"Coruscant Underground


Part I"

Directed by:
Paul Burton.
&
Written by:
Anthony Hummerston.

STARRING:

Karnov,   Jimmi,   Niall,   Rojic,    Ta'alan,  Mama
And special guest stars:
Hen3ry , Joe-9T, Trio and 'Blinkie.'
as the droids.
AND
Storm Cutter, their ship, all redecorated in Ryloth dust....

“So you don’t feel pain?” Mama asks Joe-9T

“I do – But only in my head.”

“Hmmmm……Interesting!”

“Define interesting.” The droid asks.

They are interrupted by Karnov who reports that they will be on the approach to Coruscant in ten minutes.

“Roger that.” Rojic replies, snapping a panel shut on the back of Joe-9T’s head. “How about now?”

Joe-9T pauses and then reports back. “Er….Fine….But I see out of my ears; hear with my fingers and touch with my eyes.”

“Your speech is a bit muffled too.” Niall tells him as he strides in. Mama looks down. “He is sitting on a cushion….”

“Indeed captain.” Joe-9T says, with a hint of menace in his voice. Mama looks at Rojic, who suddenly has some lightbulb changing to do, just out of arms-reach for the droid.

“So you have touch sensors….But you don’t feel pain?” Mama asks again.

Joe-9T unscrews his hand. He lays it on the table and jabs at it with a vibro-dagger. “Like I said, I only feel it in my head. –Though today I feel it in my…..Beep!”

“Beep?” Rojic asks.

“Beep?” Mama asks.

“Beep!” Jo-9T reiterates.

“Beep?” Karnov asks.

“It’s the beeper going off!” Niall says, switching a switch. “Punch it up Karnov!”

There is a dull thump from the console.

“Not literally thump!” Mama tells the idiot Quarren, catching a cascade of Ronto plushes as they tumble to the floor.

Karnov punches up the display and the holo fizzes into the image of Orn Free Taa's bulky frame.

“Greetings Generals Karnov and Killian.” The Twi’lek says. Mama and the others wait for their greeting, but none comes.

“How can we help you, senator?”

“Well, I know that you are not only generals and heroes of the Republic, but that you are also Jedi of resource, renown, daring and discretion….”

“I know.” Niall says proudly, standing there in a pinafore, wearing marigolds and holding a bog-brush. –And somewhat ruining the image.

The others snigger at the irony. Ta’alan doubly so. – A big damn hero all ready to clean out the head. –But Niall has the last laugh. “Excuse me senator…..” He pauses the holo. “Padawan?”

“Pfft! Yes master…?” Ta’alan tries not to giggle.

“I’ve got a job for you. –A big job….In the head.” He passes the cleaning equipment to his padawan.

“Be sure you start at the bottom!” Rojic says as Ta’alan leaves. This brings fresh gales of laughter. Ta’alan trudges off dejectedly.

Ull suppresses a grin. His chore was to sort through Kory’s underwear drawer in her absence. It took several hours and he was very thorough.

“Ull?” Karnov asks.

“Yes master?”

“You did a very good job in Kory’s cabin.”

“Thank you master.”

“So good, that you can start with mine. –With the underwear drawer!”

“Ulp!” says Ull.

Niall turns around and un-pauses the holo. “What can we do for you senator?”

“I know that you are shining examples of discretion. I have a little situation….”

“All Karnov’s talents are discreet. – Extremely!” Joe-9T gurgles in his metallic throat.

“Can you meet me at my official apartment?” The senator asks.

“On our way. We’re on route to Coruscant as it is.”

“I know.” The senator tells him.

“How could you possibly know that?”

“Because I sent you there two days ago.”

“Oh yeah.”

It is a mere formality to pass through the ring of steel, and cruise to the senate district of the government sector of Coruscant. They put down in docking bay 1194; hangar 19457, bay 5421, aisle 1779 section D-19, row 5 – on the left.

“Remember that Karnov.” Mama says.

Karnov repeats it back. “Okay. Docking bay 1149; hangar 19459, bay 5251, aisle 1776 section 19-D, row 15 – on the left.”

“No!” Mama berates her, “The only bit you got right was the ‘on the left’ part.”

“Well we can get close. I’m sure we’ll spot Storm Cutter once we’re near it.”

“If we’re even on the same continent!” Mama shakes her head. “Here, I’ll write it down on this bit of paper. –Now no-one has to remember it.” She passes it to Karnov, who hands it to Joe-9T. “No pockets in my robe, see?” The droid slots it into a handy slot for safekeeping.

“Now let’s not try to get ourselves lost. Remember there’s a trillion people on Coruscant. – If you get lost…..”

“Yes?” Rojic prompts.

“Well if it’s you, you can stay lost!” Mama says, pointedly.

They get an elevator and soon they are in the streets. Millions of CGI extras are walking one way, pushing through crowds of more CGI extras going the other.

“Wow!” Rojic boggles. “Tower blocks as big as cities. Consumption on an industrial scale….How do they manage the logistics of it all?”

Jimmi speaks up. “I expect they get through a megafreighter of Twiglets every few minutes.”

“Wow again!”

They think of the enormous scales. Finally Karnov asks, “How about Brussels sprouts?”

“About four ounces a week.”

“Who in the galaxy loves sprouts?”

Rojic is all excited. “Me! I love ‘em! –Extra buoyancy see?”

“-And a significant fire risk –what with all the methane and all.” Joe-9T warns. “By the way….” He adds, “What do you want me to do with all these shreddings?”

“Shreddings? What shreddings?”

“The top secret paper you put in the shredder.”

They all stop walking. The realisation dawns. “That….” Mama seethes, “Was the bay where the ship is parked!”

“I think I can remember it….” Karnov says. “I’m sure it was on the left.”

“Thanks. I think we all remembered that.”

“Fool of a droid!” Niall scolds Joe-9T

Rojic thinks. They start walking. “Actually, I think he did us all a favour. After all, we need a new ship. That one was a rust-bucket. A death trap. An albatross around our neck….”

“There’s twenty credits on board. -The ones I owe you.” Mama says.

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” Rojic wails. “Find that ship NOW!”

“Sorry.” Joe-9T apologises. “It’s lost and gone forever. Somewhere among a trillion people are Storm Cutter and the fridge light.”

“-And your girlfriend.” Jimmi adds, referring to Trio.

“Pfft! She’s not my girlfriend. Now she’s gone forever, I can reveal that I was seeing the bread-maker on the side!”

When they arrive at the senate building, they marvel open-mouthed at its size and spleandour.

“Wow!”

“Marvellous.”

“Amazing!”

“Superlatives!”

Rojic deflates them somewhat. “It looks like a giant mushroom!”

In the habitation wing, they make their way to one of the many penthouses. “Wow! This place is enormous!” Jimmi says, facing entirely the wrong way.

They pass through security. They ascend in the lift. On the top floor with a panoramic view of Coruscant, they call on Orn Free Taa.

A teenage Twi’lek comes to the door. She is nervous and looks tired.

Niall tries to put her at ease. “We are generals Karnov and Killian. We are here to see the senator.”

The girl looks frightened. “It’s okay,” Rojic says soothingly, “We no wanna wanga do to hurtadootoo tooyoutooodoo.”

This makes the girl smile a thin smile. She lets them in.

The others stare at Rojic. “What?” He asks.

Taa comes over. “Thank you for coming over so quickly.” He leads them through a sumptuous hallway into an even more lavish and luxurious apartment.

“This is even more well-appointed than the D’Estrella’s.” Mama says.

Taa leads them to an office. –Though it is bigger than the entirety of the lost and long-lamented Storm Cutter. Here the décor is less well ordered. In fact, the room has been trashed.

“I like what you haven’t done to the place!” Mama says. “What style is this? Shabby chic?”

“More like just-ransacked. –A difficult look to pull off.” Jimmi says.

“I like the body on the floor.” Rojic says. “A young Twi’lek girl…..Face down….Centre of the room…..With fresh blaster burns in her back.”

There is a stunned silence.

“Oh….Now I get it! You’ve been burgled, and your young lady was shot from behind.”

Jimmi goes to the girl. There is nothing to be done though. She is quite dead. Jimmi might be strong in the force, but not that strong. – Not enough to bring someone back to the living.

Taa points to the girl. He is losing his composure. The shock and the grief are kept just simmering under the surface. “I….I….” He stammers, “I don’t know what to do….About this…..” He stifles a sob, pointing to the dead girl.

Rojic thinks for a second. “Coffee table?” He says.

There is a stunned silence.

“What?” Rojic protests, “Too soon?”

When Taa has regained his composure, he explains. “My safe. It’s been broken into. A valuable datapad has gone missing. It is imperative that I get it back.”

“What was on it?” Karnov asks.

“Data.” Taa says, nearly adding, “Stupid!” He corrects himself. “Vital data.”

Rojic looks over. “Was it compromising pictures of you and miss Ryloth 24 B.B.Y?”

“No. It was sensitive data.”

“How sensitive.”

“If it were to get out it could be catastrophic.”

Niall paces up and down. “Tell me that it was encrypted.”

“It was. -In EBCDIC!”

Rojic groans. “That’s a slicer’s worst nightmare!”

“Is it crack-able?” Karnov asks. “Actually is it crack-able or crackable? Crackabibble, maybe?”

“Neither.”

“So on a scale of one to ten….Getting this datapad back intact is….?”

“Eleven!” Taa says, with feeling. “I can offer you riches, gold, money…..Girls….More money…..”

“It’s okay, we’ll work for fre…..” The rest of Joe-9T’s sentence is cut off. “Run time expired.” Rojic explains, with his hand on the on/off button at the base of Joe-9T’s neck. “What he was trying to say was we’ll work for our usual fee. –Plus expenses.”

Joe-9T snaps back on. “I was going to ask whether you have any enemies?”

“Several rivals. -But no more than any other politician.”

“Hmmm….” Rojic is flapping around the room. “Is the air conditioning on?”

“No. It’s so warm up here, I hardly ever use it.” Taa explains.

“So why does it look like it has been maintained recently. – See the scuffing here and here….And a hair?”

“That isn’t a hair, it’s a rabbit!”

They all fall about laughing.

They look. They can’t see from their position. “Look inside!” Mama advises.

Rojic climbs in. He crawls a little way and then stops. “Not on is it?”

“No. Rest assured it isn’t on.”

Mama says, “Actually can you put it on extract?- Up to eleven!”

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” Rojic says as the fans start to turn. He exits the duct like a slug from a railgun.

“What’s this hair?” Niall asks. He looks at the Twi’leks. “Hmmm….”

“Wookie?” Karnov says.

They all look at the foot-square ventilation duct. “Probably.” Mama says. Jimmi pats Karnov on the back. “Great deduction….Not!”

“How about a Houk?”

“Now you’re just being silly.”

“A small hairy creature….Like a….”

“Hare.”

“Or a Kushiban. They’re small and devious, known to be thieves….”

“Not a sabre-toothed Herring then?”

“No Karnov. No.”

Sabre-toothed Herring.

Niall gets all serious. “Okay. Joe, call up the schematics of the building. Scour for entry points to the place. Then scan any security footage.” Joe-9T plugs in. He plugs in to the breadmaker. After an hour of contented noises, he reports that there was a Kushiban around…..But that was a city block away. “Too much data.” He says.

“Nothing?”

“Places in the recordings have been erased. Looks like a glitch….But possibly a slicer with some inside knowledge could have knobbled the cameras.”

Jimmi has remained quiet for some time. “What’s eating Jimmi?”

They wait. They wait some more. Rojic prods Jimmi.

“Farsee.” Jimmi says eventually.

“What?”

“I looked though the force. I saw a Kushiban enter the room from the vent. Then crack the safe and take the pad. It then trashed the room. When the young lady came in, the creature shot her.”

They ponder this information.

“I suggest we ask around. We’re looking for a Kushiban safecracker….And probably an accomplice or two.”

“Are you sure you can’t divulge what’s on the datapad?” Mama asks, “Or you could tell Joe here –then we could erase his memory when we’re done.”

“You erase my mind….With your cold, dead fingers.” Joe-9T retorts.

“Sorry, no.” Taa is adamant.

“What could be on it?” Rojic speculates. “After all, he’s a man of honesty, integrity, veracity.”

“What planet are you from?” Karnov asks, “Make-believe?”

Mama tries to be diplomatic. “Of course he’s corrupt. He’s a politician. – And he’s fat!”

“Mister pot, meet Miss Kettle.” Niall says. “Okay people, we’ve got a thief to catch.” He ushers them all out. Taa walks behind them to see them off. Suddenly Niall has a thought. “We never checked Taa’s alibi….” He turns to the others. “His aide said he was at the opera….But she might be lying.” He turns and taps on the door again.

“Sorry senator, there’s just one more thing....It’s bothering me….My girlfriend….She worries too much about those little things…But I just had to ask….What where you doing last night?”

Taa looks at Niall. Niall looks back, trying to catch him out. Finally Taa comes up with a perfect alibi.

“Washing my hair.”

Niall turns to go once more, “Thank you sir. That’s put my mind at rest. Good-day.”

Orn Free Taa and an unnamed extra.

They find a terminal. Rojic has had a thought in the meantime. “Joe, check if the schematics for the building have been accessed recently.”

Joe puts down his loaf of bread and plugs in. A few minutes later he has something. “Good hunch sir. Here….Look.”

They look. “Aha! Access from a hotel lobby. Several times. Call up any security cameras. They zoom in on a stray fake snake scale on the bar of the hotel, find its reflection in the mirror over the door, filter it through a droplet on the end of the waiter’s nose and zoom in. There in the image are two big pillows.

“What’s that? The interior of a hotel room?”

“Pull back. Pan right and pull back. ... Give me a hard copy right there.” Niall says.

Joe-9T obliges.

“Still can’t make it out sir.”

Niall takes the picture and places it in his wallet. “Pull back. There!”

In the image are two women. A smartly-dressed human with a waistcoat and piped trousers – like those of a Corellian. The other is paler, thinner and she has antennapalps on her head.

“I know that woman!” Mama says, “She was a computer expert….She surrendered to our forces at the battle of Kamino!”

They look closer. Sure enough it is the same woman. –Last seen on top of a computer bank, taking pot-shots at our heroes and taking out several clones.

“Gotcha!” Niall says. “Though isn’t she in a P.O.W. camp?”

“Escaped. Records blanked.” Joe-9T explains. They all fall silent with thought.

“Don’t worry.” Niall says, “I’ve got an idea!”

The cor-sec guard stops them. They are at the ‘border’ between the civilised upper levels of Coruscant and the seedy underbelly of the underworld.

“I.D? Papers?” The droid guard asks.

“I am general Killian. Noble defender of the Republic.”

The droid searches all available databases. “Hmmm…. Killian….Nope I’ve never heard of you.”

“But I am a valiant citizen of the Republic! A Jedi Knight. A war hero, a decorated defender of the weak and….” The guard interrupts Niall.

“Nope. That don’t cut no ice. Next!”

“I’m Karnov.”

“You may go right in, ma’am.”

“Thank you my good droid.”

Niall stares open mouthed at Karnov.

“How come your name’s all legendary around these parts?” Niall wants to know.

“I did a stint down here….It was Master Junn’s idea. Thirteen weeks of hell, looking for little shiny balls. All ten-thousand of them.”

Niall thinks back. His training was more intense, chasing the little balls for days on end, perfecting his mastery of the force, his resolve, his skill. Karnov on the other hand was tasked to retrieve a box full of them, helpfully scattered by Master Juun –who tipped them off a platform a mile above their heads.

Joe-9T offers to smooth the way. He offers to take the droid out. He also mentions several thousands of shiny things cascading down into the depths. The droid shows real fear….And lets them pass.

“All a question of pushing the right buttons!” Joe-9T gurgles to himself.

The descent to the lower levels is quite an experience. “Layer upon layer of city like…. Like a piece of…..Um…..Layer cake.” Ull says. “We must be careful.”

“A padawan lost a lightsabre down here once.” Niall says.

“A lot of people lost a great deal more than that!” Karnov is quick to remind them. Niall takes charge and leads them to a seedy diner. “Obi Wan recommended this place.”

“I don’t know why. I don’t like the décor.” Mama says. A bunch of Trandoshans look up. “Nor the clientele.” They gurgle something back at her in their own language. “What’s that? Wanna sell me a crocodile handbag?” Mama taunts them. Joe-9T comes in through the door. The Trandoshans back off. “Loving what you haven’t done to this place!” Mama says. “Menoo wanna wanga sit-tto downdo indu teedo thistoo filthamuckadoo.”

A swarthy Besalisk comes over. “Yeah? What?” He grunts at them.

Dexter

“Dexter?” Niall asks.

“Who wants to know?”

“I have a friend called Obi Wan. He recommended your bagels.”

“Obi Wan you say?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

“And we’d like three bloody bantha steaks, some blue bantha milk….And….” Jimmi tells the creature.

Dexter scratches his behind and his head. In the other hands he holds a pad and a graphite writing stick.

“And something for the lady?” Dexter prompts, looking at Mama.

“A fat death-stick. Thanks.”

“Ah….Now that is what I call a classy lady.” Dex guffaws, while scratching another part of his anatomy.

“We’re after a Kushiban.”

“For the lady?” Dex asks, “I though they all had a little Kushiban hidden in the drawer next to the bed….”

“Not that kind….The thieving kind.”

“Thieving kind you say? What did he take? Surely not her cherry?”

“No.”

“Oh –What you wanna hire one?”

“We wanna find one!”

“Not here.” Dexter tells them. There’s a trillion souls on Coruscant. Only a couple of hundred races…..So there might be tens of thousands of Kushiban here abouts.”

“So….?”

“What kind of thieving?”

“The breaking and entering kind.” Karnov says. Rojic starts choking on his bantha milk. Some squirts out of his nose.

“Something wrong with your friend?” Dex asks.

“HE’S NOT OUR FRIEND!” Everyone yells.

“Sorry. –You were saying?”

“We need to track a safecracker. – A mean and ruthless one.”

“Whassup? Lost your combination?” Dexter gurgles at them, pulling wax from his ears with the pencil.

“No. We want to find someone who cracked a safe. – and plugged an innocent girl in the process.”

“Now that’s just rude!” Dexter actually looks concerned. “Like I said not here. – But go down below and find a place. I’ll scribble it here on this pad. – There’s a fixer-upper down there named Whisper.”

“Why is he called Whisper?” Karnov asks.

“Coz he shouts a lot…..Why do you think? –Stupid!”

“I’ll have you know I’m a knight of the Republic.”

“Well I’d keep that quiet if I where you.” Dexter scribbles something on the pad. He hands it over.

“Now, you gonna eat those steaks, or whistle the battle hymn of the Republic?”

They eat the steaks. Dexter asks around. In the end he comes back with the name of a club. – Far below them in the Coruscant underground.

“You’ll not be welcome there, not with you being Jedi and all.”

“I’ll show them my credentials.” Karnov says.

“That’s what we’re afraid of!” Rojic jokes.

Jimmi gives Dexter a relaxing massage on all four shoulder blades. Dexter is pleased. So pleased that he breaks wind only in Jimmi’s general direction. “My kinda girl….” He purrs, “Or is that boy?”

“I can sing for you.” Jimmi offers. Just then the fire alarm goes off. No-one can tell the difference between that and the singing. “Check out the Twilight Lounge.” Dexter tells them as a parting shot. “But don’t say I sent you.”

They head for another lift to go further below the surface. As they ride down Jimmi mulls over what they’ve heard. “We could always ask for a Twi’lek and Twiglets at the Twilight Lounge.”

“Or a tricky but tame, tidy tongue twister….Tonight!”

They alight from the lift. As soon as they’ve been spotted leaving it, a gang forms around them.

“Wanna buy death-sticks? Guns? Stims? Adrenals? Twi’leks in all colours of the rainbow?”

“No thankyou.”

“What? Don’t wanna buy?” The thug leader asks, pointedly. “Assassin droids? Pleasure droids….?”

“No. We don’t want anything thanks.”

“If you ain’t looking for those kinda things, maybe you’re looking for a rumble.”

“We don’t want any trouble.” Niall reassures the thugs.

“Not even spelled ‘T.R.U.B.I.L.’?”

“I hope your punctuation is correct.” Jimmi says, “Only we’re the punctuation police.”

This is too much for the thugs, who advance. As they do so, Karnov theatrically draws her lightsabre and ignites it. “My friend said we didn’t want trouble.” She reminds them. The thugs back off. As soon as they are far enough away, they scatter into the alleys.

“Twilight lounge.” Joe-9T says, “Carry on for about a mile and it’s on a dingy alley on the left.”

They proceed on. They wade through garbage and filth, through vagrants and stimmed-up druggies. The smell of rot and death-sticks and death itself fills the heavy humid air.

They find the club. It is full of lowlifes. Rojic and Mama fit right in.

“The problem with this place…..The Twilight lounge…..” Jimmi announces, “Is that you can neither lounge, nor is it twilight.”

“You got a problem?” One of the other customers asks, while fingering a rather large axe.

“No. No problem!” Jimmi backtracks rapidly.

Rojic descends on the gambling tables. As he suspects they are rigged and crooked. The house odds are horrendous. He prepares a little bet to find out just how much.

Mama and Joe-9T approach the bar. They have a drink and death-stick each.

“I’m looking for someone to repair my droid.” Mama says rather loudly, “He’s got a bad motivator. He tends to rip people’s arms off if he doesn’t get what he wants.”

“What does he want?” The bartender asks.

“Free drinks?” Mama says.

“Har! Har! Very funny.”

“I’ll just tell my droid. That’s an assassin droid. Very expensive, very temperamental….With the emphasis on ‘mental.’ He’s known to shoot up places…..Wild abandon….Big cleaning bill….Horrible carnage….Have to paint over the spatter….”

There is a visible clearing of a large space around Mama and Joe-9T.

“Drinks?” The bartender says in the end. Mama takes both. Joe-9T hasn’t a proper mouth, so she drinks both too. “The boss will see you now.” A waitress says, coming over. “-Just step into this booth.”

“I had a nasty turn in a booth once….” Mama tells her. “I stood up too fast, felt all dizzy and had to lie down.”

“The booth didn’t literally spin around, depositing you into the boss’ office?”

“No. If I want the boss, I let the psychotic-killer-maniac droid blast a hole in the wall….And walk in.”

Here's Joey!

“Ulp....I see.”

A few moments later a bunch of heavies join Mama. Though few equal her for weight, they could probably match her weight in guns, knives, knuckledusters, more guns and rifles and anti-tank weapons. One even has a ballista.

A thin Weequay comes over. Mama stubs out the death-stick in politeness, knowing that Weequay have a superior sense of smell.

The Weequay eyes her over. He also looks over Joe-9T. He speaks quietly – with plenty of menace in his tone. “I’m Bob. – But everyone calls me Whisper.”

“Eh? I can’t hear you.” Mama jokes. The hired goons start loading weapons. The joke falls flat. The Weequay puts up a hand. The surrounding bar goes quiet. “Whisper.” The Weequay says again.

“Sorry.” Mama whispers. “I’m Mrs. Redmoreton. But you can call me Mama. –Everyone does.”

“I can’t hear you.” Whisper tells her – In a whisper.

“What? I didn’t catch that.” Mama says.

“I….Can’t…..Hear….You.” Whisper repeats.

“I’m not stupid….I just can’t hear you.”

The charade over, Whisper shouts. This is just about audible. “What do you want?”

“Oh!” Mama can’t remember for a second. “Oh yes. We’re looking for a Kushiban safecracker….Also two women. One dressed like a Corellian, the other is a Balosar woman – White hair and little antennae on her head. Pretty, and pretty good at slicing too.” She shows Whisper the holo.

Whisper thinks it over. “I might know these people. But what is in it for me?”

Rojic flaps over. “I could help you with your tables.”

“I think that a beer mat under the left leg might be okay.” Mama says.

“Not that!” Rojic shakes his head. He addresses Whisper in a whisper. “I know they’re a little crooked….” Whisper snarls at him. Rojic adds hastily, “But I could help you make it less obvious….” Whisper is suddenly all ears. Subtly he sniffs Rojic, hoping to smell some deception. Rojic prattles on, handing out some good advice. In the end, Whisper is won over. “Okay!” He grunts. “I send you to my cousin. He’s on Florrum which is a rocky, backwater planet located six parsecs from Vanqor in the Outer Rim Territories.”

“Sounds like you know it well.”

“Only ‘coz I read Wookieepedia.”

“Okay.”

“My cousin might help you. –Tell him I sent you.” Whisper sends out a message in his pheromones. The other Weequay look at one another knowingly.

“Thanks. –I think.”

Whisper gives Rojic a nod. “Best get on those tables before I up the house edge. –It’s already ninety-three percent!”

Rojic responds in the only way he can, “Pardon?”

They leave the club. Although they don’t see it, their waitress suddenly disappears into a shady corner. They walk along the street, turn into an alley and emerge into a dingy square. They check their bearings and walk toward the checkpoint. At this point, several denizens emerge from doorways and backstreets. Their waitress chats to an Aqualish, and points at our heroes. The Aqualish approaches. “I have a message….From Xoxe.”

Before anyone can ask who Xoxe is, the Aqualish says simply, “Die!”

A Dug opens fire on Jimmi, A S’kytri soars into the air and swoops upon Rojic. Jimmi shoots at the Dug, but misses. Joe-9T unlimbers a rifle and shots the Aqualish at point-blank range. A Weequay pops up from behind a pile of desh and manages to miss Karnov. Mama sees the Weequay about to roll for cover. She leads him perfectly and manages to wound him twice, once critically. –Now we know the smell they give off when mortally wounded!

Karnov rounds on a Trandoshan and starts slugging it out. The Trandoshan is a wily old lizard and Karnov steps too close. The creature swipes at her with a huge fist. It connects. – Karnov sees stars.

Between two barrels a rifle barrel points out. It spits fire at Joe-9T. Jimmi is wise to this though. Using the force, Jimmi sweeps the barrels out of the way, exposing a human sniper.

This gives the Dug a shot on Jimmi. The Weequay starts whirling an electro-staff at Niall. Niall is not so accustomed to such a weapon, and takes a stunning blow for his ignorance. Mama and Jimmi empty several shots into the sniper. Niall and Karnov stand back-to-back, fending off Weequay and a Trandoshan respectively. The sniper has regained his composure and plugs Mama. She grimaces with the pain. The Dug leaps on top of Joe-9T, clawing and scratching with the claws on his hands and the nails on his feet . Rojic manages to wing the S’kytri. Jimmi picks up the barrel in front of the sniper. The barrel comes crashing down, spoiling his aim. To add injury to injury, Jimmi shoots the sniper, killing him. The Aqualish takes a swipe at Mama, but misses. Joe-9T grabs the Dug and throws him to the floor. As the Dug scrabbles for his feet – or is that hands?- The assassin droid fills him with three rapid shots.

Jimmi shouts a warning. Mama responds with, “What?”

Jimmi confirms a kill. “Mama….I killed a man….Put my blaster to his head…pulled my trigger….how he’s dead…..Mama….Oooo-ooo-ooooooh!” The sound of Jimmi’s singing puts the Weequay in a mean mood. He attacks Niall with ferocity, but it is his undoing. Niall calms visibly and relaxes. This sets up a powerful sweep which splits the thug into two neat bits.

“And I thought that they smelled bad….All the time!”

Karnov and the Trandoshan are going at it hammer and tongs. Blows rain down upon one another and are deflected, parried and sidestepped. Jimmi starts looking for another thug. To answer a question, a shot hits Jimmi square in the chest. This came from the rooftop. A second later, Jimmi uses the force to drag the sniper from her hiding place. As this is on the roof, there is nothing but a forty-foot drop below. Jimmi shoots the sniper on the way down, leaving her to expire quietly in a mangled heap at the bottom. A whiff of the dark side passes over the square.

“That was easy!” Jimmi jokes.

The Aqualish and Mama trade shots. Joe-9T sprays several more shots into the Dug, who is starting to think better of this fight. Niall steams in, lightsabre whirling, he slashes at the Aqualish, severing his arm. Karnov kicks out at the Trandoshan, who staggers. Karnov reverses her lightsabre. Brilliant aquamarine shines out in the darkness of the square as Karnov whirls the blade. The Dug can foresee what happens next. He slips under Niall’s guard stance and runs full-tilt for the nearest building. Several blaster bolts follow him. He scrambles up the drainpipe faster than a rat could climb the inside. The Trandoshan roars, and renews his attack. Karnov half-turns and reverse-thrusts with the lightsabre. This runs the Trandoshan through. The light goes out of its scaly eyes. Karnov gently uses the force to remove the creature from her blade. Joe-9T shoots the S’kytri dead.

Our heroes take stock. They are bruised and bloodied, but not badly. A few frightened citizens appear in doorways and at windows. “Sorry about the mess.” Mama says, tossing a few credits down on the ground. The two Jedi load Joe-9T up with the weapons, and they saunter away.

Back at the nightclub, there is a tense scene. The Dug that got way is shuffling nervously on his hands.

Whisper asks, “Did you stop them getting back to the surface?” The Dug pauses before saying, “We did what you asked, but they took down the whole gang.”

“You mean they all escaped?”

“Yes boss. They got the whole gang.”

Whisper raises his voice, though it’s hard to tell, “We were hired to plug this leak!”

“I know boss. What do we do now? Take a new gang up there?”

Whisper considers, “No. We have done our part and been paid. Kaza Xoxe can deal with them now.”

The dug can hardly believe his ears, “But my gang....!”

Whisper is dismissive. “It's just business. –Let’s go and make some profit.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Footnotes: None today.