Event Money Talks - A Boonta Eve Escapade

[Aska Ryun]

Nar Shaddaa
19:00 Hour
Boonta Eve
​

Boonta Eve. A yearly event that most of the outer rim and hutt space celebrated in honor of the Hutt clan’s influence being spread through out the fringes of the galaxy. It was also something that Aska had never experienced for herself and since she had first heard of the elaborate and debaucherous evening, she could not have been more thrilled to take part. For a degenerate such as herself, nights like these are what she lived for.

The door to her bedroom sliding open and revealing the dark and messy apartment, Aska emerged as she pulled a relatively clean tank top over her shoulders, being cautious to keep the cigarra in her mouth aimed upwards to fit through the neck hole without burning it’s collar. Tugging the shirt down tightly, she observed herself in the mirror opposite her quarters and once she was satisfied she had kept her attire clean, the young woman gave her a reflection a quick wink before moving out to the living room where the Togrutan slave girl had been sleeping on the couch.

”You up yet?” Aska queried as she hustled along the edges of the room in search of the bottle of rum she had retired the evening prior. It didn’t take long for her to locate and as she wrapped her grasp around the neck of the bottle, she soon dropped herself into the haggard arm chair that sat along side the window, observing as the flashing lights of Nar Shaddaa lit up her home. ”I think I’m gonna head to the bar tonight. You should come!” she stated excitedly as she took a swig directly from the bottle in her hand. Lowering it, she moved to hand it over to Alisaah with intent on getting her to take part. ”My friend Deskar owns the place. Real giant sweet heart, that one. You’ll like him. And then there’s Quinri. She’s your people. You two need to meet one another,” The slave had been incredibly passive and reserved since she stole her away from Zugg’s care and yet she still insisted on denying an opportunity at her freedom. If she was going to be sticking around, then Aska needed her to open up. Urging Alisaah take the bottle once more, the woman leaned forward to make the point clear. The two of them would get to know each other sooner or later and this was the only way she knew.

@Bex

 

[Alisaah Tila]

It had been a very intense and unprecedented time in Alisaah's life. One moment she was facing the fear of being sold to a new master at auction in front of hundreds of people and the next, being signed over to an unlikely new owner before even reaching the auction chamber in exchange for her former master's life. The furor of the whole experience had made the Togruta very tired. Her emotions were all over the place and she had no clue whether she should feel happy, sad or scared by what had happened.

Happy because the woman she now served seemed, for the most part, not to be a cruel mistress thus far.

Sad because she had just left a master of five years, who whilst not perfect, had treated her far better than most slaves could have hoped and she had failed in her final duty to him - to make her former master as many credits as possible at auction.

Scared because the first thing she ever saw her new mistress do was violently kill three men in cold blood. The sight of that red glowing blade and the sound of the blaster bolts lingered in her subconscious. Should she have reason to fear for her own life? There appeared to be a stark contrast between that woman and the one who interacted with Alisaah.

The slave's eyes fluttered a little as she yawned. The woman she now knew to be her mistress had entered the room, smoking a cigarra and asking if Alisaah had woken up yet. In panic, she bolted up right and climbed from the couch onto the floor in a kneeling position.

"My apologies mistress! I did not know you were awake. I--" she blurted out, but stopped mid-sentence as she heard Aska talking about some of her acquaintances. Apparently one of them was "her people". Alisaah did not know exactly what that meant. Maybe it meant that this man Deskar owned a slave too.

Alisaah tilted her head down towards her knees. She was uncertain whether she should be looking at her new mistress directly or not as she listened. She was playing by a totally new rule book now and it did not appear to be conventional in the slightest. All the Togruta was concerned about right now was ensuring she didn't do something to warrant punishment.

Aska then approached Alisaah, holding out a bottle of what appeared to be alcohol to her. She had never drunk alcohol before. The only master she had served whilst being old enough to was Hota Zugg, and he had forbidden any of his dancing slaves to drink to avoid any lecherous guests in his palace from taking advantage. He had also wanted the dancers to solicit information from people and to do that effectively, they could not have been under the influence.

Raising her head and looking at Aska with her green eyes, Alisaah took the bottle somewhat hesitantly and had a little sip. The taste was incredibly sharp and she winced. As usual, she did this not because she wanted to, but because it appeared her owner expected her to.

@Tulos @Aska Ryun

 

[Aska Ryun]

While Aska herself had been raised as an experiment, quite comparable to being raised as a slave she had once believed, every moment spent with the young Togrutan demonstrated to her that she had been entirely wrong in the assumption. Her hesitance to speak out of turn or rather without being asked, how she typically kept her gaze on the floor in Aska's presence, begging forgiveness for even the simplest things that would not warrant it... It would be a long and arduous task to demonstrate that with Aska, she was free in every sense except the mental chains she held on too. Then again, there was a slight sense of power that came with the woman referring to her as 'Mistress'.

As Alisaah began to lower the bottle with the shock of the flavor demonstrated in her bewildered green eyes, Aska couldn't keep herself from laughing.

"Maybe we should find you something different to wear, yea?" Aska stated as the chuckle subsided, pushing herself up from the arm chair and disappearing back into her bedroom. She didn't have much in the way of clothing but tucked away at the back of her closet was the old jumpsuit she had worn back on Coruscant. Aside from the occasional dark mark, the fabric was still rather blinding but it would also more conservative of Alisaah's features. Returning to the living room of the apartment, Aska tossed the jumpsuit at Alisaah's feet as she took a drag of the cigarra in her lips. "You can put that on... If you want, I guess. I mean, it could be a pretty crazy night. You might want to cover yourself up a bit more. Your choice, though," Grabbing the bottle from Alisaah, Aska proceeded to take another long swig from it before placing it back down on the table beside the Togrutan woman. Grabbing the leather jacket that was strung along the backrest of the arm chair she had just been occupying, the woman tossed it on and started to make her way towards the door. "There'll probably be plenty of dancing going on too, kid. Make up your mind and let's get down there!"

@Bex

 

[Alisaah Tila]

It seemed that Alisaah's reaction to the taste of alcohol had amused her new mistress. She hadn't reacted negatively to it at all and she breathed a small sigh of relief. Apparently what she wanted Alisaah to do now was wear something different to her current outfit. She still wore the garb Hota Zugg had insisted she wear as one of his dancers; an outfit consisting of an ornate, golden bikini with several matching accessories that adorned her body, such as pauldrons, various bands that fit around her arms, thighs and ankles, a choker from which a chain could be attached and an elaborate headdress complete with turquoise jewels and veil. Delicate and thinly veiled turquoise fabrics fell from the bands on her forearms and the lower half of her bikini. Alisaah was not wearing shoes, but this was common in Togruta culture and not solely a feature of her enslavement.

As it had been given to her to wear by her former master and was literally the only thing she owned, Alisaah did have an attachment to this outfit despite its true purpose being to sexualise and objectify her. When Aska returned from rummaging in her room, she threw a bright coloured jumpsuit with minor staining at Alisaah's knees and gave her a choice - wear the jumpsuit or stay in her current outfit. Her years of being a slave instinctively told her to put the jumpsuit on. Something that Aska said next however, gave her cause to question this.

"Mistress, if I may speak..." she said cautiously, "my maste- I mean... former master... he had us wear these outfits for dancing. Everyone I danced for seemed to enjoy these clothes."

By slave standards, Alisaah had a high pedigree. She had been a slave her whole life and been put through years of Zygerrian slave processing. It was not her place to question anybody, but this woman had just given her a choice. It wasn't right. But then none of this felt right. This woman was most irregular and indeed, it was the first time she had ever served a female master. Perhaps they had a different approach to slave ownership.

@Tulos @Aska Ryun

 

[Aska Ryun]

Searching through her jacket pockets for the access card for the apartment as Alisaah spoke, Aska did her best to listen to her but the excitement for the evening was starting to eat away at her. Not only was there a night of wild partying ahead, she hadn't seen Deskar and Quinri in what felt like months though it had only been a week or two. Finally finding the key card tucked away deep on one of her inner pockets, Aska pulled it out to ensure it was what she had found.

"Ha! There ya are, you son of a-," Stopping herself, Aska looked over to the Togrutan woman as she finished speaking. "Well, sure. Whatever, man. Wear what you want. I should warn you though, that place is filled with pigs half the time. They're gonna love that outfit, no doubt," Aska said with a smirk, pulling the cigarra from her mouth before dropping the still burning filter into one of the empty bottles by the doorway. "If anyone tries to do anything that makes you uncomfort-" Pausing, Aska then realized that to a slave woman, unwanted advances from men were probably quite standard. Or had Zugg ensured she was a treat for the eyes only? Maybe so, but maybe not. "Look, if anyone touches you or does anything that they wouldn't do to a free woman then you come and find me, okay?" Nodding to the door, Aska waved her arm to indicate that she wanted Alisaah to follow. "Now come on,"



Normally, a night at Deskar's was quiet with the music kept at a volume that still promoted conversation between the patrons. Tonight, however, the bass could be heard well before the pair of women had reached the door and upon entering, it became clear that tonight was everything Aska had hoped. The typically empty dancing area was alive with men and women of dozens of species as they swayed with the music, albeit many of them entirely off tempo due to the amount of alcohol that had been flowing through the establishment. A giant smile soon grew across the woman as she pushed her way through the crowd, glancing back from time to time to ensure Alisaah was still behind her.

"Well I'll be damned!" the booming voice from behind the bar cut through the sound of chatter and bass as Aska grew closer and closer. Deskar, who typically towered over most people who came to his establishment, picked Aska out of the crowd with ease. "Get over here, kid!" he bellowed again. As Aska prepared to comply, she was soon knocked off course as the Togrutan server jumped at her, wrapping her arms tightly around Aska's neck.

"There you are! About time!" Quinri exclaimed as she pulled back. The gloss to her eyes blatantly obvious, Aska laughed loudly.

"Well you're already trashed! Aren't you supposed to be working?"

"Boonta Eve! All rules are off!" Quinri exclaimed over the music but soon after, her expression went from one of joyous ecstasy to one of curiosity as Alisaah soon came up behind the two women. "Uhh, who's this?"

@Bex

 

[Alisaah Tila]

Alisaah accompanied her new mistress to an establishment named "Deskar's Place". The music was loud and booming even from outside. There were plenty of people making merry outside the doors, drinks in hand and smoking cigarra's just as Aska did. Following closely behind her, Alisaah soon noticed that people were beginning to look their way as they walked past. It was evident that this was because of the way the Togruta was dressed. She even received a few whistles as they went by and entered the bar.

Inside there was a sea of drunken bodies, swaying from side to side on the dance floor to the music. For the first time in a while, Alisaah felt as though she were in a familiar environment. She and the other dancers that had worked for Hota Zugg spent most of their time in his palace dancing at parties he threw, acting as the entertainment, serving drinks, being arm candy for their master and his guests. As she followed her mistress through the crowd she started to receive the same looks from people as outside, but generally they seemed happy to see her. It was a party and it looked like a real dancer had arrived.

Suddenly Aska had been set upon by someone from the crowd, but all seemed well. Though the girl that had leapt on her was drunk it seemed that the two were friends. It was now immediately obvious to Alisaah what her mistress had meant back at her apartment. She's your people. This girl was a Togruta too. Having been given no instructions as yet by Aska, she stood watching them exchange greetings. Despite being of the same race, it would have been plain as day to any onlooker the difference between them both in social standing. One was indulging, partying, joining in with the crowds as an equal, as a free person. The other, although not in chains, stood wearing the attire of a slave dancer, waiting on her mistress' permission to do anything at all.

Despite all of the looks and obvious gulf in social standing, Alisaah did not appear to be too phased, at least not yet. This was a familiar environment and she was aware her value was in her appearance. It was what Hota Zugg had made very clear by making her wear the attire and having her nose pierced to make her look more exotic. Maybe her new mistress wanted her to do the same things for her here. Only time would tell.

@Tulos @Aska Ryun

 

[Aska Ryun]

Glancing back over her shoulder to Alisaah, Aska smirked and turned back to face her old friend. She had been waiting for this moment, to explain to her how she had taken her words to heart in that Togrutan people had a tendency to find themselves subjugated into a life of servitude and how it was a very real fear for many here on Nar Shaddaa. How even free women who had spent much of their young life as a child able to choose their own path only to have it stolen away by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. How Aska found this young woman in mostly metaphorical chains and had stolen her away from her hutt Master to give her an opportunity at a new life. Then it donned on her. It wouldn't seem that way. Alisaah still wore the extravagant bikini that Zugg had demanded she bear and her demeanor was still that of a slave. Hell, she still was a slave since she seemed to deny the opportunity of freedom when Aska had offered it. As Aska began to choose her words, the expression on Quinri's face rapidly began to turn to one of concerned curiosity.

"I swear, it's not what it looks like. She's a slave an-" Aska began but the simple mention of the word 'slave' sparked a fire in Quinri's eyes, no doubt accelerated by the liquor already coursing through her system.

"A... slave? You went and bought yourself... a slave?" Immediately, Aska recognized what was about to come if she didn't clear the air. Throwing her hands up in a display of innocence, she was cut off from speaking before she even got the opportunity to utter a word. "You've got to be joking! PLEASE tell me you're joking!"

"Quinn! Get these drinks out of here already!" Deskar interrupted from behind the bar as he worked away tediously. Turning to face her boss, Quinri quickly snapped back towards Aska and pushed a finger into her face.

"Don't. Go. Anywhere. This isn't over," she spat before fading away into the crowd. Hanging her head, Aska turned back to Alisaah, rubbing her neck to alleviate a developing stress headache.

"Look, I'm going to go get a drink and see about explaining everything to her. Just... Go out, have fun," she said, defeated. This hadn't gone as planned, not in the slightest. As she walked away from her new companion, she soon spun on her heels and pointed at Alisaah as she walked backwards into the crowd. "And get some drinks in you to loosen up, damn it,"

@Bex

 

[Alisaah Tila]

Watching the exchange between her mistress and the other Togruta, it appeared that things started to go downhill very quickly. Quinri's demeanor and tone of voice changed the second that Aska had said the word 'slave'. A pang of nerves hit Alisaah as Quinri berated her mistress. It seemed as though she was displeased with Alisaah's relation to Aska. It was nothing she could have done anything about, she didn't get to choose who her masters were, but all the same she felt guilty. She didn't want her new mistress to be in trouble with her friend because of her.

Aska announced that she was going to get a drink and try talking to Quinri after she'd been asked by her employer to carry on serving drinks. The issue was it sounded as though her mistress expected her to leave her alone whilst she did this. Go out, have fun, she'd said and finished by telling her to drink. Trying her best to get over the feeling of guilt, she thought about what her mistress had said and as these were commands she decided it was best to follow them.

Walking out from the dance floor Alisaah could see her mistress hurrying after Quinri having picked up a drink from the bar. She strode over to it herself and sat herself down on one of the bar stools. Looking at the array of drinks Deskar kept behind his bar, Alisaah recognised pretty much all of them. She'd served drinks for years whilst belonging to Hota Zugg and had learned to make cocktails with drinks from all over the galaxy.

Whilst she was staring at the drinks on show, Deskar came over to her. She noticed his enormous shadow before anything else.

"So what can I get you little lady?" he asked in a friendly enough voice.

"Well..." she started saying, looking back over to see where Aska had gone as she did so, "... I was told I should 'get some drinks in me' but I don't have any way of paying you, sir."

Deskar's gaze shifted in the same direction as Alisaah's. He noticed Aska before turning his attention back to Alisaah.

"If you're with Aska then I'll get you a drink on the house. Any friend of hers is welcome and it is Boonta Eve after all" he said jovially, before asking, "You are her friend, right?"

Alisaah looked the Besalisk in the eyes as she answered "My mistress asked me to come with her. She wanted to celebrate Boonta. Does that count?"

Deskar looked back at the Togruta slave with a look on his face that expressed many emotions at once. Alisaah could see puzzlement, concern and pity in his eyes.

"Your mistress? You mean... Aska?" he said, jabbing a finger in her direction. Alisaah nodded. As she did so, the various tassels and adornments of her outfit shook. "Son of a bantha... what has she been up to this time?" came his response, "So you're a slave? A dancer I assume by the outfit you've got on? I clocked you on the way in - hard not to when a pretty thing like you strolls in to a place like this and you're dressed like that - but I assumed maybe Aska had just made her way over from another party with a few extra guests. There's Boonta celebrations happening everywhere and people like to dress up."

Alisaah watched Deskar as he spoke. The feeling of guilt she had from before was still there, but there was a warmth and kindness to this man that helped soothe her emotions.

"Mistress Aska only recently acquired me" she explained, "I... I don't really know how she found me. I was supposed to be auctioned but she made a deal with my master beforehand and now I'm here. It was like she knew who I was and where to find me."

Deskar's look of pity and concern did not disappear. "Well missy, it sounds like you've had a wild ride - always seems to be when Aska's involved. I'll get you some Chandrilan Blue - on the house. That ought to keep your mistress happy at any rate..."

Alisaah could have sworn she saw Deskar roll his eyes when he said this, but she thanked him politely and sat there waiting, occasionally glancing over to see where her mistress had got to.

@Tulos @Aska Ryun

 

[Aska Ryun]

Watching as Quinri once again walked away in a huff of anger, unwilling to listen to her explanation, Aska let out a drawn out sigh. Stubborn as she was, pursuing a debate with the Togrutan when she was already well in to the evening was not how she wanted to spend hers. Looking around for her newest companion, she soon spotted Alisaah sitting at the bar, drink in hand, having a conversation with the giant Besalisk behind the counter. While she was still feeling overcome from her inability to smooth things over with her friend, seeing the young slave socializing did bring Aska some form of comfort. Since she had been released from Zugg's possession, Alisaah had been incredibly quiet and kept to herself unless spoken too and until she was prepared to accept her freedom, then it was a reality Aska had no choice but to welcome.

Making her way back to the bar, Aska pulled the seat beside Quinri out and fell into it as she shook her head.

"Well that could have went better," she stated plainly as she scanned the dancing mob, spotting her friend serving patrons with a forced smile. Shaking her head and spinning back to the bar, the woman sat up slightly to reach in behind the counter and grabbed a glass bottle before slumping back down. "So you met Deskar, hey? Told you he's a nice guy," Her tone was still one of defeat and despite not wanting this to ruin her evening, Aska couldn't keep her mind from dwelling on how this could possibly have been the wrong thing to do. Playing back the scenario of liberating Alisaah, retracing each step, it all made good sense to he but perhaps she should have just retrieved the message and left.

The message...

"Hey, I have a question for you," she asked Alisaah before taking a sip from the snagged bottle. "If your old master is so out on his ass, why is he selling out his family for credits? Seems counter productive to me. Sell off everything you own to get back in their good graces just to sell them out on your next move? I know Hutt's are greasy but... damn,"

@Bex

 

[Alisaah Tila]

It was not long before Aska returned. Alisaah had taken a few sips of her wine, which she certainly preferred to the drink Aska had asked her to sip back at the apartment. Having never drunk alcohol it was still something she was getting used to, but she persevered. Her mistress had asked her to drink so she would drink. When she saw Aska walking over to the bar she put her glass down and stood up, returning to her seat only when Aska had sat herself.

"Yes Mistress, Mr. Deskar has been very hospitable" she answered in response to Aska's first question. The Togruta could tell from the tone in her master's voice and body language that things had not gone well with her friend. The guilt suddenly started to come back and Alisaah was on the verge of blurting out an apology when Aska turned to her and asked her a question.

"Master Zugg?" she said, not in a questioning way but more a tone of surprise. She didn't expect his name to come up whilst her mistress celebrated Boonta Eve. "Well... I..."

Alisaah's mind became flooded with conflicting emotions, just as it had the day she first met Aska and was taken away before going to auction. Hota Zugg had been her master for five years. Whilst she did not know everything, the Hutt had requested her presence in various meetings over the years and as time went by and she became his preferred and most prized slave girl, she supposed a certain level of trust had been placed upon her, despite her lowly status. On the other hand, Aska Ryun was her mistress now. There was no disputing that and if her mistress asked her a question she had to answer. Whatever weird attachment she had to her old master was meaningless now. He chose to sell her and relinquish his control, even if the transaction hadn't happened the way he would have liked.

"Well Mistress, Master Zugg owed a lot of money to a lot of people. I remember lots of meetings he would have with visitors. Some of them were angry with him, asking for repayment, some would come to discuss business so he could make more money..." she explained. It came across almost like a child explaining something to a parent, but Alisaah was genuinely trying her best to tell Aska what she knew. Alisaah was not a businesswoman, she had no formal education, this was the lot of a lifelong slave. "... but then there was a third kind of person who he would meet with. They would tell him and Mr. Kekram information about his cousins and their business dealings. Master Zugg said he wanted to know because to get on his family's good side he needed to take the pressure of himself by exposing his cousin's plans and make money in the process by selling the information to people."

@Tulos @Aska Ryun

 

[Aska Ryun]

Taking another sip of her drink, Aska listened intently over the sound of the booming party going on behind them and making sure she caught every word. At first Alisaah only relayed facts Aska already knew as Boola had made it clear to her that the reason she was even being dispatched to the auction was to secure assurance that Zugg would be repaying his debt to her and her higher ups. Once inside the embassy, she had uncovered that the Hutt was selling off information of his cousin's plans to military forces and it was that information that Boola would use to blackmail Zugg into paying back that debt. Clearly, he still wished to retain some sort of standing within the Cartel and yet his cousin he was willing to betray?

"What was so special about his cousin?" Aska responded all while pulling her pack of cigarras from her jacket, setting the bottle down to pull one out before laying the package down on the counter. Lighting the tabacc, she retrieved her drink and returned her attention to Alisaah. "Selling out is a pretty damn cringe worthy move... Cowardly..." Taking a drag off her cigarra, Aska mulled over the details for a moment. "His cousin must have been dirty then? Like, dirty even for a Hutt..." Stopping for a moment, she realized just how dirty Hutts really wear and even then, she wasn't wrong. "And that's saying something, for sure,"

@Bex

 

[Alisaah Tila]

Her mistress lit another cigarra as she continued her questioning. Despite her conflicting emotions, Alisaah was too far gone to stop talking now and to ensure she remained on good terms with her new owner she had to do as she was told.

"Master Zugg said his cousin was involved in things he shouldn't be" she explained, "Although my master had lost a lot of money, he said he had information that his cousin was going to do something worse than he had ever done and was putting his family at risk by doing it." Though she did not say this next part aloud, it was implied that whatever Zugg's cousin was doing would have disgraced him more than Zugg was, but it was not Alisaah's place to comment on this. "... Master Zugg doesn't really like his cousin either, Mistress, I think he wanted him to suffer the consequences of his actions and make some profit in the process..."

All she could really do is parrot the things that she had heard or been told directly by Zugg. He was the only one that would have told her anything or allowed her to be present in the room during some of these meetings, but even when she was there, she'd only been serving drinks, dancing or looking pretty to make the guests feel more comfortable.

Alisaah did not continue at this time as she'd answered all of her mistress' current questions, but Aska would have gotten the impression that her new slave knew more and all it would take would be to ask more. Alisaah picked up her glass again, remembering that Aska had asked her to drink earlier and took a couple more sips.

@Tulos @Aska Ryun

 

[Aska Ryun]

While the details trickled in slowly, they still began to appear with every word Alisaah spoke. As she did, Aska silently mused of the ignorance of the Hutt crimelord. Since most slaves were typically seen as nothing more than an object rather than a living and breathing person with eyes and ears of their own, it seemed that Zugg and his colleagues had underestimated the need to keep such things away from those present, both free and enslaved.

"Involved in things he shouldn't be..." Aska muttered to herself. While the party continued to rage on behind her, she was soon absorbed with wondering just what it was this Hutt family had gotten themselves into. Believing it involved the Sith armada, she soon recalled the intercepted transmission from the embassy and came to the conclusion that their armies were only the source of income for Zugg. No, his cousin had instead been shipping men and weapons off the planet they were currently orbiting. It made sense, of course, with Nal Hutta being the home world of the crime families. Where were they going? Corellia... Of course. The world she had been on not long ago with the hunters Klied and Poffo. Travelling... which route was it? The Nath'ri trading route... To ambush the Sith's forward stealth patrols and steal a vessel for furter attacks against...

"Your Master's cousin was planning on attacking other criminal enterprises!" As the memory finally came back to her, Aska slapped the bar counter loudly. "Only reason I can think of for doing something that insane is to steal their wealth," Now the wheels began to turn. As things began to clear in her mind's fog, Aska soon started putting pieces together. If the Hutt was attacking criminal organizations to steal any valuables from them, there was no safer place than their homeworld to stockpile his ill gotten gains. Turning her attention back to Alisaah, Aska now had a sinister and eager grin. "Tell me... Did you know anything about when Zugg's cousin was going to be shipping anything out? Have you overheard anything at all?" From the tansmission she had intercepted, all she knew was that it would be 'soon'. If the men had already left, then they may have a shining opportunity laid out before them...

@Bex

 

[Alisaah Tila]

Aska appeared to be very interested in her former master's plans. Alisaah had no idea why. Before arriving at the auction house it seemed the two had never met. Now all of a sudden her new mistress seemed to want to know all about him. As she sat, watching her mistress and occasionally sipping her wine, the Togruta noticed that she was lost in thought for a moment before exclaiming that Master Zugg's cousin had been planning to attack criminal enterprises and steal their wealth for himself.

"Uhh... well, I heard a conversation Master Zugg had with Mr. Kekram. He said that Master Zugg's cousin was planning to send his men to intercept a ship on Boonta Eve because most people would be to distracted to notice anything suspicious when it returned planetside..." she said, trying hard to remember, "and that the ship wouldn't be going to the cousin's palace. I saw the coordinates when I came in to bring them drinks and Mr. Kekram wasn't pleased. I worry about him, he's quite scary."

When she finished talking, Alisaah drank the rest of her drink and Deskar strolled by, picking up the glass to have it cleaned. She smiled at him sweetly, but didn't speak as it would have interrupted the conversation with her mistress. At this time, she knew her duty was to sit and answer Aska's questions. What wasn't clear however was what she would do with this information. Was it just curiosity? Or did she have more sinister plans in mind? Alisaah could not forget the sheer brutality that her new mistress had displayed in that lounge when she killed three men right in front of her. She couldn't help but feel that something like that could happen again and soon. She just hoped she was not the one on the receiving end.

@Tulos @Aska Ryun

 

[Aska Ryun]

As the wheels continued to turn in Aska's mind, pieces of a plan began to fall together. Even with his diminishing wealth and the fact that he swore revenge against her for her intrusions, Zugg still likely could provide her with beneficial circumstances. Since her trip to Onderon so long ago, she had been desperate to find a way to make her way back to the core worlds, back to Coruscant to begin to delve into the mysteries the recovered holocron had provided. The one thing truly holding her back was her debt owed to Boola but now that everything between the two had been settled, all she needed was the ability to finance the trip. And, it seemed, that the opportunity may have just happened to fall in to her lap.

"Well then," Aska began. "If tonight is the night that his men are being dispatched, then maybe we should take this chance to.... 'Make some room' for his new acquisitions," Finishing her drink, Aska slid the empty bottle to the edge of the bar, along with a couple credit chips to pay for the beverage. Looking around the bar, she once again spotted Quinri as she weaved through the crowd. The Togrutan continued to serve drinks and enjoy a few for herself yet persisted to pay Aska no attention. Sighing, Aska pushed herself up from the seat at the bar and motioned her head towards the exit. "Besides, I don't really want to stay here any longer. Not until someone cools down and sobers up so she and I can talk. Come on, I'll explain what I have planned on the way,"

Some time later...​

Nal Hutta... Despite spending many months living on the orbiting moon, Aska had never taken the time to travel to Nar Shaddaa's parent planet and as soon as the vessel began to descend below the cloud line, she had doubts she would ever return. Everything seemed to be covered in a heavy green haze and even through the freighters air scrubbers, a smell of rotting foliage and murky swamp water began to infiltrate the cockpit. Scrunching her nose in disgust, Aska couldn't contain a slight gag as she flipped the control to decrease their speed, allowing the ship to begin it's descent.

"Oh my god... This place is-" Another gag forced her to stop speaking for a moment but as she regained her composure, Aska turned to see Alisaah sitting in the co-pilot's chair beside her. "Ugh, it's so gross!" Reaching across the control panel on her right side, Aska flicked another switch by Alisaah's chair to cover the ship's ID signature and to begin the landing procedure as they approached the co-ordinates that she had provided. While Aska herself had only just begun to relearn how to fly a space craft, the slave Togrutan would have absolutely no clue on how to operate a blaster, let alone land a freighter. No, she would have to do this on her own... Hopefully.

"We're still a ways off from the co-ordinates, but not much. I'll try to get as close as we can without being detected though... There is no way in hell I want to get my clothes soaked in anything on this shit hole's surface,' she complained. Yet again, another whiff of the repulsive fragrant air found it's way into Aska's nose, causing her to dry heave once more. Turning to Alisaah, slightly pale, Aska let out a deep breathe. "The sooner we can get the hell out of here, the better,"

@Bex

 

[Alisaah Tila]

Alisaah now found herself sat beside her mistress in the cockpit of a freighter heading to Nal Hutta. She had been asked to provide Aska with the coordinates of her former master's cousin and it seemed she had plans for the two of them to visit. The Togruta had never been to the facility they were headed to, but had on many occasions been to Nal Hutta. It seemed therefore that for once, she had experience of something that her mistress did not. Judging by her complaints it was apparent Aska had never travelled to the Hutt homeworld before, despite living on the planet's moon.

"It isn't the most pleasant environment, I agree, Mistress" she said. For the first time since they met, it was the closest she had ever come to showing any sign of amusement, watching Aska's open display of disgust. "If I might ask, if it displeases you to visit, why must we go to Master Zugg's cousin's facility? There must be places you would like a lot more Mistress."

It was an innocent enough question but asked by someone who was never involved in schemes beyond being asked to solicit information from drunken visitors to a Hutt's palace. This was someone who did not understand the criminal underworld the way that Aska Ryun, Hota Zugg and Alzon Kekram did. Alisaah wondered whether the two former were even still alive. Kekram had been shot by Aska prior to sealing the transfer of Alisaah and Zugg had met the same fate as the pair of them escaped the old embassy in a hail of blaster fire from Zugg's guards. Being untrained in combat and blasters, Alisaah wasn't to know that her previous master and his lieutenant had only been stunned, but thinking about it made her wonder all the same if they were still breathing. Sitting there in the co-pilots seat, an untapped part of her being told her that they both were. She took both solace and fear from this feeling.

@Tulos @Aska Ryun

 

[Aska Ryun]

Covering her nose wasn't helping. Every breathe she brought in was contaminated by the horrid stench of Nal Hutta and when she tried defending her sense of smell, her tongue took a beating as she inhaled. There simply was no winning on this planet...

"Of course there are," Aska replied as she spotted a clearing a couple clicks out, devoid of foliage and swamp and level enough that she could set the freighter down. "You ever been to Onderon? Now that is one beautiful world. Actually," Aska paused to relive the memory of riding through the jungles outside of the city of Iziz with the young Jedi on her first hunt before looking to Alisaah, scrunching her nose up slightly but retaining an arrogant smirk. "It's kind of like this shit hole, except it smells a hell of a lot better," Even despite the fact that Alisaah was now away from the confinement of Zugg and his cronies, Aska could never tell what it was she was thinking. While one would expect her to be exuberant and the opportunity of freedom, the Togrutan never once displayed it. She was a quiet and reserved woman, no doubt...

Setting the freighter down, Aska descended the boarding ramp with her slave in tow. Before she left the ship, she had heavily considered bringing a portable breather that was typically used to work on the ship in low oxygen environments but decided against it. Hopefully, the smells of Nal Hutta would eventually be something she could adapt too... But she doubted it.

"Okay... Those co-ordinates you gave me should lead us just over this hill and then the facility isn't going to be a far walk from there. I suppose it's time I fill you in on what I'm thinking," Turning to face Alisaah, Aska brought the sleeve of her jacket up in a vain attempt to protect her sense of smell once again. "If this Hutt is raiding other organizations and stockpiling his loot at this place, I think we should take it. Y'know? Give the Hutt's another shot to the chops. I could use the money and I'm sure you've got some resentment you need to settle,"

@Bex

 

[Alisaah Tila]

"But Mistress, I harbor no resentment towards the Hutts" came Alisaah's response. She did not know if she should have been speaking to Aska in this way or not, but as she was such an unorthodox master as it was, she believed it was okay. "I served Master Zugg for five years. In his way he was good to me. I could have had far worse owners..."

Her mind wandered back to her time on Zygerria. The slavers there had made her life a living hell. Conditions under their rule was brutal and many of the people she had lived a worthless existence beside in her time there had died before they finished being processed or sold. There was a reason why slavers sought out those subjugated by the Zygerrian's - because the chance that one of their slaves would snap or break their horrendous conditioning was rare, if not impossible.

Panicking in the thought that Aska might think she was referring to her with her comments, she hastily mentioned, "Master Zugg bought me from Zygerria after two years there... compared to that, serving him and his guests was like being rescued." All she could do was hope that her mistress understood. Alisaah did not wish for freedom, she had not known it in her lifetime and was deeply conditioned to obey the commands of a master. Aska had spoken of independence before, but in reality this scared Alisaah and she lacked any skills needed to survive on her own. She desperately did not want Aska to cast her out.

"If it makes you happy to requisition Master Zugg's cousin's belongings then I shall do what I can to serve, Mistress" she said bowing, "I just... don't really know how I can help. My skill is in hospitality and entertainment. Will I need to dance for them to convince them to give us their goods?" It was another, frankly ridiculous question, but if Aska was going to continue bringing her on escapades, she was going to have to teach her slave many different skills.

@Tulos @Aska Ryun

 

[Aska Ryun]

"No resentment.... Seriously?" Aska blurted out by accident. That was something she wasn't able to understand, considering how she loathed her own creators. Whether or not the Hutt was a 'good' master didn't seem like a point that should matter in her eyes. In the end, he still held her in chains and utilized her as nothing more than as a tool. As a toy. A plaything. How could someone simply be fine with that? With being held under someone's toe their entire life? Then she remembered, Alisaah knew nothing different. Sighing, Aska hung her head.

"Alright, whatever. Forget the whole revenge thing for now," she said exasperatedly she continued walking down the ramp, her feet finally touched the squishy swamp terrain of the world. 'Ugh' she thought to herself. 'These boots are getting tossed after this,' Of course, if she succeeded then she could buy any boots she wanted. Maybe a new ship? A lavish mansion on any world she so chose? The possibilities were only limited by what this cousin of Zugg's had obtained and she needed to turn her focus, and that of her companion, to completely what they came here to do.

"You've already done plenty just by showing me where this vault is," Aska responded as she began to walk away from the freighter, assuming the Togrutan would follow. Pulling one of the vibrodaggers from her belt, she held it out to Alisaah to take. "I want you to carry this. If we get into any trouble, use it. I trust I don't need to explain to you how to use a knife, do I?"

@Bex

 

[Alisaah Tila]

It seemed then that her mistress did not understand. Alisaah felt a sense of loneliness overcome her. It was the same sense that told her Hota Zugg and his associate was still alive. Now it felt worse. The feeling did not comfort her and as she followed Aska down the ramp onto the planet surface a sense of fear began to form in her mind. She tried to ignore it for now. She had to pay attention to what her mistress asked of her. The short-haired woman was now holding a vibroknife out to her. It was a weapon she had seen worn by countless visitors and guards at her former master's palace, even as far back as her original master's hideout. It had been a long time since she had thought about her childhood being raised by the slaves owned by the gang leader Dontigo Fligorra. It made her remember Meela - her role model and closest thing she had ever had to a mother. Her memories of the Twi'lek were wonderful and though she had not seen her since she was a child, they helped to combat her nerves as she stood face to face with her new mistress on the Hutt homeworld.

"I... think I can handle it, Mistress" she said, tentatively taking the blade offered to her. It seemed by the tone in Aska's voice that she was growing impatient and in the interest of avoiding her anger she wanted her mistress to believe she wasn't completely useless. Besides answering her questions, so far she felt like she had provided this woman nothing, even after everything she had - wrongly or rightly - done to acquire her in the first place. "I've never had to use one of these before but, if Mistress commands me to I will do my best." Still wearing almost nothing, she had no place to sheath the knife, so Alisaah simply held it in her left hand and waited for Aska to lead on.

@Tulos @Aska Ryun