Rallying Point - Part 2
Posted on Sun Apr 11th, 2021 @ 4:58pm by Flight Officer Tawshiikkyrr & Lieutenant Kor' de'leia & Lieutenant Jafan & Lieutenant Melvyn Kosta & Flight Officer Onyesonwu Zyd
Edited on on Sun Apr 11th, 2021 @ 6:00pm
Mission:
Scoundrels, Cuttthroats and Rogues
Location: Nar Shaddaa - District 102
Timeline: Day 1 at
Kor could hear Melvyn walking behind them. She was glad he kept pace, she had no desire to feel the burn of the bracelets pumping voltage through her body again. She turned back to him and called out. "We are buying him a drink. It was part of the deal that kept you walking upright. Apparently our friend has expensive tastes."
Tawshii comfortably crossed his long arms behind his head and chuckled. It wasn’t as much fun as besting Imps, but the drink would do as compensation. He stood, relaxed and casual and watched these two interact. They didn’t, he considered, appear to be captor and captive, which was… interesting. It was very tempting to simply bash both their heads together.
"Uh... Really ?" Melvyn wasn't quite sure how wise it was to follow some random wookiee to some random bar while he was a wanted man with his face probably broadcasted throughout Nar Shaddaa. On the other hand... maybe wiser than objecting while the wookiee was within hearing range. "...is that a good idea ?" he asked, rather meekly.
Kor looked back again and shrugged. "Are you going to tell him differently? He kept us alive, least we can do is buy him a drink."
She turned back to Tawshiikkyrr. "I apologize for my captive. He is new here and has had a very bad day." she squinted her eyes a little, it hadn't been a great day for her either. Her calf was starting to ache. The patch had done a great job, but some things just took time to heal.
The wookiee demonstratively raised and lowered both arms in a gesture of happy indifference. A free drink would say more than words. He was, however, still intrigued as to why she let her ‘captive’ speak to her like that. And why the Imp was dumb enough to argue within earshot of him.
“Whoo raakooanoorrro whwowowawowa, warcahwhor ahc akraroscwowhao wowhoohurrac.(5)” Tawshii noted. Then offered. “Waoo rooohu ohrawhao scwo aooo orwhoooaor acahsc oohuao rawhwa oararcrcro acahsc wwoorc rooohu(6)?”
The suggestion as best she could make out brought a wicked smile to Kor's face as she looked around at Melvyn, strongly considering the opportunity. She looked at his put out demeanor after being hurled across the street into a dumpster was understandable. Plus he didn't speak Shyriiwook, which was likely driving him crazy at the moment. "No, I think he knows enough not to stray far. Besides it's hard to drink with an Imp in your hands." she laughed.
Still less than convinced, but not really in a position to argue, Melvyn had little choice but to follow ; which he did, rather morosely. To be fair, he was a little banged up, tired and cold, and having a drink would not have been his priority even under ideal circumstances. Which these weren't.
Hera looked... oddly relaxed, as she walked by the wookiee's side, with only a hand resting casually on her blaster. The wookiee seemed just a tiny little bit more vigilant, but not by much. They might as well have been old friends going out together to any casual onlooker. Melvyn bit his lip thoughtfully as he walked with them - he found himself between Hera and the wookiee, which he doubted was purely by chance. This little stroll felt more than a bit surreal.
"Excuse me... I didn't catch your name ?" he said, glancing at the wookiee. Since he was there, he might as well socialize. Anything that decreased the likelihood of him getting tossed in the air again was a good opportunity to take.
As if he were dealing with a small child or a pet, Tawshii patted the human affectionately on the head and chuckled. He wasn’t about to share his name with a random human, Imp or otherwise, and even if he did, the man wouldn’t be able to pronounce it.
Melvyn did have a point, she had no idea who this big wookiee was, but for that matter he knew neither of them, but any sentient that was happy scoring a free drink was alright in her book. "Is the bar far?" she asked innocently. "It's a shame to waste a beautiful night indoors." The night was the usual over cast shade of Nar shaddian brown. "On nights like tonight you can probably see the STARS OF CHANDRILLA, or at least catch a few notes from a SONGBIRD." Kor slid her Rebel Intelligence ID in with the basic code for requiring help. Rebels liked wookiees, but there was no guarantee this one was sympathetic or hooked up to know any rebels, but it was worth a shot. Worst came to worst, who ever complained about a girl in a tight dress enjoying the scenery.
He noticed - oh yes, Tawshii noticed - but the wookiee didn't acknowledge the emphasis on those particular words. Those Code Words. He was listening out for any sign that the obvious Imp didn't have some kinda coercion over those pretty pink curves, or any overt warning to say these two were playing him for a fool. That, plus - really - there were far easier ways to deal with this situation besides conversation.
Striding into the cantina finally, Tawshii waited until they crossed the threshold then deftly lifted Melvyn off his feet with one hand at the man's back. He carried him swiftly, easy long strides putting more than ten foot of distance between Twi'lek and human, then waited to see if the cuffs were real, or a ploy to gain his trust. While he walked, he caught the attention of a dark-haired young man lurking by the bar and gave the kid an upward nod along with a casual roar. The special drinks.
The wookiee got Melvyn by surprise. He hadn't expected such a move, definitely not when they'd just arrived at their destination. He felt himself be lifted as easily as a child by a big, furry paw, a protest barely escaping his lips before they'd covered enough ground to -
Melvyn's protest swiftly melted into a yell of agony as the electric shock made his body spasm and convulse. It lasted only a few seconds but felt like much longer, leaving him hanging limply in the wookiee's grasp, only still upright because of him. He was dimly aware of the patrons around them glancing furtively in their direction, though no-one seemed to care to interfere. If the wookiee had dropped him now he would have fallen to the ground into an undignified heap, but instead he was carried - rather casually - to a nearby table.
Kor watched the Wookie scoop up Melvyn and start pacing away. Her immediate thoughts went to him stealing her pretend Bounty. She started to protest raising her hand to go after the wookiee. It was then she noticed the Zap bracelet still on her wrist. "Schutta! Nooooo!" she cried out now leaping to try and close the distance on the Wookie and Melvyn. The shock hit. Her arms felt like fire and possibly made her heart stop for a moment. With a cry of pain, her knees buckled as she dropped the blaster in her hands. Her momentum must have got her within range of the matched bracelet on Melvyn as the shock mercifully stopped soon after it began. Her fingers curled in odd angles that looked purely unnatural as she fought to catch her breath and stop the fire in her head. "E chu ta!" she screamed out followed by a string of profanity that would make most protocol droids blush.
Then, whether Melvyn liked it or not, the big furry fella picked a table and sat them both down at it. Sooner or later, he figured, the Imp's friend/hunter/criminal buddy/unlikely partner would join them and they could figure this all out over some brightly coloured beverages.
Melvyn clung to his chair, his extremities still smarting, arms quivering slightly, and directed a resentful glare at the wookiee.
"What the hell was that for ?"
He was under no illusion that he'd win any contest of strength with the huge wookiee but he'd had it with being tossed around at its whim, and he refused to let himself be intimidated. Even so, his rebuke may have been more convincing had it not been said in a weak, quivering voice.
Some overt chuckling followed, but Tawshii didn't dignify the question with any response beyond that. The Imp wouldn't understand and the wookiee didn't care to waste his energy. Still, the shake in the human's voice was gratifying considering how many people in that same uniform had tried to kill him. Tawshii rumbled a roar that could have been a mocking comment or simply critique of the man's cut off flightsuit, it was impossible to tell. Tawshii leant back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head.
Whatever the wookiee was saying, he was clearly not that chagrined about this latest stunt. And he was still expecting them to buy him a drink ; a degree in shyriiwook was not required to guess that part.
A string of expletives behind Melvyn revealed Hera's approach ; it seemed she had recovered from her own electrocution and was making her way to their table, lekkus twitching and looking almost as unhappy as he was. Melvyn made an eloquent face at her. Offering him a drink was your idea. But Hera did not seem in a mood to be castigated.
As the hive of Nubian Bees stopped buzzing in her head, she focused on what was happening. The treacherous Wookie had dropped Melvyn unceremoniously in a nearby booth and settled himself in as well. Her violet eyes burned with anger. She got up and marched toward the table, reaching back to unsheath her dagger. Unfortunately the shocks had made her grip like putty and the ornate blade dropped to the Cantina floor. She struggled to pick it up, grasping it with both hands, and stomped over to the table, figuring how she was going to stab this wookiee places he would hurt for a long time. "What the frackled chubba shavit are you trying to pull! This is my bounty shabface!" She struggled to hold the knife straight, but her eyes were clearly out for blood.
Tawshii canted his head to the side and reached out with a long arm to gently pat the Twi'lek on the head. 'There, there,' the gesture said, simply. He moved, fast and far steadier than Kor currently was, aiming - not to steal the weapon - but to grab the hand holding the dagger and still the shaking before the crazed and irritated bounty hunter/spy hurt herself.
Kor glared at the wookiee as tried to keep her teeth from rattling, let alone gain control over her hands. She would never admit the wookiee's firm pressure on her trembling arms made a difference.
"Look, why don't you get your drink ?" Melvyn said, still smarting but ready to part amicably with this oversized bully if at all possible. "Then we can all go our own way." He caught Hera's eye roll from the corner of his eyes. Well, he was aware that the likelihood of an easy escape was quickly reducing to virtual nothingness but it was still worth a try.
There was a defiant shake of a wookiee head - no - and then Tawshii pushed himself against the human, shoving the Imp further into the cubicle's corner and jamming him there. He growled an obvious openmouthed and aggressive warning that needed no translation to understand, spittle finding the human's face in the midst of the sound.
"Kark your frakled drink!" she spat the words at the wookiee as the blade she struggled to hold in her hands suddenly fell on the table. She reached down to fumble at retireving her weapon clearly not up for an actual fight, but still aching for it.
Behind Kor, the young human wandered almost into reach, one hand holding a tray with three drinks on it, the other reaching silently for the discarded dagger on the table. Meanwhile, as an intentional distraction, Tawshii thumped a paw across the space between himself and the suspected Rebel agent to give the Twi'lek an enthusiastic, but not lethal, backhanded slap and roar combo.
"If you sit down and have a drink," Haro said, words coloured with a confident strength as he addressed the Twi'lek. "I might help you remove the cuffs?"
Closing her eyes in resignation of her impotence to capitalize on the situation in her current state, she held up her hand toward the human newcomer. "First reasonable thing I've heard since we walked in here."
At the Twi'lek's raised hand, Haro left the dagger where it lay, trusting Tawshii to grab it if he felt the need. The young man reached slowly to touch the cuff wrapped about Kor's wrist and examined the markings. Yes, he considered, privately. He could remove it. Just needed his tool-kit and a few moments of stillness.
Melvyn eyed the newcomer who'd appeared out of nowhere. He looked a few years younger than Melvyn, discreet but confident, quietly waiting for an answer. The drinks were brightly coloured in hues of blue, yellow and pink, each with their own little umbrella and slices of unidentified fruit, and with large bubbles popping sluggishly to the surface. Melvyn's face scrunched warily. Even if the drink did not contain anything more dangerous than alcohol, drinking it did not seem like a good idea. He was beyond exhausted, struggling to think strategically as it was, and Hera did not look in a better shape. The young human put the tray down on the table and unloaded the drinks.
"Do you have the kind of training required to handle those ?" Melvyn asked, less interested in the actual answer than by the young man's demeanour and by how much information - true or false - he might share. He might even let something slip to identify them as either slavers, bounty hunters, or simply local thugs.
Haro shrugged with a casual gracelessness and gave away nothing. Maybe he did. Maybe he didn't. But he certainly didn't plan on intervening until he was asked to. He met Tawshii's eyes briefly, gave a discreet nod and pushed one of the outlandish looking beverages closer to the human.
Kor looked at the assembled beverage before them and of course the large fishbowl of a drink in front of the wookiee. This was not looking good for them. At best, a strong alcoholic drink would alleviate some of the discomfort she was feeling. At worst she would be knocked out and find herself in the slave pit of some pirate frigate... again. She didn't like that notion.
The truth was, Melvyn was not really happy letting someone he'd just met meddle with those cuffs. He knew that, if mishandled, they were powerful enough to kill him. Maybe not Hera - twi'leks were notoriously hardy - but they could at least badly injure her.
On the other hand... he glanced at the wookiee, the human, then the other patrons around them - most studiously avoiding his gaze. The wookiee had dragged them to the furthest table from the entrance. Any attempt to run was bound to end unpleasantly, which left them few options.
Melvyn took his drink - the yellow and blue strata had met into swirls of green - and pretended to drink from it, though he barely dipped his lips in. Just enough to feel the taste. Well, definitely alcoholic, but beyond that he couldn't tell what extra ingredients might have been included. He put the drink back on the table. Hera still carried the gun but using it in a bar full of customers, in close quarters with a wookiee, somehow did not seem like a wonderful idea. Especially when her fingers still shook and her eyes looked unfocused, her pupils unnaturally dilated. Melvyn figured he didn't look much better.
"Maybe we can come to another agreement," he said finally. "One that involves me and the twi'lek walking out of here?"
Kor nodded. "That would be ideal." she said somewhat calmly. The effects of the zapcuffs were starting to dissipate. She winked at the Wookie. "Let me try that." She reached across the table to the large fishbowl in front of the wookiee and started to drag it toward herself.
The wookiee shook his head in a firm and obvious negative. He put his hand at the back of the Imp's head and pushed the man's face back towards the drink, then growled in case his request was still lacking clarity. Neither of them were walking out of here, but if they were lucky they'd be carried out the front rather than dragged out back.
Then the Twi'lek pushed her luck, and Tawshii lost his cool. He threw back his head and roared, flipped the tank of alcohol on its long edge, and watched as a cascade of sticky rainbow liquid rushed from the rectangular tank across the table and all over Kor. As the wookiee leant forwards again, his free hand smacked upside the back of Melvyn's skull, intending to knock the Imp forwards into the table and out for the count.
Melvyn saw the wookiee coming - sort of - but his pilot's reflexes were slowed by his exhaustion and injuries. To him it felt like the table came up to meet his face, colliding simultaneously with his forehead and already injured nose. The pain registered a moment later, along with the fact that his body was sliding down to the ground in a heap of limbs ; then nothing.
Meanwhile, behind Kor, Haro blocked the Twi'lek's exit by the simple matter of holding both her shoulders steady and putting his weight in her way. "Just drink," the young human said, with a slight pleading edge to his tone. "Your head'll hurt a lot less that way."
Kor felt the young man behind her. Her lekku curled back and arced up their pointy ends aligning menacingly with his eyes. She looked down at the colorful drink in front of her. She had heard from many women in the slave pits that had been drawn in by beverages such as this. If that was where this was going, she wasn't going to take the easy way. Her arms reached forward to take up the drink. The young man's grasp of her shoulder's remained constant. Fair enough.
She lifted the rainbow concoction towards her lips slowly. Her violet eyes level on the wookiee. How could that piece of trash be working for slavers after all they had done to his world. In one move she threw the drink, glass and all toward the wookiee while her lekku launched upward into the face of the young man. Lekku even when professionally trained, weren’t strong enough to permanently damage someone, all she needed was a moment. She grabbed her knife from the table. "Kark you slavers!"
Neither reacted verbally. Haro steadied himself and reached forward with his right hand, the left rubbing his face where the lekku had smacked him.
Tawshii moved surprisingly fast for a big fella, his left hand wrapping about the Twi’lek’s face at exactly the same time as Haro’s right grabbed about her wrist. The dagger fell to the table as Kor’s head smacked hard into that horizontal surface, her face lying briefly in the pool of spilled alcohol as the wookiee readjusted himself.
A firm shake of his head sent droplets of drink flying over all four of them, and Tawshii grumbled at the sticky liquid now all over his face and chest. Great, he muttered to himself. No free drink. And now he needed a shower.
Needing to know she could still breathe, Haro lifted Kor’s head up and looked to the wookiee, waiting for that nod. Tawshii grizzled, but offered confirmation. They needed to move them, swiftly, before any other bounty hunters realised who they had here.
Unfortunately, over the years, both Haro and Tawshii had learned trust as a first point of call was both dangerous and foolish, and that usually, an Imp in Imp’s clothing was something to worry about. Either way, keeping both these two alive and rolling with the verbal abuse was far preferable to giving either the chance to hurt, ingratiate and destroy.
With a Twi’lek over one shoulder and a human across the other, the big wookiee gave an amicable upward nod to the bartender while Haro left enough credits to cover the clean-up. They left through the back door and into a scruffy alleyway then headed south-east through the neon-washed backstreets.
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(5) No apology needed, drink is payment enough.
(6) Do you want me to knock him out and carry him for you?
