"In the Clutches of the Hutt"

Log Date:
	9/6/97, 9/18/97, 9/23/97

Log Cast:
	H'rruuk (NPC), H'rraal (NPC), Rellawy Woodlake, assorted minions
of Kelga the Hutt (NPC), Jeng'ran, Thomas Drake, Lerren (NPC), Kelga
the Hutt (NPC), Galdric (NPC)

Log Intro:
	It had been a miserable week.
	_I shouldn't have let my hopes get up,_ Rellawy told herself
fiercely, each day she showed up at the Deck for work and failed to find
any message from Han Solo or Thomas Drake. She couldn't blame Solo...
though her gut sometimes wanted her to, asking in a demanding little
whine why the Corellian hadn't at least tried to say goodbye. Rell kept
scowling at herself at that internal whine, reminding herself that if
the man was in trouble, he hardly had time to drop by a hole like the
Burning Deck and bid farewell to a barmaid. She found it harder to keep
herself from worrying about him. Han Solo seemed a competent man, honest
enough, and once she'd found out he had knowledge of the Hutts, he seemed
like a godsend.
	That broad lopsided grin of his hadn't hurt much either...
	And then there was Thomas Drake, who troubled her even more. Rell
had been a sheltered girl -- Jord Woodlake had gone out of his way to see
to that -- but she'd been on Nar Shaddaa more than long enough to get
headfuls several times over of how it felt when members of a species reacted
to attractive members of their own kind. She knew how she was reacting to
the force of Solo's smile, even as it embarrassed her seven ways to the
Rim and back again and prompted her to bury it in the back of her mind.
	Drake was different.
	Thomas Drake knew what she could do. And Rell wrestled with an
uneasy certainty that if Thomas Drake bestirred himself, he would know
much more about her.
	She wasn't sure whether the thought frightened her, alarmed her,
or both.
	But where _was_ he? He said he'd help, just as Solo had said...
but there'd been no message from Thomas Drake, no sign of trouble pursuing
him. No hint of when he'd return.
	So Rell waited out the week, exhausting herself as H'rruuk and
H'rraal continued to teach her the rudiments of defending herself. She
waited on the tables in the Burning Deck, watched the crew of the _Pulsar
Skate_ gather more than once at Lerren's bar, and brooded.
	And she spent her nights in H'rruuk and H'rraal's flat, for
neither they nor Lerren wanted her to be sleeping alone....

----------
The small squalid flat occupied by the two K'shannaars H'rruuk and H'rraal 
  smells strongly of their species, and at this hour of the night, the only 
  sounds within it are the rumbling snores of H'rruuk, and the quiet breathing 
  of the young human female curled up on a pallet on the floor. By the door, 
  H'rraal keeps a restless watch, waiting for the next top of the hour, when 
  he is to wake his den-brother and let H'rruuk take over.

Rell sleeps fitfully, her mind full of uneasy dreams. It's not helped her 
  peace of thought that the two men who seemed most interested in getting her 
  off the Smugglers' Moon have apparently vanished themselves, and for all 
  that Lerren has continually assured her that Solo is probably alright, the 
  girl frets over his cryptic parting message, even in her slumber. 
  Half-formed notions of thugs resembling Galdric and his Gamorrean partner 
  flit through her consciousness as she tosses and turns.

The calmness of the scene hangs in the air a moment longer, and then is 
  shattered, as well as the door, for two Gamorreans in battle armor crash 
  through, leading a wave of what looks like four more. Most of them brandish 
  powered halbards, but a few are carrying blasters. All of them look deadly. 
  The two in front move to attack the awake guard, as the others swarm in 
  behind them.

H'rraal lunges to his huge feet, roaring out a startled warning to his 
  brother, who is awake an instant behind. Both of the big ursoids bring their 
  weaponry to bear, while on her pallet, Rell snaps awake without any pause 
  between slumber and full awareness. She doesn't scream, but fear fills her 
  eyes, as the girl fumbles for the light blaster she'd bought.

The first of the Gamorreans engages H'rraal, but falls quickly. Not quickly 
  enough, however, as the second was able to inflict a hit to a critical point 
  on his chest. Another Gamorrean engages in the battle as the now severely 
  injured H'rraal tries to fight off the other. Meanwhile, two other 
  Gammoreans have surged forward towards H'rruuk, with a third right behind. 
  In the melee, no one seems to notice the black-clothed Twi'lek enter, as his 
  foot very purposely lands on Rellawy's blaster. (and some fingers, too..)

When the bigger of the two ursoids takes that blow, Rell does scream, then, 
  her head jerking sideways and her form crumpling as though it had been she, 
  and not H'rraal, who had been struck. H'rruuk, enraged by his den-brother's 
  wounding, lashes out at the Gamorreans attacking him.... and Rell, her 
  features ashen, her hand shaking, fumbles again for the blaster on the 
  floor. But when that foot comes down on it -- and her fingers -- she 
  breathes in a tiny, hoarse gasp, her gaze shooting up.

The two Gamorreans engaging H'rruuk fall easily under his rage, and the third 
  is about to be shredded, when a voice suddenly loudly issues from the center 
  of the room. A dark Twi'lek stands there, a blaster pointed in the direction 
  of Rellawy's head. "I don't think you'd be very wise to continue, my friend, 
  unless you want the girl to end up like your friend on the floor over 
  there.." His eyes stay fixed on H'ruukk, as the two Gamorreans remove 
  themselves from a now-unconscious H'rraal and place themselves by the 
  Twi'lek's side. The other remaining Gamorrean scurries away from H'rruuk, 
  standing in front of the girl.

With an angry snarl, H'rruuk whirls, but the snarl chokes off as he sees his 
  odds worsening rapidly. He lets out a long moan of dismay, his blaster rifle 
  clattering from his big paws.

Rell makes what can only be a whimper, as her gaze rivets itself on the 
  wounded H'rraal. She seems barely cognizant of the gun pointed at her brow, 
  and all at once, she tries to lurch towards the fallen sentient.

Two Gamorreans intercept Rellawy, takig her by the arms and holding her. The 
  Twi'lek continues pointing the blaster at her and watching H'rruuk as the 
  group makes their way to the door, first the two Gamorreans, then the 
  Twi'lek, then the last Gamorrean make their way for the exit, the last thug 
  keeping a blaster on H'rruuk.

H'rruuk, his bulky frame shaking with reaction and fury, whines out in 
  impotent rage -- and heartsick apology to Rell -- as the girl is hauled 
  away. Only when the raiders are mostly out the door does he whirl, as 
  quickly as a being of his size can, to tend to his fallen brother.

"No... please, you must let me... please! He's bleedin'! Please..." The words 
  trail out of Rell desperately, but she is no match for the two thugs hauling 
  her out of what had passed for her refuge this night. Even as she's dragged 
  away, her gaze stays locked in that direction, one hand stretched as if she 
  still tries to touch the fallen H'rraal. She stays this way until she is 
  hustled out of the building entirely, and then, her knees crumple beneath 
  her.

The thugs carry the fallen Rell into the back of a truck, where she is left 
  with only one thug and the Twi'lek.

The girl barely notices. Dizzy, nauseous, her arms wrapped about herself in 
  about the same place that her guard was wounded -- if you can map her 
  anatomy onto a K'shannaar frame -- she lies there in a crumpled heap, and 
  mumbles mournfully, "Sorry, H'rraal... so sorry..."

Jeng'ran looks to the thug. "Radio Lord Kelga that we have the girl. ETA 
  thirty minutes."

Kelga. That makes it through Rell's battered consciousness, and she jerks her 
  head up towards the one who had spoken. Her eyes, brimming with tears and 
  fright, go wide in her white face.

Jeng'ran chuckles to himself. "Oh.. our little prize has heard of his 
  excellency. Well, I assure you, little one, that you will get to know him 
  quite well."

Jeng'ran
A tall Twi'lek with gleaming red eyes, and head tails rapped about his 
  shoulders. He wears black robes over a black bodysuit. As he moves, the 
  opening in the front of the robe reveals the handle of a holstered blaster.

"How..." The word escapes Rell in a strangled rasp, and she coughs before 
  continuing, "How did... he know?"

Jeng'ran says "A friend of his saw you.. we've been watching you ever since.."

Rell pushes herself into sitting up, and creeps warily back from the 
  black-clad being before her. "Friend?" she croaks.

Jeng'ran says "An associate by the name of Galdric.."
Jeng'ran says "He had an encounter with you one night a while back.. and was 
  kind enough to tell Lord Kelga."

Of course. It all makes a kind of sick sense to Rell now, and in despair, she 
  crumples her head against her knees, hugging her legs to her chest. 
  _Dammit... dammit... should have known... why didn't you go with Drake when 
  he asked you, you fool?! Oh, H'rraal...._ But still, the girl says nothing.

The truck finally comes to a stop, and the back doors open. The thugs are 
  there again to take the prisoner away.

By now, the aftereffects of sensing H'rraal's wounding have reduced to a dull, 
  queasy throb in Rell's belly and head. With enough of herself recovered to 
  walk, she smacks in futile annoyance at one of the Gamorreans, who looks 
  only amused as she mutters hoarsely, "Dinnae touch me, ye pig!" With no 
  other choice in the matter, she follows her involuntary escort out of the 
  craft.

The truck has stopped in what appears to be an underground structure. The 
  guards escort her to a long corridor, with prison cells linging the walls.. 
  Arms and tenticles of all manner of beings flail out of the barred windows 
  of the cells, but the thugs merely smack them aside.

Many minds here, but the flavor of the place is far different from the Burning 
  Deck. Disturbed even past her previous fear, Rell shudders as she is forced 
  along, shivers trickling down her spine. Imprisonment, anger, pain, grief... 
  the air, to her, stinks of them, and she has to fight another surge of 
  nausea.

After what seems like forever and a day, the guards finally stop. A door is 
  unlocked and opened, revealing an empty cell. "Careful, you fools!" comes 
  the Twi'lek's voice as the thugs shove Rell into the cell. The sound of the 
  lock falling into place resounds throughout the hall. The Twi'lek appears in 
  the window. "You will be brought to his excellency in the morning. Not even 
  you are worthy of disturbing his sleep."

Rell doesn't bother to answer the being; truth be told, she can't think of a 
  single thing to say. Once she's shoved within and the door is secured behind 
  her, though, she sinks against a wall, her eyes pressing shut against the 
  assault of smells and sights and sounds upon her senses... at least, the 
  normal ones. The inner assault doesn't abate, with her newly enforced 
  solitude, and she cannot escape into the shelter of slumber, as she awaits 
  what dawn will bring her.

[Not many hours later, at the Burning Deck, H'rruuk has stumbled off to
 report his and his den-brother's failure to guard Rellawy. And not long
 after he reaches that refuge, Thomas Drake does as well....]

Drake comes through the double swinging doors and enters the bar from 
  the floor outside.
Drake has arrived.
Drake strides briskly into the Burning Deck, headed right for the bar; 
  he's tossing a metal cylinder from hand to hand, as if itching for an 
  opportunity to use it. Small wonder how his last couple weeks have been. 
  "Lerren," he says gruffly.

The bartender is, as usual, at his post... but at one end of it, deep 
  in conversation with a ragged and exhausted-looking H'rruuk. As Drake 
  approaches them, the Corellian's head snaps up, and he turns around at the 
  hail. "Drake," he responds roughly, and next to him, H'rruuk lets out a 
  rumbling wail.

Drake glances over at H'rruuk, and then back at Lerren, and then back 
  at the Ursoid. "I don't suppose you fell down a flight of stairs," he says 
  hopefully.

H'rruuk lets out another doleful moaning noise, and Lerren, his dark 
  eyes grave, turns to the younger man and faces him directly. "No," he says 
  lowly, "he didn't."

"The girl. Rell." Drake puts the cylinder on the counter and sits. 
  "Where is she?"

H'rruuk slumps forward, resting his massive head on the bar counter, 
  while Lerren says, his voice very low and his expression very dark, "She was 
  taken, last night."

Drake's expression doesn't falter. "Who is responsible?" He asks 
  flatly, re-attaching the cylinder to his belt.

Lerren sucks in a sigh, then lets it out, still pitching his voice 
  under the general din of the bar so that only Drake and H'rruuk can hear it. 
  "H'rruuk says there were Gamorreans, and a Twi'lek. He doesn't know who they 
  work for." Again, the ursoid moans in despair, and the bartender adds 
  grimly, "They wounded H'rraal and would have killed him and Rell, if he'd 
  kept fighting."

Drake's jaw slackens, and his eyes narrow. "Gamorreans, you say. Do 
  you think they could show me where she was taken? I've a mind to have a chat 
  with them."

Lerren flicks a look to the despondent ursoid, who hrufs out a tiny 
  response. Lerren sighs, and tells the other man, "H'rruuk doesn't know. He 
  had to tend his den-brother, as they were dragging Rell off. All he knows 
  is, they took a vehicle away from the flat."

"It may be that I can track her," Drake turns to look at the entrance 
  thoughtfully. "...I don't know what I'll do when I find them, but -- damnit, 
  I /knew/ this would happen. Stupid, stubborn girl."

Lerren frowns, and offers, "H'rruuk says there were many of them. All 
  armed. Clearly meaning business -- had to be one of the Hutts, that kind of 
  firepower is only under their control, around here."

Drake drums his fingers on the bar counter. "Then perhaps the best 
  idea is to let them get me as well."

The bartender stiffens, straightening, peering at the blond man before 
  him. "Get you? What're you going to do, kid, knock on a Hutt's front door 
  and turn yourself in? What'd they want you for anyway?"

"That's exactly what I'm going to do," Drake looks pretty sure of 
  himself. "--They can find a use for me, I'm sure."

Not only frowning but actively gaping, now, Lerren demands, "Do you 
  even have any idea which Hutt to look for?"

Drake doesn't offer any explanation for his confidence. "She says she 
  was looking for a 'Kelga.' I suppose I've got to start with him. If she's 
  still anywhere on Nar Shaddaa, I can probably locate her. So long as they 
  haven't taken her too many star systems away."

Lerren stares searchingly at Drake, then says brusquely, "Well, kid, 
  if you can get her back -- go to it." A hint of a blush darkens his 
  features. "I'm an old man, there's not squat I can do except keep my eyes 
  open..."

"Yeah, well," Drake nods, "If either Captain Solo or a fellow named 
  Major Morgan come around asking for me, you can tell them where I've gone."

Lerren stiffens a bit, and then says quietly, "Solo left, kid."

"I figured," Drake agrees, "But he'll be back." He pauses. "I hope."

Lerren sighs darkly, shoves a hand through his grizzled hair, and says 
  tightly, "Kid, all I know is, Solo was gonna help Rell, too. But he came 
  here, gave me a box to give to her, and said, 'They came for me'. Promised 
  he'd be back to look for Rell, but."

Drake looks at Lerren silently for a moment. "I hope he knows what 
  he's doing," he shakes his head. "But I've a feeling he'll be back, sooner 
  or later."

Lerren can't quite manage a grin. "Known Solo long enough to know he 
  doesn't run from trouble. But." The not-quite-grin fades. "Get Rell back if 
  you can, kid. We're..." And he glances at the dejected H'rruuk. "We're 
  kicking ourselves over this. Hard."

Drake says "Wasn't anything you could've done. You're a bartender, 
  Lerren, not a safehouse. I /will/ get her back, and I'll take her and anyone 
  else here to a place where a Gammorrean is a stiff drink and everyone has 
  the same enemies.""

Lerren smiles, then, almost sadly. "Yeah. Good luck, kid. We'll do 
  what we can, here."

Drake lets out a deep breath. "I'd better go get started. See you 
  around, Lerren."

Lerren inclines his head once. "See y'around," he murmurs.

Drake pushes open the swinging double doors and exits.
Drake has left.

[And as what passes for morning on Nar Shaddaa arrives at the stronghold
 of Kelga the Hutt....]

The door to the cell opens, and the same Tri'lek enters, a Gamorrean guard 
  standing in the doorway. "You are to come with us, little one.. the master 
  will see you now."

The young prisoner snaps her head up; she's hunkered down against the wall, 
  her arms wrapped around her knees, but from the quickness of her response, 
  she's either recently awakened... or else has spent the entire night without 
  sleep. Stiffly, she gets to her feet, eying the Twi'lek and muttering, 
  "Alright, then..."

The Twi'lek leads you down the hallway again, and up a dingy old flight of 
  stairs.. after what seems like an eternity, you emerge in the main chamber 
  of Kelga's palace, all eyes upon you. And there, siting upon his great 
  throne, is Kelga the Hutt.

Rellawy walks tensely, blue-green eyes trying not to take in the sights around 
  her... but she can't help but peer in a dull kind of curiosity at the 
  chamber into which she's been led. And although she is at least 
  intellectually aware of what Hutts look like, the girl swallows hard at the 
  sight of her first one. _So this is the one Da pledged his name to..._

Kelga laughs loudly. "HO HO HO HOH HOH...Gulba chutt wu ik wakka." A 
  translater droid informs you that his excellency wishes you to approach the 
  throne.

Catching maybe one or two sounds she _thinks_ she knows in that command, Rell 
  flicks a look at the droid, and edges out into the center of the room. She 
  is rumpled from her night in the cell, not quite filthy, but not really 
  clean, either; her face is pale, with shadows around her eyes. Lifting a 
  hand to shove her forelock back out of her eyes, Rell swallows again, and 
  seizes on what she can remember of Han Solo's advice: the Hutts like to be 
  flattered. So she steadies herself as best she can, offers a bow and a small 
  smile, and speaks out in her brogue: "Good mornin', Yer Excellency."

Kelga luaghs quite forcibly now, his booming voice resounding throughout the 
  entire chamber. He then goes on to say something which is translated as, 
  "_This_ is the great prize I was told of!? HA! Prove to me the value here.."

A human male -- who for all that he spent his night in more amenable 
  accommodations than the ragged girl before them all manages to look rather 
  slimier than Rell -- detaches himself from the cluster of syncophants 
  surrounding the Hutt. With his stringy black hair, his ratty clothing, the 
  half-gloves on his fingers, and the patch across one eye, the fellow might 
  not look like much, save for his utterly confident leer. "That's her, Your 
  Lordship," he rasps. "The one that fixed me."

And the girl's gaze snaps around at the sound of that voice. Rell sucks in a 
  startled breath, her pale face going slightly paler.

Kelga makes a motion to one one of his gammorean guards, who quickly takes 
  Galdric into a death grasp. Giving a command that needs no translation, the 
  gamorrean throws Galdric to the ground and fires his blaster into the man's 
  arm as he screams. The Hutt the looks back to Rellawy, giving a short 
  command. The droid approaches, translating, "Fix him."

As Galdric goes down, the ragged girl hauled before the Hutt lets out a sharp, 
  hoarse gasp, clutching reflexively at her own arms, almost doubling over. 
  She does not immediately seem to register the droid's translation -- but 
  even as the command is relayed, she looks up with eyes gone glazed, almost 
  blank except for a startled horror stumbling across them. She tries to look 
  away, but she is already in motion, her legs carrying her in jerky, unsteady 
  steps to the fallen human male and then tumbling her down to crouch beside 
  him. As her hands close about his scorched arm, her expression turns blanker.

Several human guards in the chamber step slightly forward to be able to keep 
  their eyes on the girl. The servant Twi'lek looks on in amazement, as Kelga 
  himself just watches. Skeptically.

There is not too much to see -- at least, not until, after three minutes 
  elapse, Rell sags back from the man. Her face has turned ashen, her 
  expression suggesting she's about to be violently ill.

And Galdric snaps his gaze up, his black eyes sharply narrowed as he shoots a 
  hand up to check his arm. For a moment or two, a flare of black annoyance 
  lights _his_ features, before he carefully schools his expression and gets 
  steadily to his feet. "Behold, mighty Kelga," he speaks up, loudly and 
  theatrically, sweeping out his arm and turning in a slow circle for all to 
  see.
His formerly wounded arm. The limb is still clad in a sleeve scorched and 
  crinkled by the blaster shot, but Galdric appears to have no trouble using 
  it, now, and what peeks out between the tear in the fabric can only be 
  healthy flesh.

Kelga's booming laugh resounds throughout the room. Several long sentences are 
  said to Galdric, to which the translation droid reports, "Good work, 
  Galdric. You shall be rewarded for this one. She will be of great use to me 
  and our organization.." Kelga turns to several human guards, his commands 
  still translated by the droid, even though the guards speak Huttenese. 
  "Chain her to the wall. I want this decoration where it can be seen by all, 
  as a testament to my power!" The guards nod, and approach the girl, each 
  taking an arm, and lifting her to a standing position.

Weakly, the young female looks up, panic beginning to flood her already 
  horror-stricken face. _No... no..._ But the desperate denial doesn't make it 
  into her voice, and Rell's mind, still reeling from what she has just been 
  forced to do, is no more willing to relay the plea to her limbs to let her 
  flee. She is hoisted up and chained with no more difficulty that if she'd 
  been made of feathers.

Galdric might look like slime, but he knows how to bow and scrape before a 
  Hutt, and bow he does before this one, saying fawningly, "Thank you, most 
  mighty Excellency!"

Rell does not need to know Hutt very well to realize what's just been decided 
  about her fate. As the guards force her into the chains, all she can think 
  is a wild _They're going to be angry... Solo... Drake... Lerren!_ And, as 
  her healing-dazed mind takes a moment to remind her sharply of the healing 
  she _hadn't_ been allowed to do, _Ah, H'rraal...!_

All Kelga can do is laugh as Rell is chained, and the denziens of the chamber 
  all gther around her, looking on in awe.

There are too many of them. As the Hutt's followers press close in, gaping, 
  staring, one or two brave ones even reaching forward to poke her 
  experimentally before they are slapped back by the guards, the girl slumps 
  there by the wall. Her eyes clamp shut, and she mumbles thickly, "G'wa... 
  please... g'wa..."

Galdric leans in close to the Hutt, careful to control the amount of avarice 
  in his face, as he encourages, "Think of it, mighty one... she will make you
  proof against your enemies!"

Kelga just smacks Galdric away from him with his mighty tail, and recedes his 
  throne into the darkness to nap, letting his followers watch the girl.

[End log.]