[Present]
The flashing lights of the club were almost as blinding as the sun of Ventano. They pierced the thin fog that rose from the floor of the club, illuminating rhythmic movements of drunken patrons dancing to blaring music. The club was filled with humans and aliens alike from every corner of the galaxy who had, for some reason, found themselves on the grimy, crime-filled planet of Nar Shaddaa. Just like Nico.
Nico sat at a bar in the farthest corner of the club. It was the best vantage point to watch the festivities that she could find, but she had to peer through the gaps between bodies in order to see anything clearly. Though Nico was nine years older than the budding thief on Ventano, she still looked much the same. She had grown a few inches taller, but she still had the same head of mousy curls and a similar style of clothes that was always just a bit too big for her. She leaned back and pursed her lips, tapping the table as she scanned around the club.
Her gaze eventually found a lone woman at the bar who didn’t seem to be enjoying herself nearly as much as those around her. She had straight blonde hair that was combed and styled perfectly, and her attire certainly seemed to be a bit too expensive for such a club. A grin slowly crept on Nico’s face. She tapped the table a few more times before pushing herself off and walking toward the bar.
She effortlessly weaved her way through the crowd. Most hardly even noticed she was there, especially those that were too drunk to care. On the way, she delicately plucked a few credits out of the pocket of a particularly drunk man. She walked right up to the bar next to the woman and tossed the credits onto it. “Buy you a drink,” Nico asked, having to yell to make her voice heard over the music. Though her basic was much better than when she was a kid, she still wasn’t able to shake that thick Ventano accent.
The woman jerked her head toward Nico and looked her over a few times before rolling her eyes. “No thank you.” Even over the music, Nico could make out the imperial accent. “I’ve already got one.”
Nico grinned a little wider upon having her suspicions confirmed. She turned to the bartender and nodded. “Juma juice, please.” She then turned her attention back to the woman. “What brings you to a place like this?”
“What an idiotic question,” the woman retorted. “Clearly I am here to enjoy myself.”
“Doesn’t look like you are,” Nico shot back with a grin. “Sitting all alone drinking…” Nico peered over the woman to look at her drink. “Is that wine? In a club?” As Nico dramatically inspected the woman’s drink from above, her hand snaked its way behind her.
“Is that such a big problem,” the woman snapped at Nico. “I like it. Look, I’m just here to relax. And that would be much easier for me if you took the hint that I am not interested.”
Nico rolled her eyes at her as she delicately pulled the woman’s Imperial ID out of her pocket. “Fine fine, have it your way!” Nico pocketed the ID herself before backing away from her. “You don’t know what you’re missing though, lady!”
The woman scoffed and turned back to the bar, prompting a laugh from Nico. Nico turned around fully to make her way toward the exit, but she immediately bumped into a large weequay man.
“Watch where you’re going, schutta.” The man growled at Nico, subtly brandishing a vibroknife.
Nico looked at him with wide eyes, taking an instinctive step back. She looked around to see if anyone had noticed, but everyone seemed too busy with their own merriment. “Relax, it’s my mistake.” She turned back to the man as she spoke. “Listen, I just bought a cup of juma juice. It’s sitting over there with your name on it.” She pointed back toward the bar with her thumb.
The man grunted before nodding. “S’what I thought.” He then put his knife away before walking toward the bar.
Nico relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief. She quickly turned and kept walking toward the exit. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the ID card, taking a moment to inspect it under the flashing lights. She grinned and stuffed it back in her pocket, stepping out of the club and heading toward the nearest taxi.
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The door to Nico’s old dingy apartment screeched open, letting light beam into the otherwise dim room. The apartment was tiny and only consisted of a small, gross looking mattress and a couple of boxes. Nico shuffled over to the mattress, picking up the bag that she had left on it. She walked over to the boxes and grabbed her slicing kit, stuffing it inside the bag as well. She turned and started to leave, but then a flashing red light caught her eye. She turned back to see her holocomm lying behind one of the boxes. She froze, knowing what the light meant. She screamed at herself internally to just leave it be. Instead, she slowly walked over and picked it up.
It was a missed call, one she had likely gotten while she was at the club. She held the comm in her hand and brought it face level as she hit the button to start the recording. As Dezarin’s face materialized from the holoprojector, Nico immediately winced.
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“Kit there is a lot of chatter around the cartel right now. Especially about our crew. I’ll be sorting through as much of it as I can, but I could use your help when you get back. Just keep your eyes open, and a blaster on you.”
The communication cut to silence. The only sound that could be heard in the room was the sound of heavy breathing. Nico shook her head, preparing herself to leave. Then, the communication resumed.
“Everything from here on, will only be listenable to on your personal communicator. Things aren’t looking great right now, Nico. The rest of the Cartel aren’t happy with us sitting where we do. If you can’t get home soon, let me know. If you can, I’m going to make sure you and Osailra are okay beyond anything else. If my communications go dead in the next few weeks, you know what trails I’ll leave better than anyone. Try to follow them. Keep safe until then, Little Mouse.”
Dezarin’s face disappeared, drowning the corner of the room in darkness once again. Nico shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Her thumb hovered over the button to return the call, feeling the smoothness of it against her skin. As her eyes opened again, she let her hand go limp and dropped the holocomm on the floor. She looked down at it for a moment longer before picking her foot up and stomping on it as hard as she could. The room lit up briefly as sparks flew out of the remains. Nico straightened the bag on her shoulder before exiting through the door that she came in. She walked through the crowded hallways of the apartment complex with little care for who she might bump into. Her brows were furrowed and her teeth were gritted. She knew where she was going.
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Nico took a deep breath and adjusted the bag on her shoulder as she watched the line of people going through the imperial checkpoint. She looked down at the ID that she had stolen from the imperial-looking woman in the cantina, her ticket off Nar Shaddaa. She gritted her teeth before looking up once again and jogging up to get in line. As she drew closer to the checkpoint one person at a time, she couldn’t help but nervously glance at each of the guards. Imperials had always freaked her out. Big men in void-black armor who acted like murder droids. She clenched a fist, attempting to keep herself calm as she finally stepped up to the checkpoint. She tried her best to force a smile as she handed the stolen ID card to the guard in front of her. Maybe if she looked confident enough, they would let her continue based solely on the fact that she had an ID in her possession. The guard that Nico offered the ID to did just as she assumed, not bothering to give a glance at the ID while he slid it through a device that lit green. She was free.
The larger imperial in the back let out a sharp bark. “Hold.” He towered behind the shorter grunts that wore a darker set of Imperial armor. It was obvious that he was of a sort that was separate to these troops yet he held command above them. Nico heard loud, heavy footsteps as he approached. With his left hand, he snatched the ID from his lesser comrade, taking a moment to review it.
Nico had a fleeting look of panic painted on her face before quickly covering it up with a look of annoyance. “Is this really necessary? If I miss my shuttle my boss will have an absolute fit.” She feigned confidence decently well despite the circumstances. However, it was obvious that she was trying very hard to cover up an accent that was clearly not imperial.
The towering man looked at her only briefly before turning to the grunts behind him to show them the ID. Immediately, they raised their rifles, pointing them directly at Nico. He turned around to face Nico again. “Hands on your head. Now.”
Nico’s eyes darted back and forth between the big man and the grunts behind him. She started to slowly raise her hands in compliance as she looked around for any means of escape. Eventually, she sighed and rolled her eyes. “Kriff it.” She quickly jerked backwards, pulling the person behind her in line forward and pushing him into the wall of a man. The innocent bystander simply bounced off his armor, but the confusion was enough to afford her a moment to run. Before the grunts could start firing, she had already ran backwards and hopped the railing.
The big Imperial pushed the man off her before shouting to the grunts behind him. “Lock it down! Take them all in!” He then turned and bolted forward in pursuit of Nico.
Nico landed in a small alleyway just under the walkway that she was at before. As soon as she hit the ground, she started running as fast as she could. Soon after, she heard the loud bang of the largest Imperial’s boots hitting the ground. She quickly dipped into another alleyway that intersected the one that she was in. She could hear the loud footsteps closing in on her, and they were fast.
Nico jumped up and pushed off of one wall with her feet toward the other, repeating the process to give her enough height to make it to a ventilation shaft far above the ground. She grabbed onto the edge of it and reached into her bag, pulling out a security spike.
The Imperial rounded the corner soon after, but Nico was nowhere to be found. He grunted as he scanned the area. He didn’t even think to look up until he heard the sound of the shaft opening. He quickly jerked his head up, only seeing Nico’s foot as she climbed into the shaft. He grunted again as he pressed a button on his helmet. “I want a man stationed at every entrance to the western ventilation tunnels, now!”
Nico paused for just a moment to catch her breath once she landed in the ventilation tunnel. Unlike the shafts around it, the tunnel was huge and filled with various fans to push air throughout the surrounding shafts. Luckily, the fans were all powered down for maintenance for the time being. Nico slapped herself on the cheek a few times and took a deep breath. With renewed vigor, she started sprinting again. Her footsteps echoed through the tunnel, alerting the maintenance workers to her position before she zipped past them.
Nico rounded a corner and jumped over some railing that led to a maintenance entrance, pushing past the workers and out of the door. She ran into a room surrounded by shafts and pipes and other workers. Instead of running down the stairs to get there, Nico hopped the railing again. She hit the floor and kept running through a thin walkway that snaked through the maze of shafts. Finally, she reached a door on the very end and she dashed through it as quickly as it would open.
Nico found herself out in a busy street of Nar Shaddaa not too far away from the imperial sector she had been trying to make her way into. She took a moment to catch her breath again as she looked around. She should be safe now, right?
“Over there!” An armored man with an imperial accent called out as he started running through the crowd toward her.
“Dank ferrik,” Nico yelled in frustration before turning and starting to sprint away. She weaved her way around all of the people on the street, pushing any who got in her way. As she reached the corner of the street and turned, she immediately stopped in her tracks.
A bunch of imperial soldiers stood in front of her with their blaster rifles raised in her direction. “On the ground! Now!”
Nico panted as she looked down at the ground. “Fratz…” As the footsteps behind her got closer, Nico knew there was no way out. She finally raised her hands slowly into the air as she dropped down to her knees.
Immediately, one of the Imperials ran forward with binders. He grabbed her arms and locked them inside before pushing her down to the ground. “We’ve got you now, murderer.”
“What? What are you talking about,” Nico questioned him as he pushed her face against the ground. “I didn’t kill anyone! I just found the ID, I swear!”
The ground shook as the massive soldier from before pushed his way through the crowd of guards and slowly stepped toward her. He reached down and grabbed her by her shirt, pulling her up into the air to look at her. “Save it for someone who cares.” He then balled his fist and punched her once in the face, immediately knocking her out.