Hoping for the best, expecting the worst

[MasterTyvokka]

Renald sat in the vast audience chamber of Nor'baal the Hutt, nursing a Corellian Ale. Renald was sitting at a long bar which faced numerous holoscreens. It seemed the Hutt was fond of pod racing as there wasn't a screen showing anything else. Most Hutts were notorious for being eccentric but it seemed to Renald that Nor'baal was particularly paranoid. There were more Gamorreans packed into this chamber than Renald had ever seen. And then there were the grotesque paintings on the walls. Frankly they were quite comedic. The paintings depicted a Hutt slaying various other sentients. The one Renald was staring up at depicted a Hutt killing a human.

Renald looked down to notice his leg shaking a bit and as he lifted up his drink the glass nearly slipped from his grip; his hands were clammy. However Renald was afraid of the Hutt. He was nervous. Nervous about why he was here. Nervous about what he would see.. no nervous about who he would see. Years ago while helping out the Corellian resistance, before the Sith took over, Renald had met a woman. Her name was Jenny and they had fallen in love and even gotten married. Then she was taken from him. His ship was disable and boarded by pirates. Renald had been knocked unconscious and Jenny taken. Renald had searched for years and had found no sign of her, until now.

Renald's good friend within the Cartel, Yuri, and come through for him. Not to long ago Yuri had gotten in touch with Renald to tell him he may have found Jenny. Yuri had given Renald the name of a Hutt and a date and time for a special preview of the merchandise to be sold at an upcoming slave auction. Apparently only friends of the Cartel could get into the preview and Yuri had to pull some strings to get Renald in. Renald was thankful Yuri had gotten him in. Renald looked at his chrono. It was still a while before the preview would start so he continued to sip on his drink.

 

[Nor'baal]

Grumbling to himself as the Twi'lek slave girl massaged his bulbous head, Nor'baal Vesajilic Diori tried to make the agony in his head subside. He had been suffering a headache all morning, probably from the previous evenings excesses. Waving the slave away, the vast Hutt looked down at the man trembling in front of him, and nodded slowly. Out of the corner of his eye the Hutt could see the irritating little man 'Sly Jones' slithering around eyeing up the Hutts slaves. The man was only here because he was still of use, the Hutt reminded himself.

<Stop shaking, you have little to fear here.> came the voice of Nor'baal in booming Huttese, quickly translated by a rusting Protocol Droid into Basic. <What is it the Vesajilics might do for you?> he asked before reaching for his hooka pipe to scratch the side of his face.

<Well, come on then, I don't have all day.> he said impatiently.

 

[Lloyd Gross]

Coryn sighed again. Hopefully no one took notice, but he really didn’t want to be here. Not because he was opposed to slavery. Not because he objected to the company he was in. But because what he was about to do made no sense. All of his adult life had been spent either in the celebration of his freedom or, and more recently, trying to obtain it once more. Sure he wasn’t an outright slave like the men, women, fish, and furry things he was about to sample; but it was close enough to bug him. He’d tried turning to the enemies of the Hutt Cartel but they couldn’t even be found. He’d tried building up a crew of reliable men who could help him run from the Cartel. That didn’t work either. And he only had one or two more tries before his Hutt master got wind of his mutinous thoughts.


Coryn sighed again. Buying someone in an attempt to win his own freedom. Was there anything more ironic? Coryn was quite good at intelligence gathering and hoped to find a slave. No, a partner, of similar talents. Perhaps a woman, someone to tempt the men from which Coryn couldn’t pry their secrets. Also, wouldn’t be bad to have a good looking individual around for the long term. Coryn nodded absently as he thought. Like many others he was sitting around drinking waiting for the preview to start so he could get a good look at what the Hutt had to offer before anyone else had a chance.

 

[MasterTyvokka]

Renald stood sipping his drink. Finally the big fella himself, Nor'baal the Hutt, emerged from a private room. His entourage, which included a twi'lek slave girl, accompanied the Hutt. The Twi'lek began the tedious task of messaging the Hutt's massive head. Rendald shook his head; the things Hutts did. Renald looked around again. There were a lot of beings here. Sometimes on the surface Renald was surprised by the shear number of sentients that still bought and sold slaves, but when he thought about it he wasn't surprised at all. We wished there was a way to end it but it had become so embedded in parts of Galactic society that realistically slavery probably wasn't going anywhere.

All Renald wanted was to get Jenny back. Part of him hoped he wouldn't see her here. That she hadn't had to endure the tortures of slavery. But the bigger part of him Renald wanted to find her, wanted her to be alive. Renald sighed and finished off his ale. He was about to order another one when Nor'baal announced that he was bringing the slaves he had for sale out so that they could be previewed. Renald turned around slowly, almost afraid of what he would see. Renald watched the slaves walk past one by one. A strange looking older gentleman was eyeing the female slaves with lust.

And then Renald saw her. She came out last and she was by far the most beautiful of all the female slaves. Jenny was dressed in a gaudy but very revealing outfit. Renald knew her well and he could tell the time spent in captivity had not been kind to her. He could see scars on here he knew weren't there before. She was clearly malnourished and she looked like she hadn't eaten well since they were last together. But the thing that caused Renald the most pain was the look in her eyes. Her head was down but Renald could see the utter hopelessness in her eyes. Jenny had been such a bright spirit. Even when the Empire had crushed the GA and threatened the freedom of Corellians her spirit had not wavered.

Then Jenny looked up and her eyes met Renald's. They stared at one another for a long moment not sure if what they were seeing was real. Before they could register what had just happened Nor'baal moved her along. Renald got up and moved up to the Hutts dais. Renald was nervous but it had nothing to do with being in front of the Hutt. But Nor'baal didn't need to know that. Renald got himself together and then spoke. "Your Excellency," Renald spoke in basic. "There is no need for the translation droid. I understand Huttese perfectly. Although my species cannot speak it well so I will not ruin its beauty by doing so." Renald said. He hoped like most Hutts Nor'baal was easily flattered. "I would like to buy one of your slaves before the auction your Excellency." Renald said matter of factly. He hoped Nor'baal would be gracious.

 

[Nor'baal Vesajilic Diori]

The vast beings face split into a wide grin and his chuckled with mirth when the man before him flattered the language of his people in such a way. It of course did not escape the Hutts notice when the mans eyes were drawn to one of his more recent slave acquisitions, and for good reasons. Beautiful as she was to both Hutt and Human eyes, Nor'baal took great pleasure in knowing that clearly she held more than physical and financial value to the man before him.

And now the man wished to buy 'A Slave'. I wonder which one, the Hutt thought to himself as he waved the Twi'lek away from his temples. Nor'baal decided he would play the ignorant, eccentric Hutt and nodded, as if with great understanding toward the man. His calculating mind was in action once more, it was time to see just how important this particular female was to the man, for if she was of great important, then the man could be convinced to do certain jobs for the Hutt - ones pertaining to his long stalled plans on Bespin, with Figg & Associates - which would bring great rewards to the large Slug.

<Which of my slaves? Maybe this fine wench eh?> he chortled in Huttese dragging the female he had seen catch the mans eyes forward <A fine, delicate flower, good for dancing and....other activities?> he said, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as his he leered at he and pulled her close to his smiley belly once more.

<A very desirable product this one! Interested?> he leered, stroking the slave collar around her neck.

With such a repulsive display from Nor'baal, the man would surely be unable to hide his true feelings for the slave girl.

 

[MasterTyvokka]

Despite no being a regular gambler Renald had one of the best Sabaac faces in the entire galaxy. So the fact that he flinched slightly, but probably noticeably to the vile creature in front of him, was a testament to just how much Jenny meant to him. As Nor'baal fingered the slave collar Renald could do little to hide the grimace on his face or the anger in his eyes. But Renald was no fool. He knew that the gig was up and he was going to have to pay a pretty credit to get her back. However Renald was prepared to do just that.

"Your Excellency. You honor me by offering to see me your best product. I might be interested. But that would depend on price of course." Renald still held a little hope the Hutt hadn't noticed his interested. But he knew that was unlikely... still he had to try.

 

[Nor'baal]

Once again, as his eyes found themselves being drawn to the Slave Girl, Nor'baal saw the Credits rolling in his mind, the wheels turning and plots being formed in the vile creatures head. He knew just the thing this man could do for him, indeed the list of potential tasks for the man where nearly endless, he could kill someone for Nor'baal, he could assist in the infiltration of Kessel, or indeed he could assist with his KES issue, or the man could pay him hundreds of thousands of Credits, which by the look of him he could not afford.

His mind settled from the furor of his plotting, for if Nor'baal was to part with a Slave, then this man could assist him in the collection of a certain debt he would be owed. Soon Nor'baal would require a swift delivery of himself an a few others to a certain location, something that this man could assist with. His mind set on the offer, the Hutt made it:

<You may have the Slave, in return for a single task. I need you to transport myself and a few of my Guards to a location I shall give you in time, in the next month. Do this for me, and the Slave woman is yours.>

 

[MasterTyvokka]

Although Renald was dressed in the shabbiest cloths he owned he certainly could have afforded to pay handsomely for Jenny. In fact he had 1 million credits in his account and he was prepared to hand over every credit if it was needed. But even though Renald had been prepared to pay, he was rather glad he didn't have too. The task seemed easy enough; just transport the fat slug to some unknown location and get Jenny back. However Renald knew better it never was that simple, especially when a Hutt is involved.

"Your Excellency I will acquiesce to your offer. Will I be piloting one of your ships? I am afraid mine is not up to your Excellency's standards." Renald sure hoped that Nor'baal wanted to take his own Yacht. If the Hutt ended up on "Smuggler's Folly" Renald didn't think he'd be able to get the Hutt's smell out for months. Of course during the course of the conversation Renald had gotten control of himself and his thoughts were no longer betrayed by his Sabaac face.

 

[Nor'baal Vesajilic Diori]

The large Hutt was pleased with the manner in which the man before him accepted his generous offer, for in some situations, favors where of more value than credits. Nodding, and chortling to himself, the Hutt then spoke to the man - in the usual manner - saying:

<Excellent, most excellent. You will be piloting one of my vessels naturally, for I wish to travel in a manner I find comforting. The details shall be sent to you shortly.> came the Hutts booming voice, as the Slave girl who seemed to be the center of this discussions was once again taken away out of site.

 

[MasterTyvokka]

"I expect nothing less you Execellency," Renald commented on Nor'baal preferring to ride in a manner most comfortable to him. Renald was quite relieved. Had the Hutt gotten a wild hair and decided to take a trip on Renald's freighter he wasn't sure how he would have accommodated the slug. Despite being some of the most disgusting beings in the galaxy Hutts were quite particular about their surroundings. This probably had something to do with the fact they thought they were far superior to all other sentients.

"I shall await your Excellency's call and I will be ready to leave on a moment's notice." Renald said bowing low. He then let himself be escorted out of the Hutt's palace. When Renald was safely back on "Smuggler's Folly" and in space he collapsed in the pilot's seat. Renald stared out at the blackness of space. He couldn't believe he had finally found her. After he she had been taken Renald has searched tirelessly for years. Ever since he had started the CLF he had all but given up hope. But he had found her and now, at least in theory, all he had to do was transport a Hutt and his entourage.