Thick-Skinned (Interlude)

[GM Fang]

“Good day to you sirs, I am C3-P9, sentient-droid relations, and as you are obviously aware, an employee of Bargos the Hutt"

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"He wishes to politely remind you of your obligations, towards him, and would very much like to talk to you about a trifling matter that could resolve some of your debts. If you could meet him at his personal yacht this evening he will be more than happy to brief you on your task in person."

Bargos does indeed have a yacht; however it falls short of luxury or opulence due to its poor conditions. It is indeed parked at a spaceport currently being made space worthy. Repair droids are working on it as the group arrives. The gangway is open and extended and there is light from inside. The interior is in slightly better shape. The Hutt slime is being mopped up and the lights where working cast a golden glow over the hallways. Dust is still everywhere, especially in the rooms. It smells like the life support system is struggling to keep up with the high humidity requirement that Hutts enjoy.

Genko is waiting for the protagonists at the top of the gangway stroking his long mustache and checking his datapad, and leads the team down the wide hallways to the lounge where Bargos is waiting. The Hutt greets them very warmly and invites them to rest on one extra plush cushion around a small table in front of him. The room smells heavily of smoked spices and has a view through the large windows of either side of the spaceport around them.

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Bargos the Hutt is rather different than the image most have of Hutts. He is long and lithe (for a Hutt) and exceptionally slimy. His skin is a pale green color, patterned with mottled bands of dark grey. There are rumors that as a youth Bargos was nearly slain by an assassin armed with a disruptor pistol. As a result his left eye and much of the left side of his face must have been badly maimed, twisted into a lumpy mass of gastropod scar tissue.

There are two of his hulking Gamorrean guards in the far corners of the room. Genko will fly to his side and C3-P9 waits from a nearby location to translate from. Bargos has the guards move behind the team, between them and the door. Bargos begins in his rumbling Huttese with the protocol droid translating.

“I, The Great Bargos the Hutt, grant you greetings! I am glad that you accepted my invitation, please make yourselves comfortable if you wish for anything simply speak to Genko and he will see that your needs of food, drink, or other habits are met.” He shifts his position slightly to lean forwards to speak quieter to the group. “This business I have is related to a certain Thakba Besadii Diori, the Hutt who paid me a debt he owed me with a worthless mine. Not only has he failed to pay on his debt as it was nowhere near as valuable as he deceived me to believe with falsified records and earnings, but now he has bragged to others of his deception to tarnish my image. This will not stand.”

With a large grin he motions to Genko. “Genko has formulated a plan with the information I have gathered that Thakba is delivering a very valuable payment of illicit goods to Narrta Isslia Diori a relation of his. Genko believes that if we relieve Thakba of his goods we shall be able to strike a deal with Narrta that would be most beneficial. I would pay you a fair share of the profits from this endeavor to go towards your debts or personal finances if you would handle the capture and transfer of goods."

At this point the real negotiations began; Bargos lets the team know that while he doesn`t have exact specifications of what is being transferred he does know it is very valuable and very illegal. He is open to facilitation of any plans the group has. Bargos has Genko provide each of them with invitations to the unveiling of the new freighter that they will be using to cover their reason for being at the location.

Ymira is quick to ask what the payment will be and Bargos offers 15% of the profits from the operation. This is considerably higher than the previous mission and could go a long way to settling the Mirialan's debt to the Hutt. After further discussions, this is the information that Bargos and Genko are able to share.

The shipment is going from Thakba to Narrta – This is happening the night before the unveiling of Thakba’s new transport. Thakba is transferring the cargo on the planet and is going to transport it there with a smuggling crew of the Cantina Crawler, a YT-2400 custom.

Thakba has a warehouse already rented for the cargo – Bargos knows where this is and it is the most likely place that Thakba will store his cargo. It is a short distance to the space port. It is relatively innocuous but may have a security system or guards.

Bargos doesn`t know how much the cargo is worth – But he knows that the lengths Thakba has had to go to and the amount the smugglers were paid to get the cargo onboard was immense.

Bargos does not want the cargo turned over to the officials – It would look bad to the other Hutts as it would impede business.

Thakba and Narrta are cousins – But that doesn`t count for much among Hutts, as long as no bodily harm is done to Thakba there would be no retribution. Business is business after all, and as long as Narrta gets his goods he will be happy.

They will join Bargos in Thakba’s grand unveiling - Not armed of course, and they better not speak unless spoken to by any of the Hutts present. The party will be lush and they will be expected to wear their best. Thakba and Bargos will not be the highest Hutts present at this, Narrta is higher up the food chain and maintains a large criminal empire, Jabba the Hutt will also be present it is rumored, as he has one of the largest criminal empires.

Thakba and Narrta will be transferring cargo at another location and will be transporting the goods to and from there – While Bargos wants the cargo, Genko will remind them that stealing from Thakba is business. Stealing from Narrta will be trouble, and they will probably be in deep poodoo
if they try to sell it later.

Imperial Security at the spaceport is focused on incoming goods – There are a lot of goods coming in to the city through the port and those coming in are scrutinized, however those leaving are not subject to any inspections by imperials unless they have reasons to suspect it. Genko suggests letting the other smugglers of the Cantina Crawler transport the goods to the planet as it is the most risky, then taking it once the ship arrives.

The captain of the Cantina Crawler will be meeting Thakba’s contact at the spaceport – Thakba’s contact is a Gerra Il`Farca. Coincidentally Gerra is a Mirialan. Gerra is not high up on the chain and Thakba is likely using Gerra in case things go bad as expendable. Bargos also knows that inside the spaceport security is tight so Thakba will not be sending a large guard force if he sends any at all, as it would just draw undue attention to his cargo and transfer. Genko knows a few cantinas and hotels where they might find Gerra.

Bargos says he will meet them on planet in the Hotel Grand Vista a resort hotel when they have finished the job, or onboard Thakba’s yacht The Jeweled Crab. Bargos will arrive the day before but will want to distance himself from the group until after the job is done. Genko will be available for support via secured comm. The plan for when and where to acquire the cargo is up to you!

[GM Fang]

Some answers to questions that were asked during the failed session:

The GHTroc 720 that is arriving is named the Archelon. It can be changed and would need a transponder modification and registration to be "legal".

The ship has an Encumbrance value of 200 and not 100 (this was a typo). It is the same as the A-A5 speeder truck which is massive. This is not the vehicle that the group rented for the first cargo transfer mission. That was a much smaller sized vehicle.

The ship has a silhouette 4 and therefore can carry items up to silhouette 2. It could carry speeder bikes, but would require a hangar bay modification to be able to accept a landspeeder (silhouette 2) or similar vehicle. Each speeder bike would take up 40 encumbrance if secured for maintenance and easy access and immediate use. Half that if tightly packed away. So 4 speeder bikes, packed up and stored, would take 80 of the 200 encumbrance of the ship, nearly one entire cargo bay.

The ship can take a maximum size of a small container but require a repulsor lift. Crates of any normal size (generally classified as small, medium and large) also fit. Consider small crates one person can lift with difficulty, medium crates require 2 people and large might take as many as 6 or a repulsor lift.

Gerra is a predominantly female name in the Mirialan culture, but can be used for males. Also the apostrophe in the last name is highly unusual for a Mirialan and therefore is quite possibly not the real name of the individual.

Armor values for similar items do not add soak and defense. So only the highest of them will count unfortunately.

[GM Fang]

To recap the options of trying to take the cargo:

1) In space while on the Cantina Crawler. The party does not yet have a ship and so would have to rent one and fight the smugglers. They are well known to be a strong group and not a push over. This option is discarded.

2) Take the place of the transfer group. The party would have to intercept Gerra and anyone with them and pretend to be the ones taking the cargo.

3) Take the cargo on the way to the warehouse. This would be a combat heavy method most likely.

4) Break into the warehouse and steal it. This might have combat and would require some levels of stealth and subterfuge.

5) Try to steak during the transfer. Much like 2 but less chance to recover if something doesn't go according to plan.

Ymira suggested breaking in to the warehouse to steal it. Roona suggested scoping out the transfer and tailing Gerra's group to make sure it goes to the expected warehouse.