Ask Coruscant Zaa Fenn's got talent

[Gareth Gin]

Quick-Draw Cantina, lower levels of Coruscant.
​

Sitting on the table that was basically designated for him by now, Gareth Gin, the White Lion of Zaa Fenn, enjoyed the best drink the cantina had to offer...Which was not really the best stuff around or anything like that, truth is, people drank there to get drunk, not to enjoy the flavor, but well...Gareth had to support the cantina that was owed by his family so he had made it a comfortable place for him and his people.

That being said, he usually didn't come there unless there was either a party or bussiness to be taken care of. And today? Well, it was certainly a bussiness night, the cantina was mostly empty and Gareth made sure not many entered so he could take a better look at someone that could prove useful to the family, they needed more flesh blood, for their numbers had dwindled and their leaders were not there anymore to guide them.

Vence Klortho, a cut above the rest when it came to slicing, or so Gareth had heard. Sure, chances are he just wasn't as good as Kara...but Gareth was sure she would appreciate having more quality slicers, force knows they had the muscle part covered, with the KnowOnes being part of the crime family, slicers had a good place when it came to the Zaa Fenn now, Gareth loved the good old days when he could do something incredibly overt alongside Preef...but with most of the galaxy targetting them, that was just not possible at the moment...Not without a proper slicer covering your tracks and getting you info, of course.

So, for now, the Miralukan would simply wait for Vence to arrive and see just if he could find any use in making the man work more closely with the Zaa Fenn...Gareth would pride himself in taking a look at everyone under his employ to make sure they were the highest quality scum the Outer Rim could offer, but the truth is...He had no eyes, so he needed to hear them to know if that was the case!

@Clayton

 

[Darius Gal]

It was a common saying that you couldn't polish a turd, but Coruscant was a prime example of just that: A fancy veneer over a massive pile of rancor crap. The wealthy, crown jewel of the galaxy was nothing more than wealth living above festering slums. It was no different than Nar Shaddaa, except that the Hutts didn't pretend that politicians weren't corrupt liars. Darius felt oddly at home in the lower levels. He could do what he wanted without ridiculous regulations getting in his way, so long as he toed a certain line and played by certain rules. The people above put up a persona that was not their own, just to fit in with the expectations they had built around themselves.

He hadn't been to Coruscant often, but that would likely change considering the foothold that his new patrons had here. KnowOnes, an interesting slicer collective. He could probably do excellent work with them, given the opportunity. And opportunity was what he was here for today. Garreth Gin was someone who Darius knew by reputation, rumored to be more lion than man, a real tough guy who you did not want to cross. Darius was equally comforted and intimidated. On one hand, the dude had a reputation for turning people's faces into hamburger with his fists. On the other, who better to watch his back on a job?

He normally wouldn't carry a blaster pistol around with him on his hip, but walking unarmed into a cantina called the Quick-Draw felt like walking naked in public - it was just something you did not do. Garreth was easy enough to spot, the guy stood out even when he was being mundane. Darius ran his fingers through the red hair of his Vence persona, and made his way over to Garreth's booth, sliding into the seat opposite the Miralukan.

"Vence Klortho," he said, reaching for a battered coaster and spinning it idly. "I understand you need an electrician?"

@Versok

 

[Gareth Gin]

Sure enough, Vence Klortho came through that door and sat down in front of him, Gareth didn't have any real eyes, just two white tattoos that mimicked them, yet Vence could probably tell that the Miralukan was inspecting him from head to toe regardless of vision "Heh, my place has so many holes in it I might as well build it back from scrap, but an electrician is a nice start" The blind man joked with a smile before he snapped his fingers.

The bartender, who had obviously been paid in advance, ushered the few clients that were still inside the cantina out, with the exception of a couple Zaa Fenn members, while the enforcer turned his attention back at Vence "You can order whatever you want my friend, tonight it's on the house" Gareth said as he took a large sip from his gin and basically downed it, immediately having the waiter pour another one "And you can speak plainly now, got this place all for ourselves."

"So...Slicing isn't my forte, and while we've got plenty of slicers nowadays thanks to some good old gang merging, a partner of mine is the expert on that field that leads more of the tech related operations, in fact you'll probably work with them a lot eventually if you accept my proposition " Gareth crossed his arms and leaned against the seat, Kara was bloody great at what she did, there was a reason she was a ringleader, he had to admit that, but she wasn't always available to partner up with him "But a slicer under my direct payroll sure would be nice, so that's why we're here."

"First, I'd like to know more about you, specifically about what you've got to offer. It's obvious I've made my research about you, but it's always nice to hear people talk about what their skills are, so you're gonna sell me yours now. Be it something related to slicing or any other skills you have and could probably be useful, I want to know it all." And so, Gareth prepared himself, listening carefully to what the slicer would have to say.

@Clayton

 

[Darius Gal]

A job interview, he thought. Interesting. What can I tell him that he doesn't already know, that also won't hurt me? A waitress came by at that point, and Vence looked up at her. "I'll just have one of what he's having," he said. She nodded and headed to another table.

"I've got an...indirect mind, you could say," he started out slowly. "The traditional, straightforward path might work, but it isn't the only way. I guess by example..." he paused, trying to find a good analogy. "Take a thumbprint scanner for a door. Sure, you could find a thumb...willing or not, but there's less messy ways about that. Companies are cheap. If they build the scanner so it makes the decision to unlock the door on the side of the door the scanner is on, all you need to do is pop off the plastic housing and apply a little current to the wires leading to the other end." He spread his hands wide to mimic a door opening.

He watched the waitress head back to the bar to start filling drinks. "To be honest, discovering that trick takes research, and more often than not actually buying your own scanner of a given model. I like to take things apart, see how they work, and figure out how best to abuse them. It's a very transferrable skill." He tapped his fingers on the coaster for a moment. "I have other things I want to do down the road, paths to explore...when I have the funding." The waitress walked back towards them and set Vence's drink down in front of him, to which he offered a quick thanks.

"Besides that," he said, offering a small shrug while taking a sip of the gin, "I've drifted around jobs. Construction, longshoreman work, a vague exposure to accounting...Just don't plan on finding me winning a boxing competition," he grinned, and raised the glass briefly to Gareth.

@Versok

 

[Gareth Gin]

Gareth listened as the man explained his qualities to Gareth...Truth is, Gareth didn't really need to hear this from him, he already knew that the man in front of him was good at slicing. "Heh, don't worry, I'll take care of the boxing part while you're working with me." The Miralukan replied with a smile. The reason he had him do this was simple...Confidence, he needed to hear if the man spoke about his abilities with confidence, for that was what made a difference between "good" scoundrels and those that were a cut above the rest, the way they carried themselves.

"So, what I've gathered from this is that you're versatile and can think outside of the box...That's good, most thugs don't make it far if they approach things in a straightforward manner all the time unless their name is Preef Callo." Gareth raised the glass back at Vence, letting out a shrug with his shoulders "Even I've got to think things carefully in order to get in a good position to use my skills, can't really charge blindly at people with my fists and expect to win all the time, y'know?"

The enforcer took another large sip from his drink before carrying himself in a more serious manner, clasping his hands together as his elbows hit the table and his head looked back at the slicer "So...let me ask you, how good are you at working under pressure? When you move to the upper leagues, eventually you will have to work under some bad conditions, maybe one day you'll have to open a closed door while blaster fire comes your way and me or other Zaa Fenn members cover you...Or I'll need you to sneak around and slice something in a place where people don't want you to be, think you could do that?" This was quite an important question, Zaa Fenn was all about high risk, high reward, the slicer could do consistently well while playing it safe but if he wanted to make a name for himself he would need to be part of bigger endeavors...which is something Gareth offered quite consistently.

@Clayton

 

[Darius Gal]

"Well, you can't really work with computers for an extended time without having to figure out how to deal with frustrating problems that seemingly have no rhyme or reason to their existence," he chuckled, and took another drink. "Keep me from getting shot and I'll get that door open for you." He did not trust Gareth enough to reveal exactly how he was able to easily infiltrate places that wouldn't want an unrecognized person walking around. That was dangerous information to give to anyone who asked.

"Anyway, I'm good at pretending to be someone I'm not, at least long enough to slice into a computer, or tricking people into giving me access. Actually, I once convinced someone's wife over a holocall that I was their husband. It took a touch of electronic trickery, but that was the easy part. I pretended to be going through one of those stupid holomag quizzes about how well you know your partner, just for 'fun', except the questions I was asking her was the personal questions the husband had set up for the password recovery to his bank account." He chuckled. "'Where did you first meet your spouse' is a terrible security question. Ask anyone that and they'll happily tell you."

He finished the gin and set the glass down on the table. "I'd order another, but if there's a practical component to this little interview, I'd rather stay sober."

@Versok

 

[Gareth Gin]

"Like, really now, what are they thinking with that kind of security question? And if the answer is something you actually want to keep a secret, then you actually get screwed over twice if that information is taken away from you" Never quite understood that type of people, did they really need to have a personal connection to a password? No matter what they used that password for, just using that kind of info looked like a terrible idea in general.

"Well, there's indeed a practical component to this interview, you're certainly a sharp one." Gareth announced with a smile before gently leaving a datapad on the table "This datapad here contains info that will allow me to pull a big move on the competition, but it is heavily encrypted, I could ask certain partners I've got to take care of it but I thought it would be a nice practical test for you to do, y'know?"

"If you haven't brought your slicing tools with you, I can provide you with some that are at the very least above average in quality. But regardless, I'd like to see you work on this, see if you can get this thing open for me and how long you take to do it" Gareth asked the slicer, crossing his arms and leaning on his seat once more "If you perform well, not only are you in, but I also will have you take part of a very profitable job alongside me, that sounds good to you?" Downing his second drink now, the Miralukan would wait for Vence to accept this proposition and then for him to do his slicing magic as the bartender filled his drink once again without the need for Gareth to tell him anything.

@Clayton

 

[Darius Gal]

Without even thinking, Vence reached across the table and took the datapad. "Oh I've got my tools with me," he said, reaching down for his bag. "Thought I might be going to work after this, so I brought them with." He set the bag in his lap and turned the datapad over. Standard model, standard ports. Hmm.

"Heavily encrypted, you say?" He didn't want to do anything that would end up triggering a failsafe and wiping the drive. His bag held a jumble of cables and devices, and he pulled out several, placing them on the table in a somewhat organized fashion. A few deft keystrokes on his portable computer and the machine hummed to life. Looking up, he waived the waitress over as she passed by with a tray. "Can I get like, a really big pretzel and a bunch of different sauces? Thanks." He looked at Gareth. "We're going to want a snack. I'm going to clone the drive so I can work on a copy with less fear of triggering something that will wipe everything. But depending on how much data there is, it might take a bit."

Vence quickly sectioned off a large portion of the computer's drive, and fired up a cloning program that was able to work on encrypted data. The quality of it was high, well-suited for encrypted data, and it wasn't exactly legal for civilians in a large portion of the galaxy. A short while later a giant soft pretzel was awkwardly placed on the table as the waitress tried to avoid drinks and the not entirely small portable computer that Vence had plugged into the encrypted datapad. He reached over and pulled off a chunk, dunking the steaming portion into something that vaguely resembled honey mustard calamari sauce.

It didn't take long to copy all the data. After all, it was a datapad, not a full-fledged terminal containing all the information regarding the competition's activities. He unplugged the datapad and shut it down for now. Unless Vence really messed up, he wouldn't need to copy the data twice. "Let's see, run an analysis tool," he muttered under his breath, focused on the small screen. A lot of it looked repetitive, which could have been noise to mask what portions held actual files, or pieces were broken up across the entire field, and they would have to be put together again. He doubted the latter, that was closer to military-grade stuff.

Vence fiddled around with parameters for the decryption program for a few minutes, scanning small sections of the copied drive to determine which encryption protocol had been used. As he idly munched on more pretzel, the computer finally broke through a couple strings of data, revealing the encryption protocol to be a K2SA+ bit hash. He pursed his lips in a minor amount of respect, at least whoever owned this datapad had gone for a properly developed, paid program. Unfortunately that company had suffered a massive hack which resulted in encryption keys and customer lists being published on seedier parts of the holonet. They'd adjusted their keys since then, but the effectiveness of their encryption was never the same once people understood the basic methodology of how K2SA+ encryption was applied to files. "Give it a minute and I'll be able to transfer the files to your own datapad," he said, leaning back in his seat. Now, he just needed to wait for the computer to start applying the limited amount of encryption keys that could work, considering how the earlier string had been decrypted. "So, where do you see Zaa Fenn heading in the near future? What am I signing up for?"

@Versok

 

[Gareth Gin]

Gareth nodded at Vence after he told him this would take a bit, it made sense, Gareth didn't expect this to be an easy task, the White Lion would simply turn his head towards the waitress as the slicer asked for a pretzel "I'm good, just keep the drinks coming as soon as I empty 'em."

Gareth would stay relaxed, let Vence do his thing as he slowly finished a drink, asked for another and repeated this process one or two more times, the alcohol surprisingly (or unsurprisingly to those that did some research about him) not really doing any effect on him at all, for not only was he a wall of muscle, the force allowed him to take care of toxins and poisons inside his body, something which Gareth took advantage of in order to win drinking competitions from time to time.

"Well, you're signing for a very profitable, yet busy life, my friend, specially during these turbulent times" Gareth stated, leaning forward and clasping his hands together as he looked back at Vence "As you may already know, we're at war with the ISC, which means we've gotta defend ourselves from them and attack from time to time, we don't have many forces to fight them...But it's not like they can target such a vast net with precision like if we were some kinda galaxy government, we are everywhere and mostly hidden"

Just like any other type of war on corruption, information was key, and turns out the best people at taking information or dealing with it were usually people that worked for the syndicates, so they had an advantage when it came to that "But...this can actually be a great opportunity for us, because they've declared war on all the syndicates, not only Zaa Fenn. If we play our cards right, avoiding the blows directed at us, well..." The Miralukan let out a smile, it was clear he had thought about their situation for quite a while...And realized that war was quite profitable "We can take minimum damage while retaking assets from other syndicates."

"Let me give you an example: The ISC has recently taken Kessel from the Pyke syndicate...it would be a great time to create a smuggling operation in that planet, wouldn't it? After all, the other syndicates seem a bit too cowardly to strike back." Gareth took another sip from his drink and then pointed at the datapad Vence was working on "On the other hand, we moved our main forces here to avoid the ISC attacking our front door and so the sith wouldn't know our whereabouts if they betrayed us, which means we are working on taking over the lower levels of Coruscant...And you're helping with that task right now as we speak."

"This datapad right here was stolen from a spice smuggler that works for the Black Enders, chances are it got the coordinates of their secret spice lab, so we'll carefully assault the place, take out their boss, take over the lab and then welcome them to the family" Gareth simply explained now that Vence was pretty much on board with this, he could have followed that smuggler and kick down the front door of the lab, but he had to be a bit more subtle to make sure the leader didn't just run away, this required a bit of finesse and someone helping with security measures in there was just what Gareth needed.

@Clayton

 

[Darius Gal]

Profit, that sure sounded good to Vence. With the resources of a crime family behind him, the opportunities to make an obscene amount of cash were many. He'd be able to pursue his own larger projects as well. "I don't know much about smuggling and spice distribution, but Coruscant is filled with people who have more money than sense, too," he noted. "Combine that with close access to a lot of corporate headquarters and the possibilities for a robust cybercrime division are endless."

His computer let out a soft ding as the decryption program finished its work. Vence's attention turned once more to the screen. "Spice labs can be a little...explosive, right?" he asked, pulling a data stick and plugging it into a port. A half-minute later the decrypted information from the datapad had been copied over to the stick. Vence handed both the stick and the smuggler's datapad over to Gareth. "I'll keep a backup copy just in case you need it," he said. "Speaking of which..."

There was a moment of silence, punctuated only by key clicks as Vence searched for the information Gareth wanted. "Level 1344, Sector 18. Looks like the entrance is behind a shushi and noodles storefront...The Sakuwi. Smuggler was told to order ribboned Firaxan."

@Versok

 

[Gareth Gin]

"You will have to talk to Kara about that, she is the one that focuses in anything techy and slicer related in this family, it's her forte...I'm sure she already got plans for this planet related to what you said and if you do well with me you'll probably be part of her future endeavors too." Gareth explained, being frank to Vence, a slicer came in handy to his jobs, but when it came to creating a pure cybercrime division? He would need to go looking for Kara, of course, if he worked well for him, the Miralukan would put in a good word.

"Yeah, spice labs can blow up all right, but it is the main source of income of the Black Enders, and we want them to both end up being part of the Zaa Fenn and making the family much, much richer, so I'd recommend not blowing that place up" Of course, the extra credits from the bounty were good...For goody two shoes that just didn't want spices on Coruscant, but it was a cash cow in the right hands.

"So, it is a secret spice lab...It probably has some security, but they probably had to be very subtle about it since...y'know, secret spice lab. So I am confident I can take out the security in there if I'm sneaky and pick my battles well..." Black Enders weren't known for their raw strength, Gareth could take them, but there was something tricky about it, for focusing on smuggling meant focusing on learning how to run away.

"What I need, in fact, is to make sure they are unaware until it's too late, I'll need you to help with the possible security system and then make sure to trap them in there with me so they can't run away." Gareth finished up yet another drink, now grabbing the datapad, he couldn't really read it like normal people, yet a smile formed in his face as he somehow learned the information himself "If all goes well, you'll walk from this job 25,000 credits richer from the bounty on his boss...And the family will have a secret spice lab and yet another gang united under our banner, sounds good?"

@Clayton

 

[Darius Gal]

25,000 credits? Vence had to admit...he could lay a solid foundation for future work with that amount of cash. "That sounds like the start of a profitable relationship," he replied with a grin. No doubt Gareth was able to arrange transportation from the Cantina. "I'm ready to go if you are" He began shoving equipment back into his bag, making a mental checklist of what he (and they) would likely need once they were closer to the lab. Vence also made a mental note to ask about this Kara once he had suitably impressed the Zaa Fenn.

Already his mind was churning as to how he would set up a security system in the back of a public shop. What would he do, how would it accommodate the needs and activities of a business? It was low-key, which meant their primary line of defense was being inconspicuous rather than having a fortified barracks full of goons with heavy weaponry. Any security system would probably be basic intrusion detection mixed with some kind of way to send out an emergency message to people off-site that they needed help. "When we get there, I want access to a local public terminal, one that can get me an area schematic of the district," he said. "It might take an extra couple minutes, but it'll give me a much better idea of the best place to plug into their security system." For basic security systems, it was simple enough to integrate into the building's already-existing holonet connection, which meant utility boxes accessible to utility workers at any hour.

Another thought came to mind. "How do you want us to work on this? Are you going in while I stay somewhere I can plug in, kill their alarms, and monitor any communications, or do you want me in the thick of it?" The tone of the question suggested that the former was Vence's preference. Both for his own safety, but also out of practicality. It would be much easier to monitor a security network without also dodging fire.

@Versok

 

[Gareth Gin]

"Eager to get working, eh? I respect that" Gareth said, happy to getting this over with as soon as possible, after all, the more time they took, the higher the chances of the Black Enders noticing that someone had gotten hold of their secret spice's lab location. the White Lion of Zaa Fenn stood up and turned his comms on "Hey Joey, get me a big crate of spices, a cargo transport and my new suit of armor, will you?" Simple orders from an Enforcer, his people would ensure he would get those things in a matter of minutes.

"Well, by the way you formed that question I would guess you don't want to be in the thick of it, so I'll let you choose your approach at first, I'll start givin' you more detailed orders and take more control once I know how you fare in these kinda operations, make sure you're in the best spot to do your things...But until then? You know yourself better than anyone else, don't you?" Gareth explained, when it came to combat, he definitely preferred to be more assertive, call the shots and tell his people how to position themselves, but right now it was just a better approach to have Vence figure out where he wanted to be until he understood better how slicers work, know their strengths and what they could do.

"We can probably get you to that public terminal, yeah" Gareth finished his drink before leaning against the bar counter, arms crossed as he looked at Vence "Plan's gotta be relatively simple, I'm gonna pose as the smuggler, the people on the front will probably not care as long as I have the datapad and the code phrase...But the deeper I'm in there, the more likely it is for someone to realize I'm not the real smuggler, and I'll need you to guide me and trap them by the time that happens, think that's good enough?" Gareth asked the slicer, it was a simple enough plan, but something simple was good, just needed to know if Vence could back him up from outside as he did this.

@Clayton

 

[Darius Gal]

Vence nodded. It was a fair enough plan - let him do his own thing so Gareth and the Zaa Fenn knew how he operated and what his abilities were, so they knew how they could effectively use and direct him in the future. "That's good for me. If they have an internal security system I can definitely guide you, and maybe redirect some guards. I'm not too familiar with how your sight works, but I can see if I can do something about the lights as well. Fighting in the dark might give you an advantage."

He paused to consider just how much he could actually accomplish. "Of course, I'm one person and there may be other things...other people working the security system inside, for example, that I might have to contend with. My priorities will be giving you advance warning, preventing calls for reinforcements, and using their security system against them. Anything else is going to be a bonus."

The last bite of giant pretzel vanished into his mouth as Gareth's requested items were brought out, and Vence stood, shouldering his pack. "So long as we're on the same page, there's not much point in developing a super detailed plan like we're stealing a dreadnought." Which....could be very interesting of the Syndicates managed to pull that off. He had one or two ideas, well, tools he could give Gareth to help him out once inside, but that could wait once they got to their destination. All that was left to do now was carry out the raid.