Something's Burning

[Alistair Fenn]

Allecto City - Tatooine
[member="Saffron"]

When the kark had fuel gotten so expensive?

It seemed like just yesterday he had been able to fill up his ship with only a few credits found under the cushions of his acceleration couch. Now though? Now it was bleeding him dry like never before. The cost of it formed a pit in his stomach, mostly because he knew that if he filled up his ship there would be no way he'd be eating over the next few days. His lips thinned, and for a brief moment he glanced down at his pocket.

There was always that option, the little black card that they had given him, but...

His head shook.

Alistair was already buried in debt to them, to her. If he used that card to pay for his fuel he'd just dig himself into a deeper hole than he was already he in. So far they hadn't asked him to do anything too crazy, but with that bunch there was no telling what would be waiting for him on the next holo-call. It wasn't an option, not yet anyway. For now at least he was back home and not stuck on Coruscant or some shadowport out in the middle of nowhere.

As far as being stranded somewhere Allecto wasn't too bad. He had a place here, even if it was only a tiny hovel of a home, and a few connections with the local Hutt. They didn't much like him either of course, but at the very least they weren't holding several tens of thousands of debt over his head. That was something.

A curse escaped his lips as he glanced at the fuel price chart.

How the hell had he gotten himself into this? And more important how the hell was he going to get himself out.

Without fuel he couldn't get a job, and without a job he couldn't get more credits, and without credits he couldn't get fuel. It was a problem that was circular in nature, and that made it all the more frustrating. He needed a way out, he needed...his thought process suddenly cut off as he heard the dockmaster speaking to someone, his ears prickling as he heard discussion about fuel price.

"Hello..." Alistair muttered to himself as he slowly crept behind a set of crates, catching sight of a lovely little blonde speaking with an ancient and gnarled looking Besalisk.

 

[Saffron]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

Bricadus Dawn was not the name you’d expect a weathered, barrel chested Besalisk to have. He was at least half a meter taller than Saffron, with arms thick as tree trunks and scars a plenty along that thick hide that told stories. Tales of a not so peaceful past and how Bricadus managed to survive them. Truth be told, there was something rather romantic about it though. Bricadus Dawn. It almost rolled out the mouth; Saffron at least managed to.

“Mistah Bricadus Dawn,” her hand went extending to take the Besalisk’s in greeting. A soft, cordial smile bloomed across the Compamion’s face. “A pleasure.”

“Miz Saffron,” the thick reply garbled from the Allecto native. His hand basically almost swallowed hers. “I ain’t one for small talk. I know why you are here.” Few had to guess when an Arceneau Trade Representative came on world; business one way or another

Saffron did not drop her friendly expression, no that calm pleasent demeanor continued. She could respect his desire to cut to the chase. “I am glad we can discuss candidly, Mistah Dawn,” her voice was a honeyed gentle breeze, aimed to quell ruffled feathers.

“I’m here representing Mara Tibx and Fuels. I hear there’s a need for better access here.” Which there was, the prices were exhorbirant. It was an Outer Rim world with little access to outside fuel vendors. Which was great for local business—for those who managed to visit here.

“Fuel does just fine,” rather blunt. That was a lie, but Bricadus wasn’t one to mince words. He made a profit here. Changing that list him money. Of course, he couldn’t just run Arceneau Trade off. Not when she’d been invited to come by the mayor. So needless to say, Bricadus made himself known to the young blonde woman.

Saffron just continued to smile.

“I’m sure it does, Mistah Dawn,” carefully she drew her hand back,” but perhaps we can make it work a little better.”

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Saffron"]

By the time that Alistair heard the woman say 'fuel' and 'cheaper' in the same sentence he was practically in love.

Tatooine had never been the cheapest place to buy fuel, at least not in Allecto. Mos Espa and Mos Eisley were both supplied by Arceneau Trade Company and that made things a bit cheaper, but Allecto was practically a new facet on the desert world. When he had been a kid the Star Destroyer was barely discovered, now? Now it was a thriving city in it's own right. Of course it was controlled by the Hutts, and even here on the docks they got a cut of everything.

Not that it mattered much to a person like him.

All he wanted, all he really needed was cheaper fuel.

As long as he got that Alistair could be perfectly happy. He crept somewhat closer to the conversation, trying to get a better chunk of it than just a word or two. It wasn't like he was eavesdropping or anything, he wasn't out to get information just...the gist of what was going on. The Besalisk seemed somewhat hesitant to actually pick up fuel, but as far as he could tell there was no actual reason to. Granted, he had no idea who the blonde actually was.

Some kind of criminal?

That seemed likely given the nature of the conversation. Few people in Allecto City would actually be capable of selling fuel on a wholesale scale, and that suggested the woman likely represented some sort of criminal syndicate.

That was what Alistair assumed anyway.

As he continued to creep forward his hip accidentally brushed against a small maintenance droid, the thing letting out a wild CHIRP as it fell from it's place on the crate and crashed onto the ground.

 

[Saffron]

[SIZE=10.5pt][member="Alistair Fenn"][/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]The sudden sound of a clatter drew Saffron’s and Bricadus’ attention. The echo had resonated within the hanger, prompting a mild shocked surprise upon the blonde’s face. Inky black hair fell over a deeply olive face covered in a thick scruff. His clothing had a thin layer of sand and grit but seemed well made; at least for anyone who came here. We were talking about smugglers, scoundrels, and what have you for the various criminal syndicates. Maybe a few merchants as well. For the Besalisk, on the other hand, only a heavy scowl would form.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]“What are you doing here?” his thick voice boomed across the din. Saffron merely stood there waiting, watching the events unfold. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]“You know better than to be here.” truthfully Saffron had no idea what this was about, but she knew that it wasn’t her place to get involved. For all she knew, Bricadus and whoever this was had history.[/SIZE]

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Saffron"]

He offered the Besalisk a scowl. "I was looking for you!"

That was a bold faced lie, but Alistair had always been particularly good a telling those. He'd learned from a young age that you didn't get very far on Tatooine without knowing how to lie to anyone you met. Some people could catch him at it of course, particularly Lorrdians, but they weren't very common around these parts. Allecto was pretty diverse, but not that diverse. Besides, it's not like he really had to worry about the Besalisk being a Lorrdian.

Four arms and all.

"These fuel prices are karking disgusting!" Alistair spoke loud enough that he drew attention from three or four other people who were standing around. All he had to do was draw attention away from himself, focus on a different subject. "I could feed a family of five for a month for this price!"

Not that he ever would. "How can you justify this?"

More than a few people were watching now, some nodding in agreement.

Alistair caught sight of them out of the corner of his eye, though he never glanced towards them. That would make his intention far too obvious.

 

[Saffron]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

Now things were starting to get interesting. Saffron gave a slight arch of her blonde brows, watching the scene unfold between the Besalisk and the stranger. It was known information for sure, but the Arceneau Representative could bet that it was rarely brought up. Especially in front of a member who was known to profit from the high fuel prices.

"I told ye to shut your trap!" Bricadus went growling out, his upper lips rising to a heavy sneer. He turned towards his goons, one Hoag and another large Trandoshan. A gesture indicated that they go grab him.

"It is a valid question," Saffron's voice came rolling with a soft tone from behind Bricadus. Much to his discontent.

"This ain't Arceneau business."

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Saffron"]

"No no." Arceneau?

What the hell did that have anything to do with this? Briefly he flashed a look at the young blonde woman. Was she somehow connected to the company? Could he use that?

He supposed that it hardly mattered at the moment, after all he was sitll in trouble and if he didn't clear this up it was a veyr likely outcome that the big Besalisk would ban him from landing here. There were other hangar bays in Alto of course, but...well this one just happened to be closest to his favorite Cantina in the city. Better not to lose that, besides, he'd built up some good will with the people around here and he didn't want that to go to waste either.

"This effects everyone!" There he went again, shouting at the top of his lungs to catch more peoples attentions. "We're trying to make a living here! A good honest living."

Said the smuggler. "How can you expect us to get by with these fuel prices?"

​

"Yeah!"​

A voice from somewhere behind him backed him up and Alistair had to keep from smirking.

"I'm sorry to do this in front of you, Miss." He absolutely was not. "But this is just too outrageous."

 

[Saffron]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

Now the crowd was starting to jump in. Low murmurs soon turned into ones of agreements. It seems that the instigating remarks from the stranger were starting to garner results. The type that Bricadus was not keen on hearing. It made sense. All it took was one ripple across the pond for such things to escalate. There were a few key items that could turn a crowd from one way to the next; money, food, and any governing entity that might take away rights or perceived independence.

"Yeah, it cost me almost a hundred credits to fill up yesterday!"

"That's ridiculous!" the blurps and gestures of fists shaking to agreement continued. Saffron kept her eyes between the Besalisk and the stranger, the Trandosan and the Houg now making their way to try and pick up the man before he kept on going.

"No, you do have a point. Hard earned money should be spent on food, shelter, and water -- fuel should certainly be affordable." Now Bricadus turned his dark gaze to the blonde. Oh he was not happy about that. Saffron's agreement made the crowd only get louder.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Saffron"]

Alistair smirkedslightly as the blonde agreed with him and the others. He had no idea who she actually was or what she was doing here, but it was more than clear that the Besalisk cared more than a little bit about what she thought.

Was she really form Arceneau? "You can't just expect us to do this day in and day out!"

It was time for a rallying cry. Of course Alistair was far from a labor leader or any of that nonsense, he was a smuggler who was just looking out for himself, but he saw an opportunity here. If he could start getting cheaper fuel prices in Alto? Well that would mean more jobs out here on Tatooine. Of course there was also the small fact that he was also trying to get out of trouble from snooping on the dockmaster and the Blonde woman but...well that was neither here nor there.

"We'll run dry!" He called, glancing at the others. "Alto City will see less and less traders."

He jabbed a finger at the besalisk. "Because of you!"

Cries of 'Yeah', and 'get him', and other more sinister yells went out. The Besalisk looked around, startled. "What are you gonna do about it!"

 

[Saffron]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

By now Bricadus was not having any of this. While he couldn't do much about Saffron - everyone knew that if you messed with Arceneau Trade representative on Tatooine, the Queen of Trade was bound to show -- he could do someething about the two bit smuggler who was quickly becoming a thorn in his ass.

The Houk came down, using his large arms to make a grab for [member="Alistair Fenn"]. As soon as he did so, there were cries of injustice!

"Let the man speak!" they cried.

"This isn't right!" shouted another.

More and more sapients joined the unruly crowd. About twenty bodies in total and more coming due to the increasing cries and shouts. Saffron's guards drew closer to the blonde, one murmuring, "We should get back to the ship, Miz Saffron."

For the moment, Saffron made a small gesture. They would wait this out.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Saffron"]

"OH LOOK AT THEM NOW!" Alistair screamed at the top of his lungs as the massive Houk's arms wrapped around him.

The Smuggler made no move to get away, though he probably could have.

This wasn't really about showing how dexterous he was, though a part of him did want to impress that little blonde number, instead he was just trying to draw as much attention as he possibly could. Something that he was doing rather well. The cries went up all around the hangar bay, and by now several dozen folk had all gathered and were headed directly towards him. The twenty had grown into thirty, and now the entire hangar bay seemed to be in an uproar.

"THIS IS TATOOINE!" He screamed. "WE ARE FREE!"

Patriotism was always a good card. "YOU CAN'T GO AROUN-"

Alistair suddenly felt a hand clamp over his mouth, the massive Houk making an attempt at silencing him. A muffled sound came out from beneath the large yellow hand, and then The Smuggler chomped down on the monstrous hand.

 

[Saffron]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

That single act was the singular spark that sent the growing tension to flame. As soon as Alistair's mouth had been clamped shut, the crowd gave a yell of protest.

"Let him go!" bodies began to move forward. The guards eyed them back, yelling, "Stay back!"

"He's right!" "This is ridiculous!" "We are a free Tatooine!"

The cries and shouts of protest increased in a crescendo. It was all it needed to turn to violence. A human male attempted to help Alistair break free, but the guard shot his fist forward to punch him right on the face. Within seconds chaos erupted. More and more hands came forward, using physical force to try and get Alistair free.

Saffron's eyes went wide. By now her guards stepped around her. "Mizz Saffron, stay back!" but being this close to the crowd meant that it would be inevitable for her to also get tossed into the chaos.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Saffron"]

The commotion and the chaos were exactly what Alistair needed.

People were riled up now, more people than he had actually attended. He felt a hand on him, the guard let him go and swung his fist, and the next thing he knew the smuggler found himself on the ground with a quiet thud. He scaled slightly but made no move at first, instead he glanced up in time to see the guard accosted by another man.

This time it was a Twilek.

“YOU CAN'T PUT US DOWN!”

He yelled, quickly followed by a Rodian friend.

“THIS IS A FREE TATOOINE!”

The two men came together and tackled the guard that had been previously holding Alistair. The Smuggler raised a brow, then quickly crawled away from what he could only describe as a growing cluster park he had begun. He moved quickly across the hangar bay floor, practically swimming through the crowd before eventually popping up...right in front of Saffron.

”Oh.” Eric said with a winning smile. ”Hello there.”

 

[Saffron]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

“Well you manage to cause quite a stir, Miztah...” there was little time to chat. Bricadus found himself also a part of the altercation and he was already yelling at everyone to start detaining who they could. That news only infuriated the crowd more. It was increasingly getting dangerous.

By then, Saffron’s guards were doing their best to start pushing their way out of the enclosing Chaos. One of the guards caught Alastair coming a bit too close to saffron, and he shouted,” get away from her!” Intending to drag him away.

However, that’s when the crowd began shoving forward and other bodies started crashing against Saffron. It could very well turn into a stampeding death trap.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Saffron"]

"Oh I didn't cause any-" Alistair found his words dying on his tongue as suddenly the crowd began to crush against them. His lips thinned and a curse rang out from his lips as he tried to catch himself to stop him from falling over, but of course that didn't really work when the only thing around you was a tiny blonde girl.

His hands fell on her, though not in any inappropriate manner.

The Smuggler caught himself, stepping forward and pushing against Saffron as the sea of people behind him began to move forward. Shouting and yelling could be heard as it echoed throughout the hangar bay, Alistair could have sworn that one of the guards Blondie had screeched at him, but by then everything was sort of a blur. The Chaos was growing louder and louder around them, and The Smuggler had no particular desire to actually stick around anymore.

With a gentle nudge, Alistair pushed blondie forward.

It wasn't because he wanted her to come with him or anything, though she was rather pretty, but mostly because directly behind her was the service entrance. If he was going to get there he'd have to go through her, and it seemed easier to just...well nudge her along.

 

[Saffron]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

"What are you --" the stranger nudged her back, prompting the shuffle of Saffron's feet. Her hazel eyes went wide in alarm, the fabric of her sari tangling for a brief moment. He was, after all, a stranger who was now getting a little too close in the chaos of a riot.

"Get away --" a meaty fist managed to cut off the guard intending to pull Alistair away from the Companion, one of Bricadus' men finding his fist against his jaw. It was getting louder, crazier even -- more dangerous. It wasn't but a few steps that the door came to Saffron's back, and she found herself caught between. Hands went darting under the folds of her sari, where she had a small blaster for such events.

"You should stand back' she warned, eyes darting from the dark smuggler towards the ongoing chaos behind him.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Saffron"]

Alistair's hands shot up.

It wasn't like he meant any harm, just wanted to get away from the chaos. His eyes locked on the blaster for a moment, his lips immediately quirking down into a frown as he thought about what it would feel like to get shot again.

He really couldn't afford the hospital bill this time. "Just wanna get through the door, Miss. Don't mean to hurt you."

Alistair pointed with his still raised hand. The chaos behind him was now growing into a full blown riot. Some of the 'security' personnel within the hangar bay had joined into the fray, and the larger protesters were slamming them into different ships and containers that were standing around. There was yelling, screaming, and things were quickly falling into absolutely and utter calamity. People had been pushed to their limit, and whether intentionally or not, Alistair had just lit the flame on a very large oil fire.

"This isn't going to die down anytime soon and that door gets me o-" Alistair was suddenly interrupted by the first ring of a blaster going off.

His head immediately snapped back, his lips thinning as he saw a bolt fly over head and strike the ceiling. Another shortly followed, and then he heard someone scream. Oh kark this.

Alistair thought to himself as he shot forward and reached for the door, taking the risk that Saffron might just shoot him.

 

[Saffron]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

There was no chance to react. Or at least, to everything. Much to Alistair's bad train of luck, Saffron had been trained by Danger Arceneau herself on how to shoot, and at point blank range, this was going to be some trick of that hoodoo to avoid it. Or at least some deft movement. The blaster shot went out, originally aimed at his belly. However, in the rush of the scoundrel pushing forward, Saffron lost her footing, the tip of the blaster going wide and firing off just off to his left flank.

Whether it hit or not was now not a question to answer, the woman feeling the push and shove the scoundrel's hands move to usher her along that door and away from the chaos. It was either this or risk the crowd. She went stumbling inside, coming into another open hanger bay that led to another section of the space port.

From beyond that wall, the Arceneau guards were yelling to go after them.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Saffron"]

The blast round struck home, though not where originally intended.

A bright red flash soared through the air for just a few second before lancing into his clothes and striking the side of his abdomen. Pain immediately lanced through him and he felt his flesh sizzle and scorch from the energy of the blaster. A curse rang through his lips as he practically fell over Saffron and through the door.

Behind them he heard shouting, yelling, and more blasters ringing out but his mind was entirely pre-occupied with the pain that was now lancing through his body. A hand clutched at his side, his clothes were singed and burned. Eyes popped open and tears began to form within them as he half stumbled and tried to grab onto something. His hand pressed against the wall, accidentally brushing the control panel and closing the door to the riotous hangar.

"YOU SHOT ME!" Alistair proclaimed, buckling over and taking heavy breaths.

The Smuggler had endured some pain in his time.

At one point or another he'd been in a few brawls, fought his way through a cantina, once the Hutt's had even tortured him, but he'd never actually been shot. Turned out that Blasters hurt a hell of a lot more than he'd ever actually thought. "OW!"

 

[Saffron]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

"Of course I did!" Saffron would yelp right back out. The Companion had tumbled to the ground when the stranger had practically toppled on top of her. Her blaster went scattering across the floor, her sari tangling around her torso and legs. But she wasn't about to give up just yet.

Wide, hazel eyes went darting across the hanger floor, searching for her weapon. There, beside another cargo container was her durian plated blaster. With a scramble, the blonde went skittering over to try and grab it. She needed some method of protecting her skin, especially since the noise of the riots outside was only escalating. Who knew what this man would also do? She didn't have her guards, but that didn't mean she was defenseless.

Danger Arceneau made sure of that.