RPG THREAD: Fortune's Fools Cantina (open to all characters)

((OOC: This thread is to get things started for the RPG. All character are allowed to post here regardless of which gang they are currently affiliated with. Civilians are allowed to come too.))

Scourge. Grit turned the name over in his head as he walked in the front door of the cantina.
Your contact will meet your here. Grit was suspicious. He hated being on the defensive, and waiting to be found was just that. He surveyed the cantina with a practiced recon eye.
Maybe he could find someone from Scourge. After all, he was told the person looking for him was the one he spoke with. He had a good ear for voices, General Valrien had always said.
Maybe he could pick up the same voice here, and turn the tables. As he moved through the crowd, he head it. The voice. His instincts told him to move toward a boisterous Negai male a few rows off.
That's him! That's him! His better judgment fairly roared.

Grit walked up to the negai, and tapped him. "Excuse me sir. Name's Grit. I apologize if I'm mistaken, but you sound familiar. Are you here to contact someone?"

ooc//tag- Catika.

Fully clad in his mandalorian armour Solus Tor walked into the cantina, sometimes the best place to remain hidden was to put yourself in plain sight. He quickly took in his surroundings looking for any familiar faces or unusual behaviour. Don't stress so much... he told himself, enough time had passed since that sour op and things would have cooled down by now...or so he hoped.

Sighing to himself he walked straight to the barkeep took a seat and ordered a round of corellian ale.

[Isazu Goroma]

It was Isazu's only day off for the month! He had planned what he would do for the past three weeks. Option one included a day trip to a place that had a beach, drinking too many hard iced teas, then watching evening sitcoms in his flat. Option two comprised of a massage and gorging on food at a nice restaurant. What he ended up doing was drinking himself silly the previous night, sleeping until the late afternoon, then dragging himself to the cantina he went to every other day: the Fortune's Fools. Isazu was miserable until he ordered his favorite sandwich and several glasses of water, and by the early evening he was feeling a little more like himself. A nice Zeltron girl had decided to join him at his booth table, and he was conversing rather animatedly with her when a man approached the table.

"Excuse me sir. Name's Grit. I apologize if I'm mistaken, but you sound familiar. Are you here to contact someone?"

Isazu's face seemed to wilt as he realized that he was supposed to meet someone and he didn't know about it. That's what he got for keeping his comlink turned off the entire day. "Grit!" he said with a nervous laugh. "Wonderful to meet you. Yes. I'm Isazu. We spoke before." Isazu reached into his pocket and got out his com, discovering five messages and seven missed calls from Contardi. She was going to kill him tomorrow.

"Please, please. Have a seat." Isazu scooted closer to the Zeltron girl to give Grit some room. He leaned over and whispered to the Zeltron that he would get back to her later, and she left the table slightly miffed. Isazu composed himself and flashed a smile at Grit.

"First of all, thank you for your interest in joining Scourge. We are pleased to hire you as a valued asset for our team of highly-trained professionals." Isazu nodded at Grit, then lowered his voice. "Now, I simply need your signature on a couple of simple documents, then I may disclose the location of our headquarters."

Isazu took out his datapad and loaded up the documents, then handed it to Grit with a stylus. "All of our members have signed this. It's just to assure that we cannot sue each other for ridiculous things, and you will find that it outlines the payment options that we already discussed. Take a look, then simply sign at the bottom."

[Saki]

“Contardi, this is Saki. We’re done here,” Saki listned to Contardi’s reply as she crouched down by the Weequay’s body to make sure the man was dead. Weequays were like roaches sometimes. After confirming he was dead, she checked his pockets for any valuables. She pulled something out, but tossed it aside after seeing no value in it for herself.

“Yes, Kou and I found both of them… we got the money and the spice back,” she talked back to Contardi on her comm. She stood up and walked away from the body and over to Kou as she silently listened Contardi. After awhile she hung up and looked at Kou.

“Contardi says to leave their bodies here as a message. Now, let’s get out of here,” Saki told Kou as she went with him to his speeder. He talked to her and made comments about the job and she half listened to him as she got in the passenger seat. Kou said something about the cantina and Saki remembered her rotary cannon in the back of the speeder. She didn’t think it was necessary to take on the job, but she liked having the option of it. Every once in awhile Saki would say a word or two to prove that she was listening to Kou. They got to the cantina and Saki got out of the speeder. Kou wanted to celebrate their success. After all, it wasn’t every day when you were able to successfully hunt down the ones who had busted a drug deal in time to get the money and the drugs back. Despite not being much into celebrating, Saki decided a drink or two would be fine.

Saki walked into the Cantina and searched the bar for empty seats. Her eyes stopped on a familiar suit of armor. As much as she wanted to be mistaken, she was sure that the man in the armor was Solus Tor. For a split second she felt like calling it a night and going home. She stayed where she was though. To her, she had done nothing to wrong Solus. Saki had just done what Contardi told her to do. Still… maybe there was someplace other than the counter to sit.

“How bout a booth?” she asked Kou.

[Jiro Kou]

"Damn it," Kou swore as he finally let his blaster-wielding arm relax. The smell of charred flesh reached his nose and the adrenaline began to taper. Saki went to check one of the two Weequays they had just shot down, and Kou went to the other. He tapped the guy with his finger and heard Saki call Contardi. In the Weequay's pocket were his datapad and some credits, then something hit the floor beside Kou that Saki had just tossed from the other corpse. Kou looked at the device and tilted his head. "Ooo, a little media player," he said aloud. He pocketed the device and what he took off the corpse, then he looked to Saki to assure that they were ready to leave.

"Leaving bodies as a message just seems so barbaric," Kou remarked as they went back to his speeder. "We're professionals. Not thugs. Why don't we just mail their heads to the boss while we're at it? Then we can chant in tongues around an open fire whilst dancing in loincloths." Kou liked talking out loud even if Saki didn't listen, which he was 80% sure was true.

Making sure the goods got placed safely in the back of his speeder, Kou drove with extra precaution, having never gotten over the jitters that came with driving with contraband. "You know," he said with a sidelong glance at Saki, "we're brilliant. Not only did we track down the jackholes that ganked our stuff, but we won a firefight and got everything back. I'd call it a pretty good day. So," Kou slowed the speeder to wait in a line of traffic at an intersection, "what do you say we get some drinks and celebrate?"

Kou was surprised Saki agreed. She seemed to tolerate his presence, though she was not adverse to it. For being so laid back, Saki was a hard code to crack. It was in his job description to decode everything to get what he wanted, and one day he would figure out what made her tick.

After parking the speeder and securing it, Kou walked with Saki into the Fortune's Fools. He was about to head straight for the bar when she suggested a booth. Didn't make a difference to him. "Fine," he said with a slow shrug. He could see Isazu talking to a dark-haired man with that air of self-importance that the Negai was so good at relaying. Kou picked a booth far enough away that Isazu wouldn't come over and bother them.

"I'll pay," he offered to his partner in crime. Then he motioned toward the man at Isazu's table. "What do you think? Fresh meat?"

Sipping his drink with a straw through his helmet Solus had the odd feeling that someone had been watching him. He had no illusions about his presence being hidden behind mandalorian armour but he did not concern himself with that afterall most aruetiise(outsiders) were often unnerved by the sight of such armour.

It could have been anyone, he told himself...sure members of the scourge gang came here but so did or at least from what he heard members from Red Flare.

"Maybe I should look into getting a job from them" he whispered to himself, at least that would provide some form of security and a chance for vengeance... "Yes, that is just what i need. Barkeep send me another round!" He would start tomorrow.

Grit

Grit read carefully. "Ok, this'll do. I'm in." Grit said, signing his adopted name and a made up surname. "I guess I gotta work for a living now." He motioned to the barkeep. Sgnt. Skirata had given him a fantastic start, so he almost felt guilty spending some of the creds he had on liquor.
Almost. It was his life now. Do what he wanted. And he wanted to forget about things like that big throw down right here, in the space above Coruscant. So he raised a toast. "To new beginnings."
He toasted his contact. "Let them be profitable, and rewarding in equal measure."


Alara

The nightmare was the same, most nights. She could remember the smashed room, the smoke, the voice pleading for help. At fist she overlooked the soldier on the floor, not aware the clones were men. The blood leaking from the shrapnel impacts on white armor was her first clue that the downed clone trooper was the one asking for aid. "Medic..." A young man's voice coughed weakly. Still, Alara hesitated. The results of the firefight were incredible. A trail of reptilian blood retreated outside. Four corpses, no doubt this trooper's handiwork, lay on the floor. She vaguely recalled a voice shouting for her to get down before the gunfire began. Now the clone...the man who saved her, was slumped against the inner wall, rasping for help. He noticed her standing there, and in one pained motion, removed his helmet. His face was so young.
How could they send so many boys like him to die every day? "Hurt bad..." He said,
looking to her. "Don't wanna be alone here." Gunfire sounded further on. "Your friends will be here soon." She had hastily told him, and scurried out to hole in the wall. Right into the aqualish thug and enslavement.

Alara woke with the trooper's pleading eyes still clear in her mind. "I deserve this. I deserve this miserable existence. I should have helped that poor boy." She nearly wept, both for the soldier
whom she'd simply left ever after he was wounded protecting her, and for her own sorry hide.
The dark cell offered no comfort, and all she could see in her mind as she tried again to sleep was the trooper's face, wracked with pain. The guilt burned like a brand.

[Saki]

“Sound fine,” Saki sat down at the booth and gave no reaction to Kou wanting to buy. As long as there was no ulterior motive behind it. She briefly looked over at the bar and saw Solus Tor order another drink. Maybe he hadn’t noticed her, it was better that way.

“Think of him? No preference,” she told him. Saki looked over at the man Kou was speaking of. The man looked impressive but she wasn’t sure if-

“Do you ever have an opinion on anything?” Kou asked her. Saki put down on her drink and looked over at the red head.

“He looks fit for the job, physically. Whether or not he’s able to deal with our line of work is another question. If he does want he’s told and doesn’t cause any trouble then he’ll be a great asset. I haven’t met him Kou, how can I have a legitimate opinion about him by just looking at him?” Saki asked him. Hopefully that was all she needed to say. She picked up her glass and took a drink.

"No, that's. That's very kind of you," E'cho replied as he tucked his combat sensor into a side pouch and backed slowly towards the cantina with his palms up. "But I am not part of the escort service, ma'am."

A slow grin spread across his lips as the blue-skinned near-human blushed a bright purple.

"Wh-what? Oh my god!" she gasped.

He shrugged. "It's all right. I--"

A cloud of black smoke fell over his flustered form as the speeder roared to life and rejoined the skylanes, taking the random blue-skinned female sentient with it. Rude, but far from a surprising response. E'cho scratched the back of his head, and then gave in to the urge to rub his scalp. The hair was growing back and it itched, but for some reason it felt good to press his fingers into his skull.

E'cho dropped his hands, turned on his heel, adjusted his bantha-hide jacket, and then entered the cantina. The smell of jet juicers, spice and bad food hit him hard, and instantly he relaxed. Cantinas. He smiled. Cantinas were predictable. He pushed past a hovering bartending droid and dropped into the closest bar stool. The metal creaked in complaint at the sudden weight, but E'cho could give a mott's behind.

He placed an order to the bartender--Blue milk, no alcohol, Thanks--and looked over to see just who he plopped down next to.

A Mandalorian. In Mandalorian armor. Spooky.

"Kind of early for a drink, eh?" E'cho asked Solus, complete lack of intimidation upon seeing his own reflection in the visor. At the lack of response, he shrugged and drummed his fingers on the bar top. "Of course, as my brother used to say, it's drinking hour somewhere."

Not that he would know, he didn't remember. But Mandalorians were all about family, right? What a way to start a conversation.

[Kou]

Kou, utterly dissatisfied with Saki's blaise attitude (or lack thereof), glowered at her and asked, "Do you ever have an opinion on anything?"

A tiny grin spread across Kou's face as Saki described to him what she thought of the new recruit Isazu was talking to. Saki was smarter than she let on. Not that anyone thought she was stupid, she just never talked, and people passed their own judgments about what was going on in her head. Kou nodded with approval and picked up his drink, making a motion as if toasting Saki. "Sound assessment."

[Isazu]

"Wonderful!" Isazu said, taking his datapad back from Grit. He took a small datachip out of his pocket and handed it to him. "Here is the location. If you bring anyone else or otherwise leak it, we will send everyone after your head, and you won't like that." Isazu remarked upon this with an incessant smile as if it was impossible for anyone to betray Scourge. "At any rate, welcome. I'm sure you will find this experience to be rewarding."

Isazu became distracted as he saw two of the Scourge members enter the cantina. This was his perfect chance to dodge any sort of commitment for the rest of his evening off. He stood up and motioned for Grit to do the same, then he strode over to Kou and Saki's table. "Why, hello Saki, Jiro." He smiled at both of them, the latter of the two merely scowling. "I just inducted a new member to Scourge. His name is Grit, and he is certainly a fine fellow. I trust that you two will make him feel welcome." The Negai glared down his nose at Kou because Kou had a stupid mouth. Saki, he wasn't so worried about. "Why don't you all have a few drinks together? I must, unfortunately, leave you. Have a good night," he said to the table.

And with that, the Negai whirled around and left the cantina in a flourish.

While enjoying his drink Solus noticed someone sit next to him and order something from the bartender.

"Kind of early for a drink, eh?" the stranger asked. Solus slowly turned to face him, more often than not the sight of his T-Visor would warn people to back off or at least shut up but either this guy didn't even seem phased by it.

He had respect for those who could look a mandalorian in the eye...or in this case the T-visor and not be unnerved...this one was ok in his books.

Finishing his drink he gave a goodbye nod to the stranger and turned around just to see a 3 members of the Scourge gang talking, they weren't paying him attention so that was fine...then he realised that Sakki was there with them...he didn't really know how to react or if to do anything at all.

Wake up! What's wrong with you? Solus shook himself out of it. Stay focused you have a job to do or will have one soon. The best thing he could do now was to contact a member of Red Flare he had never worked for them before but he knew one thing, seek the enemy of your enemy and you'll find a friend

No time to waste then, and with left a reasonable amount of credits on the counter, got up and walked out of the cantina. Well aware that he was not doing so discretely. The time of hiding is over the time for vengeance has begun.
(OOC: need assist with being employed by Hec somehow as his body guard)

A nod! thought E'cho, thrilled. He turned on his stool to lean his back against the bar and stretched his legs out, dangling his elbows off the side and idly sipped his sweet drink.

People entered the cantina. This was not unusual, as crowds of varying notoriety and moral fiber often filtered in and out of said establishments to mingle with each other. Such was the nature of cantinas. E'cho merely watched the crowd with feigned interest.

The Mando beside him stood up and nodded again, presumably as a sign of goodbye, and E'cho responded with a casual salute, touching two fingers to his brow with a half smile.

A pause. A hefty sum of credits slapped down on the bar. The Mandalorian clearly enjoyed leaving a nice tip, E'cho decided as he watched the armored man make a speedy, and not-so-silent exit. Weird. But, again, not all that unusual for a cantina.

It could be trouble, said a voice in the back of his mind that distinctly did not sound like his own. That Negai just left not too long ago.

E'cho let loose a sigh. Not his problem.

Unemployment, however, was his issue. He turned on his stool and cradled his drink between his hands on the bar. The bartender, a wiry looking fellow, stared down at him.

"Y'need sometin', ma-a-an?"

"I could use some work," E'cho replied with a raised brow.

"D'hell dat mean, you not be payin' for dat drink dere?" The bartender nodded towards a particularly rotund Gamorrean hanging by the door of the cantina. "He done eat dose who skip out on d'bill, ma-a-an."

E'cho blinked, and a heartfelt grin slipped over his face. "You know I'm good for it. I'll pay. Don't worry about that." A credit chip found his way to his fingers, and he waved it in front of the bartender's nose. "'Course, I may have a little extra for a reliable tip to find some work. I need the credits, mate. And I do mean reliable."

The bartender plucked the chip from E'cho's two fingers and bit a corner as if to be sure. The gesture struck him as odd, but E'cho didn't comment on that. Instead he downed the rest of his drink. His glass hit the bar top with a soft click.

"And while you decide who to point me to, how about a refill?"




((ooc: Some help here... would be awesome.))

[Catra Shaadlar]

Saviin, her older sister who could survive a strut down a Lower City, Taris street wearing her skivvies and slathered in honey, once told Catra not to enter any shady-looking cantinas without a trusted ally. She was also the one that told her that in full beskar, a bartender would never ask for identification. With such mixed signals, Catra simply couldn't help but find herself wandering into the Fortune's Fools. She was a stranger in a new land and this seemed to be the only place that wouldn't involve a spice deal. If she was lucky.

Catra hooked her thumbs on her belt and crossed the cantina from the main entrance with her shoulders straight and her chin slightly lifted. Her father always stressed good posture and had more than one annoying saying about it. There was only one seat open at the bar, and it was beside a man with a scarred face (E'cho). Catra plopped onto the seat, waved the bartender over, and ordered a beer.

After the drink was placed in front of her, Catra popped the seal on her helmet and took it off, setting it between her and a large Trandoshan to her right on the bar counter. Then she took a long gulp and couldn't help but listen to the scarred man beside her.

"I could use some work."

Catra pondered as the conversation continued. She didn't really want to work with Red Flare. Not more than one or two jobs. Then it struck her: if she found a big beefy guy to take her place, Hec Kohler wouldn't be sore about her leaving. Catra blinked and stared down at the pale amber liquid in the glass, gathered up some courage, then turned to the man with a friendly smile.

"Why not work with Red Flare?" she asked him. How does one make a gang sound like a good job? "The pay is really decent." Bank on the fact that the person in question doesn't know it's a gang?

"The pay is really decent."

Those were certainly the right words to perk his interest. E'cho glanced down at the small female in full Mandalorian regalia, and arched a brow. Maybe today was some kind of holiday. What else could explain two Mandalorians in one day, when he hadn't seen one in a few months? At least this one seemed a little more friendly than the other one.

"Red Flare, huh." His lips quirked in an enigmatic smile. "I'm sure they do. Unfortunately, as you can probably see," he paused to wave an empty hand at the steadily rising number of people in the cantina, "I'm having some difficulty... locating one offering a job. And I doubt they'd be interested in this type of clientele, so I'm still stuck here."

He let loose a sigh as he looked up and realized, too late, the bartender had migrated to the other end of the bar. So much for getting his credit's worth of social networking.

At least the kriffing tapster left him a refilled drink.

He sighed and took a long sip of the blue milk. The sugar hit his system and took effect near immediately. He didn't fully understand why sweet treats lightened his mood, but he knew better than to over-examine such things.

"Or," he added as an afterthought, "I'm stuck here unless that barkeep decides to be a little more forthcoming with the pleasantries when he rounds this side of the bar again. Either way, I'll have a name, or my credits." Or both. "Nice armor, by the way, pateesa."

[Saki]

Saki listened to Isazu, but didn’t look at him. She always thought his pale skin was blinding. After he walked away she looked over at the man named Grit.

“There’s plenty of space on his side,” she told him as her eyes looked over at Kou’s side of the booth. She took another sip from her drink and looked out from the corner of her eye. Solus wasn’t at the bar anymore. She resisted the instinct to turn her head and search for him. She moved her eyes back to the booth and the two people with her. She wasn’t concerned about Solus pulling a crazy stunt in the cantina. It was just a comfort to know where he was. Saki wondered if maybe she should go finish him off so she didn’t have to worry about him. She decided against it quickly. Hunting down a man she betrayed and killing him for no reason other than easing her nerves just didn’t sit right with her.

“You haven’t said a word,” Saki addressed Grit. She didn’t particularly say if that was a good or a bad thing.

[Catra]

Catra's jaw flopped open as the man went on talking about how he couldn't find anyone from Red Flare. She was about to say something when he switched his focus to the bartender, so she snuck in a sip of her drink and waited for him to finish.

"Nice armor, by the way, pateesa."

Scrunching up her nose, Catra idly traced her finger around the edge of her glass. "Pateesa" wasn't a word she was familiar with, so she chose to ignore it and hope it didn't mean something that would make someone like her sister angry. "Thank you," she replied with a pleasant smile. "I haven't had much of a chance to add many modifications, and my father said I would probably grow out of it anyway." Catra tapped her nails on the surface of one of her chest plates without any indication that she was inappropriately referencing the size of her chest. It was simply a fact of life.

"My name is Catra, by the way," she said. She would have liked to learn his name so she could stop referring to him as "Scarface" in her head. She leaned over to him and lowered her voice. "Between you and me, I can get you a meeting with Red Flare. I'm working for them right now."

Catra looked side to side and then put her helmet back on. She left some credits by her half-full glass and turned on the external audio speakers in her helmet. "The boss is probably here in a private club room. Follow me."

With a hand hooked on her belt near her blaster holster, Catra wove through the crowd and navigated to the private club room that Balin had pointed out to her a couple of days ago. There was a guard standing there who nodded to her but eyed her companion. "He's with me," Catra told him. He grunted, stepped aside, and opened the door for them.

Catra looked over her shoulder and smiled behind her visor. "If the boss hired me, he'll hire you," she assured him with a chuckle.

[Kou]

Kou stared at Isazu as he ran his mouth. Isazu was a perky bastard, but he wasn't so different from Kou, and he always hated that thought every time it occurred to him. Maybe the biggest and most important difference between Kou and the Negai is that Kou didn't take as kindly to being Contardi's little bitch.

Kou scooted over in the booth so the newcomer could sit down. "Welcome to Scourge. You'll find our dysfunctional ways endearing after a couple of death sticks, don't worry," he assured Grit. Distracted by the sight of a waiter droid, Kou put in an order for a sandwich while Saki, of all people, remarked upon how someone else wasn't talking. He took a long drink from his glass and shrugged. "You know all about being a conversationalist, Sak," he teased.

"You'll find we're a lively bunch," Kou rambled on to Grit. "Most of us are decent, but I wouldn't recommend you talk to Flay. She's a bonafide sociopath and if she thinks you have a bad haircut, she will shank you." Kou stared at Grit with wide eyes to emphasize the danger of Flay.

Meanwhile, he got a good look at the new recruit. He was definitely... fit. Alarmingly so. As in, what kind of reason would anyone want to be that fit? It was like asking for a fight or something. "Are you one of them Mandalorians?" he asked without really thinking about where he got the idea.

Solus Tor stared at his comlink while sitting in his speeder outside of the Fortunes Fools cantina.
He was expecting a call from an old friend and trusted ally, Sirus, that rodian had gotten him out of trouble plenty of times, if it weren't for him he might not be alive today.

"He still owes me big time..." Solus mumbled to himself

*BEEP* BEEP*

It was his comlink, at last he must have found someone who could get him into Red Flare.

"Solus here, you got a name for me Sirus?"

"Better than that comrade, got a number here to for a Adma Helena Rhys, She's an Assistant of Hec's and owes me a favour...lets just say she could get you hooked up real good. You up for body guard work?" Solus paused...body guard work, well not the best use of his skills in his opinion but who knows what it could lead to...

"I'll take it where can we meet?"

"Where you so discretely left last time, infact I believe it's not to far from you now?" Sirus chuckled

*sigh* "Very funny Sirus, very funny...I won't bother asking how you seem to know everything, I'll be there in five."

Five minutes later Solus walked back into the cantina as if he'd never been in there earlier, gave a casual mock salute to the Scourge patrons sitting in one booth. So Sakki was there, he still didn't understand what made her do that, just when he thought he had her figured. Well he didn't have to keep looking over his shoulder any longer and he couldn't care less if every member of that gang knew he was still alive. He walked over to an apparently empty booth and nooded at the shadow in the corner.

"Wish I was able to disappear as easily as you do...got the contact detials for me?"

"Doesn't everyone?" Sirus replied smugly while passing a small datachip over the table.

"Don't ever say i never repaid my debts."

Solus picked up the chip as if inspecting it. "No, not at all, thank you old friend, this time I owe you."

Sirus laughed, "And I won't forget that...now I must take my leave enjoy the rest of your day."
Then he was gone, Solus hated it when he did that. So bodyguard work for hec eh?

He keyed the digits into his comlink...

"This is Miss Rhys at Red Flare Enterprises how can I help you?"

"Hello Miss Rhys, this is Solus Tor I understand that through a mutual friend you may have some work for me?"

[ Balin and Hec ]

Balin sat rigidly in the circular booth. He forced his attention across the table to Hec and not on the dancer on the small stage. Hec leaned back with his feet propped up on the table and smiled as he watched his personal entertainment. Balin did not like being in Hec’s private room in the cantina. Room was a bit of an understatement. He had the entire second floor of the cantina to himself. It was always a nice gesture to be Hec’s guest, but he’d rather be with the rest of the public, as seedy as they often were.

Balin’s brown eyes glanced over in the direction of the dancer for a moment and then darted back to Hec. The older man was looking at him laughing.

“She’s not meant to be a wall flower, Balin, look at her!” Hec said gesturing to her with his hand. Balin leaned forward to talk to Hec over the music.

“According to the law I’m still married Mr. Kohler,” Balin told him.

“So? Your contemptuous wife would never set a foot in this place and if she did I’d throw her out,” Hec told him before taking another drink. The comment was supposed to make Balin feel better. It just reminded him that his marriage was the only sanctioned thing he had left in his life and it was a failure. He had gotten over it, but it was still an unpleasant thought.

“Thank you, Hec,” Balin said. Hec took his legs off of the table and leaned over to slap him on the shoulder. He then took a cigarra out of his coat pocket

“You don’t smoke, do you?” Hec asked him.

“I use to smoke occasionally, but my doctor advised that I should stop,” Balin replied.

“Good, I only have one, but damn your doctor. What does he know?” Hec asked. Balin kept his mouth shut and watched Hec light his cigarra and smoke it.

“Would your like to go over the documents now Mr. Kohler?” Balin said reminding Hec why he had come with him here. Hec paused and then quickly nodded. Hec had completely forgotten why Balin had agreed to come with him to the cantina. Balin picked his briefcase up opened it up. Before he could get out the pieces of filmsi the large brute standing next to Hec bent down to talk to him. Balin watched the man’s lips move and deciphered what he said. Someone wanted to see Hec.

“Catra and who? Never mind I’ll find out myself,” Hec said waving the man away as if he was an irritating insect. Despite his tone, Hec was in a good mood. Balin slowly put the filmsi away and looked over to see Catra and a man who looked a little younger than himself. Hec sucked on his cigarra and then exhaled as he studied the man who was with Catra.

“I don’t believe we’re acquainted. I’d remember a face like yours,” Hec said to the man. He looked at Catra and flashed his teeth at her as he smiled.

“A little too old for you isn’t he?” he laughed and then motioned for her and her companion to sit down. Hec then snapped at the dancer motioned for her to stop. He assumed this had something to do with business. Catra wouldn’t just show up with a random stranger to exchange stories back and forth.

[Saki]

Saki said nothing back to Kou. She continued to look like a silent and intimidating person while Kou rambled on. One of them had to seem serious, and Saki never bothered Kou to do something that didn’t come natural to him. She noticed Solus walk back in and she watched him as he saluted.

“Speaking of Mandalorians, that one’s supposed to be dead,” Saki said casually as she watched Solus take a seat in the booth. Saki looked over at Kou.

“Conflicting interests, you remember,” she told him. It wasn’t exactly the reason why Contardi told her to shoot him, but that was the way she liked to see it.


[Adma]

-Red Flare Business Tower-

“This is Miss Rhys at Red Flare Enterprises how can I help you?" Adma shifted her com so it rested on her shoulder as she typed away on a console.

"Hello Miss Rhys, this is Solus Tor I understand that through a mutual friend you may have some work for me?" the voice said on the other line. Adma thought for a moment.

“Ah, yes I may. You’d be hired as a bodyguard if you qualify for the job. I’d be happy to schedule an appointment to see if you’re fit for the job, Mr. Tor,” Adma explained.

“I could meet with you tomorrow here at the office. Are you available then?” She asked him. She’d have to move a few things around if he was, but Hec’s bodyguard was a top priority.

[Adma]

-Red Flare Business Tower-
“I could meet with you tomorrow here at the office. Are you available then?” She asked him. She’d have to move a few things around if he was, but Hec’s bodyguard was a top priority.

[Solus Tor]

-Fortunes Fools Cantina-

"Hey I'm free anytime, just give me a time and the location of your office and I'll be there." He replied casually, he had all the time in the world being unemplyed and all.

After taking down the details he thought it would be odd to all of a sudden leave again as he previously had. Might as well enjoy my last moments of freedom here till tomorrow. Summoning the waitress he ordered a meal and a glass of water, now was not the time to drink excessive amounts of alchohol.

He was going to enjoy this he could tell...private security was a rather lucrative business or so he had heard.

[Yuno]

The music told Yuno what to do, but the dance didn't bring her any pleasure. It was nothing more than a job. Still, she was good at her job and didn't even strain herself to look appropriately careless and enjoying herself. At least, Hec didn't make her to dance downstairs, with all that drunk morons around. She liked that he was no too althruistic to share his personal entertainer with just everybody. It didn't make want to slit his throat from ear to ear any less, though.

Calm down, girl, your time will come.

The last notes of the melody melted in the air, Yuno arched and trembled in fake extasy; then she smiled charmingly at her patron and approached his table, granting another smile to his companion, this petty lawyer, the girl in the armor, hot shit Mabdalorian wench, and some unknown guy with a scar, slipped a hand around Hec's neck and cooed:

"Did you like it, honey?"

I'd stuff your stinky cigar in the places you'd never think of, honey, I'd scratch your eyes out, I'd see you die and then dance on your grave...


[Tyre]

"Huh, we're having a busy day today, aren't we..."

Tyre was sitting in the farthest booth, which provided the best survelliance coverage of the main hall of the cantina. Everything was all right so far, but he didn't like tonight's audience at all. Scrouge's hitmen and employment agent, some freelancers, the Red Flare's boss and all the king's men upstairs... an explosive cocktail. And to make his day even more exciting, that old di'kut Tor and... yes, that was Catra, picking up some shady scarred guy right at the barstand. A Mando homecoming day, is it? He suppresed an urge to go out of the booth and tell the girl that this was not the way to behave in a cantina, even at a comparatively decent one. But no, no way her Dad's going to learn about this. After all, she was old enough to look after herself up to a certain point... and anyway, it didn't look like this Catra's fellow was going to become his worst problem, not tonight, at least.

Some moments later Catra passed just beside Tyre, not noticing him, with the Scar at her heels. Ah, that was business, wasn't it...

Tyre sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. This evening was going to be a long one for sure.

"He's with me."

As E'cho followed Catra, he avoided the urge to size up the guard blocking the door to the private club room. It was hard though, as he had worked enough jobs as a bouncer to know most sentients were all talk, and not much else. Unsurprisingly, the same went for those who chose the occupation.

Irregardless, the thought must have been present on his expression, as the small mando felt the need to reassure him.

"If the boss hired me, he'll hire you."

He smiled warmly and nodded once, despite it not being at the forefront of his mind. If he's hired, wonderful. If not, the day would be no different from the day before--unprofitable, but productive.

He followed her into the room, and noted that the smell of cigarra was much stronger in here than the catina, a feat worthy of applause.

There was a man in a chair puffing on a cigarra, resonating "Boss" status with every motion. Beside him stood someone who looked not much older than E'cho, though looks were often deceiving. He was, after all, a tantamount example to that saying.

"I don’t believe we’re acquainted. I’d remember a face like yours," said the old man, followed by a comment to the Mandalorian beside him. "A little too old for you isn’t he?"

E'cho arched a brow but avoided the impulse to mention that no, they aren't together, thank you sir. Instead he eyed the dancer who suddenly draped herself over the Boss. He hadn't noticed her earlier, and that disturbed him.

He glanced first to Balin, then to Hec, and decided to introduce himself. "My name is E'cho," he said, holding his gaze on Hec though he felt the need to see if Catra recognized the word, "And I'm currently unemployed."

"Lost in thought- remembering an old friend from the war." Grit said to Saki. "I've never been asked to give an opinion before, and making conversation is a new thing for me." Grit paused a second. "First things first though. Name's R- Grit. Sorry. Still getting used to using a name instead of a number. Nice to meet you, miss." He was suddenly and acutely aware of Saki's build, shape, and stance. His training let him take it all in discretely, but there was a small part of his mind that would not shut up. That loudmouth thought said one thing- Fierfek, she's gorgeous.Say something you di'kut! For the love of your deece say something! He gave himself a solid mental kick in the shebs. "Civvy life is a lot different than I thought it would be." He said, fingers crossed she wouldn't notice how he was not used to interacting with non army personnel.

[Catra]

“A little too old for you isn’t he?”

"I'm an adult by Mandalorian standards," Catra stated with a smile as she sat down where Mr Kohler motioned. She unclipped her helmet from her belt and set it in her lap, then she placed her hands on top of it. Catra spared a glance over at Balin and she grinned at him in greeting. The drink she had earlier was creeping into her normal brain functions and everything seemed worth smiling at, but especially Mr Kohler's lawyer, Balin. He always looked so lonely and unhappy, and Catra wished he wouldn't act so strange around her. She could fix all of that if he'd let her!

As Scarface introduced himself to the boss, Catra's smile faltered and she recognized where Scarface's real name derived from--echoy. Lost. Mourning. It was a very sad word--in fact, it was one of the first Mandalorian words her father taught her after he adopted her. He told her she was echoy when he first found her on Arkania, and any mention of the word made her feel as if she was four years old and had just lost her family. To her, echoy was the loneliness of a snow-stricken tundra.

Even more so, with alcohol in her system.

Catra blinked the bleary look out of her eyes and looked from E'cho to her boss. Back to business. "I thought he would be useful for you, sir, since you're always complaining about our lack of muscle."

[Kou]

"Lost in thought- remembering an old friend from the war."

Kou stiffened as the man went on to hint that his name was once a number. So he was a clone? Kou studied him, being sure to note his facial features. He supposed it wouldn't be good to betray a new member of Scourge to the Empire, if those Imperials even wanted the clones any more. Whatever happened to them, anyway?

Grit seemed content to only talk to Saki, which pissed Kou off because he had been trying to make a conversation. All Saki had to do was sit there and suddenly she had his full attention. Kou mumbled something about a "senseless bastard" under his breath and took out his datapad. He went so far as putting his goggles over his eyes to really show his dispassion for the conversation.

Kou tried to look busy as he chewed over what Saki had said earlier about that Mandalorian ex of hers, Solus. He had a lot of nerve coming back in here. He supposed the Fortune's Fools wasn't only for gang members, but it was a bold move nonetheless. Kou told himself that he would back Saki up if anything happened--and not just because she was a fellow gang member. Any ex of Saki was an enemy of Kou.

Kou glanced passed the scrolling data on his goggles at the blue-tinted forms of Saki and Grit. Saki was cute, and Kou liked her because it was a challenge to get her to show any sort of emotion at all. Grit was encroaching a little. But surely Saki didn't go for his type, right?

Damn it, she liked Mandalorians. This Grit guy was some serious competition.