LEVEL 110 - YESTERDAY.


Two figures plotted along together through the dimly lit corridors and open walkways, around protruding pipes and clusters of Ugnaughts.

"Get ta the numbers, Osha. I ain't got no time to listen to ya wag ya gob."

"Yessir. Our profits are up sixteen percent over last year."

"And just how much 'o that is Bliss alone?"

"All of it. In fact, we are under performing in most of our other sectors."

"That's bloody unacceptable. We can't 'xactly let Bliss run this whole thing. We gotta get production up, through any means necessary."

"Like a team building exercise to boost morale?"

"You havin' a laugh, Osha? Nah. I mean by cutting loose the shifty buggers and banging on with the right folks. Gotta build the business. It can't always be laughs or cutting off fingers. See if'n we can't entice Captain Ravenwing to ply us her services. Good smugglers are a rare breed these days. Fewer still are willin' to do anything for that profit. Tenloss got a stink to it that I can't shake."

The two continued their path. One was a bald headed human with a face that could only be described as "Soft" or "Simple". He tip tapped on a datapad as they walked, scrolling through walls of data that mapped the quarter report for Galindas Exports. At his ankles, the companies regional manager Svenskeren took short, slow steps that forced his human companion to walk incredibly slow in order to keep pace. Several yards back a pair of gruff looking men slowly followed them. The kind that wore nice suits and kept a hand slipped inside their coat. Level 110 might be a maintenance sector but Cloud City was still a dangerous place.

"We's gotta find new partners. Expand if we needs to, koovy? You got any bright ideas in that shiny dome of yours?"

Stopping suddenly to ponder the question, Sven almost ran into the big dummy. There was a lot of grumbling coming from the big pink brick shithouse as he mulled over the question like he thought himself a prophet. Sven, on the other hand, hated sitting idly and paced about, circling his assistant completely and coming around the other end. Gesturing with exasperation and open arms at the guy, he turned back to Butch and Slim for a laugh, and instead all he saw was an empty space that should have held them.

"Wat..."

A jingle of chains from the catwalk above caught his attention, his ears twitching at the sound before turning his golden eyes upwards and peering into the shadows. The amber lights barely lit a damn thing, but he could just make out the shape of a man. No three. One of them had a long tube. Grabbing two fist fulls of Osha's tunic, he used every bit of strength his little body could must and pulled him a half turn toward him. The last thing he remembered was the look on the man's face before everything went white and painful.