You Can Get Anything You Want at Ziepo's Restaurant

[JediTigger]

Level 1460 on Coruscant is sometimes called The Turn, where everything goes from good to bad: the air, the people, the company, the intentions. Higher up are the common folk who can afford a decent place to stay but nothing opulent with a view; lower down are the criminals that prey on those who have fallen from grace or Imperial approval and who are just trying to make it through the day.

Ziepo's Restaurant would be a dive on the upper levels but practically posh for most of the undercity; Ziepo, a crusty but charismatic native of Coruscant, keeps his place and, more importantly, the food clean. He is best known for his kebobs and noodles, and the meat is actually something raised to be consumed rather than something being quietly disappeared. Amazing.

He is also, very discreetly, an agent for the Rebellion, so his backmost booths have played host to a handful of gatherings for those dedicated to the cause. The ambiance - darkened, with soft classical music played in the background - lends itself to discretion, and the tables are frequented by enough unaffiliated regulars that comings and goings are expected.

Ka and Devra have been instructed to appear at the restaurant for a late lunch and meeting with...someone. The invitation arrived through normal channels, but the identity of the sender was unclear. A new contact in the Rebellion? An ISB trap?

Always a risk, even at Ziepo's.

[Onkaldo]

Coming up to The Turn from Below was always disorienting, but never more so than when Onkaldo had to go to Ziepo's. Ka wrinkled kan nose as ka pushed through the doors and was hit with a wall of aggressively floral air, filtered to within an inch of its life to get the smell of death and garbage out. Ka thoroughly wiped kan hands on the rug as ka walked in, just to try to bring some character back in, but only made it halfway to the counter before a scrubber droid emerged to clean up the mess. It was probably better, on the whole, to leave less evidence behind.

With a large bowl of cold buckwheat noodles in one foot and a pair of eating sticks gripped between kan toes, Onkaldo meandered back to a darkened booth, as happy to be out of sight as ka was out of place. Ka began to noisily slurp up the noodles, eating with the kind of alacrity reserved for prisons and foxholes.

[Davra Barrik]

Davra's heels clicked with a firm, direct march as she made her way from the central office toward the lifts that connected most of upper Coruscant.

Procurement Alter - Mid Rim Contracts

Subject: RE: Tibanna Cas Supply Disruption

"Delete.."

BlastTech's main headquarters was located in the 500 Republica block, so making it all the way to Ziepo's would be a trek for anyone, and having to pass from the 500 block through Uscru to get to the Turn just seemed stupid for anyone looking to wet their appetites. Uscru had plenty of places for that. All kinds of places really.

Internal Security – Eyes Only

Subject: Unauthorized Data Access (Flagged – Tier 3)

A junior analyst in Ballistics R&D attempted to access restricted schematics related to the BX-9 platform.

We have not yet escalated to Imperial oversight.

Instruction requested: quiet reassignment or formal reporting?
— Corporate Security

"Respond: Quiet reassignment. Remove clearance and monitor movements. Report all findings to me only. A.O.P. Eyes Shut"

Uscru was also a good place to lose a tail and disappear too, even if it made Davra a little late. To get to the turn, she would have to take several lifts down. The 1300 block wasn't meant to directly connect to anything above it.

As she moved from one set of lifts to the next, Davra loosened the buttons on her pristine white overcoat, revealing a deep military grey shirt underneath. Another set of lifts, and she loosened the thin tie around her neck. Being too buttoned up in the Turn would make her more noticeable. Stepping off the lift, her fingers ran through the slicked back mop of blonde hair, tousling it off to one side of her freshly shaved scalp. She rolled the cuffs of her coat and undershirt half way up along the forearm, revealing a hint of a black tattoo of mandalorian script:

Verd ori’shya beskar’gam

A warrior is more than their armor.

Imperial Liaison Office

Subject: Follow-up: Moff Tregan’s Inquiry

Moff Tregan’s office is requesting updated delivery timelines for the “enhanced crowd-control package.”

They have emphasized discretion and expediency in equal measure.

Suggest aligning messaging before your next transmission.
— Liaison Desk

A sigh escaped, ending in a half-curled sneer at the message. She would respond to that one later. After Ziepo's. Back in her living quarters or safely on the encrypted channels of her office. Slicers could already be reading some of the messages she'd received.

In fact she was counting on it.

Pushing her way through the raff of Ziepo's, Davra collected an order of seared meats on sticks, rested on a bed of thick, gummy noodles. She put a hand up to stop the serving droid before it could bathe the whole meal in a thick, rich sauce, a simple whip of a finger. No sauce.

Couldn't risk ruining the suit.

'Now to find a table.' she thought to herself, as if she didn't already know where to go. The encrypted message had been clear enough on that. As she approached the meeting spot, however, she paused to look at the dug slurping noodles before slipping into an adjacent seat.

Casually, Davra slipped a square of fabric out from her coat, snapping it sharply to unfold it before tucking it into her unbuttoned shirt. "Ziepo's is busy today. Good business. Good noodles." she said casually, talking to the dug like ka were an old friend.

[Onkaldo]

'Now to find a table.' she thought to herself, as if she didn't already know where to go. The encrypted message had been clear enough on that. As she approached the meeting spot, however, she paused to look at the dug slurping noodles before slipping into an adjacent seat.

Casually, Davra slipped a square of fabric out from her coat, snapping it sharply to unfold it before tucking it into her unbuttoned shirt. "Ziepo's is busy today. Good business. Good noodles." she said casually, talking to the dug like ka were an old friend.

Onkaldo watched the suit approach kan table out of the corner of kan eyes, still digging into the bowl of noodles. As she sat down, ka vigorously slurped up a particularly long set of noodles, the ends whipping about and spattering dipping sauce as ka made the process as noisy as possible. It paid to be as annoying and offensive as possible, just in case this was some random interloper desperate for company and not a contact.

Ka grunted in response to her comment. "The only two good things about the place," ka grumbled. "This mincing background music makes me glad I lost some of my hearing." Onkaldo hadn't lost all that much hearing, but it was useful in many ways to pretend ka had. Ka pointed kan eating sticks at her kebab. "Feeling daring, today, are we?"