Toss a Credit to your Hunter (Asesha)

Byblos.

The office was immaculate. A place for everything, and everything in it's place. No folder or pen cup out of place. Ever knickknack was displayed with purpose and free of dust. Every surface was polished until it shined. There was no wear, no tear. Everything looked like new. As if it was only just brought in that very day. Alderaanian marble. Vortexen Glass. Kashyyykian Woods. A dozen materials in this room alone were considered illegal to own on many other worlds. Giant windows dominated the back wall of the office, and projected upon each was a much more pleasing landscape than the true one outside. No one wanted to see the neighboring tower block.

In this case, it was the rolling fields of Dantooine.

The figure behind the massive desk rose from his chair, a creature of fang and scale, wrapped in the finest OKWear suit; a cornerflower blue number that accented nicely against his gray scales and blue markings. Two, tiny golden eyes looked out from beneath furrowed brows. The three men before him found themselves lifting their chins in order to meet that golden gaze. The one speaking stopped, mid sentence. That was good. He might have died where he stood if he had continued and not allowed their better to speak.

"So what you are saying is that you have failed."

"Like I was saying, Mister Sheegoth. You see, we got there an-"

"You misunderstand me. I do not want to hear your excuses. I want results. A simple answer. Black and white. Straight to the point. Did you locate Sagani Nobu?"

"No."

"One man, trapped on Bespin, and you could not keep him from leaving. Do you understand how simple that is?"

"We believe the Tenloss Syndicate helped him get out. No other way he could slip past me and my boys. That is, unless his old friends helped him out."

"You and I both know that is not the case. Black Sun has no love for him. Not anymore. I made sure of that, and that was precisely what should have forced him to fly the coupe. Straight into your arms, I might add. I am so very disappointed in you, Vorlo." Turning ever so slightly he reached out one black nail toward the control panel that sat beside the intercom and aimed for one of the buttons.

"No! Sir, please. We think we know where he went. To Nar Shaddaa. There was an transport headed there that dead, and makes the most sense."

"So your idea of salvation is telling me that out of the thousands of planets in the known galaxy, that one man, a single man, might be located on one of them, and the second most densely population planet at that? Very disappointing."

Thirty minutes later the office was empty save for himself, and Sheegoth was settling back into his executive chair. What to do, what to do? Nar Shaddaa was a place he knew well, from the old days, but he did not want to operate so blatantly in that city. The Hutts would attempt to tear him apart. That would be bad for business. No. He needed someone independent. He could send the lad. Abaddon had proven himself many times, but even this one seemed beyond his capabilities. Abaddon had a tendency to cause big problems and kill everyone around him. A valuable tool, no doubt. He had been causing enough trouble on his own and it would be some time before he could be used again without attracting the wrong kind of attention.

Picking up his comm he dialed a frequency he knew by heart. It slowly connected him, traveling a great distance across the galaxy. It took some time to make all those connections. Eventually it was answered, and a familiar, sharp female voice with a telltale echo and lisp filtered in from the other end.

"You do realizzze you are calling from Byblosss, right? Thisss will cossst a fortune."

"And I will pay it. As I always do."

"You do not make sssocccial callsss, Rath. What can I get you?"

"I need someone who can track and extract a package from Nar Shaddaa. It is, how you say, Black Sun adjacent."

"What'sss wrong with Abaddon? Did the poor boy finally break you. You didn't kill him, did you?"

"You know I don't kiss and tell, Vraska. You don't need me to reassure you that he is alive. You already know everything."

"Complimentsss will get you nowhere. I have a candidate in mind; Asesha Raa. Bounty Hunter's Guild. I would wager ssshe hasss no love forrr Black Sssun and ssshould be familiar with Nar Ssshaddaa. I will sssend you the file."

"And I will send you the usual fee. And a little. Until next time..."

Hanging up the comm he dialed a new connection and waited for the pickup. It would be some time before the heavily encrypted file appeared, and he never liked to sit idle when there was work to be done. It was time to get this ball rolling, and that meant contacting the Bounty Hunter's Guild and arranging a meeting with the Hunter. She must be something special if she was personally recommended by the Emerald Lady. She had not steered him wrong before.

It wasn't often that Asesha Raa worked from Nar Shaddaa, most of the time she spent her time in her home on Coruscant, surrounded by all too wealthy Imperials with all too many grudges that would just end up feeding her bank account and allowing it to grow fatter and fatter. However, she had decided to spend a week or two around the Guild, it had been quite a while since she was last home after all, so, she figured that she might as well. The apartment in which she had grown up in had seen quite extensive renovations since she inherited it from her late adoptive father, her old bedroom had been remodeled to contain all manner of communication equipment, though these days it rarely saw use.

Today she spent most of her time talking to contacts on Coruscant or talking to one of her assistants that she had hired, and kept on the core world, she didn't feel like she needed to bring them to Nar Shaddaa, whoever it was that wanted to contact her had to deal with her assistants first and foremost, or that was usually the case. Her assistants had saved her from so many politicians who thought they had found a personal hitman who would takeout whoever they wanted in an instant, but, having to deal with someone else before reaching the one who set up the hit had slowed that down. Though it did mean that she felt more and more bound to an office than she had in the past when she actually had to go out to meet the Hunters, but, those days were gone, and she found herself more and more meeting with them either in her Office or sending out small droids to deliver and collect. Though the cost for that was way too high and cut too hard into her profits for her liking.

But, as she was sitting and looking through the political landscape of Coruscant which seemed to change on a daily basis she made small notes for one of her assistants to arrange meetings with Politicians who had expressed interest in meeting with her in the past. A chime came from the Comm to her right and she glanced at it, the signal originated from her office so she accepted the call, figuring that it might have some urgency if one of her assistants tried to reach her now, considering it might be night time on the Imperial capital, she wasn't one hundred percent sure.

The small figure of the newer assistant, a human woman named Lyinn appeared, "Good afternoon Ma'am," The figure spoke with a smile, "I just wanted to let you know that you've been invited to a... let's see here... ah there it is! A Gala on Chandrila, what do you want me to reply with?" the woman asked. Chandrila was one of the few Core worlds that she hadn't actually visited yet. "Hmm, who is it that's hosting the Gala?" "It's a woman named Amalia Linfran, she's getting into the Political scene and has tried to contact you twice so far." Nodding Asesha thought for a bit. "When is this event?" "In three weeks, Ma'am." "Okay, tell her that I'm busy, wait... one week, no wait, make that two and message her that I'll be there." "Of course Ma'am. I'll get right on that."

Nodding Asesha cut the connection and decide to try and see if she could do some digging on this Amalia woman, but once more her Comm chimed up.

This time it wasn't a connection she recognized, the encryption on it made her hesitant to even decline it but after considering that it might be one of her hunters who have called to set up a meeting she reached for it once more, accepting the call, but as an added safety measure she also hit a different button which started a recording of the active call, storing it for her to review at a later time once more. "This is Asesha Raa speaking, who is it I am speaking with?" She spoke, her voice crisp and her words clipped, a side effect from spending almost every waking hour around haughty imperials on Coruscant.

The line connected. Words bubbled up from his throat, his calloused lips pursed to speak, when he was stopped by a little yellow indicator light on his system. Oh no, that would simply not do. Rathalesh had spent far too long working in the shadows to have not taken many precautions in order to protect one of his many front facing personas. It would be absolutely devastating to his plans if Rathalesh Sheegoth was ever blackmailed and taken down from his golden throne because a little recording made it out. This was hardly the sort of thing that would hurt him too much. After all, he was only calling for the detainment of a wanted criminal. It was not as if he did not have a legion of lawyers at his beck and call to massage any issues that could arise.

Leaning back in his chair, he mused over his words a moment, steepling his hands so that his long black nails clicked together. Keep it work related. Public friendly. Yes. This was the way.

"Rathalesh Sheegoth. You come very highly recommended, Asesha Raa. I have a job for you, if you are at all interested. A former employee of mine has fled to Nar Shaddaa. He has caused many grievances before fleeing and I would like him returned to Byblos to face justice for his crimes. I have heard that Nar Shaddaa is a second home for you. Should be of little consequence, and I am willing to pay whatever rate you wish to charge. It is very important to me that this man face the courts so that the families he has affected may have closure. I have a reason to believe he may be in the Sattle Disctrict..."

Sattle. On a moon that was a whole shitty city full of crazy people, the Sattle District stood out was the eccentric and crime ridden sector that was filled with poor immigrants and mutants alike. A place were land was so cheap that massive corporate headquarters grew up like towering tyrants flaunting their power over the homeless and impoverished masses in the streets below. Part slum, part rising tech production industry, it's culture was a massive melting pot of many cultures and the rise and fall of it's the tech companies had pushed a lot of merchandise out into the streets. From what Sheegoth understood, cybernetic droid parts were quite typical in this area. Especially with so many industrial accidents claiming the lives and limbs of the overworked and underpaid masses. It was exactly the kind of place a man who doesn't want to be found would flee.

Sattle was also synonymous with corporate espionage. The rich battling their competitors for the upper hand, with the denizens of Sattle as their pawns. This was precisely why Nobu had to be found. Before he could divulge whatever secrets he had uncovered.

"...If you are interested I can have a puck created at your local Bounty Hunter's Guild. No tracking fob, I am afraid. The offender went to great lengths to have any means of tracking removed."