Ask Coruscant Gold Rush

[Jackie O]

"Yeah...one of those. Or something..." he said with a shrug. She patched up all sorts of gang members on the streets. She had saved Jackie's own life once.

He let himself be pulled into another fool-hardy challenge, clearly outmatched by the woman's video game prowess.

"DAMMIT!" he yelled as he finished his game, his score still not topping Six's. "This is bullshit!" he continued. "I am going to find a game to beat you at!" he said. He was pissed, but once loaded back on the cart, would push her down the street a few blocks to what looked like a garage. "And here we are! Time to meet the rest of the crew." he said, walking around and throwing open the door.

Several bunks lined the walls inside the garage, a simple living space with a cheap holoscreen and table. Several individuals lounged in various places throughout the room. "Alright, everyone, this is Tali. She is the one that's giving us the job I was telling you, guys, about." He looked down at her busted foot. "We had an...interesting evening getting everything set up."

He spun to Tali and pointed to a Rodian relaxing on his bunk, cleaning a blaster. "That's Binks" he said. Next, he pointed at a Cathar woman "That's Viper" he said. The woman had several different knives and other weapons strapped over her body, "...and lastly, we got "Tank"" he said, pointing out a huge man sitting on the couch, playing some sort of podracing game.

"Make yourself comfortable..Well, at least try. Momma Din should be here in a little while." he said as he moved into the room. He grabbed a beer. "You want one?" he said turning back to Tali.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

Six was in a much better mood after defeating Jackie yet again. Rancors was a game she wasn’t normally great at, but he wouldn’t know that. She gave a nod to everyone as they were introduced, though her gaze lingered a bit longer on Binks. He looked suspiciously familiar. While she was normally exceptional with remembering names and faces, this one eluded her. To add to it, she caught him finally looking up, his eyes widening just briefly before he went back to cleaning his blaster.

“Sure,” She said, accepting the beer. Tali could be into beer even if Six was the cliche martini fan. Her thoughts drifted away from Binks as she took a swig, “You have a nice little set up here,” She remarked as she looked around at everyone and then back to Jackie, “Have you all thought about finding work in the upper levels?” With the collapse of the governments, it was easier than ever to find some oddjob here and there. What was holding these people back to such a dump?

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

He opened a bottle and handed it to her before taking one for himself and sitting down. Jackie was observant, eyeing Tali's eyes lingering on Binks just a little too long to be normal. He shot her a look, blank red eyes studying her for a second before he took a sip from his beer.

"Yeah, It ain't too bad," he said. "Viper snores, though," he added, the others nodding as he shot the Cathar a look. "Yeah, fucking right..." she said as she continued sharpening one of her knives.

Jackie leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up on a table. "Yeah, maybe." he said. There was certainly more money to be made top side. "Coruscant Security can be a pain in the ass though.." he admitted truthfully.

"Maybe once..." he said, trailing off, turning as the door was opened.

Moma Din was a large woman covered in tattoos of all kinds. Her hair was in curlers as she stepped into the room. "Alright, Jackie. You done woke me up. Someone betta be hurt..." she said, scanning the room. "You know I wouldn't waste your time, Mama Din." he said fondly, a smile creeping across his face. "Though I do have to say..you are looking...." he started before she cut him off with a hiss.

He leaned over to Tali. "She isn't at her most pleasant just waking up, she'll grow on you." he said. "This is Tali." he introduced. the newcomer. "We had an...accident tonight and her foot got a bit...you should probably just take a look." he said.

The woman waddled her way further into the room, putting down a bag of medical supplies. "And why would a thing like you be hanging out with a fool like Jackie?" she asked, starting to examine the injured foot.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

“You can only do shady work?” Six asked in response to his concern about CorSec. Besides, even several levels above, security didn’t care about dealing with most small time crooks. Six certainly didn’t expect a woman that looked like she just got out of bed to stroll into the scene. And she definitely didn’t look like she had any kind of medical degree.

Six suspiciously eyed the ‘medical supplies’ that looked closer to the little bags shamans put together to ward off evil spirits. She reluctantly let the woman take a look at her foot, glancing briefly at Jackie in a ‘you better be right about this’ sort of way. If this somehow made everything worse, she would let him have it.

She was caught slightly off guard by Mama Din’s question, “Why, is he that bad?” She asked with a smirk. She wasn’t sure what the woman was doing, but it was incredibly effective. Within seconds, she felt the pain alleviate, and she could have sworn the purple and green tints were going away, “Damn, where did you learn this stuff?” She asked Mama Din incredulously.

“So is Tank as scary as he looks, or is he a big softie at heart?” Six asked Jackie while Mama Din worked her magic.

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

He shot her a puzzled look. It wasn't as simple as just going up a few levels and applying for a sales job. If it was, no one would be down her. The system forced the poor, the outcast lower and lower so the rich could feel just a bit better about the lives they led, not having to be bothered to see the flaws in their society. "You do what you know..." he finally offered with a shrug.

Momma Din took out several ointments and rubbed them into the skin. It would sting at first, but it would finally begin to soothe and numb the pain. "Oh there are worse, but you should be doing better, I think." she said as she worked. "Hey! I am right here..." Jackie shot back, Mama Din not paying him any attention.

She took the injured foot in both hands; they glowed ever so slightly as Six would feel an uncomfortable warmth envelop the foot as the bone mended itself. After a moment, the discomfort would slowly give way to relief. When she removed her hands, the skin was red and tender to the touch. "Now, don't you go walkin' around on this until tomorrow." she said, giving her a serious look. "I mean it.." she said before beginning to pack up his things.

"I mean, he is kind of an ass..." Jackie said, flipping through a magazine he had turned his attention to. The large man grunted, not turning away from his game. Mama Din leaned in "He cried when I removed a splinter from his foot a few weeks back..." she said, her serious look giving way to a smile.

"Alright, I am going back to bed. Try to keep yourselves together in one piece until mornin'" she said, slowly standing up and beginning to waddle out. "Try not to get any one else injured with your stupidness, Jackie." she said, giving him a scowl. "Love you too, Mama Din" Jackie said with a grin, looking up from his magazine.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

The warmth shared between the group here was not a concept she was too familiar with. She found it fascinating, and it was a reminder of her own complete solitude even when she was amidst a group of people. It could prove fruitful for her to keep her cover and expand things here with this group. They had skilled workers, but clearly no avenue to utilize them.

Six smiled and waved at Mama Din as she left, glancing back at her foot. It was red, but it looked much better than before. It felt fantastic and she was almost tempted to step on it and test it out. However, she could practically hear Mama Din thundering back in to lecture her, so she didn’t.

“Do you want to brief the crew on what we’re about to do?” She asked Jackie quietly. They seemed like a chummy group, but they all needed to buy into the plan for it to go off without a hitch. Inky would get them in, but they had to deal with everyone inside after that. The challenging part was that they didn’t know what kind of connections their targets had. For all they knew, they had deep threads with hutts or other organizations that could make this operation blow up.

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

He sipped his beer and leaned forward. "Yeah, I guess we should," he said. "Alright, so with the financial assistance of Tali here, we are going to be kicking the Devils out of their weapons manufacturing plant down on level 1100. That scored him so odd looks.

"Hey, We already have a plan to deal with the defenses outside; there is just going to be cleaning up the inside. Once we have control, we will have the funds to defend the plant and push the gang out of the level entirely." he explained. "We already got Inky on board; she is meeting us tomorrow." he said. This got a bad look from Tank. He leaned into Six. "He is just upset because he made fun of her once, so she hacked his identity and bought a starship with his credit..." he said. She had made it right once she cooled down, but Tank was still scared of her.

"So get some rest, and call up some of the others from the neighborhood. We could use the manpower. Should be plenty of credits to go around." he finished before turning to Tali. "Not sure where you were staying, but you're free to grab a bunk if you want." he said, downing the rest of his beer.

"Your foot looks at least half as scuffed as it did a bit ago." he said, glancing down briefly. "You gonna be good for tomorrow, we could us those wookie arms of yours..." he asked.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

They took the news surprisingly well. Six caught Binks glancing her way but he quickly looked off when he caught her looking. This was going to nag at her. She turned to regard Jackie, disgusted at the thought of using a bunk here. However, she also knew better than to make her foot situation worse than it already was. The Wookiee arms comment drew out a grin, “It almost sounds like you want me to use them on you instead,” She snickered to herself before slowly hopping over to grab a bunk.

She was up on her comlink even as the others began to drift off. She searched through the unclassified ISB network for Binks for a while. After a long time, she finally had a hit. Her jaw tightened. He was, at least formerly, a big name in Hutt space with strong ties to Crimson Dawn and the Sith. He had escaped an Imperial attack back when she busted a stronghold as part of her operation to chase down the Oracle. This shouldn’t have surprised her - after all Jackie was from the Outer Rim too - but it made her wonder whether he’d jeopardize the mission.

As a Cipher, she wasn’t about to fall asleep in the presence of others, so by the next morning, she popped a few caffeine pills and was up. The foot was much better already and she freshened up in the refresher before joining the others, “Ready to go?” She asked, realizing that Jackie was nowhere to be seen.

“Is he still sleeping?” She asked incredulously to Tank, who gave an unhelpful shrug in response.

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

He returned the grin. "You already did that today, but I ain't sayin' no to round two." he said, winking before finally striding across the room and falling into his bunk. It didn't take him long to fall asleep.

Growing up a slave, he had learned to sleep just about anywhere at any time. Jackie was a hard sleeper; once he was out, it would take an explosion to wake up; that is something he had learned after his time as a slave. This place felt safe compared to his old life, even with a stranger in the bunkhouse.

The next morning, Binks had slinked off somewhere. The others weren't too surprised; they weren't exactly an extremely well-organized group. People came and went throughout the day, assuming he would just show up later.

When Tali showed up the next morning, the gang lounged outside. Jackie was still sound asleep inside. Viper finally spoke up. "Ol'e Jacks ain't much of a mornin' Chiss if ya know what I mean.." he said. "You can try and wake up him up, but it probably ain't worth your time.." she said lazily as she lit a cigarette and pulled out another knife to sharpen.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

Six wasn’t even surprised that he was still out cold, or the description from Viper. She did, however, notice Binks’ absence. She wondered if they would be seeing him again anytime soon. Six may have found Binks familiar, but Tali wouldn’t. She wasn’t going to break character unless he gave her a reason to. She looked back at Viper, deciding to get a read of all the others in this little merry band.

“What’s your story? How did you join this group?” She asked. It seemed like making idle conversation but she was individually profiling them in her own way. After Binks, she was convinced that all of them had interesting stories.

Regardless of how Viper answered, Six would then make her way inside. She spotted Jackie right away, practically drooling. The sight drew out a grin. She didn’t bring out the violence yet, so she lightly shook him to get him awake, “Come on, blueberry, we gotta get going!”

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

The Cathar woman studied her momentarily, trying to calculate Tali's angle, but she shrugged after a few seconds. "Did a stint in a New Republic prison camp. I was let go when the New Republic went to shit, so I found myself here. Tried living out on my own, but ran into some issues with a crew a few levels down. Jackie stepped in and helped me out of a tight spot. Just kind of stuck around, nowhere else to really go." she said with a shrug. It wasn't an especially unique story.

Plenty had found themselves out on the street after being incarcerated by the New Republic. There was one thing you couldn't be on the streets...alone.

Jackie was lurched from sleep by the shaking. He reached for the knife under his pillow and half drew it before it opened his eyes, recognizing the new face. "What the hell..." he said blearily. "Its still a couple of hours.." he said, looking down at his phone. It was actually later than he thought. "Fuck me.." he said with a groan before pushing himself up. A small pool of drool was left over from his hard sleep.

They would need to gather Inky from the arcade and the rest of the crew before they went to make their move. Normally these things happened at night, but the crew's normal operating hours were way past their slicer's bedtime.

"Your foot good?" he asked, pushing himself up with effort. He stripped off his shirt and replaced it with another similarly plain shirt. His torso was covered in tattoos; beneath those, the scars of his childhood intermingled with the ink. They hadn't been covered up; Jackie had wanted it that way.

"Alright, let's get this shit done." he said, walking outside. Some of the crew had gathered, bringing along others from the neighborhood. They were good people, and if this went right they all stood to have a good payday. "Where the hell is Binks..." he said to Viper, scanning the group. She shrugged. "How the fuck should I know..." she repleid.

"Well, I guess he's out.." he said. "Lets go.."

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

Prisoners were released as a result of the collapse? That was news to her, and delightful news. She wondered how many people could be recruited for Imperial service that had been previously incarcerated on New Republic and Alliance worlds. Six filed that away for a future project, focusing on the task at hand for now.

Six didn’t miss the way Jackie abruptly reached for a knife when he bolted up. She couldn’t help but wonder what kind of life he led before all this. Normally she didn’t care about origin stories beyond what was needed for a job, but she found herself curious about his. She flashed him a grin, “Maybe another time,” She quipped back teasingly.

She observed the tattoos and scars on his body, all things that detailed the chapters of his story, though she didn’t remark on it. Six joined the group, glancing down at her foot, “I owe Mama Din big time,” She remarked, “I can even slip into my heels again,” Whatever she did worked better than most bacta patches.

“Does Binks normally bail on jobs?” Six asked Jackie as they started to walk. His disappearance was alarming to her, but she would say nothing on it. She had already contacted ISB HQ on the latest on him, updating that there could be some potential cross-pollination if they weren’t careful.

“How do you plan on getting Inky away from her mother?” Six asked with a raised brow. Normally her mission participants didn’t have bed times or a parent or guardian speaking for them.

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

Jackie always enjoyed suggestive teasing, except when he was trying to take it up. He shot her a deadpan stare before pushing himself out of his bunk. He hated mornings. After having to wake up before dawn most of his childhood, he had vowed never to have to wake up early again.

"I told you! And you doubted me..." he said with a shake of his head as they moved outside and started gathering everyone up. "Not normally..." he said, scanning the group one more time before pulling out his phone and texting the man. He received no response. "Huh..." Jackie remarked to himself. "Well, I am sure something just came up..." he said with a shrug. He didn't look overly concerned; people came and went, some disappearing forever without a word. It was just a thing that happened down here.

"That ain't no problem!" he said, waving off her concern. "She works in the afternoon, which is why Inky is always at the Arcade." he explained. "If we have her back in a couple of hours, it'll all be good!" he said.

"So, I am going to have you and Inky set up on that roof we were at yesterday and a couple of others. Ain't no sense in putting anyone who doesn't need to be in danger." he said as they started down the street to the Arcade. As far as he knew, Tali had no combat training, and this would get a little bloody before it was over.

Jackie stepped into the Arcade, seeing Inky at the newly acquired game cabinet. "What do you think, kid?" Jackie asked Inky, who was enthralled by the game. "How did you get it!?" she asked excitedly, not pulling her eyes from the screen. "Oh, I have my ways. Tali helped too." he said, nodding his head back to the woman. Inky looked up at Six, still unconvinced that she liked her at all, but managed. "Thanks too, I guess," she said.

"Alright, let's get this done, and the rest of today's games are on me," he said.

With the crew together, there was nothing left to do but to do it..

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

Something was definitely suspicious about Binks. Who was he talking to? Was he reporting her in? She had half a mind to track him down while Jackie and his crew worked this job. Tali wasn’t going to be much use in combat anyway. She nodded at the suggestion of being stationed on the roof, “Don’t die in there,” She said with a grin, “I haven’t kicked your ass in enough games yet.”

Six gave Inky an equally skeptical look, arms crossed over her chest. She wasn’t a big fan of children in general, and she had fractured her toes trying to appease this one. Before long, they were up on the roof and Six was observing the warehouse in question. The gamorreans from earlier were still there, but there was a cargo loading bay unmanned as of right now.

She looked over at the girl, “Can you make those defense turrets go offline?” She asked Inky, pointing them out. If the crew was going to charge in, that was going to be the biggest barrier of entry. In the meantime, she discreetly tried to work with HQ to try and track Binks down.

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

"Not even a chance.." he said, giving her a relaxed grin. "Hey, when you aren't paying me anymore, I am going to kick your ass so hard, even Mama Din ain't gonna be able to put you back together." he joked before they broke off.

"Gross." Inky said behind Six. She wore her usual oversized hoodie and clutched her datapad with more of her equipment in a neon green backpack. "You're weird, you know that, right?" she asked Six once they reached the rooftop. "Yeah, but I bet I could do one better though!" he said, peering over the ledge and starting to tap away at her data pad.

Jackie and his small group went around a backway and came up on an alley across the street. He shot Six and Inky a message saying they were ready and waited.

A few seconds later, the turrets sprang to life and opened fire on the guards, who didn't even have time to react before they were dead. "Gods, I love that kid..." he said.

"Alright! Lets go!" he said as they stormed across the building. The turrets continued to scan for targets Inky gave them. The doors slid open, and Jackie and his team made it inside. They dropped two guards who had come to investigate the noise without much effort.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

Six grinned at Inky’s question, “Weird is the only way to be, kid,” She quipped back before focusing back on the operation. The turrets came to life and Six was sure the gig was up. However, miraculously they all targeted the guards. Her eyes widened in surprise. Damn, Inky was good.

Jackie and the others got in easily enough, but they would run into more resistance inside. Alarms began to blare and several hired muscle rushed in with blasters to engage them. The warehouse was on lockdown and the doors closed on them to box them into a room, locking the path. It was up to Inky to remotely override the system.

Meanwhile, Six heard footsteps behind her. She turned to look, spotting Binks there on the roof. He had a blaster pointed at her. He looked every bit the criminal he did back in the Outer Rim. Six had to make some quick decisions - stay as Tali or blow her cover and neutralize the threat? This was far more complicated because Inky was right next to her. Binks clearly hadn’t expected Inky to be there on the roof - he was gone for the memo during the morning.

“What the-” Inky began before Binks hesitated but turned the blaster on her. Six cursed and yanked Inky by the arm, rolling to the side right as Binks got off a bolt, hitting where the girl had been moments prior.

Jackie and his crew would sense a delay in the doors being unlocked, and they wouldn’t hear anything back from Six or Inky for a bit.

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

Things were going great. His team moved inside as the alarms started sounding. That had been expected, though; he was confident Inky would make short work of the security system.

The doors locked down, and the factory guards started to engage them. "Come on kid..." he mumbled to himself, opening fire on the nearest of the guards. He dropped two of them, but they lost one of their own. Jackie turned to see if he could help the guy, but he was already dead.

"We are getting chewed up in here!" he radioed Tali and Inky. The sound of blaster fire would sound off the radio. A blaster bolt hit inches from Jackie's face. They wouldn't survive much longer if Inky didn't get that system taken care of.

---

Inky screamed as the blaster went off, but she was unharmed as Tali pulled her out of the way. She still held the data pad in her hand, fingers trembling as she cowered behind Tali's leg.

"I'm gonna gut you, Imp Scum..." Binks spat as he leveled his blaster on Six and pulled the trigger.

Jackie's Roll: 6

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

Six bristled when Binks snapped about her being Imperial. She was compromised and Inky was a witness. It was in her best interest to remove Inky as well, so she did some quick calculations. She could make it look like Binks killed her, but she risked the entire little entourage thinking that she killed both Inky and Binks.

She gritted her teeth as Binks aimed again. However, before he could fire, Six aimed her foot at him and released the dart from her heel. It was a solid hit, the dart piercing him and injecting the toxin. Within moments, he stumbled back and dropped with a heavy thud.

Six ignored Inky for now, walking over to where Binks was on the ground, staring up vacantly in his paralyzed state. She picked up the blaster next to him and put a bolt right in his forehead. She looked over her shoulder at Inky. She said nothing for a few seconds, a quiet understanding between them. She knew the girl knew what happened here would stay here.

“Come on, kid, we have a job to do,” Six said quietly as she walked back over to Inky. The girl was on the verge of tears, but she kept it together for now. She nodded vigorously, quickly getting back on her datapad with trembling fingers to start unlocking doors.

For now, Six didn’t share with Jackie what happened. She couldn’t risk his emotions getting the best of him during the job.

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

Blaster fire slagged steel all around them, his little group pinned down. He was able to get off a shot everyone in a while, but it wouldn't be enough. They couldn't get backward or forward; they were trapped.

As things were getting truly desperate, the doors finally opened, and the alarm ceased. Jackie let out a relieved breath. "Great job, kid..." he said over the comms as they rushed through the doors that blocked them.

"We need to get to the main office. We can take full control of the plant from there." he said. Now that they weren't pinned down, his group returned fire openly and started to inflict serious losses on their enemy. If they could move fast enough, this would be over in a matter of a few minutes.

"Make sure no one can get in behind us, Inks..." he said radioed as he raised his blaster to a guard running away across a catwalk. With a single shot, he put the man down.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

There was a bit of a scuffle to take the main office, but Jackie and the group managed to take over it in little time. Six kept her eyes on Inky, the girl still trembling as she did her slicing. She knew nothing could be said to make the kid feel better, so she didn’t bother. From her vantage point she could tell the civilians were screaming and running in different directions. Amidst the chaos, no one would question Binks being dead.

While Inky worked her magic, Six stepped away to grab the comlink Binks had on him, pocketing it. She checked in with Jackie, “You good?” She asked. Once he checked in, she motioned for Inky to come with her, “Inky and I will meet you back at base.”

Six still didn’t talk to Inky about what happened and the girl didn’t say anything either. She avoided meeting her gaze, suddenly withdrawn and quiet. Once Jackie and the others arrived, he would likely notice the change in behavior.

She knew she had to get ahead of it, “Hey, can I talk to you for a moment?” She asked Jackie, pulling him aside, “Binks tried to kill Inky and I.”

@Raydo