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?"

Nomi smiles. "That will be fine. I know you from before, you can't afford to pay a legitimate passage to Bothawui and I want to help you out. It's mostly the truth, so it's a good story. I don't know if we'll be ready to leave today or a few days from now, so you should go get ready. Do you know how to get to Cardon's Temporary Labor Depot? You should go collect your stuff, get your pay and come there. The ship is called Rogue Ronto."

Nomi cocks her head as though she just thought of something. "I should warn you, Vesper is nosy and very good at moving about undetected. If there's anything you don't want him seeing, keep it on your person. Or in a bag you have with you at all times."

"Cardon's Temporary Labor Depot? Yeah, I've seen ads for that place all over. I can get there easily. And that's good to know about Vesper. Not that I think I'm going to take along anything too sensitive. I mean, there were definitely things I was given, but if I'm leaving all of this stuff behind it might just be better to get rid of them before I go. I don't need it anymore anyway."

Zio seems like he's thinking out loud more than anything, but before you can respond he stiffens and bumps your shoulder with his. Almost imperceptibly, one of his ears flicks to the side, as if pointing at something just out of your peripheral vision. "Uhh...is that guy acting weird to you?"

The idea of him getting rid of stuff perks Nomi's attention. "What kind of..." she is cut off by his bump. Nomi reaches up to brush the shoulder in the direction that Zio's ear pointed and turns her head to get a look of the person that Zio is talking about. A male Twi'lek is strolling along a few meters behind you with his thumbs hooked casually into his belt. Nomi definitely saw this same guy sitting on a bench on her way into the park.

"Like, he's definitely following us, right?" Zio whispers.

Nomi stops walking and reaches a hand out to get Zio to pause as well. She watches the Twi'lek out of the corner of her eye to see what his reaction is. "Yes, I believe you are right. Please look around and see if there are any others who may be with him. I will do the same."

Nomi looks for anyone else specifically to see if they are being surrounded by a group or if it appears just to be one person following. Not seeing anyone else, she approaches the Twi'lek to see if he will let her talk to him - keeping out of arms reach, but making it no secret that he is her goal. The Twi'lek seems unfazed by her having noticed him, and abruptly lunges forward with his arms outstretched as if to grab her.

Nomi yelps in surprise and tries to jump back to avoid being grabbed or touched. A thought flashes through her mind that she doesn't know how the Mirror learns a person to mimic them. What if a touch is enough?

Nomi is fast, but the Twi'lek is taller and burlier than her and has a long reach. His hands close around her wrists and yank her toward him. Somewhere nearby, Zio yells in alarm. Up close, Nomi can tell something's not quite right with this guy. His grip feels too firm, like he's wearing heavy gloves or gauntlets even though his hands look bare, and something about the geometry of his facial features is off somehow, like they don't quite fit the skull underneath them. As Nomi struggles against him, stumbling off the path, he meets her eyes. There's surprise and annoyance in his voice as he growls, "You're not a Jedi." Nomi realizes with a start that she's heard that same voice many times before, coming out of the mouths of clone troopers.

The Twi'lek - the Mirror - shoves Nomi backward. She hits a wall with a painful thud - and then, to her alarm, the wall gives way behind her. Before she can react she's sliding headfirst on your back down some sort of large metal tube. The smell of rotting trash tells her that she's been pushed down a garbage chute - and a pretty long one, judging by the amount of time it's taking to slide down it. She manages to twist around and right herself so that when it finally dumps her out, she lands safely and without injury - albeit in a pile of something squishy and smelly that she doesn't want to think too hard about.

Nomi struggles to her feet. It was afternoon when she met Zio at the cafe, but down here things are dark and shadowy, as if the light can't easily reach this place. But a slight breeze suggests she's outdoors, and when she moves away from the refuse pile at the bottom of the chute she sees dirt under your feet. She realizes that the garbage chute has deposited her on the surface of Nar Shaddaa, hundreds of levels below where she started from. She doesn't have any of the group commlinks with her, and the chute she came down is much too steep and slippery to climb back up.

From behind Nomi there's a loud series of clatters and thuds. She turns around just in time to see Zio land in the garbage pile in a cat-like crouch. "Ouch," he says, but he doesn't look injured. With a disgusted grimace and ears flattened back against his skull, he steps out of the heap and starts wiping his feet off on the ground. (He has obvious hooves...apparently he doesn't have the same hang-ups as Vesper about Bothan shoes.) "Nomi! Are you okay?"

Nomi gets her bearings
Nomi is futilely trying to brush some of the pieces of waste that stuck to her off of her clothing. She gives Zio a surprised look. "Did you follow me down here or did he push you after me?" she asks. "I'm fine actually, just stinking like a rancor pit full of shitting babies. Any idea where we are besides down? How the hell are we going to get back up? I have to help my friends, warn them. That was a shape-changer. If he pretends to be me I don't know if they will figure it out fast enough." She has a bit of panic starting to edge its way into her voice. "I screwed up, Zio. I never should have gone off by myself. Not when there was someone like that threatening my group."

"I jumped in after you," Zio says, sounding embarrassed. "He was coming right for me and I didn't know what else to do. I probably shouldn't have done that. Oh man." He turns around in a circle, looking mildly panicked as well. "We're on the lunar surface. Amala told me never to go down here. It's been abandoned for hundreds of years, maybe even more. She said there were...things...down here." With effort, he gets control of himself and takes a deep breath. "If you screwed up, I screwed up too. Way worse and way earlier than you ever did. I never should have come here. I'm not cut out for this work and I just wish I'd realized it sooner, before you had to get involved."

Nomi takes a deep breath immediately regretting it as the smell hits her nostrils and she gags a bit. Though it makes her want to laugh and this calms her down. She feels a need to be the one who knows what to do to help this young Bothan who got tangled up on her mess, despite the thought he got her involved in his. She realizes she has started thinking of Zio as younger than her, though she has no idea how old he is.

"Alright. First things first. Let's get away from this ready food source, huh?" Nomi looks around her, picking a structure that looks like it continues up to levels above and pulling out her blaster as she goes.

She continues to talk to the Bothan, quietly, attempting to keep him calm and not getting too stuck on his worry. "One good thing about it being abandoned is that we won't have to worry about bandits, thieves or clone troopers down here. And things can be dealt with or avoided. Just think about the story you will have to tell when you are back on Bothawui. Is Amala the Jedi you were working with here? What were you working on? How old are you?"

As she talks, she walks, scanning the gloom for noises made by other sources, eyes or moving things and possible threats. She keeps peering up too, into the darkness. She's looking for a structure that appears to connect to the city above and is scalable- hopefully inside, perhaps a skyscraper that's now a support for the upper city. She's also looking for lights on the underside of the city where it might be inhabited or where squatters might have moved into the upper levels of the abandoned world down there.

"Yeah. Good idea. We should definitely try to get to higher ground if we can, and that won't happen here. Whoever built that garbage chute definitely figured anything that went down it, would be gone for good." Then, noticing Nomi's blaster: "Hey, I've got one of those too." Zio produces it from somewhere beneath his cloak - a similar model to Nomi's, probably tucked away in a similar holster.

It's hard to tell what's going on with the buildings on the lunar surface without going inside each one of them. However, many have had their lower levels sealed off or bricked over and can be safely disregarded. Somewhere in the distance Nomi thinks she sees a steady light shining near ground level. It seems as promising as anything else, so that's where she heads.

Zio talks as the two of them walk. "Yeah, Amala was the name of my Jedi. Amala Tille. We were really just getting to know each other. I haven't been doing this for very long. In case you couldn't tell." He smirks wryly. "She told me the Jedi wanted inside people with the Hutts. You know, just in case they ever tried to make trouble or go back on their agreements with the Republic or whatever. The idea was that I'd start out small and gain trust as I went so I could get closer to the real power brokers. She didn't really tell me anything about why. Everything on a need to know basis, and I didn't need to know. You get it, I'm sure.

"How old am I? Seventeen? Eighteen? Something like that. We don't always do a good job keeping track of that stuff where I'm from.

"And what about you? Were you and your Jedi stationed here too? I always wondered if there were more people like me on Nar Shaddaa, but it definitely wouldn't have been safe to try to figure that out."

Nomi looks approvingly at Zio's blaster. "Do you know how to use it?" she asks. While he was hopefully given basic training in firearms, it would be good to know if he was a crack shot or had never fired it outside of training.

She keeps her eyes sweeping the area and her lekku move slightly as though testing the air. Though they don't actually help her in that way, the feeling of them across her back is comforting. "We're going to head for that light there and hope that we can gain access up to the top. If that doesn't work, we'll keep looking." Nomi wishes she had known to pack a bag with supplies, but she had no way to predict she would end up on the surface of the moon far far down below the actual city. She had no idea that there was a surface below the actual city, come to think of it.

"My Jedi?" Nomi sounds surprised. "Well, I guess I had one. I never, she never really came with me much, just told me what to do and where to go and sent me to do it. I guess we went on the same ship sometimes, but I always assumed she had other business in the area, not that she was there to escort me. Her name was - is - Lilikai Singan. She and I both lived at the temple on Coruscant when we weren't off doing other things. I have had various missions, but none ever as long-con as what you are talking about. My longest was on Ryloth prior to the occupation by about 3 months. I was done with that when the occupation was finally overthrown. If no one else answered your call then maybe there aren't any others. Or maybe not anymore."

"You're keeping your eyes out for anything moving, right? Do you have good low-light vision? Vesper does, but I am not sure if that is just something he does or if that is a common Bothan trait."

"I can shoot. Sort of. I mean, my trainers made sure I spent time at the firing range. I've never had to use it on something alive, though." He shrugs.

"And yeah, I'm staying alert. At least that's something I know I'm good at. I can't say my night vision is that much better than average, though. That sounds like more a Vesper thing than a Bothan thing. If I see anything weird, I'll say so." So far, the surroundings seem more monotonous than dangerous, at least.

"Maybe I kind of overstated things calling Amala 'my Jedi.' I guess I didn't really know her that well. I just checked in with her every few days and told her if I'd noticed anything interesting during my work. Sometimes she'd give me suggestions of places to go or things to do around Nar Shaddaa. But I wasn't really involved in whatever else she was doing on the moon. I'm not even sure whether she was open about being a Jedi around people other than me, or if she was undercover too. Now I guess I'll never know.

"You were on Coruscant? Wow. I've always wanted to go there. I did my training on Naboo, then they sent me here. So did someone recruit you, or did you volunteer, or how did you get involved in this stuff?"

"I was recruited after a fashion. My sister was a padawan in training at the temple. Master Lilikai took us both to the temple when she brought my sister there to train and she offered me the chance to do something more than just working as a laborer for the Jedi." Nomi glances back over her shoulder at Zio. "I didn't want to be just a laborer. Nothing wrong with good work that is needed, but I wanted a bigger purpose. My sister was going to be a Jedi. I wanted to be that useful too. I started training when I was 14. I went on my first mission off planet 3 years ago.

"Oh wow, your sister is a Jedi? I mean..." Zio's fur rustles in frenetic patterns across his body as he seems to put the implications of what he's saying together. "I hope she's okay. I'm sorry if she isn't. And I understand if it's not something you want to talk about right now.

Nomi nods. "It's okay. She's fine. She's not a full Jedi yet. Who knows if she ever will be now that there is no one to teach her. But she and I and a few others left Coruscant together and now we're on a quest to find someone who's been missing for like 20 years. I never thought about how big this galaxy was until I started looking for one in a sea of... well uncountable amounts." She glances over at him. "That's why I was thinking it wouldn't be that big of a deal to take you to Bothawui. We are kind of throwing nets out in the dark, why not there?

"I hope you have a chance to get to Coruscant sometime. I would suggest waiting a while after you get to Bothawui though. I think it is probably one of the least safe places to be in the whole of the universe right now. I don't trust the Emperor and that is his seat of power and where he is the strongest."

"Point taken," Zio says. "I'm not sure about the new Emperor either. That guy seems kind of...intense."

Once they finally near the lights, Nomi slows, becoming more cautious. She heads toward the shadow of a nearby structure, sticking close to the wall as she continues to move forward rather than walking in the open.

"Anyone who lives or works down here is going to have some extreme reason. The type of necessity that drives you to the abandoned edge of a planet full of criminals is not an everyday occurrence. It's likely these people are either dealing in something so bad they have to hide it from even criminals or without any other resources to survive but to find a place down here. Somehow we are going to have to leverage a way back to the top levels. I can do the talking. Just let me know if you see anything interesting as we get nearer."

The hidden fortress
Nomi and Zio draw closer to the light, concealing themselves next to a crumbling stone wall. The sun is beginning to set and the darkness of the abandoned buildings around is absolute, but the structure they're looking at is lit up in ways that suggest it's definitely occupied. Until now, they've been following something that may once have been a street, but in front of the lit area someone (most likely a group of someones) has blocked its entire width with a large, makeshift barricade, cobbled together out of all kinds of debris. It's at least 15 feet high at its highest point, and seems pretty solid, without any obvious openings or places to squeeze through.

Zio taps Nomi's shoulder. "Cameras," he whispers, pointing at some circular lumps on the top of the barricade. "Whoever's on the other side of that will be able to see anybody in the street."

Once they are in position looking at the wall blocking the view of the lighted building Nomi scans the nearby areas and the wall for signs of life besides the cameras. "See any automated guns or snipers?" she asks Zio, looking herself for any suspicious shapes on the top of the wall or in the gloom in likely places.

"Nothing automated. But I think there might be somebody in that tower." Zio points at a rickety-looking platform at the top of the barricade, with a metal roof erected overtop of it and waist-high walls surrounding the interior. Now that he mentions it, Nomi can also just barely make out the dark outline of a humanoid figure inside it.

"Thanks."

Nomi puts her hand on Zio's chest and gently pushes him into the darkest part of the sheltering wall that they are using for cover.

"I'm going to call out to whomever that is in there. While I am doing that, please watch to make sure no one and no thing is sneaking up from behind or the side, okay?" she says. Zio gives Nomi a thumbs up and flattens himself against the wall. With his black fur blending in with the shadows, he can vanish almost as thoroughly as Vesper can.

Nomi raises her voice to be heard across the distance, but she doesn't stand up, hopefully keeping her exact whereabouts hidden for the moment. "Hello there! I'm just a weary traveler out here trying to find my way back topside.  I was hoping that someone in there could help me!  I'd love to come out and talk, but I want to make sure that you are willing to talk.  If you'd rather shoot me, please let me know so that I can move along and find another way up!"

There’s a long pause after Nomi speaks. Then a feminine voice answers back, amplified through a crackly loudspeaker. "Sure, we can talk. Step out where I can see you. If you've got weapons, set them down at your feet." There's an echoing click and a floodlight clicks on, casting a pool of white light on the ground in front of the barricade.

Nomi holsters her blaster, casts a glance around herself and steps into the circle of light cast by the flood. She has her arms out to the side, her cloak falling back from her shoulders, showing that she has nothing to hide.

"Like I said, just looking for a way to get back topside. I don't need or want to know what is going on or about your operation. What do you say to letting me pass through?"

The person speaking doesn't appear to notice Nomi's blaster (or at least she doesn't say anything about it if she does). "You came down here from the city?" she says, sounding surprised. "Friend, I guarantee you don't want to try to pass through what's on the other side of this fort, not without supplies. It's getting dark. You better come inside."

There's a low creaking sound, like gears grinding, and a person-sized door opens in the barricade. Beyond it is darkness.

Nomi nods with a smile. "It was an accident, I can assure you. I have a friend with me." Nomi motions for Zio over her shoulder in a way that both the person on the wall and Zio can see.

"Sorry. We were being cautious. If it's alright, we will both come in."

Nomi's calf muscles tense just a bit, ready to try and jump to safety if needed. But she is hoping that they are let in and that Zio has a concealing holster that he is wearing in a correct spot.

Zio scurries into position next to Nomi and follows her through the gate. It grinds shut behind them, leaving them in a sort of holding pen area with high walls and another large metal door on the other side. It slides open just enough to let one being through - a female Twi'lek with pink skin and a very large blaster rifle strapped across her back. As suspected, she pats them both down, and Nomi definitely feels her touch the concealed pistol in its holster. If she realizes what it is, though, she doesn't say anything about it or take it away.

"You don't have any supplies?" she asks, sounding surprised.

Her lekku twitch, conveying a different question from the one her voice is saying. ''Are you with this guy (indicating Zio) of your own free will? If not, say so. I can signal a sniper.''

Nomi finally drops her arms to her sides in a gesture of relaxation after being patted down. Come what may, she's stuck here for the moment and she is going to make the best of it. No need to lie either. It comforts her to have her well-being checked by a Twi'lek. "No supplies. I was attacked above and he threw me down a trash chute. Long story, but basically I'm the mechanic on a ship that just gave passage to a bounty hunter and his bounty thought I was after him. My friend came after to make sure that I am okay."

Nomi's lekku sway in a pattern recognizable only to the other woman. ''He's a friend. Thank you for checking. Is it safe here?''

"Yes, that's just what happened," Zio confirms, maybe a little bit too eagerly.

"That's some bad luck," says the Twi'lek woman. "Heard of it happening, though. It usually didn't turn out too well for those folks. You're lucky you made it this far. My name's Leesha, by the way. Who are you?"

Her lekku say, in an amused tone: A lot safer than it is out there.

"Aayla." Nomi responds, slipping into a name that is easy to pull from memory, having used it many times in the past.

"And I'm Kai," Zio says, following her lead.

"It seemed pretty quiet out there while we were walking," Nomi says. "But I imagine that there are nocturnal denizens I am glad to have avoided. We are lucky we saw your light. How to do you get up the top level from here? Do you have a lift or stairs?" She avoids asking about their operation. Leesha seems pretty nice, but Nomi is still worried about the kind of people that would have a hidden operation on a planet that openly acknowledged crime as a daily occurrence.

With her lekku, Nomi only acknowledges Leesha's answer. She doesn't have anything else to say that is secret - for the moment.

"Nice to meet you, Aayla and Kai." Leesha nods and turns back to open the gate she came in through. "Come inside," she says. "Let's talk about this someplace else."

What Nomi and Zio see on the other side of the gate is perhaps different than what they were expecting. The barricade is blocking off a sizable expanse of open space, several square blocks on each side at least, ringed in by tall buildings with makeshift barricades connecting them. This large expanse of ground has been converted into what appears to be a functioning town. Small shacks and houses, made out of the same salvaged materials as the barricades, are interspersed with neatly tilled fields of crops. Wires and tubes are strung all over, probably leeching water and electricity from the city above.

"It's interesting that you didn't run into any trouble on your way. Usually there are beasts all over. Something else must be drawing them off. I'm afraid we don't have a way of getting back topside from here. The folks who live here aren't really in a position where we can go back up, so it's best to just remove the temptation. I know ways that you can get back up, of course, but getting to them isn't going to be safe for you as unprepared as you are. I can't spare anyone for an escort right now, not with the harvest starting tomorrow." (Indeed, Nomi can see that the garden plots she's walking past are practically bursting with ripe plants.) "But if you can cool your heels for a few days here, maybe we can negotiate something."

Nomi's expression visibly falls from the awe and surprise that she was feeling about what they had come across down here to show the despair at the time table. "That's..." She takes a big breath. "My crew is going to be worried sick and then decide that I must be dead in a ditch somewhere. I can't imagine the trouble that they are going to get into trying to figure out what happened to me." Or trying to get into my personal comm systems which were encrypted by people much better at computers than I will ever be, she thinks.

She glances over her shoulder at Zio. At least she figures he doesn't have anything to lose by a few days of going off grid - except maybe a week's worth of wages. "Is there any way that I can get someone a message? Just so that they don't go tearing up things looking for me? Do you have access to the HoloNet?" She pauses and runs her hand over her face with a grimace. "I'm sure that we can work something out." She gestures around. "It looks like you have a lot of work on your hands and we have four hands that can be put to work. I may also be able to help you with any mechanical needs, I know a bit about being a mechanic." She looks around again. "I - what is this place down here? to be honest I was expecting the kind of bad that would have to go underground on a planet that specializes in bad, this is not what I was expecting at all."

She glances at Leesha again, a fellow Twi'lek in a hidden colony under a planet full of Hutts and starts putting some thoughts together. ''I am no friend to Hutts. She signs Do you (general meaning, not Leesha specifically) hide from them? Escaped slaves? Need help?'' she signs.

"Some of the Hutts like to banish their enemies to the surface of Nar Shaddaa," Leesha says. "They think it's a death sentence. We know better. The two of you seem like decent people [Nomi also gets an underlying sense of "and we also think we can take you in a fight if anything goes wrong"], so here's what I propose. If you're willing to pitch in with the harvest for a few days, one of our speeders and its crew can get you close to one of the lifts that goes back up to the surface. Strong backs are always needed, and if you wanted to take a crack at fine-tuning some of the machines on our canning line, it might even help us wrap this up faster. We'll feed and shelter you until then and consider things even once we drop you off. Sound fair?"

With her lekku: ''Many are escaped slaves here, but not all of us. We're safe as long as we stay secret. Let's talk more in private later.''

"About the HoloNet...we have to be careful about that here. Too many enterprising slicers up topside, too many ways unrestricted access could give us all away. We have a terminal with access for emergencies, and if you're worried about what your crew might do in your absence, I'd say that qualifies. You can use it to send a message if you like. One recipient, text only, no return address. Begging your pardon for the hassle and the strictness, but I don't know what trouble your crew might get into, either." Leesha gives Nomi a wry smile.

"It would be better for all of us I think if they don't try too hard to find me," Nomi says. "If they got on this trail, it might draw unwanted attention. I don't want you to have attention drawn here after being kind and letting us come in. I am willing to help with the harvest. I am not the strongest, but I work hard. And I can take a look at the canning machines. If there is something that I can do to make them work better, I will do it. It's clever, what you have down here right under the noses of the Hutts. I like that this place is here. As long as Kai agrees, I think we have a deal."

With her lekku: ''I will keep your secret. I look forward to the talk.''

Nomi asks to be told as soon as they have a safe moment when she can send a message and then asks for a chance to clean up the garbage stink from her body and clothes. She is antsy to send a message to the ship, but understands that there may be certain windows which are safer than others to use any link to the net. Hopefully the search for the Mirror is keeping her crew busy enough.

Learning about the colony
As soon as she can, Nomi sends a message to Somi: "I am well. Warning: Mirror has my likeness and I will be unable to return for a few days. Do not come looking for me. Please wait. Love you. Aayla Kissa"

It appears that about 40-50 beings live in this little village on the lunar surface. The majority are humans or Twi'lek, but about 10 of the folks here belong to some other species. NThere are also a number of droids around: some agricultural laborer type droids who do some of the heaviest work in the fields, a few astromech droids, and one somewhat janky medical droid. Most beings here are adults, but Nomi spots a few family units with young children mixed in too. The people here appear to live fairly communally, without an obviously discernable political or leadership structure, though Leesha's words and opinions obviously carry a lot of weight as do those of a few other folks. The large gardens seem to produce the bulk of their food, supplemented with some chicken-esque animals and other critters that produce eggs and meat without requiring too much space or huge amounts of special feed. The spot is well chosen to allow for at least some direct sunlight most days without being too obvious to the buildings above, and they make up the difference with mirrors, grow lights, and choosing crops that don't require a lot of sunlight to thrive (Nomi sees a lot of mushrooms and analogous galaxy-far-far-away plants being grown). The rest of what they get is acquired through scavenging what they can find from the lunar surface outside the compound - a lot of picking through garbage piles and going into the lower levels of abandoned buildings to see what might have been left behind. Nomi notices a few very old and battered landspeeders and speeder bikes that must be used for this purpose, along with a pen containing a handful of pack beasts. Based on what she overhears, scavenging is a very dangerous job and the people who are good at it are highly valued and respected.

The harvest is definitely hard work. Leesha wasn't kidding when she said she couldn't spare anyone to leave right now; everyone in town is involved in some way, even the very youngest children who keep each other occupied and entertained so their parents can work. Nomi takes a look at the canning line, which is cobbled together from a bunch of discarded spare parts like everything else mechanical in this place, and makes a few refinements that seem to get it running more smoothly. Zio is happy to go wherever he's needed and works hard on anything he's given without complaining or drawing much attention to himself, even when the job is something unpleasant like maintaining latrines. The residents are vocally grateful for their help, and don't ask any questions about who Nomi and Zio are or where they came from.

When the work wraps up each evening, most people gather around a central hearthfire to share some of the first fruits of the harvest and relax together. Music and dancing often happen, and Nomi's contributions are welcomed. Zio is the life of the party at these gatherings; he's the only Bothan in town and likes to tell outrageous-sounding stories of the way things are on his homeworld, much like Nomi has heard Vesper do before.

Nomi and Zio are directed to a small lean-to to sleep in, with two basic bedrolls and a lantern and not much else. There's a communal wash house/shower house where they can clean themselves and their clothes whenever you need to. It looks like cooking for the two of them is a shared responsibility, with various folks taking turns at bringing an extra portion of whatever meal they made for themselves that day. The food is very simple, without a lot of fancy spices or complicated flavors, but fresh and filling. Leesha also checks in periodically to make sure they both have everything you need.

During this time, Nomi asks Zio about his background and he opens up to her readily. He soon admits that when he talked about his mother and sisters before, he was stretching the truth a little. Zio was actually born in a brothel on Bothawui to one of the women who worked there. She died of an illness when he was very young, and the madam and the other employees (his "mom" and "sisters") raised him communally. To earn his keep he did various odd jobs of cleaning up, bringing supplies from place to place, and generally working behind the scenes to keep things running. This is how he learned to be both observant and unseen. One of the frequent customers at the brothel was a human Republic official who was a bit of a xenophile. This man would often say a little more than he should while he was hanging around the brothel, and Zio would overhear. He started selling the information he learned to various people he met on the street. Eventually the official realized what was going on, but instead of being angry with Zio, he offered him a job using his obvious talents to help the Republic war effort. This happened about three years ago when the Clone Wars were just beginning. Zio went through a similar training process to Nomi's and was just recently dispatched to Nar Shaddaa for his first mission, and Nomi already knows how that went. Zio has no idea what he wants to do next and figures that going back to familiar territory on Bothawui and resting for a while will be the best way to sort that out. He confirms that Bothan shoes are a thing but characterizes them as "a weird hangup that rich people have," and clearly thinks that wearing them is a bit of a silly affectation.

When she has time, Nomi also talks to Leesha and learns about the history of the colony. The compound has existed in this form for about 10 years. People have come and gone and that's what Leesha perceives as the biggest risk to its existence - the idea of someone who has chosen to leave giving up its location either by choice or coercion. This hasn't happened yet as far as she can tell, but it's always been in the back of her mind as something that might. Something she thinks might help would be finding some way for people to get farther away if they wanted to. She knows there are some people within the colony who would have left to be with family or friends on other planets if they'd had the means to do so, but their lack of money or passage meant the colony was their only real option. If those people could make a cleaner break she thinks it would strengthen the colony in the long run.

Nomi also asks Leesha about her background. Leesha is a native of Nar Shaddaa and was born into a family that was deeply enmeshed with the Hutts. There was really no other option for her but to follow in their footsteps. About 7 years ago she angered the Hutt she worked for (she says "I didn't kill somebody he wanted killed" and doesn't go into more detail than that) and he exiled her to the surface as punishment. By chance she happened across the colony in its early stages, when it was under the control of its founder, a smart but eccentric human man named Davin who was trying to establish a place to live on Nar Shaddaa out from under the control of the Hutts. He took Leesha under his wing and taught her the various survival techniques he was an expert in; she, in turn, convinced him to take in exiles, escaped slaves, and other people with nowhere else to go instead of just keeping the whole place to himself. Davin died about 3 years ago in an accident while scavenging for materials. Since then, Leesha and a few of his other early protégés have been keeping the settlement running. Leesha really believes in the colony as a valuable institution and views it as her home as well as her mission in life. She wants to see it continuing as a place of safety and refuge for people like her. If it needs to grow to do that, she's prepared to do it, but if the compound stays basically the way it is now for the rest of her life she'll be happy with that too.

Nomi tells Leesha about the fact that she came from Coruscant, that she worked at the Temple there and that she barely escaped with her life when the now-Emperor decided that anyone Jedi or Jedi-connected was a threat to the Republic. Nomi adds that she doesn't think that the Jedi were a threat to the Republic, but that they would have been a threat to the Empire and the Emperor if anyone looked forward in time, which the now-Emperor appears to have done, since there does not appear to be much vocal opposition to his power grab. Nomi and her companions, just trying to survive, ended up helping the Bounty Hunter go after his target and that is how she ended up down here. The story on that is still the same. She tells Leesha about the quest from a dying Jedi and how they are trying to follow the tiny traces which is another thing that ended them up on Nar Shaddaa since the person that they are looking for, who could be dead, stole from and pissed off a Hutt a long time ago. Nomi is not sure where the next stop is going to be in unraveling the mystery, but they will probably stop on Bothawui because Kai wants to go home. She tells Leesha about growing up on Ryloth and the similarities in their background, working for those of questionable morality out of the necessity to feed her family and about some of the cons that Nomi and her sister ran in order to work for themselves for a while. She will express a lot of interest and admiration for what they have done down here to live their own lives away from the relatively tiny thumbs of the Hutts. She gives Leesha the contact info for Rogue Ronto and offers to help, if she can, in the future.

Goodbye for now
By the end of Nomi's stay, she considers Leesha a friend and shares her real name. Leesha isn't upset and seems to think that Nomi's caution was wise. Leesha takes all the rest of what Nomi tells her in stride. "I don't blame you for not coming out with all of that right away. In your place, I wouldn't have known whether admit all that, either. I'm honored you feel like you can trust me with it." She also considers what you tell her about the Jedi and the Empire; like most people, she's never met a Jedi in person to her knowledge and didn't really have a strong opinion about them - then adds "but if one of them ever ends up down here, I'll know now to give them safe haven, the same as I would with anyone else on the run." She gives you the address for the colony's single terminal and tells you to guard it carefully - "though, based on what you told me, it sounds like you'd do that anyway."

As the end of the harvest draws near, Nomi asks Leesha about what she can expect to face on the way back to the surface. It seems that many of the Hutts on Nar Shaddaa are involved with a beast fighting league where exotic wild animals fight each other and/or fight against gladiator type beings for entertainment. The lunar surface is an easy place to acquire such creatures, many of which are native to the moon. Over the years, the Hutts have also introduced non-native species to the lunar surface as well to raise them up in a sort of beast fighting nature preserve, and they send people down to capture specimens for use in the arenas. The beasts have the run of the place and many have learned to hate and fear the sentient species who hunt them, and to attack them accordingly. Gundarks are the most common type since they are native to Nar Shaddaa. If people manage to dodge the beasts, the danger is in dying of starvation or dehydration since there are few non-tainted sources of food and water on the surface and it's likely they will poison themselves if they try to forage without knowing what they're doing.

On the way out, an escort will take Nomi and Zio on a known safe-ish path away from the settlement. Leesha warns Nomi that they will need to blindfold her on the way out so she can't lead people back later on - this is standard safety practice for anyone not yet considered a full citizen of the town. They will drop Nomi and Zio off a short walk from a lift in an area known to be safe; if they are alert to their surroundings and try to move stealthily, they should be able to reach the lift without problems in under an hour. This particular lift was chosen because it tops out in a busy public area. As long as they don't attract attention to themselves, no one should pay much attention to what level they got on at, and there is nothing especially risky at the top assuming Nomi and "Kai" are not wanted for anything topside (if so, that's not something Leesha views as her problem).

All told, Nomi and Zio end up spending four nights at the compound, leaving on the following morning. The town turns out to see them off. Leesha embraces Nomi and Zio warmly and says, "I'm glad to have met you both. I hope you find what you're looking for up topside. May the Force be with you."

Three of the colony's scavengers escort Nomi and Zio to the lift: two in a landspeeder with them, the third on a speeder bike in the lead as a scout. Nomi and Zio are blindfolded before being seated in the speeder. The ride to the drop-off point takes almost an hour, and Nomi gets the sense that the pilot is making some random turns along the way - whether to disorient her, or to avoid hazards, or both, she can't be sure.

Eventually the speeder comes to a halt and the pilot says, "This is where you get out." He helps Nomi and Zio remove their blindfolds and points them in the proper direction. "Walk a few minutes that way, then make a left at the garbage pile. You won't be able to miss it. From there, it's a straight shot to the lift. Good luck."

After making sure Nomi and Zio are headed in the correct direction, the scavengers speed away and are soon lost from view. In case Nomi had any concerns about not being able to miss the garbage pile, they are not founded, based upon the incredibly pungent smell that only increases as she walks. Zio grimaces as he says, "I'm guessing that has to be it."

Sure enough, before very long, Nomi sees an enormous pile of trash that fills up basically the entire middle of an intersection between two of the "streets" on the lunar surface - a similar garbage dumping operation to the one that sent her down here in the first place, but on a much larger scale. As she studies the heap, trying to figure out a way around it that will expose you to the smallest amount of mess, she notices movement somewhere around the edges of the mess. Two heads pop up, and Nomi recognizes them...

For the conclusion of this sidequest, see Brawln_and_the_Case_of_the_Stolen_Planet.