Open Nar Shaddaa No rest for the wicked.

[Lyra Mantel]

The streets on Nar Shaddaa were less then forgiving, but she had learned to adapt, she had no other choice. Her entire existence thus far had been one trial after another, but she had managed to survive and would keep on surviving in the only way that she knew how – stealing and cheating. It wasn’t an honest living and the credits were never a guarantee, but it was all she had ever known, though she often dreamed that someone might come along and save her; it was a fool’s dream.

The thought forced a sigh to slip her lips as she aimlessly drew her finger around the rim of her drink. Her eyes scanned the crowded bar, scouting her target from the farthest side. Her other hand slipped beneath the counter, resting on her blaster to assure herself that it was still there. This was by far one of the stupidest things she had ventured to do.

Lyra didn’t have much experience tracking bounties, but the promised credits were too enticing to pass up. It had been days since her last full meal and she felt ravenous; there was no way in hell she was going to let nerves talk her into backing down. She tapped her foot beneath the booth, taking deep breaths to combat her racing heart.

This particular target was a dead man walking. The only foreseeable problem? She had her own bounties to run from; simultaneously the predator and the prey. It left a pit in her stomach.

 

[Exeden Croft]

"Well now, surely this ain't the kind of bar for a girl like you."

Crofty stood by the bar, giving the young woman a winning smile. He had a cigarra in one hand, the smoke curling upwards. His other rested on the bar, one of his blaster pistols just resting there. Pointed in her general direction, but not exactly aimed at her. Not an uncommon sight on Nar Shaddaa. He nodded towards the bartender.

"Gimme a glass of your hard stuff, with the good ice. And another of whatever she's having," he indicated with a grin, tossing a credit chip towards them. Whilst he waited for the drinks, he took a drag on his cigarra and looked her over again. Girl looked pretty desperate. Desperate enough to try something stupid.

"Now, I hate to make a bad first impression, but I do believe I've seen you around somewhere. Maybe on a poster, or a notice?" he indicated, nodding towards her. Yeah, he knew. He'd seen the notices. When times'd been desperate, he'd done the same. Artefacts were few and far between, but bounty work was eternal.

"See, I ain't in the business of dragging young women away from a bar, so I'm thinkin' we could arrange a proposition?" Crofty suggested as the drinks arrived. He took his and knocked some back, wincing at the harshness of the booze. "To do with that scumbag you keep makin' the eyes at."

@MatureContentWarningx

 

[Darro Tane]

Another day another crowded cantina. Darro couldn't help but muse about how often he found himself in these dens of ill repute, but what did you expect when your job was hunting down lowlifes and criminals. Hell that was why he was there now, some woman had racked up quite a reputation as a crook along the outer rim. A single bounty on the girl wasn't worth much, but she'd been busy and all the bounties on her head together would come to a decent payout.

Darro sipped his favorite drink, straight Trandoshan whiskey, and kept his eyes moving around the bar from his table in the corner. He seemed to scan the patrons but he knew exactly where his target was. A part of him felt bad, the girl looked desperate and almost sickly as he examined her. Guess she hadn't had a decent score in a minute. The hunter would take her in all the same, hell maybe a stay in a cell would set her straight for a while.

He noticed her staring daggers into another patron across the bar and a hand that rested on her blaster. She seemed to only get more tense and Darro put down his glass and subtly let his own hand fall to his blaster on his right hip. He assumed she had her own reasons for being here, but if blasters were about to be drawn he wanted to be ready. If things started to get really hairy he'd toss his helmet on as well but for the moment it rested on the table next to him. Before she could act however an older gentleman approached her. Who ever he was their body language told the Kiffar that they weren't friends. Darro relaxed and went back to drinking for the moment, nursing his drink in order to keep sharp. He wanted to see how this played out at this point.

@MatureContentWarningx @Charndley

 

[Birsk FanQeete]

This is interesting.

Birsk Fan'qeete had been gambling again. He wouldn't be here if he hadn't been. He only really ever felt the urge to drink when he lost, at anything, ever. It brought down his anxiety to an acceptable level.

Regardless of having just lost a lot of cred, Birsk was having the time of his life watching several individuals in this sleemo bar getting ready to pounce on each other. Well, at least two of them were.

The young, scrawny human woman at the bar eyed someone from across her way, fondling her blaster in the process. Inexperienced, he thought to himself. Scared, even. She was currently being accosted by some mustachio'd man. His well-tuned ears picked up that he was buying her a drink.

He shifted his attention to the other one, a Kiffar sitting a table away from Birsk, eyeing the woman at the bar. The stranger lay his hand on his own firearm right after she did. Very interesting indeed.

"You know, Kiffar, if you want to take her home tonight, you ought to buy her a drink before he does." He raised his glass with grin, downing the brandy within.

@MatureContentWarningx @Charndley @Topher Ridge

 

[Lyra Mantel]

She tensed, the smell of cigar smoke invading her senses. It burned in her throat as she held her breath, more than a little hesitant to turn and observe the man who stood too close for comfort. He was older than her, taller than her, and the harshness in his tone made her uneasy, coupled with the blaster pointed in her general direction. He instincts told her to run, but imprudence and perhaps a tad too much alcohol in a hollow stomach, kept her anchored in her seat.

Lyra released the breath she had held in, attention reverting from her target to look over the unfamiliar man. He was much older than she had anticipated he would be, but the manner in which he carried himself, reminded her not to be too absolute in her judgement. His size and stature, relative to her own, indicated that he was more than capable of dragging her if she refused to surrender to his suggestions. Perhaps she could delay the inevitable and allow herself some time to plot a clever escape.

“I don’t make habits of accepting propositions from strange men, but I’m listening.” Of course, she didn’t really have much of a choice in the matter.

Her hand dropped from the rim of her glass, drawing it in close to her chest, as if she needed to protect it. It was becoming painfully clear that bounty hunting wasn’t a talent of hers; she was nervous, inexperienced, and quite clearly too much of a target herself to hide in plain sight. It took one quick scan of her surroundings to realize that her nervous posture had drawn the attention of a few more individuals, though their intentions weren’t clear.

Sinking further into the booth, she took a long sip of her drink, her stomach growling in protest.

@Charndley @Topher Ridge @Darth Bonaparte

 

[Exeden Croft]

Crofty smirked, knocking back the rest of his drink. His other hand didn't move from his blaster. You didn't get to that age in this business without keeping some sense about you.

"Now, this particular lowdown scumbag... sorry, this gentleman that you keep starin' at like he's a piece of meat, he happens to have somethin' in his possession that I want." His voice was a little quieter, becoming vaguely aware of others around them taking note. He paused for a second, just to run his gaze around them. Focusing on the target mainly, watching him drink and laugh like a man without fear. "And I need him to tell me where he's hidden it. Probably get his card for his apartment too."

Crofty leaned back casually, like there was nothing wrong at all. Just an older, silver-fox enjoying his alcohol and his smoke. "Now, it'd be pretty easy for me to round him up by my ownsome," he lied, "but hell, why make it harder? I say we help each other out. We get him somewhere quiet, get what I need outta him and you can cart his ass to whatever idiot's payin' good credits for him. Dead, alive, burnt to a crisp, whatever. You keep the bounty." Unusually generous of him, but damn it, he did always have a soft touch when it came to desperate young women.

"How about it?"

@Topher Ridge @Darth Bonaparte @MatureContentWarningx

 

[Darro Tane]

Darro's drinking was abruptly interrupted by someone talking at him. He kept his eye on the girl and her new "friend" to see them move over to a booth. The girl was obviously even more tense now, but the older gentleman handle himself well. He'd obviously seen a few scraps in his time.

Before it became too obvious that he was eyeing the pair of humans he turned to man who'd spoken before, hmm a Bothan, not an uncommon sight in a place where secrets could be bought and sold like candy. "Oh really, an'here I thought my smolder woulda brought her running." He kept an eye on the pair but a brief chat would honestly help keep a lower profile. He motioned the bothan gentlemen over to his table and ordered the man a drink of his choice. "You either gotta hell of an eye or I'm getting sloppy if you clocked me eyeing her."

Darro leaned back in his seat and continued to sip his drink with his left hand, his right hand now obviously close to his blaster, the threat clear as day if the bothan made any sudden movements. So far the pair of humans were still chatting, impossible to hear what they were saying over the sound of the crowded cantina. "So to brass tacks, you gonna get in my way, or can I do my kriffin' job and bring her in."

@Charndley @MatureContentWarningx @Darth Bonaparte

 

[Birsk FanQeete]

Birsk wasted no time in moving to the table, his curiosity peaked. He thanked the passing waiter for the drink before downing all of it. Birsk was a Bothan who knew how to handle his alcohol, but seeing as how things were going to go down here, he wanted to put on the facade of drunken fool for tonight. For that, he needed to drink. A lot.

"We Bothans are notorious for our observation skills." I especially. "Lucky for me I caught on before I got too drunk." He grinned again, gesturing for yet another drink. He added in a drunken sway to ensure the lie would work.

As he waited for his drink, Birsk's well-tuned ears twitched for anything he could pick up from the conversation across the cantina. He caught only bits and pieces over the conversations of the other patrons. Nothing from the woman, who barely spoke and spoke silently when she did.

The male was far more boisterous than she, more so than most of the drunks around them. He caught nearly everything he said. Gentleman... no, meat. Piece of meat. Possession. Something he wants. He wants to work with her. Bounty hunters?

As his next drink came to him, Birsk didn't give it a second thought before it was in his gullet, burning his throat all the way down. "I don't make it a habit of getting in anyone's way." Except my own. He pushed the thought away before his wrendui gave him away, something he had learned to do long ago.

"On the contrary, Kiffar, I think we can help each other."

@Charndley @MatureContentWarningx @Topher Ridge

 

[Lyra Mantel]

He surely had to be deranged to think that she’d accept his offer, given her present circumstances. It was rare that she trusted anyone, let alone a strange man in a bar who had just threatened her moments before. It was too risky for her to assume that he wouldn’t take the opportunity to turn her in as well as their target. ‘Somewhere quiet’ was the last place she wanted to be, but so was this cantina and yet here she sat, face-level with his blaster.

“I’ll counter your offer.” She took another sip from her glass, letting the alcohol linger on her lips as she considered how to proceed. “You let me step out and you can have him, the card to his apartment, and whatever this item is that you’re so desperate to find. You did say it’d be rather easy for you to round him up yourself.”

Lyra shifted uncomfortably in the booth, desperate for some space so that she might make her exit. It couldn’t be too difficult to outrun the old man; years of smoking meant his lungs would probably give out before the end of the block. She contemplated the idea, but made no move to execute an escape, instead tapping her foot anxiously and impatiently beneath the booth.

Her eyes never left him, his blaster visible in her peripheral sight. He’d either allow her to continue to stall the situation, accept her offer, or shoot. She hoped for the second but didn’t hold her breath. Her entire life had been spent on the streets, trapped among want-to-be criminals who’d never allow a target to walk away.

@Darth Bonaparte @Topher Ridge @Charndley

 

[Exeden Croft]

Well.... shit. Should have seen that one coming, Crofty. He smirked, nodding. Never one to show his frustration openly, but he did push his empty glass away. Thinking about what he could do. Would be fairly simple to hand her over for the credits. One stun blast and she'd be down for the count. All frazzled nerves and cheap booze, no chance she could resist that...

But then what was the point of that? It'd scare off his real target and besides, wasn't he supposed to be avoiding being a scumbag bounty hunter. He pulled his blaster from the bar, sliding it back into the holster. "I gotta admit, you speak some sense. Ah well, worth a shot." He stood from his seat, stretching a little. Taking a puff on his cigar, he put a heavy hand on her shoulder.

"Watch out for yourself, girly. Guy back there with the green marks on his face? Been makin' eyes at you for the last ten minutes." He said it in a hushed voice, almost imperceptible over the din of the bar. With that, he took his hand away. Brushing his hands, he made his way over to the Kiffar he'd mentioned to the girl, and the Bothan he seemed to be in conversation with.

"GENTLEMAN!" he roared affably, chuckling as he moved himself in the way of their bar view. "Gentleman, you look like you're in DIRE need of some of Nar Shaddaa's cheapest, hardest booze. Might have a proposition for one of you. Or both."

@MatureContentWarningx @Topher Ridge @Darth Bonaparte

 

[Darro Tane]

"Oh yeah and how can you help me runt." He put down his drink now and took a greater measure of Bothan. He was going grey, and held himself with a measure of confidence that said he was used to dealing with discussions of much higher stakes than this. It also told the seasoned hunter that the man was much more of a talker than a fighter, unlike the human gentleman that had his target preoccupied.

"Ways I see it, unless you can help me in the scrap that's comin', I'd suggest you just sit back and enjoy the sho...." He was suddenly interrupted by the older man who was practically shouting at him and the Bothan. He suppressed a groan of frustration at this point, as he'd about run out of patience. He did his best to look past the man and keep an eye on the girl if she tried to make a break for it.

"Look ol'timer, don't think you've got much time left regardless, don't throw it away by getting in my kriffin way." He was about done with his whole sitution, he wasn't about to let this bounty slip by him thanks to a couple men passed their prime.

@Charndley @MatureContentWarningx @Darth Bonaparte

 

[Birsk FanQeete]

Birsk laughed at the sheer arrogance the Kiffar displayed in responding to him. You would not speak to me in this way had you been on Bothawui all those years ago. Though he looked back on his role in those events with revulsion, that thought always seemed to pop up when he was being talked down to.

As the mustachio'd gentleman made his way toward the two of them, Birsk smiled. He hoped to speak fast enough and low enough to get his point across before the man arrived. "Both of them have value if you pay attention. More than just them." Birsk flicked a finger, as if he was flicking a bug, toward the woman's quarry across the way, then nodded at Mr. Mustache. His fur shot up only momentarily, as if to say 'stay wary.'

Though the Kiffar did not seem like a man of subtlety, Birsk hoped that the situation would provide the context for his movements.

The Bothan, once again looking drunk and full of himself, threw his hands in the air in greeting. "Ah! Another friend! Come on, Kiffar, have some fun for once! I mean, we're only here for so long, all things considered--" He cut himself off, a look of surprise on his fur-covered face as he turned away from the man. He winked at the Kiffar, hoping that it went unnoticed by Mustache Man. "Damn, I've... said too much..." He swayed to one side, then hiccuped.

Kriff, I'm good.

@Charndley @Topher Ridge @MatureContentWarningx

 

[Lyra Mantel]

Every muscle in her body tensed in response to his touch, but she didn’t pull away for fear that it would upset him. It had been her experienced in the past that men did not often take kindly to that kind of rejection, but the gesture made her uncomfortable regardless of his intentions. Though, perhaps he wasn’t as awful as she had assumed him to be, given that he hadn’t pressed his proposition further upon her dismissal and had even warned her of another potential threat.

Her attention snapped to the man in the far corner, dark green markings on his face; it was hard to miss him. He was accompanied by a bothan male and now the older man who had warned her about him. Lyra couldn’t quite figure out why, but it appeared he had created a distraction for her – it would have been the perfect opportunity for her to try and slip away unnoticed, except the Kiffar hadn’t allowed her out of his sight.

Reluctant to make her escape, she took the drink that the older man had bought for her and pulled it closer. If she was going to attempt to outrun any of them on an empty stomach, she would need all the courage that she could find; this included liquid courage, though she was already feeling its effects.

Lyra pushed the empty glasses to the center of the table, sliding slowly out of the booth and making her way towards the exit. If her luck hadn’t run out completely, she’d be able to escape the cantina unnoticed, or else she’d need to be prepared to run as there was no way her drunken aim would keep him at bay.

@Charndley @Topher Ridge @Darth Bonaparte

 

[Exeden Croft]

Why do you always gotta get yourself into these messes, Crofty? He could just easily walk out of the cantina and get on with his life. But there was a target in there and he wanted that statuette from his apartment. Thieving asshole, making it harder for him to steal stuff. And... well, in his ragged and booze-ravaged body, he knew he'd prefer to let the girl go than let this guy pull her in.

Fortunately, his companion just seemed to be your common booze-hound. He hiccuped something about not being there for long, which Crofty could only laugh with and agree. Oh, you don't know the half of it, friend.

"Whoa, whoa, now I ain't here to make enemies, friend!" he said, amplifying his voice again. "My man here, he knows exactly how to have a good time! And hell, we're all on Nar Shaddaa, it ain't like any of us are likely to be livin' too long." Hands raised in a display of supposed friendliness. Reaching for his blaster was a risky move anyway. The Kiffar might have a real up-himself attitude about the whole situation but it was clear he had some damn skills. And whist Crofty had a healthy belief in his own skills, he wouldn't wanna fight him straight up. Nah, you're more of a 'vibroblade in the back while you're looking the other way' man.

"How about we make this up with a whole bottle of somethin' fine... or at least, the crap they got behind the bar that ain't all that poisonous!" he yelled happily, laughing loudly as he could. Hoping for a laugh from the rest of the patrons, something to distract. Stepping back, waving his hands towards the bar with large, exaggerated movements. Playing at being a little drunk himself. "Now my man, I can tell that you're a whisky man if I ever did meet one and they sell some reaaaaal awful stuff here, but you wanna try some Starsquatter's Special!" he said, poking his cigar towards the bounty hunter's face as he moved in his vision as much as possible. "See, our Bothan guy here, he knows what I'm talkin' about here!"

Just try and push past me, bounty hunter.

@Topher Ridge @Darth Bonaparte @MatureContentWarningx

 

[Darro Tane]

Wasn't here to make enemies huh..well the older gentleman was failing fantastically at it so far. He let his gaze drift up to the old timer, clear annoyance tinged with a bit of frustration could be seen in the Kiffar's eyes. He had no idea why, but the man was clearly trying to cover for the girl and he'd be damned if he let her get away.

"Look 'friend' move aside or I'mma have to get nasty understand!" he didn't stand yet but let the threat hang for a moment, at least until he got a glance past the man and saw his target moving toward the frakkin door. He gritted his teeth, he needed to think fast. If the girl managed to make it to the streets she could easily disappear in the crowd and it could be days before she resurfaced. He noticed that the table in the path to the front of the bar had a pair nasty looking Aqualish setting at it. Oh he had a plan now.

Darro looked back to older man and let a completely false smile crease his face and he stood and grabbed the glass he'd been drinking from. "Ya know on second thought old timer, maybe I should just relax. Though don't bad mouth this Trandsoshan stuff till ya try it. Have a sip." As he finished he threw the glass past the man, it sailed across the crowded bar and smashed into the back of the Aqualish sitting closest to them. Predictably their races quick temper struck and the alien stood blocking the path of the girl. The steaming mad alien turned and shouted, "Who the karking hell threw that!." Darro's finger was already pointing to the older man and gave a shrug while raising his hands. The alien lifted his chair now, "You're dead old man!" and with that tossed it in the direction of the meddling old timer.

@Charndley @MatureContentWarningx @Darth Bonaparte