Star Wars:Knights of the Old Republic

[Daiymo]

"Easy, Brasa? Perhaps." the master replies chuckling slightly. "Each of you may feel such a task is too mundane and below you, perhaps? Remember not to be too prideful. There is nobility in simple tasks as well as epic ones."

Vandar begins to walk down the garden."This task is important enough, padawans. The artifacts of the Jedi are heirlooms from the past, that can instruct and illustrate the virtues of our history. What can be more vital than that?"

Vandar pauses and looks over his shoulder back at the Gungan. "And rest assured Brasa, I would not obscure anything from you that would endanger your task. You know all that I do. I would not attempt to make your task more difficult through trickery."

Vandar looks up at the sky. Overhead, the sky is filled with airspeeder traffic, arrayed in neat traffic patterns. "If you have nothing else, my pupils, I suggest you be off- it is afternoon and soon the traffic mag lines will be most congested."

 

[Douane]

Yun gives a slight bow:

"Of course, Master Vandar. Rest assured, the artifacts will be returned into the hands of the Order under any circumstances."


He turns around and walks towards the speeder.

 

[Daiymo]

With a smile the small Jedi Master dismisses his pupils. "May the Force be with you."

The Jedi easily find the airspeeder, a black, four seater with an open cockpit. Joran, eager to go, takes the vehicle's controls, and the trio set off. Following the directions from the on board locator they head northwest, and after 30 minutes, they arrive in the district described by the Bothan.

Joran steers the speeder out of the main traffic line. All around the tall skyscrapers look a bit shabbier and of older design than those around the Temple. But one building, the Jedis destination, is different from the others around it. According to the locator it is called the "Crimson Corridor Bazaar", a uniquely Coruscantan way of dealing with the crowded urban sprawl of the planet-to place things vertically instead of horizontally.

Here, the skyscraper, some 100 stories high, is ringed on nearly every floor by external platforms as wide as 50 meters. Pedestrian crowds made up of almost every conceivable species can be seen walking on these platforms moving among the various shops and business that have external doorways leading out to these platforms. The facade of the building is also bristling with a forest of neon and illuminated signs in Basic and alien languages, advertsing these shops.

As the Jedi's speeder swoops around the Bazaar building they get a good look at the signs and see it contains a great variety of "adult" businesses-brothels, tatoo parlors, repair shops, restaurants, gambling halls, and of course many, many cantinas. They also see three large transparent elevators on the buildings exterior, large enough to hold dozens of people, moving up and down to the various levels.

Spying a large oval landing pad at the corner of the skyscraper on the 40th floor, Joran maneuvers and lands their vehicle alongside several other parked speeders. The parking pad is fenced in, and a small security booth stands near the gate seperating the parking area from the pedestrian platform.

As Joran powers down the speeder, the locator indicates the position of the establishments mentioned by Kreth. Allod's Palace is below in the gloom near street level on level 7, Twi-Light Cantina is above on level 50.

As the group gains their bearings, a Trandoshan dressed in a dingy flightsuit and carrying a blaster rifle slung over his shoulder exits the booth and walks to the speeder. The Trandoshan studies the Jedi for a moment and then laughs roughly.

It hands Brasa a small round purple chip with a tiny white blinking light set in the chip's center. "Heh, you pups look new to the Bazaar. No charge for the parking this time newbies" the alien grunts in Basic, still chuckling. "This is a parking chit-dont loose it or you wont get back into the parking corral. Have fun, pups."

The Trandoshan begins to walk away but pauses. Looking over his shoulder he adds," and dont worry about your speeder, it will be safe here." The guard points at the booth, where a battered security droid sits, manning a heavy repeating blaster.

The guard begins to walk away, leaving the "pups" to ponder their next move.

 

[Starman]

Joran looks a bit put off at the Trandoshans words.

"Pups! Ha! I've been around the galaxy a few times you overgrown lout. I know what I'm doin'."

He leans in a little closer and lowers his voice.

"Now, my companions here are probably not as experienced as I am, but I'll keep an eye on 'em."

He winks at the guard and then turns to his companions.

"All right, let's do this!"

 

[Douane]

* There is no emotion, there is peace. * Jun keeps repeating in his mind. Still it chafed to have the Tandoshan rib him this way, especially when he considered that he had probably visited more planets than the guard would ever hear of. Though - and this Yun had to concede freely - none of them had even remotely resembled Corsucant.


Surreptitiously eying the "adult entertainment" ads he wonders just what kind of experience Joran is exactly referring to.


"We still have to decide where to approach this Griff Vao. I am in favour of trying the "Palace" first, as it will probably be a less public place than a cantina. And I see no reason to risk anyone else getting interested in either our dealings with the Twi'lek or the artifacts themselves."

 

[Starman]

Ha! They're buying it! I was worried they'd see right through that. Around the galaxy, ha! I've never left Coruscant. That doesn't mean I don't know what I'm talking about. Of course I do. I'm a smart guy, Joran thinks to himself.

"The Palace it is, then," the Jedi says.

He walks quickly and confidently to the elevator, not bothering to see if his companions are coming.

 

[garyh]

Brasa followed his companions. He remained quiet, knowing his skill was not with the tongue (other than catching kthaliks* for lunch, that is).



*Completely made that creature up. Just basing the idea on Jar Jar in the Tattoine marketplace.

 

[Daiymo]

Cut Scene

The scene switches to a dark alley adajcent to a dingy poorly lit street.

A lone figure stalks along the alley, its form obscured by shadows. The figure pauses as a group of Rodians on speeder bikes roar down the street before retrieveing a comm link.

"Have completed your task?" the figure asks.

A reply comes across the link, a series of low bass beeps.

"Very well. Remain there as a precaution. Alert me if necessary. Out."

The figure turns and moves swiftly down the street, skillfully remaining in the shadows.

 

[Daiymo]

Meanwhile...

The three Jedi leave the parking pad and board the nearest empty elevator. The lift quickly descends to level 7, and there 20 meters from the elevator's door they see the entrance to Allod's Palace., its presence advertised by a bright red neon sign above the entrance which proclaims Allod's Palace-home away from home.".

Entering, the three step into a poorly illuminated round room, some 30 meters in diameter. Several of the rooms ceiling lights are burned out. The room, an entry hall, looks as if it has not been cleaned in some time. An odd sour smell lingers in the room as well.

Opposite the door a short Duros in a leather jacket sits behind a round enclosed desk. The alien ignores the Jedi as they enter, its attention fixed on a datapad. Next to the desk a tarnished silver blue protocol droid stands. The droid begins to speak as soon as the trio enter:

"Greetings valued customer, I am C8-22 hotel concierge. Welcome to Allod's Palace! How may I help you? We have many vacancies today, and reasonable prices on suites. I am sure we shall be able to find a room suitable for all your needs. Are you visiting the Bazaar on pleasure or business? I.."

The droid continues to rattle on. Behind the desk the Duros continues to stare at its datapad.

 

[Starman]

Joran rolls his eyes. Protocol droids, he thinks.

"Enough prattling, droid. Just tell us where we can find Griff Vao."

He pats his lightsaber to emphasize his words.