Saloon Thread: Garage

[Tribunal Power]

Seeing Scalia's demeanor change enraptured Cerise's analytically curiosity. Her head tilted slightly as she listened to the explanation, and the promise of removing the tarp afterwards was one she took seriously. Snatching the paper back from Scalia, Cerise gave her a wink and said, "It's a date."

Turning to the other fellow that approached as she concluded her conversation, she put on her flashiest smile and said, "Hey there, spacer. You got a ship? This gungan pirate of ours is on Skye, and I don't think my speeder can get me there, you dig? We can split the take, whatever it is."

Cerise was the observant type, and she knew Scalia had some personal investment with Gonads McBags. Whatever it was, it was deep enough that Scalia wasn't going to share, and Cerise wasn't about to pry-- but by the look of him, it sure as well wasn't anything good. As she ebbed from the garage, she drew her datapad from its holster on her hip and pulled open the holonet, running the name. What she received was a horrid bombardment of news articles implicating Gonads in all sorts of elicit activities, but one of them stood out above the rest. An independent journalist did an expose on primitive cultures on the rim worlds, where the spice trade was limiting growth and crushing any hope of technological advancement. Gonads McBags was mentioned by name, and a picture of him was even used in the expose, as a way of outing him and garnering galactic attention to what his trafficking was doing to innocent lives.

This son of a bitch was going down hard.

 

[Chairdor]

There were a lot of people in Scalia's garage and she was having multiple feelings about it simultaneously, she was angry because she wasn't ready for this kind of company, she was frustrated that she now had to dive past elbows to get her equipment, she was happy to know that dirt bag Gungan was gonna get what's coming to him. She noted the politeness of the big man and suddenly felt a surge of bittersweet feelings like smelling a rose as it's thorns nicked your hands, or for her more like welding a piece of armor perfectly but also burning your thumb. She looked up at the big man who approached her with his question and thought of her own dad, a big man with a big heart, this guy seemed to have it to, then she noticed his pet,

"GAH, rat bird what is that thing?" shaking her head, her usual scowl returning she looked to the man, "You want in on the Gungan job too, talk to that lady over there," she said pointing to Cerise, "And bring whatever the hell that thing is with you," she finished gesturing to the animal.

"Oh also you can work on your armor here," she finished knocking some broken rusted bits off a work bench in the corner

She was about to speak further when she was tapped from behind, turning to see the complimentary fellow from before, she couldn't remember his name, she remembered she did put him with someone to work with, but most of that matching was done by Ross, Pepper and Hiro, she thought for a moment then spoke,

"He's probably in the bar, if not you can talk to Hiro or Ross about it,"

Pepper looked to the tinkering man with his flair and love of the mechanical, when he asked her about a job, she remembered a particular work which would require a pair of steady hands as well as a keen pair of eyes,

"Yes, I have something for you," pulling the poster from her pocket she showed the beautiful portrait of the equally stunning Lila Eln, "This is Lila Eln, she went missing on the northern outskirts of town about two days ago, now plenty of people go missing in this city, but this particular woman happens to be the long time lover of Araxti a swoop gang banger who rules the turf right on our doorstep, you talk to him, figure out her last whereabouts, find her, bring her back, and he'll allow us to patrol his grounds and operate there,"

Moving on to other things she suddenly remembered he wasn't alone on this job, "Oh also you'll be working with Harvey Crossfade, he's a detective so he should be very useful,"

She noted an older man had entered the garage and saw him looking at the old hortek assassin that had been making the bounty rounds around the city again, she had ignored him because often enough he was hired by scum to kill scum so technically he was helping, but recently he killed an Erenshi high minister, now there was not only big money on his head, but innocent blood on his hands, approaching the man she explained,

"That's Farnak Gilnik, he's an old assassin who cam out of retirement recently, lot of people want him dead, but to us he is worth far more alive. Federated Republic want to bring him in for questioning on his past dealings to get a scope on who hires assassins in this area, track down these murderers, put names and faces together, the works. You're job is to retrieve the old lizard from the slums right by Ra'Fakki turf and get him to Federated space with no slip ups, Shaitan Smiths your plus one and-"

She suddenly noticed the gruff older man working his bike into the garage,

"-And he's right there," she said, pointing to the man.

As Scalia got back to work, she suddenly remembered Clunky was still down and out, moving she tried to heft him up alone, as she struggled Pepper walked over and using only half her strength to make it look like the two were equally lifting the droid she looked to Scalia who had a look of concern on her face as she checked the diagnostics on the droid, like a kid who played too rough with a puppy, suddenly she was all concern, shaking her head the old sheriff returned to the sink to wash her hands of grime.

 

[Ush]

No one, shockingly, had come up to Daxim. Growing bored, and tantalized by the sound of voices downstairs, the human stood up and headed towards the elevator. As it lowered him down, it made an almighty sound that made him want to cover his ears. He hated this elevator. He imagined others hated it more, though. It couldn't be pleasant going up it at six in the morning. Daxim was the only full-time resident that didn't drink as much as he could, apart from Hiro. The grating sounds of the elevator would be audible in the garage now. Finally, it stopped. Then it began to open. Slowly. Daxim tutted and slipped in between the cracks, his cybernetics producing a 'ding' sound as it clipped off it.
But finally he was in the garage. There seemed to be a lot of people there. He made an exaggerated bow to Scalia and Pepper, before noticing the guy holding the poster. Araxt's job.
"Hey, you! I can see that you're thinking about taking that job. That means you're going out into the Wastes. From the look of you, and the fact you aren't begging for your mother at the thought of it, you haven't been out there before, have you?"

 

[OhNoesBunnies]

Ignoring You...​

With a sudden grinding of gears and a soft hiss from the hydraulics, the heavy freight elevator began to descend from the upper levels. Within a few minutes, the elevator had lowered enough to reveal a freshly bathed and well-armored Falleen woman, her right hand adjusting the left gauntlet of her armor to ensure the power supply to it was intact with her eyes focused upon the task at hand. Even as the elevator came to a stop with a noisy grunt, she continued to fiddle with her suit, her eyes never lifting to greet either of her 'companions' that seemed to litter the garage. Had she still been in CorSec--or some other private security firm--she might have barked at them all to get back to work or go somewhere where they wouldn't bother her. Instead, she just ignored them, stopping her heavy footfalls when she reached a small work bench she'd setup earlier in the corner. With no sigh or even a glint of frustration, she ceased fidgeting with the gauntlet and slipped it off her arm, setting the piece upon the table and lifting a small tool designed to scan for defective computer parts and wires...

 

[Mirdala'runi Beviin]

If Mirdala had been hoping for a quieter environ, she would be disappointed.

She had opted to put her helmet back on, all the better to quickly check through a few updates received via holocomm burst and to check how many snippets of conversations had been recorded as she moved through the bar. At Hiro's prompting, she had immediately made way for the garage and for the as-yet unknown Pepper who had taken an interest in her work...or so the gunslinger droid claimed. She expected light traffic or even, hopefully, just a few people within the garage. Upon entering, she was met with a smaller but still noisy cluster of fellow Rangers--provided they bought into Hiro's ideals--and no idea who Pepper was.

The garage's smell was quick to hit her; her helmet processed the particles and the result was nostalgia. Hangars and garages alike carried the oh so familiar scents of oil, coolant, grease and metal. A large portion of the fighting she'd participated in during her wretched years in Mandolorian space had been spent in places just like this. Her eyes wandered elusively behind her visor, carefully cataloging exits, people, parts. Might even come in handy, she realized. If she really was to have access to this place, she would have a discreet location to get some mechanical work done without leaving a credit trail. Very handy indeed.

And, of course, there were the wanted posters.

The knot of people were discussing them, passing them around and the ones she could see held faint traces of familiarity while others were completely new. A flick of her wrist and a tap of index to pinky finger and she took a few quick flatcam shots for later viewing. She turned her head as people discussed what sounded like jobs. Good, she thought with a slow, contemplative nod, hope Hiro picked people who can do more than discuss things, though. She wanted to time her own approach to the group in such a way as to avoid the annoyance of having to rub elbows--close quarters always made her fingers itch to hold a weapon of some kind--but it seemed that the time would not present itself.

With an inaudible sigh, she moved away from the door to work her way in towards the group, once more re-working the clasps on her helmet so she could remove it. Once more, the ominous visage vanished and was stowed in the tuck of her left arm. Icy blue eyes peered at each face in turn and observation allowed her to pick out who was Pepper. She gave the woman a swift but informative glance, assessing what she needed to and filing away pertinent data in her mind like some sort of organic probe droid. Because you never know. She finally made her way into the fray and managed to lock eyes with the woman.

"Pepper, I take it," she said by way of introductions. "Hiro said to ask about work with you."

 

[Xysis]

He smiled at the comment abou this pet. "Scrap is harmless. Should hear him coo. Rather soothing when he does. Plus, it beats having to just talk to the droid behind me. " Ordon pointed to the astromech behind him. "Scrap....off" Ordon said in a commanding tone as he picked up his 2 bags and set them on the table. His last large bag remained on his back still. "Thank you muchly" He said to Scalia. Ordon walked over to Cerise.

"I feel like taking down the pirate scum, I'm in on the fun. We can take my ship, the Rising Dawn. She don't look like much, but she's trustworthy." Ordon looked at the young lady in question. "I have some skill with combat and insertion as well. " He smiled, knowing full well he had more than just some. Ordon thought to himself. "This is the longest I've talked to people with out being totally wasted. This may turn out to be good for me."

 

[Chairdor]

The screech of the elevator resounded throughout the garage leading Pepper to cover her ears, she hated the sound of it. Scalia was quite unaffected as engineering tends to put you into close proximity with a lot of extremes of sound, heat, and the like. As the doors opened up and at last ceased Daxim Moray walked out. Of course the lazy layabout had taken his sweet time coming down. Scalia figured he slept in then spent the next couple of hours enjoying macaroons and scones. instead of helping her with all this useless junk. Hearing that he was heading out into the wastes she said half jokingly,

"Have fun finding that criminal princess rusty, hope a gobo eats you," with that she flashed him a cheesy smile before returning to work on an intricate task which required just enough loud hammering to make sure that she didn't hear any snappy replies.

It was at this moment that the elevator started up again to Pepper's great dismay, covering her ears once more she turned to note Laylah, the one ranger who had come earlier than the rest. She wasn't talkative, but if her record was even half accurate, she was as dependable as they came. Allowing her to simply have her space as she worked she noted another entrance, this one far less loud. The woman approached her almost immediately after looking about and said that Hiro had them working together, that of course must've been a mistake. Then she shook her head and noted the work all around her, that's what she meant,

"Well, I work alone as it is, but I do have a job for you yes and for that Rowe fellow if you've seen him," Handing the well equipped woman the contract she explained, "Were working with a trading outfit on Mimban, three settlements in the far reaches have been cut off from traditional companies due to the economically untraversable landscape. Meaning of course that the path is extremely dangerous. Ross has compiled everything he knows about the possible threats, but so far it's only whispers. The gist of the job is to protect a caravan as it makes its stops, it's paramount that they get there on time with no damage or death,"

Giving a simple nod to the woman she remembered one last piece of information,

"Well be working in part with a group called Mercenaries United and splitting profits from the venture, we don't know their trustworthiness, so watch yourself,"

 

[Cisco]

Despite the cacophonous bangs of hammers hitting things and gears grinding as the elevator on the far corner did its rounds, Shaitan was practically oblivious to it all as he eyes over his bike, one by one he removed spark plug after spark plug, eyeing the contacts and the gaps that separated them, giving a slight blow, and simply placing them back from where they came. His hand all the while traced over the rough outcroppings and smoothed areas of the block, feeling out every nook and cranny of exposed engine. There may have been many bikes like it, but this one was his own, and therefore special in its own right. Four cylinders, air cooled, turbo charged, 110 Kw at 11,000 RPM, a top speed of almost 250 Kilometers per hour, the thing flew, but there was no arguing a speeder could go faster.

With a soft smile he gave the bike a pat on the front fender, soon sliding his hand down its smooth metal carapace. Frankly, it was getting hard to find parts for the old thing, not that many actually existed at any rate. With a soft grunt, he attempted to bring himself from his knee to his feet, and with a slight grunt, all of nothing happened. Pretty soon he would be in need of new parts too. Pressing his left hand onto the leather seating of the motorcycle, the cybernetic one, he gave a simple push up, forcing himself to his feet with only a marginal amount of pain. once on his feet he turned himself around, leaning back and sitting down on his bike, looking to the few people who were still in the garage, particular Pepper who seemed to be the only one open to conversation, and one of the ones who was handing out jobs.

"So then," He spoke out the minute Pepper had finished speaking, his voice unnaturally rough as he soon cleared his throat. "If you're just handing out jobs, I assume there's something for me to do then." He spoke, somewhat interested in just what the bucket of bolts had in mind for things. Perhaps Hiro'd have something already planned, or maybe not and this lady would have something for him, Or maybe there was nothing at all.

 

[Livgardist]

Rowe left the bar when things were getting rowdy, the irony not lost on him. He preferred peace and quiet when drinking, though he wasn't often allowed this as trouble seemed to follow him. He made his way down to the garage. Even despite the noise there, it was more peaceful than up in the saloon, though there were still a few people there. He recognized a couple of them from descriptions the bartender had given him. The man had mentioned that if he wanted to help out, he should talk to the redhead - Pepper, Pepper Smith. It wasn't hard to figure out which one of the people in there was her. Rowe stopped by the entrance for a moment to light a cigarillo.

He took a deep breath, and as he did, he approached the group, pulling his hat off in front of the women.
"Ladies." He said, complementing it with a couple of nods to the men. "You must be Pepper." He added towards the woman he thought was her. "The barman said you might have a job for me, ma'am." He held out his one hand with the hat (the other, as usual, resting on the butt of his revolver), adding: "I'm not that familiar with this planet yet. But I'm already getting bored. Any bone you can throw my way will be mighty appreciated."

 

[T.J]

Turning his gaze from Pepper back to Andre, Rook looked down at his unattended hand then back up at the masked man before him. Retracting his hand he tried to keep things civil as he cracked a smile before speaking. He didn't want his new partner and himself to get off on the wrong foot.

" Maybe next time then friend. "

Looking over the crowd that had formed within the garage it occurred to Rook he had no idea who their third member even was. All he had been given was a name.

" You wouldn't know our third member would yah? We're gonna need all the help we can get. "

 

[Phil]

"I have not seen him. But you are correct, we will need the help to take down a night sister. They are unpredictable."

Andre answered, not noticing a Jolla Arka in the cantina when he left it or down here in the garage. He didn't know where they were, but knew they didn't have the time or luxury to wait for them. He turned towards Rook when the sounds of the elevator distracted him, and he saw what appeared to be another Ranger added to the group, a Falleen by the looks of her. There was a small ripple that Andre felt from her, but he dismissed it almost as quickly as he noticed it; he knew it was nothing special if he felt the Force from certain individuals unless they interested him. When she seemed to be about as quiet as Andre was when he came, he turned his attention back to Rook.

"Who's ship are we taking? Mine is in a hole in the wall port a few miles from here, there's room for a squad of people and some cargo, including an armory and a few guns on the ship itself. Who's ever we take, we're going to have this Arka meet us there. But we can't wait for long."

 

[Chairdor]

Pepper looked to the older man who seemed to have a strong affection for his bike, he was careful with the things he found important, that had been expressed quite evenly in the thin file Ross had been able to get on him. Turning to Nero she held out her hand then looked back to Shaitan,

"You'll be going after a Hortek assassin with this fellow Nero, I've given him the details and all the data you'll need, the jobs right here in the city, so head out when you can. The bounty is live though, so don't take to long, I'm glad you're both eager to get to work, lord knows there is work to be done,"

She was about to return to the med bay as the thin layer of bacta she applied to her wound wasn't quite enough to hold back the nasty cut she had gotten. Before she could change her bandages however she looked upon the fellow Hiro had insisted they put on the ever growing roster of Waste Ranger candidates. The famous and equal parts infamous 'Rowdy' Rowe Scarret. Fellow didn't seem so rowdy from just looking at him, but Pepper knew the game of bearing a false title to both impress and intimidate your foes, whatever the story behind his little nickname the sherriff didn't need to hear,

"You've got a big bone as it is Rowe, Mirdala the well equipped woman by your side has just been given the extensive details on your paramount assignment, speak to her when you can and head out, the job starts when you arrive so don't keep them waiting."

Turning at last to Rook as he asked her one last question she gripped her side sand said with some impatience,

"He'll meet you there, now if you'll excuse me I'm bleeding," with that she trudged to the medical wing as Scalia laughed aloud,

"It happens once a month Pepper you don't have to advertise it!"

Pepper responded as Clunky had earlier, a monkey wrench expertly tossed to smack the young engineer not on the head, but instead on the leg to ensure maximum pain with minimal damage. Before Scalia could return fire the med bays doors hissed shut followed by a smack of a gear upon the door. Scalia patted her bruised leg and said with some annoyance,

"Some people can't take a joke,"

 

[Silver Cutlass]

Nero acknowledge Pepper, and nodded to Shaitan. "Roger that." The old smuggler told Pepper as she walked away. Turning to face his partner for this mission, Nero extended his hand. "Nero Linaki. Pleasure to be working with you." He remarked. Nero pondered over their assignment. He had just landed on this cotton-picking planet, and now he would have to somehow track down some old Hortek through the city slums and try to take him alive.

Hell, Nero had only just extrapolated the name of their little organization back in the bar. The Waste Rangers was what Hiro was calling this little group. How appropriate, considering they were about to take out some trash. Making eye contact with his comrade in arms, Nero spoke. "Well, no sense in killing time when there's an assassin on the loose."

 

[Cisco]

Looking to the side, to his apparent Partner, Shaitan gave a soft nod, extending his own arm and hand to meet Nero's in kind, giving a steady but moderate handshake in return. "Shaitan Smith, The pleasure is all mine." He spoke in response, ending the shake soon after. Taking a few steps back, the Man he was to be working with spoke once more, this time noting the apparent urgency of the assignment. With a slight Smile Shaitan spun himself around, already heading back for his own bike, within moments he was kicking up the stand and wheeling it towards the garage door.

"Well," He spoke aloud. "Hop on." He motioned towards the younger man, despite said younger man being fairly old himself. "We Can't risk taking two rides and getting one stolen, nor not having bikes and not having the speed to catch whatever we're going to be dealing with." He continued, as if explaining himself. "We have some radio's in the saddle pack as well." He finished, giving a single turn of a key as all the lights on the bikes dashboard flickered to life one by one.

 

[Silver Cutlass]

Nero followed the older man to his bike, watching as he kicked up the kick-stand and told him to hop on. Before doing so, he listened to Shaitan's little monologue before throwing his leg around the bike and sitting on the back. "Sounds fine to me." He answered, giving a slight smirk. Brushing the side of his duster coat aside, he pulled out his heavy blaster pistol, checking that there was a fresh power pack inside. "Plus is you're driving, I'm free to shoot." He said with a little chuckle as he slipped the piece of weaponry back into its holster.

Grabbing a hold of the older man's left shoulder with his left hand, Nero nodded to him. "Let's ride."

 

[Cisco]

Shaitan offered no response to Nero, his thumb merely shifted down and pressed a single button, the engine turning over with a cacophonous growl beneath the two of them. Holding down the front brake he gave the throttle a simple turn, the growl increasing further and evolving into an utterly amazingly deafening roar accompanied by the high pitched squealing of a rubber wheel fighting against solid concrete, and causing the bike to shift a slittle side to side, and once it was released, the bike took off, zipping out of the garage like a mynock out of hell into the dustily empty streets of Zonju V that surrounded the saloon. leaving the only evidence of them being their moments before a large black skid on the ground, the smell of fumes, and the dulling roar of an engine.

As they zipped down the road, Shaitan offered a simple yell. "Now, Let's find this guy."

 

[T.J]

"Seein' as I came in on public transport I figure using your ship might be our best bet. You don't seem the type for closed spaces with multiple strangers."

Rook said matter of factly as he watched the two other waste rangers speed off on a non-hover cycle. He didn't think anyone still used such a vehicle, but then again he had seen stranger things in his life. Sliding his hand underneath his hat to scratch his head Rook continued to speak.

" Shall we then? That Sister ain't gonna kill herself. "

With that Rook took to the closest exit, which was the still open garage door. The hot wind beckoned to him as he neared the exit, and as he stepped out into the sun he tipped his hat down slightly to shield his eyes from its harsh glare. He didn't look to see if Andre was following him, Rook knew the man would if he wanted a part in the mission they had been assigned. Secretly he was glad a force user had been hired along side himself for the job. Sure any force user was one bullet away from an early grave, but the speed in which the night sister had moved left Rook slightly unnerved. A glance down to his six gun at his hip eased such thoughts however. There wasn't a quick draw he had lost, he only hoped his luck continued.

 

[Livgardist]

Rowe nodded to Pepper, and then turned to the woman by his side, offering another nod.
"Ma'am." He said. "Just give me a minute, and I'll be ready to go."

His gear slung over his shoulder, he pulled it down and placed it on the floor, pulling out a rifle. It was an old slugthrower with a lever-action mechanism, a large calibre weapon made on Zonju for survivalists, farmers, and, as it were, Waste Rangers. It was manufactured by a local company called Wellington, and the rifle itself was known as the Wellington Repeater. Since high tech weapons were scarce, as were parts for them, on Zonju, Wellington, with the goal of arming the populace to give them the ability to protect themselves, had made a cheap, reliable, sturdy weapon that required minimal maintaining. As it were, it was a perfect long-range weapon for caravan guards, and was Rowe's weapon of choice when his six-shooter didn't have the necessary range. Recently, a shipment had been delivered to the Waste Rangers by the Wellington Company as a gift and show of support, at no cost.

He pushed the lever-action mechanism down with experienced hands, tilting the rifle sideways to check the chamber of it. It was, of course, empty at this point, but a bandoleer across Rowe's chest contained plenty of ammunition for the weapon. He checked the chamber, making sure it was clean, and pulled the lever action up and down for a moment as well, to make sure it was functioning properly. Then, with experienced fingers he fed eight rounds into the rifle before closing it up, and returning it to his gear pack. He looked at Mirdala, and said:

"Ready when you are, ma'am."

 

[Phil]

Andre didn't need to say anything else yet; their partner would meet them at their designation and Rook insisted they use his ship. The Forgotten Memory should still be where Andre left it, with all it's gear and charts they would need to find this Night Sister. Without so much as saying a proper good bye to the others, Andre parted with only a few words to Pepper.

"Thank you."

And then he left, not even glancing at the others as he proceeded where Rook left, and went in his direction before going towards where Forgotten Memory was docked. Even though he was once more partnered with some new comers, he did not fully trust them. After 1313, he didn't fully trust anyone anymore.

 

[Dóiteán]

Aramis listened to Pepper explain the job. He nodded as he listened. The job didn't seem all that dangerous, though he knew not to be lax.

"Hmm, this should be an interesting job."

Aramis walked over to the work table and pulled out his datapad. He tapped a few commands, and brought up the schematics of his ship.

"Let's see. If we moved that. Removed that. Added this. That should make a good upgrade to Relic Warrior's cargo pod. Now if we tweaked this that should increase the speed by a small margin. I wonder where I can get some ion cannons to add to my ship. Seven, save the data I've done on the datapad. I want to go over it later."

Seven beeped an affirmative and began wirelessly downloading the data. Aramis had reworked Seven so that he could download the data from his datapad.