Ask Coruscant Gold Rush

[Jackie O]

The rest of the facility's defenses had collapsed quickly enough as they took the main office and seized full control over the factory's automated defenses. "We are good. Will just need a while to sure things up here. Meet back up later." he said over the comm. They would have a lot of work ahead of them. There were certain to be further scuffles between the crews, though, with more firepower, Jackie was confident they could secure this level easily enough.

Most of the civilian workers would come back when they knew there would be no more fighting, and he had plenty of people in mind who needed the work. They would patch up any blind spots in their security, making sure that it would be much more difficult to pull what Inky had pulled off.

Sometime later, they returned to the bunkhouse. The mood was joyous. While they had lost a couple, he expected it to be much worse. The factory would provide everyone here with a better quality of life.

As they entered, Jackie had a smile plastered on his face, but it faded as he read the room. Inky was sitting on the floor at the side of the room, her face buried in her tablet. That wasn't too out of the ordinary, but he could tell something was up. He was about to go ask her what was wrong when Tali stopped him. "Yeah....what's up?" he asked, looking more concerned.

Her revelation punched him in the gut. "What? Binks? Why? That doesn't make any sense. He had been hanging around here longer than anyone." he said. Was it greed? Had he been bought off? Maybe he was trying to take control of the factory himself? This sort of thing always happened, but it hurt Jackie. He considered these people his family, and to have one of those family members turn on you? It was a lot. Jackie assumed the rest of the story if he had tried and failed, that meant he had likely been killed. "Did the kid see it?" he asked.

"Thank you for watching out for her." he said, placing a hand on Six's shoulder. "I mean that...thank you. If I can ever do anything to repay you. Just ask." he said. He meant it too. He wasn't sure what to do if something happened to Inky.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

Six didn’t answer his question directly, but gave a vague shrug, “Called me names and pointed the blaster at Inky. Like he didn’t want her to be a witness or something. He got caught up in the crossfire,” She explained. There was a chance Inky could blab, but that was a problem for later. For now, the girl didn’t seem to be in the mood to do anything. After a moment, she muttered something about having to go do homework and left the bunkhouse.

“She just needs some time,” Six said as she watched Inky walk off, “It was pretty traumatic…for both of us..” Six added, playing her Tali role.

She turned to look at Jackie, offering him a smile, “You and your crew have gone above and beyond. I hope under new management, things will start to look better around here in general,” She meant that part. Just because it was Imperial aligned, it didn’t mean that it couldn’t lead to prosperity or improved conditions. There was a reason the Empire had been so successful.

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

He frowned as she explained what had happened. "I'm sorry that happened. To both of you...It wasn't supposed to be like that.." he said, trailing off. Why would Binks have betrayed them like this? It made him feel sick.

He almost went after Inky, but Tali said she needed time. She was probably right. Inky was a tough kid, having seen her fair share of messed up stuff. That only helped so much, though.

"Hopefully." he said, watching Inky disappear down the street. It wouldn't be an easy road, but there was a chance to make everyone's life better. "So what about you?" he said, looking back towards her, red eyes studying her. "You off to the next thing?" he said. "You have to admit, we made a pretty good team." he said, a grin finally reappearing on his face.

"You could stick around here for a bit. It ain't much, but you won't find better people out there..." he said with a shrug. "We could finally find some actual games where you can't cheat at.." he said with a side look.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

Six watched Inky go, her mind wandering to what kind of future the girl had before her. She could be a legitimate asset to the Empire and make something of her life. But would she throw it all away to keep living this small time life? She was shaken out of her thoughts when Jackie addressed her. She had been absentmindedly packing up her things, his question catching her off guard.

“We did, didn’t we?” Six said with a faint grin. She was about to tell him she needed to get going, but in truth she didn’t have another gig lined up for at least a week. Six thought over it briefly, “True, you do owe me a good time, right?” She quipped, amusement dancing in her eyes. She liked the group, but it was clear everyone else wanted to relax after storming the warehouse. Staying around for a bit would also allow her to keep tabs on the new management and ensure operations ran smoothly.

“Is there anywhere interesting to eat around here?” She asked, “No judgement, but I could use a break from bunkhouse gruel.”

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

"Hey now!" he said expectantly. "We haven't been havin' a good time?" he asked, holding out his arms. He smiled as she stopped packing for the moment. People came and went, but he had already lost someone today, someone he thought was a friend, a brother. Maybe that was enough loss for one day.

"I know just the place." he said with a nod of his head. Walking towards the door, he stuck his hands in his pockets. "You ain't got like any heart conditions of anything, do you?" he asked casually as they made their way down the street.

He whistled their pirate song from the night before, still stuck in his head. "That's not going to go away any time soon I think." he said with a chuckle. "Here we go!" he said, pointing towards a bright neon sign. "The Skyline Diner" it read. The "D" in diner kept flickering on and off. "Pretty sure this place has been here since this level actually saw the skyline.." he said, stepping inside.

Music​

It didn't look much, but the inside was set up like an old diner. Upbeat music played in the background. He walked in and nodded to the cook through the window, and sat down in a booth. "You're gonna love the food. They ain't nothin' better after a rough day than the Skyline.." he said as a robot waitress rolled out from the back.

"Oh hey, Jackie." the robot said with a familiar tone. The tag on her chest read "Rosie". "You getting you're usual? Cheeseburger and a strawberry shake." she asked. She carried a pad and pen but never wrong anything down. Jackie had always found that weird. "You know me too well, Rosie!" he said cheerfully. "Their isn't too much to know...you get the same thing everytime you come in.." the robot added, which promoted a shrug from the Chiss. "Why fix somethin' that ain't broke?" he replied.

"And what about your friend?" she asked, turning to Tali.

@Sreeya[/CENTER]

 

[Cipher Six]

“Heart conditions?” She asked curiously. What the hell kind of food did he mean? Fatty? Acidic? Firerreon were known to have cuisine that was entirely too spicy for most humanoids. Regardless, she was amused, “Okay, let me get changed though,” Six said. She had been in her ‘work attire’ for too long and wanted to ease into something that was very clearly non work.

Before long, she was in a new outfit, falling into step with Jackie as they made their way over to this food place that would supposedly send her to the medbay. Right away, the music was catchy, and she was absentmindedly tapping her foot to the rhythm. The droid seemed to recognize Jackie and his order. Six flashed him a grin, “You bring ladies here often?” She asked teasingly, allowing the droid to lead them to a table.

“Double cheeseburger with extra peppers and a dry martini,” She rattled off the strange order. If Jackie looked at her, she simply flashed him a fanged smile. Her race was almost exclusively carnivorous - she wasn’t no salad gal.

Her fingers drummed to the music as she looked around before glancing back at Jackie, “I have to ask..” She paused, “Now this may be a stereotype… but I really thought Chiss never left Csilla. How the hell did you find ourself out in the wider galaxy?”

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

He waited for her to change; when she finally did emerge, he nodded approvingly. It was overdressed for the slums, but Jackie didn't complain. Some of the others lingering around the area seemed not to mind as she walked past.

"You are the first one today." he teased with a wink. He certainly approved of her food choice. "You're gonna love the burger; they have the best here," he said enthusiastically. The martini was likely not this place's specialty, but the server droids in the back could probably figure it out.

As they waited on their food, he relaxed back longways in the booth, back against the wall much like he had been sitting when they first met. He tapped a foot to the music. "Oh yeah?" he replied to her question. "Don't I have ever heard of it..." he said truthfully. "I grew up with some traders, don't think they were my parents, though, from what I remember," he said, seemingly not minding sharing his past.

"First thing I really remember was the mines. Not sure how I ended up there, whether someone got bored of me or..lost a bet..who knows.." he said; his tone was casual, but he pointedly looked away from her, his foot tapping anxiously. "So yeah, a slave.." he said, trailing off. "...But that's all in the past. Now things are looking up, especially with this factory. I am tellin' ya...its gonna be huge for my people." he said. There was more to the story, but he didn't continue. She would likely be able to find out that he owed some Hutt a fair amount of money in the outer rim, the true reason he had fled coreward.

The droid brought out their drinks and food. "Thanks, Rosie," he said to the droid before she buzzed off to other tables. "Here..." he said, sliding her his milkshake. "You gotta try this...dip a fry in. Its kind of life changing..." he said as he watched expectantly.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

She was in the business long enough to tell when a topic was uncomfortable despite how someone tried to play it off. He didn’t know about Csilla and had been thrust into a life of slavery. No one could speak nonchalantly about that. Like before, Six didn’t press further, smiling, “Well if your management skills are as good as your raiding skills, I’d say this entire district will prosper,” It was only partially teasing - he and his team really did perform well.

Six was about to sample her burger when he slid his shake over and told her to dip her fry in it. Her eyes widened and there was a scandalized look on her face, “Pardon?” She blurted out, looking from the shake, to the greasy fries, to the shake, “I..” She blinked a few times before shrugging. She grabbed a fry, dipped it, hesitated, and then took a bite. The skeptical look gave way to surprise, “Wow..” She said after she tried it, “Why does this work? This shouldn’t work…” She speculated before trying it again, “Jackie, how did you even discover this? Who just randomly decides to dip their fry in a shake? Did they run low on spoons to stir?” She couldn’t help but chuckle, still marveling at the flavor.

She tried the burger next, “This place..” She looked past him and towards where she saw the door swinging open and close into the kitchens. She was pretty sure she saw a rat scurrying around, “...would never pass health code,” Six laughed, “But damn it’s great.”

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

Music​

"I guess we will just have to see." he said with a grin. "I may need some...close supervision." he teased back.

'Oh come on! Just try it, trust me!" he said when she pushed back. He watched with anticipation as she moved to try it. Eyes lighting up as she seemed to enjoy it. 'I told you!" he said as she sounded somewhat shocked. "Rosie told me one day. I didn't even know droids could know what tasted good or bad, but...genius. Stick with me, and you could learn all sorts of stuff..." he said with a chill grin.

They dug into the hamburgers. There wasn't anything better in this sector, maybe even all of Coruscant. "Oh no, you just took years off your life, but its so worth it. Those years you were just going to be old anyway. Who wants to do something silly like grow old anyways..." he said.

"So, What was the first arcade you played?" he asked, taking another bite of his cheeseburger. "I have been trying to figure out what would be a better way to make money off of you, Arcade tournaments, or in the fighting ring..." he thought out loud.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

Jackie’s cheerful nature was almost infectious. How did he manage to keep such a lighthearted demeanor after life as a slave and living in the dumps like this? Six quietly eyed him, studying him and asking herself a million questions. He was one of those ‘live in the moment’ types. Six thought she lived that, but she often withdrew into her mind. Who would she be when she met her fate? Would she be Alita or just whatever identity she wore that day? Who would she be buried as? Who would remember?

She shook herself out of her thoughts, “You don’t want to get old? Do the whole settle down, family thing?” She asked, taking another bite. The music was catchy as hell, and she still found herself tapping her foot. His comment about making money off her almost made her choke on her burger. She had to drink more of her martini to fight it down, genuinely amused.

“Not a chance, I’d break a nail in the fighting ring,” She said, scandalized at the thought, “And I started on Space Worms,” It was a very low tier 2 bit game. In fact, she held the top rank in Galaxy Racers on Raxus, but she very well couldn’t divulge that detail, "By the way, I'm good at arcades but I'm not that good. You are just terrible," She snickered.

“This music makes me want to dance,” Six finally admitted, chuckling to herself.

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

Music​

He dipped another fry before popping it in his mouth. "I got a family." he said. Jackie had a knack for gathering people, taking in those the Galaxy had forgotten about; those were his family. He shrugged. "If that family included some kids someday, that would be nice, I guess," he said. He had spent so much of his life just surviving; it wasn't natural for him to think about the future.

Jackie glanced down at the woman's nails and then back up at her. "Guess we couldn't have that." he admitted with a sigh. "You could have been a legend..." he said with a wistful tone.

"Fucking. Space Worms." he said. "What a great game." he said. He listened as she attacked his gaming skills. "That....Is just not true." he argued. "I just had a lot going through my head with this job, ya know? Not all of us have the luxury of relaxing.." he joked. Obviously, the job had nothing to do with his poor performance, but it was something he would die before admitting.

"If you wanna dance, do it then." he said with a shrug, looking up from his food. "We can do whatever we want..." he said. That was the magic of this life; they didn't have to follow any rules but their own. People got so tired of caring about "normal" that they forgot just to live their damn life. He slid out of the booth, reached for her hand, and pulled her with him.

People looked on as he started dancing in the diner's middle. He wasn't a world-class dancer, or even good, really, but he had the skill of not giving a damn what people thought about him.

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher Six]

“Ah yes, a lot on your mind like how to be slick about asking me to hang out,” Six said with a snicker. In truth, she had a lot of things on her mind as well – Binks was still a loose end and his death ensured she wouldn’t find answers anytime soon. Was he part of something bigger? Would she have people coming for her, or worse, would Jackie and his ‘family’ face that? She made a mental note to run intelligence in the background to keep any retaliation in check.

“Wha?” She blurted out, her eyes widening as he got up right there and moved towards the middle of the diner. Six’s entire career was based around adapting and blending in, and now she was under a spotlight. She initially tried to gently ease away, but his confidence was infectious. Six stopped looking around for reactions, instead focusing on him. His dance moves were terrible, but he was more having fun and letting loose in ways she couldn’t remember doing in recent years.

“Oh fuck it,” She muttered before she started moving as well, grabbing his hand and trying to lead him through an old school swing dance. It was from watching very old Holos, and she was no better at this than he was. However, she was laughing half the time in between running into him or accidentally stepping on his foot.

The other patrons initially stared at them, but then a few others got up to join. Very soon, the entire diner became a full fledged dance party with guests from multiple tables getting up to groove to the music.

@Raydo

 

[Jackie O]

"Just the important things.." he replied with a grin to her comment, not letting on further.

She pulled away slightly at first, but with a "Come on" gesture and a grin, she allowed herself to be pulled out of the booth. He let out a laugh as the music picked up.

Rosie, the server droid, was not too thrilled to have the dinner floor turned into a dance floor, but she quickly gave up her protest as others joined in. Clearly, Tali knew what she doing on the dance floor but practiced dancers couldn't do much with Jackie's enthusiastic bumbling. He was having a blast, though, not minding when they bumped into each other because they both moved in the same direction or when she stepped on his feet.

Almost everyone in the room had joined at this point, people forgetting the food at their tables. The song finally ended, and everyone clapped and laughed; Jackie let out a satisfied breath. "See, ain't no reason to hold back if you want to do somethin'!' he said, sliding back into the booth.

"and a dancer...you do it all, huh?" he said, picking up another fry.

@Sreeya