Ask Coruscant Gold Rush

[Jackie O]

The collapse of the New Republic had sent the region into a bit of chaos. Suddenly, it had become much easier to bring illicit goods into most worlds. Coruscant already had solid operations set it up, and as the product began rolling in, there was space to make a whole lot of credits.

Jackie had left the Outer Rim. Large drug operations were a dime a dozen on worlds like Nar Shaddaa, but there was a little more room for growth in the Core. Whether he ended up on Coruscant or not, it was a decent enough place to start building up a crew.

They would need supplies if there were going to make some big plays, and Jackie was here to make the big plays. He had been contacted by a rather shady character about possibly partnering with him and given directions to show up at The Busted Droid, a run-down bar on one of the lower levels.

Never shying away from risks, he, of course, accepted. He now found himself sitting in a corner booth in the smokey bar. He lit a cigarette, leaned back a exhaled deeply as he waited.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

She despised when the meeting place had to be some sub-par cheap bar. However, she couldn’t draw too much attention to herself in these parts. Six was dressed in modest civilian attire, though always with makeup and perfume. She couldn’t let herself go completely, after all. She was surprised to find her contact was a Chiss - what was it with her running into Chiss lately?

“Good evening,” She said cheerfully, likely not matching how he pictured her in his mind, “I’m Tali Karn,” She said, looking over at the Blasted Droid with a grimace, “Does it always smell like that?” She mused as she walked in. She would play her role, but that didn’t mean she would appreciate grimy, gross places with smelly patrons. There were a few people drunk and passed out already.

Her role here was to set up a front for a shady operation. Her contact’s job was to do the shady part and take out the competition. Six wanted to avoid getting her hands dirty, but that depended entirely on their luck.

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

Music​

Jackie lounged in his booth seat as he waited, head leaning back against the far wall. He was approached by a woman a few minutes later. He scanned her, even red eyes moving up and down before finally meeting her own again.

"Evenin'" he said, blowing a cloud of smoke out. He motioned for her to sit on the bench across from him, continuing to lounge. "Jackie." he replied in greeting. He followed her look as she scanned the room. "You chose the shitty bar, remember," he said with a grin. The answer was yes; it always smelled like that. "Though most of the choices in this sector are going to smell like varying levels of shit," he admitted.

"Your message mentioned somethin' about work?" he asked, heading turning back towards her. "Not to rush you or anything. I doubt you came all this way for my company," he said, taking another drag from his cigarette.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

Six chuckled to herself, “Are you warning me that you’re terrible company?” She ordered herself a drink, clearly not the type to jump right to work. Her profession meant nonstop work, so she would allow herself a break now and then. Even if it was in a smelly bar.

“I need you to go in and make the people running the weapons facilities down in level 1001… open to coming under new management,” It was far lower than the normal residential levels. The good news was that Rangers almost never ventured down there. The bad news was that it could be more dangerous than she anticipated.

“I want to set up a clean, new business venture,” She smiled at him, her intent clear. He was a crook - she didn’t exactly need to beat around the bush.

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

"And there ya go puttin' words in my mouth." he said, his tone carrying humor in it. "If your lookin' for a good time, I'm sure we could figure something out...." he said, glowing gaze turning towards her again. He ordered a drink as well before lighting another cigarette.

He let a whistle when she laid out her plan. "Not even a little foreplay before throwing me in the deep end, huh?" he said as the drinks were brought out. They would not be great, though Jackie didn't seem to notice. He had lived most of his life without access or only access to shitty alcohol. It all got you drunk; that's what he cared about.

"Clean business ventures are the only kind I deal in, darlin' " he said with a chuckle.

"Those are heavy hitters." he continued after a short pause. "I got a crew, ain't gonna be cheap though." he said, lifting the mostly clean glass to his lips. "What's in for me?" he asked.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

Six chuckled at his words, “You’re going to show me a good time using the money I pay you?” She asked, her gaze equally humorous. He didn’t take himself too seriously, and she found that refreshing. She had worked with enough stiffs on the job.

She drew up a datapad, wiring over an advance of credits, “Since we both operate on clean principles, I don’t need to tell you what happens if you run off with the cash,” She smiled as she wiped the rim of her own glass off before taking a sip. The drink was strong and it made her wince.

“I will go down with you to scope this out,” Six said, throwing down the credits for her drink before she started to leave. A part of her didn’t like this cover. Tali Karn was a non-combatant and all business. This meant she couldn’t exactly bust out her moves if things got hairy and would have to rely on her scrawny companion to settle a situation.

“What made you come to the Core from the Outer Rim?” She asked as they made their way towards the massive repulsorlifts that took passengers down to the lower levels.

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

"We both win..." he said as if the math made perfect sense to him. "People pay to have people show them good times all the time.." he said. Jackie shrugged, sensing it was time to discuss some business. "Offer stands..." he said as he sat up and faced her.

As she spoke a notification on his phone popped up, notifying the credits being transferred to him. He smiled as she gave him a pretty standard threat. "Why don't you tell me anyway, I like a little dirty talk." he said, leaning forward a bit.

When she said she wanted to go down with him, he shrugged. It was dangerous, but what did he care? If she got herself killed, Jackie ended up with an easy payday. "Whatever you say, boss." he said, pushing himself up from the booth.

They stepped out onto the dirty streets. Outside didn't smell all too different than it did inside. "This way." he said as they made their way to the lift to the levels below. "And how did you know I was from the Rim?" he asked, turning to her and raising an eyebrow. He paused for a second before answering anyway. "To small a pond out in the rim.." he explained as the lift doors opened.

They stepped inside, and the doors closed behind them. "And what do you want with a fuck ton of weapons?" he asked as they sped deeper and deeper.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

Six couldn’t help but smile, “I might take you up on that offer if we make it through this alive,” She remarked. It was always nice coming across a man that wasn't intimidated by her. Then again, perhaps Tali was just that type of person. She gave him nothing but a fanged grin at his inquiry about her threat.

“You don’t have that stick-up-your-ass Core accent,” Six remarked as they stepped into the lift. However, that was the first time she heard anyone imply the pond was small out in the Rim. It was a lawless galaxy out there and anyone could make a killing. Nevertheless, Coruscant was still the jewel of the galaxy.

The lift began to descend, the levels blurring right past them. There was a weightless feeling, but they would adapt quickly, “Who doesn’t need weapons these days? With the big governments collapsing, it’s a shitshow out there,” Six remarked. None of that was untrue, even if her plans for the weapons were to funnel them back into Imperial space. This operation had suppliers from all over the galaxy, so high tech and exotic weapons were part of the deal.

They stepped out and the smell of garbage and sewage would hit them at once. This was nothing like the crisp, clean look of the upper levels. It was a run-down shanty cityscape with buildings packed together. The sounds of sirens echoed all around - only droids operated the medical facilities and emergency response.

Six stepped out and looked around. She could see an older woman glaring at them from a window in one of the packed apartments, hair rollers in her hair. Next door a man and woman were shouting at each other. A baby was screaming in another apartment. A dog barked in the distance, while there was a clatter as the top of a garbage can fell thanks to a cat scurrying out.

“Make you nostalgic for the Hutt worlds?” Six asked as she started to walk, stepping around a puddle of god-knows-what.

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

He leaned back as she grinned, fanged teeth showing."A tease..." he said with a grin. "I think we will get along just fine." he said, tossing a couple of credits down on the table.

"Maybe after this, I'll finally be able to afford that stick to fix my accent." he said with a chuckle as the lift started. He agreed with her comment about weapons, he preferred his vices, but with enough weapons, you could get whatever you wanted in this Galaxy.

Even Jackie felt bad for the folks that lived in this squaller. Coruscant was supposed to be a beacon of civilization, but it was built right over the top of the oppressed and forgotten. There was no law down here; people openly carrying blasters to fend off would-be robbers.

"Makes up almost miss that bar smell, huh?" he said as they passed a drunk couple arguing in the street. Nobody was going to intervene here; maybe some droids would come to clean up the mess when one of them stabbed the other. "The only thing that could make this place smell worse is a Hutt..." he said. "How in this Galaxy something so ugly and disgusting wields any amount of power...it just don't make any sense," he said as they continued. He pointedly didn't mention anything about Hutt Space; he hated it there. He had tried and tried to make something of himself. Instead, he constantly ran from being dragged back into slavery. At least out here, you were more likely just to get killed than to end up with a collar...

"This way. We can get a better look from the roof." he said, ducking into an apartment building near the warehouse. This place was littered with trash, the air stagnant and filled with innumerable sources of stench. The lights flickered as they started to climb the stairs. They had to step over drug-addled residents in varying levels of consciousness. They even had to step over a corpse as they neared the top.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

“Hutts are a sore topic,” She observed with raised brows as she looked at him. Most of the galaxy didn’t trust Hutts, but the way Jackie spoke of them was laced with a sliver of rage. It also explained why he would book it out of Hutt space. Six didn’t ask any follow up question, not the type to press when she didn’t need.

The climb up was disgusting and she despised having a heightened sense of smell. Six had to bite back from gagging, stepping over the rotting corpses and buzzing flies to make it up to the vantage point. They passed by the windows of more people arguing and of people gathered around a table cutting spice.

The air was a bit better on the roof, though not by much. Most of the surface was coated in bird shit. However, as Jackie predicted, the warehouse was visible from here. She could make out a few Gamorreans walking around up front. A speeder truck came by to stop in front of it and the Gamorreans got to work unloading the crates.

Six looked over at Jackie, trying to envision him fighting off four Gamorreans, “Okay we need a plan..” She muttered, “Those guys don’t look very smart. I wonder if they can be bought.”

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

Jackie looked ahead as she made a comment about Hutts being a sore spot, glad when she didn't dig further into that topic. There wasn't any reason to get that personal with an employer. She was just a job.

While the Chiss wasn't thrilled about their climb, he didn't seem phased by the filth they waded through to get to the top. Jackie had grown up a slave in a mining colony; after those days, he didn't even think something could phase him any longer. As they reached the top of the stairs and pressed through the roof access door, he lit another cigarette, glad for its familiar smell.

"Possibly, it ain't gonna be with those goons down there. Whoever is running the show hired them, The 1100 Devils they call themselves." he said. It was a terrible name; Jackie could have no respect for anyone who allowed themselves such a terrible crew name. "They are pretty nasty and have this level's droid security force bought off." he said.

"If you want to go that route, I can certainly do some digging for you." he offered. "But if we are going to take this the forceful way, we are going to need some heavy hardware." he said, exhaling a puff of smoke. "Maybe a slicer too." he said, pointing out the auto-defense turrets along the front entrance and each corner of the building. "Definitely a slicer." he corrected himself.

"If you want my advice, we kick the doors in a kill the bastards..." he said, maybe a little selfishly. If he could kick the devils off this level, it would score him quite the reputation. "But its up to you." he said. Either way, this wasn't going to be a cheap takeover.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

“We hire others, it comes out of your paycheck,” She reminded him. Maybe he had people that owed him favors, but it looked like at least a slicer and a few mercs were going to be needed to sweep the place. The Empire had credits, but she wouldn’t be given anymore to buy out the Gamorreans. Whoever was running the operation here clearly had a good system going.

Six had to play her cover so she couldn’t volunteer to ‘help’ beyond coordinating and overseeing the operation. She drew out her own cigarra, lighting it to have a smoke while she thought, “Okay, let’s go find some friends that would help,” Six said.

“We’re sure there’s no rival group or gang that wants to see the devils get wrecked?” She asked while puffing on her cigarra. The Gamorreans stepped into the warehouse and the vehicle sped away. Six watched the speeder for a moment, “I think I know a way in once we have our crew.”

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

He gave her a blank look when she reminded him that he had already received the credits. They could certainly buy the force that would make easy work of this, but Jackie was looking to make credits here. He wasn't about to spend all of his money on extra hands.

"I got a crew." he finally said. It wasn't anything special, but he was confident they could get the job done. They were a bunch of idiots, though; not one of them could slice their way out of a paper bag. "We will need a slicer still.." he said, blank red eyes studying the building below. "Maybe an explosive or two to get through the reinforced exterior doors if we can't slice our way in." he said with a nod.

"I think I know a slicer. She's a bit...well, she'll get the job done." he said. "You want to tag along or you want me to take care of it?" he said. "If its any consolation, it smells a bit better where we are headin" he said, returning to the stairs.

If she agreed, they would head to the den of this illusive slicer...Blix's Arcade.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

Six had been in the intelligence business long enough to be able to tell when someone was full of shit. Jackie may have confidently advertised his ‘crew’, but something about his tone and shifty gaze didn’t give her much confidence. She, on the other hand, didn’t express any of this of course, “I’ll tag along for now just to learn more,” She said nonchalantly, “I’m confident you and your crew will keep me safe,” She flashed him a smile.

She walked with him to the HQ of his supposed crew, expecting some complex warehouse or facility. Instead, she was led to an arcade. Her eyes widened, “I haven’t been to one of these in ages..” She said barely above a whisper. Almost right away, she took in sight of all the retro games lining the arcade.

“No way, is that AMS Blaster V?” She noticed, drawn almost like a moth to a flame towards the game machine, “Do you have any coins?” Who the hell carried coins these days? Six wasn’t going to waste this opportunity - not like the warehouse was getting up and running away.

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

"Suit yourself." he said with a shrug. He wasn't a fan of being supervised, but he also wanted to keep a close eye on her. "Hey, if you die, I don't get paid. Consider me motivated." he said matter-of-factly. They backtracked and made their way up a few hundred levels.

The streets here were a little more lit, and safer. The smell had also improved drastically. "Here we are." he said, the blue neon lights of Blix's Arcade burning outside the building. "Look." he said, stopping her before they went in. "Inky can be a little...let's just say she has a temper." he said. "We don't want to piss her off." he wanted before they went in.

"AMS. Fucking. Blaster." he said, walking up to the machine. He grinned when she asked for quarters. "You know, this is exactly what I meant when I said "Good time"." he said with a chuckle. Jackie dug around in his pocket and found the specific coin he had been looking for; a small hole had been drilled through it, and a tiny wire fed through it. He looked around, looking to see if anyone was paying attention in their direction, before dropping the token and pulling it back out.

The process repeated until the machine had been paid up. "Bet you can't beat me.." he said, picking up one of the plastic guns.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

Six watched as he operated the coin, unable to keep from laughing, “You’re like one of those Holomovie crooks,” She said, genuinely amused by the display. He probably hotwired all his speeders too. While this was certainly not on the agenda, Six quickly grabbed the controls, scoffing at his challenge. She was instantly absorbed into the game, rapidly button mashing and rotating the joystick in all directions.

It was first person and she was shooting AMS infected that kept popping up on her screen. Six was leaned forward, intently immersed in the game and quickly mowing through the hordes of infected. She made it to the checkpoint in record time, beating the last highscore set by Pen1sF@ce. Six whooped cheerfully, jumping up in delight as she looked at Jackie, “Beat that!”

Dice: 13/20

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

He looked up as he fed his rigged coin into the machine. "What? And pay these horrible prices? Not a chance..." he said.

Fearing she was about to push him aside, he stepped to the side, letting her go first. He watched as she started obliterating the game. As she neared the high score, others stopped to watch. They cheered as she broke the high score; Jackie, on the other hand, was not thrilled. "Let a master show you how its done." he said, nudging her out of the way as his run started.

Where everything had gone right for the Agent's game, everything had gone to shit for Jackie. The powerups he came across were trash. He cursed as he limped through the game, dying before even completing the last level.

DEAD.

CONTINUE?

Read the screen as Jackie hit the side of the machine, staring at the red, blood-covered letters on the screen before turning back to the woman. "Lucky break..." he said dismissively. "PLUS!" he added. "AMS Blaster IV is known for being the game that requires the most skill. None of these cheap powerups." he said.

"You know what? No...we are playing again." he said, using his coin again. "You can't do it for a second time, I'm sure of it." he said, growing very nervous.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

Six was already struggling to stifle her giggling, but she burst out laughing again when Jackie hit the gaming machine when the giant game over letters came on the screen. To her credit, she didn’t gloat too much, only rolling her eyes when he challenged her for round two, “Exactly, so when you inevitably lose again, it’ll clearly be a skill issue,” She said confidently as she took a hold of the controls again.

More aggressive button mashing ensued, her Firrerreon strength meaning it was cutting it close to breaking the buttons. She controlled herself, intently shooting at the zombies and even avoiding power ups just to rub it in Jackie’s face. However, that cost her as she took a few injuries. One swipe to her arm meant she had to chop it off and patch it up, continuing through the hordes with one arm. She barely finished the level, scoring quite a bit lower than before.

“Okay… well you may have gotten me this time,” She said as she stepped back, positive that he couldn’t do any worse than that.

It wasn’t till after his turn was finished that the shattering of glass would resound somewhere in the back. There was a woman yelling - as if being forcefully dragged away. Jackie would instantly recognize it as Inky’s voice.

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

He growled when she started getting cocky. He was going to destroy her, and he didn't give a damn how many credits she had. The game progressed as he watched, not aware he was holding his breath. This time he had her. She barely reached the end of the level; he had beaten her new score hundreds of times. He tried to recapture a bit of his composure as he stretched his arms. "Alright, you got this, Jack." he said, trying to motivate himself.

The game started, and he danced through the hordes of zombies, collecting the chainsaw upgrade early in the run. Things were looking good, great even. He was almost to the finish when he...fell on the last jump. He had never missed that jump, it was the easiest jump in the entire level. "NOOOO!" he yelled. He pulled his blaster from his holster, ready to end this shit arcade game, when he heard the scream coming from the back.

He recognized the high-pitched noise immediately and took off running. Jackie slammed through the door into the back room, expecting to find her getting murdered. "No, mom! I said five more minutes!!!" the girl screamed again.. "You said 15 minutes ago..come on." the young, clearly frustrated mother said, trying to convince the stubborn nine-year-old to leave.

"Holy Huttsack, Inky. I thought you were gettin' killed back here..." he said, his language earning him a scowl from the girl's mother. "Uhh..Sorry..." Jackie added. He approached the mom. "Trina, I'll get her to come out, but I need like 5 minutes. Have some arcade stuff I gotta ask her about," he said. "Yeah! See five more minutes!" Inky added, seeing her chance. "Come on! When has ol' Jackie ever let you down," he said, winking at the woman.

Inky's mom paused for a minute. "Fine. Five. Minutes. I'll be in the speeder." she said, exiting out the back.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

Six waited for Jackie to explain that this was a joke. She thought she heard wrong. Inky had to be the mom, not the kid. And then they were left alone with just the kid. She stared from Jackie, to Inky, and then back to Jackie.

“What’s your problem, lady?” Inky blurted out, scowling.

Six looked at Jackie, “You’ve got to be kidding me. You realize we’re not talking about getting into a petting zoo, correct?” She asked, shocked at the idea of dragging a child into the mess. She wasn’t normally a sentimental person by nature, but she did have a soft spot for children. It was the hardest thing she had to set aside on jobs.

@Raydo