DECRYPTING the Inquisitor's records gave Agent Sluka and Sal clues as to the operations he had been conducting and those clues pointed to CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE. More specifically, the trail of clues involved numerous financial transactions with elements of those activities associated with Deadly Dreams, a criminal enterprise operated by a lieutenant of Meego the Hutt named Tico. And many of those transactions were earmarked as payment for a SAFEHOUSE to be maintained in the Inquisitor's absence. A safehouse located on a swamp-covered planet in Hutt Space.

The planet XHORTA.

Thus begins AMBITIONS, EPISODE 8 of THE ADVENTURES OF AGENT MALGO SLUKA, ISB…

Hutt Space
Xhorta System
Xhorta, swamp covered sole planet of the Xhorta System
Deadly Dreams, massive vice den operated by Meego the Hutt

The Astral Voyager bobbed slowly in the black water as small waves still rippled from where it had landed. The shuttle was the last in a long line of unevenly spaced shuttles and water vehicles which led off into the distance through a light fog and into a mass of lights. A lone speeder bike with two occupants slowly exited the hatch ramp and floated above the water before accelerating away from the shuttle. Mist rose from the water in the cool night and floated along its surface but parted before the path of the speeder bike as it sped along the line of vessels toward the multitude of lights shining in the distance.

The lights of Deadly Dreams, a vice den operated by Meego the Hutt.

Piloting the speeder bike from its front seat was a helmeted figure dressed in black laminate armor, Agent Sluka. His carbine and harness had been left behind. In its place he wore a blaster on his right hip and a vibrorapier on his left. Behind him sat Sal. She was dressed in dark thick robes which hid the weapons she was carrying. Her hood was raised, covering a visored helmet underneath.

"I'm glad you were able to transfer the white beam emitting kyber crystal from the servant's lightsaber to the Unnamed King's," Sal said through her com as she hugged his back tightly.

"You're just glad I let you wear it this time," Agent Sluka replied.

"Let?" asked Sal's voice over the com.

"Yeah, let," Agent Sluka answered. "I couldn't wear it here while acting in my capacity as an ISB agent."

Sal quickly changed the subject. "Where did you learn to replace a kyber crystal?" she asked. "Doing so, is practically like building one from scratch. It's the hardest part."

"I'm not sure," Agent Sluka replied through his com. "I vaguely remember something about building a lightsaber from the Force dream with the Horned Serpent."

"What else did you learn?" Sal asked.

"I don't know," Agent Sluka quickly answered. "What about you?"

"I'm not sure…" Sal was quiet for a moment. "There's something right there, but I can't place it."

At that moment, the speeder bike passed out of the darkness and mists and into the light.

In front of them was the end of a well-lit wooden pier of sorts. The pier rested upon pontoons and had several flat-bottomed boats tied up along its length. On down the pier, a short humanoid hopped to its feet, exposing a pudgy belly beneath its shirt which was way too short. The short wings on its back began to flutter, marking it as a Toydarian, as it rose from the pier. The creature began to slowly fly over the pier toward the end that Agent Sluka and Sal had just reached.

Agent Sluka did not stop at the end of the pier, though. He raised the speeder bike up to a meter over the pier's height and proceeded to move along its surface. The Toydarian, came to a stop, nervously hovering when it recognized what was in front of it. Agent Sluka throttled the speeder bike and raced down the pier. The Toydarian clumsily fluttered to the side, losing height as it did. The splash of water Agent Sluka's ears picked up told him what he needed to know. Got'em, he laughed. Sal's laugh echoed in his ears over their com. Agent Sluka slowed his bike as they reached the end of the pier.

And at the end stood Deadly Dreams in all its wicked glory.

The Deadly Dreams was a large assortment of varied buildings supported on pontoons, as well as boats, all of which were bound together by chains or had actually been joined together through haphazard additions. Several piers, each similar to the one they had made a run down radiated from it and into the darkness. Countless lights attached to chains floated above the Deadly Dreams, giving the place a remarkably well-lit look for such a den of iniquity.

The bike lowered itself onto an open surface and then Agent Sluka and Sal hopped off. Sluka quickly engaged the electro-shock lock and looked over his shoulder at Sal. "Now, let's find out what the Second Brother was doing here," Agent Sluka added, referencing the Inquisitor's title which had been uncovered amongst his records. Agent Sluka glanced toward the largest structure, a flimsy building several stories in height, and said, "I'm guessing that's where most of the credits pass through as well as approval for illegal activities by Tico, the lieutenant Meego has put in command here." Sal nodded at him.

They proceeded toward the main structure.

The walkway was crowded with aliens as well as humans but most gave Agent Sluka plenty of space. He was a large individual by the standards of most species and well-armed. Sal smoothly followed in his wake. After a moment, they made it to the building and stepped into what appeared to be an entrance line.

"No reason to hurry," he said through his com to her. "I'd like to get out of here with as little trouble as possible."

"Really?" Sal asked with a laugh. "I didn't think that was in you."

"I'd like to not advertise my presence that much while I'm supposed to be working undercover," he added. "I just don't have any other armor besides this and I'm not coming in here naked."

"That's a shame," Sal added.

Finally, they worked their way to the door and met the door man, an enormously fat human who had all his arms plus two more cybernetic ones as well as a red cybernetic eye. He looked at Agent Sluka and said, "We don't like your kind here."

Agent Sluka laughed. "And I don't like your ugly face." The door man's face turned sour, but Agent Sluka added, "I'm paying credits to get in and I'll bet that will be good enough for Tico. I've got a few extra for you too, if you can point me out to him."

The fat man laughed. "Well, if you put it that way," he said. The door man swiped a reader over Agent Sluka's cred-stick, and then again for Sal. "That's for Tico and the Deadly Dreams," he said. "And this is for me." The doorman pulled a second reader out and swiped the stick. "And once for your friend too," he added, swiping the stick again.

Sal and Sluka started to work their way through the crowd. The area had an open center with a multi-leveled mezzanine around the edge. Several light fixtures hung from the ceiling at differing heights from chains and there were countless tables spread across the floor with differing colors of smoke rising from the many drugs being experimented with. A loudly cheering crowd in the middle filled with every race imaginable kept what was beyond them obscured from view. The mezzanine appeared to be filled with many small booths, private parties.

A big hairy humanoid stepped in front of Agent Sluka and snarled. It was a Wookie who stood taller than even Agent Sluka in his armor. A bowcaster was slung over its shoulder and in its hands was an enormous spiked club.

The Wookie let out a snarl and everyone around it quieted.

"I think he wants us to follow him," Sal said. "I think the door man signaled Tico that we are looking for him."

"You don't say," Agent Sluka laughed through his com. He nodded at the Wookie and said over his loudspeaker, "Lead the way."

They passed through the crowd easily as everyone moved out of the Wookie's way. He led them up the stairs and to the top mezzanine where three human men dressed in bounty hunter armor began following them. Each wore a helmet and had a blaster and vibroknife on hip as well a jetpack attached to his back. I guess that lets them fly out over the mezzanine or into the swamp, Agent Sluka told himself then shrugged and kept moving. His attention was pulled back to the front, for there, standing against the railing, was a lone figure. A female, roughly the height of Sal, clad in black bounty hunter armor, also with a jetpack on her back. The woman's helmet was tucked under her left arm, exposing her shaved bald head. The woman's face, the only exposed skin on her body, had a light complexion and there was a scar on her left cheek. she appeared to be middle-aged for a human but still lean and strong. But none of that caught Agent Sluka's attention for more than an instant. A lightsaber hilt was on her belt. A Shoto hilt.

That's interesting, Agent Sluka thought.