Ask Prospecting

[Crix Dolan]

"That's the trick, son, you gotta have something to bring to the table."

Crix mulled over his father's words feeling a pang of sorrow at knowing he'd never hear them out loud. His datapad lay on the table in front of him open to an article about power gems. His father was right. If he expected to fast-track his career in the 5S he needed to make some moves and he needed to make them now.

phrrrrrt phrrrrrrt

The buzz of his comm snapped him out of his downward spiral. He initiated the call and the holoreceptors lit up weaving a small iridescent figure into life.

"You still shopping for some parts for your ship?"

Crix smiled, "I am, nice to see you Barlo."

The trandoshan parts broker sneered, "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure, kid. You know the deal, drop me the creds I'll send you the location."

"You got it, boss. Thanks for the heads up," Crix threw Barlo a two-fingered salute and closed the comm.

He stood from his desk and stretched before wiring the credits. A moment later the coordinates for the meet came through and Crix made for the cockpit. A few hours later he dropped out of hyperspace a few clicks south of a space station just outside the northern end of the Hydian Way.

Beegee hummed nervously as the seedy space station filled the viewport. Crix's eyes lifted from another article he'd found on power gems and he let out a low whistle.

"Barlo knows how to pick these places, huh?"

The smuggler gave the droid an affectionate pat on the head and then slid on his helmet. It was time to go to work.

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

"Yes...I am working...." grumbled Tiamat to her droid as it rolled up behind her. Her head rested on her forearm, eyes closed as she took the couple minutes of quiet prior to Gee-gee entering the cockpit. The redhead rolled her shoulders back as she slowly sat up, one of the charts sticking to her forehead before she snatched it and laid it back down on the make-shift desk in front of her. The droid kept chirping about the coolant pipes and Tia just stared at the eye sensor, her brain taking a moment to catch up with everything else.

The droid beckoned her to follow and Tiamat did, her feet feeling slightly more heavier as she shuffled to see the mess Gee-gee had created. Her blue eyes widened in disbelief, "This! This is not regular maintenance!" she gasped, "No...No, you put this all back together right now!" she commanded, her fingers combing and then grasping handfuls of her hair. The droid tried to give its convincing argument, "No, absolutely, no, we're here on this space station for this one part and then we're leaving." the droid gave a long whistle that was the equivalent of 'oh I forgot.' However, droids didn't forget, and Tiamat gave Gee-gee and unamused look.

The woman shook her head and grabbed her jacket, "You have three hours to have this put back-" the droid stopped her, "Yes, and I will pick those up too for you." she sighed, flipping her hair back over her shoulders. She exited her ship, leaving her trust in Gee-gee to get its job finished as she headed to do some prime shopping.

@Zay

 

[Crix Dolan]

The Freebird landed in the hanger of Station beta and Crix left Beegee with the usual standing orders before donning the rest of his gear. It was annoying to need this stuff to go shopping, but based on the look of the station they were at, it was better to be annoyed than dead.

Crix made his way toward the turbolift, the hanger was relatively empty aside from a partially taken apart HWK Light freighter. His head cocked to the side as he wondered what the little BG unit was doing. Shrugging to himself, he could only hope Beegee didn't get a wild hair up it's gyro to do the same. He made it to the turbolift and punched the level Barlo had specified.

As the doors opened the hidden market came to life.

Peddlers of all walks of life hawked their wears with greedy fervor. One claimed to have Han Solo's DL-44 while another displayed an obvious counterfeit of Boba Fett's beskar'gam. It was clear that even with the grandiose claims there were plenty of diamonds in this rough. Crix turned down an alleyway following the waypoints on his HUD, and stepped into a dimly lit opening with a handful of others.

Crix spotted Barlo and made his way over. The two clasped forearms and The smuggler said, "How the hell did you find this place?"

The Trandoshan chuckled, "Turned over a few rocks."

Crix laughed, "Fine, keep your secrets."

"That's how I keep them profitable," shot back the broker. Barlo glanced around and in a lower voice said, "Lot's of big names here, kid. Don't do anything stupid. It'll be about 15 mins before the auction starts, you should network, who knows you might make some connections."

"Ya know what, I just might."

Crix looked around at those gathered with fresh eyes. He spotted a few insignia's from various Syndicate groups, an imperial, and a couple of droids, that he assumed were working for Gotra. No one particularly stood out to the smuggler and rather than waste his breath with middle management, Crix decided to stand his ground and observe.

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

She was earlier enough to give herself enough time to see what she was up against. A variety of lowlifes that made this possibly worse than a Mos Eisley cantina. There were many present who were part of the Syndicate, clustered together in their cliques to ensure everyone knew who they were representing. There were a few though scattered throughout that had no affiliation, or were there on independent terms hoping to get something that would make them somewhat competitive with larger smuggling cartels. Many of course were whom Tiamat expected as she stepped lightly between some lanky looking humanoids who didn't seem to appreciate the basic being getting too close.

Ignoring their curses in a bocce dialect, Tiamat made her way through the maze of beings, listening closely until she made through the other side of the auction hall. Turning abruptly, she smacked into the elbow of a roughened trandoshan who then shoved the human with a warning. It was enough of a shove that it would send her into a dark haired scoundrel who seemed to be keeping to himself. Well, at least he was.

Tiamat hissed something back in huttese regarding his family being the backwater breeders. She brushed her red hair behind her shoulder, rubbing her nose which stung from the creature's elbow. "Sorry, I am more graceful on my better days." she told the smuggler.

@Zay

 

[Crix Dolan]

The Smuggler scanned his surroundings with waning interest. The glint of an insignia caught his eye, and he zoomed in on it with his HUD. Crimson Dawn was here.

"Barlo, this auction is for ship parts right?"

The Trandosan was didn't hear his question, but Crimson Dawn's presence meant there was more to this auction than meets the eye. Before he could follow up, he felt someone bump into him. His professional paranoia sent his hand to his wrist blaster, as he steadied himself, but upon turning to the offender he released his weapon.

A woman with fiery red hair apologized with a cute joke and the contrast in their engagement compared to the seriousness of the surrounding company made him chuckle.

"No worries--" he said patting his body and adding, "--you didn't take my wallet did you?"

The auction was still a few minutes off and while she didn't particularly fit in with the rest of the assembly, he wasn't dumb enough to assume she was helpless.

"So, you what brings you to the seedy underworld?"

His question was more small talk than he'd regularly indulge in. He wasn't interested in networking, Crix believed talk was cheap, and doing so, was, for the most part, a waste of time. But a sideways glance at the woman who'd bumped into gave him a reason to waste his time.

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

Internally, Tiamat let out a long sigh of relief the guy didn't pull his blaster and shoot her for running into his personal space. Though, she felt that she would not get off that easy again as he brushed off her error. However, she watched quietly as he patted down his body with concern about his wallet. Slowly she shook her head, denying she slipped his wallet, it would seem to be something a novice or a fool would try to do in a place like this. If one was that hard on credits, they probably had no business on this station.

Though, he didn't seem off-put by her as he attempted further conversation, perhaps more-so to determine who he was up against in the upcoming bids. She quirked an eyebrow as to why she was present. She glanced around, wondering if there was a secret holocam and nearly followed up with something snarky, but held her tongue.

"I heard there was some rare finds." she explained, sliding her hands into the pockets of her jacket. Her eyes scanned near the front where it seemed a different group, possibly the sellers were entering to begin the auction. A large holo-projector glowed in the center of the hall with a countdown until it begun. She guessed they would show the items on there instead of physically present.

"Supposedly there will be a Whyren's Reserve that I want to get my hands on."

@Zay

 

[Crix Dolan]

The timer emerging from the holoprojector made him stiffen a bit. He hated these underworld auctions. There was never a way to gauge how much danger you were in. As an independent, Crix always felt like it was him against the galaxy, a feeling he'd initially resented, especially in these circumstances.

At the mention of Wrynn's reserve, he couldn't help but loose an appraising whistle.

"You've got expensive taste."

He wasn't sure what prompted it, but if it were to be him against the galaxy, he might as well enjoy himself while he could, Crix removed his helmet and brandished a smile in her direction, "I'm Crix by the way."

The timer was beginning to dwindle and the swill milling about were beginning to organize. Barlo nudged him, "Eyes up, kid. It's getting started."

Crix nodded in his direction then looked back to her, "Good luck nabbing the Wrynn's."

A heavily modified protocol droid took center stage and welcomed the gathering with it's metallic effeminate voice.

"Gentlebings, the auction will be starting momentarily."

The tension in the back alley thickened as the vying factions pressed in. Crix couldn't help but shoot a glance toward her as the proceedings got underway. He was just hoping to get a good deal on ship parts, but who knew what he'd find by the time this was over.

@GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

Tiamat grinned when he suggested she had expensive taste and the woman gave a shrug as though it was not as big of a deal as people make it out to be. However, he felt comfortable enough to remove his helmet and Tiamat felt her cheeks glow pink as she felt she was expecting some hideous, wart faced ghoul but this was not it at all. He introduced himself as Crix. The girl's eyebrows rose finding it coincidence she knew another named Crix.

"Yeah?" she replied absentmindedly staring for a bit too long but the chime counting down for the auction to begin brought her back to to reality, "OH, I'm yeah, sure, ok, auction!" she completely fumbled over her words, feeling now she couldn't return to a smooth conversation as before, her face just turned brighter and she turned her gaze to the holo. He wished her luck on her bids, "Yes, you too." she said as the room started to pack shoulder to shoulder, pushing her away from him as her comm started to chime. She checked it, seeing it was her droid from the ship and woman tried to silence it, only getting repeated urgent messages and again, she would silence until there was one that caught her attention.

She didn't want to leave, her prize just a few bids away, and only a few feet away was a rather cute spacer. However, her ship being in one piece when she left was more important. "Damn..." she mumbled and took her leave.

/exit

@Zay