[right][h3]Khulbe - Nar Shaddaa[/h3][/right]
[hr]

The Hutt was brooding. Alone in the darkness of this throne room, hands folded across his huge belly, he stared at the blank wall that shone with the light of the silver moon above. Four hours ago he had ordered the room cleared, barely hearing Zura as she reminded him she heading to meet Ritgar with two of the girls. Had he been less distracted he might have noticed her enthusiasm for what he thought was a relatively boring task. Such as it was, he missed it completely. 

Troubling news had come from Coruscant. Senator Eyri Pharliis's Chief of Staff had been murdered. Ordinarily the death of a politician, even one as unimportant as a Pantoran, was cause for some celebration among the Hutts but this was different. Iri Mosvaine had been a user, he knew that, he paid good money to know who was using in the halls of power. Blackmail was what he did, after all. What was troubling was the knowledge that she purchased from one of his suppliers. An overdose would mean an investigation. Normally an overdose was largely ignored by the authorities, who cared if some addict died in the alleyways of the planet surface; but a high placed political staffer. This was more concerning.

If it was his product that killed her, the Republic might take a harder look at his business dealings. This would be bad for profits and though he had more credits than he could ever dream of spending, he would be a skinned Gungan before he let any slip through his pudgy fingers.

Jast was gone on his mission, taking his odd little crew with him. Khulbe knew he had an agent on the inside, which was of some comfort. But that was small potatoes compared to what he stood to lose if the Republic shut down his Coruscant operation. He was the only Hutt who did any business on the planet and any weakness would convince the other Hutts that he was not as strong as they thought, and where would that leave him? Probably dead, or at least dethroned as the most powerful crime lord in the galaxy.

He needed to find out what had happened on Coruscant. If the overdose was a bad batch, someone would know, and that someone was going to die, badly. He shifted his considerable bulk backward until he could feel the cool stone of the seating platform against his tail. But who to send. It would need to be someone the local criminal element feared, someone who spoke with all of Khulbes authority. Not Zura, no, she was needed here. He needed an enforcer. But someone with tact. A trail of bloodied bodies would only lead to more questions. Subtlety would be key. 

His hand moved in the darkness, tapping the side of a floating holotable. The thing burst into brilliant blue life at once and he blinked in the brilliance for a moment. He rumbled in Huttesse at the machine and it flickered for a moment or two before a face swam into view, a face encased in a Mandalorian helmet. 

"Lord Khulbe. To what do I owe the honour?" The Mandalorians voice was as clear as though he were standing in the room next to Khulbe.

"Raideon. You must go to Coruscant and find out who killed the Pandoran senators staffer. And you must do it before the authorities find them." The Hutts rumble was translated into basic instantly by the holotable. "And find out if it was my supply. If it was, you find out who fouled it up and you bring them to me, do you understand?"

"I'll leave at once." The Mandalorian faded from view.

There was no question of payment. Khulbe never failed to pay handsomely for a job well done. Some Hutts like to haggle, others to cheat those who worked them; this only succeeded in driving the most talented into Khulbes employ. "You need to spend money to make money." Khulbe enjoyed that saying.

He let the darkness embrace him again though his eyes remained open, narrowed to near slits as he glared at the wall. Someone had endangered his business. This would not be tolerated.