As her friends come boiling into the room, the fight quickly changes from a battle to a massacre. In moments, the only remaining guard in the room who's still in any condition to fight is a Weequay, and he's likely to be swarmed under by the whores any moment.
Jileeza crouches down and looks Gulgo in the eye. "You fucked with the wrong people this time, slug. If there were any gods that would accept a piece of shit like you, I'd suggest you pray to them. Too bad. Goodbye."
Ignoring the rest of the activity in the room, 'Za then slowly and deliberately shoves the vibroknife up under the Hutt's chin and into his brainstem.
Aurelia replies by sending a holographic warrior to bash one of Erit's. A long pause, then Erit countermoves and regains the advantage.
---
The girls scatter as Lent brings the repeater to bear. His target, battered but still in the fight, sees the armored warrior too late. A quick burst of three bolts flings the Weequay across the floor where he does a fine impression of a campfire.
Gulgo's writhing ceases as Jileeza brings him peace. Almost as an afterthought, she steps on the hoversled controls, cutting the repulsors and dropping the platform with a clang on the damaged droid hiding underneath.
The armed whores have spread into the chamber, where they pick over the remains of Gulgo's henchmen. Some of the others are just now picking themselves up off the floor, while others mourn their fallen friends - or loot their corpses.
Something about crushing the droid just feels good, bringing a wicked smile to Jileeza's lips.
Noting the prostitutes looting the dead bodies, 'Za gets an idea. "I think these girls have the right idea," she says to Wayde and the boys. That said, she heads off down the tunnels in search of Gulgo's private quarters. If there's anything of real value in this place, that's where it's likely to be.
Sporadic blaster shots echo down the tunnel as the group follows 'Za in search of Gulgo's theoretical treasure. Gulgo's former ladies-of-the-evening are thorough, ensuring that no employee of Gulgo is only unconscious or wounded.
The slug's quarters are furnished in rich fabrics just as his public chambers were, a far cry from the ruddy stone and gray metal of his base's tunnels. While noone present can begin to appraise the exotic silks' balue, there was an emperor's ransom of textiles incinerated in the firefight. There are perhaps 40-50 meters worth of tapestries in Gulgo's quarters alone. In addition to the fabric, the Hutt kept a small hoard of various spices for his own use. Disappointed by the lack of easy-to-transport, easy-to-sell loot, 'Za starts ransacking the room and discovers a magnetically sealed vault set into the wall behind a curtain, about a meter and a half square.
It takes some doing, but Wayde manages to cut the power to the seal from the hallway outside and Arnae gets the vault open. A quick count puts the total at ten thousand credits - probably an emergency fund for the Hutt. There are several assorted odds and ends as well. Three datapads, heavily encrypted; an assortment of gilded pottery in a style Jileeza recognizes as Royal Alderaanian; a matching pair of human hands floating in bacta containers; and finally, a short, straight chrome rod with an emitter at one end - a lightsaber. A lightsaber which, when inspected, looks to be somewhat damaged and completely inoperative.
Upon locating the vault, Jileeza steps back and sweeps a hand toward it. "All yours, boys. I'm sure you can handle this one."
And she is right, as Wayde and Arnae have it open in a matter of minutes. Jileeza's eyes glow at the sight of the loot. Figuring that it can be fixed, 'Za scoops up the lightsaber and stuffs it inside her blouse. She then pulls down a sheet of silk, lays some of the Royal Alderaanian pottery in the middle, and gathers up the corners to carry it over her shoulder like a makeshift bag. She'll leave the cash to the others.
Lent takes a moment to inspect the contents of the vault. He grabs as much of the loot as he can stow about his person/in his backpack, focusing mainly on the cash and any exotic weapons other than the lightsaber and then heads out to the hall to keep watch.
Aurelia gets the message over the commlink and frowns, finishing her move and getting up.
"Thanks for watching out for me Erit..."
She heads off to the cockpit, her mind something other than a swirling mess of emotions thanks to the help, and attentions, of the Jedi. She starts heating up the drives and, as a precaution, putting the sheilds and weapons system on Stand-By.
Arnae follow's 'Za's example with improvising a bag from the expensive silks, taking care to fold, not tear, and stuffs in the datapads along with helping Lent with the cash.
Lent sees Ash Pomba furtively heading up the hallway. "Pardon me, is it over? I heard quite a lot of gunfire, and as your Captain will tell you, I'm not very combative, so... I decided to explore a bit and it's quite interesting, actually. I believe I found a passage leading to Gulgo's escape shuttle. I was in a ventilation shaft at the time but you could probably get there if you knew where his quarters were."
He fidgets a little bit, looking over his shoulder just in case there's someone there. "Also, I don't know how to fly very well. It's one thing to fly across the Dune Sea, but quite another matter to navigate these Sith-forsaken tunnels!"
There's the low rumbling of an ion engine powering up, followed by the whissss of stabilizers and finally the angry whine of a small spacecraft blasting off. 'Za, Arnae, and Lent are closer; they can pinpoint that the sound's coming from behind another tapestry. A quick yank reveals a coded door.
Jileeza overhears the cringing little runt talking to Lent and smiles. The thought of a second vehicle is rather attractive - not to mention profitable.
Then they hear a ship taking off and 'Za rips away the tapestry, anger clearly written on her face. "Damn it! Someone stole our new shuttle!"
Flicking her communicator, Jileeza barks. "Erit! Aurelia! Do either of you see a shuttle fleeing Gulgo's quarters? Can you track its course?"
Then they hear a ship taking off and 'Za rips away the tapestry, anger clearly written on her face. "Damn it! Someone stole our new shuttle!"
Wayde arrives fashionably late, stacks of credits bulging out of his cargopant pockets.
"Yet we gained a hideout and found Gulgo's horde. It'd be a shame to waste it. Besides...I'm tired of running and being shot at. I say we set up shop here."
Since Aurelia's already in the cockpit, it's an easy task to reach the scanning console within moments of 'Za's hasty request.
She dials in the short-range scans, shunting power from the weapons temporarily to increase the resolution. Aurelia finds the shuttle's signature; it's burning full throttle in a high arc, heading out of Sullust's gravity well. That's what anyone trained to operate shipboard systems would tell you. Aurelia knows, based on the speed and the reported mass of the vessel, that the shuttle is likely to be a Corellian make, fairly diminutive, and, judging from the energy outputs, going to make hyperspace before anything can catch it. It's SOP for us at any rate, Aurelia thinks.
Jileeza pauses a moment, listening to Wayde. "You know, I rather like that idea..." 'Za says with a grin. "It's not like that fat slug needs the place anymore.
"Of course, any of his enemies that come looking for him and don't know he's dead are likely to end up on our doorstep."
Another thought occurs to her. "We might want to make a thorough tour of the place before we decide. We'll need to find out what kind of facilities are available here, whether it has room for all of us, and make sure there aren't other problems lurking in unknown corners."
fanchergw
