Theft For Fun and Profit

[Galavant]

Anthan Prime was pretty nice as far as Outer Rim city planets went, in Andrena's opinion. City lights, corrupt officials, cantinas, and more than a few fences. The people kind, not the enclosure kind. Especially in the rougher parts, like where she was now. Sure it wasn't interesting as Nar Shaddaa, but on the bright side it wasn't fraking Nar Shaddaa. And on the really bright side it wasn't some weird planet with a bunch of planes, and dirt, and trees. What kind of person would want to live on a place like that anyway? Andrena personally found it baffling.

Especially the tree part.

No, Anthan was a properly civilized place. As far as planets went. It still wasn't as properly civilized as a ship or a space station. Y'know, places with actual climate control, adjustable gravity, and reactors that were easily reachable. Still it people were still in to the whole living on planets fad, so Andrena didn't have much choice if she wanted to get any business done but to actually land on one of them.

And business was the only reason she was on Anthan. She wasn't conveying any goods of questionable legality this time around, instead she was looking for a map. It was terribly cliché, but she was doing it nonetheless. Not to any lost treasures, or hidden temples of doom, mind you. But to hyperspace routes. Specifically hyperspace routes going towards Kessel. It was always fun trying to navigate that area of space, and maps though likely to not be immediately useful due to stellar drift, but you never knew. It might just have something worthwhile on it.

The only problem being actually getting a hold of the map. From what Andrena knew there was one here that had recently been sold to a fence...which now that she thought about it was a really weird word to describe someone who resold criminal goods. Where were fences involved in that.

As she got lost in her own inane thoughts she proceeded in the direction she'd been told to go by the fellow who'd sold the map. She'd been hoping to buy it from the Ithorian who'd had it, but she'd been an idiot and sold it before Andrena could actually meet her, so now she was here. And she'd probably have to pay more for it to the fence, unless of course she did something underhanded. Which she was totally going to do. She was criminal, not a proud participant in a laissez-faire capitalist system. Not that there was a lot of difference between the two, but still she had her standards. And one of them was never wasting resources she didn't have to. That was just common sense, especially growing up in space where every gram counted. You didn't throw around resources like you were never going to run out of them, and that was how Andrena treated money. As much of it as she could keep, she'd try to keep.

The only question in her mind was how to get away with the map. She didn't really care if the fence knew she did it, she just wanted it. The mark in question was a Cosian named Karmook from what she'd been told by the map's previous owner. Which meant that she wasn't entirely sure as to its accuracy, and was starting to wondder if the Ithoorian had even told her the right location for his shop, assuming the Cosian existed at all, when she finally came across it.

It was a rundown looking place with a large entrance that made it look somewhere between a parts shop, and an open air farmer's market stand. It didn't look too busy as she walked past it, pretending not to look at anything inside. Just the Cosian in question, a couple droids, and one or two customers. She didn't spot anything that screamed THIS IS A REALLY COOL MAP FOR THE KESSEL REGION to her, but that didn't matter so much. Andrena was an opportunist. If there wasn't a map, well there were a lot of other goods in there she could also steal.

The only question was how to go about stealing it. And that seemed to have a rather obvious answer. She'd take her blaster pistol, shoot the droids and have the gun pointed at the Cosian's head in seconds. Simple smash and grab.

She didn't see how it could possibly go wrong.

Assuming of course there was a factor that she couldn't see.

@e_black162_2

 

[e_black162_2]

Athan Prime, a loud, bustling planet full of rude people and criminals. Not at all where Merrik imagined he'd be stranded today. His ship, the Gallium Sparrow, had malfunctioned while he was passing by, forcing him to land at the first open port he saw. He had no idea what was wrong with the hunk of junk, but still, he'd grown attatched to the thing over the years, so he payed through the nose to get a good mechanic to fix her up. The mechanic took his credits and told him it'd be a while before the ship was fixed, so he grabbed his gun and sabers and went exploring.

Hours later, Merrik found himself in a cantina, playing Pazaak with some local gamblers. The place was dark, dank, and filled with slimes both sentient and not. It'd been months since he'd hung out in such a place, but to him, it still felt like home. He made friends quickly, and after a few drinks, he managed to get a pazaak tournament going. One by one, he cleaned out all of the gamblers, even putting a few into his debt. Satisfied with his success, he orders a round of drinks for everyone, downs his, and leaves to go spend his winnings.

A few minutes later, he'd made his way through the dirty streets of a market and into some old shack. The shack had almost anything you could think of: guns, maps, droid parts, stimulants, and even ship keys all neatly lining the shelves in the shop. A super wrinkled old human was behind the counter, watching him, with two guard droids on either side. Merrik was intrigued. He figured this had to be a fences shop and as a jedi, he felt obligated to confront the owner. However, because of his history with so-called undesirables like fences, he instead continued to browse as the owner probably needed the credits more than he did. That's when something caught his eye.

Just outside the door, a beautiful woman had walked by. She looked to be about his age, maybe a bit older, and the way she quickly glanced into the shop got Merrik thinking...was she interested? No. Can't be. She's probably just looking for someone. Merrik chuckled to himself and went back to browsing.

As you could guess, he wasn't the most orthodox jedi. He was calm and collected, but he never tried to hold in his feelings when they did come out. He was also prone to following his instincts rather than planning out his actions. He didn't mind being with lowlifes and junkies, or anyone else for that matter. But he couldn't stand tyrants or bullies. He's hated them since his child hood, a product of his Mandalorian upbringing on Concord Dawn, and always goes out of his way to stop them, mostly through open combat, but he's managed to befriend a few too.

Eventually, he finds a droid repair kit and decides to buy it. Though it was used, and missing some tools, he thought the kit would be enough to fix HK-74, his old protocol droid. The droid had been broken for 2 months now, and he figured he could use its company while traveling on the Sparrow. He scoops up the kit and brings it to the fence asking how much it was worth.

"500 credits."

"Huh. Here you are."

Merrik knew he was being ripped off, but he didn't care, the old fence probably needed the money to feed his family or pay for his medication...or so he told himself. He grabbed his kit off of the counter and turned around. The woman from earlier was still outside. He began to wonder what she was up to. Maybe she was the fence's daughter or something? Or, maybe she was a thief, casing the shop for an upcoming heist. Merrik was curious, so he turned back toward the shelves and pretended to be looking for something else, that way, if she was up to something, he would find out.

@Galavant

 

[e_black162_2]

(OOC: Curious, is it just us rp-ing or are the others joining?)

 

[Galavant]

(OOC: I didn't have anyone picked out, but if there's someone you want to join feel free to shoot me a PM)

 

[Rhys Whitley]

He entered the avenue as though he owned it, casually strutting with a doting slave girl slung onto his suited right arm; a black shock-collar fashionably clasping her neck, twin pink pigtails prancing about the sides of her face. His head hung low and unassuming, loftily bobbing with each easy stride and sway of hip. His blue eyes slyly smiled at the pebbles beneath his feet as the market's effervescence introduced itself with unique character, as a handshake would to a blind man.

Absent his chaperone Wilson, he would seem absolutely innocuous; an easy mark even, if perhaps a bit inexperienced at embodying wickedness. A flower-printed black, open suit jacket too small for even his lithe frame draped upon a tight olive colored button-up dress shirt that hung untucked over black slacks and black leather toed shoes, his left hand flicking the skull-cane stick ahead of each step, the twenty-two year old tossed his shaggy black hair from his eyes as they shut sleepily.

But for all his exposure, not a single possession was on his person; save for the rings on his fingers and the cane in his hand. And of course the cute woman on his arm, who's importance hid special significance.

"You think we'll really find the Kessel map here?" she whispered into his ear for the tenth time as they blindly walked past Andrena.

He hushed her tenderly, effeminately raising the back of his finger to her lips as he coyly pursed his. It was a ploy, to draw out others of similar aim. If he'd heard about the map, then there'd definitely be others here. And if they saw him as competition, seeing how weak he looked, any over-eager types might feel inclined to expose themselves. He'd planned for it all, heading straight for the guarded fence; the gatekeeper to the Ithorian. But what he hadn't predicted was there being a Jedi here. Rhys' Force presence sang like a horse hair's string scraping across vinyl, an odd yet innocent bent. While another's tune rang in his ears from somewhere ahead of him, vague in origin.

Rhys looked up finally, towards the entrance, if you could call it that, to the store where someone was walking out towards him. No, looking at someone else behind him... @Galavant

 

[Galavant]

3...2...1

Showtime.

Andrena walked brusquely towards the ship, and as soon as she crossed the poorly defined threshold between the outside and the inside she drew her blaster pistol. Not being the best shot, she kept on going until she was close in with the droids. Nothing she'd seen had caused her to reevaluate her plan in any way, shape, or form. Sure there were a few people in there, but what were the odds that criminals selling their wares would want to become involves in the problems of other criminals? Her experience on Nar Shaddaa taught her that the odds were rather low. And that anyone who did would likely be easy to bargain with as there was an entire shop worth of stuff, and credits, to have that she wasn't interested in at all.

Assuming of course she found what she was after of course.

And assuming no one stopped her as she quickly gunned down the two droids, she'd then turn her blaster pistol on Kamook. If anyone did, she'd turn her blaster pistol on them, and not shoot straight away, but definitely keep that option open. She'd rather talk than shoot someone any day of the week.

"So uhhh you got a map to Kessel?" She'd ask Kamook. She actually intended to say something a lot cooler. A witty one liner was almost mandatory for a situation like this. But with the blood pumping, the acidic stink of droids burning, and the chances of someone else shooting her ever high, what came out was the simple question in stutter form.

World class thief, Andrena was not.

 

[e_black162_2]

Merrik was right. The woman was up to something. Scratching his goatee, he approached Andrena from behind. Damn, he thought. Why are the pretty ones always the most dangerous?.

*Click* "Maybe he does, but you'll have to pay for it just like the rest of us, Miss," Merrik said as he stuck his D238 Rancor revolver in Andrena's back. His first reaction was to throw her out of the store and fight her outside, but judging from her crappy comeback, he thought she was new to the whole stick-up kid thing and thus expected her to surrender almost immediately. He really didn't want to start a firefight in the market, so he tried to diffuse the situation as peacefully as possible.

"If you're low on credits, I'd be happy to share. But first, you need to put away your weapon." Merrik felt bad for the poor girl. She was trying to rob a fence's store for a map of all things. Didn't she know that thieves had friends? Connections that would hunt her down if she attacked their business partner? He was baffled she managed to survive in the underground community at all behaving like this.

Suddenly, something caught Merrik's attention. The warrior could feel the presence of another nearby, or rather another force user. Was it a Jedi? a Sith? Something else? Merrik's mind began to race with the possibilities. Finally, curiosity got the better of him and he turned around to see the source of the disturbance.

@Lamper

 

[Rhys Whitley]

Someone suddenly broke into a brisk pace passed him towards the vendor, a girl. Shots fired. And Rhys slowed his gate, timidly raising his hands in surrender; a searching look of puppy dog eyes. He watched her then turn her vicious aim towards the vendor. Not him! His heart raced. Cowardice dripped from Rhys' demeanor.

Then came her demands... Wait. Was that a question?

Further development, a man, the one Rhys could've sworn the Force rang from, flanked the girl with his revolver. A more experienced gunslinger. This could get real bad real quick.

Then came his demands... Wait. Was that a joke?

Moment in pause gave way to train of thought. Confusion based on prejudices urged Rhys' balls to finally drop, highlighting two key stigmas. Guns. Rhys hated guns. And charity. Only slag embraced the notion, parasites of a broken society. These two really had no place in humanity. One, a dolt. The other, a do-gooder. Oh what fortunate circumstances had befell him.

"Now, now." He grinned, lambasting. Then he realized his hands were still raised and he lowered them awkwardly, both clasping atop his cane's skull-head between his legs. "If the bird wanted charity, it wouldn't've flown the coop. Let's all come down, a bit. Shall we? I'm Rhys. And this lovely trinket is Akadia."

The Force quaked and shuttered, only to those privy to its touch, as the slave girl Akadia was dragged from cowering cover back to his side. A show of power to gauge the other Force sensitive's reaction and confirm his affinity, possibly to put himself at odds with the likely Jedi or somesuch offshoot and therefore align the petty gun-robber girl to his side in her own best interests since she would've seen only a girl returning to her master.

He could have successfully distracted Merrik enough in that moment for Andrena to get the drop on him, Merrik breaking the gunslinger's number two rule: never get too close.

Rhys wanted to control the situation, bend it to his benefit even as he seemed utterly unassuming. He wanted to gauge their responses, judge their character, and calculate how he could manipulate them. And Kamook was not without his wiles. The Cosian had a rifle hidden under his kiosk shelf, foolish thoughts flicking in his head to when he could reach down for it and wildly defend himself. If Merrik was particularly focused to the alien's mind, he could hear it too; fear, a powerful yet clouded emotion. But Merrik could be too preoccupied to notice, Rhys himself only making the assumption at first based off of Kamook's nervous eyes lowering to something just below his hands' reach.

Rhys needed that map for himself, to safely navigate a smuggling run. It was the only way he could make this month's hefty payments and keep Gillie and Levi safe. And right now, Andrena looked to be a possible ally. Merrik, however, the do-gooder. Well, guys like him usually didn't warm to illegalities. @Galavant

 

[Galavant]

What the hell is this a convention?

The entire thing had gone absolutely sideways. Yet another reason to hate planets, and yet another reason to hate doing business on them. At this point the map wasn't really what she was worried about. The one guy with the gun to her back was obviously a problem, but at least he seemed like the lucid sort while the other made some rather weird statement about birds and gave his name. Andrena didn't know a lot about people, but anyone who dressed like that and referred to another person as "trinket" wasn't the kind of person she really wanted to get involved in a situation like this with. Granted she didn't want to be involved in a situation like this to begin with.

Her mind was racing looking for ways out, but couldn't really think of any one of them that was particularly good for her. Her main goal was to A) not get shot, and that was pretty much it. The best way to accomplish that to her seemed to be to defuse the situation at least a little.

So she lowered her gun. She didn't drop it or take it out of her hands, and was ready to respond with it at a moments notice, but she wasn't actively pointing it anyone anymore. There was no chance in hell she was going to put it away or drop it though whilst others had guns out and about, and the chance that more might appear was so high.

"How about I don't put it all the way away, we forget about the credits, and I go on my merry way?" She asked, hoping the man would take the blaster off her now that she wasn't actively threatening anyone. By her nature, she wasn't a particularly violent person, and hadn't really done with with the intention of getting into a gunfight or a Corellian standoff. Did she need the map? Sure. Did she need it badly enough to get shot over? Hell no. She was a criminal. She was here to take the easy option, not the option that involved paying a whole lot more.

"I'll even fix your ship if it's broken," She offered for whatever it was worth. She doubted anyone would believe her on that, but she was being totally honest, and wouldn't even engage in petty theft whilst doing so. She just really liked ships, and in times of crisis it was hard to bring up something you really liked as away of distracting yourself from the gravity of the situation.

 

[e_black162_2]

"Alright," Merrik says as he lowers his pistol, "it's a deal."

The girl seemed to be telling the truth and was willing to cooperate, gaining some of Merrick's trust.

"My ship's the disk-shaped one in the eastern docking bay, port 21. Its the one with the smoking engine; you can't miss it." He figured she was lying to get out of this situation, but he didn't care. And if she, for some reason, did keep up her side of the deal, it'd be a bonus. She really didn't seem to be all that bad. Opportunistic and impulsive maybe, but not evil. Plus, her attitude reminded him of one of his brothers from his early bounty hunting days. He was far more worried about the slick-haired slaver standing at the door.

"And as for you Mr. Rhys, what exactly are you?"
With the robbery situation cooling down, Merrik turns his attention to the force-sensitive slaver at the door. "You keep a slave around, so you're no Jedi, and you're not whiny enough to be a Sith. So, what are you? Some kinda reject from the Order?"

Merrik was on edge. He absolutely hated tyrants, especially force sensitive ones, and Rhys seemed to fit the bill. He felt unsure of how to handle the situation, especially after Rhys' display of his force powers. Was it a challenge? A warning? Merrik mentally prepared himself for a duel, and positioned his hands to grab his lightsabers, just in case things got ugly. He awaited Rhys' response. He preferred to keep things civil, but he wasn't going to allow a slaver to abuse others if he could help it as he know how it feels to be oppressed.

 

[Rhys Whitley]

Rhys' brows flinched with doubt to Andrena's quick surrender. Surprising. But then she did have a gun to her back. Then the word ship perked up his ears. And he swayed on his heels. Incredible. Truly fortuitous was this juncture.

Merrik was predictably milk toast about her, even inviting her into his... oh. Rhys smirked. Well she was cute, in a dusty mothball sort of way. And he swayed onto his toes. Perfect. These two could be bribed, in an honest sort of sense of course. But Merrik felt threatened, that much was clear in his tone. Rhys had his attention. Now tensions had to be eased.

"Oh," he snickered, "She came to me. Willfully. I am merely her benefactor, her provider. As I come to you now. A friendly provider."

Rhys held his insults in true coward's form, trying to win the sharp Jedi over. He hated crude labels and categorical ideologue however even as Merrik chose not to label Andrena for nearly killing the Cosian fence while Rhys merely cared for a person who otherwise couldn't on their own.

"An opportunist," he waved off the notion with a dismissively self-deprecating gesture. "A business man. Nothing so honorable as a Jedi." A jab to be sure, but a playful one. "I'll be blunt. I'd like your ship," gesture to Merrik, "and your map," gesture to Andrena, "to transport some goods for me. Simple!" @Galavant

 

[Galavant]

This place is so freaking weird, she thought as events turned once again.

On the plus success in defusing things on her end. On the downside things still seemed kinda tense between the guy with the "not slave" and the guy with a hero complex. All the talk of Jedi and Sith made Andrena wonder if she was still in the same time period, or if Anthan was just in a very strange part of the galaxy. She'd never really had to deal with anything much relating to either, and she'd really rather keep it that way. She knew very little about either group, aside from the usual. Jedi, good, blue & green lightsabers. Sith bad, red lightsabers. Neither was really keen on playing nice with others from what history told her, especially if those others were thieves, smugglers, and the like. The Force? A trumped up parlor trick as far as she was concerned. Didn't really seem llke all that much compared to the astronomical wonders of the galaxy. When The Force did what a supernova does, she'd be impressed. Jedi and Sith? Well that was different. Any group, regardless of powers, that had a bit of an ideological bent seemed was not the kind of group that Andrena really wanted to be around.

On the other hand, business opportunities were not something she was about to pass up lightly.

Heck if she could actually make a profit on this, it might be a nice little story when she got back to Axxila. She kept her gun where it was, and kept herself oriented towards the man she'd attempted to rob in case he tried something.

"Well technically it's not my map," She felt obliged to point out. She hadn't actually succeeded in robbing in the place. Other than that, she couldn't think of anything to say at this juncture. It all seemed to be on the fellow who'd pointed a gun at her, and then told her where his ship was.

Thinking of that, she did actually have something else to say.

"Also you probably shouldn't tell strangers where your ship is parked," She advised. Sure he hadn't given them a lot of information, but the right person didn't really need much more than that. Like a person who had vast experience with starships, and knew how to pay off a dock worker to get access to them for instance. She might not have been much good at the robbery thing, but she was very good at the former, and decent at the latter. In terms of maximizing gain, she probably shouldn't have said anything. But she'd come in her own ship, and didn't want to leave it sitting around whilst she attempted to steal someone else's. And she couldn't very well fly two ships at the same time.

Or could she....

No she couldn't.

 

[e_black162_2]

What's with this guy? Merrik thought as Rhys made his proposition.

The proposition was a strange one for sure. Rhys wanted two total strangers (assuming the girl didn't know him of course) to complete his smuggling run for him. A run so important, that he'd come in person to collect the map to Kessel. Merrik was dumbfounded, but, against his better judgement, decided to take the job. He could always use more credits and he thought it might make for a fun adventure, or at least, better than doing mundane peacekeeping tasks for the Order. However, he hadn't forgotten how the "businessman" had dodged his previous question, so he decided to keep the man at arms length as he couldn't quite tell what the so called benefactor was up to.

He turned his attention for a moment to Andrena who'd given some friendly advice. "I'll keep that in mind in the future." Merrik knew first-hand the dangers of sharing one's ship's location, but his confidence and trusting nature generally kept him from acknowledging people as threats unless they openly displayed it.
He was surprised the robber he'd held at gunpoint only moments ago was actually helping him. Why warn me? Why not just take the ship? he wondered. This whole situation just didn't add up, but his interest was piqued. These people were strange, but he wasn't so normal himself, and so, he continued the conversation with Rhys.

"So, whatchu got for us?" Merrik asks Rhys curiously, searching for a more specific job description. So long as the pay was good and he had some fun, he'd smuggle almost anything anywhere, as to him, it seemed a victim less crime.

 

[Rhys Whitley]

She corrected him. It wasn't her map.

"Oh. Quite right. I guess I don't really need you then do I? Well that's not entirely true is it? I need you to fix his ship. Or rather. He needs you to fix his ship."

Rhys giggled to himself, enjoying every bit of this. He'd never met such an honest thief before. The Jedi noticed it. Rhys could see it in his smitten face. The way his eyes stuck to her every sway. What surprised Rhys the most was how quickly the Jedi agreed to go along with the request. Quite frankly it was obvious that the girl needed money. Well, so did Rhys. But the Jedi was, well, a Jedi. Yet then Rhys was reassured by the Jedi's voiced concern for what he'd be hauling, which of course Rhys wouldn't tell him until absolutely necessary. Or never. Whichever came last.

"Actually, I'm in a bit of a hurry. So. Why don't you escort our not so talented thief, but talented mechanic, ...cross your fingers... to your daisy of a doozy and get her started. Port twenty one was it? Western. No, eastern docking bay yes? Meanwhile, I'll wrap things up here and acquire our infamous map. Meet you there in say... twenty minutes to discuss the details? Pay. Timetables. All that. Good? Gravy! Off you go!"

Rhys clapped his hands twice and decreed it so, shooing them along. He didn't want them seeing how he acquired the map. Sure they could wait and see, the plan was to keep him looking fairly innocent anyway but - things would just be easier kept in the dark.

The plan was simple: Akadia. She was pretty much the entire plan... @Galavant