Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
Dolash
Oct 23, 2008

aNYWAY,
tHAT'S REALLY ALL THERE IS,
tO REPORT ON THE SUBJECT,
oF ME GETTING HURT,

##Begin Log##

Captain’s Log, entry #029
Stardate: Night on the planet of a million neon colors

It felt good to wrap up our business on Taris. I only hope the payoff down the line'll be worth all the hassle.


quote:

Quinine: Did you ever doubt me?

Risha: If I did, you've just made me a believer for life.

Risha: That astrogation chart belonged to an Exchange gangster named Davik Kang.

Risha: Davik personally mapped dozens of hyperlanes between the Core and Outer Rim systems. He found shortcuts and hideouts all over the galaxy.

Risha's a one-woman encyclopedia on criminal history. I'm starting to feel like an amateur – where do you even read up on this stuff?


quote:

Risha: He was the last great leader of the Exchange crime syndicate, and the unofficial ruler of Taris.

If he's the one who made those charts and hid them in that vault, then they really must be three hundred years old. Why does Risha need them to find Nok's treasure? Not that I want to ask her straight up yet, she's slow to trust.

quote:

Risha: Have you studied much galactic history, Captain? Interesting patterns emerge, if you pay attention.

I think it's clear by now that I don't.

quote:

Risha: Davik's criminal empire ended when this planet was destroyed. Nok Drayen's empire was born when he destroyed a planet.

Quinine: What a bloodthirsty creep.

Risha: That's one way to look at it, assuming you're ignorant of the actual facts.

Risha: Once upon a time, there was a pirate haven on the Outer Rim called Mandellia. Thousands of criminals lived there.


quote:

Quinine: What did Nok want with the pirates?

Risha: These pirates were successful pirates. They acquired a lot of wealth, and Nok decided he wanted it.

Risha: When the pirates sent their reply, Nok launched a single rocket at their settlement.

Risha: The warhead was tipped with an Imperial nerve toxin. The entire settlement died in less than a minute.

There was this tone in Risha's voice when she said it, something like admiration. Made my scar itch.

quote:

Quinine: How many people did Nok murder?



I've been to pirate ports. You don't fill a planetary settlement with ten thousand evil, eyepatch-wearing corsairs. Everyone remembers the big-name marauders Nok killed and robbed, but what about all the other people they had with them? Families, servants, slaves – and even the crooks aren't all bad. What does she think we are?

Nok Drayen was a bloodthirsty creep. Admiring him for it takes a lot of ignorance... or ice cold blood in your veins.

quote:

Risha: That day on Mandellia, Nok Drayen went from being a low-rent smuggler to one of the richest criminals in the galaxy.

Risha: Anyway, that's how the legend goes. I should probably let you get back to work.

Beryl said I should watch my back around Risha, and “admires a mass-murderer” is a pretty big red flag. Being the man of principle I am, I immediately tried to persuade Risha of Nok's villainy.

quote:

Quinine: How about some more history lessons someplace private?

Sorry, I meant I immediately started flirting with her. Wow, does this look bad now that I'm going over it in my log. Is this what I sound like to other people?



Progress?

quote:

Risha: At any place, I'm ready to leave Taris. I'm sure we can find someplace more interesting to be.

Quinine: You've got a bad case of wanderlust, Risha.

Risha: Hey, it's one of my best qualities.

That was about enough of that embarrassing, uncomfortable conversation. We set a course for Nar Shaddaa.



After Taris, I was looking forward to the smuggler's moon. Always some decent action for a guy like me to make a few credits, and when you start hallucinating it's because you paid for it.

All that'll have to wait, though. We're here to make one of Risha's deliveries, and that means going back to the Nok Drayen fanclub president for fresh directions.

Recommended for our itinerary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbKKABSA9sk

quote:

Risha: The only laws are the ones people make with bribes or blasters. It's good to be home again.

Quinine: Maybe you can show me the sights, gorgeous.

Risha: Nice try, but we're here on business, not pleasure.


Great, a Hutt. I like to think I'm a tolerant guy, but Hutts are on my list – along with Sith, Imperials, and scumbags with face tattoos.


quote:

Quinine: How can that slobbering creature be worth a ship engine?

Risha: It's the last male Shanjaru in the galaxy. The species is pretty much extinct. That makes it valuable.

Risha: Drooga's hosting a giant moving party on his “pleasure barge”. It stops periodically at different locations. Right now, it's on the promenade.

Risha: I sent Drooga several messages, but he never replied. You'll have to make contact the old fashioned way.



Call me paranoid, but I don't think it'll be a one-stop delivery job. Things are never so simple with Hutts.

quote:

Risha: Don't worry. Drooga's feasts are elaborate 40-course meals. He's probably too busy gorging himself to bother with a holo.

Risha: Before you go, one more thing... I know there's a price on your head from Rogun the Butcher over some business on Ord Mantell.

Risha: Word on the HoloNet is, Rogun's personal bounty hunter is on Nar Shaddaa. His name is Zank Helrott. Watch out for him.

With a name that stupid, it shouldn't be hard.

quote:

Quinine: You think Zank is here for me?

Risha: It may only be a coincidence, but better safe than sorry.



Well, at least she doesn't mind working with a guy on the run. Helrott's a problem, though. I've been beating wannabes and nobodies just fine, but if Rogun's sending his top hired gun after me then I must be climbing his hit list.



For now, time to get reaquainted with the smuggler's moon. Corso didn't like the sound of sharing a planet with Imperials and Sith he can't fight, but I told him if I can deal with it, so can he. Something tells me I'll have enough trouble without having to go looking for it. Just to be sure, I talked him into ditching that Republic armor he'd been salvaging (we found an uncomfortably large number of bits on Taris) and got him some proper merc gear. Don't go flying a flag on Nar Shaddaa - keep your head down, do your business, and try not to get fed to a Hutt's favorite pet.

So - we'll see how well that goes.

##End Log##

← # ? Jun 30, 2013 04:41
  • Quote