[right][b]Paradise Mid-Level: Traders Hub[/b][/right] "Feke Kast, you arming yourself or a small army?" the rodian arms dealer swore as he scanned a holopad with a list of Kast's necessary materials. "Funny." Kast replied, unamused. Opening up the briefcase, he handed off not an insubstantial chunk of money to the rodian. The arms dealer examined a few of the credit chips- even going so far as to bit on one, wincing as his teeth clattered against the hard metal. Seemingly content with the quality of the credits he had just acquired, he began casually stacking them on his desk as he made a call with his comm link. "Alright Kast, your supplies are being delivered to your ship now, try not do die- better for business." [b] [right]Paradise Mid Level[/right][/b] Kast strode through the corridors of Paradise with practiced ease- he had spent enough time on this ship between bounties that he was used to the different corridors. As he walked, he heard a few other groups of people idly gossiping about a Star destroyer that had warped in and fired on the station. Strange enough, as Kast had heard not felt any disturbances. Though he did notice a larger than normal concentration of Imperial remnants walking through the ship corridors- presumably on leave. Kast always found it interesting how many Imperials and New Republic personnel visited the Paradise. While Republic presence wasn't particularly strong in this sector, it wasn't unheard of to see them walking around on the Paradise. Interactions between the two groups varied wildly. Most of the time it was tense, their animosity leading to different groups staying far away from one another. But Kast had also seen groups of soldiers mingling and laughing at one of the Paradise's bars. It would appear that for some, being a grunt was being a grunt, no matter which side you were on. Kast didn't particularly care enough to find out why the two groups occasionally mingled, but it was interesting observation nonetheless. Kast was brought back to the present by the sight of a young blonde girl approaching him, a pair of IG-100 Magnaguards in tow. On a ship like Paradise, such security was unheard for outsiders, meaning that this must've been someone who belonged to the Golden Exchange. However, even Golden Exchange personnel rarely warranted the security of two dangerous, expensive Magnaguards. The girl looked nothing like the Paradise's security chief, Ballick. Logic reasoned that this was probably someone close to Koren. "Zaheed Kast? I've been looking for you." the girl said, her voice barely managing to contain some measure of excitement. "Loretta Graeff, I have a job for you." "Graeff." Kast said plainly. He was right, the girl [i]was[/i] someone of importance, though he wasn't expecting the young Graeff herself. Kast had never seen the girl, nor had he heard much about her. Just as well, Koren wasn't the type to let out that much information about one of his own- that would just be inviting exploitation, something someone in the information business probably wasn't too keen on. "What's the job, and how's the pay?" Loretta giggled, "Details of the job are confidential, Mr. Kast, information is power, no matter how small it is. You're finding someone for me. Pay is 40,000 now, and another 60,000 when you bring him here." Kast drew himself straighter and crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing behind the polarized faceplate of his helmet. He didn't like working without all the details of a job, and 120,000 was a big number for just a simple job. Taking his stance as a sign of hostility, one of the Magnaguards took a protective step forward, stepping in front of its charge. Kast glowered at the droid, though with little effect- droids, at least Magnaguards weren't to be intimidated. "I don't work without details." Kast said finally, "I'm not some trigger you pay to pull when you want someone dead. I need more to go on. Otherwise, you're better off hiring some brainless grunt downstairs." Loretta sighed exasperatedly, "You're not [i]killing [/i]anyone, Mr. Kast. You're finding someone that my father is interested in, and bringing him back to the Paradise." "Who?" "A Jedi." Loretta finally admitted, though she seemed more eager to admit it than Kast expected. The answer wasn't one Kast had entirely expected. He had heard rumors of a Jedi making his rounds through Hutt Space, killing a couple nameless drug dealers or other lowlife scumbags. He didn't actually believe the rumors though, it was easy for people to blame the deaths of their competition on Jedi- few people in Hutt Space liked Jedi, but even fewer had the guts to actually go after one. Jedi, with their force powers were notoriously difficult to fight against, to top it off, they were fast, deadly, and seemed to deflect blaster bolts with ease. Kast had faced down a Jedi or two before, but it wasn't a particularly glorious experience. Fights were sporadic and messy at best, and required careful planning ahead of time. Taking a Jedi into custody alive was an even bigger challenge, as they could overcome simple restraints with ease. That explained why she was offering 100,000 credits. "Why does Koren Graeff need me to capture him a Jedi? I thought he remained neutral in all activities." Kast questioned, still too suspicious of the current circumstances to accept right away. "You're not [i]capturing[/i] him," Loretta explained, "You're... Extending an olive branch with him, a chance for him to learn and experience something... more." "And?" Kast prodded, "What if he [i]doesn't [/i]want this olive branch?" "Then you capture him." Kast was silent for a moment. Weighing his options. On the one hand, he wasn't exactly short of credits- having just finished a bounty mission of his own. At the same time, he was a regular here on Paradise. Being in Koren Graeff's good books could lead to better opportunities, and being liked by your host was never a bad thing. If the encounter with the Jedi came down to capturing him, Kast would be the first individual since Jabba the Hutt's very brief imprisonment of Luke Skywalker himself to have a Jedi in captivity. Kast also remembered how badly that went for the Hutt. He'd heard the rumors, ship shot down by the Sarlaac pit. "Fine. I'll do it." Kast finally relented. A Jedi was a challenge he hadn't faced in a while, and the credits were hard to turn down, no matter how flush he was. "Excellent!" Loretta said excitedly, pushing a button and wiring 40,000 credits to Kast's personal account on the Paradise. "Which way to your ship?" "What?" Kast replied, dumbfounded. "Why would you need to know?" "Because I'm coming with you obviously," Loretta replied, as though this had been thoroughly explained. "Absolutely not." Kast said resolutely, turning on his heel and walking away. Much to his chagrin, Loretta followed him, her Magnaguards in tow. From the Mid-Level, to the turbo-lifts, to the security check, waiting for Kast to re-equip his not insubstantial supply of weapons, all the way to Kast's freighter in the hangar. All the while insisting that Kast bring her along and ignoring his increasingly irate pleas for her to go back. Standing outside the entrance to his freighter, Kast finally stopped and turned around. "What ever gave you the indication that I would allow a tourist to follow me around on a bounty?" the now fully armed bounty hunter asked, arns crossed, fists balled. "Because if you do, I'll put in a good word with my father..." Loretta started, Kast cocked his head, unconvinced. "and... I'll wire an extra 15,000 credits." Kast looked at her for a moment before turning away and opening the door to his freighter. "15,000 credits isn't worth getting in deep shit with Graeff for getting his precious little daughter hurt." "If you dont!" Loretta snapped, her voice raising slightly, "I'll tell my father you pulled a blaster on me in the hangar. You'll never be welcome back here again." Kast paused. While normally, such a threat would be insubstantial, it [i]was[/i] a threat that Loretta Graeff of all people could feasibly pull off. Observation in the hangar was spotty at best, and in the end, there were several bounty hunters like Kast, the Paradise wouldn't be missing any real business from him. Whether or not Koren Graeff believed his daughter, Kast had the most to lose in any situation. If Koren didn't believe the younger Graeff, the worse she'd get is a slap on the wrist. If he did believe her, Kast's days would conceivably be numbered unless he took his leave of Hutt Space. While there was definitely business other places in the Galaxy, Hutt Space had the most conflicting parties- making it so much easier to remain neutral in most affairs, which Kast valued. He slowly turned to face the smug young girl, arms crossed, Magnaguards at the ready. "20,000." he said finally. The girl rolled her eyes but nodded. "20,000." She agreed, pushing a button on her holopad. Kast's own holopad dinged, another 20,000 into his personal account on the Paradise. "Fine. You can come." "Great!" Loretta said happily, her voice returning to its youthful eagerness. "Come on Ix, Ion." She said to her Magnaguards, and quickly traipsed her way onto Kast's ship, her magnaguards slowly marching along behind her. Kast stood outside his ship, still dumbfounded. "Uh. Boss! There are intruders on the ship!" came the whiny robotic voice of OOM, echoing out of the ship. "They're coming with us OOM." Kast replied with a sharp bark. "Clear some space." "Roger, roger." "What am I getting myself into?" Kast said aloud, as he turned and slowly trudged onto his ship.