Spice and Slugs

[Subject 37]

Nar Shadda - Lower Districts
[member="Gorba the Hutt"]

Hutts.

He hated Hutts.

Slevin had a hard time thinking of a more self inflated an undeserving egotistical species in the entire galaxy. They were, as a rule, completely and entirely insufferable. Slevin didn't just hate them, he found them downright abhorrent. They were creatures that thought themselves better, and why? Not because they were products of perfection, not because they had been created to suit a purpose, but simply because they were.

It was a logic that did not suit him at all, and one that he had opposed violently in the past.

He and Natalia had personally killed half a dozen of the disgusting little worms, most of them going due to their own stupidity though a few strangled by heavy chains. Slevin took more pleasure in slaughtering one of their kind than he did most, something that he had no problem confessing to even the most powerful of their species. His fingers gently ran over his knuckles, disgust still prevalent on his face.

This negotiation would not be an easy one.

The fact of the matter was that The Hutt's controlled a large piece of the Underworld, and without them one couldn't do much of anything. Slevin knew this, Natalia knew this, and the two of them had discussed it at length.

Unfortunately for Slevin his beloved had insisted that he come here on his own. She was busy with her pet project on Zeltros, and in truth if things got messy it was better that Slevin was here and not she. As always the logic she'd provided had been flawless, but he still felt a prickling sense of anger as he stalked through the halls.

He hated Hutts.

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

Nar Shaddaa

The palace on Nar Shaddaa was undergoing some renovations due to an... incident. Activity was down, which meant revenue was down, which meant Gorba's mood went to the same place. All of them. Swirling together. In the toilet.

Speaking of sewage, Gorba remembered he had a meeting with the Runt of Rishi. Hmph. Best to hold it in the Green Quarter. Circus Horrificus was scheduled to put on a show soon anyway. If the Coratanni thug grew troublesome, maybe he could just throw him into the ring and an Acklay would stab him or something. The Hutt sighed deeply through his nasal slits and sludged toward the turbo lift. At least the seating would be nice. It would have to be, he would be there. Hmph.

Eventually, Gorba slid his way into the special box seating overlooking the circus, reserved for himself or other Hutts. He preferred the arenas of course, but that sort of violence would provide the wrong atmosphere in the palace. Attract the wrong crowd. Best to save that kind of thing for Grothma, where the rabble could be contained. Here, they needed to roam free and enjoy the galaxy's forbidden pleasures; to live like a Hutt, if only for a day.

The two retainers took up positions outside the box. People began to flow in and take their seats. The show would start soon. The Hutt tapped the datapad strapped to his forearm and spoke.

"Brutus, if a human shows up at the doors named Slevin asking about a meeting, give him an aurodium card and escort him to the box seating in the Green Quarter."

"It will be done, Great Gorba."

The Hutt cut the line. The Klatooinian could be tiresome, but it was nice to know a little honest appreciation for his existence. Better than a slime kisser like, what was the name of that Twi'lek Jabba kept around? Oh, it didn't matter. Gorba clamped his lips around the box's hookah pipe and began to suck irritably.

Maybe he should have scheduled a swoop race instead. Just a little push, then splat. Hmph.

@Slevin Thrawne

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Gorba the Hutt"]

Slevin did eventually show up and was escorted to the correct place.

A part of him thought that he should have brought his own men. The soldiers of the Coratanni cartel were well trained, most of them having served in some sort of military before joining the ranks of the cartel itself. Slevin had always thought that to be important, that each of his soldiers have some sort of discipline. He knew that many Cartels and other Underworld organizations missed out on a key component within their thugs; loyalty.

He and Natalia were not entirely sure they'd instilled that within their soldiers, but the core of Coratanni was most certainly loyal.

Coercion, manipulation, and outright brainwashing had been a key tool of theirs in ensuring that the center of their operation ran as smoothly as possible. Slevin and Natalia had worked hard to make sure they kept their business insular, something that he was sure most Hutts had learned to do eons ago.

The slugs were disgusting things, but they knew Crime.

"Let's get this over with." Slevin said as he entered the box that he'd been escorted to.

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

[member="Slevin Thawne"]

The human arrived at last, wearing some sort of sleek human attire. Gorba occasionally kept up with their fashion. Some younger Hutts wore clothes - very expensive ones - as a statement about their wealth, or because it "felt nice" against their skin. Gorba had no idea what they were talking about. He preferred to let it all hang out.

The Coratanni looked rakish, with slick dark hair, tan skin, and all that. Gorba reconsidered. Perhaps he would make a better bukee whirlee than a white chalk outline. Hmph.

"Tagwa. Hi chuba da wanga?"

The show had already started and, oh look, they did have an acklay in the act after all. The Ughnaught handler was trying to get it to balance on four balls, but it kept trying to stab him instead. The crowd jeered, probably hoping the handler got skewered.

Much as he enjoyed watching Ughnaughts skewered, the slug didn't want this deal to last any longer than necessary. Not after all the stories he had heard about the Coratanni. More than a few Hutt deaths could be tied back to Rishi. Nothing concrete, but in the business of crime there was rarely ever proof. People got blasted over gut feelings all the time.

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Gorba the Hutt"]

He hated their garbled guttural language. It was grating to the ears and more than a little annoying to listen to. He knew that it had spread because of the work of the Hutt's, but he still despised it. Once he'd heard a man speak it, or attempt to speak it. The sound had been as though he was choking on a piece of food. Slevin tightened his hand to a fist for a moment, calming himself enough not to fly into an immediate rage.

It was important to remember why he was here.

"I'm here for a reason." Slevin completely ignored what the Hutt had said. Despite his rudeness, he was doing his best to at least treat the creature with some measure of kindness and respect. The task was difficult enough as it was given his disgust, but talking about what he wanted helped. "Business."

It was all that mattered in the end.

The Coratanni Cartel was expanding rapidly, but it wasn't about to take over the galaxy. Neither Slevin, nor Natalia wanted that. They wanted a steady stream of revenue, they wanted both illegitimate and legitimate business, but they didn't want to rule the galaxy, just their own little corner. "Cooperation."

Oh that was difficult to say. "And ensuring that we both get what we want."

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

Ugh.

Basic.

The language of the common humans out in the Core. Honestly, he didn't know why they thought themselves superior. Aside from the ability to breed like rabbits there was precious little going for them. They only lived to about a hundred years. A hundred. Which was like, what? A tenth of a Hutt's lifespan? Pathetic. And their bodies? So fragile. The idea that these bony bipeds ruled the Core Worlds and thought themselves the biological equal of the Hutts? Absolutely obscene.

Still, it seemed the human, what was his name? Slevin. It seemed Slevin had some difficulty getting the words through his tiny human teeth. Could this be a genuine attempt at a truce? The opportunity that would present if true...

"Smeeleeya whao toupee upee."

Oh. The Ughnaught just barely survived a stab and had managed to get the Acklay up onto all four balls simultaneously. It looked ridiculous, but that was the point. Ripping dangerous predators from their habitat and making them dance. Splendid.

"Laboda na rowka? Is this authentic? Or are you just pulling my tail?"

Somehow, pulling Gorba's tail seemed like something very bad to do for one's health. Very bad indeed.

[member="Slevin Thawne"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Gorba the Hutt"]

He really did not enjoy this. Making a deal with a Hutt was like entering a bath tub filled with leeches. He much rather would have slit this creatures throat and walked away without a care in the world, but instead he was playing nice.

There was something utterly wrong about that.

"I am entirely serious." His voice was curt, short. Slevin didn't want to make this deal, he didn't have to, but it made sense. Natalia and He didn't want to take over the galaxy, they didn't want to rule, all they wanted was their own little slice of paradise. They were well on their way to creating that of course, but it took time, and alliances. That meant forming ties to other syndicates and cartels, ensuring that their territory and work was not disrupted.

That meant dealing with the Hutts.

"I'm not interested in Nar Shaddaa, Nal Hutta, or any of your holdings." Nor would he ever be. "All I want is what is mine."

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

Strange. That sounded entirely too reasonable. There had to be a trick hidden in the offer, somewhere. Gorba just couldn't find it yet. In any case, he had his hands full dealing with the Vermilic. A truce with the Coratanni would allow the spice to flow from Rishi.

And the spice must always flow.

Hmph.

Besides, he didn't want Rishi. Other than the spice plantations hidden out in the jungle it did not concern him. It all depended though. What else did this human consider his?

"Eniki. Bareesh will not trouble the Coratanni. We may have an agreement. No strings?"

He expected there would be none. But by Boboqueequee, if this schutta crossed him he would burn them out of their hole on Rishi and feed them to a krayt dragon. Or something.

[member="Slevin Thawne"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Gorba the Hutt"]

Part of him wanted to just pull out his blaster and end the creature, but he knew doing so would incite a war that Coratanni just wasn't ready for.

They could fight, but it would wear out both sides. They would weaken each other and then either other syndicates or even the authorities would sweep in and clear them up. Slevin knew that neither the Hutt nor the Coratanni cartel wanted that to happen and thus they had to make this deal. He frowned for a moment, his lips thinning as she spun answer upon answer within his mind.

Finally he relented. "Only one."

Slevin continued, this was something he'd worked out with Nadir as well.

"Mutual distribution of unique narcotics." Not Glitterstim or the rest of the rabble, but new product. "I sell to you at a twenty percent mark up of production, you then sell consumer prices within your territory."

He scowled. "I do the same with any of your products in my territory."

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

The deal was getting better all the time...

Gorba squinted at the human.

"Twentee?"

Slevin was being reasonable. Gorba didn't trust reasonable people. Always an ulterior motivation, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Could be that it was as simple as getting him to lower his guard. Hah. As if he would stop monitoring the Rishi runts just because of a little truce. Still... it would allow him to deal with the Vermilic, once and for all.

The Hutt inhaled a lungful of hookah from the pipe, then expelled a cloud of vapor through his nostrils.

"Fine. We have a bargon."

Now they had a Nexu out on the ring floor jumping through flaming hoops. Gorba wondered if it would catch on fire.

[member="Slevin Thawne"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Gorba the Hutt"]

At least the Hutt was smart enough to understand basic bargaining.

The deal that Slevin and Natalia had thought of was fair, in fact so fair that it seemed entirely unbelievable. Slevin had of course wanted more, he'd wanted to exploit the Hutt, press it and grind it down to a point where they were the dominant party within this deal, but Natalia had reasoned against it. Steady as she was she had said it would do them no good to put the Hutt down, not when they had absolutely no need to expand their territory out here.

It had been just like with Nadir. "Good."

Now he could get out of his filthy world.

He had no idea how anyone could actually spend any time on Nar Shaddaa, it was worse than Coruscant. The whole world smelled like garbage and rotting corpses, one would have been better off finding a place in a landfill than this ball of dirt.

"We'll send envoys." Slevin stated. "Arrangements can be made in a more...quiet place."

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

"Leaving so soon?" Gorba rumbled.

Running back to that undeveloped swamp they called home. They should take some lessons from their superiors and start investing in better infrastucture like on Nal Hutta. But that would be asking too much of the humans.

Gorba waved a dismissive hand.

"Very well. Goodbye, human."

Inwardly, he wondered whether it might be beneficial to invite the Cartel to the little gathering he had planned. Give them enough rope to hang themselves, or to make themselves a little more useful. Hmph. He sucked thoughtfully on the pipe, expelling clouds of vapor, while he watched the circus acts continue.

[member="Slevin Thawne"]