, "Yes, Republic Intelligence. Something that only the captain that betrayed us, Ulu, and, well, you know. As for Ulu, perhaps he realized that he wanted to be in RMI's good graces. Presumably that's the whole reason he provided the information in the first place. Or perhaps Mirax is extraordinarily persuasive. As for my position, I'm pretty deep in, having been part of intelligence operations since I was quite young. I'm a commissioned officer twice promoted, so I've a bit of pull. Unfortunately, I've been told our only assets on this planet are Ulu and the team we brought. Which is now short one person. Of course I can potentially call upon other resources as necessary, but anything too obvious could be sniffed out by our target. Why, do you have an idea that could help us in our current circumstances?"

She didn't look convinced, but she didn't press the issue.  Instead, she relaxed back into the cushions of her chair and looked thoughtfully at Kal.  "I have nothing that will help you with Findos, except to show you where he lives.  I stay away from his sort whenever possible, for obvious reasons.  But I can help you if you can find a transport to get us off Koshibal.  Searching for who you are searching for and going the places you are planning to go, you are going to run into trouble.  That's almost a given variable.  Having a medic along could literally be the difference between life and death.  I'm surprised your Republic handlers let you off the leash without one."

"I don't want credits as payment.  Transport off this rock would be a start, but I mostly need information.  You might be able to help me with that."

Kal paused to consider for a little while, though Zala's help while on Koshibal and beyond could easily be the difference between success and failure. Much less life and death. He nodded, "Getting information is my job, and I've access to quite a bit. What you say about having a medic along is absolutely true so I think we can help each other out in several ways." Kal paused and then asked, "Do you have any more questions? If not, I'm going to check in with Coruscant." He patiently waited for a response from Zala.

She continued to study him for a moment, then shook her head.  "No.  The details can wait until later.  I'm sure I'll have more questions, but those can wait as well.  If you need a comm unit, there's a private booth out front in the store, though you'll have to pay for it yourself."

Kal nodded at the suggestion to use the booth. "A secure line would be preferred, Seris. Thank you."

With that, Kal slipped away leaving the two women alone. He headed toward the private booth and, if unmolested, would link his encrypted datapad into the system and attempt HoloNet access to Coruscant. General Madine would be his attempted point of contact.

From the relatively "safety" gained by the terminal nearby, Kal contacts General Madine on a secure Republic MI channel and relays the situation.

[Private to Kal Wennyn: After a few choice cyphers and passcodes, you eventually get a line through to Coruscant. On the other side, you get the authentication handshake and the screen turns green, the vid having been deactivated to afford more security. "CM1 Online..., authentication Delta-Foxtrot-Skywalker-Delta," you hear the General's gruff voice on the other end as he uses his callsign. "State your report, soldier. I assume you've reached destination given the location you're transmitting from."]
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:26, Sat 23 July 2011.

Kal wired his hands-free comlink into the terminal so that he could sub-vocalize his speech, avoiding the potential problems from being overheard. He then made his report.

[Private to GM: "Yes, we've made it to Koshibal, though with a few bumps along the way. The bounty hunter that was on the mission was nearly killed by pirates while flying escort. She is currently recovering in a medical facility here. We have verified that the intelligence is genuine. A recording showed the target receiving a small, black, square object* about the size of a human fist from a Neimoidian. There appeared to be some script on the object. He also received a datapad from the Neimoidian who is named Nute Findos. He is currently our only lead and is our next point of contact. This will likely be a dangerous, hostile contact, but we've no choice. We've picked up a local medic by the name of Seris Narill to give us a hand in exchange for getting her off-planet. Given how dangerous this is likely to be, if I haven't contacted you again within a standard day, presume we've either been killed or captured. Also, the crew of the Black Comet sold us out. If they show up in Republic space, have them detained."

*Had Mirax' player been around, I would have verified the identity of the artifact with her. If it's a holocron, I would tell the general that.]
This message was last edited by the player at 15:12, Sat 23 July 2011.

In reply to Kal Wennyn (msg #462):

[Private to Kal Wennyn: "Explain the problem with the Captain and crew, if you don' mind," the General said. He seemed to be hesitating a few heartbeats before adding, "Too bad my counterpart isn't available, she would have been interested in the object your quarry bought. Find out more about it and exactly what it is from Findos... and you also have my permission to hire the medic. I'll trust your better judgement as to how much you'll tell her, if anything. Be careful, our asset seems to have gotten good intel, but old habits die hard... what's your overall impression of him?"]

Kal continued his nearly silent conversation.

[Private to GM: "Our contact here was trafficking spice to Jabba the Hutt. After being told my team would meet the contact and make the drop of the goods, they went behind our back to make themselves a tidy profit. Since you told me not to trust our contact here, I wanted to hold that shipment over his head to get him to be compliant. The actions of the crew of the Black Comet have potentially compromised the safety of our team and did it after being told directly by me how to handle the situation. As for our asset here, I don't have any reason to trust him. I thought I could trust the Black Comet crew at least a little, and I think our contact here is even shadier than they are. I currently have one of our members staying with him to be sure he doesn't do something to compromise our mission. They are attempting to get us passage to Nar Shaddaa as we speak. And speaking of, please see that some credits for purchasing that transport find their way into my account in the next two standard hours or so, as well as, say, a thousand that I can give to the medic to hire her to work with us for some time."]

In reply to Kal Wennyn (msg #464):

[Private to Kal Wennyn: "Your credit line should be fine for any unexpected charges you'll incur," Madine confirms, "and though I'm disappointed with the Captain, I somewhat expected that he'd do that if any damage were to happen to those V-Wings. He's not a trusting fellow to start with, but he has been reliable in the past, though rash and greedy. Unfortunate that we couldn't use some of the funds for the Bounty Hunter's medical bill... or as leverage. I understand your annoyance. I can draft up some orders for our contact if need be, requesting his complete assistance, which could include him going with you to contact Findos, but it might be best not to force him to go with you... he might be more of a liability if the going gets tough."]

Kal responded again.

[Private to GM: "Let's put it this way, sir. They could have easily gotten reimbursed by the Republic with little more than a word from me to you and a bit of paperwork. Instead they stabbed me in the back. If those two cause any harm to come to my team, I'll hunt them to the ends of the galaxy myself if I have to in order to pay them back. Once I'm finished with this mission, of course.

The bounty hunter was injured doing work on the mission, and she should be taken care of if you can swing it. I'm sure you know her planet of origin and I believe her parents still live. If she were in the military I would be requesting a commendation for her bravery and skill.

Our contact here smells like trouble. I'd rather have him where I can keep an eye on him, though the method of our insertion to see our next contact may preclude that. If you can encourage him to do as I say and not undermine our work, I'd appreciate it. I've now got very little leverage over him, he's a spice dealer and a spice addict. Not someone I really want to trust the lives of my team to."]

In reply to Kal Wennyn (msg #466):

[Private to Kal Wennyn: "I'll see what I can do," Madine said, "anything else to report?"]