Taking the Helm - Part I - Metellos

[Bengalo Chergari]

Having a ship of her own was the best thing that had ever happened. Sure it meant that someone else no longer had a ship of their own, but quite frankly for them to have afforded a yacht like Khere in the first place they could probably afford to lose her, otherwise they would have had better security.

The downside, or so Benny had found, was that fuel was bloody expensive. It had been a bit of a struggle sometimes to keep herself fed, and there had always been the option to stroll through a marketplace and snag things off carts. You couldn't really hide a worthwhile amount of fuel up your sleeves or in your pockets. On the other hand, having a ship meant you could get better jobs. It was, she reflected, a bit of a catch 22. Get the ship, so you can make more money but then have to spend said money on ship. Oh well. What were the point of credits if you didn't spend them?

Her current job was probably illegal, she hadn't really asked, but it was interesting, and that was all that really mattered to her. She'd let word get out that she had a ship and was free to be hired and soon found herself approached by a rather twitchy man with far more blasters than were really reasonable. He in turn had pulled out a holopad which had projected a figure of a cloaked being who had spoken with an obviously scrambled voice. It was all a bit heavy handed really, but said holo-projection had offered her a generous amount of credits straight up to retrieve an item for him. She wasn't sure what the item was, or where it was, as he'd made it clear that he'd only give her the instructions one piece at a time via the holopad.

This likely would have made your average person uneasy. Bennys immediate thought was Ooo, scavenger hunt, and off she'd set.

The first location on the list had been Metellos. Benny wasn't generally very keen on the Core. Oh sure, they were being largely civilised these days, but they still tended to be quite prejudiced against her sort, at least up in the posh areas. They were also terrible overpopulated, and not everyone could live in a city in the sky. All sorts were jammed in down below in desperate circumstances. It wasn't Nar Shaddaa dangerous by any stretch, but anyone who thought these planets were safe had obviously been born with money.

Bringing her ship in to park, Benny pulled out the holopad.

Arrive on Metellos, check.

The next voice recording played instantly. "Find somewhere with records of Jedi flight paths. Confirm when this is done." It shut itself off again.

Jedi flight paths? Where the bloody hell was she supposed to find that? Where there even Jedi on Metellos? She didn't know, it wasn't like she took much interest in what any of that lot were doing other than to avoid them. It was all wonging buildings at each other and stupid speeches and don't steal and wahwahwah. Pfft. Force-users. She shrugged. Whatever, she'd figure something out, or she'd find something else to do.

Exiting and ensuring she'd secured her ship, Benny headed for an elevator to take her down to the true surface. She'd find someone who knew something...

 

[Bengalo Chergari]

"Wah, gods, din't miss that one bit." Benny muttered to herself, briefly raising a hand to swipe ineffectually at her nose as the stench of far too many people crammed in too little space rolled in the moment the elevator doors opened. She grimaced and stepped out onto a street that was far from clean. Her nose would give in soon enough and stop relaying information, she just had to make it without vomiting until then. She briefly imagined the elite up on their floating cloud cities suddenly switching places with the poor down below, and smiled as she conjured up their reactions. It would never happen of course, but it was a good thought.

What she needed was another Ryn. You could always count on a Ryn to know what was going on wherever they lived. People went on about Bothans, but Bothans were amateurs. How to find another Ryn though.. It wasn't like they'd advertise their presence, that was never smart. What would she do if she lived here? Well, she'd not live too close to an elevator. That way anyone who came down looking to start trouble wouldn't stumble into her, and if it was someone who came looking for her specifically she'd have time to hear about it an get out of there. So keep going, deeper into the underbelly.

About a half hour of walking and Benny decided she'd gone far enough. Largely because by this point in time she was bored. And her boots were disgusting. They were going to take a truly herculean cleaning effort to get looking proper again, and even then the memory of the filth would live on. She took stock of the people around her. Most were striding about as if they had somewhere to be, one was a gentleman? woman? being of negotiable affections, another was definitely looking for a mark.. Two scruffy looking humans however, looked like plant workers. That would do.

"Oi, 'scuse me there gents."

"What do you want kid?"

Let it go, let it go, humans can't help that they're too bloody stupid to figure out a persons just short "Lookin' for somewhere I can get a drink around here."

"The clubses a good fifteen blocks or so that-a-ways."

"Nah mate, you got me wrong. Don't want a club, just somewhere a person can have a nice quiet drink hey? Hear yerself think, no trouble, that sort of thing. Ain't lookin' for a party."

The second man spoke up now, offering his friend an apologetic shrug. "Alibi Bar's all right, prices ain't bad."

"Sounds like th'spot for me then. Where can I find it?"

"Two blocks up on the left."

"Thanks mate!" With a wave, Benny was off.

 

[Bengalo Chergari]

One block, two blocks the population starting to land heavily on the side of plant-workers. Good. Here was a Ryn fact, if there were enough, they tended to set up their own.. neighborhoods didn't quite do it justice and commune was a step too far. But they coordinated. It was a given in a place with this many people that there would be several groups of Ryn scattered over the planet, and it was also a safe bet that a few of them would work in the plants. It was a steady paycheck, them who did the hiring didn't tend to be too choosy, and everyone knew laborers gossiped like old women.

She had to grin slightly as she saw the sign, flickering dimly like it needed to be serviced. She'd not really thought about it before, but the name quite appealed to her admittedly simple sense of humor. You got an alibi? Yessir, I was there all night. Didn't seem like the sort of place frequented by folks who needed alibis, she reflected as she let herself in. The worst that went down here was probably the occasional fist fight. It was just lively enough to miss being depressing. The kind of place where sure, folks might be slowly drinking themselves to death, but they'd probably tell you a funny story while they did it. Most things were at least tolerable and usually enjoyable if accompanied by a funny story in the Ryns mind.

"What can I get ya?" Asked the woman behind the counter. Head shaved, lots of tattoos, arms that would make a bantha wrestler proud.

"Got any local brew?" Bit of a Chissian roulette that. Sometimes you found something amazing you couldn't get anywhere else, most of the time it tasted like it was brewed in a boot and you might wind up blind or dead, but at least it was cheap. The reason she did it was that it was a good way to get bonus points.

"Yeah, I got just the thing! Put hair on your chest, unless you got that already and then it'll take it off!" The bartender grabbed a mug and poured, apparently the local brew was on tab. That.. might be good? Hopefully. "Here you are!"

Benny took a deep drought, ready to resist spitting it back out unless she was absolutely certain it was going to kill her. These precautions turned out to be unnecessary. If wasn't going to win any awards, but it actually wasn't bad. She figured two mugs in and it would be downright tasty. "Ai, that's not half bad! You brew it yourself?"

"My wife does, got our own still out back. Ain't exactly consistent so if you happen to be in the neighborhood again don't expect it to taste the same, but we don't get too many complaints." The bartender was obviously more than happy to chat about the brew, and once more Benny had won a few points which she fully intended to cash in on later. Not immediately. That wouldn't do. There was a way you had to go about these things. Who knew, unlikely though it was she might be back, and it was always good to have a solid foundation laid down.

"Yeah? Reckon I might be more keen on keepin' a body around and not kickin' 'em out of bed if'n they could manage somethin' like this. Yer a lucky lady!"

"Being, actually."

"Aye? Got it! So how'd you two meet?" Small talk engaged, had to kill at least a drink, drink and a half before proceeding.

 

[Bengalo Chergari]

It was something more like three drinks and at least an hour of chatting between customers before the Ryn felt like she'd worked up enough goodwill to continue.

"'eeeey my favourite bein'! T'only thing what this place could use right, t'only thing it ain't got's a lil music. What d'ye reckon? I could play ye a song?" Benny wasn't actually as drunk as she was acting. She might have been small and the mugs were large, but her poor liver had had years of practice.

"You're a musician?" Came the curious reply.

"Aw well," a finger rose to tap her nose "'m a Ryn ain't I? I mean I wou'n't say as I were a proper musician, nothin' fancy or th'like, ain't gonna quit my job, but I know a reel or two."

"Well sure, but if you're off key I'm going to tell you to shut it."

"Fair 'nough!" Mug still in hand, Benny climbed onto the bar. In short order she was whistling merrily away, stomping along. She was not in fact off key, and went through several songs before she'd decided that was about enough of that. There was general complaint when she clambered back down from the other patrons who had in fact taken whole-heartedly to her whistling, it was the sort of thing human labourers tended to like.

"Tell y'what friend. Reckon I've 'ad a drink too many, think I'ma go sleep it off, but I love your place, I'ma be back tomorrow hey?" This was met with a general cheer and the bartender laughed, waving a hand at the Ryn.

Once she was about a block away Benny drew herself upright and moved steadily off, back to Kheres. She slept, spent the day on her ship and then repeated this scene the following evening. It didn't pay off until the third night, when upon entering she saw another Ryn, this one male sitting in a booth.

"Cousin!" He called, waving her over.