|
Synopsis:
Guttu the Hutt has uncovered a meeting between his
rival Ritinki the Bimm and the Rodian loan shark Vob
aboard the Ithorian herdship Song of the Clouds. The
purpose of the meeting is twofold: the two plan to patch
up some differences, while Vob plans to purchase a
special package off the Ithorians. Ritinki, however,
plans to steal the package from Vob during their
meeting, and has already killed Vob's accountant and
replaced him with a double to facilitate the
transaction.
Guttu, while unaware of the contents of the package,
realizes it must be of great value for Ritinki to go to
all that effort, and so wishes to steal it for himself.
To this end he contacts Cecil Noone and his team of
professional thieves. Noone and his apprentice Kels
Turkhorn go undercover with the catering company that is
serving the meeting, and smuggle the final two members
of their team aboard the herdship in a crate. While
Noone and Turkhorn maintained their disguise, their
companions, Dawson a Tynnan and Hass Sonax a Sluissi,
attempt to steal the contents of the box, only to
discover that Ritinki's assistant has preceded them, and
moved the package to his boss's starship, the Asaari
Wind. The pair decide to infiltrate that ship next to
continue with the heist.
Meanwhile, as the dinner and meeting between Ritinki and
Vob rounds up, the dining party is attacked by a trio of
assassins that have infiltrated the catering crew
independently of Noone. Attacking Ritinki, they manage
to kill all his bodyguards, but not before the Bimm uses
a beckon call to summon his starship to crash through
the meeting room's transparasteel ceiling. The
subsequent vacuum sucks the assassins out into space
before the herdship's automated failsafe can seal off
the breach. Ritinki makes to escape in his starship only
to be fired upon by it; Dawson and Sonax were already on
the ship when Ritinki beckoned it and subsequently fired
on him. Noone and Turkhan quickly join their partners
aboard the Asaari Wind and flee the herdship.
In the relative safety of the nearby nebulae cloud, the
thieves opt to open the package that had been stowed
aboard the ship: inside is a rare Gun of Command.
Designed by the Hapans, the weapon is capable of
temporarily incapacitating an individual and making them
compliant to all requests. Realizing the value of such
an item, the team of thieves decide to turn their back
on Guttu and instead plan to sell the weapon for a
fortune themselves. |