Bastards & Dreams

[Arage Bao]

Nar Shaddaa
Jimmy’s

Jimmy was dead. No one really knew what had happened. One moment he was still with us, the other he was suddenly gone - some scramblers found his body submerged in one of the canals, bullet hole decorating his forehead. Ain’t a pleasant sight, ‘least that was what they told me. New owner turned up though, name was Khaleel Malvern, heh. Yeah, that’s me. Now you might be getting suspicious, but hear me out here, I ain’t done nothing wrong… strictly speaking.

Got an alibi and all that beauty, so if ya wanna try and pin something on me, you go ahead and try. Or you can just come on in and get yourself a drink, if you do though. Keep your pretenses and bullcrap outta the door, we ain’t here for that. We are here to get some booze, maybe some food and just enjoy our lives as long as we have it on us.

Anyway. I was wiping the counter of the bar, had been a long night and all that. Good night too. Cash had been flowing in and protection money had been paid. Wasn’t really expecting anyone else today, would probably finish the counter and then close up shop for tonight. Gotta get some shut eye, been a while.

Comes to show that in the end, shet ain’t going according to plan always. Never does though, so why queen and moan about it.

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

Jimmy's an old friend of mine. Well, I say friend but really he would just get me some jobs and let me take people in in his bar. I haven't heard about Jimmy's death, or his bar's new ownership by one [member="Khaleel Malvern"]. The entrance still says "Jimmy's" in bright neon letters on the outside, so I never think for a moment he won't be in there, waiting for my prey to get in the bar. Until I go in there and for whatever reason, Jimmy ain't there. I'd sent him a message telling him to hook up a Trandoshan named Blassh with the "Private Deluxe Suite" so I can meet him in private and do the job but he just passes into the bar, no special treament.

Needless to say this is bad. Very bad. Blassh is already on to me and he's a tough customer. Round two-meters high, armed to the teeth, armed with his teeth, and here I am with no drugged drinks to quiet him down a bit. I sigh and head over to the bar. Jimmy's gonna get an arse-chewin if I figure out he's left for that green twi'lek dame again. Sitting down at the bar I call over the bartender, blondish fellow with black stubble on his face.

"Where's that Lorrdian son of a bantha? Did he try to leave town for that twi'lek chick again?"

 

[Arage Bao]

Was drying off a glass when this fella walks, has a swagger on him, not arrogance I wouldn’t say. Just that right amount of patience and calm that tells me this guy was Kin. Tells me enough. Put the glass away and study him, kin or not… things can get messy here with no doubt. Trandoshan was a different story altogether. Kept an eye on him too.

Ambassador was closeby, any of ‘em make funny business? Well nothing a bullet to the head won’t heal up. Ask Jimmy, he knows that particular treatment.

‘Jim’s dead, bud. Drink?’ question was to both of ‘em. Figured not everyone was in the loop yet, wouldn’t be too long with people starting to waltz into his- my territory I am guessing. Can’t really help it. Just gotta deal.

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

The matter-of-fact way he states it get to me. Jimmy is gone, kicked the bucket, riding that fluffy bantha in netherworld in the company of dozens of cafarel. Nah, he's probably just an empty body right now. Where ever he is though? He ain't helping me.

"Yeah, I'll take a glass of Juma Juice." I tell the bartender. No point in talking about it now I guess. "So you the new owner now? If you are I'd like to-"

"Double ssshot of wookiee's pelt." Blassh says as he sits on the barstool next to mine. His frame is wide, powerful, and as he flexes his elbows out he's bowing against my body. Kark. He probably knows who I am.

"Hey now Lizard-breath, let a man have some space now." I tell him, trying to play it like the typical angry bar-goer, but one of my hands is getting closer to my holster. Just in case.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Tacitus Zambrano"]

Want a straw with it? Didn’t say it though. Gotta understand, Jimmy hadn’t been an amicable fella, coldest, hardest bastard I ever laid my eyes on. So the fact that this guy seemed so easy with referring to him told me one of two things, either [member="Tacitus Zambrano"] was tougher (which I doubted) or they were somehow friendly with each other.

Means I gotta be at least a bit diplomatic, if the guy just lost a friend.

That’s when the rumble started, should have figured really. It would soon turn into a whole riot if I didn’t step in.

The sound of a gun cocked permeated through the establishment.

Neither the fella with the swagger nor the titan would actually see a gun, it was probably aimed at them from beyond the counter. If it had enough stopping power to burst through the counter? It would have enough stopping power to blast their heads away.

‘You want to dance, go do it outside. I just moped.’ and then I waited.

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

"I do what I damn well-" The Transdoshan starts before sound of a gun being cocked throughout Blassh and my ears. Sounds like a slugthrower to me, heavy duty. He doesn't like he's dedicating both his hands too it so it's a pistol. I don't know about the Tenloss beauty that is the Ambassador just yet, but I've heard of such things. Slugthrowers that use magnetic or energy properties to put a lot more force in a pistol than you should be able to normally. But in honesty, that doesn't matter. What matters is the guy's face. It's completely serious. like he's not playing around and he know's he'll come out on top.

"You're not worth thisss kind of trouble." The Transodoshan hisses at me.

"I think I am." I say to him, not backing down despite the Transdoshan having at least a ten centimeter and 20 kilogram advantage on me. "Bartender's right, why don't we take this outside?" The Transdoshan looks at him incredulously.

"You will regret thisss human." He says and gets up out of his barstool, heading towards the door. I get up too but walk just a little slower, the pull out my E-11 and shoot. Wonderful thing about E-11's is they can shoot lethal and stun. Good 'ole movie canon. The ring of blue let's out a noise, most of the bar turns to see what happens then goes back to their business a the Transdoshan falls to the floor unconscious. I may or may not have had half my head removed by now, but the Bartender said he didn't want a mess. I didn't give him one. Hope that was enough.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Tacitus Zambrano"]

Didn’t take the shot, didn’t feel right. Call it that bullcrap hoodoo magicka jedi stuff, call it gut feeling, call it whatever ya wanna call it, but the end result was the same. Guy’s head very much intact and no hole smoking through it, honestly… it would have only cost me more moping around with a broom.

Last thing I wanted to do.

Took a lingering look at the body, before putting the revolver back in its place and starting to work on the drink the guy had ordered me.

‘How much?’

Wasn’t about the drink, was about how much the bounty would rack in and what kind of cut I would get from allowing him to do it on my turf.

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

"Jimmy got twenty but he was a jackass." I say to him. "How bout twenty five?" I assume this guy is the owner at this point. Decent street smarts to him asking for a cut first and not what was up. Unafraid of big scaley's messin around his bar. IF he didn't run the place he would soon. Least if he had any of that cutthroat ambition to him. I lean over the transdoshan and start pulling his hands together and putting some cuffs on him before going through his pockets. Holdout blaster in his right jacket pocket, wallet in back left pocket, a couple powercells in his left front pocket and a thermal detonator in his front right. I pocket the powercells and the wallet but toss him the holdout blaster and the thermal detonator.

"Now why would a guy come to a bar carrying a couple of these?" I ask hi, and he should know why. That hold-out was small but strong, the kind of thing a guy used for a hold-up, and the grenade? A way to make sure nobody shoot you on the way out, especially if it had a deadman's trigger.

 

[Arage Bao]

'Done.' here was the thing, I could probably have asked for more, maybe should have had. But I ain't been around these parts for a while now, the Bloody-Nine was only a minor player in when I had been around. Which meant one simple this, I didn't have a fancy rep to protect me and e new bar I owned. Jimmy's turf had been substantial, with his death? People were scrambling to take a piece of that, old gangs, new ones forming... chaos, it was a difficult time as a new guy. Wasn't all that worried though, because it was also the opportune time to carve out something yourself.

Which brought me back to accepting the guy's bargain, he was efficient, didn't just kill for fun and had a pleasant manner about him. Which put him head above the rest of the scum frequenting here, that meant something. Even if I wasn't entirely too sure what it meant yet, would come to me though, eventually. Caught hold of the blaster and the detenator, and then grunted in acknowledgment.

Yeah, I knew what it meant and it only tied into what I said before. Nobody would have fekked around with explosives in Jimmy's joint when he had been alive. Tenacious situation indeed. I made the two items disappear, was no need to make the customers concerned.

I looked pointedly at the big lizard, before speaking again. 'When you are done with Scales you got that drink waiting on ya.'

[member="Tacitus Zambrano"]

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

I smile. Jimmy actually got thirty-five, but he was a jackass. I'm not gonna shell out that much if I don't have to. Maybe if things go well with this dude I'll raise his share later. The quickness in his tone though, desperation perhaps? There was no way he was experienced in running things. Nobody made a deal without haggling a little on Nar Shadda. Makes me wonder if he's planning on stabbing me in the back. I take a look around, no one seems out of the ordinary. Security's obvious, the bar-goers look to be bar-goers. If he's got some hired goon around to take him down he hired some damn good ones. I just keep on putting on the Force cuffs on his wrists and ankles, pull his dang heavy body and park it next to me on the bar. I take the drink and down it, then look over to the Transdoshan.

Why the hell didn't I get a muzzle for a reptilian species? I think to myself. No changing it now I guess.

"So am I supposed to call you 'Jimmy' or you got a name all your own?" I say and look at my glass. Juma Juice isn't as strong as I remember it to be.

"Something a bit stronger this time."

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]