"Let me ask you this. If you're talking to someone who's basically turning people in to you, would you use your real name?"
He pressed the button again and the ramp lowered, allowing Naleen and Kira to enter the ship.
"How about we try the hutts now?"
He quickly punched in some more numbers and a large hutt appeared on screen. They exchanged some words, this time he was referred to as 'Lanbert'. The hutt didn't recognize neither the name nor the description, but said he'd try to find him.

Kira moved up the ramp and soon joined Nadira and the multi-named man. Nadira sighed and said, "I'm not sure where else to look for him..."

"Well I can try the crime syndicates next. "
The same process repeated itself, the crime syndicate had had dealings with Lachlan, but hadn't heard from him in a long time. To them he was known as Tud.

"Any other suggestions?" Nadira asked desperately.

"We could see what the Sith know of him," Kira muttered. "And the Jedi," Teri added. "If Kira would simply allow me control the talking, a meeting with the Jedi might give us a little more information."

"Well so would a meeting with the Sith and me talking," Kira retorted. Nadira stared at her for a moment.

"That was sort of creepy," she whispered to the man with many names.

((Keep in mind that Kira and Teri arguing looks like a woman arguing with herself :p ))

"Where we're going, there's more than a few things creepy." whispered the man back. He didn't look at all disturbed to see the apparent multiple personalities.

Nalaen had been standing against a wall, lurking in shadow. She had been content to watch, idly fiddling with her lightsabre hilt. Even when Kira had been switching to that damnible Jedi and back, she hadn't paid it mind. It was starting to become . . . almost normal. She was growing accustomed to it, even if she didn't like it.

"The Sith won't get us anywhere," she finally growled, stepping into some light so the others could see her. Before continuing, she calmly hooked her sabre onto her belt. "If there was information to be had the Dark Lord would have told me already." She glanced at the others and followed up that pompous statement with a glower and an explanation before she could be argued or chided. "I'm his assassin. If he cannot trust me with information at the highest level, he'd better give me a new job." Crossing her arms, she shook her head. "I think," she winced, "Teri," she managed to spat, "might be our best option at information. There might be something in the Jedi databanks. Or the . . . Masters," she said, voice thick with sarcasm, "might know something. Because as far as the Sith go, I think we have all the info we can get from them."

Studying the others for a moment as she thought, she seemed to nod faintly to herself. "But, asking the Dark Lord for anything extra probably won't hurt. But I don't understand why he'd send us out to get information he already has. The Sith are in the dark to this I'm sure." Looking to Kira she smiled faintly, something she rarely did in public. "If both of us assailed the Dark Lord together, I'm sure we'll get more out of him than either of us alone. If only for the fact that we'd annoy him and he'd do anything to get us off his case."

"And when the two of you are done, I will join Teri in speaking to the Jedi," Nadira answered. "As I am the one who wanted the information, the Jedi will probably open up more if I am there. Through these two sources, we will have all the information we need... I think."

Kira ignored the 'I think' at the end of Nadira's statement and turned to Nalaen. "Then we'd best be off."

"Meanwhile I'll see if this man has any other places he might look for information," Nadira said. She turned to the man. "With as many names, no doubt you have more... and more sources to use them with, yes?"

"Of course. I've yet to check with the fake ID makers, ship-sellers, and a couple pirates I know."

"Then I suggest we get searching," Nadira said.

"And we'll meet back at that cantina when Nalaen and I have finished with the Sith," Kira said. She turned to go.

Nalaen nodded sharply at Kira's words, not caring that she was taking the lead for the moment. Right now, she needed to think, to prepare. Following Kira with blank eyes, her mind was a blur of information. If they were to face the Dark Lord together, it would probably be best if she went in first, holding a higher position than Kira. But Kira couldn't be walking too far behind her, or else she would seem subserviant, rather than a partner. And Nalaen wouldn't have that with her. They had been through too much together for her to make Kira seem less than she was. If Nalaen went in after Kira, the Dark Lord would probably demand an explanation as to why his assassin was following anyone's lead. Eesh, a mess this one was. They could always go in at completely different times, Kira first to speak with him, then she, Nalaen could skulk in at a later time to join Kira in the conversation.

And this was just on how to enter the bloody room! They also needed to greet him properly, explain why they weren't out doing as he commanded, try and pry information from him, and NOT make him angry. The last thing Nalaen wanted to be was a stain on her Master's floor. That would be an annoyance, and she so loathed being an annoyance. Though, she did seem to excel at it sometimes. A wry grin flashed across her face. Ah well.

Well, she certainly wasn't about to grovel to the Dark Lord. That never went over well with her. Her spine was just too intact for her to become completely craven. She generally just spoke facts with him and hoped for the best. The best being she wouldn't get her head lopped off for insubordination or somesuch.

"You know," Nalaen finally mumbled, quickening her step to match Kira's, walking flush with her, "I really hope we catch the Dark Lord on a good day. Perhaps we should send a droid up before meeting him to make sure he isn't in the refresher or something? Might be kinda bad catching him in a towel." She knew that as her stress-level went up, her humour became worse and her insolence seemed to increase ten-fold. "We should also check what's been going on for the past couple days. And perhaps send up some casks of ale, to get him completely sodden?" She stopped talking for awhile, knowing she was sounding like an idiot. Damn it, she just didn't want to get killed for displeasing him by coming back early with the mission incomplete, whining about not knowing what to do.

DAMN IT! They were screwed, weren't they? No, no! Nalaen couldn't allow herself to think like that. Her eyes went hard as they narrowed, her brain working furiously now. Etiquette had to be followed. Niceties had to be observed. And the Dark Lord had to be pacified. And she knew that would strain all her patience and skills to do so. Oh Gods . . . oh ancestors . . .

Shaking her head, she glanced over at Kira, to see how the other woman was faring.

"Huh?" Kira said absentmindedly. "Oh... droid, yes... droid first... yes... oh, Force save us!"

Why in the galaxy had they thought of asking the Dark Lord for further information? Kira was beginning to regret it and in her regret, she ignored nearly everything Nalaen was saying and the attempted humor was missed.

The man waited until they had left the ship, then sat back down and sighed. So much for winning enough credits to keep him going for the next few weeks, he'd been dragged into something dangerous again. He contacted the pirates, who knew Lachlan, but also hadn't seen him. Then he contacted the fake ID makers.

"Lachlan? Sounds familiar lemme check." Said the representative. A few minutes later he came back on. "Sure, we've done business with him. Here, I'll send you what we've done for him."

A few minutes later, the upload was complete.

"Frequent customer, huh?" Asked the man.

"Not as frequent as you, but he's close."

"Great. I'll catch you later."

Bingo, he got it. He donloaded the information to the datapad and looked at the time. It was early,the others wouldn't be done for a long time, so he went to his cabin. He looked around to make sure no one was near, and locked the door. He removed a fake panel from the wall, and punched in a code, then he knelt down on the floor and opened a hatch. Inside was a single lightsaber, and another container. The man picked up the saber.

Let's see if I remember how to handle this thing

He ignited it, revealing a silver blade that looked almost solid. It was a unique color, and he swung it around. He'd gotten rusty, but after a few minutes of practice he got the hang of it agian. He sighed, clipped it to his belt, hid it, grabbed the datapad and headed back to the cantina.

Nadira was waiting for him when he came out of the ship. "Now we wait for the Sith to finish their work." She turned and walked with him back to the cantina. When they arrived, she leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear, "You're carrying a lightsaber now... or a clever imitation of one."

"Okay, well . . . look," Nalaen finally said, grabbing Kira's shoulder and stopping her. "Let's just get to a ship and get to the Dark Lord. I'll go in and speak nice-nice with him, and judge his mood. I'll see if he's receptive to a larger plan -- and hell, who knows, he might have planned for this already. He is the Dark Lord. Anyway, I'll talk to him because he's less likely to kill me, as it'll take too long to train you to take my place. Because Gods know you're probably next in line." She resumed walking, clasping her hands before her, under her cloak. "Alright, so do we have a plan? Kinda?"

The man shrugged. "An old relic."

"Much less likely to kill you," Kira agreed. "Should I approach him at all? And if so, when?"

------------------------

"Family heirloom?" Nadira suggested. "Or perhaps a gift?"

The man shook his head. "Not many people interested in giving me either."

"Forgive my curiosity," Nadira went on. "Is it then something that you bought or something you found?"

"Well, part of it I found......and bought at too high a price."