Kasiya Estates Distillery Mytilene City Kasiya
He gently sat the glass down on the bar, leaning back in his seat as he watched the room hum with activity. The Emissary’s latest offerings lay in a flight before him, the row of tapered glasses with varying shades of amber and crimson. He pulled his focus back, watching Morgan grimace into her own glass as Erinyes poured more from bottles in hands both corporeal and ethereal. Telekinesis had utility well beyond the battlefield, as he well knew.
He turned his head, the diminutive woman at his side, dark hair framing pale skin, high cheekbones and violet eyes. He leaned back and considered. The cheekbones they got from their father, but the eyes were all from their mother. She lifted a colorful liquid herself, sniffing at it as if she was sure it was a fermented poison before shrugging and throwing it back, making a face that alternated between impressed and disgusted. Next to her, a man in a high collar and tanned skin that called himself Reiden. How his sister had come to be in the company of a member of the Imperial clan hadn’t yet been explained, but there was time yet.
Except that there wasn’t.
The subtle heartbeat of vibration behind the backplate of his left arm begged for his attention, the pattern warning him of the sender. Muz let his gaze drift from the arm to the untouched glasses and then back again. No, if things were dire enough that Dacien was messaging him directly, then it would not wait. He cracked open the panel in his prosthetic arm, careful to keep it angled so that only he could see. He narrowed his eyes at the details, the problem, the request. Saving the data, he closed the access panel again, and let his fingers raise one of the remaining glasses to his lips.
Coruscant.
He rose slowly, eyes drifting to his sister, the silent message floating on currents of thought. It had been decades since she had fought alongside him. And while she was understandably reluctant to open the old wounds and return home just yet, perhaps the joy that they had found in their work could remind her. Her face brightened as she looked at him, understanding what he had meant.
“Excuse us.” Mihoshi chirped at Reiden in response as she slid down off of the high stool. “We have some business to tend to.” She leaned forward, planting her lips on the side of his cheek for a half second, a twinkle in her eye, seeming to bloom more by the eyebrow he raised. “We’ll have to meet up again another time.”
Reiden looked up from his glass, momentarily confused before gathering himself and trying to play it off as usual. Wait, but she was his sister, and… Reiden quickly stood, dusting his hands on his pants. “Oh, so soon, I’m sorry. It’s been an honor to meet you…” He froze in momentary confusion on what an appropriate gesture would be for dealing with him.
Muz quietly chuckled. Dipping his head a degree at Reiden, he raised a fist to his heart and half smiled, then nodded at the proprietor before turning to head for the door.
A few steps later, the sunlight washed across them, the gentle breeze bringing fruit scents as they made their way toward his shuttle. Opening his arm’s access panel once more, he tapped into the frequencies as they walked, sending out the call to those he trusted most.
The shuttles and ships all settled into the different spaces of the landing pad was a sight that the small woman never got tired of seeing. Each one with its own color and personality. Each ship a comment on the owner, each scar in the hull a testament of character. Her own ship, still sitting on a pad near the Voraskel Palace, hadn’t earned character marks as yet, but it would.
“Forgive me, brother. But, I need to get a few things from The Kraken,” she said softly for his ear alone even though no one stood within earshot. Before he could respond, Miho had already left, flitting away with a tuneless whistle on her lips.
It wasn’t long before she caught back up with Muz, her attire noticeably different. The green coat, leather trousers, the wide-brimmed hat all stood as the difference in who she had been and who she was becoming. “So, we are leaving in a bit of a rush. Something important, I assume?”
The silent contact from her brother was something she had been accustomed to, but years away from their private way had made her considerably more talkative. “Has to be for you to move like that.”
Pips looked out from behind Miho and trilled softly, clearly curious about all the new places he and his owner had been going to. She smiled over her shoulder at the little droid and nodded. “I’m sure he’ll tell me and then I’ll let you know. I’m sure it’s going to be fun though.”
Another trill, this time sounding more like a scold than anything else. “Have we ever not had fun or ever not been fine in the end? Stop trying to mother me.”
A disgruntled whistle as the BD unit pulled back down below a slender shoulder. Miho grinned and turned back towards the man she followed. She hadn’t remembered him leaving some place so quickly unless the situation was already cascading downhill.
This was going to be fun indeed.
On Route to Coruscant
There was something peaceful about being in space, Kojiro thought as the shuttle made its way towards Coruscant, with the final destination being the small safe house Muz owned. It wasn’t that it was quiet and lonely; it was more how vast it was. Planet side, everything looked so small these days and space had a way of making everything feel so much bigger. Of course, it didn’t help that years of alchemical alterations, genetic manipulations, and a smack of Magicks had made the man larger than life, in more ways than one.
A soft creening met his ears, and he reached out a hand and absent-mindedly ran his fingers across the snout of the large Tuka’ata that was curled up in the co-pilot’s seat. “Not exactly doing your job, girl, are ya?” The large man let out a rumbling laugh at the perplexed look he received back from his erstwhile companions. “Oh well, not like I could do a better job, flying has never been my thing. Glad this bucket of rust has an AI chip installed.” She gave him a final look of perplexity and curled her head back into position, drifting back off to sleep.
“If only it were that easy to drift off eh?”
The message had been a simple one, with a place and directions to go to. Not much else, which was about the usual for the eldest, and that was just fine by Kojiro’s standards. Simple is better anyway, Kojiro thought, having once done nothing but stand on ceremony when he was more involved in Brotherhood politics. Good riddance as well, no time for that nonsense anymore.
Something beeped in his ear, bringing him out of his thoughts, and he cast a side glance towards a message the ship’s AI had generated. Their destination was approaching soon, and they would arrive in the next thirty minutes or so, which was fine enough for Kojiro. After all, whilst the vastness of space may be peaceful and remind him of how big things can be, the cockpit of the shuttle was and did not elicit the same response. Not for someone of his proportions and a large alien hound.
“Well, girl, guess it’s time for another adventure, aye? Let’s go get geared up and ready.”
Emerald Dragon
A loud clang echoed throughout the chamber followed by, “Karabast!” Sully stood up rubbing his head and looking irritated.
“How’s it going?” Her voice rang out from the other room.
“Oh, it’s going great! Should have it fixed by the next cycle.” Sarcasm dripped from his lips as he picked up another tool, grumbling.
“I don’t think we have that long.” Ashia walked into the room and started looking at one of the panels with a data pad in her hands, completely ignoring his tone.
Sully just shook his head and went back to work mumbling under his breath, “It’d be faster with a droid.”
“What was that?” She said over her shoulder.
“Nothing, just uh, we need a new coupling.” His eyes darted her way momentarily.
“Oh, ok.” She moved past him heading for the cockpit. Just as she was about to round the corner, she shouted over her shoulder, “But no droids.”
He watched her disappear for a moment then made a face.
“I saw that.” Echoed back at him. Ashia smiled to herself. It never got old, ribbing him like that. Still, she wasn’t about to trust a droid to fix the Dragon.
She was checking the readouts on her datapad when her comlink made a chirping sound. She looked at it and let out a long sigh.
Meet on Coruscant.
She took a deep breath. Muz. Probably on another one of his…quests.
Coruscant Gilmarin Jewelers
The district was still a buzz of activity when she arrived. Darkened streets glistened with the recent rain. Moving through the shadows out of habit more than necessity, she looked up as she approached the building.
She let her mind reach out to find the one she wanted, as she sensed others in the apartment above.
*I’m here. *
She let her thoughts trail upwards towards him as she entered the building’s lift.
*I know. *Came the familiar reply, but, something was different about it.
Ashia mused for a moment. The lift made a whirring sound as it made its way up to the top floor of the building.
You found something. Her mind spoke to him as they had a thousand times before as she stepped off the lift. Her footsteps echoed in the hallway as she made her way to the apartment door.
Yes, but that’s not why we’re here.
Confused, she opened the door.
The glow of light lit her face softly as she entered. Her husband stood before her. His dark eyes shone as he beheld her. Soft lips kissed her lightly, sending a slight shudder through her as a soft sigh escaped her lips.
He stepped back to let her into the room. There sat a young woman with her legs dangling over the arm of a chair. She held a glass with amber liquid in one hand while a small droid sat perched on her shoulder like a bird. Her soft face looked up towards Ashia as she entered. Soft and young, but hardened too. Her eyes looked older than she was. Still, there was a familiarity to her that the Nightsister couldn’t quite grasp.
Mihoshi.
The name danced along her mind from her husband. Ashia turned to him in shock.
“But I thought…” she started.
“…that I was dead. Yeah, I get that a lot.” The young woman stood up then and approached hesitantly as Ashia turned back towards her.
“You must be Ashia. Muz has told me all about you. It’s nice to meet you.” Her eyes lifted towards her as she spoke out loud.
Her eyes. She could see it. See the resemblance. To him, to Manji, to Shikyo.
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you, too.” She couldn’t keep the shock from reaching her face.
She looked to her husband.
How?
*I’ll explain everything later, right now we have work to do. *
The violet skinned Twi’lek moved from the corner of the room, carefully setting her left lekku back up on her shoulder. Mihoshi’s eyebrow went up in question, her head turning toward her brother.
Black eyes responded in kind, a glint somehow playing across them as he dipped his head. If images were worth a thousand words, memories were worth ever more. His mind reached hers and they played out behind her eyes, showing her who she was in the space of a few heartbeats.
Images of the Twi’Lek in a dark uniform on a desert world, fighting Killiks alongside Brotherhood soldiers. The symbol on her armor was unusual, but somehow familiar. Not Kyataran, but close. On Antei, at the Temple Boyna, firing at enemies from behind Krath War Droids and setting up relays for a localized ray shield setup. Was that Shikyo she could see in the distance, duelling with two Obelisk at the same time? On the Spear, fingers flying across consoles as the ship evaded incoming fire and she sliced into the enemy targeting systems. An old architect droid’s eyes starting to glow at him as she twisted wires in the back of its head. Kneeling before him, raising a rudimentary saber hilt in her hands.
He’d known her for a long time.
She stepped forward, tapping on a datapad as she regarded them all. “We’ve been tasked with a high priority mission. As if they’d bother you with anything less.” She paused, clearing her throat for a moment. The holoprojector shot up an image of a security feed. The buildings were clean, pristine, the neighborhood well-to-do. A bunch of rough looking people bolted into view, blasters in their hands as they scrambled into one of the buildings. “This is the street view of a bank job.”
“A bank job?” Ashia scoffed.
Leena nodded. “I know. Not usually worth our time.”, she tapped a key and a different angle erupted in pale blue. The rough spacer armor and scraps of cloth hanging were in sharp contrast to the face. Clean shaven, brown hair greying at the temples, sharp eyes.
Muz leaned forward. Dacien. The Sith Lord would never need to go so low as to rob a bank. Muz tilted his head in thought, a finger tapping his chin. The movement of the men, their gear, they didn’t match his style. It was an obvious work to anyone who knew the man. Yet still, this would pose problems for the Brotherhood in the Core worlds.
Even I can not fool holos. Ashia’s mind reached them. They’ve not got a mind to affect.
“The tech…” Muz’s voice was stone on stone, echoing from their ears to their minds. He continued silently, the links reestablished. …isn’t that advanced.
Leena smiled. “You leave that to me. But I do need some information.” She brought up the holo again. “I know that they have security footage inside the bank. Otherwise why bother with the frame job, right?” She looked back at Muz. “Do you have any business there?”
Muz leaned back, half a smile creeping up his face. It was less of a question than a statement. The Osarian Retreat had several major accounts there. Getting access to the bank would be a matter of scheduling a meet with their private banker.
Leena nodded. “I’ll need a spike placed into their security system, so I can see what exactly they have, co-locations and hopefully any invoices for transfers to air-gapped backups.”
Muz nodded, looking in her direction a little too long.
Leena thought for a moment and then let the glare of realization cross her face into a broad smile. “That’s. Just perfect.”
She tapped a key, the holo shifting to a CorSec dossier, a filthy Twi’lek woman’s head spinning beneath the name ‘Lathos, Ce’celia’ and a scrolling list of petty crimes. “I’ve got a meeting with…” Leena winked, “…my cousin. Who is going with whom?”
Miho had watched the encounter between her brother and the Twi'lek. Oh, she had met Leena a couple of times before and even liked the purple-skinned woman and her usual companion. She listened as Leena spoke, watched again as her brother had his black-eyed gaze fixed on her.
From behind her chair was a sharp chirp. A grin split a face that always seemed to carry far more years than it showed as she looked behind her chair. “There you are. What’re ya doing back there?”
The small BD came around and chirped admonishingly as the small Human. “Look that’s not…” another chirp. “Now hold on a minute.”
Miho sighed as she turned back towards the rest of the room. “Pips says I need to go somewhere where there isn’t drinking.” A trill. “Or gambling.” Another admonishing sound and the Odanite sighed. “You’re like a dog with a bone, Pips.”
The look of irritation changed as she smiled brightly. “So I think I’ll go with Leena to see her ‘cousin’. That should be sedate enough that Pips doesn’t yell at me for a day or two.”
They were just going to visit someone and talk with them. No reason for things to get more exciting than that, right?
Miho seemed a bit deflated as Pips chased her around the room while she began collecting the few discarded things she’d need. Wide-brimmed hat, overcoat, and the black staff she leaned on as she smiled again.
The Nightsister watched as Miho…argued, with her droid. She looked back at Muz and Leena.
“And that’s why I don’t trust droids. They’re too…pushy.”
Leena raised an eyebrow, started to say something, but just shook her head. They had a long standing ‘argument’ regarding the use of droids. She had yet to persuade the Lady Keibatsu that they were very helpful. But now wasn’t the time, they had things to do.
A playful smile creased Ashia’s lips as her eye caught Leena’s then a moment later they both chuckled.
“I’ll go with Muz to visit the private banker. We could…ask to see their security systems because of the recent robbery, as we are worried about our accounts?” She made it sound like a question as she looked toward her husband. A slight nod was his only reply.
“When we’re in we can set the spike” Ashia unfolded her arms and looked her husband up and down. “This is going to require a wardrobe change.”
*Coruscant Bank of Coruscant *
The two strode into the offices of the bank with purpose. Both outfitted in business attire, obvious wealth in the tailoring. Muz’s long robe danced about his feet as he moved. His hair pulled back into a formal ponytail. Ashia’s tunic was belted at the waist and knee high boots caressed her calves. A pair of ocular lenses sat upon the bridge of her nose. She casually pushed them up, thus turning on the surveillance recorder that Leena had built in. As they entered, she indiscriminately looked about the lobby, recording everything.
They spoke briefly to the security guard at the door and were escorted to an office where a young man greeted them. Minutes later they were taken to the lift and made their way to the server room.
“We need assurances that this will be protected at all costs.” Ashia looked up from her datapad as she spoke. “We understand there have been some…problems, as of late.” She tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear. The rest was braided around her head neatly.
“Mr. Fastblade. Ms. Sarin,” Jadeth Ketbran turned from Muz to Ashia and bowed his head slightly. Their account was worth enough that their clearance came from central, a VIP notice floating through with the comms to make them feel secure, no matter what. He let out a brief cough out of nervousness, then recovered. “I assure you we have taken every precaution. The recent robbery is still under investigation, but we are ready to move the funds for the Osarian Resort as requested.”
Muz’s hand settled on his hip momentarily before he crossed his arms. A gesture he was in the habit of doing while his sabers were at his side.
The lift stopped and they all got out, “Well, maybe this will put your mind at ease.” He led them down the corridor and opened the door at the far end.
The server room hummed with a steady purr as lights flashed on display panels. Maxim Fastblade cleared his throat as he struggled to speak to the private banker that had escorted him. Ashia fell back a few steps then receded into the darkness. She quickly planted the spike that Leena had given her and returned to Muz’s side.
“As you can see, all of our systems are encrypted. We have taken every precaution to…”
“As I understand it, they bypassed these systems.” Muz’s voice was raspy.
“We have reinforced the systems and there is no proof they bypassed them. We…”
“If they didn’t bypass them, why the sudden reinforcement?” Ashia eyed him curiously.
Jadeth looked towards the Zabrak believing she had been there the entire time. “It’s standard practice to check everything following a robbery such as this. Please, “ he gestured towards the door. “Let’s proceed to the vaults.”
The vaults were massive. Ashia slowly looked around, seemingly trying to record everything via the glasses. ‘This is too easy, no wonder they were robbed.’ Her mind reached towards her husband.
‘We aren’t here to scrutinize their security systems, we’re just trying to prove it wasn’t Dacien’
She nodded slightly at him as Jadeth led them back to the front lobby, all the while continuing to explain how safe their bank was.
‘I have everything mapped and the spike is in place.’ She assured her husband.
Muz gave a slight nod, “Thank you for your time, Jadeth. We are most appreciative.” His raspy voice was low, almost a whisper and the man had to strain to hear him.
He gave a slight bow, “Of course, Mr. Fastblade. We are always willing to accommodate our important clients.” He then gave his leave as the two headed outside.
‘Let’s get back to the apartment and see if Leena and Miho have had any luck getting in touch with Ce’celia.’
Gilmarin Suites Coruscant
“You don’t talk much do you?” the one who had been identified as Miho threw the casual quip across the room to the hulking figure of Kojiro. “Big, tall and brooding type I take it?” her fingers rattled across the screen she was working at and Kojiro glanced up from his reading to catch an eye roll from Leena who was working nearby.
“This subtlety is not my thing, sneaking around, hacking, espionage. I prefer the more direct route,” the giant answered, returning to the holonews article he was poring over.
“And yet I saw you transform into a Loth cat the other day during your practices,” Leena chimed in. “One would think all this would be right up your alley.”
“Loth cats are not native to Coruscant, so it would be hard to blend in.”
Leena sighed, “Not my poin…oh never mind.”
“So what are you going to do whilst we work away? Catch some sleep, keep reading your holotrash…and wait a Loth cat?” Miho looked from Leena to Kojiro, then, when neither was forthcoming, she shrugged and went back to her work.
“Distraction,” with a flick of his finger, Kojiro sent the details of the news article he had been on across to the others’ systems. “I’ll be here making a nuisance and drawing official eyes away from the bank. I’ll do what I do best. Send a message when the distraction is needed.”
He rose then, and as he did, he muttered a few words to his hound, who barely raised her head before returning to her sleep. She wasn’t going with him this time, and she seemed fine with that as she lounged on the comfiest chair she had experienced in an age.
“Kojiro, this is a memorial to fallen citizens of some recent plague. You can’t just walk into that and cause chaos.” Miho piped up. “Also that seems a bit extreme of a target, a memorial? Eesh. Sure it’s close enough but still…and he’s gone.”
Kojiro had had no intention of walking as he had moved to the window, his body twisting, shifting, popping and cracking as it reshaped itself into a new form in a near flash of green smoke. He had no intention of walking into anything as he stretched his new wings and took flight out the apartment window on his way to a little bit of chaos.
Leena’s eyelid twitched. The longer she spent with this family, the more outlandish their abilities seemed to get. Raising a hand to rub the eye, she looked over at the Lord’s sister. She looked far younger than she expected her to. Then again, she didn’t remember him aging either. Chalking it up to good genetics or maybe some sort of fancy antioxidant tea from their homeworld, she shook her head back toward the problem at hand.
Her hands patted her sides, silently confirming that her weapons and tools were where they needed to be. Stepping forward, she reached for a jacket, the material light enough for the Coruscanti summer, but large enough to conceal the gear from prying eyes. She looked over at Mihoshi in her large overcoat and broad-brimmed hat and smirked.
“We don’t look suspicious at all, eh?”
“Not for where we’re going, I suspect.”
Leena tilted her head and nodded. Miho was right. The meeting was far from here, the undercity a dramatic departure from the gleaming highrises and expensive views. Leena laughed, stepping toward the balcony, a small walkway leading to the airspeeder they would take down so far into the bowels of the ecumenopolis that the temperature would feel more like Tatooine.
Level 1492 Undercity
A swoop screamed past them as they stepped out of the cheap airspeeder. Panels were different colors, the gravdrives smoked, and the power converters smelled like a housefire, but the thing worked well enough. Leena had seen to that, keeping it cosmetically as wrecked as possible to deter the locals from making off with the vehicle while they made their way to the meeting.
Trash billowed with the steam vent activation, bathing the promenade with the sick humid breath of the city itself. Flyers from nightlife events, wrappers from junk food, and death stick stubs were the only inclement weather they got down in these sorts of levels. Leena raised her hood, making eye contact with Mihoshi as she did so. They were far too clean to stay in public view for long.
The meeting place was a hole in the wall restaurant up the way, the joint owned by a Gamorrean that figured out how to source cheap enough bits of meat that he could make a reasonable facsimile of the stew they grew up with. Leena had read the words on the holonet, but didn’t know enough about Gammorean cuisine to speak …well, intelligently about it. Not that it mattered. They were there because they offered tiny private booths, barely large enough for a couple, and a number of discrete but convoluted entrances and exits. The place was popular enough with cheaters and dealers, and the Gamorrean was happy enough to take their money and shut up about it.
The wall didn’t seem like a door, really, the seams covered by vulgar graffiti and trash, but her hand found the catch anyway. Choking back the revulsion at the texture of the thing, she resisted the urge to immediately get out sanitizer. The entrance swinging open, she smiled at the diminutive Kyataran, gesturing for her to enter.
The tunnels were winding and long, a maze of old hallways and myriad doors on either sides, likely storage units and tenement housing, based on the sounds and smells. Maybe both. The scrawled aurebesh on the walls led them further and further into the depths, the smells of herbed and hearty stew eventually drawing them further than the signs did.
The final door lay open, a broken brick propping open the door. Deep red and fake gold seemed to coat everything in sight, a younger Gamorrean dropping their datapad and getting up, smiling broadly at them with a broken tusk, then darting off to find them menus and an empty booth. Leena turned to look at Miho, watching her eyes dart across the decor, then meeting her gaze. “You always take me to the nicest places.”
Leena chuckled at her as the host returned, grunting at them to follow him. Rows of thick curtained booths lined the walk, the fabric thick enough to keep sounds from carrying too far as well as obscuring whoever occupied them. Finally, a sweeping hand gestured at an open stall, a small bench barely two asses wide, a shelf on the wall just big enough for two bowls and a cracked mug full of utensils. A grunt later and the host waddled off, leaving them to it.
Miho plopped down on the bench, facing Leena. “Well, how does this work?”
Leena gestured with a finger to turn around and face the shelf, sliding onto the bench next to her. Reaching forward, she found the call button, a tiny red switch recessed into the wall behind the bowls. Whirring sounds grew from faint to closer, then stopped. A panel in the wall opened and a droid with mismatched optical sensors grunted at them expectantly. Leena nodded, raised two fingers and reached into her pockets for credits. Placing them in the droids hand, it backed up with a nod, the panel sliding closed.
“Now my cousin…” Leena turned her head slowly, her lekku grazing Miho’s shoulder. “I’m not sure if she needs an extract or what, but she has some… things she wants to sell us.” Leena patted the pouch next to her holster.
“Things.” Miho smiled with a sarcastic gleam in her eye. “Sure.” Sirens rang out in the distance, the claxons of fire brigades and peace officers in this neighborhood more likely to warn locals to avoid the authorities than they were to clear the way from their work. Leena idly wondered if Kojiro’s antics were to blame.
The panel opened again suddenly, the droid placing bowls of steaming food into the bowls already on the shelf, the double walls helping to insulate the stew. As quickly as it was there, it was gone again, the panel slamming shut, leaving them there with the smell. Leaning forward, Leena took a sniff. It smelled like the rest of the place: herby, savory, and meaty. Bubbles of thin oil warbled around the top between broad sheets of noodles and finely minced bits of greenery and meat that was too red to be naturally colored. She looked back at Miho and blinked. The woman had somehow produced her own spoon and was moving in for the kill. Behind her, the curtain moved and a throat cleared.
Leena’s eyebrows went up as her hand fell to the holster at her side. “Cee-cee? C’est toi, cousine?” Her tongue lilted into her native Twi’leki seamlessly as Miho made a sound of abject disappointment.
“{Yes.}” The voice came before the curtain opened. “As-tu attendu longtemps?” Pale blue skin was marred with a veritable coat of engine oil and street dust as she crammed herself into their stall, Leena squeezing away toward the wall to make room as she looked at Miho and tried to make sense of the look on her face.
Violet eyes looked from Leena, to Ce’celia, then back to Leena. “I had a dream like this once.” She thought for a moment. “Right kind of room, food was better in the dream though.”
She winked at Leena and then made her spoon disappear into one of the many pockets her coat had. The small Odanite leaned back against the cushion of the booth, her eyes watchful. Trusting Leena was easy. Her history with Muz ensured she wasn’t likely to stab them all without a really good reason. Trusting Ce’celia? Wholly different. Selling ‘things’ always seemed like a risky venture.
As the two women spoke, she waited patiently. Listening in, but not comprehending. Maybe she should get around to learning Ryl. Would Leena be willing to teach her?
“{Not long.}” The words were soft, unhurried. Miho was impressed. She always felt like words needed to just…explode from her. “{What can we help you with, cousin?}
Ce'celia took a seat in the booth, eyeing the smaller woman. “{She safe to trust?}”
Leena nodded once, sharply. The blue-skinned woman relaxed only slightly as she slid a bit further into the booth. “{There’s reason to be cautious.}”
Mihoshi watched her companions talk for a few minutes more, then fished her spoon back out. No point in letting it go to waste and it might be a while before they could sit down again.
Ce'celia watched her for a moment more then began to speak softly. “I know what you’re here for. I can get you access, but you gotta get me off this rock.”
Beyond the curtain, the din of the restaurant seemed still deafening and made listening difficult even in the small space. “I think we can come to an agreement on that.” Leena said, looking at Miho from the corner of one eye.
The Odanite looked at the blue-skinned woman again, weighing, measuring, and then nodded with a smile. “For everything she can offer, I think we can definitely find a way to repay that.”
Coruscant Gilmarin Jewelers
They had changed back into their regular clothing. The palms of Muz’s hands rested on his saber hilts. He looked more comfortable. Twilight had started to set and lights everywhere flickered on in the streets below casting shadows across the buildings.
They were alone in the apartment. Leena and Miho were meeting the contact and Koji…well, Koji was off doing who knows what.
‘What now?’ Azure eyes glistened as they looked up into her husband’s dark eyes. It had been a long while since they had been alone together. Both have been busy with their personal endeavors. Still, the love she felt for him was only stronger. His eyes shone with that same love.
‘Now we need to find someone that can cause such a ruckus, it provides the distraction Leena needs to replace the footage from the first attack.’
‘I thought Koji was…’ she started.
‘We need a big commotion in the streets. Koji is stirring things up and bringing them that way but we need to make sure it’s enough of a distraction away from the bank’
She blinked, ‘Are you sure that’s a good idea?’ The clone had been broody as of late and she wasn’t sure how stable he really was. His personality changed like the weather.
‘He’ll be fine. Do you have any contacts that could help light some fires?’
The Nightsister grinned. ’I may know one or two’
Diner Level 954 Coruscant
A bell rang as someone walked in. The faint odor of stale coffee permeated the air. The booths, which once were red, now sat in a dingy state. The checkered floor was black and a grimy shade of white. A droid with several arms stood in the back, flipping this and turning that as it pumped out hot greasy food. A chef’s hat sat askew on its domed head.
The place was run by a Rodian who kept a private area in the back open for ‘important meetings’. The kind where privacy was needed . Sitting there now were two human men, a Twi’lek man and two Miralian, a man and woman. They drank their caf, chatted and bided their time.
“Gentlemen and lady.” A soft voice spoke from behind them as the Zabrak slipped in quietly. She flipped a chair around and straddled it before they knew she was there.
“Axi! Geez, I hate it when you do that!” The man jumped slightly, spilling his caf a little as she gave him a wry smile.
“Sunny Boy! How’s it going?” She clapped him on the shoulder.
“Hey, not bad. Say, did you ever pay off Veevu? I understand she had it out for ya’s”
“I’m working on it. She has half of it. There’s one more thing I gotta do and I’m free and clear!”
He smiled at her and shook his head. “I don’t know how you do it. She would have had any one of our heads by now.”
“Eh, she loves me.” Her grin broadened as she shrugged her shoulders.
“Can we get down to business? I gotta shipment to pick up.” This was from the blue Twi’lek seated across from her.
She looked towards him, her smile faltering some, “It’s good to see you too, Rin Rin.” the sarcasm rolled off her tongue.
“We haven’t seen you in a long time, Axi. Word on the street is you were being held by the Syndicate .” This came from Starla, a Mirialan female sitting at the other end. She leaned back against the one called Sunny Boy
“You actually believe those rumors, Starla? I’m insulted.” She feigned a look of shock then laughed.
The other male sitting next to the woman spoke up. “So what is this all about anyway?” This one was called Dregs.
Ashia, known to them as Axi, lowered her voice and leaned in. “I need some fires set.”
The one called Starfighter leaned in, “Whatever you need, we can do.”
Gilmarin Suites Coruscant
Muz stood at the table, eyes peering down on a hologram. A quick gesture by Leena and the lumenous haze shifted into a map of the blocks around the data center. An eyebrow raised slowly, and Leena noticed.
“Yes, I’m sure.” She fiddled with her jacket, the outfit bearing a Corsec Detective’s badge. “The bank keeps no local records. They all get sent here every twelve hours, and near as I can tell, they make an airgapped copy.”
“…Which is why we’re going there.” Ashia murmured, her own outfit diametrically opposed to Leena’s, the leather and spikes of an undercity punk jacket sliding over her shoulders as she moved.
“To get at those, exactly.” Leena nodded. “Your people ready?”
Ashia smiled with an almost feral glint in her eye. A little bit of unmitigated chaos was welcome after all this sneaking around. The door opened behind them, Miho stepping through, pausing to look at the women’s outfits.
“Ce’celia’s off-world.” The petite Kyataran sighed. The blue-skinned Twi’Lek was none too pleased about leaving the only world that she knew, but depending on how things went over the next few hours, she might be able to return. A tiny hand slipped a data disc into Leena’s hand, then pressed it further in, the weight of the material within imposed by force. “Where does that leave me?”
Kojiro. The name rang through their minds as Muz all but summoned the youngest. Dark eyes stared unblinking for a moment at the holomap, the mental images pressing into the distant Keibatsu as he lurked somewhere in the undercity. Turning to his sister, he tilted his head, giving her the option.
Chaos or order.
“And you?” Mihoshi asked,eyes wandering to a chair a few steps away, a couple of garment bags draped across lush fabric. His fixers were quick, but of course they would have to be.
Muz only smiled.
Miho tilted her head slightly, weighing the options. On the one hand, she always did enjoy a bit of chaos. On the other, depending on the chaos, Leena might need an extra set of hands to get out. From Muz’s shared memories, she knew Leena was capable enough, but it never hurt to make sure.
And she’d grown to like the Twi'lek.
She flicked the brim of her hat with one finger as she made her choice. “You and the others give us good cover, brother. I’ll keep Leena company and help get her clear.”
Miho grabbed one of the bags that contained a uniform in her size and ducked into one of the empty rooms of the suite. Always prepared, her family seemed to be for just about any eventuality. With a sad grimace, she removed her own outfit and quickly pulled on the official-looking uniform. She looked into one of the mirrors scattered about and adjusted everything to be exactly perfect and then pulled her long, raven black hair into a tight, severe bun at the base of her skull. “That should do.”
The small Odanite came out of the room and struck a pose for her brother with a grin before she grabbed her saberpike. “Besides, if it all goes bad, completely destroyed data banks give up no secrets.”
As she left, Miho could feel her brother’s smile. Even after so long, the small woman hadn’t changed. She still believed everything could be fixed with an appropriate level of destruction. It wasn’t wrong, but as a fallback it left something to be desired.
As the door slid shut, Miho bounded a bit to catch up with Leena. “So, how much fun are we gonna have?”
Muz watched them leave, Leena and Mihoshi heading for the pad where the Theta-class sat, Ashia for the turbolifts that would take her a few hundred floors below, then for the transport to the undercity through one of the massive vents. After a moment, he rolled his shoulders and stretched his neck. Reaching for the comms button on the holotable, he dialed in the frequency, one he had used only sparingly before. A finger grazed the button marked ‘audio only’ as he leaned forward, watched the security drone footage.
The routing bounced a few times before joining the channel, voices already speaking on the other side. “So, I told him, ‘you can type this crap, but you can’t say it.’ But I was wrong. It worked.”
“It really does!” Another voice squeaked in, an anxious warble in their tone. “I mean, others have tried, but no one really sells it like you do, Mr. Kast.”
Muz could hear the smile in Thran’s voice. “Ah, Maxim has joined us. Man of few words, I’m afraid, isn’t that right?”
“Indeed.” Muz chose the word carefully, the soreness at his throat giving him pause.
“As I was telling you, Maxim and I go way back. He was one of the executive producers on the Rog series reboot, and I heard he’s sent you in some work?” The Regent had fallen all the way back into his old role. “I told him you were the best VFX guy in the outer rim.”
“Absolutely!” The nervous voice exclaimed, the sound of typing in the background. “Just finishing the file compression now for sending. Although I am curious why you’re not using in-house vfx guys?”
“They’re busy with reshoots.” There was no way around this many words, but he would manage. He cleared his throat and let the words hang.
“Ahhh, that makes sense.” They happily chirped. “Anyway, I am real curious to see how this scene fits into your new one, Mr. Kast. I don’t think I know any of these extras. The man with the mohawk seems pretty intense.”
“Well, you’ll just have to wait until release.” Thran responded. “I’ll give you a wave, get you a pair of tickets to the premier…if you ever find yourself coreward.”
Muz’s eyes flitted to the files as they arrived, the bandwidth allocation causing slight disturbances in the holomap. Good. Leena could access them from here.
“I would be honored! What is the title going to be, surely ‘the Bank Job’ is just a shooting title?”
“Too right.” Thran laughed. “It’s going to be called Blue Harvest.”
Datadyne Systems Level 1077 Coruscant
Leena tapped her datapad against the desk as the InfoSec manager paced behind her, two guards standing at either ends of the man’s path. Mihoshi eyed him curiously, the namestripe on her uniform saying ‘Tunstall, L.’. The worker in front of her rolled back the footage, the street level surveillance feeds showing an array of swoops coming to a stop, and one man throwing what looked to be a tarp over them. A moment later, the bikes were gone from view.
“How in the…?” The worker paused the feed, then rolled it back without being asked to. The InfoSec boss froze midstep, then leaned in to see what they were glowering at.
“That’s why we’re here.” Leena grumbled, or rather her stomach did. She really should have eaten some of that stew.
“I’ve not seen anything like it.” The InfoSec man responded, stepping closer, as though he could see it better. “Play it back again.”
“I mean, I’ve heard of this kind of bleeding edge stuff, but…” The worker rolled the footage back, the blanket hovering above the bikes one moment, then gone in the next. “Holoshrouds are just vaporware, right?”
Mihoshi tilted her head at the man, then back at the screen. “…Yeah. Vaporware.”
Leena couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “And the timestamp?”
“Just a few minutes before the Bank of Coruscant on 1207 got hit.”
Leena nodded sagely. “I need a copy of this waved over to me. I assume you have an offline archive?”
The boss nodded absentmindedly as he tapped on his datapad, requisitioning the files. “Yeah, Cold storage is behind me. Only way in or out is with an encrypted magstripe.”
“Good.” Leena turned back to the feed, playing the part. Now she just needed the others to do their part and give her a few moments. “Tunstall, can you get out to the speeder and get my traceroute analyzer? I want to make sure nobody has sliced the footage.”
“For sure.” Mihoshi chirped, the diminutive Kyataran turning on her heel to leave.
“Wait, we gotta escort you out there…” The InfoSec man responded, then pointed at the security guards before turning back to Leena as they followed her. “And there’s no way that they could have sliced the footage, detective.”
“I am glad that you have faith in the system here.” Leena looked directly at him. “But we have to be sure. And if there’s a slice, there’s going to be a digital fingerprint on it, hopefully one that we can traceroute back on.” She looked at the screen, then at the worker. Unless it got sliced once it was here.
“Unless it got sliced once it was here…” The worker spoke flatly, then winced at himself.
“Good point.” Leena lowered her eyebrow. She turned to the manager and flicked her head back toward the cold storage facility. “We should check the offline archive.”
— — —
Level 1077 was still the undercity, but this part of the industrial sector was a bit cleaner than most. The heartbeat of the upper levels pulsed here, power generation, water reclamation, data centers. And those ran hot. Dregs grabbed the bottom of his shirt and flapped it a little bit, pushing the air around a warm body. Then, cooler air hit his face. He instinctively looked up, the wide metallic vent basting down on the corridor. Dregs narrowed his eyes staring up at it, the vent blowing right at his face, cool air from the surface, with a slight chemical scent. They kept people like him in places where fresh air was rare, let alone natural light. He wondered if he’d even enjoy being topside at this point, after a life lived underground, surrounded by neon and humidity, trash and industrial waste.
“Don’t stare, Dregs.” Starfighter elbowed him. “You’ll end up like Sunny Boy. Besides, we got us a job to do.”
“Thass’ right, man.” He laughed, fishing out a death stick from the inside pocket of his jacket.
Starfighter nodded as he grabbed a small parcel off his belt and stared at it. “A damn shame to waste one.” He mused to himself for a moment before unwrapping it.
“Good thing we’ve got more.” Ashia smiled at them, kicking open a crate at her feet, full of the grenades. “And I got two more for you to take home.” She smiled as they laughed. “SO…Shall we?”
“Let’s fire it up!” Starfighter pumped his fist in the air, Dregs, Sunny Boy, and Rin Rin all matching his gesture and chanting along with the battle cry.
As quickly as it started, it stopped, fast hands reaching into the crate at Ashia’s feet, pins pulled and grenades lobbed into the building across the street from them, into the lightpole and its holocam, beneath the airspeeders parked out front. There was a pregnant moment of silence, punctuated by the subtle clank of grenade housings clattering against pavement.
Glorious chaos erupted, wreathed in concussion and dancing with flames. The airspeeder’s powerplant reacted, rocketing the craft upwards and snapping itself in half, the plume of smoke reaching to the ceiling plates above as the taste of copper filled their mouths.
— — —
“What the hell was that?” Mihoshi skidded to a stop as the blast echoed through the lobby on the other side of the door. The security guards shoved her to the side and kicked the door wide, blasters in hand. “Detective, I don’t think I can get the kit!” Mihoshi bellowed, her voice carrying through the hallway.
Leena looked up from the archive, turning her head at the sound. The infosec boss did the same, taking a step toward the hallway. Leena slipped the miniature spike into the system, the find and replace code running as she stepped into the doorway, her heel propping the gate.
“What’s going on? Where’s my partner?”
“Seems we have a problem.” The manager snipped, looking back at her.
“Oh gods, is that a kriffing gundark?!?” one of the security guards screamed down the hallway. Through the doorway, ruin danced. A huge feral creature threw an airspeeder, well to be precise, half of an airspeeder through the front lobby windows, a gleam of intelligence blooming behind its eyes. “No kriffing way….” The guard bolted back toward Mihoshi as though the tiny woman could save him. “I’m not dying for this…”
“Uhhh…” The InfoSec boss stared unbelievingly at the security guard, then at Leena.
“I’ve gotta call it in.” She turned on her heel, stepping back into the room and grabbing her jacket first, then reaching to grab the datapad. Fast fingers snagged the spike and tucked it into her sleeve, then bolted through the gate. She paused, staring expectantly at the manager. “Well, lock this thing the hell down. and let’s get out of here. There’s no way anyone can get in, right?”
He nodded slowly and then sprang into movement as she raised her commlink. “Unit thirty seven, we have a probable ten-fortyfour in progress at Datadyne systems…”
Gilmarin Suites Coruscant
Muz smiled at the display. The upload had happened remarkably faster than the download from the studio. Then again, using the holonet to go between systems was always going to be slower than between levels on the same planet.
The map refreshed again, darkened eyes flitting to it. Ashia had already left her mercenary friends, her token about to fall off the map. Kojiro had turned a corner and his pattern shifted, a much smaller token flinging itself away to the edge of the map. Leena and Mihoshi had exfiltrated out of the back of DataDyne, and CorSec airspeeders were circling above the fire, streams of smothering foam spraying down from a tanker they had escorted.
He slowly sat down, resting an arm on the table. An idle finger found the file and tapped play. The scans looked good, rendered in full by the professional team at the studio. Leena had modeled over the original crooks, giving the VFX team somewhere to start from. They rushed through the bank, brandishing weapons in a way that he had already seen a dozen times. The leader of them darted toward the vault, his face turning toward the camera as Muz hit pause and laughed.
A ginger mohawk and beard framed the face of Rath Oligard as it filled his view.
Two could play this game.
Watching the pandemonium continue as gangers lobbed grenades at everything in sight amid CorSec’s reliable response, Muz leaned back, satisfaction flavoring his smile.
Cantina The Fallen Spear Hyperspace
Muz pulled the tall stool away from the bar as Ashia slipped by his side, hopping into it with a fluid movement. Leaning forward, she nodded at the keeper, a Nihilgenia wearing a thin leather apron and polishing a glass. He nodded back at her and started his work, deft fingers grabbing a bottle instead of a blaster and glasses instead of grenades. A whirl of showmanship later, and a tall glass with a flower lay in front of her, the golden liquid inside transitioning to a brilliant green near the bottom. She smiled, lifting the cocktail as the others raised theirs, ready to wash the soot from Coruscant off of their tongues.
The telltale chirp from Muz’s arm rang out as they set their glasses back down, eyes turning to the man, waiting as he opened the channel, the holographic image of the Iron Throne coming through in fragmented blue light for a moment before Dacien came into view.
No words were needed, so none were spent. Just a nod from the Grand Master, and half of a smile. Muz blinked slowly, then dipped his head a degree before the channel ceased broadcasting. Slowly, he looked to the others, faint mirth upon his lips as he listened, not only to them as they joked, as they toasted a well-done mission, but to the whispers of the Force, the echoes of those who had gone before. And in between those notes, he imagined the cursing of one who should have been killed long ago.
It was worth smiling about.