Pawn of Destruction 2: On his Majesties Secret Service (COMPLETED)

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

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Taking a sip of his drink, Niklos Thorson leant back in his chair, enjoying the feel of the cool drink in his mouth on this hot Coruscant morning. And better, the feel that noone could recognise him. Leaving his costume at home, he had chosen to come dressed as a normal citizen, to blend in. He had also used prosthetics to cover his face, giving hima new nose and chin, with a moustache covering his top lip, which itched and would be removed if it wasn't for the fact that men ripping mousaches off generally arouse suspicion. And besides, it helped disguise him.

He had decided to meet the potential colleague in an open, public place. The Nova bar had an outdoor area that could see as far as the Senate building, a perfect place. It also had spaced out tables, which was always useful when you were talking business.

Niklos didn't know what the person he was meeting looked like. All he knew was it was a she and that she was meeting him at this table any time now. Jak had arranged the meet for him, having sifted through all data he had on possible candidates. This one had come up as the best choice. Taking another drink from his glass, the mercenary looked on at the view of the Senate chambers to his side.

[Arya Ravenwing]

"Nice view." He glanced back over and saw a dark clad woman sitting in the reserved seat. "Ever been inside the Senate building before?"

Arya set her sunglasses on the table, and sat back, looking at the mustachioed man. Jak had contacted her, which was a rare occurance, and said he had a job for her that she'd be perfect for. That remained to be seen, but she'd agreed to meet with the employer here at the Nova on the observation deck.

And here she was, and so was he. He looked a little odd, as though his skin was discolored slightly in places. It wasn't anything overtly obvious, but perhaps prosthetics. Maybe. Arya was hard up for cash, and the Senator from Arcan IV was watching her charge for Jina's birthday month. So, it was time to make some creds.

She looked across at him, waiting for him to say something.

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

"Never, but maybe when I have a good reason to" he replied, before adjusting his seating to be facing straight at the woman. Wearing dark clothing from head to toe, Niklos struggled to stop himself from staring. You're a professional. For once, act professional he thought to himself, before reaching under his chair. Pulling out a small yet heavy bag, he kicked it over to her feet.

"Don't look inside yet"

Leaning back, he slowly twitched his chin, as if he couldn't help it. He had learnt this as a good way to take away any close attention to his features. People would focus on the twitch, or the stutter, even a constant sniffling, and less on the face.

"So, are we willing to get our hands dirty for pay?" He asked quietly.

[Arya Ravenwing]

She nudged the bag with her booted toe, feeling the weight of it. "My hands are already dirty. Might as well get paid for it." Arya noticed his chin was twitching, but didn't dwell on his face too much. "What did you have in mind?"

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

"A couple of jobs" he replied, getting straight to the point. He checked noone was close enough to hear, before leaning forward.

"First, I need to get something off the black market. I've never done anything like this, so I need you to be there to check everything is going as it should. For that, the contents of the bag are your pay. Second one is a bit tougher. We'll need to break into a labratory and steal some files. I will be hiring others for that job though. For that, you get double what is in the bag. Look inside in your own time."

Seeing her glancing down, Niklos followed her gaze to see a fake nose and moustache, lying on the table. Sighing, he picked them up and pocketed them.

"So, what do you say?"

[Arya Ravenwing]

She raised her eyebrows at the false nose and mustache that had fallen onto the tabletop, and then returned her gaze to the Senate structures in the distance. "You need more people than just us to steal files? Must be some building."

Arya brushed a lock of black hair out of her eyes, and she looked back at him. "I accept. When do we start?"

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

"Soon as you're ready." Niklos said, and reached into his pocket. Pulling out a small keycard, he slid it across the table to her.

"Starlight hotel, room 11-38. That is going to be our main room for working. I booked 11-37 and 11-39 as well, so noone can eavesdrop on us. You can sleep in one of those rooms if you want. Both have doors into 11-38, so we'll use them instead of their main doors." he continued, before a smile tugged at one side of his mouth.

"Unless of course, you don't like sleeping alone."

[Arya Ravenwing]

She put her right hand on his momentarily, palming the keycard. "Well, you'll just have to find out, won't you." Arya withdrew her hand with a slight lingering touch on his, then used her left hand to drink the glass of water that a server had placed in front of her. "I'll be there tonight, I have a few things to take care of."

The smuggler set the glass down, the keycard securely in her pocket, and smiled widely at him for the benefit of anyone watching. "Just remember, we're only business partners." She pushed back her chair and got to her feet.

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

Smiling and raising a hand into a motionless wave, Niklos watched as the woman, who he realised he didn't know the name of yet, left. Leaving some money on the table to pay for the drinks, including a generous tip, the mercenary slowly got up, before leaning against the wall behind him, finishing his drink in one go. Heading towards the door, he placed the glass on the tray of a serving droid walking past, before heading for an exit different to the one his new "business partner" used.

Wrapping his jacket around him to avoid a cool breeze coming down the street, Niklos hailed a Skycab, and hopped inside. Telling the driver to head for the Starlight hotel he sat back, thinking about previous events. So far so good. And noone shot at me, which is always a positive. Suppose I should enjoy it while it lasts.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Room 11-38. Arya glanced up and matched the numbers, then slid the keycard into the slot by the handle. The light flashed green and the lock clicked back as she pushed the door open.

The smuggler stepped inside, shutting the door firmly behind her, and reached up to her shoulder, pulling on the strap of her bag. There didn't appear to be anyone inside. "Hello?" Arya walked to the table and set her bag in a chair, looking around for a moment. She heard a noise in one of the other rooms, and her hand went to her blaster as one of the adjoining doors began to open slowly.

[Oddball]

Opening the door, Oddball, in full costume, covered his face in a thatrical way.

"Away put your weapon, I mean you no harm!" He said in a high startled voice, before rising up straight.

"Right, let's get this over with straight away" he said, and slowly pulled off his mask...

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

..to show his face, free of prosthetics and disguise.

"Sign of faith, you now know what I look like. So, do you have a name?" He asked, extending his hand.

[Arya Ravenwing]

The smuggler eased her blaster back into its shoulder holster, and put her hand out slowly. "Ravenwing. Arya Ravenwing. I know your moniker but not your real name. Its not important, unless you like being called Oddball." As they shook hands briefly a flicker of amusement danced across her dark eyes.

"Where do we start?"

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

"At the beginning, as always" Niklos replied with a smile. "Oh, and if you want you can call me Niklos Thorson. Or Niklos. Or Nnn. Whatever takes your fancy"

Walking over to a table, he picked up a small device, and placed it dead centre. Leaning his hands on the table's top, he activated the device. A picture appeared from the projector, hovering about six inches above. The item appeared to be a small statuette of some sort of demon. In its chest was a blue stone of some sort.

"The Reetup. Despite this little artifact looking so cheap you would think a Jawa would be embaressed to sell it, it is apparently worth a large amount. And that is what our employer wants." Oddball said, before slowly raising his view until making eye contact with Arya.

"As I said earlier, I need you for this particular job because you have more experience in this area. When you're ready I can make a transmission, and we can meet within two hours."

[Arya Ravenwing]

She eyed the statuette as the holo slowly turned on an invisible axis. "Who's our contact? And is there a holonet plug in this room?" Her eyes tracked over to his, then she unzipped her bag and pulled out a portable keypad/monitor combination. As she waited for his answer she began to set it up, unraveling some cords and wires that looked like they had a purpose.

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

"Yea, plug's under the table, nearer your side."

Leaning back on his chair, Niklos reached behind him to pull a small Holopad from behind him, before checking down at what he had.

"Our contact is named...Heedon Brank, a Rodian" he read, looking up at her at the end.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya grunted slightly, and he looked up to find her under the table, multitool in her mouth, and the plug was taken apart already. A quick rewire and she snapped the casing back onto the front of the holonet plug and pulled her lithe body out from under the table. "Brank?" she asked, as she turned on her mini terminal. A list of holonet channels appeared on her screen... a few hurried keystrokes and it had all been replaced by various names and pictures as she searched the main holonet information database. "I've heard about him. Not first hand experience, mind you, I'm not much for antiquities. But he's the best in the business, if you're in the market for tacky art."

Arya's fingers keyed away, and she finally turned the monitor towards Niklos. "It looks like he's not on any of the hot lists for the Watch. Nothing worse than arranging a meeting, only to find out the Coruscant City Watch has your guy in a bag and is using him as bait for bigger fish."

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

Niklos studied the screen, before looking up at Arya.

"I think we'd be best to get this over with tonight then. That way, we'll be doing it before theres any chance of Brank becoming hot, right?" he said, slowly stretching his arms, before placing the pistol he had been keeping hidden in his trousers on the table.

"It's not loaded. I just don't like to go into a sitatuation without any form of protection." He said, seeing her looking down at the slugthrower.

[Arya Ravenwing]

She raised an eyebrow. "You call an unloaded weapon a form of protection?" Arya reached under her jacket and pulled out her blaster and put it down on the table as well. "The power cell is fully charged. I don't believe in being caught off guard without a backup plan."

She winked, "And the backup plan usually involves blowing stuff up." The blaster went back under her jacket into the shoulder holster, and the smuggler leaned back in her chair. "So tonight then. I take it I'm riding shotgun on this engagement."

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

Ooh, she's good. I should trust Jak more often thought Niklos as he leant his arms on the table.

"Yeah. I've been give a device to tell us if it is the real thing or not. If all goes well, we go in, check the item, hand over the bag of credits behind me, walk out. If not?" He said, ending on a grin.

"Well, maybe I'll have to see you blowing stuff up."

[Arya Ravenwing]

She chuckled, and shrugged out of her supple nerfhide jacket. The shoulder holster didn't look out of place on her feminine frame, instead it accented it. The blaster was a bit of a deterrent, however.

Now that her jacket was draped over the chair she'd just been sitting in, Niklos could see the railgun strapped to her upper thigh. It was NRSF issue, one of the first of its kind, and impossible to obtain even on the black market. She saw his eyes track down to it, and she unholstered it, handing it butt first over to him. "This one is unloaded. Wanna take a look? I've never used anything quite like it before, and its addicting once you start. And before you ask how I got it, it was a gift from a very strange business associate."

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

Slowly turning his eyes towards the weapon in her hand, Niklos took it out of her hand, and studied it. It was a pistol, but what a pistol! It looked more powerful than anything he had used before, and that was saying something. He handed it back to her in an almost resigned fashion, before smiling at her and reaching behind him to reach his other pistol that he had left within reaching distance, placing next to the one already on the table.

"I had them custom made. Slugthrowers, but they have been modified so a blaster clips will work too. They do the job, probably not as well as your anti Capital ship device you have there."

Reaching to his arm, he slowly rolled up his sleeve to reveal a blaster clip near his wrist, lightly strapped there using a low adhesive tape.

"Oh, and I sometimes keep a clip here, so I can show people my empty pistol."

[Arya Ravenwing]

She nodded in appreciation of the clip on his wrist, and reholstered her railgun. "So. Tonight? If you make the call and set up the appointment, we can get started scoping out the meeting place."

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

"I'll get on to it." he said as he slowly got up.

Picking up the various weaponry on the table, Niklos headed into one of the two side rooms. Coughing as he entered, he heard it come out muffled, as the Sound Sponge the room did its job. Turning on the light, the need for the sponge was seen. A lead going from the Sponge to an open suitcase crossed the room. At first observation, it looked like normal luggage. But a closer inspection would show that it was in reality a power source, using solar panels. It would store enough in a day to keep the sponge going at full power, meaning that practically nothing would leave the room short of an explosion. On the table given for eating, a small screen showed what the small cameras Oddball had placed around the room were seeing. Due to having a double bed in the middle room and two single beds in the other room, Niklos had knew he wouldnt need to sleep on the bed in this room. Because of this, he had ripped the side of the mattress open, although in a way that could be hidden, and made it more practical. Taking hold of a handle placed inside, he pulled as a large case came out. Placing it on the floor, he opened it to reveal guns. Lots of guns. Taking a few items out, he slid the case back into the mattress and covered the cap back up.

Heading to the wardrobe, he opened it to see an organised mess. A few pairs of clothes were neatly folded into rough piles on a low shelf, and on the rail hung three hangers. One for a short jacket of his, one for the Oddball costume he was wearing now and one was for a similar one, but all in black. Thinking for a short while, he decided it was best he looked "normal", and took the jacket, a simple shirt and dark trousers, and began changing.

Heading to the bathroom, he opened the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of fast-use hair dye, Applying the gel-like substance, he rubbed it into his hair until it appeared to be nearer a blonde colour. Niklos hated the look, but felt happy in the knowledge that it would wash out. He leaned in close to the mirror to check there weren't any patches he had missed, before heading back to the bed.

Picking up a pair of shoulder holsters, Niklos slipped them on before spinning his two pistols in his hands and holstering them. He then proceeded to take the other items off the bed, mainly extra clips, and putting them in his belt. Walking to a desk near the door he could see Arya, still sitting where she had been. Glancing down on the desk, he turned on a Holopad, and began to type.
<TABLE>
<BACKGROUND COLOR=BLACK>
<TR>
<TD BGCOLOR="BLACK"><FONT COLOR="#00FF00"><FONT FACE="courier">WELCOME USER. PLEASE LOG IN
>mynock22

PLEASE ENTER PASSWORD
>******

WELCOME, MYNOCK22.WHAT DO YOU WISH TO DO?
>contact bluefire

BLUEFIRE CAN ONLY BE CONTACTED WITH A PASSWORD. PLEASE ENTER PASSWORD.
>********

PASSWORD ACCEPTED. BLUEFIRE ONLINE.
>I am ready

BLUEFIRE>DO YOU HAVE THE CREDITS?
>yes

BLUEFIRE>MEETING WITH COMMENCE IN THREE HOURS FROM THE NEXT .00
>I thought you had said two hours?

BLUEFIRE>THINGS CHANGE. CODE 52.

BLUEFIRE IS OFFLINE.</FONT> </TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
Niklos stroked his chin at this. What could have changed? It wouldn't be dark by the time they were finished, so it couldn't even be for the cover of darkness. At least he now knew the meet place. He had been given a list of possible places to meet. The 5 indicated that it was in an area of warehouses, the 2 being the number of said building. Turning off the holopad, he headed back to the bed, and slipped on the jacket he had left there. Entering the main room, he walked up to stand next to Arya.

"Okay, we are meeting at Warehouse two in the industrial area a few blocks away. I got us a speeder, we can use that unless you can think of any reason why not." He said, as the room's chrono chimed to signal the top of the hour

"We have three hours" he said.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Three hours... It was probably long enough.

"They picked the place, right? So they probably know a hell of a lot more about it than we will." Arya keyed into a secure site on the holonet which required a password. Frell that. A little bit of slicing and she was in, and pulling up blueprints. Niklos walked up behind her as she jabbed her finger at the screen. "I think they'll probably want to meet in the middle of the warehouse. I don't know what's being stored in here, but chances are its fairly full."

She tapped a few more keys, then thumbed on a holoprojector which whirred to life, projecting a small holo of the Number Two warehouse. "See? From here you can place a sniper to keep an eye on the meeting place. I would, at least."

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

Niklos nodded his head in agreement with Arya's comment, before pointing towards the holo.

"Doesn't look like many ways into the building, just the front and a single side door." he stated thoughtfully, before glancing down to her.

"Come on, let's check the place out for ourselves."

=====

Slowly bringing the speeder out of the hotel speeder park, Niklos turned the vehicle left, into a row of moving traffic. Frustrated, he began to tap his fingers on the control yoke. This speeder had for some reason been made without any way to play music, and the silence was deafening. Keeping one eye on the road, he turned his head to look at Arya.

"So, how'd you get into this kind of work?" He asked, trying to break the silence.

[Arya Ravenwing]

She grunted. "Long story." Just above her lap she was checking her railgun, in case anyone next to them happened to glance over, they would see nothing out of the ordinary. Arya slid a full magazine of hollow point projectiles into the weapon and reholstered it.

"Why, how'd you get into it?" She grinned, and decided not to mention the hokey costume.

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

"It's...hard to explain." he began, watching her holster her weapon.

"I don't remember a lot barring recent memory. I just needed the money, and found I was good at the whole mercenary thing, so kept at it." He said, trying hard to think of something intresting he could mention.

[Arya Ravenwing]

"Costume is a unique twist on the usual merc." A grin twitched her lips, and then she managed to squelch it. "Are we almost there?"

Niklos nodded, and pulled the speeder into a parking structure. He took the turns up to the top level a little fast, obviously enjoying himself. Once parked in the open air, Arya checked her chrono. Two hours. Arya climbed over the door of the open cockpit speeder, and gauged the distance to the roof of the nearby apartment building. On the other side of that were the warehouses.

It wasn't the best neighborhood. She stretched her shoulders inside her jacket, and looked at Niklos. "Ready when you are."

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

Climbing out the speeder, Niklos reached onto the back seat, and picked up the bag of credits. He lifted it for Arya to see and, as she nodded, slung it over his shoulder. Walking up to her, he gave her a quick smile, before sprinting towards the edge of the building and diving towards the apartment roof, landing in a roll.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya got a running start and leapt the gap, also landing in a roll. She got up, brushed off her legs, and looked around a bit. The warehouses were on the other side of the apartment building, so she started walking that way, Niklos seemingly content to follow along behind her for now.

Once on the other side of the roof, she crouched down and waited for him to kneel next to her. "Ok...I think our building is the middle one in that row over there."

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

Unzipping one of the side pockets on the bag, Niklos pulled out a set of Macrobinoculars and, after lying flat on the roof to steady his view, slowly scanned the area around the building Arya had indicated to.

"Yeah, I can see a two, but nothing else" he said, offering her the Macrobinoculars.

"What now? Wait here?" he asked, realising just how inexperienced he was at this kind of job. It was strange doing a job that didnt involve explosives or car chases. Well, if it went to plan.

[Arya Ravenwing]

She shrugged. "You wait here. Keep an eye on it with the macro's, see if you can see any snipers getting set up. I'm going to go take a closer look."

Arya lay on her stomach as well by this point, and she eyed the warehouse directly in front of No. 2. That'll do. She pulled on a pair of stickee gloves, made especially for sheer rock climbers, and unlaced her boots, leaving them on the roof as she pulled on some tiny climbing shoes. "See ya soon." Arya dangled over the edge of the roof for a moment, and then dropped out of sight.

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

"Where does she get those wonderful toys?" Niklos said to himself, watching her dissapear.

Looking carefully through the Macros, he began to slowly scan the surrounding area for people. While not deserted, the area had so few people that he could afford to check them individually. Seeing nothing of interest, he glanced down briefly to see if he could see Arya and, seeing nothing, began to check the various rooftops and walkways on the surrounding warehouses.

[Arya Ravenwing]

The setup for the meeting was sneaky. One warehouse in the middle of many, cookie-cutter warehouses. Arya climbed down into the shadows between the buildings, and then used a grappling hook to swing over to the nearest warehouse.

She climbed in a window, and dropped lightly to the floor, removing the stickees. From here she had a better view of Warehouse Two. There was already something moving around inside of it, and she moved carefully, staying out of the view of anyone who might be watching this area. So they're set up, or setting up already. Either a good sign...or a bad one.

Arya snuck around a bit more, climbing up on the last row of crates so she could have a higher view through a far away opaque window. Of course, it was opaque, which would just make it that much more interesting.

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

Watching Arya dissapear into the nearby warehouse, Niklos quikcly panned around to check noone had seen her at work. Doesn't look like anyone saw he thought, before crawling along the roof, stopping a few feet away from his initial position. Although he now couldnt see the wall to Warehouse two nearest to Arya's present position, but would allow him to see around the other side, previously unseen to his scanning. Zooming in, he could see that the side door was slightly open. Either a clumsy worker had forgot to shut the door, or there was someone inside. Praying for the former, Niklos stared into the Macros, looking hard for any sign of movement.

[Arya Ravenwing]

After a half an hour of sneaking around, Arya climbed back onto the rooftop with Niklos. "Well, they didn't get a sniper in there that I could tell. You ready to do this?" She quickly put her boots back on, lacing them up tightly.

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

Rolling onto his back, Niklos put the binoculars in his jacket pocket, and glanced down to check his pistols were still holstered. Getting up into a crouch, he turned towards Arya.

"Yeah, let's go. The side door is open, we'll go in that way." He said before moving to a door down into the building they were on the roof of.

Reaching the ground floor, the pair headed straight outside before crossing to Warehouse two, checking noone saw them. Reaching the slightly open door, Niklos stood back to the wall and glanced inside.

"Noones in there yet. I think it'll be best if we wait over there." he said, pointing to the nearst corner inside the warehouse, shadowed by a gantry overhead.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya looked around for traces of the activity she'd seen inside the warehouse, but aside from a few footprints in the dust, there was nothing. "I don't think we're alone."

"Indeed you are not." Niklos and Arya stopped walking, and watched warily as a Rodian and a Wraith stepped into view. The Wraith faded away into the shadow of some crates, and that made Arya extremely nervous.

She unconsciously moved her body slightly enough to cover Niklos' position, her eyes scanning the shadowy corners all around them. Was that one moving? The smuggler reminded her self that paranoia would only get her killed, and returned some of her concentration to the exchange between Niklos and the Rodian.

"Heedon Brank, good to see you're on time." Niklos didn't sound overly surprised to see the nobby green alien.

"Do you have the credits?" Brank didn't step any closer. Bad sign. If he kept his distance, that left the pair of them wide open to enemy blaster fire.

Arya looked at the Rodian, and shook her head slightly. "We need to see the sculpture first, Brank, you know how these things go. Verifying the veracity of your statements about it, and all that dren." Her hand itched for her blaster. The Wraith was nowhere to be seen.

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

Niklos watched as the Rodian gave what looked to him as a sigh, before stepping back into the shadows. When he returned, he was carrying a small box. Opening it, he revealed a small statuette of a demon of some sort. In it's chest was a blue stone.

The Reetup.

Giving a slight nod to Arya, he slowly walked towards the Rodian, watching him for any indications of a trap.

[Arya Ravenwing]

The Wraith was giving her prickles up and down her spine. Maybe it was behind her? Or was it in front? Arya watched Brank carefully, and held up a credit transfer chit so he could see it. The Rodian's sensory horns swiveled towards her briefly as Niklos walked closer.

"Why doesn't your Wraith come and join us?" Arya's eyes scanned the shadows once more, as the Rodian laughed a little, a noise like a saw cutting through durasteel. Guess that answers that. Her hands were in easy reach of both of her weapons, but especially her blaster. The rail gun had too great a chance of accidentally damaging the statuette.

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

Reaching Brank, Niklos went into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small cylndrical device. Activating it, he pointed it straight into the blue stone.

"So, come here often?" he asked the Rodian, not looking up.

"Just get on with it." Came the uninterested reply.

A light on the device went green, indicating the item was indeed authentic. Turning around slightly, he nodded at Arya.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya nodded back, her hand lightly stroking the butt of her rail pistol as her eyes scanned the room once more.

"I trust you have the full payment..." Brank waggled his sensory horns towards Arya, and she thought she caught a glimmer in his multi-faceted eyes. Greed, most likely.

"Of course, Brank." She flipped the first credit transfer chit to Niklos, who caught it deftly, and then walked up and handed the small bag with the rest of them to her partner. "Straight trade, creds for the statue."

Niklos turned over the credits, and the Rodian quickly scanned one to make sure it was valid. The Reetup was still in his possession...hopefully they wouldn't try any funny business.

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

Niklos' hand twitched, wishing it held a weapon. All it would take was a hidden suprise, and Brank could escape with both artifact and credits. Taking a glance all around in his forward arc, he looked for something, anything, that could be a trap. Seeing nothing, he turned his gaze back to the Rodian.

"Nearly done? I mean, they are only valid for the next five years, else you have to get them changed." He said, trying to keep the impatience from his voice.

Giving what appeared to be a smile, the Rodian put away the credit, and held out the Reetup.

"Okay, they're real. Here is the statue"

Taking the item from him as quickly as he could without it looking rushed, Niklos put it into his inside jacket pocket, zipping it up slightly to help deal with the excess weight it gave. Nodding to Brank, both slowly stepped backwards away from one another.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya watched the pair carefully, keeping her eyes open as Brank stepped backwards. The Wraith materialized out of the shadows behind the Rodian, and her fingers twitched near the butt of her rail gun. "Let's blow this joint."

She started to back up as Niklos passed her and turned for the door. Arya covered his back until he cleared, and then she exited as well.

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

Waiting until Arya passed him, Niklos closed the door, and pulled out of his belt a small spray. Putting it near the handle he pressed the top, as a blue foam came out. He passed it over the gap between the door and the wall, before pocketing it, seeing the foam had already hardened.

"They'll have to use the other way out near, meaning they can't follow us. Come on." He said, jogging to the cover of Warehouse three. Turning to see noone was watching he slowed his pace, slowing up to walk next to Arya.

"I just thouht of something." He said in a thoughtful way, pausing until she looked at him.

"Well, lasers never stop, right? So have any planets ever suffered damage due to missed shots in space battles light years away? Do some cities take out insurance for accidental orbital bombardment?" He asked, a smile growing on his face. She looked at him for a short while, almost as if she wasn't sure if he was being seriously or not, before giving a short laugh. The pair headed back into the building they had come from, before reaching the roof they had snooped the Warehouse from earlier. Shutting the door after him, he glanced over to the speeder park across the gap, seeing his speeder still where it had been.

"Hey, aftter this, want to go get something to eat?" he asked, still looking around the speeder.

[Arya Ravenwing]

"Not especially." She looked behind them, making sure they weren't being followed.

He stepped back a bit, motioning her forward. "Ladies first." Arya grinned, and then ran at the space between the buildings, clearing the gap between. She did a cursory check of the speeder park, and motioned him over.

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

Damn he thought smiling, before taking a step back for a runup. It was then the pain hit him.

It was like a headache, but worse. A lot worse. Staggering slightly, Niklos grabbed onto a nearby support beam to a higher platform, gripping it until the pain went away, which only took a few seconds. Shaking his head, he regained his composure, and ran towards the end of the building, leaping across easily, although not as smoothly as the time before, landing in a roll that this time was intentional. Getting up, he looked across at Arya, forcing a smile.

"You drive."

[Arya Ravenwing]

She shrugged, slammed the speeder door shut, and pulled out nearly as soon as he sat down, replusors whining as they were overworked without proper warmup. Niklos was wincing, but she didn't know if it was from her driving, or something else.

The smuggler eyed the bundled package he pulled out of his jacket, and then looked over at him, much to his charign as she wasn't watching the way in front of them. "So, we got it. Happy?"

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

"Well, you're not looking where you're going, I have a headache powerful enough to hurt people near me, I think there is a stone in my boot and I am so hungry that this seat is looking appetising but otherwise, we're very happy." He said, studying the item. He still couldn't see what made it so costly, but that wasn't his problem. Opening the glove compartment, he pulled out a simple communications device, and held down a large button on it.

"Our employer knows we have the item."

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya whipped her head back towards the front of the speeder, in time to miss oncoming traffic. "Not watching where I'm going? I like that. Have no fear, Niklos, we'll have you back to the hotel in one piece in no time at all." The smuggler exited onto one of the major flyways, and settled into a more normal pattern of driving, yet still at a high speed.

Ten minutes later she pulled into a space in the speederpark for the hotel they were working out of. "See? I told you." Arya grinned at him, glad to be away from the Wraith.

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

Making himself look as calm as he could, Niklos glanced over to Arya, smiling.

"Okay okay, you're right. You can drive us next time hot rod." He said, hopping over the side of the speeder. He waited for her to do similar, before heading out of the speederpark.

Reaching room 11-38, Oddball slowly slid the keycard into the lock, gently pushing the door open. He held it open until Arya stepped through before pushing it shut sharply, activating the manual lock on the inside. Taking his jacket off with the statuette still inside, Niklos put it on a coat hook, before turning back to Arya, pointing towards the side door nearest him.

"Well, that's the room you can stay in." He said, throwing her a keycard for the room.


AskHerAskHerAskHerAskHerAskHerAskHerAskHerAskHer!! !!!


"Unless you, well, want to stay in here."

[Arya Ravenwing]

She looked at the keycard, and then at Niklos. Arya smirked, and shook her head incredulously. "I'll take the room, thanks." The smuggler turned to insert the key, and then looked back at him, grinned again, and then slipped inside.

[Niklos Thorson (Oddball)]

"Should have asked before giving her the key." said Niklos to himself, before heading towards the bed in the room. Not bothering to undress, he took his belt off and lay on the bed, planning for the next day, when he'd have a harder job to do.

[Wagner]

-----

Standing on a balcony, Wagner looked out at the land before him. The simple houses before his castle did their job, but were not perfect. He had the technology to make the perfect houses for his people, but he simply couldn't affford it. Even when taking into consideration the small size of the planet, to improve all their houses would delay his other, more important plans. No, after that has been completed.

Turning around, Wagner saw one of his serving droids approach.

"The Reetup is in our possession." he said in a a voice showing perfect human tones.

"Excellent." Wagner replied, dismissing the droid. Not long to go now. Soon, all will be ready.