Meat for the Meat Market.

[Roger Kranos]

Coruscant Underworld, Level 2142
In the market, vicinity to Hangra’s Meat Shack

[SIZE=10.5pt]Steam rose from the interior of the vendor box, though it was more of a circle with an umbrella over top. A display, LED Blue and Green, flashed in holographs above the stand - like a dynamic ephemeral crown. It read off the various specials for the day and given the depth of the Underworld, Kranos assumed it was a special day when the meat wasn’t rodent based and the sauce wasn’t scum from a sewer lid.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]It smelled terrible and not just from Hangra’s. The place was a flea market of similarly, and poorly, constructed vendor stands that sold anything from meat to rotten vegetables. There was even one that specialized in pickling and the products had a depth that surprised the entrepreneur. It wasn’t just food either - there was a motley of data scams and digibrain terminals, robotic salesmen - or women - pawning off other pieces of robots like cannibalistic merchants. There was flavor for everyone.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]“What is this?” Kranos muttered as he pulled free a piece of meat from a skewer. “Tastes like cinnamon...and tumeric.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]“Oh, I don’t know…” The Atrisian replied as he pulled the lid from the top of a wok, sending steam into the upper canopy. He clicked on a red switch, venting the steam out from the rooftop and into the upper 10 meters of the street. “Something fresh, I’m sure.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]“Oh, is that right?” Kranos giggled as he chewed on another piece, the lighting on the board against the center shaft of the vendor stand caught his blue eyes. The way the neon lit lady danced, blipping back and forth from one pose to another, had him entranced.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]“You look out of place here.” The [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]chef [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]leaned forward, sliding a bowl of rice with brown sauce into Kranos’ vicinity. “Not many like you...dressed up.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Kranos wasn’t dressed up, but he did seem out of place. The suit of red with black finishing, the full beard and long hair. It was the sort of getup that attracted mites or mange in these parts, but he would have fit in just fine with the glitterati. “I’ve got various interests. Here and there.” Kranos took to the rice with a set of chrome chopsticks, clicking them towards the [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]sky[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]. “Is it Long Pig…”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]“Long Pig?” The chef narrowed his gaze, shaking his head. “What?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]“That’s not your thing, huh.” Kranos nodded as he stood up, placing the finished skewer down on top of the half-eaten bowl of rice. He turned his blue gaze towards the sky, once more, and withdrew a slugthrower from his waistband. “You don’t have the Bahtmi Brothers on speed dial, by any chance?” Kranos turned to look towards the man. Clearly scared, he shook his head and backed up against the dancing neon lady.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]The well dressed business man frowned and shrugged. “Well if you find it, might want to give them a call. Someone is about to shoot down another one of their messengers. Third one this week, I think.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]He pulled the trigger just as a swoop bike passed over head, nailing the engine as it exploded and crashed into the street. “Really kind of sad…” Kranos muttered. “They have the nicest bikes…” Kranos pocketed the slugthrower and left without paying, despite the boisterous resistance of Hangra’s Meat Shack.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt][member="Jessica Bowers"][/SIZE]

 

[Jessica Bowers]

Some scum just didn't had their eyes with them. Either that or they didn't care about who observed their deeds or what was at stake when they decided to execute them. The latter being the most dangerous, being either high as the tallest scyscrapper or completely insane. Coruscant had them both in an endless mass of calls that poured into the hands of the law. A new officer quickly got used to it, if he or she would survive the first year.

The loud metallic crash and screech behind their backs was hard to miss. An employee at the Meat Shack also hailed them and, however discreetly, pointed the man out. The two black uniformed officers let the all too drunk alien sentinent go and pushed him in the direction off the premises, sending with him a word of warning if he would return. They exchanged glances and Jessica took the lead, shoving through a small crowd of out-goers. The suited man stood out from the rest and was fairly easy to keep in sight and catch up with. Quick thoughts of potential scenarios rushed through their minds, but with very little time to set up a plan they had to mostly improvise. A handsign from her and they spread out from eachother, forming an incoming v-formation to the man. A quick optical assesment of the crashed speeder bike now in flames, made clear that the driver had passed from the impact and were without rescue.

Jessica unclipped the stun baton from her utility belt and held it low by her side, not yet feeling the need to turn it on, and also put a gloved hand on the blaster in her holster. Mathis draw the blaster and kept it in a two-hand grip close to the body to protect it. However, there were too much people in the vicinity to use it's fatal setting so it had to go with stun. They kept their distance and stopped a couple of meters away behind the man.

''Police! Hands where I see 'em! Now!'' she shouted in a commanding voice and kept her keen blue vision on the man and his movements.

[member="Roger Kranos"]

 

[Roger Kranos]

He felt an itch at the back of his throat. That was either the soft powder having its way with his allergies, or he was catching a whiff of something that didn't belong. Hangra's shack was more than just a stones throw from anything resembling civil. Hell, most cab drivers and escorts wouldn't even consider carving their way through the meat pie of Coruscant's underworld to get to these delicious skewers. The lights glowed sodium orange because no one cared enough to upgrade to something reasonable, the security cameras were glorified wall ornaments with the power cut off, and there were only two types of police - corrupt or dead.

Kranos stretched as the lady police officer spoke somewhat sternly over the sound of the crowd murmuring. Of course, his hands didn't stay up for long - he was stretching, not posing.

Leaning over, he gave little credence to the command, as he picked at the messenger bag of the dead swoop bike rider. The contents were an encrypted datapad and enough credits to buy the services of a professional for a night or two at a hotel that charged by the hour. It was a decent nights run if things went smoothly.

That condition remained to be seen.

"Pretty deep out here, officers..." He stated with a hum, bending at the waist as he ceased his inspection of the deceased and turned to face those who commanded him. His electric gaze shifted from the woman, to the man, and then back again. "Sorry. Couples aren't my..." He stopped. "Well they are...I take that back. Couples are my thing. But this isn't exactly the time or place, is it?"

The sound of rabble grew like a slow rumble. As much help as they may have gotten from the vendors, the blood that pumped in the veins of the Underworld came in the sanguine tones of villainy. And the boss of the Coruscant Flower and Funeral Company rarely traveled alone.

[member="Jessica Bowers"]

 

[Jessica Bowers]

The small crowd of people closest to them started to form a loose circle of observation around the three. Curious out-goers. Humans and aliens. Some who understood the basic in which they where speaking, and some who did not. Some innocent citizens who did what they could to survive down here and some with more than one crime in their records and who was probably not on their sides. As soon as he had finished his sentence, the stun baton came on with a slight spark and a humming sound. She tightened her fist around it. This arrogance of a man and his attitude begun to work her up. Did he think he was funny or was he just a maniac who didn't know what was good for him?

''Too bad I won't share, scum.'' she said sternly and didn't move much of a muscle on the face to his little speech.

''I gave you an order... And I suggest you follow it. Put the datapad down, hands where I see 'em and get down on your knees before I make you go down on 'em!''

Mathis kept an eye around them while Jessica was doing the talking. There were always a general risk of being interrupted and attacked in the line of duty, even more when working at the lower levels.

[member="Roger Kranos"]

 

[Roger Kranos]

Sharers made carers and it seemed like this constabulary wasn't particularly caring. Kranos flared his nostrils, still somewhat confused by what exactly the cop was trying to achieve.

Lights overhead shined through slow ongoing traffic, though it wasn't from the red and blues. Neon lights, as tall as the level itself, blipped incompletely - either due to negligence or intent. Signage showed collapsing and expanding LED screens, illuminating an advertisement for pleasure bots in one breath, bacta patches in the next. Kranos knew this rotation, he had seen it many times before beneath the veil of vapors and water soluble powders. A good bet the next advertisement would be for some fancy new speeder, hot off the press, or it would be a news reel highlighting recent Sith Empire expansion and how it can affect you. His eyes glazed over as he looked up at it and smiled, mouthing words almost silently.

"...More at five..."

Blinking, he cleared his throat as he looked down at the energized rod and the way her comrade was moving. To get a better vantage point, or maybe he preferred to watch. Or maybe when the lady said she wouldn't share, maybe that was a declaration to her cop friend. That she wanted this particular beard, all to herself.

"Right. Well my safe word is cucumber lettuce..." He narrowed his eyes. "Well, more a phrase than a word..." He didn't put his hands up. Instead, he smirked, as the crowd shifted and several thugs appeared behind him. They weren't dressed nearly as extravagantly as he was but they were better armed with rifles. And one was using a skewer rod as a toothpick, pincered between lips on a large bald head of pale white. He was wearing a set of shaded spectacles that caught Kranos off guard, given how dark the level was. Really seemed unnecessary, utility and fashion wise.

"Rest assured, Ms. Bossy Britches..." He held the pistol to his side, tapping the barrel against his leg. "The Bahtmi brothers won't attend your funeral. But I will...I'll even cater it for you." It's not like the fine people of this level would care for messy paperwork of witnessing this crime, glittersticks in their pockets and deathsticks between their teeth. No, the law was more a nuisance here than anything else.

[member="Jessica Bowers"]

 

[Jessica Bowers]

He realy didn't drop that bantha poodo talk, did he! ''Hmpf! What if I don't hear it? It's so easy to get carried away...'' she replied, ending the sentence in a low ominous tone and tilted her head slightly to the side. It was hard to read if the man was serious or if he were just insane and should be confined to closed medical care instead of prison... Either way, the mere thought of his insinuations did get her a bit sick. Criminals.

So, this arrogant crook was also a coward hiding behind his lakeys? Sure, the goons that seemed to back him up were outnumbering them but they didn't, by any means, look like the smartest lot. Carrying some kind of old and most probably illegal rifles, not blasters by the looks of it. Against two well trained, coordinated and motivated cops the odds were still fair. From his side position, Mathis should be able to neutralize two of them before getting shot at. She would have to ditch the baton and draw, fortunately her blaster pistol were still in lethal mode. In the event of a brawl, out manouvering that pale, bald monstrosity wouldn't be too difficult for her.

The experienced sergeant of the corps kept her vision and mind focused on the rabble of scum, the hands were most often the first thing that would move and try something stupid. Taking aim with a weapon. Lunging out with a fist or a vibroblade. If a fist were tightening, indicating anger and the build-up to a more violent conversation.

Threats aimed at officers were so common in the lower levels that they almost had stopped to report them, but instead the officers used to have an educational chat with the individual in question. Something told her that this one was to be taken serious, though. But she left this one unreplied to. Ready to draw and with Mathis covering her if they tried something.

''How sweet of your... boyfriend to turn up for your protection. You realy balance eachother up in terms of facial hair.'' she said in a sort of confirming tone and raised her eyebrows a bit in response to the man hiding behind this... thing.

She smoothly moved her hand from the holster and over to the wrist control on her right wrist, in which hand she held the still humming baton. Time to deploy the sensor and secutiry droid from the airspeeder parked behind them and the crowds.

[member="Roger Kranos"]