Saloon Thread: Bar

[T.J]

" Hey if them Mando's done anything right it was this. "

Gesturing to the full glass of black ale now within his grasp. His eyes following Ross's gesture towards the bar, Rook took a swig of his drink to keep any from spilling as he stood. The glass had been filled to the brim and then some, a fact he was most pleased with. He had gained a taste for the black ale during one of his tropes as a mercenary. They had been in Mandalorian space running some spice past the Sith's blockade when he first came into contact with it. From then on out no other beer or ale seemed to sit the same. Rook's palette being effectively ruined to anything of the lighter persuasion.

" Thank you kindly friend. You keep this here on tap and you're sure to find me comin' round again. "

Taking a step away from the bar Rook immediately back pedaled to retrieve his new duster and hat. Though he probably would take the patch off the new one and attach it to his current duster he still felt obligated to keep them as a token of his ties to the groups founder. Raising his glass one last time to Ross in thanks, Rook slipped through the crowd towards the garage. With any luck the woman known as Pepper Smith would be within and his new life as a Waste Ranger could begin proper.

 

[Sterling Malory Archer]

Quinn watched as everyone went about their fun, finishing up his drink and setting the empty glass on the bar. It felt like he was home. Loud laughter, lots of booze, pancakes? If only there was a good old game of Sabaac, he would be able to die a happy man. Although something struck him. An aweful lot of people seemed to be talkin’ to the guy who had been waitin’ around and drinking when Quinn arrived. So Quinn drummed his fingers on the table and sauntered on over with a touch of swagger in his step. He walked up to Ross, more or less ignoring anyone else talking to the man, and tucked his thumbs into his waistband.

“Well Howdy. I just saw you over here, talkin’ up a storm. Figured I would introduce myself proper like. Seeing as we’re gonna be getting real close in the next little while, Y’know? I’m Quinn. Quinn Mcclaron. Corellian born and bred, with a habit of misbehavin’ and startin’ all manner of trouble without meaning to. I’m also a notorious gambler. You know what they say… You never tell a Corellian the odds. He’ll just end up beatin’ them to prove you wrong. You ever need somethin’ doin’, I’m your guy.”

Quinn turned his head and shot the couple of younger kids a small smile. It wasn’t exactly an ideal place for children, what with the weapons and the booze, but there wasn’t a safer place in the verse. Everyone in the room was like him in one way or the other, and he sure as hell would do whatever he could to keep those kids safe. His attention returned to Ross and he shot the man a fierce grin, his trademark of sorts.

“So, What can I call Ya?”

 

[Black Noise]

Matayn cracked a small smile as she shook Hiro's warm hand, the droid bringing her back to her memories from so many years ago. She looked down on him now, rather than up, in fact she looked down on quite a few people in the room. Nodding to the droid, she spoke before leaving him to his business with the plethora of Rangers arriving.
"And you haven't changed a bit, thankfully. It is good to see you Hiro. I owe you more than you can imagine."

Stepping back, the woman grabbed a hat and duster from the being passing them out and donned them wordlessly. From there, she made her way to the bar and snatched three of the pancakes off the open plate on the counter. The cybernetic woman watched all those around her, taking in their images with remarkable efficiency and attempting to remember all the names flying about the room.

Matayn soon moved and positioned herself behind the man named Quinn as he introduced himself to the drinking man at the bar, Ross. Matayn maneuvered her way behind him and made herself appear as if she had come for the exact same reasons this man had. She wasn't one for speeches or announcing herself, but she did quietly add.
"I'm always good for a job too, if you need something hunted down and brought back with breath still in it's lungs. You know, hunting animals and the like."

 

[Phil]

Andre didn't know what to think of everything around him. There were many like him here, but also not like him. One went so far as to bring their daughter here, of all places. He rose from his seat as his respirator skipped a breath as he scooted his chair in and made a walk towards the bar, carefully brushing aside anyone who was in his way. He made note of many individuals here, but made special note of Hiro and the other staff here, and what they had been saying. He had already accepted the creed before Hiro finished talking, but now it was onto business. It was all Andre had left in him, it was all that it had allowed him.

He tapped his prosthetic finger some on the counter, loud enough so the bartender would hear, but not loud enough for it to be an annoyance. He looked around first to notice that Bartender and others were talking, particularly the one named Rook.

"I understand the hospitality. But did your boss Hiro invite us all here for a group gathering, or did he actually have a job ready?"

Andre asked, though from the tone of his voice coming out through his mask, it made it damned hard to understand how his mood was. Though the plate of untouched pancakes on the table he was recently sitting at may have given an idea.

 

[Endling vas Precious]

(Sorry I'm late to the party D: )

Otja hadn't been particularly busy, she had kept a steady income with various mercenary jobs, some ranging from a simple bounty or smuggling to high-risk shoot outs. She had to be careful, however, she hadn't prepared anymore bodies to merge into.

Zonju V was a planet with a reputation, one she came to grow fond of. She had only been here for a few hours, but already she was getting sucked up into the hustle and bustle. She had been contacted by a man named 'Hiro', besides that everything was ambiguous. The Saloon in question was quite large, and as she strolled in she couldn't help but notice the troves of people like herself. The Togruta made her way to the bar and ordered a drink, taking her time to observe everyone in the room.

It was going to be an interesting night, at least she hoped it would be.

 

[Schwarz]

Ross presented himself and offered to Le-Kenn a drink, but he refused. Le-Kenn never drinks because he link this with all that scum that he hates, every evil person that he know likes drink, but he don’t judge the persons by their tastes, however to him, drink isn’t a good habit. But he accepted a pancake, because the trip was long and he was starved.

Later he talked with Hiro, which presented himself and explained about The Waste Rangers objectives and ideals, then Le-Kenn said “Well, if you are after the same purpose than I, then we can work together” and while he was eating he said “Did you know about something that I can do?” and looking to all the people laughing, drinking and eating he completed “I didn’t came here to a party… While we are here, there is very many innocent people dying and suffering in evil hands… I must stop them, so give me what you have and let me go do what I know.”

Le-Kenn fitted his eyes on them waiting to know what they would tell.

 

[Galad J. Victus]

The code was obviusly a reflection of it's creator. One noble in purpose, yet a little lacking in reality and logic. The words that followed it, convinced him that he was misled.

A sense of betrayal and loneliness took him as he was overcome with mental exhaustion. What little hope left quickly abandoned him, and Asmodean realized, that this was no place for him. Even his purpose here was somewhat selfish; to seek his own salvation while the other formed around a heroic idea of protecting the weak and combating the evil. An evil being trying to find himself had neither place, nor purpose here. He had nothing to contribute in their holy quest of enlightment, while he himself was a soulless monster. All that he lost, all that he gained, have drove him towards but one end; the path of the eternal darkness. So many lost souls were still captive at the very edge of his vibrosword, trapped inside undying cages forged by their own blood and sorrow, inside the slave ironically named Redemption. There was no point in further denial. He was lost. The barren deserts and lifeless caves outside, plagued by nothing but evil, was where he belonged. There was peace in acceptance.

Just as he rose from his chair to leave the saloon, one particular detail caught his attention.

A pair of eyes. Green, bright, full of life and exciment. Enflamed and habited by a soul so young and innocent, eyes so familiar of a boy he knew in his own childhood, one that he saw whenever he looked at the mirror. He could see the passion within them. Emotions so pure and intentions so brave. A child's vision of the cruel and corrupt life. Not foul, though. Instead, for every single plague and illness existing in his own world, Asmodean saw two dreams of a bright, untouched and unstained future, one full of peace and harmony. And it ringed a bell. A breeze. He could almost feel a darkened and poisoned fragment from the ancient shell falling, and opening up a new window, as the ground where it touched was corrupted and burned away, and a light, broke through the cover. The boy was also looking at him across the bar, his attention focused on his unusual features, perhaps.

Asmodean, however, did rise up from the chair, and he did walk across the saloon, towards the exit and crowd.

 

[Chairdor]

Ross was having the time of his life, playing bartender was fun, he even got some of the drink orders right. Moving and schmoozing while boozing made the old intel man realize he had gotten the short end of the stick, calling across the bar over the sound of conversation and piano Ross yelled,

"I'm gonna be the bartender now, you can be on intel,"

"What's the ratio of a Bespin Cloud Martini," Vince calmly replied running through another array of notes without skipping a beat

"One part...alcohol...and two parts...shut the hell up!"

"That's what I thought," Vince replied with a smile.

Before Ross could reply with some witty comeback or more likely than not throw something at the former informant, he turned to Rook and tipped his hat in appreciation, he hoped everyone of these people stuck around. Speaking of that one fellow who was swift to put on the Waste Ranger Duster earlier approached the bar with a mouth as quick as his wit and a few key words seemed to peak Ross's interest, gambler and Corelian.

"You can call me interested, but if that's too many syllables, try Ross. Reason for my interest is you have some skills I could use for this guy,"

Ross gestured back to the picture of Graham Hellan,

"Arms dealer and the meanest one I ever known he's been operating on Corelia for a long time, his favorite customers are the gangs that are poppin up, I'm a fan of the resistance movement there, but there are some nasty folks usin the influx of weapons for less than helpful means."

Another spoke to him, a tall girl, damn tall, he once dated a woman as tall as that, he called her long legs tally tallerson, they did not date long. As she offered up her own set of skill he pointed to another picture on the wall, one he had drawn himself based on the accounts of frightened settlers on Kinooine,

"Well theres an animal right there, but most folks don't want him alive, his name is Arandi, and from read I can get on him he's a Nagai, though he has some cybernetics too, he's been burning down settlements all across the Kinooine frontier and the settlers can do nothing in response, they're farmers living off the land, no credits to get by, you head to these coordinates, it's the last location of his attack, some survivors will meet you there to help track him,"

With that he tossed the woman a datapad with the necessary information.

Hiro was meeting many new faces this day, well not so much new as he had studied many of them, but certainly he was enjoying the personality they gave the Saloon, one fellow in particular was a bit demanding, he seemed to have no desire for any sort of levity, Hiro could sympathize, it was true many were dying, but the droid was no mindless idealist, this would always be so, to sacrifice momentary happiness to devote your life to fighting evil would only lead to one snapping. Still he did have a mission for this man,

"Talk to Ross, Le-Kenn right?" Hiro pointed to the ever popular man, "I think he has something you can do to help us,"

Looking to all the activities happening all around Hiro noted a late arrival, approaching the Togruta, he extended his hand,

"Otja Blume, well ain't you a sight for sore sensors, sorry for the personal acting we don't know one another, I'm Hiro the guy who sent you the invitation, I read about you, heard the whispers, they say you got some pretty amazing powers, I only hope you use em to help us,"

Hiro motioned to the plaque on the wall,

"I'm gathering the tough and the unwavering to defend the weak, that's the gist and right now you can relax, but ask around I'm sure we can put you right to work,"

 

[Schwarz]

Le-Kenn was uncomfortable, there were many years that he wasn’t involved in something like that, he was always alone, doing only what was in his mind. However he liked the droid named Hiro, he appeared to be a nice guy, only trying to do what was right.

Then Le-Kenn replied to Hiro:

“OK Hiro, I will talk with Ross then.” Don’t even giving a smile he completed “It’s good to work with someone with your ideals, although, this waste of time, is not understandable, but you're free to do whatever you think necessary".

Was hard to say these words to him, but he should say something to that good droid, to show some respect and gratefulness.

Maybe that was a beginning to someone, called “wild”, to live a civilized life. Le-Kenn almost forgot how was live and enjoy the life, only thinking in how purge the world, he was looking that there were many smiles over there and the people really appeared to be happy, but he couldn’t understand why.

Surrounded by a mist in his mind, of doubts and angry, he directed himself to Ross and earnestly looking to him asked:

“Ross? Hiro said that you have something to me, so give what you have and let me leave.”

Le-Kenn was bothered, deep inside of his being, he missed that moments and was willing to stay and laugh, enjoy the time, but “I can’t”, he thought, “There are important tasks waiting for me and lives crying out for help”. He should leave as soon as possible.

 

[MasterTyvokka]

Renald sat nursing his drink. He was surprised that the place had it, given how rare it had become due to the Imperium occupation. Usually Renald couldn't find anything close at most cantina's so the taste of the Corellian Ale was good, very good. It wasn't long before Renald finished it off and was about to ask for his second, but he stopped himself. Only few months ago he had been known as the cantina drunk in a number of cantina's across the galaxy. The one who walked in drunk and didn't walk out because he was passed out on the floor. The loss of Jenny had hit him hard and after months of searching for her he fell into a pattern of drinking. It wasn't long before the ritzier places turned him out because of the ruckuss he often made. This is the state the stranger, now known to be Hiro, found him in. Something about that night affect Renald in such away that he was able to pull himself from the pit he was sinking into. Since he had only been a couple month sober he made sure not to drink more than he felt he could take for fear of falling of the speeder again.

Renald heard the name Ross and it didn't take him long to realize that this was the man who had served him the delicious Corellian Ale. The name rung a bell based on the datacard that Hiro had given him that fatefull night. The information on the card had said something about completing for Ross upon joining the Rangers. Renald didn't know what that task but he was about to find out. "Hey, Ross" Renald called out as if the man was an old friend. "I here you have a task for me." Also any chance you could tell me where to get one of those revolvers." Renald had noticed a number of the Rangers were inspecting the same revolvers so he figured they must have come from somewhere nearby.

 

[Haunting Melody]

"Remind me again why we came to this dusty old planet." A young raven-haired woman said to her dirty blonde counterpart.

"It's Zonju V, you know that, Ocampo. Besides, we came here because we received a message from someone here. Called himself an admirer of my work and skills. Besides, it isn't any worse than Sullust." The first woman, Ocampo, was clad in a plain combat suit, a strap attached to her blaster rifle around her neck, and a pair of blasters in holsters on her hips. The second woman, was wearing a dark bodysuit, with a long midnight black coat that went down to her heels. Underneath the jacket was a pair of her custom revolvers in holsters on her hips, the hilts sticking out slightly inward so they could be seen underneath the jacket when she was standing casually, or in this case, walking.

Ocampo sighed as they continued. "While that's true, I wasn't expecting you to be willing to fly all the way here on a whim. I can't help but wonder if you're just hoping its a special kind of "secret admirer", this Hiro." Raine simply scoffed at this and flashed her companion a smirk.

"Is that jealousy in your voice? Or maybe a crossed wire?" This time, Ocampo scoffed and shook her head.

"Let's just get this done, and get out of here, okay?" With a shrug as her response, Raine continued onward, her companion following closely behind. After asking for directions for a place called "The Saloon", the two women finally found the place they were looking for. It seemed like an archaic style of cantina, a rather strange place, at that. Quite unassuming, really.

"I guess this is it, Ocampo. You ready to go in?" Ocampo simply nodded in response, her hands gripping her rifle, ready to fire at anything should the need arise. Raine entered the door, finding herself in a hall, leading to another door. A rather strange entrance to such a place. Upon entering the door, a small scanner appeared from the wall, flooding her in a light blue light from head to toe. Immediately after, a robotic voice resounded. "Welcome to the Saloon, Raine Elspeth."

Raine raised an eyebrow as the scanner receded back into the wall. "That was interesting. I should make one for the ship."

Ocampo smirked slightly. "Could be a worthwhile device." At that, the two continued into the bar. There was already a multitude of people there. From the looks of them, they were all armed, aside from a couple of children. What was this place for?

"Hello? I'm looking for Hiro. He sent me a message some time ago, said to come here." Raine said simply, addressing the entire room and raising her voice just enough to be heard throughout the room. Raine very much disliked the strangeness of this situation. It was then that she noticed the letters on the stage. It appeared to be some sort of code. From what she could tell, he agreed with it's words. Did that mean this was some kind of group? Like, the headquarters for a law enforcement group or something?

Ocampo stood firm beside Raine, remaining quiet as her eyes scanned the room. None of the people were on file in her databanks, which made her all the more hesitant about this situation. Her hands tightened their grip slightly on her rifle. Something in her circuits told her this was a dangerous place, and this whole situation smelled of a trap, and her creator had fallen right into it. No matter, she would protect Raine no matter what. Unknown to her, Ocampo's expression betrayed her thoughts, her brow furrowed and her eyes moving quickly from face to face. Whereas Raine's expression was actually somewhat cheerful. Raine herself had a good feeling about this place and these people. There was much to be curious of here.

 

[Chairdor]

Ross was a very popular man, Vince finally got tired or ran out of songs and slapped the jukebox a few times to get it running again returning to his bar tending duties, Ross was free to see to his massive fan club of corelians, cyborgs, and weirdos, boy howdy it was just like home. As he walked out of the bar onto the floor he came upon a very serious looking guy who Ross immediately noted had a lightsaber. He couldn't trust those saber wielders, sabers had no counterweight, they were just as likely to hack their own limb off as their foes, but he noted their use in a fight. The fellow was quite blunt, so Ross was in turn,

"Got a feller on Delrakkin, jungle world, by the name of William Fry, he got kidnapped long time ago and recently he escaped and made his presence known, he's livin off the land in the jungle now, no tellin how long he'll last, he's bein pursued by some terror cell usin him for his scientific skill. Anywho Fry has a rich uncle on Naboo and he and the fam are offerin big credits to those who get him back home safe and sound, heres a holo of all pertinent information,"

Ross said handing Le-Kenn the device,

"One last thing, this one will be dangerous, looking over the profiles we compiled on ya I got ya two partners, look out for em, gather em and head out,"

Just before he sent this man off he recognized the other approaching him,

"Well speak ah the devil, Le-Kenn, this is one of them pardners, Renald right? Le can get you up to speed, all you need is this Hurn fella, once he shows up yall can get set,"

Hiro was moving throughout the Rangers still in the bar as other filtered in and still more began to explore the Garage and other rooms, enjoying himself immensely he watched as the two children got into an impromptu game of tag nearly upending a table with their running as Alfred ran after them with a look of caring fear. It had been a long time since he'd received such positive feedback, clearly this was something very right with his own code of 1s and 0s.

Hearing his name yet again Hiro turned to spot another face not so familiar in a known sort of way, but studied nonetheless and the droid had been nothing but impressed with this young woman's accomplishments. Approaching her he noticed she had a friend, a casual heat scan noted she didn't appear to be biological it was only then that he noted the strength of Raine's craft as he looked upon the spitting image of a human in robotic form. Hopefully his mask hid the fact that he was gawking at this feat of engineering as he swiftly corrected himself and turned to Raine extending his hand for a shake,

"Raine Elspeth, better late than never I always say, as you can see the party has already begun, but were far from done,"

Motioning to the plaque Raine had already noted he went over his earlier spiel again,

"That right there is the Code of the Ranger, yall were invited here not just cause you can make or fix just about anythan, it's cause you're good people and I figured you could use your skills for good, in this outfit, the Waste Rangers, something I'm starting up to protect the weak and help the helpless, I see you brought a friend, or perhaps made one?" Hiro ended lowering his mask to mock kiss the hand of the robotic woman,

"Echante" he said with a drawl as thick as cheese, and cheesy it was.

 

[Haunting Melody]

Raine smiled at Hiro as he approached her. This was perfect! The "man" actually appeared to be a droid. If anyone could recognize a machine, it'd be her. Especially with her experience of building Ocampo. Raine extended her hand, taking his, returning his polite gesture. It pleased her greatly that this was looking up. "I am sorry for being late, but uh, like you said, better late than never, right?" Raine spoke with a lighthearted tone, giggling softly to herself. She couldn't help but be fascinated by Hiro, but then, that was for a later time. For now, she was focused on this Ranger business. So, she had been invited to join a group of protectors and defenders. Ocampo had been on her case for a long while now to dedicate herself to something, and it looked like this was just the thing for that.

Ocampo's eyes widened slightly at Hiro's gesture, and for the first time in a very long time, she could feel a sensation akin to embarrassment. No, not embarrassment. What emotion was this? The android's cheeks suddenly had a twinge of red. Raine herself held back a giggle, covering her mouth with her left hand as she looked over at the two. So much time went into designing Ocampo to make her as human as possible, and this was a perfect example of that hard work. The fact that her emotions caused reactions like blushing, and her ability to actually shed tears, were testaments to her efforts. Then again, for the most part, Ocampo was a human in Raine's eyes.

Ocampo coughed slightly, slowly withdrawing her hand. Her cheeks felt hot, and she averted her gaze slowly. "Uhh...yeah." Was all she could manage. In all the years she had been around, the "beautiful" android had never once encountered this kind of behavior towards her. Sure, some men had made all manner of comment towards her, usually incredibly vulgar. She was no stranger to such behaviors and, in truth, had personal experience with some of the subject matter, thanks to Raine, that is. Mind racing, Ocampo released her grip on her rifle, relaxing somewhat to the situation. "Nice to meet you." The android said after managing to calm herself down. The heat had faded from her face, and a slight smile crossed her lips.

"See, Ocampo? I told you it was a good idea to respond to that message." Raine said with a grin, fidgeting slightly with the goggles on her head. "You've already made a friend."

 

[Sterling Malory Archer]

Quinn raised an eyebrow at the prospect of a job to do, eyeing the poster behind the man. “Well, if anyone can get around in Corellia’s underbelly it would be me. So I might just be your man. Tell ya’ what… Shoot me the deets on my Datapad and I’ll make sure it gets done for ya. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some schmoozing to do with the new friends we made. Particularly the lady ones.” Quinn gave the bar a pat with both hands and smirked at Ross, giving him a quick nod before turning to assess the situation in front of him. Plenty of folk out there mingling, doing what it was that made them tick. Most of ‘em looked a fair bit rougher than Quinn but that was alright. He was a lover, not a fighter. ‘Cept when the bolts started flying.

And then Quinn noticed Hiro across the way, having a conversation with a pair of women. Quinn’s eyes drifted from one to the other, then across the rest of the bar. The other patrons seemed busy enough, so he may as well go help Hiro out. Did a droid really need a wingman? So the Corellian sauntered up next to Hiro and gave him a pat on the shoulder. His trademark cocky smirk passed over his face and he raised an eyebrow at the pair in front of him.

“That’s funny; usually it’s me with the cheesy one liner. Maybe Im just losin’ my touch these days. Or maybe you were just made for this, eh?”

Quinn gave Hiro one last pat on the shoulder before letting his hand fall to his waistband. He tucked his thumb there and let his head tilt a bit as he talked.

“Quinn. Quinn Mcclaron. If you need it Piloted or sweet talked, I’m your guy. Im also fair at takin’ peoples money at Sabaac. I don’t call it gamblin’ cause it aint gamblin’. Not when you win every time. And just what can this humble Corellian call the two of you?”

 

[Jaime]

HARMONY, HARVEY'S DAUGHTER

She danced in between the tables like a spider dancing along its webs, as graceful as a cat and silent as the shadows. Harmony had never felt so alive than this moment. She was so happy that Daddy had finally brought her somewhere away from home. She had new friends now! And they were all grown up!

She went over to the bar and lifted her self onto a stool, grunting with the effort. She looked over on the other side of the bar, where the bartender guy was cleaning under the nasty and smelly counter. "How long have you and the nice robot been living here? And can I have some pancakes please?!" Her eyes lit up with joy as she directed the final question to the passing serving droid.

 

[Galad J. Victus]

Only to stop before the kid.

He seemed scared. Coming down face-to-face with the surprised boy, on his knees, he looked deep inside his eyes for a seemingly long moment, as did he. His hand went to his pocket, and came out with an item of sorts. An amulet, black, but with a figure etched to it's both sides, using some kind of shiny jewelry, yet the passing of time had made it unreadable. Scratchs limited the painting, but a few words were there to be seen still.

"In the darkest of hours, when all the lights die out and forsake me, where I am forced to face the darkness within my very soul. My love, and my courage shall protect me."

Reading it after all the years, had indeed brought back ancient memories. Of a girl and promises, promises made in the verge of death. Asmodean had gave his word to never give up the struggle, for the sake of all they ever lost. He searched his memories, and to his surprise, found out that the exact moment was still fresh, aching like an open wound. Opening the kid's palm, gently, Asmodean left it there, and then the boy smiled warmly, thanking him in his own way. Asmodean really tried, he directed his will, set his mind on it, but he failed. Careful not to dissapoint him, he opened his lips, intending to say a few words of inspiration, or explanation.

"Ehm, are you giving trouble to this fine mister here Josh? Come on, we have to go home."

A fat man roughly in his fifties came out of the crowd in front of the bar, poorly dressed, rushing and catching the boy's free hand while whispering to Asmodean's ear.

"I am so sorry, he is such a curious boy but his illness doesn't allow him to speak, pardon us if he stared at you meaninglessly."

Pulling the boy in his wake, towards the exit, the man obviously didn't notice the amulet in his hand due to his hurry, while the Josh was still gazing at him. The father pushed the door and the pair left the saloon. Asmodean, however, could still see the boy staring at him as his father spoke to him with his finger pointed, as if he was warning him of something.

He stood there without the slightest of movements for a noteable amount of time, all kinds of thoughts racing in his mind. If he was confused before, now he was in utter shock. Why would he be doing this? What would be the ultimate goal of uniting under such a selfless purpose? Some had answered due to the promise of money, others, an opportunity to extend a help of hand to those in need of it. But him, he cared for neither of those. He was in no position to offer any sort of comfort to the others, as he himself was in need of it. He was a champion of the devil, never being able to feel the need to fight for others, the idea of sacrificies and noble quests. But there was a time when he did, when he would gladly threw himself to the middle of battle and chaos, duel hordes of knights and thugs to save a single child from death or worse, everything and anything he did were fixed at achiving one single goal; the liberation of an entire nation. He would be their hero, their savior, and the people would experience a golden age of justice and progress, in a realm where none was second to other. He had no doubt he could still find the symbols of that legendary spirit that incited millions and brought down a proud kingdom, amongst the ruins where nothing but the ghosts of the death dwelled. Maybe he would stumble upon the headless body of a friend, or a companion, and they would share a drink or two, recall the old days of war.

The price of failure was enormous, he knew it. But the promise of victory, even greater. Maybe, he had to try again. He did not have to do it alone this time. An act for the good, perhaps, could pay for his sins.

Walking over to the bar in a lost manner as he danced through the thick group of patrons and gunslingers, his vibroblade occasionally stroking their clothes as he passed, he stopped before the bartender and gathered himself before beginning to speak, expecting to receive some sort of information on who he was to see next.

"I'm sure Hiro had more than pointless partying and knight role-playing in mind when he gathered all these people here. A task, of sorts, perhaps?"

 

[Mirdala'runi Beviin]

It was a little more than intriguing now.

The only silent person in the entire establishment at this point, Mirdala watched, observed and noted many, many interesting things as conversations clamored over one another. The music was a little jarring--the equipment in her helmet and upon her back was trying to decide what to make louder and what to soften--but she got the gist of what was being said between sentients. Her drink sat before her, untouched, as she listened intently to the palaver between candidates and, finally, Hiro's impromptu little speech. This, the introductory speech as it were, she was mindful to record and store with the flick of a wrist, activating her gear. Might come in handy, she noted. She turned her head once the droid finished his shpiel and watched the oddities occurring at the bar for a moment.

A droid pouring for, apparently, no reason was noteworthy, but when someone ordered a Mandolorian Black, she couldn't help but turn to stare. The T-shaped visor centered on the man and she listened for a brief moment. Those who knew of the drink were few; those who could stomach it were fewer. She herself had had it numerous times, but eventually grew tired of it. Her interest in the man ended with his drink selection, however, and she turned to look down at her own selection. She raised one gloved hand and worked at the clasps hidden beneath the rim of that forbidding helmet. A hiss of released pressure and it hung loose. She worked the helmet off, setting beside her drink; revealed was the raven-haired woman beneath, eyes as devoid of emotional export as a droid's returned to the drink awaiting consumption.

"Waste Ranger, eh?" She lifted the glass to her lips. "Well, why the hell not."

A quick toss of her head and she drank the rather cruel concoction and slammed the glass down on the bar, empty. It was time to pester the already-pestered droid about some work. If she was "justice", it wouldn't do to remain idle. She stood, fished a pair of credit chits from one of the many pouches upon her belt and slapped them on the bar loud enough to garner the attention of whatever or whomever was playing barkeep. Hopefully not the clanker who was pouring for the sake of pouring, she mused to herself; she hated to waste credits. Scooping her helmet up off of the bar and tucking it under one arm, she vacated her seat and carefully navigated her way over to Hiro and the knot of ruffians surrounding him.

It was a simple matter to shoulder her way to him--her unusual pack upon her back working quite nicely as a crowd dispersal device--and when she got there, a wry smirk cut that featureless face. "Been a bit, 'pard," she drawled for his sake. Her accent was still quite present, even after all this time, but the keen edge that he might have noticed about her had seemingly hardened or sharpened since; life had not been kind to the girl he had met on an ill-fated jaunt into a tourist world. Those hardened eyes peered into sensors once she got his attention. "Hell of a party. So. Waste Rangers." She nodded.

"So point me in the way of some work," she finished with a slight shrug.

 

[Vulpes]

Better late than never, like they always say! Mako had come along with Otja a little late to the party, and if they were going to go with cliches, might as well identify as fashionably late. The small Kushibah wasted no time separating from his companion and rushing over to the bar, using all four legs to dash there and eventually pounce onto the counter, running past everyone who was seated at the bar, until he got to the end where an open seat was. The last ten years had not tired Mako out at all, if anything he had more energy than ever.

"A shot of ale, mate!" he said to the bartender. He would spare him the bad joke about getting a full sized drink and risk drowning in it by the fifth sip. Mako sat on his hind legs with his front legs giving a little extra support to his body, however they were quickly used to take a sip from the drink after being given it, wasting no time to enjoy the presumably free alcohol.

 

[Chairdor]

Hiro was quite stunned, surely the ladies temperature levels denoted a machine yet she seemed so life like. He had known replicants before, they were almost in every way the image of their creators, but they all of them lacked a certain extra layer, each one seemed a carbon copy, a singular philosophy that no individual experience could fully shake away, yet here before Hiro stood a blushing woman, no sign of machinery within her physical appearance, no clue to the electricity that surged throughout her inner systems, if you cut her one would expect the red of a living thinking being. Truly it would be a shock to find the black of oil instead.

Hiro noted her smile with a surge of unusual positive feedback, unlike the usual instant variety this lingered and slowly faded, a timed sequence rather than a mere base code instrument. This type of response was not a simple one, it was programmed. Hiro had little time to wonder on this as he not only had all of his guests to attend to, but the ever present Quinn began sweet talking the ladies before him, noting the game of his old pal, the droid allowed him to say his piece before adding,

"I'm made to do two things Quinn, tumble and rumble and ya know it has been some time since we been to the tables, what dya say w-"

Hiro couldn't finish that thought as Mirdala began to speak, Hiro smiled beneath his mask as he looked to his old friend, with all the activity of the day he couldn't quite remember if he had said his hellos to her, so he figured better twice than not at all,

"Mirdala, you haven't aged a day my dear, glad you're on board, I remember even now your fearlessness, and Pepper Smith thought highly of your retinue, shes in the garage when you have a chance and has a mission in mind just for you,"

That business attended to Hiro returned his gaze first to Raine then swiftly back to Ocampo while wrapping his arm around Quinn,

"As I was saying, care for a friendly game? I'll make it fair, one of you can have the Corelian Cockswain,"

Vince was glad to be back on the bar, while he loved to perform for others and sing a bawdy tune as much as the next his true love was of course doing nothing all day and drinking alcohol and being surrounded by beautiful women, but since that was hardly going to happen he'd take his second love, tending bar for weird strangers who keep asking him for work.

Currently that last bit was in short supply, but at least one little lady vied for his attention as he rapidly filled drink orders. A small girl, one he remembered from earlier, still wearing her cowboy hat, the dear. Thinking on her question as she handed the girl some pancakes that Alfred retrieved he answered,

"We been on this planet for about eight years, but we only moved here two years ago, Hiro's idea after- uh...well the other place just wasn't as nice as here," Vince said remembering that mentioning the explosive death of two rangers and their previous home was not a child friendly topic. Reaching under the bar he got her some cool nerf milk,

"Drink up kiddo,"

At that he noticed a masked young man bearing a large vibroblade he listened to his question and racked his brain for an appropriate response, luckily Ross overheard and called out,

"Asmodean right? Hiro talked about you, you're tough, Scalia would love you, she's in the garage and I'm sure shes got something for you,"

With that Vince saw a slightly strange sight than a pale boy wearing a skull mask as a large hamster attempted to partake of alcohol. Vince at this point was beyond shock however and merely went with the flow preparing the fuzzball his simplistic drink of choice. As he was ahead on orders, he tried to make small talk with the fellow...haha...small talk,

"So um...what...what are you?" Realizing that was a rude and dumb thing to say Vince clasped his nose, "Sorry...just never seen your type afore and I seen all kinds, if it helps, the drink is free,"

 

[Nor'baal]

Stamping on the smouldering cigar butt, and grinding it into the dust floor, Hurn Vorba opened the shutters to the saloon. Walking in with an air that exuded pure confidence, he took a seat at the bar.

''Usual.'' he said, a man of few words as always.

Credit to be given where it is due, the barman responded without a word, and soon a pure single malt Zonju V Whisky rested in a glass before him. He downed it in one, no time for pleasantries even when it came to drink.





''Again''