The Shady Side

[Davessi Linden]

The cravings always started the same way: a hollow, weightless feeling at the top of the spine. They got worse from there, of course. Most guys got the shakes. Some unlucky kriffers got the seizures. Davi got the flashes: sudden, sharp muscle spasms of painful heat followed by teeth-gritting cold. They shot through her feet and up her calves when she walked, cramping her muscles. They burned like needles in her good arm, and made the joint where metal met flesh ache.

That was how she knew she needed another hit of Neutron Pixie. Which was a problem when she ran out.

Davi loved being spontaneous, and wouldn't trade all the fun she'd had through it for the galaxy, but it had its disadvantages. One of them was a lack of forward planning, the sort of lack that could see her stranded on an uptight, moralistic little drukhole like Antecedent when her last dose ran out. Here were people who had no kriffing idea how to have any fun. Thankfully, she had a nose for corruption; if there was a single huttlet on a planet populated entirely by tight-pants Jedi, she'd find it.

And so she'd found her way to the Dragon Palace Casino and the growing shadow sector around it. She knew the kind of place, the scuzziest kind of offworlder enclave; she'd bet serious credits that there were half a dozen proposals in planetary government to burn it to the ground. But "Little Coruscant" (she could swear that name was taken, she thought with a wry grin) was far enough away from the planetary capital to be out of sight, and brought in enough credits to be kept out of mind.

Here was a place she could finally breathe again, away from the militarized police and the obsession with genius and the creepy "invisible" underclass. She could smell greasy food from a dozen cuisines, leaking lubricant from some speeder being broken down at a chop shop, carbon scored metal and unwashed flesh. She could hear shouting in basic and huttese, the hum of swoop engines, and occasional blasterfire. She was soon lost in the press of people. Twice, someone tried to pick her pocket.

Some people saw desperation. Davi saw opportunity. Here you could be anyone and get anything.

At least, that was the theory; getting some Neutron Pixie was proving to be a little tougher than she'd hoped. But the stuff you bought on the street tended to be druk quality anyway, and she'd had bad experiences with poorly-cut spice before. So she'd soon made her way up to the casino at the center of it all, where she'd heard a quality fixer or three tended to hang out. She'd made her introductions, subtly passed around that she was in the market for some high-end stuff.

But a place like the Dragon Palace made it so terribly easy to get distracted. A bottle and a half of rhuvian fizz later, Davi hardly felt the flashes any more. She was much too busy winning her third hand of sabacc and trying to figure out how many more she could win before they threw her out. Maybe after the next hand she'd go lose all her winnings on the chance cubes so she could start over again. The kriffing things were hopelessly rigged, even for someone as good at the long odds as she was.

Spice or no, she was having the time of her life. As usual.

@[member=Jen]

 

[Jen]

Technically speaking there was no such thing as leaving a criminal syndicate such as the Red Ravens. Once you were in your chances of ever escaping their grasp were slimmer than the chances of winning the galactic lottery. However, those who had been within the organization long enough and had helped it with taking the very first baby steps in spreading across the galaxies planets would always have a great understanding of the workings within. Furthermore, it helped quite a lot having the backing of the organizations founder when you slowly snuck out of their grasp, making it slippery with a few credits here and there.

Over the last few months, she had attempted just that, slowly transferring her assets to other holdings and accounts. She was still at large unsuspected by the current leaders of the organization so it was possible to enter unsuspected to pick up some of her last belongings. The Dragon Palace, oh how she loved the place… She really did. The “Her and “She” in question was Jennifer Phoenix, better known as Jen in the underground environment of Antecedent and by the moniker Phoenix on the deepest and darkest part of the HoloNet.

​

The amber eyes belonging to this girl by the name Jen scanned lazily the large and only entrance to the extravagant Dragon Palace, her eyes shielded from the flashing and bright neon colors that lighted up the entire district by a pair of round Ozzy Osborn styled sunglasses. Nearing, she gave the security officers of the entrance a brief nod as she approached, walking straight past fancily clad guests waiting in line to enter together with people who reeked of addiction.

The primarily magneta and cyan colored lights only strengthened in brightness upon entering, her sunglasses pushed further up her sharp eagle like nose as she with a concentrated stroll made her way through the casino space and towards the nearest elevator. Her steps were long despite the baggy pants of hers that fashionable were tight by the lower leg, various cases and pouches attached around her waist, various tools new as old seen in them. It would be the ideal work pants for a mechanic who had enough credits and sense of style to afford them.

Her march died down in speed as she neared the elevator, spotted in the distance and away from the gaming tables she now stood by, her eyes, still hidden behind the sunglasses of hers had in her wander fallen upon a table with a surprising amount of activity. From what she could gather from her brief observations it seemed like someone had won a few times in a row, causing quite the uprising from the sorest losers around the table, a fact that provoked a slight smile to form upon Jen’s lips. Slowly she approached the table and found her way into a chair around the table as a large Trandoshan wearing a tuxedo angrily threw his cards onto the table and left the table together with his reptilian sneer.

“Can I join in?” Jen asked casually as she found her way into the seat, her voice oddly melodious, yet an accent smelling of pretend gangster heard in it. She glanced between those sitting as she mostly out of habit reached in under the way-too-expensive-looking black leather jacket that she wore to grab around a small metal and likewise leather case, popping it open with a finger as she fished out a long cigarette. Soon lit and placed between the lips of hers, altering her slight and smug smile just a tad. Cyan smoke started to hover from the butt of the cigarette as the amber eyes of hers, still hidden behind the sunglasses, took another glance around the table, finding rest upon the one who had gathered all the attention in the first place. Once a small cloud of cyan smoke was exhaled she opened her mouth to talk, her attitude leant back as around five hundred credits were transferred into gaming chips and placed in front of her “So what’s the trick you’re pulling?” She asked, her gaze pointing in the general direction of Davi.

There was Sabacc time and then there was Sabacc time.​

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[member="Davessi Linden"]​

((For some reason the tag didn't work, however I was lucky enough to spot this thread! ))​

 

[Davessi Linden]

Everything, Davi had found, got boring eventually. Even winning.

As such, she was glad to have a new face to replace the Trandoshan; the overgrown lizard not only couldn't play for druk, he was probably also putting holes in the cards with those claws of his. Hers? She could never tell at the best of times. Anyway, she looked the newcomer up and down and smiled, a lopsided smirk made a sloppy by the pleasant buzz of a little too much to drink. Just a kid - Davi had a good decade on her - but she looked way ahead of the curve on the misbehavior axis, and Davi could respect that.

"Trick?" The smuggler laughed, the sound a hearty, friendly alto. "I sincerely have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, love. Honest." She winked, making the thin scar that ran through her right eyebrow dance. Several other players scowled, and she held up her hands, one flesh and one metal. "Kidding, kidding. Keep your skivvies on. It's a good streak, but they all run out." She thought of the flashes again, and reached down to massage her cramping thigh through her form-hugging leatheris pants.

"The key's to ride 'em 'till they break. Drink to that?" She swiped a shot glass from the tray of a passing droid and deftly filled it from the bottle of fizz, showing a lot more coordination than one would expect from someone who'd put away as much liquor as she had that night. Of course, she had lots of practice holding her booze; too much, her doctor would say, if she had one. Spinning the full glass, she slid it on an arc around the edge of the table, landing it right in front of the newcomer's seat without spilling a drop.

No tricks, just skill. She wanted to see what this girl could do.

((sorry about that! still working on this mention system)) [member="Jen"]​

 

[Jen]

A free drink was probably one of the few things Jennifer almost by principle never declined, her slight smile widening a tad as the sabacc sensation replied with a familiar jesting voice. Taking a piss of those around the table, playing with her words and people’s reactions. Jennifer suspected that the woman who was probably a few years older than herself, was finding herself in one of her favorite sorts of environments. At the very least, she seemed to enjoy herself.

“Fair ‘nough.” Jennifer would mumble with a smirk, her cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth. Said in response to Davesi as reached to massage her own thigh, thereby creating a short pause where Jennifer could say something, the motion in itself not provoking any sort of reaction from Jennifer. This small pause also allowed Jennifer to adjust her sunglasses to sit a bit more snug on her nose. An adjustment that in turn revealed parts of the already visible tattoo spotted under Jennifer’s right eye. It was in form of three arrows that all pointed towards the still hidden eye, one at the side of the eye, over and under.

Had she been offered a drink from an open bottle like that at any other place than The Dragon Palace she would have tested it before drinking, but as said, considering their surroundings it was more than welcome. Watching the shot glass slide in a graceful arc around the edge of the table until it stopped in front of herself, Jennifer let out a quiet chuckle, grabbing the cigarette in her mouth with two fingers as she simultaneously snatched the glass off the table with her left hand. She raised the glass a second after, studying the drink for a second before doing a subtle toast to Davessi, waiting for her to the something similar before downing the thing afterwards, the alcohol burning in her throat and sending an unexpected shiver down her spine.

Truth be told, she had not planned on drinking more than the definite amount needed to get through a day like this during her visit to The Dragon Palace. Nevertheless, for some reason something told her that she was probably going to down a few more shots such as this one. “Yep. Words to live by. During a game of Sabacc anyway.” Jennifer answered after having taken a second to clear her throat, the faint stinging sensation still felt in the back of her throat. See this was why she needed to expand on what she drank. Her repertoire so to speak. Things mixed up in soda, whiskey and cognac brews wasn’t simply enough if you wanted to become a true alcoholic. She grinned at the sarcasm of the thought and decided to take a drag from her cyan smoking cigarette as the sabacc dealer started to prepare for a new round of the game.

“You don’t seem from ‘round here. A tourist?"​

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[member="Davessi Linden"]​

 

[Davessi Linden]

The girl lifted the glass, and Davi returned the toast by raising the bottle with a wink and a nod. Fizz wasn't the hardest stuff she'd ever had, but it was a lot stronger than your average liquor, and her estimation of the newcomer rose a notch when she drank it down without coughing and spluttering. She took in the tattoo, the sunglasses, the quality jacket, the careless droop of the cigarra, and grinned; she liked this one already. But focusing too much on any one player was a good way to lose the game, and Davi wanted to be playing at her best for this hand. Win or lose, it'd gotten interesting.

She glanced around the table, keeping an eye on the other remaining players. The Nikto was just too stupid to know when to quit; no threat there. The Gran was playing pretty well, but seemed distracted; he kept blinking his triple eyestalks, disoriented by the dazzling play of cyan and magenta lights over the table. Davi shifted her cybernetic arm to lean on her upraised knee, angling its shiny blue-grey surface to reflect the pattern across the table, and he grimaced. The Mirialan with the jawline scar and the diamond chin tattoos kept directing his golden eyes at her chest when she wasn't looking, so she didn't look.

The newcomer, though, had a focus that was at once casual and intense, and Davi knew to beware that look in a card player. Conversation might throw her off her game, but that was a double-edged sword, not a fire and forget tactic; the smuggler would have to make sure it didn't turn back on her. Either way, she might learn something, or at least have a good time. The girl asked if she was a tourist, and she chuckled again. "Something like that. Was in the neighborhood when I ran out of gas, so to speak. Didn't expect to see anything like this," she said, gesturing around at the opulent casino, "but I'm not complaining."

The dealer, a Rodian in an immaculate shimmersilk suit, coughed politely, and Davi leaned back with a nod. Time to play. This was two-card sabacc, which was pretty standard; she'd learned to play on five cards, which led to shorter games because the players went bust a lot, but she'd since played more than a dozen variants. Every little corner of space seemed to put their own spin on the game, but in places where diverse spacers gathered the rules stayed a little more consistent. Accepting her cards, Davi stared down at them and suppressed a grimace. The Evil One and the Commander of Staves; what a worthless combination.

But the hand was young; she wasn't stuck with what she had just yet. She was left of the dealer, so she tossed the standard number of chips into the pot. "Bet," she said, flashing a winning smile around the table. Returning her attention to the newcomer, she spoke again, her voice mellowed by another swig of fizz. "What about you? You made me as an offworlder right away, so I'm betting you've been here a while. I like your ink, by the way." Which was true. She wondered if she should get another tattoo, maybe between the shoulder blades. Or maybe around the navel, like the Zealots of Psusan had. That'd be cool.

She shook her head. Focus, Davi! There's a game to win!

[member="Jen"]​

 

[Jen]

Sabacc was one of those games you never grew tired of, especially Jennifer, considering it was the first structured game she had ever learnt to play. It always brought back melancholy of younger days where the romance of the past obscured the memories just enough to make sure she thought of that time as better than now. She had enjoyed the years where she played Sabacc on a nightly basis in the slums of Coruscant, starting out with doing it after having grown tired of not being able to access the HoloNet at that time of the evening. Faint memories even appeared of a minor bounty that had been put on her head for cheating in a game once…

Another drag was taken from her cigarette as Davessi responded to Jennifer’s question. It seemed like she had been right, so who was this stranger? Some sort of carefree bird who roamed the galaxy? The thought provoked Jennifer’s grin to widen, which in turn reminded her of the cyan mint flavored smoke within her mouth. She took a second to enjoy the chemical taste for once and afterwards leant back in her chair and turned her head away from the table, blowing out a steady stream of smoke out towards no one in particular. She didn’t take time to watch the smoke hover peacefully in the air and instead turned her gaze back towards the table. “Well yea, Antecedant got a few surprises here and there.” She took another darg and exhaled another cloud of smoke. “… And I can tell.” She added as a tease comment on the fact that Davi was not complaining.

It seemed like the Rodian dealer was ready judging from the polite cough and in response to the gesture, Jennifer decided to turn her attention towards the game instead. At least for now. Usually she would have preferred the five-card variation, mainly because that way it was easier to smuggle a skifter into the deck, but oh well, she was doing this merely for the enjoyment of it. Still, Jennifer wished she had brought either a skifter or at least a cheater along as she took a quick glance at her cards: She had gotten a Queen of Air and Darkness and of course… The Idiot. A worthless card that accounted for zero value. Obviously, it could be used in some variations of the game due to the three-card hand called The Idiot’s Array. Something that could only become relevant should she have three cards or more. She tended to be lucky, but not that luck so the hand was bad considering her other card.

Sitting on the opposite side of the table from Davi she waited for the three other players to make their calls, the Nikto adding his ante to the hand pot without hesitation, tossing in a few extra chips as a bet. Obviously this one had good cards, he didn’t exactly seem like the strategic type anyway. The Gran squinted his three eyes to get an overview of the situation and followed suit, seeming to mumble in an irritated manner under his breath. It was probably about something regarding the lighting within the casino, who knew. The last player before Jen could try to work her magic was the Mirialan who continued to oddly and rather noticeably eyeball Davi when she had her attention turned elsewhere. Jennifer raised an eyebrow behind her sunglasses and waited for him to finish off his turn. She agreed to the additional raise other than the ante for the hand pot, grabbing a few credits and pushing them further towards the center of the table.

“I’m not from here, but yea. I’ve been here a while, doing a lot of stuff other places currently, so I’m only here for a few days visit.” Jennifer said with a slight grin, taking another look at her cards as she wondered about how to go about this the best way once they would make it to the drawing phase. “Ah?” Jennifer blurted out as the compliment was send her way, obviously having lost her cool for a second and gone deep in thought over what could happen throughout the next few phases. “Oh? This?” She lifted the right side of her sunglasses a bit to show off the eye tattoo a bit better, an amber eye surrounded by black eyeliner seen for a second before the sunglasses was put back in place.

Just like the Mirialan by the table her amber, or golden eye was a bit too flashy colored for a regular human being, which at first glance would be the race Jennifer appeared to be. However, now that one feature had shown itself other slowly would start to become clear. Her sharp nose seemed to have small curves in it and perhaps the biggest telltale, which could be spotted if Davi adjusted herself a bit in her seat, would be the white haired tail who hung from Jennifer’s chair. Even her hair would seem to become less human as it appeared stiff in structure, as if an entire hair spray can had been used on it.

“Thanks. And not to be the: ‘there is a story behind ever tat’ sort of type. But this one had been with me for a while.” She gave a sincere kind smile in return, “Those piercings aren’t bad either. Been thinking about getting a septum for a while.” She leant a bit in over the table, a long finger pointing towards Davi’s arm. “Cool arm too. Is it connected to the Holo? And are you sure you don’t got a cheater hidden in there?”

The joke provoked a few suspicious looks and grumbles from the rest of the players.​

[member="Davessi Linden"]​

 

[Davessi Linden]

Evidently two could indeed play the conversation game. Davi laughed off the question about her arm, leaning back in her seat to stretch both arms out in front of her, though her cards stayed carefully angled so that only she could see them. The pot wasn't very big yet, but the Nikto was transparently excited; he might call early to make up some of his losses if he thought he could get away with it. No use tipping her hand, literally or figuratively. "Thought for a minute you were talking about my sleeve," she said, running metal fingers over the stylized leaves tattooed on her left arm from shoulder to wrist. "I tried putting a fusion cutter in this hunk of junk once, but it karked up my ranged of motion. Never thought of trying a skifter."

The other players exchanged looks, and the dealer's expression (as much as Davi could read it on a Rodian) was distinctly uncomfortable, but Davi just rolled her eyes and waved her organic hand, the cards still clutched between her fingers. "I'm sure this fine establishment has all sorts of precautions in place," she said, and meant it; places like the Dragon Palace usually employed all manner of scanners, bouncers, and fair play algorithms to make sure that the only one cheating was the house. As the round came back around to her, though, Davi decided she wouldn't have minded a skifter at the moment. She pressed the small button on the Evil One, shifting it. A six of flasks; much better, but a total of 18 wasn't likely to be the closest to 23.

Plus, her best next move was a lot less obvious. And the Nikto (or anyone else) might call at any time. And her cards might shift on their own. Through it all, she smiled. Sabacc was like life: beautiful chaos. You went for it with all the skill you had, and that helped, but sometimes you got sucker punched anyway, and sometimes you got so lucky you didn't even need to play well. Either way, it was always sound policy to work the competition. Rolling her shoulders in an exaggerated stretch, Davi craned her neck around at the girl she'd been bantering with. That flash of gorgeous amber eye she'd glimpsed had told her the girl was a lot less boring species-wise than she was. Still, the soft white tail came as something of a shock.

There were a lot of species in the galaxy, as a dramatic understatement, and with so many of them capable of interbreeding it was difficult to guess exactly where nonhuman traits came from, even fairly distinctive ones. But Davi had run with a Ryn crew way back when she was just getting started with tramp freighters, and the harder she looked the more she saw it: the stiffness of her hair, the sharp curves of her nose, it all added up. She wondered how that had come to be, and how many others guessed at it; she'd never met a part-Ryn before, didn't even know they existed, but she knew quite well the kind of prejudice that full-blooded Ryn faced. She'd seen it get ugly, up close and personal.

"A septum would look good on you," she said; it was an afterthought, only just collected when the skifter joke was defused, but a sincere one. Finishing her stretch, she leaned on the table once more, tossing her credits into the pot. "Raise." The Mirialan's jaw tightened, and a brief look passed between him and the Gran that Davi didn't like at all. Maybe she'd been playing a little too long already, and maybe the skifter joke had cut a little deeper than she'd thought given her win streak. "A story for a Mandalorian design," she said, carefully ignoring the conspirators, "ought to be a good story. I don't want to overwhelm these gentlemen with chat, but I'll buy you a drink after this hand if it's one you're open to telling."

Her knife was in her boot. She could have it in two motions if it came to that. But not yet; maybe she was overreacting, or looking for a fight. She got that way sometimes when the nerve aches came on, and she knew it. It'd be a kriffing shame if she had to get out of dodge before one of the fixers came through with some spice for her; she'd stood the symptoms for two full days once, and she still had nightmares about how bad that'd felt by the end. Besides, she liked this girl; she had attitude and style, and Davi was curious about her now. But getting shot in a backwater cantina was not the blaze of glory she was envisioning for herself, and she wasn't above making a run for it if that was the best way to stay alive.

[member="Jen"]​

 

[Jen]

Perhaps, it had been the round dark shades of hers that had made her unable to spot Davi’s comprehensive sleeve tattoo, or perhaps that side of Davi had just been turned away from her all this time. Who knew? It had probably something to do with the travel time to Antecedent, the jet lag so to speak and her lack of sleep. Maybe a combination of thinking it was a jacket sleeve or something went into play as well, maybe. It was after all quite an extensive tattoo.

Nonetheless, Jennifer adjusted her sunglasses a bit and studied the stretched out arm for a second from her seat at the sabacc table. "I like it. Got a few myself other than this one." She briefly pointed towards her eye. The stylized leaves reminded her of her own tattoo that covered the left side of her hip up her waist to just under her chest. That tattoo was intended to look like roses with thorns, but that evidently also meant that some leaves of sorts were present. Under her leather jacket, she wore a snow-white tank top that would have made her able to show it, but having cool tats were not a contest so she decided not to. For now at least and instead let out a quiet chuckle at the fusion cutter remark. “Well I have seen some of those iBorg commercials. They cram all sort of shenanigans into their prosthetics. Yea?”

Jennifer stretched her left arm a bit forward as if trying to force the sleeve from her jacket a bit backwards, in the process revealing a gold chrono, which she took a quick glance at to get a guess of the time. 27:42, so a few hours from an Antecedent midnight which also sort of explained the busy activity here at the Dragon Palace which could visibly be felt to have increased ever so slightly, even over the small amount of time they had been sitting here at the table. A place such as this was always filled with patrons, but during the late night hours, a lot of more action seemed to be stirred up. At the very least, the nightclubs opened up which provoked an influx of new customers who waited in line to get onto the dance floors of places such as Club Lush.

“Ah thanks. Yea I should probably get one. The whole having a hole in my nose sort of thing just seems a bit freaky. Will probably ease things up though if I catch a cold.” Jennifer said with a thoughtful smile, her eyes directed towards the ceiling for a few seconds even though it was hard to tell due to her sunglasses. She quietly followed the game from her seat for a while as Davi boldly raised the stakes, Jennifer’s own glance shifting between the Mirialan and Gran.

The gran folded, not wanting to up on the raise, sighing almost dramatically as he gently tossed his cards onto the table, obviously the Nikto did however follow up on the raise with eager enthusiasm and after a bit of grumbling even the Mirialan took the bait. As it became her own turn, Jennifer had by then gotten The Joker shifted and her Queen of Air and Darkness exchanged as she drew a new card. Nope, no luck today it seemed. A Master of Sabres and a The Star face card didn’t exactly help her out when their values undermined each other. She folded and leant back in her chair to watch the round finish up.

Jennifer’s expression changed a bit sour as Davi guessed at the origins of the tattoo design, both a bit surprised that she knew of it. But also because the name of the people she had partly belonged to just simply tasted badly in her mouth when spoken out loud. A disgusting bunch indeed, she thought. “Sure. Lets.” She offered a nod and strained smile, even though she meant it to be sincere. She liked this girl already, the attitude... The look, she was interesting to say the least. Furthermore, Jennifer never refused a good drink. Not feeling like breaking the tension of the game now she wasn't a part of it anymore, Jennifer instead folded her hands ontop of her head from her leant back position in the chair, getting comfortable. Even though she was out of the game, this last round would surely be interesting.

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[member="Davessi Linden"]​

 

[Davessi Linden]

"I get the hole thing," Davi murmured, distracted with thoughts of impending violence. "The eyebrow rings were weird at first. You get used to it, though. Hardly notice now." She was busy watching her rival players for the telltale twitch of a blaster hand, but not enough so that she didn't notice the other woman flinch; evidently her mention of Mandalorians had touched a nerve. That probably meant there was a really good story behind the eye tattoo, but made it much less likely that she would get to hear it. But she'd accepted the offer of a drink, so Davi's curiosity might still be satisfied. If she managed to survive the next few minutes, anyway.

The casino was getting busy, but that was hardly a guarantee of safety. Little Coruscant was the kind of place that Antecedent's uptight police didn't dare patrol, and sentients with experience in the galactic underground knew that the best way to stay alive was to stay out of other beings' business. Accused of cheating, she could be shot or knifed or strangled right here at the table and no one would bat an eyelash, though the bouncers would probably charge the perpetrator a cleaning fee. So it really wasn't in her best interest to keep playing. She should've folded, like the half-Ryn girl, and walked away with her earlier winnings.

But she just didn't have it in her. She liked the thrill too much.

So she anted up, and another hard look passed across the table, sending nervous energy thrumming through her veins. Her best move was shifting her six, hoping for something higher and thus a total closer to 23. But before she could even make the choice, the Nikto practically leapt out of his seat. "Call!" And that was that. Davi sighed, throwing down her eighteen, and the alien's grin spread ear to ear. And then faded. "You cheating schutta!" he shouted, this time actually leaping out of his seat. He dropped his cards on the table, revealing a ten of coins and a mistress of sabers: a pure sabacc, winning both pots.

Except that, in the instant before he'd played them, they'd been hit by the randomizer. By the time that the two and four of flasks that had once been a winning hand hit the table, Davi's knife was out of her boot. The Rodian dealer backed away, hands raised, as the Nikto smashed a meaty fist down on the table, scattering cards and credit chips across the floor and the laps of the players. The Gran found his feet as well, but hesitated when he saw the gleaming blade of the knife, keeping his distance on the opposite side of the table.

The Mirialan stayed quite still, but a holdout blaster appeared in the sleeve of his jacket, pointed squarely between Davi's eyes. That was bad. That was really, really bad. "Tear her metal bits apart," the Nikto snarled, "and rip the skifter out!" Davi rolled her eyes, covertly taking stock of the situation. "Gentlebeings," she said, waving a placating hand, "it's just a game, and I'm just here for the fun. Let's forget it, yeah? No need to make a mess." And yet some part of her, she had to admit, was spoiling for a fight. She seldom gave up credits easily, hard-earned or otherwise...

[member="Jen"]​

 

[Jen]

Saying Jennifer wasn’t surprised when the game suddenly evolved as it did would be playing it too cool. However, she had expected something similar to happen simply due to the nature of a game such as this. That and those who were seated around the table didn’t exactly contribute to seem as the most easy going people the galaxy had to offer. At least that was how Jennifer had judged them and she had been correct. Partly at least.

Since The Dragon Palace’s completion when the Ravens had just started to get hold on the underground worlds, the Palace, their headquarters, had in turn changed quite a lot since then. It had always been a secure place due to the very nature of the property, but as leaders had been changed out, so had the palace changed from being a credit washing façade. To a stronghold, a bastion, that guarded the secrets and interests of the criminal syndicate. That meant a lot of things to the place as a whole, but the most noticeably was the security who had only increased in size. And with only one entrance to the place it was hard to navigate yourself around the thousands of guards. Of course, it also always helped having a registered Raven sitting at your sabacc table.

As the pot was called Jennifer straightened herself in her seat to get a better look once the cards would be dropped. As this happened she spotted the Nikto’s flashing cards as they were hit by the randomizer before they touched the table and was locked by the game itself onto the two and four of flasks, that in turn making the Nikto go berserk as he had now lost once more. Even the Mirialan didn’t seem too happy about it and this was further proved as Davi drew her knife, stopping the Nikto and Gran in their tracks, but provoking the Mirialan to draw his hidden blaster. Oh what a move.

Jennifer was still seated, somewhat shocked, but succeeding in playing it exceptionally cool, after all this was The Dragon Palace. She turned her gaze between the players and Rodian dealer, flashing a smirk as she heard the familiar loud thumping metal steps of two DD-S1 droids approaching in rapid pace. Moments later the robotic voice of the droids were heard, talking in scarily accurate unison as they now stood by the table with their submachinegun blasters pointed towards those with weapons drawn.

“Stand down. You are under arrest. Failure to surrender will result in the most unpleasant of protocols.”

They said loudly as they now steadfast stood by the table. They were different in design however, one of them being of the usual red design of the droid guards here at the casino, while the other wore black painted armor, gold seeming to rim the edges of its metal. Upon the gold-rimmed droids shoulders, a sigil of sorts could be spotted, having the form of a phoenix. It took stance by Jennifer’s right shoulder as she now rather casually stood, the Nikto starting to yell loudly about cheating scums and unfair advantages at the guard droids until another droid approached him from behind, grasping him in a tight titanium grip and slowly started to move him towards the exit. All the while this happened the two droids by the table spoke once more, one blaster each pointed towards Davi and the Mirialan.

"No weapons allowed by: 682f64 coded personnel. First and last warning."​

[member="Davessi Linden"]​

 

[Davessi Linden]

So she might have slightly miscalculated the security presence and response time. Slightly.

Davi liked to think that she was rarely surprised. She'd been all around the galaxy, seen things that would blow most people's minds, escaped half a dozen prisons and shot half a dozen bounty hunters. She knew all the ambushes and scams in the book, and had used each of them once or twice. But somehow, when she'd walked into the Dragon Palace, she'd been way off her game. Maybe it was the cravings, rippling painfully at the back of her mind in a constant drone of aching white noise. Or maybe she was getting overconfident. But she'd guessed that the Dragon Palace was lawless, so she was in big trouble when she suddenly met the law.

This was not her blaze of glory. Nowhere close. So it was time to turn her mind to that most vital art: not dying. "So sorry about that," she told the droids, slowly raising her hands, the blade of the knife held loosely and harmlessly between two fingers. "My friend and I," she said pointedly, casting a direct glance at the Mirialan, "panicked when the game got to be a little too much for the Nikto gentlebeing. Now that we're safe, we'd be happy to turn over our weapons and collect them when we leave." It was a gamble: Davi wasn't giving up her knife until the blaster trained on her was out of the way, so she'd given the Mirialan an out, too.

Fortunately, he took it. Turning his blaster around, stock first, he slid it out of his sleeve and slowly offered it to the security droid. Davi, in turn, slowly slid her knife across the sabacc table until the droids could reach it. She didn't know if she would actually get it back, given that carrying it had violated the rules. Maybe she could bribe someone; it'd be a shame to lose such a quality blade. But Davi tried not to worry herself over things; she could always get more. Staying alive was what counted, and that seemed to be taken care of. She highly doubted that unruly gamblers were summarily executed, though she might still get herself thrown out.

"So," she addressed the half-Ryn girl, hands still raised. "That was fun. Drink? I know I need one."

[member="Jen"] (so sorry for the delay! I was traveling, but I'm home now)​

 

[Jen]

The featureless gaze of the DD-S1 security droids spoke volumes in itself as they moved forward to take the weapons, the black and gold-rimmed droid was the one to approach Davi and took hold of the knife with its titanium claws, securing it before handing it over to the other droid who had taken the Mirialan’s blaster. Moreover, an angry Miialan at that, his gaze and expression dark as he scowled at Davi before moving off and through the crowd.

With the weapons gone and handed off the red security droid it seemed that the black one had “calmed” down considerably if droids were even capable of such. Its gun now lowered, but oddly enough, it still stood close to Jennifer, not seeming to think its job or assignment was over just yet. Jennifer on the other hand had been smiling calmly throughout the episode, knowing full well the capabilities of the DD-S1 droids. The fact that she for once was not the one who had started the festivities also calmed her down considerably and added to her cool attitude, which she was somewhat surprised that she had been able to keep throughout this small encounter. So as Davi asked for the drink she had promised to deal once the round was over, Jennifer gladly nodded, pressing her cigarette into the gambling table and leaving the crumbled ashes be. “Sure thing and yea. That was… Something.” Jennifer stated turning somewhat to look after the Mirialan who had left the table angrily just moments ago.

“That was hella cool by the way. I do wonder how you got that knife in here though.” Jennifer said with a suppressed chuckle and slight smile as she gave Davi a brief glance before turning on her feet and starting to walk, obviously intending for Davi to follow her. As they walked towards nearest bar the black and gold-rimmed droid seemed to follow them, stopping its walking as Jennifer slid into a barstool by the long bar that faced the large-bidding and luxurious gambling tables. “Two drinks please. Ermm…” She swung her head around towards Davi in what would probably have made her hair flow beautifully had it not been for its stiff nature. “Of… Ermm... What do you want?”

[member="Davessi Linden"]​

((Sorry that it have taken so much time! Just read through the thread to update my view on what have happened. Looking forward to continuing this anew! ))​