Nomi in the Underworld

When Nomi Amersu responds to a distress call from a fellow Republic spy, it temporarily takes her out of the action and into a hidden world she couldn't possibly have imagined.

A call for help
After sending a message to Lilikai Singan through their usual dead drop system, Nomi checks for a response from pretty much any chance she gets. While she waits, something else catches her eye. Nomi also has access to a "don't use this except in the most dire emergency" channel that can broadcast to other Republic operatives in the area, so they can call for backup. She's never used it herself or seen it used before, but on this day, there's a message on it: "Agent requires extraction from Nar Shaddaa." The only other components of the message are a commlink frequency, and a passcode that marks the message as legitimate (at least as far as Nomi can tell). Nomi would have been trained to help other agents in trouble if possible, but not at the risk of her own life/objectives or if doing so would cause her cover to be blown.

Nomi answers back as quickly as she can. When she indicates that she's received the message, she gets an almost immediate reply. The other person proposes an in-person meeting later that same day, and sends a set of coordinates that correspond to a cafe adjacent to a busy public market. They say they'll be there at the time they gave, wearing a blue cloak with white stripes. So far, all of this is literally textbook, exactly the way Nomi would have been taught to handle a similar situation. Nothing makes her think it's an obvious trap (beyond standard levels of spy paranoia, that is).

Nomi sets up the meeting telling the person in question that she will be in a light purple cloak with a rose pin on its lapel. On the morning of the meeting in question, she tells the others aboard Rogue Ronto that she is not feeling well after the long day of fighting and whatnot so will be staying in. Later if she is found to have gone out, she will say she decided she felt better, was bored and went out to to relieve her boredom.

Nomi, having acquired the necessary items, goes to the arranged meeting place and looks for the person in the blue cloak with white stripes. She sidles up to them and says "Does it look like it will rain?" - the code phrase she learned in her training.

Meeting Zio
The person Nomi is looking for is easy to spot, sitting at a table for two in a crowded part of the cafe's patio, where background noise will make it difficult to eavesdrop. He lifts his head up sharply, and under the hood Nomi sees that he's a young Bothan with black and white fur in "tuxedo cat" style markings. "It won't bother me if it does," he says, giving the response she would expect. His fur ripples and an obvious expression of relief crosses his face before he seems to get control of himself again. He motions for Nomi to sit down and whispers urgently, "Do you have any idea of what's going on? The Je- ... um, the person who brought me here is dead."

Nomi smiles reassuringly and takes a seat, keeping her head up and scanning the crowd around her as she does. She has the impression that this is a less experienced spy, but it doesn't get past her that this could also be an act. "I'm sorry to hear about your... person." she says just loudly enough to be heard and without moving her lips much. "My person is missing. I hope she is still alive, but the situation being what it is..." Having checked out the crowd she turns more to the Bothan, eyes still occasionally scanning over their surroundings. "How did they die? Have you been keeping up with the holonews?"

The Bothan follows Nomi's lead, pulling the hood of his cloak back around his face to conceal the movement of his lips. Inexperienced though he may be, he's certainly perceptive. "She got shot," he says, sounding disturbed by the memory. "Like a lot. I came to meet her at our usual location and she was already..." He shakes his head. "I don't know who did it. The troopers she brought along should have defended her, but it doesn't seem like they did. Yeah, I've seen all the holovids. I heard what the chancellor...well, Emperor I guess...said about the Jedi being traitors to the Republic. But that can't be true. Can it?"

Nomi shakes her head, a frown turning the sides of her mouth down as she answers. "I certainly don't believe it. The... homes... are not safe. The one closest to the seat of power most of all. Don't go to them. The troopers there were killing those that the Emperor called traitors. All of them. No matter how old or how trained or untrained." She lets that sink in for a moment waiting until she sees it dawn on him that she means it - masters and younglings alike were targets. "Do you have somewhere you can go? Family? I don't think the network is working right now."

He nods once, understanding the message. "I wouldn't go there anyway. I'm done with this stuff. I want to go back to my family on Bothawui. Trouble is...my person who died, she was the only one who could have given me a ride. I don't have any money and I don't know what happened to her ship. And I definitely don't have any other friends in Hutt space. Can you help me get out of here before something even worse happens? Please?"

Nomi nods. "I think that is something that I can help you with. I have a ship with friends and we are here on the planet for a short bit, but I will see what I can do about either retaining you a place on our ship or helping you find another way home. One of the people I am with is a Bothan. I have to know if you know him, or if he has any reason to know you before we start making plans. His name is Vesper Syl'tine. My name is Nomi. My friends don't know about... this and I don't really want them to find out, so we will have to come up with a cover about how I knew you and how I ran into you on planet."

Relief spreads across the Bothan’s face. "Thank you. Thank you so much. Just tell me what you need me to do, and I'll do it if I can. I’m kind of new at all of this."

He listens closely to what Nomi says about Vesper. "Syl'tine...I think I've heard that family name. They're politicians or something, right? I've heard about them on the HoloNet and through...well...other channels. But I don't think I've ever met any of them face to face, and certainly not anyone named Vesper.”

Then, as if suddenly remembering something: "Oh - and my name's Zio, by the way."

"Alright Zio. I am glad to know you, but I wish it were under better circumstances. Come, let's walk." Nomi is a bit uncomfortable with continuing to sit. She stands and leads the young Bothan in the direction of a public park area that she had passed on the way to meet him. As they walk she occasionally turns to look for any tails or anyone watching them. "So, it's good you have never met Vesper. That way he won't automatically see through any story that we make up. My friends that I am traveling with think that I was just a mechanic at the temple. I used to go out on voyages as a mechanic assigned to a ship and I think that this is where we should say we met in the past. I was once caught behind a separatist blockade about two years ago and was away from the temple for months. We met then. Do you have any skills that would have put you in the air or on a ship that I might have been on? What do you believe might be a good story about why you were accompanying a -person- here when you got stranded? The closer to the truth the better and easier it will be to maintain the lie, as I am sure you know. As to how we met here I think it could be coincidence, or perhaps we chalk it up to the force bringing us to the same place at the same time to recognize each other."

Encountering an enemy
Zio stands up and follows Nomi, tossing a couple of credit chits down on the table to pay for the hot drink he'd been sipping while he waited. The park is pleasant enough, for Nar Shaddaa, although the concrete walking paths and ceramic planters full of wilted-looking shrubs can't begin to compare to the Room of a Thousand Fountains. There are a few other people relaxing on benches or strolling around the park, but none of them trip any warning bells.

As Zio listens, one of his ears twitches thoughtfully. "A ship...hmmm. I'm definitely no mechanic. I can barely even change the power cells in my datapad when they go dead. Around here, I am...was...whatever...just a waiter. You know, swanky restaurant, lots of Hutts have meetings there, sometimes when the party gets too wild they say more than they should. But I guess even on a ship they need stewards and stuff, right? People who wash dishes and help out in the kitchen...mess...whatever you call it...and keep other people's bunks clean. Maybe that's what I was doing when I met you?" He frowns. "But I guess that's not the sort of person my person would want to take along with her to Nar Shaddaa. Like, why would she need a glorified janitor, right? Do we have to bring her into it with your friends at all? She told me I wasn't supposed to tell anyone else about her. I mean, you're different, obviously, but I don't know your friends."

Nomi feels a sad little pique at the loss of the Room of a Thousand Fountains and the destruction it has no doubt undergone at the hands of the evil beings which have taken over the Temple.

She shrugs a shoulder, raising one hand in concession. "No, no need to mention her really. But if we did it would make you more trustworthy in the eyes of my fellows. So, we can tell them you were in the employ of the ship I was on, it was called Sky Queen. It was just a large transport. And since then you made your way here, have been working as a waiter and been thinking of going home. With the current political climate you've decided now is the time, however you are stuck without the ability to pay to get home because you're living payday to payday." Nomi presses her lips together and to the side at a thought. "Can you pay anything? I mean, it's not like we're a commercial passenger ship, but we do have things we're doing and it takes fuel and rations to get you from here to there. I could spin it, make it sound good, but having some of the cost covered would be better. Like for part of the docking fee. Unless you know of a place we can dock for free? In that case I think Vesper is due for a visit home anyway." She smirks and waits for his answer. It's obvious that she is thinking over different avenues of approach to this.

"Sorry, no leads on free parking on Bothawui. My mom and sisters don't really have leverage like that. Or much of anything, honestly." Zio shrugs, and it's hard not to hear an echo of Nomi's own story in his. "But I was getting paid the usual wages at the restaurant and spending that money on my own rent and expenses and everything. You know, because it would be kind of suspicious if I didn't leave a paper trail like that. But 'payday to payday' definitely sums it up. If I went and told my manager I was quitting and asked him for my last paycheck, I could definitely chip in. Would that help?"

To be continued