Ask Plot Hiya Kids!

[Kai]

THEME
dice​

A single ear was covered by a headphone while Kai listened to music. The 3rd Lane Gnashers, that's the name of the teenage gang that resided not too far from the chop shop. They were mostly just a bunch of local kids that stuck together for safety. Kai had seen their markings around the neighborhoods. There was a chance that when Kai and his people moved in on the territory the youths would talk about it.

Kai did not want the bad kind of attention. The bad kind of attention meant a squad of the Five Syndicates elite bruisers coming in and turning the place to rubble. Instead, the Grysk had figured that the impressionable members of the young gang could be convinced to join Kai's own gang.

The covert legionnaire was wearing his usual black hoodie and was strapped. But he was not expecting too much of a problem. For now he skimmed along slowly atop his hoverboard. Occasionally he would do a simple flip or ride. Coming to a stop outside of a corner store he kicked the board up and into his hand. His contact, the mercenary Kaarz, was going to meet him though Kai was unsure if the man was the right one for dealing with kids. Wait, I'm not sure if I'M good with kids! He shrugged and would stand to wait. His hand pulled out a cigara and began to smoke it to pass the time.

@Reddsentinel

 

[Kaarz Pollux]

Humming lightly Kaarz made his way through the slowly thinning crowds into gang territory. The markings and vandalism were enough for the Merc to know he was getting close, the fewer and fewer people he saw down here was another obvious pointer. His black plastoid armor made little noise as he adjusted the E-11 slung around his shoulder, the strap had started to dig into the under layer of his armor, and it was a mercenary's job to stop the one main footfall in combat: discomfort.

Rounding a corner he saw the bright neon lights of a downtown corner store, coming face to face with a cigara toting, black hoodie clad man. Face to face was generous as the man was still a few feet away, but Kaarz was never one to underestimate the true meaning of "close-range". Clearing his throat to get the humanoids attention Kaarz called out to him in a monotone.

"Hell of a walk you sent me on boss. Don't suppose today's a red letter one?"

Kaarz stopped a few steps away from the man and unslung the E-11. If he was to play hired muscle, he may as well look the part.

@Darasuum​

 

[Kai]

Kaarz was clearly a hired gun. He looked like a bruiser, maybe a gun thug of some kind but he openly was strapped with a blaster rifle. It would not get him stopped, not on the Smuggler's Moon. But Kai wondered if Kaarz thought he was going into a firefight wherever he went.

Kai would wait to first finish his toke but managed to cock an eyebrow at the mercenary's words. "What? Is that like...slang for 'is today a holiday'?" The Grysk had never heard of it before. His eyes dropped to the E-11. He was not about to tell him to stow it but he gave it a very noticable look. "You're not planning on shooting kids are you?" A hint of curiosity in his tone rather than pure judgement. Kaarz was still a new associate and Kai did not know him very well. He might be stuck in the mindset of a soldier.

The Legionnaire's mind looked down the street towards where the 3rd Lane Gnashers were. At the current distance they were not detailed. One was tossing a ball against a wall and catching it. The others were smoking cheap cigaras and talking among one another. But Kai reached out to get a feel for how they were feeling. It was hard when he was out in public where things were distracting, especially in a place like the lower levels of Nar Shaddaa. But the hover boarding gangster could tell that they were wary, scared, but also vigilant. They felt similar to how Kai imagined a wild animal might feel. He could not openly tell Kaarz that he felt that. Instead he would give an extra bit of advice. "These kids might try to dip and give us the slip if they think we're trouble. They might be packing, but I doubt it." He did not want his human counterpart to blast some civilians if they ended up pulling a can of spray paint.

Without anything else, he dropped his board and resumed floating a few centimeters above ground. Both of the Grysk's skeletal hands were stuffed into his pockets casually. His cigara hung from his mouth, leaving a faint aerial trail as he moved down the block towards the delinquent group.

@Reddsentinel
barely success

 

[Kaarz Pollux]

"I don't shoot kids..."

Kaarz's tone was as monotone as ever as he let his arms fall to a rest position, his E-11 still held firmly by black-gauntleted hands. He fell in line behind his employer as the latter began ambling towards them on a hoverboard, an air of eccentricity around him as the trail of cigara smoke bade Kaarz follow.

"..of course, if the kids an ass or the credits are good, I might change my mind. Depends on you boss."

Kai could not see it but the ghost of a smile crossed Kaarz's lips as he followed him. Heading into potential danger always sent Kaarz's normally icy blood afire, a shockwave of life on normally boring days. His icy blue eyes constantly shifted about the Nar Shaddaa slum, a nest for the worst of the Outer Rim for some, a potentially target rich environment for Kaarz.

It's not that Kaarz enjoyed killing others, he was merely excited by the prospect of thinning the ranks of the enemy if they tried anything funny. The two were obviously disconnected as far as Kaarz was concerned. His thin smile faded slowly as the pair slowly made their way to the group of delinquents, it was time for business.

"If they run what I do is up to you boss, and if they're packing...Well, you might be down a few potential recruits if they try and run you through boss."

@Darasuum​

 

[Kai]

"Yeah...Well you look like you would shoot a kid...for like half a credit." He said in a matter-of-fact tone. If Kaarz did not realize how he looked he was probably going to need to get used to people assuming he was violence prone. The Grysk knew himself well enough. His face was a skull after all. But there were plenty of strange beings in the galaxy. Death Trooper armor on the other hand had a very specific reputation to it.

"I do like wolves. Not much room for sheep where I'm concerned." He replied to the armored man. The Grysk had carried out his own fair share of violent acts in his relatively young life. The streets of Nar Shaddaa were harsh and so were the people that walked them. Even the kids.

The youths saw them coming. It was hard for anyone to miss a black armor clad figure with a weapon drawn and another macabre looking punk. They stiffened and turned all eyes on them. A few people from up and down the street made street wise glances towards them but not particularly staring.

When Kai spoke he talked in Hutteses. He wondered if Kaarz could follow. "You just loiter all day or do you kids actually do anything around here?" Kai was confident, as usual, but one of the teenagers did not seem to take it very well. <"What do you two want?"> The young man had not answered the Grysk's question or seem very happy with his group of friends being approached by two odd strangers. They were suspicious. That's not necessarily a bad trait. It just makes things harder I guess.

@Reddsentinel
barely success

 

[Arden Kryze]

Arden was fashionably late for the party. He was hired to help recruit a bunch of kids and in the process he got stuck arguing with a bunch of Jawa's looking to buy his ship for a laughably pathetic price. At times it was very hard to not hate the little skugs. It was safe to say that he was probably well up in the list of people very ill-suited for this type of job. He was good at killing things and blowing them up. Not talking to children. Luckily he could be pretty persuasive if he needed to be, so hopefully it would be one of those days.

He walked along the path towards where he was supposed to meet. But nobody was there. Instead he saw his employer ahead, by the group of kids they were supposed to be meeting. With a sigh he powered up his jetpack and came cruising down to land a few meters behind Kai with a slight cloud of dust and papers kicking up around him. "Sorry I'm late. Go' held up with some other nonsense." he spoke casually as he approached. He looked the kids over, raising an eyebrow behind his T-visor. "This it?" he asked Kai, glancing at him before looking at the group of kids again. The one doing the talking was drawing the most attention, but he made sure to keep an eye on the others as well.

"Hiya kids!" he greeted with a chipper tone as he looked at them. Luckily his arrival didn't seem to put them on edge any further or scare them off. They remained stalwart against the strangers, but he could see the look in their eyes. They were definitely curious.

He stayed quiet for now, wanting to hear what they had to say first before trying to intervene or give any input.

@Darasuum

Spoiler: dice

Roll to see how well the kids react to Arden's arrival. (Success)

 

[Kai]

The sound of the jetpack coming in caused Kai to turn his head and see the latest arrival of his own group. He looked back at the kids only to see they did not seem bothered by the armored man's arrival.

"Sorry. You guys like stories?" The leader of the group looked at him with an unimpressed expression. "Bear with me okay." They seemed to be willing to hear him out at least.

"I knew this guy, an adventurer. He goes to some backwater planet called Fendor or something. Anyways. He gets there and he's mixing with these locals. They're basically walking plush toys from what I've heard. But they are karkin tenacious. Never met one." He shrugged and looked back at the T visor of Arden.

"Anyways this guy he is doing something dumb most likely cuz he gets bit, like ACTUALLY bit by one of these small cutsy looking suckers. So he picks it up and goes 'This karkin scum sucker bit me!' and his buddy who watched the whole thing says 'well for starters put it down.' so the guy just shrugs like he's confused. So he raises the little adorable murder machine up to eye level and says...'you'll never amount to anything and you're adopted'" A moment or two passed where Malakai was sure he had ticked off the teenagers but instead they all burst out laughing. That made him smile more than any sense of smug confidence. Making people laugh was one of the small pleasures he enjoyed from time to time.

@KinkyPrawn
Rousing Success

 

[Arden Kryze]

Arden listened to the story, a rather perplexed face hidden behind a T-visor that was still being conveyed through the angle of his head. What was the Grysk getting at?

He listened closely, still keeping an eye on the children. When it came to the punchline of the story, he simply gave a scoff and a light shake of his head. It really wasn't that good a story in his eyes, but the effects were exactly what they needed. The children laughed heartily and in the process the thick tension was released. They were a lot more reasonable and susceptible to suggestion now that they weren't being hard-headed little karking drips.

"Now, I'm sure you can see the relation in tha' story." he started, taking a step closer to the group. His posture was calm and relaxed. No indication of any hostility and seemingly even inviting. Though naturally the comment wasn't all that good to start with, and the kids didn't seem to appreciate the reminder of their reality. But he didn't stop to even give them a chance to think about what he said. "You're strugglin', constantly lookin' over your shoulder to make sure you lo' don't ge' taken out by some thugs or somethin'. Home isn't where the heart is an' the only people that seem to care about you is your friend next to you." he spoke calmly and confidently, as if only keeping the conversation between himself and them. He could see them processing what he said, agreeing with every word. It was almost as if he was speaking out of experience.

"Here's our proposition. We're workin' on starting up a little business here on Nar Shaddaa. Our problem is we won't be able to have eyes an' ears everywhere. We don't know the best spots for stuff, the activity from other gangs, important things like that. You do. We're offerin' you a position in the business to help us ou' with these tricky details. In return, you ge' a place to stay. You ge' a reliable source of income an' most importantly, you ge' safety." he explained to them, carefully working on winning them over. "He's been around the block a couple of times, and I'm sure you've heard of Mandalorians an' how dangerous they can be. You ever ge' into trouble with people, we'll have your back." he finally finished, gesturing to himself and Kai.

"How does tha' sound for you lot?" he asked them with a confident look behind his T-visor. He definitely had an effect on them, because they glanced at each other and retreated into a circle to discuss the offer laid before them.

Arden glanced at Kai then back to the group, patiently waiting to see what their decision would be. From the sound of it, they were strongly considering taking up the offer.

@Darasuum

Spoiler: dice

Roll to piggyback on the released tension and try to recruit the kids (success)

 

[Kai]

The Mandalorian piggy backed with his overt confidence. It did not bother Malakai but he looked back at the kids to see how they felt. Some people get triggered when people that believe in themselves make it obvious. But it seemed they listened and for the most part liked what the man had to say.

The leader of the group made certain that everyone was behind him in support before answering. When he did he was looking at Kai. <"That sounds pretty fair."> He spoke in huttese, emphasizing the agreement in the native tongue. He extended a hand forward which was met by the Grysk.

<"Let any of your friends know...."> He looked at the other youths. <"...we'll get you all setup in the next day or so. No problems with any other peeps?"> The Grysk was asking because any debts or scuffles with rival gangs would become his problem too. He needed to make sure that nothing unexpected and avoidable happened if it could be helped. But the teens shook their head and switched back to basic. "Nah, nothin like that. We keep on the DL" His own confident smile showing the pride they took in also being overlooked by much of the galaxy. They had turned it into their strength and that was how they had survived. Malakai could respect that. "Anything to add, Mando?"

@KinkyPrawn
Rousing Success

 

[Arden Kryze]

Arden's eyes followed the interaction. The kids agreed and the deal was struck. He did raise an eyebrow, though, when Kai went on to invite just about anyone else the kids wanted to drag along. But he kept his opinion to himself. No need for the others to hear what he had to say.

"...If you need anythin' or ge' into some trouble, feel free to give uncle Mando a call." he added when Kai gave him the opening. "See you around." he said as he stepped back with a small salute. Turning on his heel, he started walking back the way he came, but at a slow enough pace for Kai to catch up. As soon as they were out of earshot, he'd speak his mind. "Ya know this is a gang you're startin' right? No' a soup kitchen." he spoke as he walked, his tone vastly different than before. "If you're no' careful, you migh' just invite the wrong person in."

It was safe to say that Arden's mind worked a lot differently about things like this. His way of looking at this differed quite a bit compared to Kai. But at the end of the day, he was simply a hired gun. Whatever his employer decided to do, he would follow as long as he got his money...

 

[Kai]

"Starting?" He said and turned his head to look at the armored man. "Take a look Mr Tee Visor. They're already a gang. Least this way they've got better quality of life and more security than they had before. Don't tell me you're a big softy under all that armor." He added the last bit with a tone of friendly teasing.

"I asked them about other people cuz if you think those kids there are all of them you're wrong. They have their own hide out and it's my way of saying they don't have to worry about the rest of their...group...If I were a leader of a gang I wouldn't have all my peeps be known." He raised a hand and put two fingers together to pantomime shooting himself in the temple. "That way you can alway get 'em from their blind spot." A ghoulish grin followed as they left the area. Malakai more or less owned two bars at the moment so he worked on a way of asking the Mandalorian if he drank through a straw.

End thread​