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| - The talk of the planet, indeed of the sector, is of the festivities being thrown by the new Hutt that has taken over, or so he says anyway, Tatooine. And what festivities they are, stories going round being that the feast is to last for days without end with merriment to be provided for any that call upon the Hutt. The perfect environment for deals to be struck, and given just how much liquor flows, those deals are likely to favour the Hutt. The crater inside of Juuka's palace-compound that serves as a landing pad is busy, ships take off and land, and those that are to stay for longer periods are crowded into one section of it, allowing landings to be a fairly straightforward affair. Viszla, the Devaronian attendant of Juuka, roams the landing pad, arms crossed behind him, hidden by the cape that somehow he manages to wear despite the sweltering heat of this place. The descent of a starship is usually accompanied by roaring thrusters, the screech of ions and thundeorus cracks of air pressure as they move but the Twilight Heart descends with scarcely a whisper, its dampened drive quiet until it is virtually - within a few thousand meters anyway - on top of the palace. Its sleek lines resemble the larger Lambda but it is a leaner beast, tapered and sloped its sharp angles bearing down through the cockpit, a predator without apology. The Twilight Heart settles onto a vacant pad smoothly and with a crack and hiss of depressurisation the boarding ramp lowers from beneath the cockpit's cowl, thick white jets erupt ahead of the disembarking figure as the vessel's life support cycles and vents its refuse CO2 in a shrouding mist from which Vidious emerges. Nothing was known about the latest arrival aside that they requested permission to land at the last moment and nothing is known by the time it unloads its passenger. Black leather and mask doing an excellent job of covering up just who it is that the Devaronian finds himself faced with. Viszla waits until the figure has drawn just a tad nearer before walking forward, bowing respectfully enough for the regent of Temiculla V herself to be pleased. "Welcome to Lord Juuka's palace. We are of course most pleased to receive you. Curious, but pleased nevertheless." The mask rises high enough to admit shadows beneath the hood, playing along the raised surfaces and leaving the darkness to pool in the recesses as the figure wordlessly regards the bowing Devaronian. His head turns left and then right, a wary eye behind the visor considering their surroundings - this was Tatooine, it was foolish not to consider the hidden blade. More foolish still to imagine you could do anything about its presence. When Vidious speaks, the words are venomous honey, a smooth rumble like gravel in a silk prse. "I will speak with your Master." "I ca...", the Devaronian reconsiders, looks at the figure again, at the odd markings and the odder still skull and related imagery on the outfit, finally he nods. "I will take you to my lord. But remember that these are Juuka's lands, and on Juuka's lands, Juuka is supreme. Do not attempt anything for which you may not be prepared for." False bravado, perhaps, Viszla is clearly unsettled by the figure before him, but worse than anything the newcomer can do is what Juuka holds for those that let him down. And with that, the reddish-coloured being turns around and leads the two deeper into Juuka's palace, up winding stairwells, narrow corridors, much much wider corridors, all of them poorly lit until finally they emerge in the audience chamber where the Hutt is seated on his throne, a raised platform at the opposite end of the hall. "What do you bring me, Emmit?", Juuka's deep voice rolls and echoes against the walls of the audience chamber, no doubt an intentional aspect of the palace's design. The Devaronian's acquiesence receives the faintest nod of acknowledgement, a slight dip of the mask's exadurrated chin. Hutts may be petty gangsters but they are possessed of a low cunning and ruthless cruelty. An unwise man might imagine that gaining entrance to a Hutt's palace was the harder part. But this is their mistake - it is not slipping past the defenses. It is step by step being drawn deeper into a web. Vidious mentally marks each turn, silently counts the footsteps. Each coridoor assessed as they pass through it, an irregular stain here, chipped stonework there. The subtle differences that serve as signposts to those who navigate labrynths often. When at last they come to the Hutt's throne room Vidious turns an eye across the entourage. Better to let someone get the wrong impression, things always went smoother thereafter. Slaves, sycophants and sentries. That is Juuka's entourage, par for the course for a Hutt. All of it complemented by the blare of a disgustingly loud music being played by the band shielded from easy view within a recessed alcove of the audience hall. "My lord, this...being wishes to pay proper respects to you and so he has come to do so.", Emmit's answer is greeted with a narrowing of the Hutt's eyes. And Juuka speaks, in his native tongue. "Is that so, you wish to pay your respects? Pay them, then." Clearly, Vidious comprehends Huttese, for he descends the steps after meeting the gaze of each and every sentry in the chamber for a little longer than they find comfortable and moves to take his place on centre stage. Theatrics were a necessity of power, a display for the subjects. So much simpler, cheaper, and less bloody than other demonstrations of power. "I greet you, Lord Juuka." Vidious begins. "And congratulate you on reclaiming the Desilijic throne. It has too long been vacant, the underworld left to the ravages of /vermin/." "A steady hand at the helm is a welcome development." The hutt's booming laughter greets the strange one's words after Juuka spends an eternity considering them. "I suppose that is one method of paying your respect.", flattery that is, "I would greet you if I knew whom it was I was speaking to. But I do not. Juuka looks at his entourage, the brief glance from him ensuring that attention is turned back to him. After all, what is the point of throwing a party if you are not to be at the heart of it. "You may call me 'Vidious'." Permission granted. Information bestowed as largesse. Important to define the relationship early on. It'd grate on the Hutt's ego no doubt, but that too could serve a purpose. "It remains to be seen what kind of Hutt you are, volumous Juuka. Your predecessor claimed legitimacy - a dictatorship for the people. But his reach never extended beyond this backwater. He stagnated, and he paid the price." A moment to let the allegation sink in, another to permit wild speculation as to threats. "He was no Jabba." Juuka snickers at the mention of his volume, the well-chosen compliment acknowledged with the briefest of nods. "My legitimacy is assured by the depth of my coffers and the reach of the guns said-coffers put at my disposal. Rest assured of that, Vidious.", Juuka pronounces that name carefully, as carefully as it could be in the Hutt language, which means that Juuka only mostly mangles it. "I have heard of you. Specifically I have heard of you dealing with the whoremongering Besadii.", he is far less conscientious in how he pronounces -this- name, the taste it leaves in his mouth clearly sour judging by the grimace on those fat lips. "Have you had your fill of cheap baubles and fake artifacts made in Besadii sweatshops? Is that why you seek me out? If so, I congratulate you on your improving business acumen." Behind his mask, Vidious smiles. Drinking in the passion, the venom with which Juuka virtually spits the Besadii name from his gaping maw and the hatred born of deep and abiding avarice is refreshing. Such naked hate. "A wise Hutt knows that loyalty is always for sale." A saying widely attributed to Jabba. Whether he actually said it is highly debtable, but as is the way of legends they grow to eclipse even the largest of beings. "The Besadii have reached the limits of their use to me. When Draga fell, the opportunity to take power presented itself." Vidious' hand rises, the macabre gauntlet slipping free of its robe shroud and an open palm gesturing indicatively to the corpulant slug. "And yet, here you are...if they will not seize on opportunity, perhaps you will." "Jabba said many things, many wise, but we all know that his wisdom failed him at times.", Juuka is determined to not make the same mistakes as his more illustrious cousin. "Very well, Vidious. Tell me of this opportunity you speak of and take great care to not try and sell me a bad bill of goods." Viszla has, by now, walked over to his master's side, standing at the feet of the platform. "The underworld is in chaos." Vidious' open palm sweeps in a slow gesture across the space between them as if conjouring an image for the mind's eye. "Petty criminals fued over the carcass of the once proud Desilijic empire. They tear off scraps and spill blood to retain them. Proclaiming themselves masters of whatever they can scavenge. Their rivalries draw attention, their squabbling impedes business. Money, Lord Juuka, is being stolen from the graves of your forebears and the bulk is lost to the dirt as the thieves try to escape with it." A clenched fist and a low, rumbling hiss. "Say what you will of Jabba, he tolerated no such...division. No such disorder." Juuka nods, a deeper one than that granted for the earlier compliment. But that nod is all that he shows for drawn out moments as he again ponders the masked one's answer. "You speak well. Grasping little beings root among what is not theirs and they cast their eyes upwards, above their reach, when they should be looking down. A little chaos and disorder is to be expected and even encouraged, we are not the Empire nor for that matter that simpering Republic." A laugh spreads among Juuka's entourage, and the Hutt halts long enough to bask in it. "But you are right that it has grown to nearly unmanageable proportions. What then do you propose, what is this opportunity you speak of?" "A cartel to span the stars." If that doesn't get the attention of a megalomaniacal crime lord, little will. "Jabba reigned at the height of the Empire's power. He did so because he understood what the Emperor understood." "Crime. Is. Inevitable." "Well ordered, it is acceptable. Even to those who fight against it. Reclaim control. Take back what is rightfully yours, contain its excesses and exploit every concession." Vidious reaches into his robe, and tosses to the stone floor between he Juuka a velvet pouch. The impact spilling brilliant stones across the floor - Corsuca gems, to the discerning eye. The value, even at a conservative estimate, must be several hab-blocks. If they're real. "I would have great use of a network so...reliable. As would many others." Juuka's eyes grow to the size of saucers at the sight of those gems that spill out onto the floor, he licks his lips in anticipation at holding them. And Viszla, knowing very well what they meant for the Hutt, dispatched a servant to grab them. After checking them for the obvious poison and/or booby trap, Viszla takes it and is in the process of handing it over when Juuka stops him with an upraised arm. "Juuka is not made for being anyone's servant. However, for the right price, well I am sure that almost anything can be accomplished." "Your industry will be its own reward, Lord Juuka." Vidious cautions as the Hutt pauses, fearful perhaps of seeming /too/ grasping. Too desparate. He has after all, a reputation to maintain. The hesitance is opportunity, a note made and filed away for later. "You need only reach out and claim it. Offer what no other being in the galaxy can, /allow/ no other to offer it, and you will have power and wealth undreamed of in millenia." "Consider it a down payment." Vidious gestures to the pouch held in Viszla's hands. "An investment in the growth of your enterprise." "Is that so?", Juuka asks, eyes narrowing again as he looks over Vidious. "Your generosity seems almost limitless. One would think that you had powerful resources to call upon, an entire empire's worth even." One did not get to be where Juuka now found himself without being able to put a few things together. And though these are just tentative guesses, Juuka has perhaps reason to believe that he isn't completely taking a shot in the dark. "Either way, it is only proper for my appetite knows no bounds as well." When one strives to be enigmatic, neither confirmation nor denial of suspicions serves. Rumor and suspicion are powerful tools in both anonymity and control. Juuka would believe what he wanted to believe, and little could change that. "Look to Corellia." Vidious advises, leaving the entire subject of who he is and what resources are at his disposal hanging unacknowledged in the air. "The Republic refits its fleet with smuggled arms and materials." All the better to evade the auditors of the Security Bureau and Commerce Directorate. "It should not prove difficult to exploit their readiness to turn a blind eye to anomalies." "An opportunity, certainly, but what is to be your role in this should I decide to focus my efforts on Corellia?", a Hutt's paranoia took second place only to their love of wealth and power. The Devaronian attendant at Juuka's side finally decided to rid himself of the gems, passing them onto a servant wo scurried away out of the room and towards whichever secret passage led to Juuka's treasure horde. Vidious' gaze turns upon the entourage - the slaves, the sycophants. Symbols of status, tools of power, played one against the other by a master not unskilled in manipulation. And yet every one a liability. "They will leave us." the dark figure demands of his host. The hutt understands the need for this, but the stranger's, far less of one now than when he first arrived in Juuka's domain, tone rankles him. But, there were profits to be made and power to be attained. Juuka nods and the Devaronian turns to the entourage, dismissing it, or rather most of it. Those, a pair, that stayed instantly given status over the others in that the Hutt considers them trustworthy. And in all this, the Hutt remains silent, waiting for the other to answer his question at last. The irritation calculated, Vidious smiles beneath his mask as he senses the Hutt's heckles rise. The will of a Hutt was no small thing, but even minds that do not quail before the commands of a Sith could be changed. Anger is a close cousin to action. Pride like brother to desire. The greater the passions he could stir in the slug, the easier it would be to control him. "I have brought you wealth and news of opportunity - /that/ is my role. If you are unable to conquer Corellia, I will offer these terms to another and they will grow powerful by them. Perhaps the Besadii will yet surprise me..." "Surprise you with their incompetence perhaps. but then you know that already else you would not risk upsetting them by coming to me in the first place. Burning your bridges and all that, as they say." Juuka's laugh echoes, and this time he is the only one to do so. The three left in his entourage were professionals, valued for their skills, not for their ability to flatter. "Very well, your generous tribute is accepted. I will think on it and if my sources confirm what you say, I will act on it." "Most wise, Lord Juuka." Vidious' silky rumbling voice echos on the stone of the now quiet chamber. "I will look forward to your success. And when Corellia kneels before you, there will be fresh opportunity."
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