A Few Ships, A few Drinks....

[James Justice]

Location: The Angel's Den, Dal'bor, Soceras

James was sitting in his private lounge, waiting. The couch's red leather seats conformed around him perfectly in a hedonistic display of opulence.The smells of alcohol, spice, and pleasure from the dance floor in the stories bellow mixed with the smells of the flowers and gorgeous perfumes and his own Zeltron Pheromones. Waiters and waitresses, alike, the definition of the galaxy's most gorgeous beings stood waiting on James. Several guards were posted at the door, massive wall window, and around the room. A conocopia of pleasures were sprawled across the table drawn from each of the galaxy's farthest reaches.

This was how a crime lord did business. More specifically, this was how James Justice, lord of the Vice City of Dal'Bor, did business. He was expecting the up and coming [member="Neldar Poska"] to arrive soon. The man needed ships, something James was rather good at gathering or getting for the right price. So the drinks were gathered and James was waiting.

He took a pull from one of the alcoholic bottles as he waited, for him business was as much about having a good time as it was about being successful. He was generally good at both.

 

[Neldar Poska]

[member="James Justice"]

Neldar had arrived in his least of convenient ways - spacebus. He was mostly in low profile heading across the galaxy, but also all of his ships were docked at his repair station, so he didn't feel like bothering with a long-distance call, the charges, the karking operator not understanding him so he'd be on it extra long for extra credits... Anyway, spacebus was cheaper, and he could sleep the whole way.

As he approached the lounge where the human he would be meeting was located, he was stopped by the humans guards. He huffed and shook his head in a grunt before breathing, "Neldar," he continued as he pounded his chest, "Meet Justice fer ships. Please enter?" he waited a moment, maybe James would usher him in, and/or the guards would let him enter. Either way, his waiting was over.

As he continued inside, he could tell who James was - the human being lavished over like a king. He was prepared to come over happily to greet him, but his target was different. His arms came out wide, and a facial expression maybe.. Something? Like a smile - it was scary weird. He groaned in a beastial tone and charged James as if he was going to bear hug him, but he stopped at the table. He grabbed the presumed drink waiting for him, a drink or two from the waitresses plate, and even James - he chugged them happily. As he finished James' drink, he calmed, before realizing what he just did.

Neldar blinked a few times as he saw James in the corner of his eye and fumblexld, putting the drinks on the table messily, even catching one before it fell off the table. He gave the weird smile again, but this time it was embarrassed, he knew he karked up. "Haha... Heh... Mistuh Justess. Uh... Gruh, thank... You... For drink." he said, trying to act good, "hoh... How are you?" He sat down in front of James in a seat at the table and kept quiet until James spoke up, before a hiccup rose from him and he covered his mouth

 

[James Justice]

James gave a roaring laugh as he watched the man give a go at drinking.

"Good man, very good, I like a man who can hold his liqour," James said waving at one of the nearby female waitresses. She, like her compatriots, was scantly clad and the height of beauty, "More drinks, keep them coming."

The spacer pulled a cigarette from his leather jacket pocket and lit up, offering one to his guest. He was a criminal king of Soceras, a man of renowned debauchery and lacking in delight in the finer things in life. He was a simple man who liked his booze, his women, and cigarettes--as well as the ability to shoot any who opposed him. If he was feeling gracious, you would only be shot.

"I be very good," the spacer said, his distinct accent filling the room as smoke billowed from his lips, "Everyday alive be a good day. I hope ye ride here were enjoyable, and I trust that ye stay will be too," James reached in his pocket and pullet out a pair of ticket stubs, "Here's a few vouchers on the house. Enjoy the City of Sin and tell me what ye think when ye leave."

He tossed them across the table where his many pleasures be towards the alien. "What can I do for ye?"

[member="Neldar Poska"]

 

[Neldar Poska]

[member="James Justice"]


Neldar grinned with his hard scaley skin, grabbing another drink from the waitress, "Bring Pitcher, yes... Please." He looked back over to James and gave a chuckle, waving away the cigarette respectfully. "Done rejected smoke, can't reject vouchers," he chuckled in his horrible Basic language and accent, accepting the tickets and stuffing them away behind the breastplate of his armor. Neldar nodded as he listened to James ponder about the day and good times, liking him more and more. "Mista James. Neldar will honesty, Neldar once bad. Neldar only wanted power when young, did bad. Neldar killed, Neldar enslaved, Neldar controlled. Now, Neldar just want be happy, power boring unless share, yeah!"

Neldar offered a toast to James with his comment before drinking it down and grabbing another, giving a sigh of relief. "Neldar want see what happen if Neldar do stuff in war. Neldar want fuel fire, give tree, let burn, see direction of burn after Neldar poke it, yeah. Neldar... Not long lived much more, want to see things different view, yeah." He chased his drink, but didn't finish it, "Neldar make big booma guns, big zz zz stunin guns. Neldar also make big," he continued by flexing his overly thick and scaley arm muscles, which were three times the size of James, "strong, hard, tough wall space station. Shoot enemy, protect things, yeah. But Neldar no have ships... Well, Neldar has... Eeeh ships..." he noted by pulling a small holoprojector out from his belongings, showing ancient and archaic designs of ships that haven't been seen nor used in probably five-hundred or more years. "Neldar like these, use for trick enemy, and overwhelm. But eh... Big, lovely Corona... Big ship, Neldar ship... Die. Corona ambushed, buncha warship!" He raised his arms and his glass, making exploaion and fire sounds, "boom! Pew, rawr... Gone. Some crew escape pod but... Most die. Neldar too busy selling old power cell to dumb Merchant for money to feed crew. Corona... Corona was Neldar ship... For long time... First ship." He finished, scarfing down his drink and slamming it on the table, getting teary eyed.

"Gah! Mistuh James... Neldar need ships. No.. Need make these ships better. Take old fighter, old shuttle, old ship, take to shipyard, put better things. Better shields, better weapons. Neldar has hundreds and hundreds. Cheaper to put better stuff on than buy new ships. Mistuh James help Neldar? Neldar do work for James, pay what can, do promise. Neldar keep word, Neldar word all Neldar have. Nelsar criminal, but Neldar honesty Vodran, yes yes. James help Neldar?"

 

[James Justice]

James puffed steadily on his cigarette as he listened to the man's broken Basic. The spacer had spent his whole life running along the galaxy. He grew up on his dad's tramp freighter. With his dad, learning as many languages as possible was sometimes not only the difference between a successful deal, but the two of them getting out of a dangerous situation alive or dead. And when his dad vanished, well James knew that it was his skills and languages that were the only things keeping him on the edge of the knife instead of under it. As such—James was a polygot with few equals. Albeit, a mostly illiterate polygot with a strange accent.

<Perhaps it’d be easier for you if we switched to ye native language?> James asked switching to Huttese effortlessly. <Ye’ll find I am able to speak most every tongue under the suns.>

He sat up and looked at the shuttle the man had show. It was a classic model, but one that was so old it’d give his Drunken Angel a run for her money, gods rest her soul. He looked at it with a critical eye. They’d have to gut the ships, taking out everything; guns, engines, power sources, targeting systems, hyperdrives, navicomputers, all of it. Hell, he’d probably even have to take the very armor and plating off. It’d be a job worth more trouble than the cash that this down-on-his-luck pirate would have. And to do it five hundred times? Well, that’d be a nightmare.

<I see ye predicament,> James said with a nod, <I’ll make ye a counter offer. This is gonna cost a lot. Hellva lot just in supplies, plus labor. So what if I make ye shuttles to ye desire based on these models. Would that be favorable? Tell me what ye’d want.>

[member="Neldar Poska"]

 

[Neldar Poska]

[member="James Justice"]


Neldar laughed as James started speaking in Huttese, laughing more and more. Maybe enough to make James think he was laughing at him. But no, Neldar wasn't laughing at him. James just made him realize how old he was. As the years went by, no one spoke anything but Basic and he started losing his tongue and ear for anything else, but he still had it.

<Heh, sorry... All these years, I haven't heard Huttese from a non-Hutt in so long. Just tells me how old I am. Sorry about that.> He said, pushing his drink to the center of the table and taking a deep breath. <I can easily front the labor, that'll take most of the cost out, right?> He grinned as he chuckled, shaking his elbow as if gesturing a joke about how insane workers want to be paid and some such. <Ye, we'll dismantle the old rigs piece by piece, make layouts and blueprints of them, at least the small ones. I've got some monsters we'll need to keep together; they ain't so old, thankfully. They just mostly need a few new systems, as their armor is like todays.>

He paused as he reached into his belongings and pulled out two Shento cigars, placing them on the center of the table between them. <I'm not big on smoking, surprisingly, but the taste on these, whew. These are original, I swear. Aged like no other you will ever find. My stash is only down to a few more pairs. You'll be pushin' me and my crew to new heights, Mistuh James, if the deal is good, I feel empowered to share these. To an experienced cigar collector, I'm sure these could fetch half a mil. I want you ta have it free. As long as we agree.> Neldar crossed his arms, as this was the way he shook hands. Who'd want to take a clammy, sweaty, scaley, bigger-than-your-own-head-hand in your hand anyway?

 

[James Justice]

James was a consiour in all things hedonistic. He had even tried a few drugs in his day, mixing and speedballing a few as he wanted. It wasn't his thing. He flicked away his lit cigarette and picked up one of the cigars. Yes, it was well aged, an original, and a good choice. He had more credits than sense, this spacer, but he was still not going to go blowing his cash on things like this everyday.

<Dun't worry, mate, I always like to keep folks on their toes> the spacer said with a wry grin, <ye never know how useful it is to know as many languages as ye can these days. Keeps fools from getting the drop on ye.>

How many times had he picked up on bad scenarios because someone assumed he couldn't understand their native lingo? The language barrier was as much a tool as anything else in the hands of the right foe. James preferred to have more tools on his side than anyone else's. Plus, you could pick up more chicks with more languages.

<Before we smoke these> the spacer said showing self restraint in a rare moment <I want to clarify on your armament preferences for these shuttles. Would ye prefer Ion cannons as the primary weapons? And do ye want to have these heavy hitters with a slow burn or would ye prefer light and agile?> It was all a matter of tactics; if they were fast, they could get through defenses to their foes easier for boarding, if they were heavy then they could pound them into submission until they were ready to board. The spacer could have his men working on these shuttles as early as the morning, drumming up supplies and scrumming up their work force, he just wanted to know what the basic idea was to get to work sooner than later.

[member="Neldar Poska"]

 

[Neldar Poska]

[member="James Justice"]


Neldar hadn't reached for one of the cigars, either, still waiting on James' decision. He kept quiet as he listened, grinning that crooked smile with his hard, scaley skin as he talked about how more languages meant better... everything. He wasn't wrong, something Neldar knew all too well, it was the very thing that got him out of situations, and in. He took another drink from the waitress as James continued, drinking it down, and tapping his hand on the table. <We will keep them standard - close to the original. If there's room, we give them more speed. I'm more inclined to have my men get in and out of situations more than punching someone into dust. If we don't need to kill, we don't need to waste the ammo, yeah? Plus, speedy dodging is always fun to piss off your enemy. I'll contact you, personally, if I ever need something special, yeah? Haha>

 

[James Justice]

James smiled, he could work with that. He had committed a few acts of piracy in his day--more than he would have told if asked. Maneuverability always beat speed when getting in close. Of course you had to knock the ship to stun it and be able to get in close but only an amateur trashed the ship before boarding.

The spacer grabbed his datapad off the coffee table between them. Though he wasn't sure why it would be called a coffee table if it was littered with bottles and cigarettes. With quick raps from his fingers the spacer sent a message to one of the foremen at his space station. They would begin gathering raw materials, parts, and manpower immediately to begin construction the moment James gave the order. Being a kingpin came with its perks, of course.

Satisfied, James tossed his datapad across the couch and produced a worn silver lighter. It was a classic, weathered, and extremely old. <This was me father's.> James explained, <Brings good luck, I take it with me everywhere I go.> He flicked it to life and lit his cigar to life, offering the lighter to his new business partner <To luck and to a successful partnership>

[member="Neldar Poska"]

 

[Neldar Poska]

[member="James Justice"]

Neldar nodded and stared as James finished up what he needed and took out an old lighter and lit up the cigar that was offered, which made Neldar give a crooked smile and hum. <I used to have a trinket of remembrance, would ya believe a coot like me had a lover? Heh heh. It was lost, though, on the planet Felucia. Got in a scuff with a Dug. For a light, though? I got this ugly thing.> He reached into his belongings to pull out something that resembled a gun, well... A VERY awkwardly shaped gun. Because his hands were so huge, he was basically required to fashion is own lighter. It was something like a lightsaber hilt, and there was a circle where the thumb claw would fit with a trigger. The hilt had dips for the huge fingers so it could be gripped. He took the cigar and laid it on his lips, bring the 'lighter' to his face, and when he lit it, it was like a karking flamethrower; the flame was thick, and reached over seven inches. Smoke poured from the lighter before Neldar released the trigger, puffing in fast and the slowly blowing the air out upward, now with casual smoking.

Neldar agreed to the toast and gesture, takibg his cigar to tilt and point it at James in agreement before taking a puff again. <Thanks for the support, Mistuh James.> Unless there was more to talk about, Neldar was going to stay and finish his cigar. If he didn't he felt it would be disrespectful to James and Neldars ways.