A Friendly Happenstance

[Trin Halleck]

Theed, Naboo

"Ah, sorry boys. Looks like it's just not your day."

"There's something fishy going on 'ere."

Trin sat on the opposite a Gammorean, who was in turn flanked by two more of his kind who stood by his side. The settling was a quaint but nonetheless shady little cantina near Theed's spaceport, where merchants, spacers, bounty hunters and smugglers all came for a drink, a story or two, or a fast way to make money. Today's attraction was Pazaak - a card game Trin loved herself, though perhaps not always the sportsman expected of passionate fans of anything.

Wearing her Alum matrix suit, she had just laid down another card that squared her off at 20 - winning her the set, to the chagrin of her friends. The Gammorean swept the cards off the table and nearly toppled the whole thing in a fit of a rage, squealing and groveling about how Trin had probably rigged her hand.

"Ya's was cheatin'! Scukk never loses Pa'zak!", the Gammorean yelled and taunted as he raised his club at her. The commotion was enough to catch the rest of the cantina's attention, as Trin stood up already holding her helmet against her waist and with her other hand on the grip of her holstered blaster.

"So what are you saying, that I'm such an amateur that I have to cheat my way to win against a fat, green stunty?", she replied in typical Mandalorian banter. The Gammoreans merely laughed as the other two began to walk away from their head honcho and circle Trin.

"Steady now", the barkeep remarked, but none of the four now seemed to be listening.

[member="Woewli"]

 

[Woewli]

For nearly two hours Woewli had been sitting with her arms propping her head up on her table. Not many people lingered near her small corner of the establishment which gave her ample time to contemplate her situation and the fact that she was coming down from what she believed were faulty death sticks much sooner than she would have liked. The fact that she was one of the few people in the cantina that wasn't conversing with associates, or actively ordering drinks, had brought the attention of multiple people over the hour. Her hair was a mess, shaggy and matted to her skin. It also didn't help that she was carrying her entire life belongings around with her. Trying her best to not appear as the fiend that she was, was proving to be more difficult than she anticipated.

It had seemed like such a good idea to wait out her time in the cantina. Scope out the patrons and try to find someone with just enough connections to point her to her next employer. However, she was now beginning to regret her decision. The music pounded on her eardrums, there were far too many people for her liking, and not to mention she was likely to be held up the moment she was five feet away from the door. The Wookiee was soon hauling herself to her feet, determined to clear out her system with a watered down drink or two.

Once she was upright her pace was brisk and deliberate, greatly contrasting her behavior just a moment prior. Somehow she had managed to miss the three Gammororeans entirely. Which is why it came as a surprise when she felt a club being forced into the side of her ribs after wandering too far close to the altercation. Almost immediately her teeth were bared as her visage shifted into one of pure contempt. Her coat was puffed, her posture tense, a roar rolling out from her throat as she towered above the Gammorean who continued to brandish his club at her while the others continued circling.

Knocking all previous thoughts aside Woewli lunged at the brute with a roar. The two crashed into the previously abandoned table, crashing through it with their combined weight. Woewli was already on her feet as the Gammorean struggled to pick himself up. She raised her arms over her head to bring her fists down onto his shoulders. The force knocked his upper half downward and Woewli took advantage of this with an uppercut to his face, immediately followed by her fists slamming onto his back. She was brutal and primitive, allowing her fists to rain down on him wherever they could reach.


[member="Trin Halleck"]

 

[Trin Halleck]

The Wookie's abrupt introduction was enough to leave Trin half smug as she watched what had just been three overly cocky Gammoreans get mowed down in a few seconds. Her Pazaak opponent had just had his shoulders pounded in, and the other two were now running towards the exit with their tails in between their legs. She was quick to unholster her Westar and fire off one round which left a searing burn on the leg of one of them.

That ended quickly.

With that, Trin holstered her blaster pistol once more and turned back towards the unfortunate third of the stooges, who was now down and out cold on the cantina floor. She kept holding onto her helmet close to her side and beneath her underarm as she finally turned to [member="Woewli"], although initially having little more to say than a small chuckle. She could see it was a female, but of course past that Wookies were hard to profile. There was something about their primitiveness that made them at once anachronisms onto themselves, but also very unique. She probably wouldn't have much good to say about me either anyway, she thought as one of her eyebrows lifted - a facial expression of curiosity as well as intrigue.

Now there wasn't much historical precedent for Mandalorians to go around befriending Wookies, or vice versa, given interactions between the two usually involved smuggling and slavery. Yet there was something different about this one, and Trin could sense it. She wasn't much of a believer in things like fate herself, but Trin Halleck knew a kindred soul when she met one.

"Hey you", she began, although in more a stern tone than beckoning, "You don't learn to fight Gammoreans like that without getting into regular scraps. Tell me, did they really do anything do you, or did you just need a reason to pound space hogs?"

Trin's eyes seemed to smile at Woewli, while her tone and manner of speech remained laconic - typical of Mandalorian chatter.

 

[Woewli]

Woewli was only consciously aware of the Mandalorian after she had fired her blaster at the fleeing Gamorreans. The blaster fire prompted her to back away from the slumped over boar she had been pummeling. With her anger now subsided and quickly replaced with the throbbing pain resonating from her head, there wasn't much reason for her to stick around for idle conversation. There was a moment where she merely stared back at [member="Trin Halleck"], unsure of her intentions with luring her into a conversation.

The question itself was rather stupid in her opinion and she didn't hesitate to voice just that with a series of low-pitched grunting. Even if this was her first time encountering one of her species, it wouldn't take a genius to knowing basic principles of hand to hand combat. She was bigger than the boar plain and simple. Given the reputation that Mandalorians held across just about every civilized system, she'd have expected this to be painfully obvious.

The Wookiee crouched low beside the defeated Gamorrean briefly to wrap one of her hands around his forearm. A low grunt of effort resulted from her beginning to heave the boar from the wreckage of the table. She began to unceremoniously drag the boar towards the exit, only glancing pausing to wave her free arm back and forth at the Mandalorian. Woewli was unsure of how much shyriiwook she was able to comprehend thus most of her communication would simply need to be done with body language.