Smuggler Archive
Thread: Ashla's Wing:Part 2 'Closing the Deal'
- hehe, guess I wanted to know more about what was going on myself. I'm toying with the idea of doing a 3rd or maybe go back and rewriting part one. /shrug"I'm used to working with the end buyer." She scolded. She was clearly a little annoyed but odds were that that would only play to my favor, so I ordered another drink.
"You must be new." I said keeping an absolutely straight face.
"New! Look buddy I've been doing this longer than …" she stopped herself before she could imply she'd been at this longer than I had. She couldn't possibly have been doing this longer than the guy who grew up on Ashla's Wing.
Ashla's Wing, for those of you who are new to the smuggler world yourself, is my ship - she's one of a kind. Well … she's the second in a line of fine ships actually but each was uniquely worthy of the name. The first Ashla's Wing (my Father's ship) had made quite a name for itself in the smuggler world and has been a part of popular cantina banter for a generation now; I do my best to keep the tradition going. "I'm no rookie, Spacer," she continued, "it's just I like knowing who I'm working with."
"That's understandable. Though, I've found that a great number of times the guy on the other side of the table is just a fence himself. We rarely know who the end buyer is, you know that. And frankly I rarely want to know."
"Well how do I know you represent who you say you do?" she asked. "How do I know you aren't an Imperial plant?"
"Because, sweetheart, I know you're a middleman and I'm still talking to you rather than arresting you. Imperials know the deal isn't going to end with an introduction to the buyer - at best they can arrest you and beat some names out of you - and contrary to popular opinion, they don't wait for credits to be transferred to do that." I instinctively folded my arms and rubbed my left elbow as I said this.
"Okay okay. My employer was unusually concerned about who I worked with on this. But … I suppose I could do worse than you. When can you have the data disk?"
"When can you have the artifact?"
She gave me a careful look over and responded "Tomorrow". She may not be new, but she's hardly a pro, I thought. I'd wager 500credits that she had the artifact no more than 50 clicks from here. I chuckled at her mistrust of me.
"I need to swing by a friend's on Rori." I said. "I can be back here in 3 days." Of course Rori was nowhere near where I was going, but it was as good a lie as any. She chuckled at my mistrust of her.
"Good," she said, "3 days and we meet back here. Can I assume you'll have the datadisk on you?"
I nodded "You can also assume it will have a micro-trip attached. If you fail to produce my payment and the artifact … or if I fail to retrieve either", I added with a raised eyebrow, "and my associate will detonate the disk."
She nodded. "And you'll get the codes to open the case I'll provide once we're in orbit. Try opening it before then and your friend on Rori will see the light show."
And with that the deal was set. In three days time I'd have my loot and she'd have her datadisk. I walked out the front of the cantina and she walked out the back - a needless precaution on most of Tatooine but old habits die hard. I heard blaster fire in the distance. 'Another deal gone bad' I thought to myself. I fired up a death stick and walked to toward the star port. I hate death sticks, damn Drenl for getting me started on them. It's become a bit of a tradition now to have one upon closing a deal. I keep meaning to drop the habit … but with out a better vice in mind to take it's place I haven't bothered.
Now, I know what you're thinking, "Ooooh a datadisk! Juicy! What's on it?" and the best answer is "who cares". The disk is barter; I need it to get the artifact. "Oh!" you are no doubt giggling to yourself, "What is this artifact?!" and again … the answer is "who cares". I need it because some idiot is going to pay me a ridiculous amount of credits for it. That's the way it works you see … you have one deal in order to be able to make another so that you can make a third, so that you can get a meeting with the guy who can get you the thing that some other guy is willing to pay you for. The good smugglers always say they can deliver things they don't have - then it's just a matter of getting it. The smugglers that live very long actually manage to get it. And the great smugglers turn a profit at each of these interim deals. I'm a great smuggler, and this little deal was going to net me nearly as much as the artifact itself would.
The current owner of the artifact couldn't care less about the trinket but he or she wants this datadisk bad enough to do things to me I'd rather not contemplate. Thankfully I managed to convince them that all that would be needed was a hefty payout.
All along I've known where the artifact was, I just didn't have anything the owner wanted until now. Previous subtle attempts to acquire it for credits had failed. This is where a smuggler's network starts to come into play. Naturally I'd been working several deals and constantly monitoring the chatter of the black market as I traveled the core taking care of business. I had feelers out everywhere about the artifact owner. I never mentioned the artifact itself mind you otherwise anyone who could get me information would have just worked the angle themselves and tried to sell me the end prize … and that would cost a lot more than information would. Eventually I heard about various associates of the owner and things they wanted.
I closed a few deals with them, each time working my way closer to the artifact and it's owners inner circle. I'd learned from one of my new customers that a friend of a friend was looking for something and naturally I let it be known that I could deliver.
"Damn! You're good, Korin, I'll give you that." He dropped a credit chip on the table. "Go ahead confirm it's all there."
I gave him my best 'don't be silly' dismissive smile. "Nonsense, Arris, I trust you!" I assured him as I poured him another drink. I didn't even take the credit chip; I just left it on the table as if it was worth no more than the server's tip.
The job Arris had me run for him was a cakewalk. It was beneath me to be quite honest. It had cost me next to nothing, wasn't particularly dangerous, and it wasn't his credits I needed it was his trust. I'd learned that Arris was a first hand acquaintance of the artifact owner. Not that I wasn't going to take his credits - I was - but I could put that off for another round of drinks in this case.
"Jas was right about you." Smiled Arris as he clicked his glass to mine. "It's nice to meet someone with your skill set who's reliable and who isn't a complete korba,"
"I'm glad to help. We both came out ahead here after all."
"Exactly".
I had drinks with Arris several times over the following months. I made it a point tostop in and buy a round when I was in the system, and I made a point to be in the system a few times for just that reason. I'd tell him I was in the area on business and that I liked to keep in touch with my preferred business associates such as him - besides he knew all the good cantinas, I'd joke. I'd come up with entertaining and impressive fiction as to why I was in the system and by the end of the night I'd have him ogling in childlike admiration of the smuggler lifestyle.
It was on my third or so social visit to Arris when it all paid off. I had planned to bring up the artifact owner (I'd only known him via an alias - as harmless as "artifact" sounds it was still contraband.) but Arris mentioned him first.
"Korin." he said with sudden seriousness. "There're something you may be able to help me with, or rather a friend of mine."
"You know me Arris, I'm always looking for another gig. What's the run?"
"It's considerably more … difficult … than our last arrangement" he said.
I'd been waiting for a chance to say this to him. "No offence Arris, but our last arrangement was kids stuff." He looked mildly upset but I shot him a grin and wink and he laughed.
"I'm reluctant to mention it ... for lots of reasons," he said. I'd gotten the impression from Arris before that he wasn't fond of Imperial rule; this job no doubt was a more egregious affront to it.
"Arris, I don't judge people, their friends, goals, or the nature of their transactions. As long as they keep my secrets I keep theirs, and as long as they have credits we can do business."
"I have a friend … he needs a particular data file from a secure system."
"Slicing. Perfect. Who's the friend?"
"You should be more concerned with the file." Arris suddenly has business sense, maybe he'd been playing me as much as I'd been playing him. "This is no holo-net slice my friend." He stopped, afraid to say more.
"Your friend needs me to slice an Imperial data bank?"
He looked up with a 'Yeah, but you said it not me' expression. "Not necessarily. We just need the file." 'We' I thought … maybe he doesn't have too much business sense after all. "Who retrieves the file and how isn't our concern. It just has to be verifiable."
"Right." I put down my drink and smiled at him. I let out a brief but hearty laugh as I put my hand on his shoulder "Arris relax, this sort of thing is more common than you may realize. Welcome to the world of a smuggler." I said as I motioned to the bar tender for another round.
He told me more than he really should have at that point. It was a local encrypted file on a security terminal within an Imperial forward outpost on Talus. He either didn't know or wouldn't tell me what was on the file; he could only provide its location. But the important bit he let slip was his friends name, Dalan. Dalan was the alias I'd known for the artifact owner. The alias was relatively new but the owner of it never kept an alias for long - this was the opportunity I'd been working toward. All that was known of Dalan (I'd had a friend run the name through the Bothans) was that the name first appeared on the black market about six months ago. Transactions tended to indicate that Dalan was a rebel sympathizer if not an operative himself and no verifiable contact information could be located. Stealing an offline encrypted file from an Imperial fortification was likely to be the last transaction Dalan would be associated with before he ceased to exist.
I waited about day and a half before I contacted Arris again. I sent him a secure com saying that I could procure his order, but it would have some associated expenses above and beyond the delivery fee. He agreed to my 10% upfront bonus and reminded me that he himself had nothing to do with this, he was just introducing a few friends. He suggested there would be a new contact on both our parts and neither would know anything about us. We thanked each other for our mutual discretion and that was that.
Dalan's new represenative contacted me the next day. There were some initial negotiations via currier and secure com-links. They could have easily taken out 3 or 4 bounties on me for what I originally said I wanted in return for the disk. They were appropriately appalled, but I offered them a sizable discount if they tossed in the artifact. I'd heard they had it, I told them, and I thought I could fence it to a collector at a nice price.
Eventually, once the generals were understood (which by the way rarely includes specific mention of the merchandise) a meet was set up where the final details could be agreed upon and where a hand off would be arranged. Once that takes place, the deal is done and everyone goes his or her separate ways.
Lyra had talked me down a bit in price, but I was still getting the artifact, and that's what's important. Naturally, for deals of this scale safe guards are expected. The locked case, the micro-trip ... could we still double cross each other, sure, but at least we wouldn't be in blaster range when it happened. There aren't too many smugglers who actually like having a bounty on their head, so such things rarely actually happen - and take my advice on this, if you ever get the feeling you're working with someone who prides their marksmanship above their slicing skills, send an associate to the meet. Besides, a smuggler's reputation is his most valuable asset and most would rather take a loss in credits than risk being known as the guy who doesn't deliver ... well, a small loss in credits anyway.
So in three days Lyra would be waiting with my artifact. Now I just have to get this disk ... in less than three days. Thankfully, if Drenl pulled off his part of the plan we should have it by now safe and sound.
I tossed the spent death stick to the sand and walked into the star port planning the meet that would happen in three days. Something about Lyra bothered me. I couldn't figure out this woman. She wasn't the rookie she was playing herself to be, employers willing to pay what hers were don't deal with just anyone. Whoever she was she'd made some powerful friends. Hopefully I could stay in her good graces, she could be valuable to me later.
I was about half way to the hangers when I realized I didn't have a ship here. I stood there for a minute resisting the urge to beat the nearest bi-ped to within an inch of its life to make me feel better. I took a deep breath and turned around and made my way to the public shuttle ticket terminal.
So help me I was going to make Ayden unbearably miserable for this ... not to mention double the price of his precious artifact. If anything happens to Ashla's Wing I'd kill him. I didn't know how I was going to explain this all to Drenl.
Message Edited by IndySWG on 10-29-2004 12:55 PM
Message Edited by IndySWG on 11-05-2004 12:36 PM
)Good Job!
FrankLee wrote:
Solid set up. I look forward to seeing how the rest of the deal goes.
Good Job!
OMG FrankLee read my story! 
/faints dead away
Thanks for the feed back FrankLee. It's my first attempt at writing a story really. I have some ideas for part 3 and on ... and most of them get progressively more action packed .. still deciding how to proceed if at all, really.
Message Edited by Rudakus on 11-05-2004 09:25 AM