Star Wars Underworld Episode I

Star Wars - Underworld

It is a time of turmoil in the galaxy. The Rebel Alliance has just struck a massive blow to the dreaded Empire with the destruction of the Death Star, a mega-weapon capable of annialating entire planets.

Emboldened by the victory, an independent band of so-called Rebels seized control of the Lista-Gon Spaceport on the planet Coruscant at the heart of the Empire taking hostages abd demanding that Rebel prisoners be freed.

A group of prisoners being transported to the spice mines of Kessel became embroiled in the conflict at Lista-Gon. A Wookiee with a reputation as a street-tough hired gun named Arri Tatha, a rare medical droid with a glitch that had given rise to a conscience and lust for life named M3-d1c, and Jolian Dice, an Imperial Investigator who had been framed for the murder of his former commander. All three had found themselves in shackles after uncovering some information on the mysterious disappearances of children across the galaxy and the implication that the Crimson Guard, an elite unit of troopers within the Empire, had been directly involved.

Whether by the will of the Force or simple luck, the three fugitives managed to thwart the Rebel terrorist plot, rescue the hostages and escape the clutches of the Empire aboard a pleasure yacht retrofitted into a smuggling vessel called 'The Glass Eye', taking heavy damage as it made the jump to hyperspace.

Seeking aide and safety far from the clutches of the Empire, the Glass Eye arrived at Cloud City on the planet Bespin, the crew unaware that they had been tracked from Coruscant by someone interested in the skills of the fugitive trio...

Captain Jolian Dice

Arri Tatha

M3-d1c

The Glass Eye

Episode I: Introductions on Bespin

“Something's wrong.” Jolian Dice mumbled through the ship's intercom.

A loud, rumbling growl rolled through the corridors of the Glass Eye as Arri Tatha yelled something about the engines followed by the sound of the popping of bolts ricocheting and a hiss of steam.

“Yes, besides the engine!” Dice chanced a scowl at the intercom, he had to concentrate to keep the Glass Eye level in the atmosphere of the gas planet Bespin. The engines chugged and clanked and shook the entire ship rattling in their chassis. Over his shoulder Dice could sense the odd droid M3-d1c approaching, setting it's four arms casually resting on a different seat within the cockpit, seemingly unperturbed by the dire circumstances.

“Is there some medical issue I can assist with?” M3 asked politely.

“Sure, what are the odds we land this scrap bucket without dying,” Dice groaned sarcastically.

M3 seemed to take the question seriously and looked from the cockpit terminals to the view-port where a large swath of orange skies and heavy white clouds marred the visibility of Cloud City in the distance. Shaking his head the droid replied, “I never tell the odds.”

Dice shook his head in exasperation and the hulking, silver furred Wookiee Arri Tatha filled the space behind M3, growling and clutching a paw to a scratch across his forehead.

M3 noticed the wound and reached one arm to touch it, “Allow me to help you.” The droid's 3 other arms rose in unison, each producing some medical instrument, a syringe, a laser, and a small whirring saw.

Arri slapped the hand away with a heavy paw and growled.

“As you wish.” M3 lowered his arms somewhat despondently.

“What is it?” Arri rumbled.

“We've got company” Dice explained to his two companions indicating through the view-port at two Winguard patrol ships to either side of the Glass Eye. “Either of you know anyone here?”

The Wookiee and droid shook their heads.

A voice crackled through the intercom, “Please follow us to Miss Shen's private docking platform.”

“Eriss Shen?” Dice looked questioningly from M3 to Arri but neither recognized the name.

“I suspect it's a trap,” M3 observed aloud. Dice and Arri exchanged a look as if a trap were obvious.

“Can we make it to another platform?” Arri asked.

“Remember when you asked the odds of survival?” M3 asked Dice. “I suggest we take what help we can.”

As if agreeing, the Glass Eye shook as the engines sputtered.

“Okay okay,” Dice reached for the com and tried to sound as calm and casual as he could when he pressed the transmit button. “This is the Glass Eye. We will follow you to the plat-form. And, thank Miss Shen for the warm welcome.” Dice shrugged as he fumbled through the transmission and shot a glare at Arri who was snickering behind M3.

Dice cut the engines and the Glass Eye shuddered and was still. Dice glanced around the cockpit, “she's a tough old ship. It's gonna cost more than I want to think about to fix her up again. I don't suppose you guys have any idea how to fix up one of these things?”

Arri held out his wide paws and flashed claws, “I'm built for killing things, Dice. You should know that by now.” The Wookiee flashed a smile that looked more like a snarl full of jagged teeth then turned to make his way to the ship's exit ramp.

“And I'm built to fix,” M3 added, then noticed the miniature buzz saw protruding from a panel on one of his arms. “Well, mostly fix.” With a nod the quirky droid followed Arri to the exit.

Dice rose from the pilot seat shaking his head. Through the view-port he could see a tall, wide entrance into the docking terminal open and emit a white protocol droid approaching the ship.

“Cloud City, huh.” Dice sighed and looked to the orange sky dubiously, “I've got a bad feeling about this.”

The protocol droid had been the dockmaster and wasted no pleasantries on the trio, refusing to answer questions with any answer other than, “Miss Shen will meet you at Center Market on this level.”

Arri, Dice and M3 made their way to the market finding a bustling square of vendors and patrons hailing from worlds across the galaxy. Before they had ventured too far into the streets a young a beautiful woman drew near and whispered, “Listen carefully, I am Eriss Shen and I have a business proposition for you but we cannot talk here. Meet me by the Droid Access Hatch.” She moved on swiftly, disappearing into the crowds just as a shady group of thugs emerged around a corner from the street she had come from a moment earlier. A cloaked Ithorian lead three rough looking Humans all craning their necks to scan the crowd.

“Spread out, find her.” The Ithorian ordered. The thugs moved off into the crowd leaving Arri, Dice and M3 to exchange nervous looks.

“I don't like this one bit,” Dice whispered.

“We need weapons.” Arri agreed. “How many credits do we have?”

“Credits,” M3 cocked his head as if processing the notion of money for the first time. “Yes, credits are necessary.” The droid trundled away into the market place crowd before Arri or Dice could protest.

“I can get my hands on 400 or so,” Dice said.

“I have 600.”

Both paused a moment in consideration, 1000 credits wasn't a lot between the three of them.

Dice noticed a pair of Windguard Officers leaned against a pillar and perched on a stair case overlooking the crowds.

“Let me check with them.” Dice suggested. “Maybe they'll talk to me, you know, cop to cop.” He shrugged and marched off toward the Winguard Officers leaving Arri to roll his eyes.

Arri scanned the crowd for Eriss and noticed M3 amid the milling and muttering masses, his four arms darting with surgical precision into pockets and packs to extract handfulls of credits that it tucked into a compartment on its torso.

The Wookiee smiled, he liked the droid. In such a dire situation, wanted by the Empire, hated by the Rebellion, at the edge of the galaxy and low on credits with a busted ship and their identities already discovered, M3 managed a youthful lust for self discovery.

Scanning the crowd further, Arri spotted one of the thugs rejoining his companions next to a fountain at the center of the market. They were talking, one indicating the toward the West end. Arri scanned West across the market until he saw her, Eriss Shen skulking in the shadow of an alley next to a metal hatch just large enough for a droid.

Eriss seemed to realize she had been spotted and she looked nervously at her chronometer.

Arri looked to Dice who was making his way back from the Winguard with a thumbs up and Arri pointed toward the gang as they started away from the fountain.

Dice followed Arri's paw and saw the gang moving with a purpose away from the square's central fountain. His time as an officer knew the look in the thug's eyes, like hunters stalking their prey. He moved quickly to intercept them, hurrying through the crowds and stepping directly into the Ithorian with a crash. Dice had picked up a few tricks as his years in the Imperial Inquisition and pickpocketing was one of those things you needed to know to keep it from happening to you. Under the guise of catching the Ithorian and preventing him from falling, Dice reached inside the cloak and snatched away a blaster pistol and a commlink, deftly hiding them within his own jacket.

“I'm so sorry,” Dice apologized with a step back, his hands raised to show he meant no harm.

The Ithorian hissed, “Watch where your going, nerf herder!”

“My fault completely. I'm new here and I just wasn't paying attention.” With a sheepish grin Dice stepped aside to let the thugs pass, hoping they wouldn't start a brawl under the hawk nosed gazes of the Winguard.

The Ithorian glanced at the guards on the staircase, their eyes trained on the interaction, and it sneered at Dice before stomping away with the Humans following.

Arri had watched the scene play out, nervous that his claws would be coming out already, but he let out a sigh of relief when the thugs moved on without further conflict. He looked to the Droid Access Hatch and saw that Eriss had gone.

The gang had disappeared into the city streets as well.

“She's gone,” Arri growled as Dice sauntered up, pleased with himself.

“Don't worry about it,” Dice opened his jacket to reveal a blaster and produce a comm-link that buzzed and crackled with static broken by the occasional voice.

“I've spotted her sir. She's on a lift to Level 50, block.” One voice spoke.

“Follow her and don't let her see you. Stand guard when you reach her apartment, do not let her leave.” The raspy voice that replied was that of the Ithorian.

“We'll head to her place once we have some weapons,” Dice suggested as he clicked the comm-link off and replaced it in his inner jacket pocket. “Those guards told me about a trader named Rennik Thai, a Twi'lek on the East End, they said he's a fair dealer.” Dice glanced around, “Should we wait for M3?”

Arri shrugged, “I think he's having fun.”

M3 had been enjoying himself. The more he processed the notion of credits the more he understood that biological life in many ways relied heavily on the acquisition of credits and his numerous successes at picking the pockets of the market denizens had proved an extremely efficient way to do it. The droid had amassed nearly 1000 credits by the time he noticed Arri and Dice making their way through the marketplace toward the Eastern End.

The droid stepped up next to his companions just as the Twi'lek vendor Rennik Thai was snapping back at Dice, “That's how much one costs! Why would I throw anything in to sweeten the deal?”

Dice fumbled with his words, shrugging and looking to Arri for support.

“He's an idiot. Don't pay attention to him. Just tell me if you have any axes.” Arri's lips twisted into a hungry smile.

“An axe you say? How about a vibro-axe? I'll give you a deal at 700 credits.” Rennik replied and ducked through a curtained doorway, returning a moment later with an elegant golden axe. Arri's eyes lit at the sight and just as quickly faded again as he turned to Dice.

“We are going to need more credits,” Arri growled.

M3 stepped up to the counter and presented bundles of credits in all four hands, “I believe this will be plenty.”

Rennik smiled at the droid as he greedily collected the credits, counting under his breath then nodding, “Oh yes. Plenty my friend.”

“M3! How did you-” Dice shook his head in awe. “Nevermind, I don't want to know.”

Arri lifted the vibro axe in his paws, testing the wait and testing the electric carving powered blade with a flick of a button. The axe buzzed and sparked for a moment and Arri turned it off again before it drew attention.

“I also want 4 of any grenades you have.” M3 ordered.

Rennik looked surprised, then worried as he realized there would be one granade for each hand, then smiled as he pocketed the credits and gleefully handed M3 grenades one by one.

The trio stepped away from Rennik's kiosk and formed a circle.

Dice stifled a yell into a choked whisper and drew near the medical droid, “4 GRENADES?”

M3 nodded, “They are efficient.”

“I like it,” Arri clapped an approving paw on the droids back.

“What about you, Captain?” M3 sounded almost eager to spend more credits.

Dice waved the droid off indicating that he had snatched one off of one of the thugs and producing the commlink. He turned it on and the trio listened in on a conversation in progress.

“-ay there until I report back what Voors wants us to do,” the Ithorian said.

“Where are you gonna be?” One of the Human thugs replied.

“We're going to the Four and a Half to talk to the boss.” The Ithorian again.

“Bring me a drink if I'm gonna be on guard duty.” The man replied.

“You just watch that door and make sure she stays there, understood!” The Ithorian's anger was palpable.

Dice switched off the comm-link and displayed it to Arri and M3, “We can track the other comm-link to get us into the area of the right apartment block on level 50.” Dice explained. “But once we're there we'll need to figure out her apartment number.”

“Sounds like we'd better hurry,” Arri observed.

Dice and M3 nodded agreement.

Cloud City was a beautiful, shining white city for the most part, but the trio found themselves wandering through dark streets, walls covered in a creeping green moss where sunlight could never penetrate. Makeshift lanterns that hummed with ungrounded electricity cast the streets in flickering red light. Laundry was strung between towering buildings like multicolored patchwork flags and beggars roamed the alley ways checking dumpsters for food and anything worth a credit. There had not been a Winguard patrol for some time. Prostitutes of all species lounged on the street corners chatting among themselves until spotting a potential customer, calling out offers to Arri and Dice as they passed.

Arriving at an apartment tower, Dice checked the comm-link, “this must be the place. The other comm should be somewhere in this place.”

All three observed the entryway, a double-door of glass that had been cracked in numerous places.

“At least this place has doors.” Arri nodded his approval. Many of the apartment buildings they had passed had patched doors or no doors at all. This tower looked like a 5 star hotel by comparison.

M3 held the door open and all three entered the building lobby noticing a depressed looking Sollustan behind a desk, casting a side long look at them. Dice headed straight for the desk and the Sollustan turned to face him with suspicious eyes.

“How can I help you, sir?” The Sollustan asked.

Dice put on a smile and leaned on the desk drawling a sneer of distaste from the Sollustan.

“Maybe you could help us out,” Dice said. “Do you know Miss Shen? I think she has an apartment in this building but I just can't recall the floor or the number. I'm late for a meeting so if you could help me out...” Dice trailed off and let the Sollustan consider his request but the man only pursed his lips in annoyance.

“I'm afraid that information is confidential.”

Dice tapped the counter and cocked a thumb toward the entrance, “It might not be great for business if the Winguard heard about the prostitutes working outside your tower. I have a couple friends in the guard who could use something to do-” Dice lifted the comm-link to his lips as if he were going to radio the guards and the Sollustan rose from his seat to lean over the desk and stammer an apology.

“I'm sorry sir, I had no idea you were with the Winguard. Forgive me. I'll cooperate, just, put the comm away, yeah?”

Flashing a cocky glance to Arri and M3, Dice lowered his hand and smiled warmly at the Sollustan.

“Miss Shen you say?” The Sollustan repeated the name as he returned to his seat and accessed the computer terminal, his fingers tapping away on keys.

“How long has she been at this complex?” Dice asked.

With an annoyed crook to his brow the Sollustan leaned close to the terminal screen to read more closely, “It appears she has been with us for....6 months. She has an apartment on the 27^th floor. Room 34.”

“Thank you,” Dice reached into his jacket and extracted 50 credits, sliding them across the desk to the Sollustan. In his time as an Investigator, Dice had learned the best way to approach the denizens of the Underworld was with a little sweet and a little sour. The Sollustan accepted the credits happily. “You never saw us, okay?” Dice waited for the Sollustan to nod in reply then returned to Arri and M3.

“How did it go,” M3 inquired.

“Floor 27 room 34.” Dice replied.

“Fascinating,” M3 glanced from Dice to the Sollustan. “I thought I might have to use one of my grenades to make him talk.”

“It's best to win with words” Arri counseled and set off for the lifts.

M3 and Dice followed close behind, Dice shook his head in exasperation at the droid.

“What is it with you and grenades?”

On floor 27 three heads peeked around a hall corner, a silver furred Wookie, a shaggy red haired Human, and a white Droid with large black orbs for eyes. They observed the hallway lined with apartment doors and one of them watched by a Human thugs leaning against the wall.

Arri cracked his knuckled ready to attack but M3 raised his four hands to halt his companions.

“Allow me to talk with the man. Best to win with words,” M3 repeated Arri's advice and rounded the corner into the hall, jovially approaching the thug,

“He's going to get himself turned to scrap,” Dice muttered to Arri who snickered in reply.

M3 thought it best to pretend he was lost and searching apartment numbers. Approaching the thug he noted that the guarded door was indeed number 34.

“Ah, hello!” M3 greeted the thug who returned a cold gaze. “Perhaps you can help me. I am looking for apartment 34. Ah, I see it is there behind you,” M3 leaned around the guard who pulled a blaster from a holster at his hip.

“And just what the hell do you want there?” The thug demanded.

“Oh, I uh,” it was as if one could literally see M3's gears turning as he tried to craft a lie. “I have 50 credits for you.” The droid produced a small stack of credits and presented them to the thug who scowled and raised the blaster level with M3's chest.

“You're about to be scrap, droid.” The thug menaced.

“Well then,” M3 noticed Arri approaching quietly along the hall, too quiet for a creature of his size and bulk. Returned the credits to the compartment on his torso M3 took a step back from the thug and the blaster, “I'm sorry about your head.”

“My head-” the thug's words broke off as he was slammed into the wall and knocked unconscious by Arri Tatha.

As if the sound had been a knock at the door, it opened and Eriss Shen peaked out, glancing from the guard on the floor to the trio just as Dice joined them.

“Come inside, hurry.” She hissed.

Dice entered the apartment followed by M3 who paused to look from the thug to the Wookiee, raise a hand as if he was going to ask a question, then think twice and let it go. Arri lifted the thug like a feather and followed into the apartment, closing the door behind.

The apartment was nice compared to the rest of the building with wide windows looking out upon the cloth festooned streets beyond. A well dressed man with gray hair slicked away from narrow eyes looked down his nose at the trio as Eriss ushered them inside.

“Thank you for finding me, I was worried we would not get to speak.” Eriss turned to face the group and gave a nod over her shoulder to the well dressed gentleman at the back of the room. “This is my father, Eron. He is the one who requested this meeting.”

Dice pulled the blaster from his hip and pointed it at Eriss, scowling from her to her father, Eron. “Good,” Dice growled. “Then you can tell us how you know our identities and that we would be arriving on Cloud City.”

Eriss froze, raising her hands in fear and looking to her father for help.

Eron's expression remained cool and cold and he spoke in a pompous, sneering voice, “Threats wont be necessary Captain. Please, put the blaster away.”

“If you know who we are then you know we just escaped Imperial hands. Forgive me if I'm not especially trusting. Answers, now.”

Eron let a knowing smile creep across his lips, “Yes I know who you are. All of you. I know that M3-d1c is wanted by the Empire as some kind of murder bot gone rogue. I know that Arri Tatha has a bounty out in connection with the slaying of the Hawk's Talon crew. And I know that you wont shoot my daughter, Captain Dice, because until recently you were an officer of the law. An honorable man.”

Arri exchanged glances with Dice and M3 and Dice lowered his blaster.

“I have my ways of hearing the whispers on the Imperial Holo-net,” Eron continued. “The Rebel attack on Lista-Gon has been all the chatter, and from what I understand you three were instrumental in thwarting it. I have no love for the Empire myself, but I had friends taken hostage there, good people who should never have been put in harms way. So I first need to thank you for what you did and second assure you that I have no intention of sharing your location with the Empire. I too am, shall we say, not in the Empire's good graces right now. In fact, were it not for me you three would have never made it to Cloud City. General nav computers show Bespin but Cloud City has managed to stay off astrogation charts for some time. When I learned that you were suspected to be aboard the Glass Eye, I had a friend upload the coordinates and, well, here you are.”

“Here we are,” Arri growled. The thug in his arms stirred and the Wookiee bopped him on the head, knocking him unconscious once more. “Is there somewhere I can put him?”

Eriss pointed toward a refresher room and Arri carried the man in, dropping him unceremoniously to the floor then stooping to retrieve the man's blaster and comm-link. Returning to the group and nodding over his shoulder to the refresher he asked, “So who are those guys?”

“My husband doesn't trust me,” Eriss sounded disgusted. “He's a very controlling man. My, father arranged it.”

Eron moved to fix himself a glass of alcohol, “Yes well, he is a powerful man here on Cloud City and an alliance was needed. We will soon have you free of him.”

“And just who is he?” Arri pressed.

“He's a local mob boss named Voors. He's a dangerous man but he has a weakness for Eriss, a weakness we can exploit.” Eron sipped from his glass with a cool arrogance. “I have a job offer that I believe you 3 would be suitable for, especially in light of your current predicament and lack of resources. The Glass Eye will not be cheap to fix, my dock master tells me it has taken quite a beating. And that means you're stranded and in need of credits. The task I have in mind would generate a great deal of wealth for all of us.”

“We're listening,” Arri replied.

“Thank you, Arri Tatha.” Eron replied. “Have any of you ever heard of the Jewel of Yavin?”

The trio exchanged a glance that said they had not.

“The Empire likes to keep it's existence hidden, even going so far as to outlaw the ownership of the jewel. It is a rare Koruska Gem and worth more than you can imagine. It also comes with a curse, however, in that whomever possessed the jewel for too long winds up dead. Gentleman, in 4 days time the Jewel of Yavin will be arriving at Ckoud City to be auctioned at a private, invite only gala. The most elite of bidders will be in attendance and in fact have already arrived as spectators to the Bespin Grand Prix, scheduled for the afternoon of the gala.” Eron raised an eyebrow at the confused expression on Dice's face. “Surely an old racer like yourself has heard of the Bespin Grand Prix?”

Dice shook his head, “I was more of a space racer in my youth and even then it was little races around the Core Worlds.”

“Well let's hope you're not too rusty,” Eron continued. “We need you to win the Grand Prix. I've acquired a Cloud Racer for the event. The winner of the Grand Prix will be the guest of honor at the gala in the evening. That's your ticket in.”

“And just where is this gala?” Arri asked.

“Bespin Museum of Antiquities.” Eron answered.

“I assume you have a floor plan? You have the guard logs, patrol timing, camera placement, security lasers, alarms. I mean, you've been here 6 months, that's plenty of time to gather all of the intelligence you'd need to pull this off.” Dice had an accusatory tone. “And what about the gala bidders? I assume you have their names?”

“Eriss can provide all of the information we have.” Eron nodded toward his daughter.

Eriss spoke up, “In four days the Jewel of Yavin will arrive on Bespin under guard, we have no way of knowing how much security will be brought in and that's why we need to wait until the jewel is safe within the museum. A security droid will handle the transport of the gem once it arrives at the museum. The droid will also handle the transfer of credits from the winning bid to the seller, so our goal is to drive up the bid and steal the final amount at the same time as the jewel. That's how you'll get paid.”

“I assume the Droid Access Hatch you first intended to meet us at has a way into the museum,” M3 chimed in, Eriss nodded.

“Who is selling the Jewel?” Arri inquired.

“A devil named Grayson. He is one of the Empires most respected proletariat.” Eron spit the words like venom.

“What does a respectable fellow like yourself need with a black market gem?” Dice probed.

“My purpose is simple revenge, Captain Dice. Grayson destroyed my career and I intend to destroy him in return.” Eron shrugged his shoulders as if trying to brush the shame away.

“Who were you before?” Dice pressed drawing a scowl from Eron.

“I was a banker for the Empire handling large sums of credits moving from one system to the next, a highly coveted position that Grayson wanted. He set me up as an embezzler and turned me in. I took Eriss and fled here to Bespin to bide my time and plan my revenge. Perhaps it was the will of the Force, but your needs match my own. I know that you are not only on the run from the Empire, you are on the run from the Crimson Guard itself.”

Arri almost raised his blaster at the mention of the Crimson Guard. The trio's troubles could be traced back to those red armored soldiers and the Wookiee wanted to strike back.

“I must go gentlemen,” Eron hurried toward the apartment exit. “What information I have I will gladly provide when we meet for the final time, to exchange the Jewel and credits. I suggest you get to work.” With a glance at the thug in the refresher Eron added, “And make sure you take care of the garbage on your way out.”

The old man swept out of the room before anyone could stop him. A stunned silence hung in the air for a moment broken by Eriss.

“You'll want to brush up on the race course. I can give you the address to a mechanic who retired from the Grand Prix after a long career. He can give you some advice and maybe fix your ship. We will provide 10000 credits as a down payment, but if the jewel and the highest bid are not turned over to us in 4 days time we will expect those credits back.” Eriss cast a glare at M3 who accepted the credits with one hand.

Eriss produced a data stick, “This is a list of the gala attendees. I suggest you go over it and figure out how to drive up the bid. The more the jewel sells for the bigger our payday.” In a low voice Eriss added, “And if you can get my husband, Voors, to cough up the highest bid I'd die a happy girl.”

M3 accepted the information stick in another hand.

“You really don't like him,” Arri rumbled.

“Believe me, if you knew him like I do you'd want him to pay too. He's a controlling monster of a man who can barely climb out of a bottle now. I want as far away from him as possible but he will do anything to keep me.” She glanced to the thug in the refresher as an example.

“Any suggestions where we start? I'm not usually on the thief side of a heist.” Dice grimaced.

“A Professor Shreya will be attending. She is the most surprising attendee of the gala. She seems to be a legitimate scholar, not the type you'd find making high cost black market deals. She's giving a lecture this evening on Koruska Gems, actually.”

“Well that's quite the coincidence,” Dice muttered sarcastically.

“Actually, Captain, I believe the odds are much more likely that the lecture is directly related to the Jewel of Yavin's auction.” M3 stated.

“Maybe we can get some time to chat with the Professor,” Arri growled. “Find out what makes a scholar come to a place like this.”

Dice nodded, “At the very least we might learn a bit more about these Koruska Gems. I want to be sure we know how to identify the real deal. I've seen enough would-be thieves wind up dead with some knock-off item.”

The trio turned to leave but Eriss halted them with a click of her tongue. She pointed to the refresher, “take him with you.”

“Right,” Dice put a palm to his forehead as if he had forgotten. “Arri? Maybe you could-”

Arri shot Dice a glare and a growl but lumbered into the refresher to retrieve the thug.

The lift ride to the lobby had been a hushed argument about how best to dispose of the unconscious thug and when the doors opened Dice emerged with a nervous smile moving swiftly to the Sollustan at the desk.

Arri and M3 stepped out with the thug between them after double checking that the rest of the lobby was empty.

Dice pushed another 50 credits toward the Sollustan, “can I count on you to toss this guys out the back door or something?”

Arri and M3 closed in and tossed the thug over the desk to crumple on the floor next to the Sollustan.

The Sollustan accepted the credits hesitantly, scrunched his brow in thought and then quickly rushed into a back room and returned with a bottle of purple liquor that he started pouring out on the sleeping thug.

“”He was drunk and unruly,” the Sollustan smirked as he invented the lie.

“I like you,” Dice patted the Sollustan on the shoulder and turned to leave with his companions.

As they made their way to the Professor Shreya's lecture, M3 read aloud the names from the data stick. There were 7 invited to attend the gala, the winner of the Gran Prix would make 8. An intimate event. One by one the droid listed the names.

“Cowtho the Hutt, he's apparently staying at the Paradise Resort.”

“I've worked for a few Hutts in my time,” Arri commented. “They are greedy slimey slugs and can't be trusted.”

“Voors Tabireth,” M3 continued. “Husband of Miss Shen. Apparently he wants the Jewel to impress her.”

“Anyone else get the impression we've just been roped into doing the Shen's petty revenge for them?” Dice had an unshakable distrust for the father and daughter.

“So far it's our only way to get paid,” Arri argued.

Dice nodded agreement, they didn't have many options.

M3 read on, “2 Humans, a woman from Nar Shadaar named Eliza. Not much else here about her except a comment, 'she has more credits than sense'. And the other is a male named Zekra Foo representing the Mining Consortium.”

“Scum,” Arri growled. “No other organization is more corrupt in the entire galaxy, or deadly.” Arri snarled. “They are responsible for the destruction of entire worlds.”

Dice had heard of them before as well, an established, open organization hiding behind loop holes in laws to exploit resources across the galaxy.

“A Twi'lek named Poss Podura,” M3 cocked his head as of trying to understand the comment. “'A nobody. Surprised he even has enough credits'. How can somebody be nobody?”

“It's an expression. M3. It means that your usefulness isn't obvious,” Dice explained.

“I see,” M3 processed and learned. “Captain, am I a nobody?”

Dice looked incredulous, “of course not.”

Arri patted the droid on the shoulder, “we're counting on you M3.”

The droid perked up a bit, walking a bit taller and continuing to examine the data stick. “Also attending is a Chagrian named Mil Mikeer. Apparently he comes from generations of wealth. And finally we have Professor Shreya.” M3 looked up to see the entrance to the lecture hall. “Who we will soon be seeing.” M3 added.

They could hear the sound of a woman's voice over speakers beyond the doors.

“Sounds like it's already begun,” Dice observed.

The trio quietly entered the lecture hall

For an hour they listened as Professor Shreya, a woman at the early stages of her twilight years with graying hair and a bulky build, rambled on excitedly about the benefits of Koruska gems as an unappreciated power source and the key to bringing sustainable power to the impoverished Outer Rim systems.

With watchful eyes on the crowd, it was Arri who noticed the Chagrian, Mil Mikkir, watching Shreya with an attentive and even fond gaze.

When the lecture finally came to a close the hall transformed into a casual reception where lingering groups of attendees mingled and conversed, many taking a moment to thank Shreya for her time.

Mil Mikkir, however, did not stay.

Arri, Dice and M3 waited for a clear opportunity to close in on Shreya for a conversation, but the Professor wasn't alone for long before her assistant, a younger woman with a frenetic, suspicious look, swooped to her side.

“Professor Shreya,” Arri bowed though his size left him still considerably taller than the women. “My name is Arri. I wonder if I might ask you some questions I have about Koruska gems. A specific gem, actually.”

“Miss Shreya has had a very long day, I'm sure you understand-” The assistant attempted to whisk Shreya away by the arm but the Professor remained steadfast, her gaze locked on the Wookie with shining interest.

“Oh?” Shreya brushed off her assistant. “Forgive my assistant. Laina's eager to explore Cloud City's casinos.” Shreya flashed an admonishing smile at the younger woman who blushed. “To what gem are you referring?”

“Have you ever heard of the Jewel of Yavin?” Arri continued,

Shreya gave an involuntary shrug, like a tick, trying to hide what the trio already knew, she was aware of the gem, of course, why else would she attend the auction? “I have, heard of it, yes.”

Dice decided to play bad cop, leaning close to reveal what they knew, “We know what you're doing here Professor.”

Shreya lurched away from Dice as if struck, fanning herself with a hand as she stuttered, “I don't know what you're talking about.”

“How would one know that they have the real gem?” M3 chimed in, blissfully unaware of the churning emotions between the organics.

“Excuse me?” Shreya tried to process the angles.

“Who do you work for?” Dice pressed further.

“What? The University of Sanbra.” Shreya responded first to Dice, then looked back to Arri who tried to calm the woman with a wink. The gesture had the opposite affect looking more menacing than friendly, a sight that sent Shreya into a fluster, gathering her gown around her ankles and hurrying away with a huffy, “excuse me!”

Dice tried one last tactic, calling after her loud enough for her to hear without alerting the crowd, “Professor, you're in danger here!”

Shreya didn't falter, hurrying away at a pace though her assistant, Laina, lingered a moment and leaned in close to whisper,“The Jewel of Yavin is supposedly a starling blue color but when light is shown through, it will cast emerald.”

Turning to follow Shreya, the assistant hurried off into the crowd leaving Arri, Dice and M3 to ponder.

“That could have gone better,” Arri growled. “Who do you work for?” Arri cast a glare at Dice who shrugged.

“I don't think the wink helped, either.” Dice replied.

By the time they departed the lecture hall night had fallen over Cloud City and Arri and Dice let out heavy yawns. They had been busy for nearly 26 hours, long overdue for rest and so they decided to return to the Glass Eye until morning.

In the communal lounge at the center of the ship, Arri and Dice found comfortable seats they could stretch out on in the darkness, conversing lightly across the room with one another while M3 posted watch at the cargo door.

“I never thought I'd be a criminal,” Dice murmured. “Especially not one stuck on a city in the clouds preparing for a race and jewelry heist.”

Across the room Arri's heavy breath broke into a chuckle, “have you ever heard of the Force?”

“Mmhmm,” Dice replied, sleep tugging at his eyelids.

“Some believe everything is as the Force will it.” Arri went on. “Like every little choice we make, event that happens to us, events that happen elsewhere, all are part of a bigger plan.” His voice grew heavier as his eyes closed.

After a moment Dice replied in a tired voice, “Sounds like a load a slag to me.”

Both the Human and Wookiee laughed until sleep overtook them.

Outside of the Glass Eye, M3 heard Arri and Dice's heavy breathing indicating that they had fallen asleep. M3 didn't need sleep as a droid, and his programming processed the data stick of gala attendees over and over again looking for any missing connection. More information was needed.

M3 trundled down the loading ramp onto the docking platform in the cool night air and noticed the white glow of a computer terminal inside the dark and empty dock master office. The droid made its way to the office and easily hacked the door terminal to allow access, soon standing before the computer terminal within the office.

One by one M3 went through the list, plugging in names and recording any data, no matter how benign, that could be found.

First M3 confirmed Eron Shen's story about being a former Imperial banker and the story of his enemy, Grayson leveling charges of embezzlement that cost Eron his position.

Next was Shreya who was indeed a respected scholar for the University of Sanbra, but she had also been logged as a close contact of Mil Mikkir, the Chigurian spotted at her lecture earlier. Looking deeper into Mikkir, M3 was able to discern a romantic connection, though it appeared to be all on Mikkir's side. He was a descendant of one of the wealthiest families in the Outer Rim and a high level manager of a construction company.

Odd enough though, M3 couldn't find any details on just what Mikkir's company had constructed. Widening the search to cross reference the names on the data stick with companies, M3 discovered two more attendees of the gala, Zekra Foo, a Human working for the Mining Consortium with an outpost located on Cloud City. And Poss Podura, a Twi'lek executive with Thora-Tech known for enjoying a drink in Cloud City's Port Town.

The final 2 names on the data stick both hailed from Nar Shadaar, homeworld to the infamous slug like Hutts.

Cowtho the Hutt, they already knew, had arrived on Cloud City days earlier and was staying at the Paradise Resort, but M3 also discovered that the slug had arrived in the company of a notorious bounty hunter named Karrik.

And then there was the Human Eliza who had somehow clawed her way to notoriety on a planet dominated by the Hutts, and kept her past a tangled web of rumors, none of which had been substantiated.

Before M3 could dig any further the computer terminal flickered and seemed to layer the same screen twice over, except the top window was slightly askew and selections were being made by someone other than the droid.

M3 realized the terminal was being hacked and traced. Thinking quickly, M3 used the 4 arms built for surgical precision to access the directory and reroute the destination to the Paradise Resort, in seconds uncovering the room registered to Kerrik the bounty hunter and setting the terminal there as the origin of the inquiries.

Disconnecting soon after, M3 let out a sigh of relief, or it would have been had the droid any lungs to breath with, and turned back toward the Glass Eye as a pale white moon rose into the starry night sky above. Hours had gone by while the droid investigated and the sun would rise in a couple hours more.

Wandering back toward the vessel the droid admonished itself as it imagined what Arri and Dice might have said, “Be careful M3! You'll get us into trouble. You shouldn't access terminals so close to the ship, M3. Oh but M3, you learned so much, thank you thank you! You're the best M3...”

The droid's voice faded away as it climbed the cargo ramp on the Glass Eye.