The Car'das Nine

Chapter One

The goateed man sat at his usual desk, looking over the usual week's reports that had occupied him this way for the past six years. The lines of text with their explanation of profit and employee incidents scrolled past without being absorbed; lost, perhaps, in unusual thoughts following recent realizations. That business could not go on as usual for very long now, that some of the names the reports belonged to could be dead in under a standard week, that the whole was held together by a possibly insane man, and that the loss of the same threw everything usual into a sharp incline to hell made going over the usual business difficult to focus on.

That incline was, at least, one of the possibilities occupying Talon Karrde's mind. With a faint grimace, he slid the datapad away from him and sat up, feeling the knotted tension from his slouch and his worries. It had been little over three months since Jorj Car'das, his employer and master smuggler chief, had disappeared on one of his private trips, and only twelve hours since the lieutenants he left behind had met briefly to touch on the delicate subject of what to do about it. Nothing firm was said, and even the suggestion that some change of leadership was called for was met with the cold dodginess of a group of beings embarrassed that something that had occupied the darkness of everyone's mind for a week now had been voiced rudely into broad daylight. The blunt exposure of something best left unspoken had thrown a number of unavoidable facts into sharp relief.

Foremost, everyone had already been thinking about it, and with that, the attendant plans that had been pondered turned the business meeting into a gathering of nine cut-throat conspirators. Nine conspiracies about how to take the smuggling organization Car'das had built over so many years, and make it their own. Nine beings who saw nothing about cooperation anymore, only competition.

Standing, Karrde skirted around his desk to give his thoughts more freedom to wander from crisis to crisis. The second thing he'd noticed about the others was that no one seemed happy that Reia had suggested they consider what to do if Car'das did not come back. It was as though some secret had been breached and resentment was writ large on many of their faces before being covered by the cold. They're already vying and needed the time to get their guns in a line, Karrde thought. So much for loyalty amongst smugglers, if there ever was such a thing.

A crackling door chime sounded at the door, and the man shook off his thoughts with a soft grunt to glance to one of the viewscreens by the desk. A familiar lump stood outside the door, peering up at the vid pickup with a knowing preciseness. Smiling, Karrde keyed the door open to let in someone he, at least, felt wasn't here to execute some part of a plan thought out before the call to power was dropped in the middle of them all.

"Thanks," the stocky man said, as he stepped in and glanced casually about. "You need to be a little more picky about who you just buzz in, Talon."

"I appreciate the advice," Karrde replied dryly, studying his old friend. Joron Bregana had been with the smuggling gang since before Car'das, when another man named Booster Terrick had held the reins. That was until Booster ran afoul of authorities and was sent to the mines at Kessel for being an effective smuggler boss. Bregana had stayed on, though he vigorously declined to take part in the small powerplay that resulted from the leadership vacuum then, choosing instead to throw his considerable weight behind a younger Jorj. It was, perhaps, for that reason that Karrde felt that out of all of them, he could at least give the other provisional trust in the power struggle that confronted them both now.

Bregana's flat nose flared, his smile amused. "I'd wonder if you weren't paying attention at the meeting, given that reply, but knowin' you…"

Karrde nodded, touching other keys in his desk console. A faint buzz, annoying if one paid it too much mind, started up about the room. The meaning was clear, and Bregana nodded firmly.

"Rough bit of business out there, Talon," he said low, the chiding gone from his voice. "Youse saw same as I did in there, they're smelling blood now that it's been called dinnertime. Won't see any sane proposals float by any time soon."

"That's what I wanted to ask you about," Karrde replied with a faint nod, sitting on the edge of his desk to regard the other. "Before, with Booster, how was it resolved? We've both seen this since then, in other groups. A charismatic leader is arrested, killed, the rest of the soldiers leap instantly for each other's throats to take the top job. This group has dodged that fate once."

Bregana lowered his chin to fix the younger man with a beady look. "Are you hoping for a rational plan here? Some peaceful way to get everyone to play nice?" he asked, the question weighty from the stare.

"I'd be lying if I said I was hoping the group would not have to lose the majority of its best people because they all tried to fit into one seat," Karrde replied quietly, returning the look with a faintly puzzled one of his own. "But if you're asking if I have the stomach for the worst case scenario, I do, if needed. I'm not walking into this with flowers in my eyes, Joron."

The answer seemed to satisfy the big man, and he turned to pace a few steps. Then, "Me and Booster talked about what might happen, see, before it actually did. He never thought he was a god or indestructible, he was just a guy who got lucky, you know? Lucky with a good crew and the beings he gathered to him. There was… a given line of succession, kinda, Talon. The others knew who he favored, who would call the shots if he got into trouble. Sure, there was some sore losers," he admitted with an oddly nostalgic smile. "But these things have a way of cleaning out the guys who do the group no good. We like a profit, who doesn't, it's why we're in the job, but grab more than the rest thing you deserve and we'll see how the fringe has a way of balancing out.

"Now," Bregana continued, his smile fading as he refocused on Karrde. "Car'das never thought his reign would end. I don't really know what got into him the past few years, when everything's going our way and there's no end to growth. It's been like… he does think he's a god, invincible, so there was no talk of who would replace him. Why would there be? Who could replace Jorj Car'das?" His grimace was pained. "We're bigger than anything Booster had, too. There's a lot of power out there, you and I know it because we have chunks of it. The others have about as much as us, maybe more. It's not gunna be like last time, and the sooner you accept that, the better your chances."

Karrde didn't move through the story, his attention latched on the scarily similar recollections of the other man. Yes, it was similar to what happened years ago, and something that tended to crop up in the many fringe groups in the galaxy. Similar, that is, until the latter part of the story. Shaking his head, he murmured, "Nothing I hadn't already expected, but not particularly helpful now."

Bregana laughed at that, short and barking, and stepped closer.

"Talon," he said, seriousness once again dampening his smile. "I'll be blunt, and hope you take it the way you should. You're good. Your crew is excellent, loyal, and skilled. I've seen how you handle them, and how you deal with the rough parts of the job. It's like you're a natural. And…" he paused. "The others see it too. If you don't fight for this, you'll be the first one they try to take out as they carve their way to the top, mark my word."

Karrde's gaze sharpened on the other man at this, and the buzzing of the sound dampeners reigned for a long minute. "And the rest of what you wanted to say?" he prompted finally.

Bregana's straight face cracked at that into a wry, toothy grin. "Well, the other bit would be me wondering if you had the guts to do it. Never seen you get your hands dirty, Talon, never seen you need to. You'll need to now in the worst way." There was something sympathetic in the older man's tone, and something understanding, but nonetheless firm in his conviction of what came ahead.

He was right, Karrde thought. There had always been some other way to get what he wanted done, without resorting to the blaster to the head method preferred by the others. Certainly, the occasional intimidation was used, but nothing so cutthroat as tallying a body count. The smuggler had never seen that as the first in the toolbox to reach for, and didn't quite see it that way now, but arguments and proof seemed to support the need now. And he knew the others weren't above outright assassination.

"I'm not going to be fodder in this, Joron," the goateed man finally stated. "I can see how bad this could be as well as you, and taking my crew and breaking off isn't the answer, nor is allowing any of the others to take control. I can guess the kind of outfit they'd turn us into and don't agree with any of the versions. I'd suggest you, but something tells me you made that decision already and I appreciate the vote of confidence.

"That said," Karrde continued, standing from his lean and rolling a shoulder to loosen the muscles there. "We'll see on the tactics. I happen to think leaping right for the throat is a bad one to settle on for starters, and I don't see this situation being any different. Granted, the others won't feel that way, and if a quick solution is required, then so be it, but I'm not going to step into Car'das role over a pool of blood if I can help it." The statement was firm, the man's calm gaze backing it as he returned Bregana's doubtful look. After a moment, the older man nodded grudgingly.

"Well, we'll see," Joron said. "I think it'll get as dirty as they come, but if you want to try your methods, I gotcher back. Even when someone with less idealistic ideas about the fringe tries to plug you with their weapon of choice." His hand came up quickly as Karrde appeared ready to make a rejoinder. "Don't get your hackles up, I heard you about the flowers. Take the support in the spirit intended, will ye? So what's our plan?"

Nodding acceptance of the comment, Karrde paced a few steps, lips pursed. The plan was not something he'd considered, having spent his time before the meeting doing business as usual, and the time after the meeting thinking about all the scenarios possible if things went down the insane incline.

"All of the others have their own problems," Karrde mused, studying the hard floor before his feet as he thought aloud. "Elrotti comes to mind, he's been avoiding the Corporate Sector as if his life depended on it, and I believe it does, or at least his freedom for quite a while. The trick might be to make these problems too big for them to run an organization like this, either by removing them from the freedom to do it, or their acceptance by the crews. No one's voted in here, but I hardly see anyone lasting long if the people working for them want them dead or worse."

Nodding slowly, Bregana remarked, "Aye, though how much time do you think you have? Someone so much as stubs a toe right now and it's going to be blown out of proportion, or used as an excuse to roll with their plans anyway."

Stifling a low sigh, Karrde nodded again. "Alright, let's pool what we know of them." It was a forced patience, for Bregana was correct; this should have been thought about a month ago, likely when the rest started. But the patience was needed, it did no good to dwell on the lost time. "The most obvious to start on would be the brothers. Wesk and Krusk are veritably assured to be working together, though I wouldn't put it past them to try a divide and conquer tactic. Do you know much about their clan? Ek, last name Oktra'ek?"

"Nope," Bregana answered helpfully. "Bothan clan systems ain't my speciality. I do know they still belong to it, or haven't been kicked out, which says something for them or something about their family, if someone would still want them. But, you know, annoying and backstabbing could be great Bothan traits."

Reining in a smirk, Karrde nodded. "Well, if they're still in with their clan, I'd have to wonder how much help they'd get. Or they'd ask. I can see them pulling in every Bothan they could, every one of them wanting a piece of this." Observing Joron's sour face at the thought, the smuggler pushed on. "I know Wesk has a grudge still over that thing two years ago, so I'll keep my eyes open for him. Krusk is… well, slower, but I won't leave him out."

"Dumb bait, is what he is," Bregana muttered, poking absently through a locker in one wall. "I've heard of him being the one you see, Wesk being the one you don't."

"Precisely. But oddly, I don't know that they have a whole lot of resources, which is why I'm curious about the clan," Karrde remarked. "I'd be more inclined to worry about Komad."

Turning, Bregana struck a pose, a heavy blaster lifted from the innards of the wall in each hand. "A whole lotta ships and people doesn't mean a whole lotta brains and power, Talon," the man reminded, not missing a beat in the conversation.

Deadpan, Karrde nodded slowly, not looking convinced. "But he makes good use of them, from what I can tell. Firm, they seem loyal, into everything, even if it's the things the rest of us won't touch. If he diverts some of that to watching the rest of us, it'd probably be noted in his numbers. He does a lot of business, but I'm under the impression he's stretched thin. And," the man added significantly. "He goes through people a lot faster than anyone else."

Bregana frowned, lowering the blasters. "What, how can he have loyalty and go through people fast?"

"High risk jobs, you'd be surprised at how many of his crews have been killed or arrested," Karrde informed the other. "He may as well be Kessel's best client. It might say something about the kinds of beings he hires, too."

"How you getting those numbers?" the older man asked, squinting. "You looking through everyone's databases?"

Karrde smiled a quaint smile and went on with his line of thought, leaving Bregana to grunt, half in annoyance and half in appreciation, at the unanswered question. "There's Reia, and I can't really tell where she'd jump. Maybe with whoever else gained the spot, she's no stranger to smuggling. And good, too. Just…" He paused, frowning lightly. "No real sense of her ambition, even though she has to have it to be where she is. I don't know her very well though."

"She's hooked up with the new guy, Skykin," Bregana supplied, digging once more inside the panel.

"Really." Both of Karrde's eyebrows raised in surprise. Paksh Skykin was new to the circle of Car'das lieutenants, having just been announced days before Jorj got into his ship and disappeared, and Karrde had him marked as a dangerous unknown in the whole equation. "He came out of one of her crews, didn't he?"
Turning finally, emptyhanded, Bregana offered an eloquent shrug. "So he seems. Rose up out of Tatooine sector business, helped the boss secure some deals there. Hutts didn't like that much, either, you remember. Anyway, Reia sort of sponsored him in, and Car'das liked him and here he is. He spent the days he had cleaning the floor before Jorj's footsteps."

In other words, ingratiating himself to Car'das. Karrde was familiar with the sight. "That explains why he's sticking to insisting that Car'das is coming back, but not much else. Interesting, maybe we have two… three factions here. You and I, the Bothan brothers, and Reia and Paksh. This is looking better."

Joron eyed the other's grin and snorted. "Well, at least you're having fun, Talon. So Elrotti you have pegged as a Corporate Sector runaway, and Dukass? I say out and out shoot that one."

"Might be good idea to be more heavy-handed with him," Karrde agreed. "He seemed willing to start a bloodbath at the meeting anyway, which no one seemed surprised to see. I've met a lot of Trandoshans, but he has to be one of the most trigger-happy." Unspoken was the thought that the violent Dukass might take out some of the group anyway, with none of the careful planning the others were using. Either the creature could make things easier for him, or he could lose the random roll and be taken down with much more bloodthirsty intent than Karrde himself was capable of. "Alright, the plan is to set a meeting in the cargo hold, be late, and space them all."

As Karrde turned back to his desk, grinning, Bregana barked a laugh. "Excellent, that should do it. Too bad everyone else has the same idea. Got anything more creative?" The announcement, though, seemed to break some tension that going over the list of enemies had produced. Levity wasn't a requirement, but neither man seemed to find any benefit in maintaining a dour sense of fatalism.

"Well, time crunch aside," Karrde replied, settling into his chair and tapping his desk top. "I'm going to start a few things. A quick run through the database, even the ones I don't have access to right now, and I want to pull some of my people onto keeping an eye on everyone. I can manage that without missing anyone or suffering any drop in business that would be noticed. I also want to see what I can get moving with the local law enforcement in their areas, I'm sure someone would be glad to have help in some arrests."

Bregana's eyebrow lifted, then lowered again, whatever question prompting the motion remaining unvoiced.

Karrde continued, "I also want to get a feel for how the bulk of the organization leans, who supports who, just for the numbers. If a nice public relations job is needed to get some muscle behind us, I want to know." He leaned forward, folding his forearms on the desk and regarding his friend calmly. "I know you don't agree with me on finding a different way through this, but trust me enough to try my tactics first. If the smugglers and beings who work for Car'das don't like whoever comes out on top of this, that person won't last long. Car'das rules this group through force of personality, then later it's been his uncanny skill, but first, it has been fear or respect. I think more power comes from who you are to everyone who works for you, than whatever vessels and resources you have. Car'das knows this, and I believe it." He nodded slightly. "There'll be a fight alright, but this isn't going to be resolved just between nine of us."

Bregana said nothing for a moment, watching the younger man, before he smiled. "I believe ya, Karrde. And we'll do it your way for as long as we can. And I still gotcher back in case it doesn't work." He glanced down, digging in a jacket pocket to produce a slim datacard, which he set on the desk. "I made up a new set of codes to reach me. If you could do the same and get them to me, we'll start this show. But one thing…"

Karrde, reaching across the space to slide the card to him, glanced up questioningly.

"You sorta sound like you think Car'das is coming back," Joron finished curiously.

Another smile, and the man behind the desk nodded. "I'm not convinced he won't. He's quite a resourceful man. And I don't think I want him to come back to find everything he worked for in ruins because his lieutenants handled it poorly."

Another nod, and Bregana straightened without questioning further. Turning to stride to the door, the big man set his hand on the door panel and paused. "How did he rule you, Talon? Fear or respect?" he asked quietly.

"Ask me that after we prove his fate," came the answer behind, and Joron smiled thinly to himself, stepping out of the office and leaving the protégé to his planning.