Behind the Veil

Ainax hummed appreciatively as her datapad chimed. The benefactor looked up from his desk and her inquisitively.
"News? he asked. She nodded.
"They've taken the deal Sir. I'll place the credits in escrow until we can confirm they didn't compromise the data," she said. He nodded passively.
"They won't," he said dismissively. Ainax, confused, looked over to him. He had leaned back in his chair and placed his feet on the table - an epitome of relaxation.
"You don't think so? They could try to copy it or place a tracking virus within it,"she said.
"Of I'm sure they considered it. But they're smarter than that. They have too much too lose," he said. She shrugged and moved towards the other side of the room. In the small lounge of nearby couches there were five people. The Wookie had taken up the largest couch. He had draped himself quite unceremoniously over the arm of the couch. Opposite to him sat a female figure in metal mask; her face entirely covered. She tapped her foot impatiently and stared at the Benefactor. Beside he there was a dark muscular man in tactical set of cargo pants and jacket. A patch on his shoulder said 'Chimera' and he was enjoying a generous portion of the expensive liquors arrayed on the table. A younger Chiss paced behind them - clearly on edge. The female figure looked over her shoulder at him and sighed loudly, voice modulated through the mask. Lastly, on a small comfortable chair sat a Drall. Even though the chair was vastly over-sized for him he somehow managed to pull it off.

The Benefactor swung his legs off the table and headed over to the group.
"Apologies for keeping you waiting. I had other business to attend to," he said. The soldier-like figure snorted behind his glass.
"Other business? You talking about those Kajidic Hunters or whatever they're calling themselves. They caused quite a stir on Hosnian Prime," he chuckled. The rest murmured in agreement.
"Yes. I've closed off our dealings with them now. We will have the Redbook within 24 hours and they'll get their credits. Everyone is happy," he said. The woman shook her head.
"I don't understand why you wouldn't send me or Cade to clear them out. I could have a Sorority cruiser there within the hour if you shared the coordinates," she said in a metallic and modulated voice. The soldier, Cade, grunted in agreement.
"I heard they have the Silver Wing there now. That would of been one hell of a fight. The boys would of loved that. They haven't had anything good since Mal'kira," he grunted. The Drall rolled his eyes.
"Not everything needs to be solved by violence. Maybe for you Mandalorians since it's apparently all you understand but not for everyone else," he said. Cade laughed and waggled a finger at the Drall.
"Now now Castor. You're just as guilty as I am. You sell the guns so grunts like me can use em to blow holes in things. If it wasn't for you, I'd have to just go around using these ," he said, waving his hands with a grin. The Wookie chuffed out a laugh. The Chiss was still pacing behind the couch and the Benefactor looked to him, frowning.
"Thanus, care to join the fun?" he said motioning to the empty chair in the lounge. The Chiss shook his head. He looked to Ainax and then to the Benefactor.
"So what are you going to do with it?" he asked.
"With what?"
"The Redbook. What are you going to do with it?" the Chiss asked inquisitively. The Benefactor smiled.
"Always to business with you Thanus," the Benefactor said smiling. "I'm going to give it to Karrde most likely," he finished and then listened to the eruption of questions and criticisms from the group. He waited patiently till it quieted down and studied the group. When it had all quieted down, Ainax stepped forward from behind him.
"Sir, what are you talking about. It's a key to the Core World' Smuggling net. We just paid 60,000 credits for it and you just want to give it to Karrde?" she asked flabbergasted. He nodded.
"If I can explain," he said and began to pace around the group. "The Hutts will be moving quickly to change their routes and contacts. I personally find smuggling to be a bit amateur and I lack the resources to make any quality profit off exploited it. Talon, on the other hand, has a trove of resources which he could use and I believe a favor from the King of the Smuggler's Alliance is worth much more than the map to some Hutt dead drops. More importantly, I never really needed that to begin with. The Redbook, Kinnal, Quinn, and everything else on Hosnian Prime was a distraction," he said.
"Pretty loud distraction there boss," Cade snorted.
"Quite. It served a purpose. I needed a distraction to pull the Jiramma's away from something. So I gave these Hunters a push towards the Kajidic's soft spot. Kinnal was a vulnerability and an expensive one at that. I needed Lellel's attention elsewhere and it paid off," he said. They all stared at him with equal looks of confusion on their face.
"While the eyes of the Kajidic were on Hosnian Prime I was able to get a shuttle with one passenger into Bootana Hutta and onto Kor Jiramma," he said. The female whistled in admiration.
"Which poor fool did you convince to make that run?" she asked. The Wookie growled and the Benefactor stepped forward to pat him on the shoulder. The female leaned forward.
"Wait HE did it?" she asked.
"Of course he did. He can be surreptitious when required," the Benefactor said, tousling the Wookie's hair as he leaned back and crossed his arms defiantly.
"So what did he get? Was it a hit?" Thanus asked. The Benefactor shook his head.
"No, nothing so barbaric. The Jiramma's had something in their possession. Something they didn't even know what it was. Unfortunately I tipped my hand a few years back and Lellel had it locked down. It wasn't until I got Koryyn off Kor Jiramma and hunting for Darga's killers that I could make a play for it," he said. Thanus frowned at the comment.
"Wait, according to my teams we weren't even in play until after the raid on the Demeter," he said skeptically. The Benefactor gave him a cool smile.
"Who do you think connected that Rodian to Darga in the first place?" he asked and the Chiss nodded in a polite admiration.
"So what did you get?" Castor asked.
"Right! So once I was able to confirm passage, my companion here made the trek and broke into the Palace. Through some bribes to those poor Evocaii, a few deaths, and a minor explosion on the vault I was able to get this," he said, pulling a small item from his pocket. The entire group of them leaned forward, squinting at the small item. He didn't expect many of them to know what it was but was pleasantly surprised when a wash of realization came over Thanus' face.
"Wait - that's not a-"
"Yup,"
"You actually found it?"
"Of course,"
"But the Cabal had destroyed them all,"
"They missed one,"
"But how?"
"Consider it luck," he said and pocketed the item. He walked forward and leaned over the back of the couch, eyes glistening with an eagerness.
"Listen closely and I'll tell you why this was all worth it," he began. "Tell me, have you ever heard the stories about the Cartographer network?"