Private A Hard Day Under The Ice

[Rocho]

Rocho remained in silence for awhile, moving from the body, to the senses. He could hear, he could perceive, smell, so much. Spending time as he awaited their arrival, or the sense of danger. Instead however Maiven asked how long they'd been bounty hunting. Nateo answered first. Only a couple of years. A fair answer, though given the weapons of the man, he'd have had experience that would aid him he was certain.

The Trandoshan looked up in thought, "It may be called bounty hunting, but it's really just legal hunting of sentients, just like war. The first time I can remember killing something with my own weapon I was, hmm, three maybe? So around 22 years now perhaps. It wasn't anything big naturally, but I remember it happening around then sometime."

"Really, it isn't that different as some people think. Only morally. There is strategy, there's distance vs close range, there's traps, even trickery. And it's not based on legality because sometimes it's legal to hunt sentients, sometimes it's illegal to hunt non-sentients." He looked at them and shrugged, "Some sentients just make better targets."

He frowned again, "Except Gim. He was fodder."

 

[Thraztin]

Maiven chuckled at Rocho 's last remark. "Well then, the hunt is alive today.

She looked at Nateo skeptically. She was struggling to figure him out. Making ends meet didn't seem like the kind of lifestyle a man armed with 2 lightsabers would lead. But, she couldn't bring herself to say anything. Partially because she was coming to like this acquaintance, and partially because she didn't want to make a powerful man like him mad. Her armor was good, but not lightsaber good.

The speeder began to slow as they reached their destination. Csilla was like the Coruscant of Chiss Space. Although not nearly as many people, the layer upon layer of city hidden beneath the snow and ice evoked a similar culture and aesthetic. Maiven had never been to Coruscant, but she would wager that she could find a place just like this.

"First place I want to stop is this bar down the street that I used to frequent during my training, and I always found it to be a good source of information. People tend to let their guards down when they relax."

 

[Nateo]

Nateo listened quietly as Rocho spoke. Twenty-two years was a long time. Idly, he wondered at the large being's age. He'd never met a Trandoshan before and had no idea what their lifespans were. His eyebrow raised sharply when Rocho stated that he'd made his first kill at the age of three. It was on the tip of his tongue to make some kind of macabre statement about family gatherings and the like, but he still didn't have enough of a feel for the large being to do so. Last thing he needed was to be stuck inside a confined space with an enraged lizard wielding a lightsaber axe.

Out of the corner of his eye, Nateo could see Maiven looking at him. She seemed to be having some trouble figuring out what to make of him. That suited him fine. All relationships, even fledgling acquaintances, were better with a little air of mystery around them. If this job went well, and if Maiven proved somebody worthy of Nateo's trust, then he would tell her more.

Nateo nodded as Maiven steered the conversation back to the job. He liked bars. Quite a lot, in fact. "That's as good a place as any to start." He told her approvingly. "And I really could use a drink."

 

[Rocho]

Rocho gave an agreeing grunt as Maiven mentioned the hunt today, "Yes, this should be." a proper target this time. Perhaps he wouldn't be some force user or a master combatant. Maybe. Maybe he would. But he'd have forces they had to drive or sneak past. And that was sufficient challenge to make this worthwhile. She mentioned wanting to stop at a bar to find the information. Bars were good. And Nateo also agreed on this.

"There may be one problem." he held out his arms, "For a man with a bounty on his head. The only thing more concerning to find than an armed Trandoshan would probably be a Jedi or a Mandalorian. Much as I'd like to, I don't know this world. So I don't know if my presence in a place like that would be too much of a hazhard. I can wait elsewhere if necessary, so long as I'm there for the fight." He explained.

"Though a drink would be wonderful if this place does happen to see Trandoshans every once in awhile who aren't out for a hunt."

 

[Thraztin]

Rocho made a good point, the Chiss weren't a welcoming species. "Don't worry, if you're with two Chiss, then chances are they'll leave you alone. Here's the plan: We go in, get a drink, and listen. Ask questions only to the staff unless you want a fight."

Maiven regretted that last part slipping from her lips. She assumed Nateo would behave, but the Trandoshan was another story. If they could get in and out without a scratch Maiven would be happy, but it seemed unlikely. She stepped forward and the bar door slid open. 3 out of place characters like them entering was enough to draw eyes. After a moment, everyone returned to their business, and Maiven's business began.

 

[Nateo]

Nateo followed Maiven inside and looked around. This place could have been any one of a million dive bars in the galaxy. For some reason they all had the same smell of alcohol, stale sweat and danger. Nateo truly adored them. He stepped a little away from Maiven and Rocho preferring to get the lay of the land while everyone's eyes were-presumably-on the giant lizard with the big axe.

A rather lovely bar maiden passed by and Nateo stopped her with a hand on her elbow. "Sposian Ale if you would, love." He told her with a smile. "I'll be sitting over there." He gestured to a table where a group of rather rough characters were playing some kind of dice game.

He then strode over, very much like he owned the place, and took an empty chair at the table. "So, what are we playing today, gentles?" He asked.

 

[Rocho]

Maiven told him that he'd be fine as long as he was with them. Which was fair but, he still wasn't sure. "If you say so." he said simply. He'd follow in, he took note of her comment about a fight. In all truth, he'd love to. But that'd possible threaten the future fight. And he wouldn't have that. He had patience, he was a hunter, it was necessary.

Nateo seemed perfectly fine as they entered. Rocho kept his eyes searching about, but no more then he would normally. And sat down at the bar. His back was turned, his senses were not. He was very attuned to the forces warnings. Making sure that if someone was approaching him, he knew. Rocho "Eh, gimme a cup of one of those." he grunted pointing to the drink and tossing a number of credits on the counter that he was quite sure was maybe just a little too much.

He noted that the male Chiss seperated from the group. Heading to play some game. Presumably for research. But who knows.

 

[Thraztin]

As Nateo wandered off into the bar, Maiven approached the counter with Rocho .

"Hey, if anyone gives you trouble in here just call me. I'll be in the back" She patted the Trandoshan on the shoulder and moved around the bar, following the bartender into a curtained doorway in the back. The bartender said nothing on the way in, and remained quiet as he bowed and quickly retreated from the man sitting at the far wall of the room.

"Hello Maiven. It's been... too long," the Chiss man motioned for his guards to exit the room. When the room contained only him and Maiven, he gestured for her to take a seat at his table. The room was smokey, dim-lit, and contained little but a wine rack and a table. On the table, a hologram projector of a dancing Twi'lek played. It was difficult to get real exotic dancers out to Csilla, so the man sufficed. "I thought I'd almost lost contact with the defense force."

"You couldn't lose us if you tried Midethi." Maiven switched off the holo-projector.

Midethi had been with the CEDF since before Maiven was even born. He was an old man with his fingers in every pocket and his knife in every back down here in the Csaplar underworld. Luckily something decades ago had made him use his influence for the betterment of the Chiss people. He had turned himself in to the police for crimes that have since been erased from the data banks and forgotten by all but him. The CEDF turned him into an undercover asset and he'd been working faithfully since. Nobody really knew his ends, but some knew his means.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of my favorite defense force doll?" he smiled.

"You flatter me, but I'm not here on official business. I'm hoping you can still help me though," Midethi's eyebrows peaked with interest,

"You might know that Dobias is bounty hunter's business now. I've brought a few down here to catch him."

"So you want me tell you where he is. You know better than anyone that I help my friends... so trust me when I say I don't rightly know where the man is hiding. You didn't come to wrong place, however. I assume you brought the Trandoshan?" He said. He could see Rocho's large frame through the crack in the curtains.

"If you brought muscle like that, I have faith you'll be able to... muscle out some info in the bar." He said mimicking the action of a headlock and chuckling. "Now, lets catch up a bit darling, what galaxy spanning work have you been doing."

Maiven poured a glass of wine and chuckled. "Well, I guess I have time to tell that story..."

 

[Nateo]

The game was Ramshackle. Nateo smiled widely, he knew it from his youth. It had been a popular game with miners of his clan. Essentially the game worked like this: One player in each round was the Ram. The Ram didn't take part in the betting. Instead, they rolled six, six-sided dice.

1...3...2...2...1...2

Next to the Ram sat Nateo, which made him the first Shackle.

"Minimum bet is 10." The Chiss playing the role of the Ram told him.

"10, it is." Nateo answered easily. By calling the bet, he earned the right to roll three of his own dice.

6...1...1...

The idea was for every die of his that matched the Ram's, he would get that many points at the end of the game. Two points, Nateo thought to himself. Not too bad for an opening.

The next three players all called, increasing the pot to 40 and each then rolled their first three dice consecutively with the results as follows:

5...4...1 = 1 point.
3...4...3 = 1 points.
1...1...6 = 2 points.

The turn then came back to the Ram, who would then re-roll three of his dice at random, which changed their rolls to:

1...3...4...2...5...5

Nateo resisted the urge to groan. His two point hand had now dropped to a single point and the player next two players now had three points and two points respectively. "Raise to 20." He said, tossing the credit chits into the pile. Betting allowed him the honor of rolling his last two dice, which he did for a result of:

3...5... which, when added to his original rolls became 6...1...1...3...5 equaling three points in total.

The next player called and rolled: 5...4 which when added to his original rolls became 5...4...1...5...4 equaling four points.

The following player also called and rolled: 5...6... which became 3...4...3...5...6 equaling three points.

The final player, having only a single point decided to fold with a huff.

Returning to the Ram, the player then nodded to the player two places to Nateo's left and said, "Choose." By having the most points on the table, he was allowed to choose which two dice the Ram would re-roll. Once those dice were rolled, the round would end and whoever had the most points would win the pot.

"Let's re-roll the 3 and the 2," He said. The Ram did so changing the results to 1...2...4...3...5...5.

Funnily enough, all that succeeded in doing was rearranging the two numbers but changing none of the overall values. The player who'd chosen which dice to roll laughed out loud and declared "Ramshackle!" As he grabbed the pot. Some of the others at the table groaned a little, but Nateo stayed quiet. Next would be his turn to play the Ram. The game would move quickly with Nateo winning the next two subsequent pots, all the while keeping an eye on Rocho as he stood at the bar and on Maiven who had seemed to disappear to the back-ostensibly to talk to her contact.

 

[Rocho]

Rocho took a swig of the drink, glancing as Maiven told him to call her if anyone gave him trouble. Wasn't really much for him to do here but sit around unless he was going to start threatening people, he was pretty sure Chiss weren't known for being exceptionally friendly to outsiders, but then again, he hadn't actually met that many of them. So that did pose problems as far as understanding their intentions and culture. So instead, he sat still, glancing side to side, all the while focusing his ears. At least, as well as he could. One of his ears had in fact healed incorrectly on the inside as a child and he'd never been able to have it fixed, mainly because he never informed people. So he was much more limited on that side. However, when he used the force, that did rather enhance his abilities in general. So he could still hear almost everything going on even with the reduction.

He took another swig of the drink, eyeing the glass thoughtfully and glancing around the bar. This wasn't the most impressive establishment, but he'd definitely been to worse. So he wouldn't really criticise them. He turned around leaning his back against the counter and glanced around the room, occasionally he'd lock eyes with someone and just wait for them to finally look away before moving on. He ended up watching the game that Nateo was playing. He'd never been one for gambling, it just wasn't his style.

However, he wondered if Nateo was intent on gambling the entire time. Or if he was the type who was willing to cheat. He kept an eye on it, trying to see if he could tell if the Chiss was going to the force to alter the dice results at any point. He took another chug of his drink, nearly emptying it as he did so, and then scratched his neck in thought. If he could see the type of man this Nateo was, he might have a better insight into what he was going to do when they finally came across their target.

 

[Thraztin]

Maiven enjoyed her talk with Midethi, but it wouldn't be her last and she needed to leave. She stood up from the chair and left back into the bar.

She approached Rocho , "Did you or Nateo find anything at all while I was gone, 'cause I sure as hell didn't." she sighed.

She began studying the room, looking for anyone she might know that could have info...

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OOC: Hey guys, I swear I didn't forget about this. I originally stepped back so you guys could take a bit more control of the story, but then you didn't. After that things got busy at uni and I didn't have time to RP on here as much. Hope I didn't kill the interest in the thread!