Private A Simple Cargo Transfer

[Nalah Tezan]

"We're looking at four crates, they shouldn't be back-breaking to move but that's too much to just tote around on our shoulders." Nalah knew that physically toting around that much cargo was going to be a hard sell, but they didn't have a lot of options, even if these goods weren't dangerous Outer Rim clients never took missed shipments well.

"I wouldn't worry too much, the warehouse isn't far from the spaceport, we should be able to make it inside no problem." She was trying to reassure herself as much as Gatz, she knew this was a risky maneuver but it was the only plan she had. "Unless you've got a better idea."

Gatz Derrevar

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

"Just four? Doesn't sound too bad, actually."

Sure, they'd still have to use a hover pallet. Nalah was right when she'd said that they couldn't exactly carry the cargo on their shoulders. Even so, loading a mere four crates wouldn't take any time at all. There was still the problem of sneaking it out undetected, but Gatz hoped that moving during the wee hours of the morning would help in that regard. Yeah, Tyrena certainly had a nightlife culture, what city of this size didn't? But there would still be far fewer prying eyes than if they'd tried to sneak out in the middle of the day.

"No better idea here," Gatz shook his head, "besides, it's your job. We do it the way you want to do it. I'm just the delivery driver."

Gatz leaned back on the bed, tucking his hands behind his head. With the location and size of the shipment out of the way, all there was to do was pass time until it was late enough for them to sneak out unnoticed.

"The real question is: what do you want to do in the meantime? We've got a few hours to kill," Gatz threw in a wink for good measure.

Usually that got him slapped, though.

---

Nalah Tezan

 

[Nalah Tezan]

"It always sounds easy, until you're in the middle of it."

That was something of an inside-thought, but it was also true, four crates sounded easy to move until you were looking at the actual boxes, wondering how you were going to sneak them around town in the dead of night. Nalah had used her grounding to subtly scope the local area for the best delivery route, but that wasn't a guarantee of security. They would just have to take the proverbial plunge and try not to land on their heads.

"Yes, well, as compensation for being my delivery boy, you'll be getting the back-half of the payment I was due. I got mine upfront, and I'm keeping it as collateral for making me jump through hoops like this."

As part of the arrangement to cover her backside and keep her contacts happy, she agreed to waive any further payment on the job until things cooled down around Tyrena. It stung, but a set of stuncuffs hurt worse and now that she was actually speaking with Gatz she was fine with him getting a decent cut, he seemed like a good pilot to have on speed-holo. The flirting was pretty cute too.

"My my my, aren't we confident? That's quite a lot of time to spend getting to know each other better. I think I'm on the same page..." She teased back, before sliding a hand down toward her thigh-high boot and...

...producing a deck of physical sabacc cards.

"How about a friendly game?"

Gatz Derrevar

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

"It's more exciting when things get complicated anyways."

That was pure bravado. Gatz did not want any complications on this job. Not when he was at risk of Corsec flagging him as an accomplice to smuggling illicit goods. This wasn't the first time Gatz had taken a job on Corellia: in fact, he came here semi-regularly for work. Thing was, his job relied on discretion, and blending in. It was hard to be discreet when you were on a wanted list. It would certainly stop him from ever transporting anything to the planet again, if they got caught.

He supposed they better not get caught, then.

"And here I thought my compensation was getting to spend an evening with you. But if you insist, I'll take that back-half of the payment."

And then Nalah made the slow movement to start removing clothing. Gatz, genuinely, blinked in surprise. He wasn't half as suave as he liked to pretend he was. His flirting worked on the average barmaid and waitress, but it had never gotten him anywhere with a gal who lived a scoundrel's life. He honestly wasn't sure what he should do. Go along with it? Or tell her he was mostly just flirting for fun, and that he wasn't actually expecting anything.

Before he opened his mouth, Nalah's hand dove into her boot... and then she pulled out a deck of cards. Sabacc.

Oh.

"Sure," Gatz winked at her, because he couldn't let her know he'd almost lost his cool, "tell you what: ditch the boots, and I might even refrain from cheating."

Yeah. That sounded smooth... or something.

---

Nalah Tezan

 

[Nalah Tezan]

Nalah figured playing along might have gotten Gatz briefly excited or even flustered, but when she started to reach for her cards and he went briefly bug-eyed she couldn't help but grin that cat who'd eaten the convor. Clearly he wasn't expecting any level of reciprocation, even if it was a little act designed to tease him, and for that small flash his stunned expression was absolutely priceless. Not to mention how quickly he tried to regain his cool afterward.

"Of course, we should get more comfortable." Nalah had no intention of getting serious private time with Gatz, but she was never one to pass up a free chance to mess with someone. She practically peeled her long leather boots and embroidered vest off, dropping them aside casually before sauntering over to the bed and taking a seat next to Gatz.

"Feel free to cheat as much as you want, it'll give you a chance." She continued to tease as she produced a pair of chance cubes from her back pocket. "Do you know how to play Corellian Spike?"

Gatz was likely the better pilot, but Nalah was not to be underestimated with a deck of cards, and figured a little cheating wouldn't throw her off her game.

Gatz Derrevar

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Unexpectedly, Nalah complied with his panicked response. Long leather boots were peeled away, revealing long legs that held Gatz's gaze longer than was acceptable. Next came the vest, but this time, Gatz managed to be a civilized adult and not gawk at the Zygerrian as she shed unneeded layers of clothing. This was not how this night was supposed to actually go. They should have spent time eyeing each other warily. suspecting foul play or betrayal from the other scoundrel.

Despite what some people claimed, Gatz found that the idea of "honor among thieves" was entirely baseless. No had ever screwed him over as badly as a fellow criminal had. The fact that he was as comfortable around Nalah as he was meant that he was in the perfect position to take a knife in the back. But hey, he liked most forms of Sabaac, Nalah was fun to flirt with, and her legs were nice to look at.

That was worth a vibroknife in the kidneys.

"I've lost more than my fair share of credits at the sabaac table," Gatz confirmed, "Corellian Spike included. So I guess you could say I'm a pro."

He was about to get fleeced by this woman, wasn't he?

---

Nalah Tezan

 

[Nalah Tezan]

Nalah had no intention of selling Gatz out, at least not without very good cause, as the young man seemed like a decent person and was, at the very least, very entertaining to mess with. It would be a shame to leave him in a CorSec cell holding the proverbial bag, so to speak, and she didn't intend for him to end up there as long as he did the same.

"That's the problem right there, you're playing for all the wrong reasons." She said with a smirk, dealing out the first hand of cards. "The best players do it for the conversation, credits are just a pleasant side benefit."

It might have been odd to consider, but Nalah rarely cheated at cards, as she found playing her opponents and not her hand was a quick and effective way to make money. Plus, people usually liked to talk during table games, it became awkward otherwise, and if you paid attention that sort of table chatter could pay more dividends than anything put into the pot.

Gatz Derrevar

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

"And here I thought we smugglers cared only for credits."

Unlike Nalah, Gatz was wont to cheat at cards. And dice. Pretty much anything, really. But the one thing he didn't like to do was cheat an employer. That's how you got a bad reputation amongst the criminal underworld. He was young, and had less than a decade in crime, but the reputation he had built himself was one of reliability and piloting expertise. He didn't want to dash all that hard work, just because he decided to cheat and win a few creds from a pretty girl.

Plus... he hadn't worn his card holders. That would have made it a lot harder to hide cards up his sleeve anyways.

Gatz picked up his first hand of the game, just two cards for the first round. He wanted to immediately cringe, but held his poker face: he was holding a Mistress and a ten. In a normal game of Sabaac, he literally would have won the round with a score of twenty-three. Unfortunately, in Corellian Spike, he wanted to be as close to zero as possible.

If this wasn't an analogy for his luck, then Gatz didn't know what was.

"So what are we betting? Creds or clothes?"

---

Nalah Tezan

 

[Nalah Tezan]

"Conversation is credits, if you pay attention." Was that poetic and slightly pretentious, sure, but part of her usual operations was maintaining an air of cool and mystique, and part of that was saying cryptic things like that.

Not that her observation was a total crock of nonsense, Nalah made her living off connections, rumors, little observations that made navigating the Core Worlds that much simpler, so learning how to listen in conversations was important for her. If you paid close attention, and knew how to guide a conversation, there was a lot of money to be made over a simple hand of cards. Of course, earning regular credits was nice too.

She shuffled out the deck with practiced ease before dealing out two hands, seeing her had ended up the Queen and the 10 of Flasks. Apropos? Certainly, but not exactly a guaranteed winning hand, although her calmly confident expression didn't crack. She glanced over her cards to find Gatz stone-faced, reading over his hand.

"Well you already got me out of my boots, but I'm afraid that's as far as you'll be getting while CorSec is sniffing around my ship." She joked, before laying 20 credits out on the bed between them. "We can play for credits, but lets keep it a low pot shall we? I don't have much tucked away on me."

Gatz Derrevar

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Gatz couldn't refute what Nalah said. Because that was the truth of the underworld: conversation led to money. Talking with other ne'er-do-wells at seedy bars was often how you learned of new opportunities. New people to work for, new credits to be made. Gatz himself had been offered more than a couple of jobs at the Sabaac table. In a way, playing a friendly game was a good way to vette a new contact, or employee.

"That's my preference anyways," Gatz tossed twenty credits in the pot, "I'm here to make money off of you after all, not lose it."

He winked at her, even though internally he was still lamenting his terrible hand. It didn't matter what cards hit the table next, Gatz didn't think he was gonna come closer to a total of zero than Nalah. Not this round, at least. So he was grateful that the Zygerrian wasn't trying to fleece him for all he had. This was, after all, supposed to be a way to pass the time. Not a way to bankrupt one another.

"So," Gatz tried for idle conversation, "tell me: how did a gal like you get into this life?"

A friendly question, from one a scoundrel to another. They all had a story, after all.

---

Nalah Tezan

 

[Nalah Tezan]

"Don't worry, you'll still break a profit when we're done," She began before smirking over her hand. "Just less of a profit."

That was very bold talk for a woman sitting on an 8 out of 0, especially since she couldn't see through the backs of Gatz' cards to see what he was sitting on. Thankfully he didn't seem interested in upping the ante this round, so that meant he probably wasn't sitting on Pure Sabacc, which only left literally every other card combination for him to be holding.

"Me? Would you believe it involved a game of Sabacc?" She said, opting to draw a card from the deck and ending up with The Commander, shooting her already non-winning hand further out of kilter. Not that she showed it, she simply maintained her aloof expression and upped her ante another 10 credits.

"I won my first ship with gambling money in starport cantinas. The thing was a piece of junk, even by YT-1300 standards." The Angel was just Nalah's latest, and admittedly greatest, acquistion of a ship. Unlike some other smugglers, she wasn't overly attached to her vessel and had traded up a few times over the years.

Gatz Derrevar

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

"So long as I can still afford fuel, I guess it's fine."

That was Sabaac for you. Sometimes you walked away with a few extra creds in your pocket. Sometimes you broke even. But most of the time you walked away with a lighter wallet. Gatz hadn't exactly taken this job to play cards, nor to lose money, but it was better than staring at the wall for six hours. Or, well, he supposed that really depended on how much he lost. Good thing they were keeping the pot small.

"Considering that you keep a deck of cards in your boot, no, I'm really not surprised that it involves Sabaac," he snorted.

Gatz took his thid card, the spike card, letting it sit face up as was typical for Corellian Spike. A negative five. At the very least, that put him on the right track, back down to eighteen. It was still a farcry away from zero, though. This hand wasn't going to win him the round. And with Nalah's iron poker face, he had no way of telling what her hand might look like.

"Your dismissal of Corellian engineering hurts me in my soul," Gatz shook his head, "those YT-series ships are workhorses. They can transport cargo onboard, and because it has those front mandibles, it can dock with the rear end of cargo tugs and push them. The cockpit design is great too: as weird as it might be, offsetting it like that means that you can actually look around the tug you're pushing."

Corellia just made better ships. But maybe he was biased, considering that his own VCX-100 was of Corellian make.

---

Nalah Tezan

 

[Nalah Tezan]

Another card was drawn, another Sabacc face was maintained, and Nalah's estimation of Gatz gambling abilities ticked up another notch. The man either knew how to play cards like a dealer droid, or he was sitting on absolutely nothing exciting and couldn't muster a reaction. She had no clue which it was but part of her was excited to find out.

"It was an interesting game to be sure." That was a lie, Nalah had actually just slipped the gambler's skifter off her while she was distracted and challenged her to a game. Winning at that point hadn't been too hard, fleeing to her newly won starship before the disgruntled people she'd hustled caught her was much more exciting.

"Hey, I'm not saying Corellian Engineering doesn't make a tough, heavy-duty ship, but if I just wanted something to move heavy crates I could buy a pack nerf. If you want to fly with style and substance, you buy Soro-Suub, Sullustans know how to make a ship with speed, capacity, and some quality cabin amenities."

Nalah knew hers was a controversial opinion, but she'd always preferred Soro-Suub vessels for her work, which was why the Angel was so dear to her as a vessel.

"What about you, how did you get into the free-trade game?" She asked back, opting to up the ante one last time and trade her Commander for a card from the deck, this time drawing the second Queen card. Her total was now much closer to Sabacc, not perfect, but within much more reasonable striking range.

Gatz Derrevar

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

At this point, sitting on eighteen, Gatz had no choice but to draw another card if he wanted a chance at winning. So he threw two more credits into the pile and drew from the deck. A two. Not a bad card, especially since he had to high cards in his hand to discard. He opted to discard the mistress, replacing it with the two, and bringing his total down to seven. Now that was much closer to zero than he'd thought he'd be.

"I'll take utility of luxury, personally," Gatz shrugged, "but different strokes for different folks, I suppose."

He wouldn't deny that Soro-Suubs were nice. Very nice. Compared to them, Corellian made vessels looked like blocks. But Gatz had found the YT and VCX series to be stubborn workhorses that were still reliable even when there were frayed wires sticking out of the wall panels. Sure, the accomodations were lacking, but that didn't matter much in his line of work.

For Nalah though, who made money sometimes on luxury cruises, he could understand the need for a stylized interior and sleek exterior.

"I needed to make money," Gatz started to explain his own beginnings as a scoundrel, "and my old man had a friend who... dabbled in arranging shipping for not-so-legal goods. One job led to another, and now here I am."

It was simplified version of his past, but it wasn't a lie. Just a truth that omitted some parts, like his Jedi upbringing.

---

Nalah Tezan

 

[Nalah Tezan]

"So being a scoundrel runs in the family?" Nalah had a sense that Gatz was keeping something close to his chest, aside from his cards, but she wasn't interested in prying, partially because she didn't want to dig into his private business, and partially because she was more concerned about their futures than their pasts.

"Alright Gatz, show me what you got." Nalah was sitting on a 6, and at this point taking another card from the deck was far more likely to set her back over the edge than bring her any closer, so she laid out her cards and waited to see what Gatz had been sitting on.

Gatz Derrevar