Old Faces

[Aela Talith]

Nar Shaddaa - Circuit
[member="Shisa Thalvi"]

It was so funny how these things worked out.

Elizabeth hadn't been expecting any company, at least none that was familiar to her, but it seemed that old friends had a way of creeping up on you when you least expected it. In truth she was somewhat thankful for it, mostly because of all that had happened as of late.

The Underworld was brewing a storm, something worse than she had anticipated. Cartels and Syndicates were lining up against one another, the Hutt's on one side, the Slicer collective on the other. There would be war soon, and remaining a neutral party in that war would be far more dangerous than one could ever expect. Elizabeth knew it, she'd foreseen it. Her lips thinned slightly, her fingers gently wandering over the arm of her chair.

It was a good thing then, injecting someone familiar into the situation.

"When she arrives bring her up here." She told one of the guards rather curtly, her eyes glued to the screen in her lap.

There were a dozen reports flowing over it, most of them collected by the waitresses here at Circuit. It was quite amazing how freely most people spoke when they were inebriated in one way or another. She'd learned of half a dozen operations here in the Promenade that were ripe for the taking. It was the next step in her little enterprise, expanding Circuit's reach and bringing a small slice of safety to Nar Shaddaa itself.

The act would be frowned upon, but with the war beginning now was the perfect time.

"And get me another drink." She blurted out. "Quickly."

 

[Adder]

Had to kick down the urge to smile at her friend like a stray dog. Her heart did a leap in her chest as she bit back the grin, sweeping hair from her eyes. Instead she pulled her face into a scowl, yanking her elbow from the guard who’d escorted her upstairs.

“Fancy new digs,” she rasped at [member="Elizabeth Castille"], hiding her frown behind her caf for a moment.

Navigating between the few designer tables, Shisa took a seat opposite the blonde. As the lights of the club flashed again, she let her gaze flicker across… everything on display. Felt a stab of guilt behind the ribs right after, but she couldn’t help but do it again a second later.

Kark.

“So you need a reliable gun, is it?”

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Shisa Thalvi"]

"Mm." She confirmed with a silent hum.

The music just beyond the glass would have been loud enough to obscure such a quiet sound, but the VIP areas of Circuit prevented any such nonsense up here. The Club had been designed as a place of negotiation, one couldn't do that if the music was too loud for anyone to hear themselves talk.

Elizabeth had often wondered how the commoners below managed it, but...she didn't particularly care either. Not really anyway.

"Things are about to get loud here." She commented. "Very loud."

Nar Shaddaa was a kettle about to boil over. "The Cartel's are stirring all over the galaxy, not just on the smugglers moon either."

 

[Adder]

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]

Shisa shrugged.

“So invest in ear protection.”

Balancing the cup of caf on her crossed knee, the enforcer took a look around. Everything looked shiny and new – from the upholstery to the guards’ vests. Thalvi curled a lip in disgust, reaching into her breast pocket to fish out a cigarette.

“So what’d you need me for? I’m good, but I can’t shoot down a whole Cartel for ya.” Tucking her head between her shoulders, Shisa lit the cig and took a deep draw. Nerves, nerves, nerves. Been a while since she’d tried to sell grim and troubled to anyone.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Shisa Thalvi"]

"No." They were in agreement on that, but it wasn't why she needed Shisa here. "But I need someone I can trust implicitly. Someone...who can understand what needs to be done."

That wasn't an easy thing to say to her, but the level tone indicated exactly what she meant. The Underworld was not a pretty place, and Elizabeth knew that if she wanted to get what she wanted she would have to dirty herself. It was just how it would be.

There was no changing that. "I have soldiers."

Plenty of them in fact. It was odd how people had come flocking to her. There was more than one slicer that had offered their services, more than one thug that had wanted to work for her. Perhaps it was because of Circuit's success, or it was because a pretty face just tended to draw attention. Either way Elizabeth had plenty of people at her beck and call, the problem was...even she had her limits, and unfortunately she was quickly reaching them.

"I need Lieutenants." Which is exactly what Shisa was.

 

[Adder]

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]

Her scowl deepened, and Shisa took another swig of her morning brew. All-day brew, really. If there were two things Eagle Eyes always made sure she had with her, it was her Westar, and a fresh, steamin’ cuppa.

“Yeah. Ya do.”

A side-glance to the nearest guard – looking down on the main floor for now – and she scooted forward in her seat. Her green eyes pierced right through the fancy shades perched on Castille’s nose. She puffed out a cloud of smoke; let the blue plumes curl slowly into the air as she chewed on nothing.

“Course, I’d be mighty thankful if you told me what the hell kinda long game you’re playin’ here.”

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Shisa Thalvi"]

The long game? It was the same as always wasn't it? The same as before? She frowned for a moment, her lips thinning and her eyes casting towards the center of the club for just a moment. She watched the people there, swaying and moving around before she slowly returned her attention to Shisa.

"I need to take over the Promenade." That would come as a surprise probably.

Nar Shaddaa had many sectors. The Black Sun District, the Network Access, a dozen others. The most unique and 'wealthy' of all of them was of course the Promenade. It was much less of a district and much more of a floating island within Nar Shaddaa itself. The island contained wealthy shops, casinos, dozens of other locations that one could visit. The Promenade was like a self contained ecosystem all it's own, something that most coveted.

Right now she owned a small piece with Circuit, but she needed it all.

"I need to rule it." She told her old enforcer. "I need to make them come to me."

Elizabeth glanced at the club once more. "Hutt's, Slicers, Vigos. I need them at my beck and call."

 

[Adder]

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]

“You what.” Shisa’s eyes widened a fraction, glinting an odd shade of green in the flickering lights of the club. “Aelisabeth,” she hissed, leaning forward, “are you crazy?”

A bark of a chuckle escaped her, and Thalvi downed the rest of her caf in one take. Burned some of the dread in her gut away. “The Promenade is… it’s huge, Miss Castille. Do you have the men and firepower to take it over?”

“This isn’t… we aren’t a military operation. And not everything can be stolen or bought out. You know this.”

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Shisa Thalvi"]

"Not yet." She admitted freely, her face growing a bit more stern.

They had to be careful here, very careful.

There was no time to play games and there certainly wasn't any room to be maneuvering in the wrong direction. This was the best way to do it however, the best way to ensure that she succeeded in what she needed to do. The Hutt's, the Vigo's, all of the players of the Underworld had to come to her. She couldn't go to them, it couldn't work like that. It wouldn't work like that.

"I know it will take time and effort." Boy did she ever. "It's the only way."

For a moment Elizabeth paused. "When the Promenade is mine they won't be able to ignore me. None of them."

 

[Adder]

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]

She drew hard on the cigarette between her lips. Flicking the ash off to the floor, Shisa stared long and hard at the criminal before her.

Because, really, that’s who they were. No room for mistakes. Not here. The Shadow Syndicate were no small timers, but this? This was the real deal. The Great Game. One wrong step and there wouldn’t be enough of them left to sweep into an urn and chuck out an airlock.

Despite the whiskey she’d just downed, Shisa Thalvi suddenly felt very, very sober.

“Okay.”

The enforcer reached up, rubbing the crease in her brow. “So where do we start, Miss Castille?”

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Shisa Thalvi"]

"The Promenade is currently controlled by Thirteen different organizations, including ours." Though the Promenade was an entire district, it wasn't all that large compared to something like The Network Access. It was a floating island hovering about Nar Shaddaa's poorer quarters rather than located on the smugglers moon itself. That meant it was smaller and more self contained than the others.

It also meant it was easier to conquer.

"Two of them are controlled by Independent Hutt's." Not a part of the overarching Hutt Cartel. "Three by the Black Sun."

Those would be the most difficult. "The rest are all independent."

They would be the easiest. Shisa and Elizabeth would be able to pick them off one by one, no one coming to their aid. It might have seemed cruel, but this was the Underworld. Nobody was granted mercy here, nobody played nice, and nobody got given a second chance.

"We start with them." From her breast pocket she pulled a small datapad.

 

[Adder]

Sit and listen. A skill all too rare in these layers of society. Part of why so many employers had appreciated Shisa over the years – why she got hired over burlier, meaner bodyguards. Some things couldn’t be taught. And even then, criminals weren’t often a bunch real willing to listen to criticism.

No wonder they rose and crumbled so fast.

A smile quirked her lips. But not them. [member="Elizabeth Castille"] was cunning, careful, patient. If anyone could steal the Promenade under the Hutts’ noses, it was her.

Thalvi held out her free hand for the datapad, content to keep her mouth shut for now. Brain and brawn – not true in the least, but it was a ruse worth maintaining.

‘Round these parts, you could never be sure who was watching.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Shisa Thalvi"]

"Most of them are owned by small time smugglers or former pirates. They're storefronts or cantinas." Easy enough.

There was one big problem though, mainly with the latter category. Pirates weren't people who generally accepted...well any sort of authority over them. Elizabeth had approached them weeks ago with a simple buy out and the answer had been a stark no.

Of course they'd sent that no in a rather...unpleasant message, though she wasn't going to inform Shisa of that.

"The Pirates will be the most difficult." She frowned. "They consider their cantina to be...prime real estate, their little hang out here in the promenade with all the fancy people. Dangerous, most of them are former blazing claws."

Which meant they were killers.

 

[Adder]

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]

With a frown, Shisa put out the cigarette right on the fancy glass table. Could’ve been worse. Could’ve burned the fancy leather upholstery.

“So.”

The enforcer sniffled, stuffing the butt of the cig into her empty cuppa. She’d get a new one later.

“How’d you plan on taking them out, Miss Castille?” Shisa batted her eyes, slow-like. “Using… subtler methods?”

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Shisa Thalvi"]

"No." She shook her head.

Not for the pirates. She knew that it wouldn't work. A gentle hand wasn't what would bring her the Promenade, at least not right now. Perhaps with the Black Sun or the Hutt's, but Pirates? They were a tougher nut to crack, they were something she and Shisa would have to be more direct with.

"No subtlety." Elizabeth frowned, slowly leaning back. "We have to break some fingers."

Her hand scrunched slightly, her gaze dropping to the dancefloor once again. "Do some convincing."

The implication wasn't exactly a difficult one to understand. Pirates weren't just going to roll over, and although Elizabeth wasn't looking to start a war she knew well enough that anything less than total force wouldn't be enough. It was part of why she'd brought Shisa here in the first place. She needed her enforcer, she needed someone that could help her get the job done.

 

[Adder]

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]

From frown to scowl. Shisa’s features twisted all up, like someone were breaking her fingers. You’d think a rugged enforcer wouldn’t mind taking the low route through squalor and violence.

“Right.”

Thalvi wasn’t dumb – hell, far from it. Compared to the baseline thug, she was practically a genius. ‘Sides, that tone with that word? You’d have to be karkin oblivious not to follow.

Didn’t mean she liked it, though.

“And if we cannae convince them talkin’ nice?” She quirked a brow above darkening eyes. “Gonna send me to try again to try from the wrong end of th’ barrel?

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Shisa Thalvi"]

She shrugged.

Elizabeth doubted that these men and women would see any reason unless it included violence, they were pirates. Most of them were used to getting their way, all of them were in steep denial about what their situation actually was. She had no doubt in her mind that many of them still considered themselves to be the primary force here on Nar Shaddaa.

They were wrong of course. "We'll see."

A sigh escaped her lips.

"First we break a few bones." Her eyes locked on Shisa's. "After that, we'll see what else we have to do."

This was serious, this was the only way.

 

[Adder]

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]

Standing, Shisa swept the crushed cuppa from the table and stared down at the crime lord for a few long moments.

“Hope you know what yer doin’, Castille.” Her green eyes flickered past the men standing guard, past the flashing lights – down to the undulating masses, only a drink and a brawl away from all out murder.

The lines were so much thinner here. If they were here at all.

“This ain’t the Unknown regions anymore.” Shisa sniffled, snatching a new cig from her beat-up packet. “So, bosslady. Where to next?”

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Shisa Thalvi"]

No, this wasn't the unknown regions. They weren't playing around with small time criminals anymore and they didn't have anyone to back them up. Nar Shaddaa was it, arguably the largest criminal center for the entire galaxy. They were surrounded by enemies on all sides, allies would run away at the first sign of trouble, and they had to move more carefully. She frowned for a moment, lips thinning as she reached over to the small table beside her and plucked up her drink.

"We need people." She told Shisa.

Though the two of them alone were fierce, they did need grunts of their own. Elizabeth had brought some, but before they took on the pirates they'd need a few more. She and Shisa alone wouldn't look very intimidating at all. Even though both of them weren't short, they were still quite a bit...slimmer, than most of the men on Nar Shaddaa.

She supposed that came with a place like this.

"Some I have." She told Shisa. "Others we'll need to recruit. I was hoping you'd help with that."

 

[Adder]

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]

Smoke crawled out of her mouth past the cig. Its red cherry danced through the half-light as Shisa chewed on her thoughts, hands burrowed deep in the pockets of her black jacket.

“Yeah?” She puffed out another blue plume, holding Castille’s gaze. “Aight. I reckon you have your eye set on a couple already?”

Her thumb traced the outline of the trusty Westar at her side. Hadn’t seen much action in years – time to bring it up to speed again. Good thing her gun arm never got rusty.

Couldn’t.