The True Path Lost(Flint's Ha- Crew)

[Flint Michigan]

It was another excessively sunny day on the rolling dunes of Tatooine, Flint and his crew had just made a delivery of water vaporators. Always lots of money to be made by selling up-to-date water vaporators here, but sadly there wasn't much in the way of exports to make a lot of money on. Flint had managed to get a deal on a few tons of bantha wool and gaderffi sticks, hoping to find some buyers in higher city markets where livestock and cultural relics were scarce, but the Tatooine workers had been slow. apparently all the wool wasn't sheared yet, and the gaderffi sticks needed cleaning before transport, which meant he had to stay in this hell hole for a while.

Making the most of it he told his crew he'd take them out to one of the local cantinas for drinks, sabacc, and watching some swoop races. First round of drinks was on him, and he told them all, nigh, ordered them all to be careful. Tatooine was a hive of scum and villainy after all, and who knew how many were buried in the sand or fed to the sarlaccs because they had wagered more than they could pay.

Flint personally headed to the sabacc table, crowded with a pair of rodians, a transdoshan, an ithorian, and a gotal that held an odd trinket close to his chest. The trinket looked valuable, and Flint wondered if he could con it off the man. Figuring there was only one way to find out he took a seat and was dealt in. It was time to have some fun.



[member="Catherine Romanov"] [member="Kitt Solo"] [member="Tiam Bai"]

 

[Kitt Solo]

"C'mon sugar, I know it don't look it but I promise I can handle another," she winked at the skeptical looking barkeep and slapped a credchit on the stone counter. The barkeep grumbled and poured the burnt-chestnut haired woman another Corellian bourban. The bothan on her right eyed her up and down and the male twi'lek on her left offered her a toothy-grin.

"Fellas," with a lopsided grin she tipped the shot back. With a clear of her throat, she stood, feeling the heat flush into her cheeks. Ordering two more shots, she ferried them over to where Flint was sitting and offered him one, coming up to his side.

"Captain?"

Myrtle-ellipses swept the table as she gauged each being's feelings in the force. Nothing like a master empath at a poker game to make things a little unfair. "Just don't bet our ship, sweetpie."



[member="Flint Michigan"] @Catherine Romanov @Tiam Bai

 

[Catherine Romanov]

Catherine was seated on one of the seats near the bar in the cantina. She seemed to always end up on Tatooine this days. Ordering a glass of Bantha's Blaster, she settled down as she began to enjoy her drink. It was a pink-coloured fizzy drink that went pop every few seconds.

Well, this was definitely better than Sarlaac's Kicker, that abomination she had ordered on her previous visit. She had no idea why that monstrosity was so popular. Glancing around, she saw Flint at one of the nearby sabacc tables, and with a swing of her arm, she grabbed her drink, and leisurely walked over to his side, watching the game and enjoying her drink. It was then that she noticed that Flint was eyeing the trinket as well.

Great minds think alike, she thought.

[member="Flint Michigan"] [member="Kitt Solo"] [member="Tiam Bai"]

 

[Tiam Bai]

[member="Flint Michigan"] | [member="Kitt Solo"] | [member="Catherine Romanov"]



Tiam found this entire side trip interesting. It was the best word she could use to describe what was going on. Never before had she worked for independents so to speak. Most of the time it was large corporations with a levy of rules and regulations. Visiting cantinas during working hours? Drinking? Gambling? All were a no-go in her book. Apparently though, this small company operated much, much differently. Who was she to speak up though? Tiam did not own the company, the vessel, or make the contracts. Her job was to keep the merchandise under her control. Making sure it was all there, nothing broke in transit, keeping their end user updated, so on and so forth.


So she sat in a dark corner of the establishment, sipping a water. Pale yellow eyes tracked her crew members. Pantorans didn't do well in heat so she was skipping out on the alcohol for now. No need to pass out and look like an idiot on her first trip out. As she watched, a fine eyebrow arced at her roommate, a Kitt Solo. Tiam was fairly certain her roomie was sleeping with the Captain. Good for her. A woman had ways of getting what she wanted and apparently Kitt knew how to use all of her charms in a appropriate fashion.


You go girl.


Tiam wasn't so sure about the about the Catherine woman, the security muscle. She seemed alright. Observant that one. It seemed the blonde-haired woman was just as interested as her in keeping quiet and watching the room.

 

[Flint Michigan]

[member="Tiam Bai"] [member="Catherine Romanov"] [member="Kitt Solo"] [member="Neil Vegas"]

Flint was dealt two cards for the hand, a Commander of Coins and the Evil One. He promptly folded. -3 wasn't getting a man anywhere. His luck turned up a little however as his mechanic came to sit as left, offering a shot before joking to him not to bet the ship.

"I've got lots of stuff to go through before the ship." He said with a grin. Kitt would know he was lying through his teeth, as he kind of only had the ship on his list of valuables, but these card sharks didn't need to know that. "Thanks for the shot Kitt." He said before picking it up and letting it down, the Sandy Sovereign living up to it's name. Darn desert planets. While Kitt sat to his left and had noticeably taken a look at the field Cat came to his right, not saying a word surveying the gamblers, trying to figure who had what to offer. Flint took a look around the cantina to find his other crewmate, seeing the pantoran keeping a glass of water close. Poor girl was worse in the sun than the rest of them. Hitting up a waiter that came by he gave him a cred-chit and told him to get the pantoran some ice, a noticeably more expensive commodity on tatooine. If she wasn't gonna get a round of drinks then he'd get her something.


"<How much for some time with the blonde or the brunette?>" One of the rodians asked in hutteuse

"<Or both?>" The other rodian asked, the smirk in his tone lost in his alien features.

"Deal them both in and you might next spend the next half-hour with them." Flint said sarcastically, garnering scowling eyes from Rodian duo, their annoyance only compounded as they lost their money to the Ithorian. The dealer droid promptly sent new hands to each player, as well as Kitt and Catherine. Low-dollar dealer droids in crappy cantinas weren't programmed to do things like ask if someone wanted to play, it just dealt hands.

"Hope you two are ready to gimme your credits." Flint said to Catherine and Kitt with a grin, before picking up his hand. An Ace of Flasks and Demise. He shrugged and then folded again, the Transdoshan giving off a hissing laugh.

 

[Kitt Solo]

She unabashedly winked at the two Rodians and took a peak at her cards. Might as well, she couldn't remember the last time she gambled with just cards and credits. Usually it was her life.

She spread her awareness in the force, picking up on the emotions of those around the table. The rodians seemed cockily confident in their hands. The Ithorian wafted feelings of loss and the gotal seemed nervous. It was good enough for the empath, considering her hand too. Between her and Catherine, they might win this round.

She grinned. "I'm all in."

Myrtle-ellipses glanced at her roommate from across the room. A flicker of concern crossed her face before she refocused on the game.

Flint Michigan @Catherine Romanov @Tiam Bai

 

[Catherine Romanov]

Catherine scowled at the two rodians at the table. While she did not speak huttese, she understood it. And this presented her with an unfortunate situation on hand. She had never gambled before(shocking, I know), certainly not with cards. She had watched a couple of games yes, but never actually played one. When the droid dealt the hand of cards to her, she just stood there, unsure how to proceed next.

Quickly breaking herself out of her reverie, she gave a quick nervous glance towards Flint before leaning towards Kitt, whispering in her ear "I've never gambled before, let alone with cards, what do I do?" She was expecting an expression of shock from Kitt, as that was the usual expression she received, when they were told about her plight.

[member="Flint Michigan"] [member="Kitt Solo"] [member="Tiam Bai"]

 

[Tiam Bai]

[member="Catherine Romanov"] | [member="Kitt Solo"] | [member="Flint Michigan"]



Tiam flashed a smile to her fellow shipmates, white teeth quite visible in the dark corner. Probably the only thing really distinguishable in this dark corner -- blue skin and dark little hiding spots tended not to mix when wanting to be noticed. Pale yellow eyes widened in surprise as ice water was delivered to her little section of the galaxy. Sweat beads were rolling off the glass already as she eagerly grabbed the cool drinking vessel.


It was good to be the Captain's lovers bunkmate.

 

[Flint Michigan]

[member="Tiam Bai"] | [member="Catherine Romanov"] | [member="Kitt Solo"]

Kitt went all in, garnering a raised eyebrow from her captain. "Tell me not to bet the ship and then go all in on your first hand why don'tcha?" He grinned a bit sarcastically. The Rodians took a moment to think before both put their shares in the pot. The Ithorian folded, as did the Gotal and the Transdoshan. Cat seemed to be a bit confused and leaned over to Kitt, whispering what to do. Though the rest of the Sabacc weren't close enough Flint could here bits and pieces of what Cat was saying, and managed to keep his Sabacc Face up despite what he'd heard.Thankfully nobody had started getting out their blasters thinking they were being set up, but the Transdoshan had a bit of an evil glare to him. Could just be his natural Transdoshanliness though. Darn lizards never looked happy. Just in case Flint let his hand slip towards his blaster, making sure it was charged and ready to go.

 

[Kitt Solo]

[member="Tiam Bai"] [member="Flint Michigan"] [member="Catherine Romanov"]

A chestnut-brow quirked at Catherine. "You just gotta get your cards to add up to plus or minus twenty-three." The whisper left the corner of her lips as she smiled cordially to the two Rodians.

They flashed their cards, bluffing, well below twenty-three. Angered growls and grunts echoed around the table. Kitt spread hers on the table.

"That's lucky," the Trandoshan hissed.

"Or skill, darlin.'" She winked at Flint and stared down the Trandoshan almost like she wanted a fight. Now they were just waiting for Catherine to show her hand or fold.

 

[TB-705]

The whiskey ran like familiar fire down his throat. He set the glass back on the counter and turned to lean against it, elbows resting lazily while his hands dangled. He crossed his legs. Brown eyes settled on a group with some lookers playing sabbac in the corner. One fella' and more dolls than he prob'ly knew what to do with. But Neil Vegas did.

The pilot wore a plain white t, but it was hard to tell underneath all the grease stains. He ran a hand through wavy, dirty blonde hair and continued to stare at the blue skinned redhead. The contrast of color was dizzying. He caught her yellow eyes and held them. No wink. No smirk. Just the level stare of brown eyes.

[member="Flint Michigan"] [member="Kitt Solo"] [member="Tiam Bai"] [member="Catherine Romanov"]

 

[Catherine Romanov]

Catherine was nervous. Beads of sweat trickled down her face. The sooner this infernal card game would finish, the better. She had watched her uncle gamble himself into slavery decades ago, when she was but a wee girl, it was then that she swore never to gamble again. Watching was one thing, getting involved in one, another.

Holding her cards in her hand, she nervously studied them, as she thought about what Kitt had mentioned. Add up to plus or minus twenty-three. Taking another look at her hand, she let loose a nervous grin, her cards miraculously added up to plus twenty three.

Slowly, she laid her hand onto the dealing table, waiting for what comes next.

[member="Flint Michigan"] | [member="Kitt Solo"] | [member="Tiam Bai"] | [member="Neil Vegas"]

 

[Tiam Bai]

[member="Neil Vegas"] | [member="Catherine Romanov"] | [member="Kitt Solo"] | [member="Flint Michigan"]



Drinking her ice water in peace, Tiam caught the sensation of someone staring at her. Eyes darted around, searching until she fell on a human at the bar. An unblinking, odd looking human that had the look of one who had just crawled out from a rock. Typical. Most back water planets rarely saw other species. When they saw a different one , they stared. Perhaps someday when she had money she would donate reference datapads to these backwaters so they didn't appear so idiotic.


The one thing she could do : ignore him.

 

[Flint Michigan]

[member="Neil Vegas"] [member="Catherine Romanov"] [member="Kitt Solo"] [member="Tiam Bai"]

The rodians put down their hands, showing poor cards. Kitt and Catherine threw down their own, after Kitt explained to Catherine what exactly she was doing. There were scowls and complaints as the mandalorian showed her cards, and the dealer droid gave her the rest of the pot.

"Maybe I should take you two to the Sabacc table more often." Flint said as he noticed from the corner of his eye a man with a grease stained shirt staring at his box monkey. She looked to be ignoring him, and she could probably handle herself. If there was a problem by the end of the next hand or two he'd probably intervene, but for now it looked like the pantoran could handle herself. Bringing his full attention back to the dealer droid he was dealt two cards, as were the rest of the table. If Catherine or Kitt wanted out they could do it between hands, but Flint was gonna play a few games. Finally having a decent hand he didn't fold, and instead raised a few credits, hoping to slow roll the table for some more credits, and maybe that trinket on the Gotal's neck.

 

[Kitt Solo]

She elbowed Flint lightly in the ribs and smiled. "Maybe you should but it seems like Miss Romanov is the luck. Well played." She stood and clapped the blond security force lightly on her shoulder before excusing herself from that round.

"I'm gonna go hang out with the roomie for a bit. Fellas, Catherine," excusing herself and ignoring the sneers from the other gambling patrons she stood and wandered her way over to her bunkmate.

"How's the ice, kid?"

One of the rodians left the table too and took a seat near Kitt and Tiam.

@Neil Vegas @Catherine Romanov @Tiam Bai [member="Flint Michigan"]

 

[Catherine Romanov]

Catherine had enough of cards for now. And since she had acquired herself a tidy bit of earnings, she'd better quit while she was ahead. Standing up, she stacked up her cards, and handed them face down to the droid, excusing herself while she still had money, ignoring the sneers and growls by the rest of the remaining players.

While no longer being part of the game, she still hovered around Flint, hoping to rub off some of the luck she had from the previous round to Flint, as whatever he earned would benefit them all. Occasionally, she would glance around the room, looking to see what the other crew members were up to.

[member="Flint Michigan"] [member="Kitt Solo"] [member="Tiam Bai"] [member="Neil Vegas"]

 

[TB-705]

She noticed and ignored him. Looked like she was used to the attention. Well good. Inexperience got borin' real fast.

Vegas took another sip of his whiskey, then went back to staring. It was easy work. Easy on the eyes, that is.


[member="Tiam Bai"]

 

[Tiam Bai]

[member="Neil Vegas"] | [member="Catherine Romanov"] | [member="Kitt Solo"] | [member="Flint Michigan"]



"Ice is great thanks to you." Blue elbow came out to playfully jab Kitt in the side. Perhaps she shouldn't tease the roommate so often but the girl had an easy going nature about her. An easy one to get along with so far. Granted, it hadn't been that long, so there could still be rough seas ahead. Tiam polished off the ice water, letting a cube melt in her mouth while observing the bar for a second.


"New boyfriend? Won't Flint be jealous?" Head inclined to the Rodian, grin plastered on her features.

 

[Kitt Solo]

[member="Tiam Bai"] [member="Neil Vegas"] [member="Catherine Romanov"] [member="Flint Michigan"]

"Har, har," she deadpanned and glanced over at the stalking Rodian, gaze panning to some spacer totally staring at Tiam. "I could say the same for you. Maybe not the Flint getting jealous part." Her grin widened. "But what's up with that guy? You think he's blind and it just looks like he's staring over here?"

She grabbed the bartender's attention and ordered a Corellian ale.

"But there's something I want to talk to you about." Voice lowered considerably as she glanced at Flint out of the corners of her eyes. "What are your thoughts on the force?"

 

[Tiam Bai]

[member="Kitt Solo"]


"Nah,probably hasn't seen many attractive aliens and is trying to will himself to keep anything from twitchin' the wrong way." Amusement colored her tone. One had to find ways to deal with being stared at. Tiam Bai had been stared at all of her adult life -- ever since she left Pantora. Took a bit of time to get over it and learn not to be mad at the starers.


"Force? The mystical stuff that causes nearly every war the the galaxy Force?"