The shining face of Vaynai's moon that had so beautifully accentuated her dinner with Marikk and then lit her way as she escaped the Temple of Kooroo was quickly slipping away. Thick clouds swept in and blanketed the night in true darkness as a strong breeze blew through the island-top compound, stirring up the grass and trees to life. Stalking low to the ground through the foliage, Naemi pushed away a branch from in front of her face and, with a sparkle of anticipation, spied the destination of her little venture. At last, the villa of Gallo Memm was within reach. She searched the grounds directly around the building from her hiding spot to make sure that there were no sentries on patrol, all the while constantly darting her eyes back towards the two guard towers on the far left side of the building, the opposite side of the grounds from where she sat, their search lights cutting through the inky night. Those two were her main concern, while also staying away from any eyes that might be on the other side of the transparisteel windows that were positioned liberally around the villa's walls. As the sentry lights continued on their routes, going back and forth over the areas of the house facing towards the center and outer edge of the island, she noticed the wall right in front of her was almost completely hidden in the shadows. Well, there are no primary entranceways on this side of the building save for the windows, and they're probably rigged with security sensors. My best bet would probably be to make my way towards the roof and see if I can find a better way in up there.

Waiting for the light that would come closest to her to pass by on its route, Naemi pushed the foliage completely away from in front of her, took a few cautious steps forward, beyond it, and then released it back to its original position without a sound before bolting across the few meters of open lawn and pressing her back up against a section of stucco wall between two of the windows. By the way she figured it, the wall on this section of the house was a little over three and a half meters, so it wouldn't be too much of a problem to scale. With her hands held out in front of her, she pressed firmly down on the center of both her palms and stared at them intently. It was but a moment before, from various points on her hands, a clear liquid adhesive began to spread out and cover her palms. She smirked to herself under her mask and then spun around, placing one hand onto the wall just over her head and letting the adhesive take hold. Once it was in place, she tested its grip and began to pull herself up as high as she could hold herself before holding that position for a silent ten count. When her time had passed, Naemi relaxed her arm and let her body drop to the ground, her hand coming free of the wall with minimal effort. It was working just as Skeej had described.

Lifting her left hand up, she placed it onto the wall right besides her head, and then proceeded to raise the right hand just over her head to roughly where it had been before, about two meters from the ground. She mustered her strength and began to lift her body up until her head was level with her right hand; then reaching up again, she raised the left above them both. Slowly, she alternated in placing her hands and continued to lift herself, her muscles burning as she made her steady course up the wall. After about five repetitions, she found herself at the top of the wall and pushed herself up with both hands just high enough so that she could peak over the edge of the roof. Besides the two towers on the far side of the building, the top of the villa was made up of various gables and domes of varying heights and angles covered in sheet-like slabs of crimson stone layered like reptile's scales, with some areas having windows embedded down in them. Like those near the ground, these, too, were probably wired. Most likely, there would be an entranceway into the security control center inside via one of the towers. She figured she would have to end up there some time, so the best route for her to take would be right into the belly of the beast, as it were.

There was a small problem, though. Only now, having a better view of the upper levels, was she able to see that two more burly Weequay guards stood in her way, one in each tower, manning the lights. They would have to be dealt with first.

Naemi reached up and latched her hands onto the edge of the roof, a much more comfortable position to hold herself up by than what she had been previously doing, and then lowered her head and body back down quickly as the search light from the left tower scanned her area of the roof. As soon as it had passed over and she was once more in the clear, she hoisted herself back up as far as her elbows onto the roof and propped herself up. She didn't have long and would have to make her move quickly if she wanted to proceed. Taking her right arm, she lifted into the air and bent her hand down as she aimed her wrist at the left Weequay guard. Steadied by her left hand, she squinted her eyes and pressed down firmly on the middle of her forearm with her thumb. Let's see how you like this, ya big goon. With an almost silent 'fmphf', a small projectile shot from her wrist and sailed across the open air. Intently, she watched the guard for any reaction, fully knowing that it would take several seconds before he would show any reaction, if she had hit the mark. Several seconds passed as she watched his movements with a keen eye before noticing, as his light's circuit began to come around towards her again, that its path was starting to become erratic and that the guard's face had relaxed, his mouth was hanging open. He was in a daze.

Seeing that her attack had taken full effect, she changed her aim, watching as the right guard continued back and forth in his path, and then waited for just the right moment, when the back of his neck was visible, to fire the second projectile. At first, he didn't seem to notice anything; he just swatted behind him, obviously thinking he was being bitten by some sort of insect. In time however, just like his companion, his body, too, relaxed as the drug coursed through his veins and sent him into this absent-minded state, continuing on in his patrol simply because he was stuck in that movement.

Her path was now secure.

With a little struggle, Naemi removed her sticky hand from her right arm and then pulled herself up completely onto the roof, almost going into a roll as she hoisted her right leg over the edge, just as the patrol light came around and caught her in its beam. This was inconsequential, though, as was evident by her nonchalant attitude about the situation. The guard was awake, yes, and she was sure he had seen her, but most likely he didn't care. The pin-like darts she had fired from her glove were filled with Hypnocane, a drug normally used as a pain-killer by inducing a semi-hypnotic trance state. She could walk right up and knock them on their heads right now and they wouldn't give it a second thought.

Standing up to full height on top of the roof, she clapped both of her adhesive-covered hands together lightly and began to rub them together, at first not making much progress in obtaining movement. Nevertheless, as friction began to build, small pieces of the adhesive began to flake off and the movement of her hands was becoming ever more free until at last all was restriction was removed and the last piece of the adhesive plopped at her feet. With that out of the way, Naemi wasted no time in moving on, sprinting lightly across the roof towards the towers, making sure to keep a good bit of room between herself and the various windows and skylights coming up from the house. Up and down from one level of the roof to another, she covered her ground quickly until she found herself at the small patch of roofing between the two edifices…a crossroads. Should she go into the left tower or the right? At times like this, there was only one thing she could do…. 'Hinka Dinka Dy.'

She had learned this game on the streets of Mos Espa as a child and used it whenever she had a quick decision she needed to make. Waving her forefinger back and forth, she repeated 'Hinka Dinka Dy's' limerick whimsically under her breath, bobbing her head as she did, until she finger came to rest on the left tower at the end of the rhyme. Lady luck says the left tower. Let's see if I'm today's grand prize winner.

The top edge of the tower was only about two and a half meters from the point of the roof where she stood, so it didn't take any special gadgets to scale this wall, only a short running leap to get high enough to clasp her fingers onto the outlook's ledge. It was but a simple maneuver as she pulled herself up over the side of the tower, flinching slightly at a small pain in her side but disregarding it, and did a quick survey of what was inside the confines of the circular receptacle. The guard post was relatively sparse with but a menacing-looking rifle propped up against the inside wall beside the guard and his light, but what sat opposite them made her heart skip with delight. A small passage had been made in the floor for a flight of stairs stairs, at the base of which sat a door, most likely leading to the security control center, as she had theorized. Now to set her plan into motion.

Taking a few seconds, she closed her eyes, came up along-side the guard and placed her head nearly onto his should and let her natural pheromones flow into the air. Though with the Hypnocane in his system he should be quite apt to following her commands, the added benefit of her Zeltron pheromones wouldn't hurt anything. With this done, she reached up and pulled the mask down from over her mouth and began to whisper into his auditory tube, letting her breath tickle the side of his head.

"Come on, darling, let's go inside."

The Weequay mumbled to himself quietly and let his hands drop from the light's controls. Grasping onto his broad shoulders, she guided him to the edge of the stairs and had him stand in place as she whispered to him once more.

"Go down and open the door for me, then stand in the doorway. I'll be right down and then we can have some time alone."

Again, the guard grumbled and nodded his head before slowly making his way down the stairs with almost drunken steps and began to enter his code into the keypad beside the door as Naemi reached down to her belt, opened a small compartment and snatched three small items into her hand.

There was near silence in the control room, save for the clattering of technician's fingers upon their work stations and the occasional bleep from monitoring equipment. Security Technician 003 yawned as he leaned back in the chair at his station, glancing at his other three human coworkers as they worked busily at their consoles, all the while feeling the eyes of one of the monstrous Weequay weigh down upon him. There were three Weequay in the chamber to the four human security specialists; each of the burly guards making sure that the techs kept the equipment running properly while keeping their eyes upon the security readouts. None of the mummy-faced warriors said a word, though it was still likely that they were communicating with each other. He had heard that the Weequay had some ability to communicate information to one another through pheromonal discharges. This fact would greatly explain precision with which they worked together, despite their silence, and added something to the menacing aura of the brutes. If it wasn't for the pay, he probably would have just gone to another position somewhere so he didn't have to put up with having his 'supervisors' breathing down his neck and constantly staring over his shoulder, but Gallo Memm's coffers were particularly deep for those who helped to keep his possessions safe. This was due to the fact that, if his professionals indeed did their jobs correctly, there would still be a credit flow deep and wide at the Nimbanel's disposal.

Cracking his neck, 003 leaned forward once more and went back to work reviewing the scanner logs from each of the Guardian droids scattered across the island, going next to units G-56430 and G-56431 which were positioned at the entrance of the landing field. As he went about trying to access their imbedded surveillance modules, to his surprise, the display reported that the uplink was currently unavailable.

"What in the Rishi Maze…?"

Surely this was a mistake. Perhaps there just some temporary interference or maybe a temperamental component in the system. Going through the program once more, he again attempted to execute an uplink with the Guardian droids' systems, but still it reported as being unavailable.

"Uh….sir, I think we have a problem…"

The largest of the Weequay guards in the room lumbered over and lowered his head almost down level with Technician 003, which was quite a feat considering there was almost a meter's height difference between them. A slight groan emitted from the guard's throat as he looked the screen over with dismay when, unexpectedly, the entrance from the control center to the outer guard tower suddenly hissed open and came blinding light pouring from the doorway into a room that had just seconds ago been lit only by the iridescent glow of the monitors and control boards. All three guards and four technicians shielded their eyes at the luminary bombardment when a bulky silhouette began to eclipse the doorway. Lip raised in contempt as he continued to shield his eyes, the larger guard in the control center growled at the one that now stood before them.

"What are you doing away from your post, and why is that search light pointed down here, you fool!? May Quay strike you down if you've compromised our security!"

Briefly pausing his fiery tirade to take a breath, he picked up a light tapping noise sounding from the stairwell. Brow raised in curiosity, though there was little difference between that and his expression of disdain, he walked forward slowly, wondering both what was causing this sound and why the tower guard was merely standing there, communicating neither vocally or with his pheromones. Lowering towards the ground, he was caught by surprise when three little finger-sized gray capsules rolled down the steps and into the chamber. He picked one up cautiously between two fingers and began to examine it slowly until he found a small crack that was beginning to form in its face. Soon after that, he watched as the tiny aperture continued to grow until finally the capsule's outer shell exploded without warning into a dense cloud of smoke, the other two following in suit soon after. All in the room erupted into a chorus of coughs and hacks as the smoke was taken into their respiratory systems and began to force them down towards the ground. Over it all, a few seconds later, seven rapidly paced 'fmphfs' sounded, though only really heard by the one at its source, as more Hypnocane-laced darts cut their paths through the smoke and found their place in the necks of both the guards and the security specialists.

Naemi gave it nearly a minute before she made her grand entrance into the control center, waiting for the smoke capsules to dissipate and the Hypnocane to take effect in its target's systems.

"Thanks, love. Ya've helped me out a lot, but I don't think it's gonna work out between you and me," the young woman quipped as she pushed the first dazed guard in the doorway out of her path.

Strutting nonchalantly into the chamber, she removed a small thermal-imaging eyepiece from over her right eye and placed it back into a compartment in her belt before looking around at the various beings in their semi-hypnotic states, oddly positioned near the floor from when they had tried to escape the smoke cloud. With a swift motion, she pushed Technician 003 out of his seat, jokingly apologizing as she did with a slight smirk on her masked face before she went to work at the security console.

"Well, it seems they had just discovered my handiwork over at the landing field. Good timing, I must say."

Fingers flying across the control keys, she exited the current program and went about her work making some timely 'adjustments' to the estate's current security protocols. First to go was the security sensors across Memm's villa, then all the door locks within the building were to be released, the villa's communications hub was to be disabled, the Guardian droid programs were to be shut down, and finally the lifttube pavilion on the other side of the estate was to be reactivated, after having been shut down for the night, to allow for a quick escape. One by one, each of her commands was executed, completion signaled by a small green dot which appeared beside the lines of aurabesh writing on the screen. With all of this done, it was finally safe for her to move around, with only more guards and the villa's staff to worry about now. Logging out of the workstation as soon as she finished, Naemi made her way to doorway which sat nearly on the wall opposite where she had entered in and opened it cautiously in case anyone was hanging around.

However, when she poked her head through the door to spy out the area, the last place she figured she'd be wandering into… was the kitchen. What kind of…idiot… connects his security hub to the kitchen!? You'd think maybe his office or the gallery, but what the heck? Shaking her head, she made her way inside and casually across the black and white checkered tile, taking in her surroundings. The walls were lined with cabinet and countertops, as would be expected, with the usual amenities and appliances around and upon them. In the middle of the room was a utility island of the same make as the wall-lined counters, while in the far left corner it almost looked like a small office had been set up. Another peculiarity to add to the list. She walked over and began looking over the contents of what was on the desktop: administrative papers, rosters, daily timetables, and the like. This must have been the work place of Memm's steward or administrative assistant. An office in the kitchen. Makes the guy sound like an Ortolan or something.

Sorting through what she found, Naemi's ears perked as she heard the sound of whistling coming ever closer from behind one of three doorways in the room, this one on the adjacent wall from where she had come in. The young Zeltron looked about frantically, laying the sheets back down on the desk as close as to the way she found them as she could and then stepped about in place trying to decide what to do now. The kitchen's third door was right next to where she currently was, but there didn't seem to be enough time for her to make it through and for the door to close behind her before whoever was approaching would arrive, then alerting them to her presence. Time was quickly ticking away as the whistling drew ever closer, so, with no other ideas coming to mind, she dove down underneath the desk and hid within the confines of the leg space there with only seconds to spare before the doorway finally slid open and the whistling being entered into the kitchen.

The sound of the footsteps that accompanied the whistling one sounded light as they moved across the tiles, giving her the clue that the being wasn't very large in size and most definitely not one of the guards. Listening intently, she reached out and hugged her legs closer to her body when she noticed that the sound of the footsteps was coming towards the desk. Before she could react, as if there was anything she could really do, the opening out from under the desk was blocked in one flowing motion by a simple robe of varying shades of red and two dark brown loafers. Above her, she heard the sound of shuffling items as the being sorted through the desktop's contents.

"My my my," the man mumbled to himself in Duroese as he went about doing whatever it was he was doing. "I really should have organized my things before I went to bed last night. What a mess. Master Memm would be most displeased if he saw this."

At least five minutes elapsed as he went about his work there, two or three times an elongated blue hand reached under the desk, much to Naemi's fright, as he reached to open a drawer directly above her and slipped some flimsiplast sheets and a writing stylus inside. As soon as he had finished there, he went on moved across to the other side of the kitchen with shuffling footsteps. Leaning her head against the cold metal underside of the desk, she listened carefully as she heard the opening and closing of cupboard doors and the light beeping of a datapad. The seconds, and then the minutes, ticked away in her mind as the sounds' repetition continued on its route around the room, distancing and then coming back ever closer until, in one marvelous moment, there was no more slamming cupboard doors and all beeping stopped.

"Well, inventory's done," the Duros remarked to himself as one of the doorways hissed open and his footsteps began to grow ever more distant as they seemed to disappear from whence they came. Her heart danced with joy that perhaps now she was finally able to leave her cold metal confines and move freely once. In fact, in her quiet elation, she even slowly began to remove herself from her hiding place even before she could hear the door close once again. Looking up and over the top of the desk at an awkward angle as she rose, her eyes widened in horror as she saw the Duros steward merely standing in the doorway, though thankfully with his back to her. Probably faster than she had the first time, she dove back under the desk and began to listen again carefully for any noises.

"Well, I am feeling kinda peckish, and breakfast is still a few hours away… Perhaps I'll fix myself a little bit of a snack before I move on with my morning rounds."

Naemi let her head fall backwards in exasperation as heard his footsteps returned into the kitchen once more, one of the cupboard doors creaking open soon after. All she could do now was sit there quietly and sigh, the distinct feeling now growing in the back of her mind that she was going to be stuck there for some time still.

Peace and Security. That was the ultimate goal of their work. That was what they were hired for, and whatever was necessary for them to fulfill their mission, they would do it.

Her name was Chyvalle. She was the stalwart head of the small gathering of Weequay from their clan which had left their homeworld to enter the employ of the Nimbanel noble, Gallo Memm. By way of choice breeding and the superiority of their lineage from amongst others of their species, the members of her clan were naturally endowed as warriors. This was the reason they alone were chosen, and even then not every member of their group was allowed to leave Sriluur. Only the strongest, the bravest; those trained from birth in the ways of war and of their great god, Quay. These two things were what ultimately defined their lives. She, however, was the only female amongst those of the clan on Memm's estate, the only offspring of the head of their family and as capable a warrior as any of their men. It was not her special place at the head of the clan which brought her the loyalty of their warriors, but the honor and the skill with which she led and with which she held herself to. It was these things alone that allowed her now to lead the Weequay warriors on Vaynai and become the head of security for the entire island estate. Likewise unique to her was her name, but not just her name….any name, period. Amongst their own, the Weequay did not use names, only referring to each other by Weequay, but amongst the offworlders, her species had been known to take individual monikers. Thus, as head of their group and unofficial liason between their clan and Gallo Memm, she chose for herself a name to set herself apart and at the same time make her presence more natural amongst the other sentients on Vaynai.

With everything secured in the guest suites and receiving a positive report from her men in the villa's enclosed courtyard, she proceeded on through the next door out from there and continued her route now into the adjacent lounge. It was her policy to personally check each and every room within the building every other hour to ensure that the everything remained as it should be: Secure and Peaceful. Because of her employer's large collection of art and rare artifacts, the island villa was regularly plagued by would-be thieves who would attempt to make a piece of the Nimbanel's wealth their own. Time after time, though, each one was been apprehended. Her record was impeccable. It was even rumored amongst those that dwelled on Streysel Island that she had a form of foresight and an uncanny ability to show up just as criminals were attempting to break into the estate. For the most part, or at least as far as the supposed 'mystical' aspect of it was concerned, the story was false. There was no magic involved in her ability to find and bring these thieves to justice, only her finely tuned patrol plan and her own superior skills.

However, despite the falsehood of these claims, she said nothing to the contrary, hoping these wild tales would work to dissuade some poor fool or another who might attempt a break-in.

Chyvalle moved methodically around the lounge, checking in and around every plant and piece of furniture for any who might have attempted to hide within, but found no one. She nodded to herself slowly, affirming that everything was right within the room, when a small repeated beeping from her hip reached her ears. Glancing down to the small box which sat perched there on her belt, she noticed the small red light, one of two lights on the security monitor, was flashing. Her brow furrowed heavily and her eyes narrowed at the sight as she reached down and snatched up a small comm. which was lodged in the side of the monitor.

"Captain Chyvalle to Control Center. Control Center, do you read me?"

No response came as she released the call button, only static. As odd as it was, she tried to justify it in her mind as simple interference and attempted to contact the Control Center again, but still there was nothing. Her already wrinkled face distorted more as disgust swept over her and she stormed out of the lounge towards the villa's hub, going first through the gallery to make sure that its prized contents were still safe. Something was direly amiss, but once it was found, she would make sure it was promptly rectified.

Above all else, Peace and Security had to be maintained.

With what was now becoming characteristic of her current situation, a deep, unheard sigh slid forth with abjection from mouth. Her entire body was rife with both anxiety and slight depression because of her current state and the fact that the success or failure of her mission relied now upon a cheap metal desk. Squirming slightly to try and make herself comfortable, Naemi rested her head upon her knees and closed her eyes as she listened to the soppy, almost unbearable sounds of chewing and gulping on the other side of the room. Alright, I had been having fun here before, Naemi lamented inwardly, but now I just wish he would finish up snack time so I can go on and get this job over with. This is becoming too much. To think, with all I've had to encounter in my career, one of my biggest challenges now is a blasted Duros with the MUNCHIES!

Quieting her mind, she sat there and continued to listen the sounds around her, trying to form a picture of the room with her imagination. The Duros' chewing, the hum of light fixtures and various machinery, and… footsteps? They didn't belong to the current resident within the kitchen, of course, since they seemed to emanate from behind the door closest to her. Besides that, they sounded as though they belonged to someone much larger than the Duros, judging from how heavily they touched down upon the tiling. Within seconds, the door from which she could hear the steps behind hissed open and the being, whoever it was, stomped its way into the kitchen.

It was obvious that this person was not happy.

"Havaal!" the voice, deep, strong and yet possessing a somewhat feminine quality, bellowed out. "What's the situation?"

The was a very audible gulp at that point, though whether from swallowing food or from fear she was not sure. "Wh…what? What is the problem, Captain Chyvalle?"

"Don't tell me you don't…" She sighed. "I've been trying to get ahold of the Control Center, but there's not response. My status monitor here is reporting that the security system is down and all of the door locks are open."

"You mean we have a…" Before the Duros could finish, the footsteps began again, followed quickly by a shrill 'eep', the sound of something rather light dropping upon a plate and the screeching of boot soles upon the tile, as the two made their way across the kitchen and disappeared behind the door Naemi knew led to the Control Center. Things were getting way out of hand, but she still had a small window of opportunity if she acted quickly. However, that window had just now open and was quickly closing down upon her.

Stepping lightly upon the balls of her feet as she remained in a crouch, the Zeltron nimbly stalked out from underneath the desk. Then, as soon as she cleared it, she leaned her weight forward, leapt and rolled through the door directly to her right, hoping that, if any luck remained, there wouldn't be a squad of Weequay guards waiting for her on the other side. Within an instant, the entryway hissed open and closed, allowing her quick entry into….wherever she was.

The air was much chiller here and she could hear air conditioning units running above her head. Slowly, timidly, opening her eyes, her heart skipped a beat and her mouth almost began to salivate as her eyes took in the glory of what was Gallo Memm's personal gallery. She had made it, at last!

Through the intermittent beams of moonlight that gleamed through the line of windows on the outer wall of the gallery she was able to make out the room in relative, yet glorious, detail. To her immediate left, a dining table of immense size, lined on each side by a row of exquisitely carved and upholstered wood chairs, while on the opposite side of the room, farthest from her, a plush leather furniture set, all gathered in a circle around what looked like a holographic projector rising from the floor. Apparently old Memm used this chamber as an entertaining hall to show off his priceless collection to his guests. All of this, though, she didn't care about… it was what was between and around these two sets of furniture that counted. Sitting carefully upon a gleaming varnished, greel-wood paraquet floor, transparisteel cabinets containing various artistic and archaeological treasures sat on display in carefully chosen spots, and lining all areas of the walls were tapestries, paintings, decorative items and more, only some of them behind transparisteel cases themselves but all under the bright glow of spotlight. The Kooroo Sundial, Gusepp's Hand, the Prophecy of Vaal, the Bust of Canivarz and the Felenar armor, the item that until recently had been the possession most prized by the Nimbanel. She saw them all there and all were so wonderfully tempting… that is, until she saw her true prize, the usurper of the Felenar armor, Gallo Memm's newest acquisition, the Scroll of Infinite Enlightenment. As was to be expected, the scroll was protected by a thick layer of transparisteel at its spot on the wall directly behind the leather furniture set. Finally, it was almost hers!

Like a child running to receive a birthday gift, Naemi threw caution to the wind and sprinted across the gallery, weaving around display cases and leaping over two couches to land in the meter and a half space in front of the scroll. Retracting and flexing the fingers of her outstretched hands, she studied the tattered hide parchment and the various symbols, lines and scribbles of alien language. So this thing is supposed to be a source of infinite enlightenment? These must be the same type of loons that would believe in that ever-present 'life force' that fills the galaxy. But hey, who cares about dogma…this thing's gonna bring me a pretty penny.

With her thumb and index finger pressed together firmly, she ignited the beam emitter in her index finger once more and reached up to the scroll's protective casing and forced the laser beam slowly through the transparent material. After a few seconds, when finally the transparisteel was punctured, she began to drag her finger down the left side of the casing's face, attempting to cut it away. By the time she reached the bottom left corner of the casing, something odd occurred… the spotlights over the various pieces on the walls went off. In relative darkness, Naemi glanced around, body tensing as she looked to see if someone had discovered her, but once she realized that she was still alone, she shrugged it off to just a bug in the system or a timed switch that activated as morning approached and returned to work.

However, whatever sense of relaxation that might have come over her quickly dissipated as all of the lights within gallery quickly flashed on and a blaring siren shattered the silence of the night.

"What in blazes!? I shut off the security system!" the Zeltron shouted at the top of her lungs, as if trying to convince the siren of that fact. "I shut it off!"

Promptly shutting off her beam emitter, she covered her ears to try and drown out that murderously painful noise before trying to gather her thoughts and decide how to escape out without being seen, despite the hubbub. Perhaps she could have made a sprint towards the door closest to her, or perhaps she could throw a chair through one of the windows and escaped that way. If only the durasteel shields had not come down over them and sealed the room tight. Of course, even if they had not come down, there would have been little time to do that, or anything for that matter, as the floor dropped out from beneath her feet to reveal a deep pit below…a pit filled with the snapping jaws and the echoing snarls of ravenous beasts. As she dropped down through the air, Naemi stretched out both arms and legs as quickly as she could and braced herself against the stone walls of the pit, her body jolting at the sudden stop. It was then, as she glanced down, that she caught her first glimpse of the group of six-legged reptilian Nashtahs directly below, salivating as they sought to have a bite of Zeltron.

Beads of sweat rolled down her face and the hot breath of the Nashtahs bit at her face as their jaws attempted to do the same as she continued to force her limbs against the pit's four walls.

"There….is no way…. I am going out…..like THIS!"

Gritting her teeth, she started to shift up slowly with her right arm and leg before bringing her left side up to the same level. Inch by inch, she continued this repetition and slowly began to ascend from the depths, all the while keeping her eyes of the predators below and arching her midsection reflexively when she thought they leapt too close. It wasn't a quick escape she was attempting; simply the only way she could figure out of her current jam without plummeting to her demise. Capture she might be able to deal with, she had done so before, but death was something she didn't yet wish to add to her plans. One of these two options, though, came much sooner than she was expecting… or hoping.

As she continued her upward shift, something unseen latched onto the back of her belt and her entire body was pulled violently from her confines. Instinctively she began to flail her limbs looking, from something to grasp onto, and let out a frightened yelp until she found herself dangling in the grip of and staring face to face with one of the estate's Weequay guards. With a grim expression etched into his features, he proceeded to reach up and rip the dark gray mask from her face violently. Naemi locked gazes with the brute and flashed a flirtatious grin in the hopes of disarming him, all the while reaching down and pressing down on a buttom on the back of her belt buckle, "Well, thank you ever so much for the rescue, handsome, but this really isn't any way to pick up women."

"I'll assure, Miss," came a gruff voice from the kitchen doorway, "that wasn't a rescue. It was an apprehension. Also, do not think you can so easily sway my men with a pretty face. They are not so weak as that."

Glancing over to where she had heard the voice emanate, she saw a contingent of five similar Weequay guards enter the room, blaster carbines brandished proudly, being led by a female of more slight, yet still powerful, build, and the same red-robed Duros steward she had seen earlier in the kitchen.

"I see someone hasn't been introduced to our friend sarcasm." With hard footfalls, the Weequay woman marched over, sneered, and without a word slapped Naemi with such force that it felt as if her entire lower jaw had just been sent flying across the room. Despite this, as a small trickle of blood began to ooze from the corner of her mouth, she attempted to grin, a sign of defiance against her captor. "Was it…something I said?"

"Silence your mouth, wench," Chyvalle spat with contempt as she balled up her right hand into a fist. "You have some gall to attempt to break into this estate."

"Well…it's what…I do…"

The Captain of the Guard smiled most unexpectantly at this statement, an expression with sent a brief chill down the young Zeltron's neck. "Though it would seem not very well. Even if you hadn't have set off the alarm, it wouldn't have taken me very long to find you since you were kind enough to leave me a trail." Naemi looked puzzled at this, but was quickly enlightened as Chyvalle took her hand and jabbed her right side, sending a wave of intense, burning pain through her body, moreso than should have come from the simple movement the Weequay had done. When the hand had retracted from her side, it soon was placed directly in front of her face, all of its fingers held out stiff and coated in fresh blood. "Apparently somewhere along the line you injured yourself unknowingly and, as you moved, you left droplets of blood along your path. From the guard tower, through the control center and kitchen, and all the way here… it would have been quite easy to track you."

Those blasted Guardian Droids! They must have gotten me after all, but I was too focused on the task at hand to really take notice of it.

"Rest assured, though, Zeltron, for your fate does not rest in my hands just yet. Be thankful. Your final fate will be decided by Lord Memm himself, who should be arriving soon. Let us just hope he is feeling generous this evening." Glancing over to the guard who continued to hold Naemi in his grasp, Chyvalle motioned forward with her head, who acknowledged her silent command with a solemn nod. He reached down and unclasped the silver belt suddenly from around her waist, which sent the thief to the ground with a loud thud. With a slight moan, she reached up and rubbed her head as she laid upon the ground, but was quickly hoisted up to her feet by the same large hands and had her own hands pulled back and held at the small of her back.

The alarms having been switched off upon the arrival of the Captain and her guards into the gallery, the group stood in silence, save for Naemi's tired, labored breathing, and waited patiently for the arrival of the oft spoken of 'lord' of the island estate. In the distance, though, down a nearby corridor, she could hear them… a group of footsteps drawing ever closer from across the villa.

Then, with a build-up and release of tension as great as if a full processional greeted his arrival, two rows of three Weequay marched in through the door to their right, took positions on both sides of the doorway, and held up their carbines at attention as the figure of the Nimbanel, Gallo Memm, was finally revealed.

Naemi looked the man up and down as he strode into the gallery, the tan-skinned humanoid reptile adjusting his slate and navy blue business jacket with its brass ornaments and straightened the tuffs of gray cheek hair on both sides of his seal-like face after having been so abruptly awoken. It was obvious that this being had something to prove to those around him in having to make himself appear as pristine as possible at such an early hour in the morning. In all honesty, though, she doubted his employees really cared what condition he was in, appearance-wise. As long as he was still paying them, he could be a gizka in a rat hair poncho and those around him would still kiss his feet as if he were the Emperor.

"Oh Master Memm, how wonderful to see you!" the red-robed Duros steward groveled, running up from amongst the crowd and bowing continuously before his employer with hands clasped together in front of him. "I do hope your sleep until now has been most enjoyable and…"

An upheld hand stopped the steward in mid-sentence as Memm then proceeded to place the hand on the Duros shoulder and gently pushed him out of his way. "Not now, Havaal. You can prattle off pleasantries later, but there are more serious matter to contend with at the moment." Taking a few steps past Havaal, he turned towards Chyvalle and nodded solemnly to her before finally noticing the young Zeltron thief in the grasp of one of the guards.

"Is this our culprit tonight, Captain?" he asked quite casually, locking eyes with his security chief.

"This is indeed the whelp, Lord Memm."

Eyes narrowed, the Nimbanel grasped Naemi's chin in two elongated fingers and closely examined her face closely, as if examining a jewel. "Hmm…yes. Well then, this is indeed a refreshing change to have an attractive young woman 'visit' my home, and a Zeltron at that. The last female Zeltron thief I had heard of was Vianna D'pow, and she operated mostly in the heyday of the Republic. Quite a reputation that one had. They say she even broke into the Jedi Temple once. Now then, let's see what damaged was done…" At his unspoken request, Chyvalle reached to her side and handed a small datapad to Memm. Squinting as his eyes adjusted to the light, he read over the list and nodded slowly, an accompanying 'hmm' sounding with each item he read. "Impersonating a temple pilgrim, disabling two Guardian Droids, drugging a host of our guards, disarming the security system, and damaging the holding case for the Scroll of Infinite Enlightenment. My my, you've made quite the attempt. No one's gotten this far in quite a while. My congratulations on a job well done, my dear young miss."

Naemi grinned wryly, cracking the small bit of blood that had dried there. "It's always a pleasure. You offer such nice prizes to your winners…it's hard to resist, my dear lord Memm."

"Ahhh, and a sense of humor, too!" His face at first seemed quite jovial as his beady black eye stared down into her own, but those kind features soon faded as a biting tone took to his voice. "However, do not push my good nature with smart aleck comments, thief." Clasping his hands behind his back, Memm wandered over to the scroll and ran two fingers over its casing. "You damaged this with some kind of beam cutter. How did you manage to smuggle one in past the sensors? I've made personally sure that they're the most precise, accurate sensors possible. What IS your secret?"

"I collected the thief's belt upon her capture, Lord Memm," chimed in Chyvalle with her ever brusk tone. "I believe the secrets will be found within it."

"Hmmm? Yes, good. Search and scan it as soon as possible. Did you check her for any other equipment or hidden compartments?" He spun around from the display case and returned to where Naemi was being held, looking her quickly up and down. "Her gloves and her boots. Remove them too."

A guard at Chyvalle's side clacked his boots together as he stood at attention, acknowledging these new orders, and then worked with the guard that held the girl to remove these articles off of her person. Naemi, though she could have tried, decided not to resist, but silently mourned as she watched her prized equipment taken from her.

"Well then, miss, it would seem we have come to a crossroads. What shall we do with you?"

"Something pleasant, I hope."

The Nimbanel noble chuckled under his breath. "Well, it all depends on how you answer me." Placing one finger under her jaw lightly, Memm lifted the Zeltron's head so that the two of them were eye to eye once more. "As I said before, I applaud your efforts for making it this far into my villa. It takes a truly industrious being to do perform such a feet, and I admire that. It has been our goal here to continually refine our defenses to keep out such people as yourself. This job will never be complete, as there will always be a new hole or new technology that will be able to get someone up past our guards."

As he made that last comment, Chyvalle's face tightened. The Weequay captain tried to keep any emotion from her face, but Naemi could tell that a nerve had been struck.

"With this in mind, my dear young Zeltron, I make you this offer. Come aboard and join our security staff full time. Let me put your ingenuity to work to help keep my estate safe. You will be generously paid, and the benefits will be great, as my other employees will tell you. So then, what will your answer be?"

This was her chance. If there was any opportunity for escape, Naemi knew, she had to make use of this jewel of an opportunity.

Staring deeply into the eyes of Gallo Memm, she let a sweet smile spread across her face as she did what she could to try and release pheromones into the air without it being overly obvious to the Weequay. If she went too quickly with releasing them or released too much, she was afraid they would be able to detect it since they were able to communicate via pheromones themselves. Though she wasn't as experienced with her 'Zeltron charms' as were those raised on her homeworld, she did manage to learn a few tricks. Even so, she was going to have to work with a greater sense of accuracy if this was to work.

"After all that I have done, you would still offer me such a generous offer? My…I….I cannot believe how truly generous you are, Lord Memm. Your security system is indeed impressive, truly, and to be able to help you to make it even greater….well, how could I protest? I always relish a challenge."

Memm smirked. "Yes, I'm sure. Now then, to get you started, we will have to…"

"Lord Memm, I must object!" Bounding forward, Chyvalle made her way past the guards and took a place between he and Naemi. "This woman cannot be trusted! I'm sure she's only using this situation to her advantage. As soon as your back is turned, she will betray you. You can't….."

"That will be all, Captain Chyvalle!" he growled, pushing her out of his way. "My judgments are my own and I don't expect you to contradict me."

The captain of the guard was visibly enraged, but she was exhibiting an exorbitant amount of control. Naemi had to admire her for that.

Feeling the grip from the guard holding her hands behind her back loosen, she shook herself free and strode over to Memm. Chyvalle again opened her mouth to protest, but the Nimbanel held up a hand to silence her before she said anything else and turned his attention back to the approaching Zeltron, a sappy smile forming across his face. It seemed her plan was working.

"Now, my great Lord Memm, before we get down to business, there is something I must know."

"Anything," he chirped.

"Alright. Let's see…When I entered the villa earlier, I had made sure to disable the security system before continuing on, and yet still something was triggered when I attempted to cut through the scroll's case. What is your trick? What did I miss?" With her ungloved hand, she stroked her hand across the noble's face, twirling some of his cheek hair between her fingers while her voice taking a lower, more seductive tone. "If I am to help keep you safe, I must know your secrets."

Memm's countenance seemed to relax and his body slacked ever so slight as he began to give a bemused chuckle. "Oh, that's easy. There's a secondary security system that my I have wired into the displays of my greatest treasures to make sure they are protected even if the main system is down. The controls for it are in my office and only Chyvalle and I have access to it."

Naemi pulled herself from Memm and bit her lower lip. "A secondary system. Figures."

"Yes, that gets people every time. It's really been a blessing since we had that installed."

"I imagine so."

"Now then, my dear young miss, let's go ahead and get you registered in the database so we can…"

"Yeah, about that…" The Zeltron thief leered around towards Gallo Memm, a mischievous look upon her face as she roundhouse kicked the guard to her right in the chin before spinning around and side-kicking his companion in the chest. "I've changed my mind. I'm afraid I'm just not the right girl for a desk job. Sorry, Memmy."

Jumping over the body of one of the fallen guards, she dove and rolled underneath Chyvalle as she attempted a tackle, and then began to sprint for the door.

"Grr…blast it all! I told you all the wench couldn't be trusted! Somebody, stun her!"

At the Captain's command, those guards who had accompanied Gallo in, waking from their daze, as were the others, raised there weapons and began to open fire. With graceful steps, Naemi managed to slide around the incoming blasts, coming within a hand's reach to the entryway towards the kitchen when she seemed to lose control of her legs. Before she could react, what felt like a surge of electricity sped through her body until her motor functions were no longer hers to control. It was almost as if time had begun to slow as she fell through the air, hand outstretched, almost pleading to take hold of the door and the world around her began to fade to black. As all consciousness began to slip away, she managed to make out the last bits of conversation happening behind her.

"What shall be done with her, Lord Memm?"

"I tried to reason with her, but reason will not work with some people. Do with her as you so desire, Captain Chyvalle."