Third Time's a Charm? (Tenloss Expansion of Crystalsong/Location Dev Thread)

[Popo]

The first two colonies had gone more or less okay. He'd managed to buy land outright from the Coruscanti colonists and had managed to haggle an convince his way into buying land from the Rylothian colonists. Now, it was time to buy land from the Tatooine Colony and he wasn't quite sure how that would go.

Tatooine was known as Hutt Space where the Hutts traditionally ruled. Being a Hutt, Popo had the thought that perhaps they might welcome him with open arms. Also being a Hutt with a knowledge of Hutts throughout the galaxy, they might just shoot at him. He had no idea why they left Tatooine, but it could be for any reason and the involvement of Hutts could be one of them. Popo knew he had to play it safe and, as such, hadn't brought many guards.

He'd only brought two speeders with him today and no heavy vehicles. Roughly a dozen Tenloss Security troopers rode along and most carried basic weaponry. Granted, for Tenloss, this meant rippers and ripper pistols, but compared to the disruptor rifles Tenloss sold, this was pretty basic.

As the pair of speeders drove up and parked in front of a building that could only be the town hall, Popo slid out of the speeder. Here and there he could spot colonists gazing at the newcomers and, for the most part, they kept their distance. It was odd, in a way, and left Popo wondering if this land buy would be successful at all...

 

[Popo]

The people here seemed... skittish. Not afraid, just... leery. The group that had rolled up in speeders were people they'd never seen before, which on Tatooine usually meant bad juju. The fact that they had a Hutt with them and that said Hutt and guards were outside of the Hutt's palace usually meant that someone had screwed up so badly that it required said Hutt's presence in person. That usually meant dead bodies, a reign of terror, and generally a bad tax season.

With a slightly confused wave, which he figured in hindsight that a few might take as pompous just because he was a Hutt, he slithered up to the front of the town hall. The first problem he found was simple, annoying, and typical of colony living: stairs. There weren't many and they weren't steep, but stairs and Hutts didn't get along too much. Fortunately, Popo had a bit of practice with stairs and waved off one of his troopers who was about to turn and grab one of the durasteel panels they used for such instances.

New impressions were hugely important, especially with Hutts. Most people saw Hutts as greedy, arrogant, and pompous crime lords that hired or enslaved others to do everything from serve them food, entertain them, bathe them, and guard them. Granted, Popo was a crime lord and he liked his wine and the Twi'lek quadruplets that gave him his usual baths like any other Hutt crime lord, but he didn't like slaves and paid his workers well. Plus, he could defend himself and could damn well open his own wine bottle on his own.

The issue of the stairs was simple: I don't need to rely on lackeys to solve my problems. It showed he was above petty displays of money, wealth, and power and instead desired to show competence and a willingness to tackle the difficult tasks without aid. And so, it was with a stoic and unmoving face that Popo slithered up the stairs as best he could and ignored the juddering of the stair edges on his underside. While unpleasant and despite being sure that he may have jostled one or two reproductive organs a little harder than he should have, he managed to get up the stairs and showed he didn't need any hired help to do so.

That said, he really wished the bruising hadn't happened. He'd be slithering slowly for a week or more.