Click, click, click.
The sound of the cane's tip striking the floor with each step echoed through the enclosed hallway. The noise of the city's celebrations could be heard even within the enclosure; a festival or holiday meant the streets were filled with Gungans and other races alike, partaking in the merriment. Uji Tameike followed his guide, listening to the inane rambling of the Gungan.
"Wesa berry merry ta have you’sa visit!" the creature continued bellowing as it kept pace with him.
He had found it awaiting him as he departed the transport he'd hired to take him from Selen to the homeworld of the Gungan people. Naboo was a center of trade between the Mid Rim worlds and the Outer Rim. His associate, Ub Romk, held an official capacity as a trade negotiations expert within the city's off-world export enterprises.
Unofficially, the Gungan represented a seedier element of the planet's underworld. Uji had established a business relationship with Romk, transporting materials through Romk's business enterprise to ensure that the materials reached Naboo and were untracked upon their departure.
Finally, they arrived at the meeting hall, the guide opening the door and announcing his arrival before stepping back and closing the door behind him. Within the hall, two Gungans surrounded Romk, seemingly in mid-celebration. Uji let his eyes drift across the room, noting the weapons held by each of Romk's bodyguards. To his surprise, he found a stunningly attractive woman with her helmet off, sharing a laugh and a drink with the Gungans. Her armor was elaborate and clearly of Mandalorian design.
The Adept cursed softly to himself. The presence of the Mandalorian was unexpected. His sources had failed to inform him that Romk had hired additional security for their meeting.
"Yousa look grim, Tameike!" Romk let out a laugh as he watched the man cross the room, leaning heavily on his cane.
"What would make you think that, Ub?" Uji eyed the feigned leisurely stance of the bodyguards. The only one among them appearing fully relaxed was the Mandalorian. As he approached, he noticed a familiar ring, ornate and worn only by those who had served the Brotherhood during the initial invasion by the Children of Mortis. A ring of a similar design was held within his and his wife's wardrobe back on Selen.
"Aisha, do yousa see this bombad hisen? Dis nutsen looky for his mula," he said, lifting his cup to his lips and taking a deep drink even as the woman eyed the new arrival with an easy going smile.
"As you are aware, Ub..." Uji began, his tone soft, polite.
The cup slammed onto the table, and the Gungan's voice bellowed, "That'sa Boss Romk! Yousa do not speak down to me!"
"And you will fulfill your end of our bargain," Uji's voice shifted in tone, the threat hanging in the air for only a moment before a burst of laughter filled the room. The Zeltron chuckling cut through the tension in an instant.
"Let's not let things go awry here. I was hired to maintain a peaceful atmosphere, and I certainly don't want to squander this pleasant mood," she remarked. As she spoke, she gently placed her cup back on the table, her helmet resting nearby. Her left hand lay casually on the wooden surface, while her right remained hidden from view.
Uji suspected she had the blaster drawn from the moment he stepped into the room. His natural paranoia ran through the likelihood of whether the woman truly worked for the Gungan or was simply using it as a means to intercept him off-world and out of Brotherhood space.
"Poodoo on that! Wesa hired yousa to do what you told!" Romk shouted as he reached under the table, activating the sound dampener surrounding the hall to ensure unwanted attention wouldn’t be drawn. The atmosphere in the room changed as the dampener activated. In that moment, Uji dropped the cane and lunged forward, the brilliant white hue of his lightsaber activating. The two Gungan bodyguards fell to two lightning-quick strikes.
The Adept sensed the danger in a heartbeat before the flames licked across the table. He deactivated his saber as he used his forward momentum into a roll under the banquet table to shield himself from the Mandalorian's vambrace as it belched a stream of flame where he had been only a moment before. The woman donned her helmet even as she pushed Romk aside.
"Idiot!" she shouted at the Gungan even as she watched Uji rise from under the table, stripping the cloak from his shoulder as it smoldered and burned where the flames had barely caught him.
"I will warn you only once, stand aside. I have no desire to cross a fellow veteran," Uji's tone was calm, his honesty evident even as he held the saber reactivated and at the ready, eyeing the pistol in the Mandalorians right hand even as she held her left pointed directly at him with the flamer ready to be activated.
