Searching for a Painting

[Yukki Kazuto]

I woke up in the master bedroom of the Crimson Militia headquarters, and slowly felt the sun’s rays hit my face.  I sat up in my bed, resting my back against the head of the bed, and began wondering what I was going to do now.


I pulled out my cell phone and began exploring the dataverse. After about half an hour from seeing everything from a dating website that I kept in the back of my mind, to a website based on objecting to Omni, to a list of all the current bounties for each faction. I scrolled through it, looking at the different bounties that each faction had listed. It seemed that everybody had a bounty out for somebody.


One bounty in particular caught my eye. It was a smaller bounty, and it seemed to have been posted earlier the previous day, meaning the person was likely still in the area described. It was for a young woman with a plethora of colors painting her skin, hair, and eyes. It also said she was able to change her appearance at will, which may prove to be a pretty big problem when it comes to tracking her down.


According to the bounty board, the woman, Luci, had last been seen on Tier five in Coruscant. Well then, it would be fun to make the trip back to Coruscant and hunt down the woman, and get paid for my troubles. And based on the powers displayed, it would be an interesting challenge to say the least.


I took the time to summon a carbine rifle, as well as six magazines for it and a black chest rig to hold the ammo. Once everything was in place, I headed for the gate to Coruscant. After going through an extensive security checkpoint where I had to surrender my weapons to checking and explain what I was doing in Coruscant in the first place, I was allowed access to the city, on the grounds that my weapons were only to be used for hunting down the bounty I was after.


I headed down to Tier five, and began wandering the streets looking for someone who matched the description of the person I was looking for. I didn’t bother asking anyone around me, as I knew that most of these people would not be willing to help someone who is looking for a known criminal, who is becoming a force to be reckoned with in this area.


I pulled out my phone and looked back through the information provided about Luci by the Empire. She could shapeshift, hmm? If she was in a shapeshifting from, my enhanced senses should be able to notice that something is not what it appears. It wasn’t a sure thing by any means, but it was better than walking around blind.


I slipped into my enhanced senses and began wandering around Tier five, waiting for any sign of something pretending to be what it wasn’t. I also kept my eyes out for anyone who looked more like a rainbow than a bowl of Lucky Charms did, but began to feel helpless as the hours went by. It didn’t help that I had to take breaks every few minutes because of the energy consumption from always having my senses activated.


As the sky began to slowly turn black, I felt something pretending in a building. It felt fuzzy at first, but as I got closer to the building, there was no mistaking it. Whether it was the person I was after, or just merely someone hiding, there was no way to tell from outside. So I did what any reasonable person that was looking for someone would do.


I knocked on the door.

[Luci]

***

Luci sits by a window on the second story of a dilapidated clubhouse in Teir-5. She peeks through the planks of wood hastilly nailed over the window, and her stomach drops with every set of headlights that turn down the street. She is still in the thin, mature body and black pinstriped skirt-suit of Vanessa Harmon.

A motley collection of Westside gangsters lounge around the room, pouring over Luci's recently stolen files. Dew Drop, a musclebound female elf and second Lieutenant of the Westside Knife Ear Warriors, is arguing with a Klingon in a wife beater over a low coffee table.

"Look," she says, pointing at one of the files. It shows a one-eyed orc glaring for his mugshot, his rap sheet listed next to him. "Two months ago, he got busted with Glarg picking up on Star Street and Hk!gk Ave. That was right around the time your boy, what's his name, Qor, says he caught that Ninja Turtle bounty. But here, it says the Empire saw Raphael two weeks ago in Teir-6. Your boy is fucking lying!"

The casually dressed Klingon known as Kyrg glares at the report. "This is preposterous. Are you implying a Mighty Westside Klingon would ever dare-"

"To sell out his neighborhood for a hundred OM to some tusk-fuckers?" interrupts the elf sharply. "And what if I am?"

Luci turns away from the argument and listens to a pair of giggling Hufflepunks reading an arrest report.

"Oh yeah, this is gold. 'Suspect fit the description, brown male orc in a pink miniskirt. Suspect was clearly intoxicated. Suspect was arrested for prostitution and identified as Graarg the Destroyer, an enforcer for the orc mafia with several warrants'. Jesus man..." says one of the Hufflepunks, a bald teenage wizard with a badger tattooed on the back of his head.

His girlfriend, a petite blue-haired crust-punk named Dick-Face, points excitedly to another report. "Oh Scab, look at this! That Wookie with the nose ring, Ereeewel, got caught on Isengard Lane with 200 OM worth of Plutonic Quarks! You know what that means?"

The bald wizard nods. "It means old Feezo is cooking up some you-know-what. We should pay her a visit..."

Weasel, the young red-haired leader of the Westside Hufflepunks, wanders over to Luci with a file in her hand.

"You did good Lieutenant Perky. So you know, perk the fuck up," the witch suggests with a shrug.

Luci does not.

"Look, we found him. Clear as day, smoking gun," Weasel says as she hands the file off to Luci.

Luci reads the file intently three times. She locks eyes with the Hufflepunk, and finds no compassion.

"He's a piece of shit," Luci says as she lights a cigarette. "I'm not waiting for council approval," she adds after a moment. "We got you and the princess here, and I'll take the heat from Moss. Let's get this fuck."

Weasel grins, and there is a knock on the door.

***

Every junkie in Teir-5 knows that if you knock four times, then five times, on the door behind the abandoned house on Phaser Street and 3rd Ave you will find some excellent prices on various chems.

Every Westside gangster knows that if you knock three times, then six times, the doors will fling wide and you will be met with friends and comrades.

The collected Westside gangsters tense at the unfamiliar knock.

A tea kettle whistles.

***

Yukki stands outside politely, staring into a security camera. Inside he can hear frantic movement, guns being loaded, furniture being pushed around.

"Put the fucking chems away!" a voice yells.

Yukki taps his foot impatiently as a series of locks are loudly removed. The door opens a minuscule crack, and a mousy blue-haired teenager's face appears.

"Um, can I help you?" she asks in a squeaky voice.

Yukki clears his throat. "I have reason to believe you're harboring a known fugitive, I'm sure you never intended-" he says as the door is slammed in his face. Yukki sighs, and throws his shoulder into the door.

***

Luci watches from the back of the room as the door is busted open and the blue-haired Hufflpunk is knocked out.

The intruder ducks a shuriken from Princess Hellstab, dodges an arrow from Dew Drop the elf, and back-flips over a stunning hex from Scab the Hufflepunk.

Luci walks to the kitchen.

The intruder whirls his arms in a complex pattern, releasing glittering steel knives with stunning accuracy. One knife cuts through Scab's wand, causing a small explosion to engulf his hand. A second knife catches Princess Hellstab's kimono as she is in mid-leap, pinning her to the wall. A third knife cuts the string on Dew Drop's bow and lodges deep into her shoulder.

Luci grabs two coffee cups from the cupboard. One is her own, which has a cute rainbow mustache on the lip so it looks like you have a mustache when you drink it.

Kyrg the Klingon upends a table, but a fourth knife slices through the table like butter and through Kyrg's foot, pinning him to the floor. He howls in pain.

Luci walks to the dining room with two saucers of tea and biscuits and puts them on the table. She sits down as Weasel rushes forward with her wand raised.

Weasel grunts and falls to one knee as a knife slices through her leg. She raises her wand, and a sixth knife lodges in her palm, eliciting a scream and forcing her to drop it.

The intruder whirls around and cocks a very nasty looking gun an inch from Luci's face.

Luci sips her drink. She let's the disguise of Vanessa Harmon melt away, her severe features replaced by a soft-faced, glowing teenage girl. Luci stares at the intruder for a moment before speaking.

"If you're here to kill me, I think it would be polite to have some tea first."

That fight was for flavor. Yukki was not injured, his resources were not depleted, and I do not intend to gain any tactical advantage from the exchange

***

Yukki sips the tea warily, his enhanced senses confirming a lack of malicious additives. He keeps hand on his gun, and his gun on the table. The collected Westside gangsters sulk in the living room, nursing their wounds.

"Do you think I'm pretty?" Luci asks as she poses in a pocket mirror. Yukki rolls his eyes. "The Empire must think I'm pretty," she continues. "The Empire thinks my head is worth a hundred OM. Is that a lot of money?"

Yukki shrugs noncommittally. "For some people."

Luci nods, and sips her tea. "It doesn't sound like a lot. If The Empire thinks my head is worth just a hundred OM, they must think I'm just a pretty face."

Yukki does not reply, but sips his tea. He is almost done. His hand tenses on the gun. He looks at Luci for a tell, looking to see her eyes flicker to an escape route. She stares back. Everywhere is an escape route for her.

"It sounds like The Empire doesn't respect you either," Luci continues. "I've seen what you can do though. I respect you. A hundred OM is an insult for a man of your talents. But that's the thing about honest work, right? It's just not as lucrative as crime."

Luci pulls out a wad of glowing, crumpled cash.

"I have a proposition for you," the gangster says.

I'll offer 200 OM for 1500 words dedicated to expanding Luci's criminal empire. You will also have access to more Westside quests (Quests from me!)

You can make up the tasks yourself, or I can give you some suggestions to choose from.

You do not have to kill anyone or do any high-profile bounty-worthy crimes.

[Yukki Kazuto]

I stared at the money, my hand resting on my sidearm. I had to admit, this wasn’t a situation I thought I would be in when I knocked on the door. Or when I busted it down and attacked everyone inside. The fight? Yeah, that was expected. Even if my target wasn’t here, it’s the lower half of Coruscant after all. But sipping tea with my target, no, not really expected.


And now, about her proposition. I finished my tea and placed the empty cup down on the table. I drummed my fingers on the table for a few moments thinking about it. Luci waited patiently as I considered my options. It might not have been what I originally came here for, but hey. When it comes down to it, joining her side has more benefits than killing her.


I took my gun off the table. “What did you have in mind? I’m not above killing someone or doing some work that would get me a bounty, but I’m not going on a suicide mission or anything.” For a moment, I could have sworn I saw her smile.

[Luci]

Luci smiles warmly at Yukki. She does not smirk or sneer or grin, or fold her her fingers into a menacing pyramid and let out an evil triumphant laugh. Luci's smile conveys trust. Her shoulders relax, the swirling colors that make up her skin become vibrant, and she lights a cigarette.

Her hands are shaking as she slides a photograph towards Yukki.

The picture is of a young red Twi'lek girl, about eight years old. She is barring her teeth at the camera and holding a broomstick that is glowing like a light-saber, while a black cape flows behind her.

"Her name is De'iali, but she prefers 'Batgirl Skywalker'. Batgirl likes K-pop, her mom and dad, and killing orcs. She is a member of the Westside Deathblades and under my protection. She was kidnapped two nights ago," Luci says as she ashes her cigarette. The smoke is thick and distracting, with little wisps of color appearing in it on occasion.

"We think she was taken by this orc," Luci says. She grabs the file she was discussing with Weasel before the intrusion and hands it to Yukki.

On the left is a mugshot of a black-furred orc with sharp fangs and slitted yellow eyes. His name is Kerg Agraka. On the right side of the file is his rap sheet.

Yukki skims through it, and begins to feel ill. Pimping, pimping, domestic violence, pimping, sexual assault, human trafficking, and it just keeps getting worse. Yukki closes the file.

"So," he says. "What makes you think she's still alive?"

"Because we intercepted a message. Kerg is planning to sell her tonight to a Hutt pimp. We were going to go tonight, but the fact is, it's suicide for us," Luci runs a hand through her glimmering hair, and brushes off some glitter that lands on her shoulder. "We don't have the manpower or the weapons, and even if we got her, the backlash from the Orc Mafia would be too much for us to handle. And I would get her myself but," Luci sighs. "But the orcs are learning. They found a...a way to stop me from getting in."

Luci sizes up Yukki.

"An electric fence," she admits, while Yukki nods politely. "You need to get her tonight," says Luci, her voice cracking. Her big gold eyes are wide.

WESTSIDE QUEST- SAVE DE'IALA, A.K.A. BATGIRL SKYWALKER
Reward- 200 OM, access to more Westside Quests, and a kiss on the cheek from Luci
Difficulty- Easy (1500+ words)

Quest- Rescue Batgirl Skywalker from Kerg and return her to the Westside Deathblades. They are in a clubhouse in Eastside Teir-5. Go alone, and do not implicate the Westside gangs.

Bonus Reward- If you kill Kerg, you will earn the respect of a group of degenerate psychopaths (the Westside)