Gold

[Arage Bao]

TION'S MOON​

FIRST BANK OF TION​

​

Tion, oceans, beaches, beautiful scenery, it wasn't exactly an obvious connection to the rest of the Tion Cluster. A cesspit of human supremacy, imperialism and every other thing that the Galactic Empires have tried to push onto galactic society across centuries and more. But Daro wasn't cruising for a pretty holiday on the beaches of Tion today, no, instead he was on one of its moons.

The dirty, industrialized city-covered moon with smog bellowing out into the atmosphere from every single direction.

It was Nar Shaddaa, but instead of honest crime the criminals got away with things, because the law was on their side. Sadly, Daro wasn't here today to exact vengeance or even justice. He was simply here to make a deposit. Even outlaws and vagabonds needed places to deposit their goods. Daro had about a dozen major accounts across the Galaxy, from Muunilinst to Sullust to even Tion. All of them were rainy day accounts- the sort of thing he could tap and then disappear, if that became necessary. So even though he might have had enough coin to retire to a palace barge of his own (Jim would love that)... Daro didn't.

Didn't seem right.

He was in the queue.

Long one.

Been a long day too, he had probably been standing here, shuffling for over thirty minutes now while studying the lady in front of him. Oh, not in that way, even though- no, it was her hat, really nifty one too.

Good quality.

"I like your hat, miss." Daro finally broached to [member="Tryp West"]. "Very vintage, Outer Rim spacer style." Truth to be told both of them stuck out like a sore thumb. Most of the people in attendance today were those kind of people. Haughty, nose up in dere arse, stuff like that. Only reason Daro was here was 'cus the rates were exceptional. Bank of Tion was still trying to out-compete the Banking Clans since their strange shift away from Muunilinst.

They might even be successful with rates like that.

 

[Tryp West]

"Tanks!" Came the easy reply, paired with a lazy smile.

"Vintage look, yeh, but ya kin git one from Chase..... uh.... I dunno where dey're located, but dey 'ave a cat'log."

She took the hat off (hat head distinct underneath) and turned around half way to offer it to him. Oh, not for keeps, just to look.

"Got int'grated comms, protects yer 'ead, da goggles'r great. Very useful 'at," she said with a crooked grin.

Obviously, Tryp West liked her hat and was perfectly content to sing its praises.

It was, after all, a good hat.

"Yers, now, yers is vintage, ain't it?"

With the long line not really moving, but a potential conversation about hats (what wasn't to like?), Tryp turned halfway around to give the man behind her a once over. Shifting the satchel on her shoulder (currency exchange in the galaxy these days was a shutta) she was relaxed. The last couple of months had been rough, but this was 'civilized' space. Not somewhere she wanted to stay, life got boring. But it was nice as a change of pace sometimes.

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Tryp West"]

He wore gloves.

But even with them gloves he was careful to accept the edge of the hat from the other side and give it a good look. His thumb rubbed the lid, testing the texture with a soft press before leaning in to inspect the goggles attached to them. "Deflex, huh? Heard about it, haven't seen much of it yet." Daro murmured before giving the goggle glass just a soft tick that produced a little high-pitched twang.

"Ohh, Rylith? Must'a been quite expensive indeed." Handing it over was quite easy though- mostly because it wasn't his hat. Which meant that it didn't have even a tenth of the value as far as Daro was concerned.

Only one hat mattered.

They took a step forward as the next person stepped forward towards the counter. "Mhm, been with me for a lifetime or two daresay it." This time his thumb brushed the textile of his own hat.

But one thing Tryp would notice is that he didn't move to offer his to her in return.

"Say- you look familiar." Head tilted just a bit when she looked back to him as they talked. "Have ya ever been locked outta your datapad and called me to unlock it?" No, probably not, that wasn't something Daro did at all. But the joke of it was enough for him. He did feel like he knew her though. Just something in the eyes, something in the way she phrased things.

Odd, that.

 

[Tryp West]

She noticed- both the gloves and the hat thing, but wasn't particularly fashed by it. She'd offered the hat without the expectation that he'd offer his. A hat was a personal thing, after all, and only the person who belonged to it could decide who and when to pass it over.

"Yep, good eye," she responded to the comments about the hat, accepting it back from him and settling it back comfortably. "Always good ta 'ave somet'in like dat. Dis one replaced one dat took care o' me fer years, right up 'til the end. Got crashed by some raiders. Was a good 'at too."

Literally in that case.

When he commented about being familiar, she gave his face a bit closer scrutiny.

"Huh. 'Aven't, nah, but yer right. Ya look familiar ta me too."

Not in a 'I know this face' sort of way, but more in a resemblance sort of way.

"Ya got any kids? Cause might be dat."

He looked more like the relative of someone she might have met, rather than someone she'd met directly. That wasn't quite right either, but it was the closest she could figure.

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Tryp West"]

"Raiders, eh? Tough cookie- ain't many coming outta things like that alive and well." Daro drawled relaxed as settled himself in a slightly more comfortable position, mostly because his little eye did spy that the next in the queue was already making a fuss about this or that. It would probably take just a bit longer than the other ones, but at the very least this was relatively pleasant conversation-

Well.

There was old sadness that emerged behind those eyes.

No pain, just the tired sad that signified time spend 'healing' (or some approximation of it) and letting the wounds scab over. All that remained was tired resolve and exhaustion at the end of it. But the sadness disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. "No, can't say that I have." There was obviously more to it than that, but Daro wasn't expanding on it and instead let his eyes drift back towards the front of the line.

"Might be we just have one of 'em faces, ya?" Just a small drift upwards of the corner of the mouth. Barely a smile, but it was recovering.

 

[Tryp West]

"Utapau was a hell of a day," she agreed amicably.

Tryp wasn't an empath like Jack, but she was pretty good at reading people. The flicker over his face wasn't lost on her. She didn't know of course, but there were a distressingly small number of options that might have induced that, and Tryp just nodded, keeping her smile easy and relaxed. She couldn't have known it would trigger something, so she didn't beat herself up, but she filed it away, like she did with everything. Not as a source of information to use, but a tidbit to respect and walk gently near.

"Must be," she said with a smile and a nod. "Dey say e'rryone 'as seven doubles wandering the stars, right? Or is it more? I dunno."

A trio of people brushed past them, heading toward the front of the line. Tryp arched an eyebrow.

"Ey, line's over 'ere, fellas," she called.

And was entirely ignored.

"Uhhhhhhh, chit."

It was only a heartbeat of time for realization before one of them pulled a slug thrower out from beneath his coat and fired it three times into the air.

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Tryp West"]

"Heard about that one. Heard ya send the Mandos crying home that day, I approve."

Heavily.

Before any of that could go further those trio came walking by and everything turned to chit two moments later. The gun shots caused everyone to drop down, two of them kept crowd-control under their wing as they aimed their rifles at the two guards- they immediately raised their heads. There was an... order to this thing, a kind of procedure, all of this was insured after all.

It was best to lose some coin now and stick with ya life than the other way 'round.

With this in mind Daro was already on his knees, hands on his hat. They were instructed, roughly, towards the side of the desk and stay there. Another one vaulted over said desk and started bossing the receptionists around.

Always the same story...

Money, money, money.

But none of that really concerned Tarsi- not when he noticed the set of Tryp's jaw. "Ya ain't the stupid kind, right?" Daro murmured softly while keeping his eyes looking forward.

 

[Tryp West]

"'Pends on 'oo ya ask," she said, a little grimly.

Tryp generally considered herself a decent sort. Not a white hat, not a hero, but generally decent. She also considered herself generally pragmatic. The money in the bank? She didn't give a womp rats arse about that. But she kept a wary eye on how they were waving those guns around.

She was scooted up next to Daro, her own satchel firmly behind her back.

"Only git stupid when people might git 'urt," she muttered, shifting to get it farther behind her, hopefully without drawing attention.

Honestly, even if they decided to go through the line and take personal valuables, Tryp wouldn't make a scene. Sure, she needed that money, but not as much as she needed her life.

Money could be replaced.

Her jaw set a little tighter when one of them started manhandling the receptionist, tears springing to the woman's eyes. But even from here, she could tell it was mostly intimidation. It wasn't about the cruelty of it, it was to strong arm her, rather than hurt her. Scare her.

Well, they were managing that just fine.

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Tryp West"]

Fear... now fear was a funny thing.

For some it encouraged them to act smart and think of their survival, but push too far and there is a chance of dumb flooding into the system. Who could have known that the receptionist being man-handled right now was a lady who the male receptionist was currently having a crush on. So, dumb settled in once the tears started and the guy set his jaw in a very manly stupid way.

It was but a single gesture.

A finger snaking up and press.

It was done.

Silent alarm, but Daro knew- he had been tapped into the security system from the moment he walked into the building. That hadn't anything to do with being malicious, but everything to do with being curious and paranoid. He hadn't been expecting it though- just before he could crush that fething alarm it had already gone out into the world and tipped off the local law enforcement.

Daro cursed, drawing an eye from Tryp but he shook his head. "Realized I left mah water running, don't want this to get late." He murmured quickly with a crooked grin as he studied the reactions of the thugs.

They were gathering up all the money from the opened vault and were already rounding up the visitors.

"Valuables in the bag, credit chits, jewelry, everything, don't get brave 'ere!" One of them shouted while slowly walking past with a bag.

 

[Tryp West]

"Fark," Tryp muttered.

She didn't want to give up what she had on her. It represented two months' pay and the last she needed to replace her ship. That didn't mean she wouldn't, just that ugh she did not want to. Keeping the satchel behind her back, she fished out the random credits she had in her pockets, ready to make a show of handing them over- she didn't think it would help, but she also didn't think they'd shoot her as long as if they called her on it she handed it over. Didn't feel like that kind of group.

Of course, that all changed.

One of them looked up from a comm he'd been glued to this whole time.

"T-Sec enroute!"

"ETA?"

"Uhhhhhh"

The sound of sirens outside answered that.

One of them jerked his head, the other heading toward the doors.

"CHANGE OF PLANS LADIES AND GENTS AND WHATEVER YOU ARE YOU SQUID FACED MOTHERKARKER!"

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Tryp West"]

They were awfully well-prepared for a bunch of bank robbers.

The first thing they did was start splitting up the crowd, utilizing the rooms in the back to separate them into smaller groups that were easier to manage. They were rougher now, hitting with the stock of the rifles were necessary and when things weren't moving along as quickly as they wanted it. They wanted it very fast too.

One of them snatched Daro's hat as he passed. "Hey now, das my-" he got a stomach full of a butt as a reward for that.

Causing him to double over, trying to suck in air through gritted teeth, trying to keep himself on his feet because Daro wasn't sure what they would do if he fell down. Slowly he managed to waggle along, following the track of people into one of the rooms.

The tears of pain springing up at the edges of eyes were ignored as was their laughter following him.

He crumbled finally and groaned, but behind the pain there was anger now. Smouldering fury that was usually only reserved for the Hutts.

 

[Tryp West]

She'd watched with gritted teeth. There wasn't anything she could do, not without risking lives. The man who's snatched Daro's hat caught the expression and made a kissy face at her. Nose wrinkling brought laughter from him as he held out his hand.

"Satchel ma'am," he drawled, tipping Daro's hat. "Then in with the rest o' em."

Frowning, she shoved it at him, eliciting a hoot.

It was just money- she wasn't mad about that part.

As the door closed behind them, she hurried over to [member="Daro Tarsi"].

"Ey, ya okay?"

She looked down, worried, before scanning the office they'd been locked into with four other people. Half of the crying, one of them fuming, and the last shell shocked. Awesome.

"Come on, les getchu sitting up," she murmured, gloved hands offering help and support to reach a sitting position.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Tryp West"]

He groaned but with her help managed to sit up a bit straight.

T'was the pain and the anger that caused him not to pay too much attention to the touch. Usually he was more concerned about it- luckily they got through it okay, both of them gloved as they were and that was for the best. "Ya, s'fine, pride more than anything." Daro managed to grumble out before leaning more heavy against the wall behind him with one hand pressing tight against his gut.

Wasn't a lie.

It was painful, but he didn't have the feeling that these people were interested in causing permanent damage.

Not yet anyway, not until they were driven into a corner.

"Fethin' idiots, da bank is insured. There was no reason to ring the cops." Daro managed get out between heavy breaths. But part of him was already scanning through the walls, seeing what they were up to and more importantly... what kind of tech was laying around that he could make use of. His pride demanded an answer. Sure, but it was... the hat that made him go from grumbling to action.

"How ya?"

 

[Tryp West]

Tryp shrugged, rocking back on her heels.

"Poorer den I was dis mornin', but dat's life, ya know?"

Money came and money went. Tryp was lucky and she knew it. She had people who cared about her, family in every sense of the word, both blood and chosen. Skills that would always eventually be in demand somewhere. A temporary drop in personal wealth? That's all it was. She knew she'd swing back up again given some time and with the help of the people she cared about. She had a support network. Not everyone else did.

Yeah, Tryp was lucky.

She looked up, following his gaze around. It was a large office- desks, chairs, a console, a couch (currently taken up by a pair of males, one twil'ek and one chiss, comforting each other).

"Whatcha looking fer?" She asked, a little warily. "YA ain't da stupid kind either, right?"

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Tryp West"]

He grunted in response to that.

Fethers.

In truth Daro wouldn't have given a feth just a minute ago- not cus he didn't like Tryp or anything. He liked her fine for a lady he had only met two minutes ago and didn't even know the name of yet, but Daro Tarsi had made an image out of himself. Then a reputation to boot. Don't join sides, keep ya head down and just earn the money while the Galaxy slowly moved around you.

It had worked out for him well.

The memory of being poor, barely enough to rub two credits together were fading... even if they were (by retrospect) some of the brightest memory he had left. "Dey got mah hat, ma'am." Daro silently responded to her question. There was a set to his jaw, an intensity that pierced straight through the blurry eye that wasn't a cybernetic and underlined one fact.

That hat was important to him and he wouldn't leave that alone.

Never.

"S'far as wha I am looking for," His drawl was getting heavier- might have been cus of the anger and pain or maybe Daro was trying to push those same emotions away with it. "See dis?"

He looked her in the eye and Tryp would notice the red shine suddenly in his cyber-eye.

"They might close us up, but they ain't hiding nuthin' from me."

 

[Tryp West]

Okay, so he was a little the stupid kind.

It was a hat. Yeah sure it was a nice hat, but it was a hat. Tryp had personal rules about putting safety over things. There wasn't an item out in the black that mattered enough to risk your life over. Stuff was just stuff. There were people she'd run into a burning building for, but a possession? Nah.

And as far as she was concerned, this was the karmic equivalent of running into a burning building. The difference was that he was potentially dragging several other people with him. She glanced over to the others in the room then back at him.

The obvious view of his cybernetics didn't cause her to bat an eye. Her own were hidden by the jacket, though, so he couldn't have known just how unresponsive she'd be to his show and tell.

Right now, Tryp had a choice to make. Keep an eye on this guy and try to mitigate damage, or wash her hands of it.

Inwardly, she sighed.

"Whatcha gonna do, den? Jes' watch 'em t'ro dah door?"

[member="Daro Tarsi"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Tryp West"]

Daro snorted.

"Naw, das just da first step, ma'am-" Suddenly he blinked and glanced back over to her with a quizzical look followed close-by with embarrassment. Nah, not embarrassment, that was too strong an emotion- just a bit of awkwardness at his lack of manners. "Usually I got better manner- aight, maybe not, but I am Daro Tarsi." A hand extended itself, the organic one, for a quick shake before he went back to what he was doing. Maybe she would give him her name... maybe not?

That wasn't really the point as far as he was concerned.

He wasn't owed a name, but he owed it to himself to tell his.

Especially if this was gonna go bad. Which it could- definitely could, but that was something else Tryp would have noticed in his eyes. He didn't seem to care. "But yah, first step is da reconnaissance..." Drawling that long word out with some rough around the edges.

"-den we figure out da sabotage."

The bright red of his eye shifted to purple as Daro switched visual modes.

In truth he didn't even need to have that light be visible, but it was more for Tryp than anything else.