Ask [Toydaria] Walk on my Avenue

[Romeo Solus]

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Come take a walk on my avenue, I'll show you the world.

An interesting proverb, but in a changing galaxy, one with a fitting message. Romeo rocketed with aid of his jetpack to the top of a nearby building, his dual wield pistols drawn and held steadily in each of his hands. Nightfall afforded him significant concealment and the scatterweave coating of his ebony beskar'gam made the Mandalorian even that much more difficult to spot. He had swapped out the whistling birds function for vision modes on this evening. Peering over the ledge of the rooftop, eyes scanned the ground and city underneath for any traces of the targets he was hunting. Zaa Fenn family members afforded a hefty bounty, and considering there were so many of them, it would be an easy way to accumulate some much needed credits. Rebellions and wars were expensive, and the Guantlet army needed all the help they could get if they were to successfully overthrow the Mand'alor.

Alas, those were problems for another day. Stay focused to the mission at hand, a small voice echoed in the back of Romeo's mind. As he looked on the street below him, nestled on the corner was an establishment of interest. Its sign could not be understood, though the LED lightning was hard to miss along with the slew of patrons that whistled in and out of there. The bar saloon was sure popular, and Romeo thought that perhaps that would be the best place to gather some leads. As he pondered making a civilized entrance, he noticed three armed individuals entering into the saloon. Their weaponry and armor were certainly from off world.

Bounty Hunters?

Perhaps others had come to steal his quarry. A slight smirk came to his lips, albeit hidden by the helmet. "This might be fun.." Romeo whispered to himself. Leaping off the ledge, the jetpack roared as he swooped down towards the backside of the building. Locating the power generator pump outside, he aimed his pistol and fired. A splash of yellow bolts and circuitry flashed for several moments before the system suddenly shut down, plunging the entire bar into darkness. Smashing his armored, right shoulder into the door, Romeo forced his way inside through the back entrance. Cycling through the vision modes, he settled on thermal as fingers gripped tightly around the magnetic handles of his blasters.

Little did he know, there was a resourceful twi'lek inside that would alter the course of his night...

@Kestrel

 

[Pidge Batana]

Pidge set her glass down gently, steady hands aligning it with the circle of condensation perfectly. Restless, she picked it back up and swirled it. The twi’lek was deep in thought. Her father was nearing retirement age and was still in debt. She had been at the beckon and call of the syndicates for years, and had just bought an apartment of her own in the last dozen standard rotations. Not bad, but something was missing. There was more just out of reach.She had shown up to the bar on the off-chance she might run into Vako, one of her partners in crime. Perhaps his experience serving several syndicates could be a source of advice. Unfortunately, after three drinks, he did not appear to want to be found that evening.

She should probably head out— not that she couldn’t drink more. Despite her relatively slight build, Pidge had built up an impressive tolerance. That and her acting skills helped bring in a few more credits. It was rare a stranger wouldn’t help an ‘inebriated‘ young woman after a few drinks and ever rarer that the stranger’s pockets were empty. Really, it was all a bit of good fun, at least for her. If the individual seemed to be struggling, she would ‘pay’ them back for their kind treatment. They got their money back and she seemed generous rather than like a thief. Despite being a criminal, Pidge occasionally felt the need to justify herself, mostly with those worse off than her.

Tipping the bartender, the twi’lek stood and headed towards the door, nearly tripping over a rogue droid about knee-height. “Sorry, bud” she murmured under her breath, then louder, “Is this anyone‘s droid? I’d suggest you put it on a leash” A heavily muscled trandoshan rose from a booth halfway across the room, her eyes extremely dilated.

“Did you touch my droid, girl? You’d better learn to not let your sticky little fingers smudge other people’s property. Come ‘ere.”

If the woman’s imposing stance was any sign, she wouldn’t be leaving any time soon.

@Faded

 

[Romeo Solus]

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The Trandoshan reached out for Pidge, but just as he did so, the lights in the bar immediately shut off. Everyone was plunged into utter darkness, yells and roars began as several of the drunkard patrons were outraged at this sudden void. "What the kriff?!" said the Trandoshan as he suddenly couldn't see were the Twi'lek was anymore, and instead of grabbing her, he stumbled on his own droid and went crashing to the ground with an unwelcoming thud.

Unfortunately though, the two bounty hunters that had arrived earlier were a little more prepared for this chain of events. It appeared that the Zaa Fenn bounty was sought after by several independent groups, as one leveled his blaster towards Pidge and fired. This occurring as several patrons rushed for the door, stumbling over each other and causing a somewhat panic in the cantina. Romeo stood on the other side of the lobby, entering through the backway as he pressed his shoulder against a wall to take partial cover. As the Bounty hunters tried to re-aim on Pidge, they would be met with opposing flash of the Mandalorian's blaster.

Cross-Fire scenarios were always exciting..

@Kestrel

 

[Pidge Batana]

Pidge ducked in anticipation for the incoming blow, preemptively wincing. No heavy hand came, however, just a sudden darkness. The whole room was thrown into utter chaos as drinks were spilled, toes stepped on, and date-nights temporarily suspended. To add to the mayhem, shots were fired, though whether on purpose or on accident was unclear, as they were wide of any discernible mark. Then again, aiming in a nearly pitch-black cantina would not yield the most accurate results.

The twi’lek dropped to the floor, landing on something squishy and scaly which swore at her profusely. Before the trandoshan could grab her, she slid out of the closing grasp and right into the droid. Understandably miffed, the droid whined loudly and blinked what Pidge could only assume were unhappy-coded lights. The moment of brief visibility allowed her to slide behind the bar, but not without illuminating her last position.

More bolts shot from somewhere, now nearer to her. Who the kriff had brought blasters to a bar fight? Then it occurred to her. Zaa Fenn had fallen out of popularity. Perhaps local gangs had decided to exact their revenge. Or worse. But surely she was not important enough for that. It had to be coincidence.

Now shots rang out from the other direction. Red light temporarily glinted off a Mandalorian helmet. That was strange… normally their kind were not seen around the area, as far as she knew. As for the others, none of them looked local either. Edging back, she moved closer to the Mandalorian to attempt to sneak out the back door.

@Faded

 

[Romeo Solus]

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Romeo kept his attention on the twi'lek crawling on the ground, taking a step forward himself and extending the blaster out further into the dark room as attention deviated from her and onto him. To Pidge, it would seem as if the Mandalorian was some type of hero at this point, saving the damsel in distress. The Trandoshan slowly rose again, only to be squarely hit in his chest by the Westar pistol, Romeo continuing to cover with more shots forcing the two Bounty Hunters to reel backwards.

Through the corner of his eyes, the back door swung open as Pidge was able to find her escape; the outside of the tavern surprisingly hadn't quite broken into chaos and disorder given the happenings inside. Perhaps those gathered on the streets didn't care enough to intervene or call local authorities due to some blaster fire. After all, it wasn't that odd to see this in Toydaria was it?

Romeo moved forwards, armored hand plucked down to grab a hold of the Trandoshan as he hoisted the unconscious male over his shoulder and lept into the air. Combat mode of his jetpack initiated the thrusters, as he rocketed through the door to the outside as well. Coming upon the Twi'lek, Romeo laid the Trandoshan onto the ground before shifting his glance at her.

"You okay?" He asked.

@Kestrel

 

[Pidge Batana]

As soon as the door closed, Pidge inhaled deeply. The scent of rancid garbage stung her nostrils, drifting from an overflowing dumpster. The twi’lek could not have care less. She could see and was no longer in imminent danger of death, and that was what mattered. It was not the first chaotic-situation-with-threat-of-intense-bodily-harm she had been in, but nevertheless, Pidge was shaken. Typically she was the one shutting off the lights and ambushing, not the other way around. Her blaster remained tucked snugly in the back of her pants, a cold metal reminder that safe outings and relaxing nights were no longer guarantees. She had not stayed to fight for several reasons, the most important one being that she was not a particularly good shot, especially not when adrenaline made her hands shake. Her brains and her agility could do very little when surprise weapons were involved.

Oddly enough, no sirens blared and no crowds clamored. It seemed Toydaria had neither the resources nor the will to control its more rowdy populace. That was both a blessing and a curse, as there was no one to prevent her from being killed, but also no one to lock her up and be nosy.

As if responding to her internal musings, the Mandalorian from the gunfight earlier blasted through the door. Slung over his shoulder was the trandoshan who had begun the whole ordeal, not moving. Pidge backed up, eyes darting towards the nearest exit. He had saved her inside, but being cornered by an imposing figure in a dark alley was a different story. Her hand crept back towards her blaster.

The man put down the body he had been holding, and given that he had not shot her yet, it seemed to be more or a laurel branch than a threat. Much to Pidge’s relief, the chest of her previous adversary rose and fell steadily. His next words caught her off guard so much she nearly laughed. She was fine, other than the fact that he had scared her half to death after saving her skin.
“Yeah, all good.” The twi’lek smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. ”Thanks for um… sorry, should I buy you a drink?”

@Faded