Ask Coruscant The Triple Bamboozle

[Zeyt Wic]

Zeyt, or rather Jas in this form, was standing on the corner of a bustling market street on Coruscant. It was a fairly mid-tier level of the city-planet so a mix of all kinds were around. Other than the usual shops lining the walkway and other fairly permanent landmarks, there were a few street carts selling wares. These vendors were either specialty sales or could not afford a shopfront. They ranged from fancy landspeeders with flatbeds to literal carts with wheels. Color was in abundance and it was noisy due to the chatter of random pedestrians or vendors shouting into the streets about their best deals. A light hum of speeder traffic can be heard from streets nearby, but none directly would go through the market area.

A middle-aged Ryn man stood atop an older speeder-truck in the middle of the walkways. Rust accented the bottom corners of the vehicle but it was otherwise seemed freshly painted in green. Almost as if someone was too lazy to paint all the way to the bottom just earlier that day. Various electronics were laid out on the flatbed with little dividers to separate groups of products. Foot traffic came and went as the man yelled out to passerby's.

"Surplus electronics! Best prices in the district! Fix your lightsaber, get a new comlink, upgrade your datapad... we have what you need!" The raspy-voiced Ryn struggled to project into the crowds.

Once a gap in the crowd at said cart appeared, Jas slowly strolled over. Both of his hands were at the hips as he glanced over the array of wares before him. The eager Ryn merchant leaned in closely from on top, his breath lightly brushing against Jas' face. No words were exchanged and no eye contact was made as the young mercenary circled the shop. Upon inspecting a pair of security spikes, he slowly raised his head and eyes to see the Ryn eagerly awaiting.

"Security spikes... I could use a replacement. Perhaps two if the price is right." A gloved hand picked up the pair of slicer tools to show. "What'll it be? ....sir?"

"You want those? 2,500 each. I'll need to see your sector ranger or law enforcement licenses please." The Ryn said, nearly coughing the words rather than saying them. "Otherwise... they'll be a bit more expensive. 6,000 each."

The whites of Jas's eyes became more visible as they rolled upwards in response to the merchant. He set both of the spikes back down onto the bed carefully before turning his face away. Jas seemed to scan the street for the next vendor with similar parts and turned to walk away. The first two steps were slow, almost dramatically slow, as he left the sales cart.

"Okay! Wait!" The Ryn jumped off the cart and grabbed two of the spikes on his way to intercept Jas in the walkway. "3,000 each. Won't get them cheaper without papers."

A subtle smirk came to Jas' face as he turned around to face the greedy little salesman once more. He didn't even say a word, just handed a small pile of credit chits to the man before aggressively grabbing the spikes and pocketing them. Two fingers pressed together and went to his eyes for a casual salute before he let the crowd absorb him and take him on his way.

---

Three hours passed since the purchase and Jas was back at his hotel after a shopping trip. A pair of security spikes, some blaster parts, and a few random credit chits were scattered onto a small table. The young mercenary was inspecting hit loot and eventually his hands brushed the new spikes. At first, he kept going to the next pile of goods which seemed blaster related, but he doubled back suddenly and grasped the spike in his hand. A second security spike appeared in his other hand, pulled from his bag nearby. Looking like lady justice at a court house, Jas closed his eyes and balanced them back and forth.

"Fething Ryn... this is hollow isn't it?" He cursed to no one but himself in the room as the realization hit. "How am I this stupid? I'm going to kill that scum."

The real spike got tossed back into the bag which was left on the hotel floor while the two fake spikes were roughly thrust into Jas' pocket. He stormed out of the hotel and into the streets, punching the wall outside his room on the way. Two or three blocks of a brisk walk delivered him back to the shopping district. Another block of aggressive shoving through crowds only revealed that the speeder and the Ryn were gone. In its place was another vendor selling fruits, and a few confused people arguing with a Rodian female merchant.

"Uh I don't know where the other guy went! I just saw an empty spot and moved in... I promise!"

(Zeyt is in the form of Jas Mosprib. See Aliases on 2nd Post of Character Page for details of gear/appearance)

@homewrecker @Braden

 

[Valfreyja Tysdottor]

The crowds were claustrophobic, Valfreyja had spent the last two days on the planet wide metropolis flip flopping from panic attack to violent attack as she ventured through the unofficial capital of the galaxy. It had been a dream for years since she first heard about the planet from a passing traveller, now she wished it stayed a dream. Two days down and two more to go, the merc for hire was not rolling around in credits so the she had to wait for the ship that took her here to depart. It was cheaper that way although seemingly much more stressful.

The markets below the surface were still swarming with people but at least there was a little space between one person to the next, unlike the areas near the docks. Valfreyja's eyes darted from stall to stall she had a few credits to her name, nothing flashy but she could get herself at least something nice from this shinny rock before she departed. The large commotion around the Ryn was far from what she wanted, the push and shove of all those people was not what she wanted. But then through the wind she heard it, "comn link upgrades" maybe she could use it to contact her parents back on the asteroid. Her home being in the middle of nowhere meant that getting anything back to them was a struggle, usually consisting of her having to send stuff via ship. But maybe this could work.

Pushing her way through she reached the weird little man. "How much for the comn link upgrade?" Perhaps her voice sounded a little to eager as the man's face lit up a little too much. "Five hundred credits, Mi'Lady." He replied with a sickly sweet voice. It sounded like an ok price, she may have found it cheaper on the outer rim but everyone on the ship had told her it was more expensive hear than the rest of the galaxy. So she coughed up the cash and went on her merry way with little piece of plastic ready to speak to her parents.

___________________​

Valfreyja shouted in frustration slamming her boot against the metal sides of her bunk for the third time. "Val, Val, what is te mater." Came the ships mechanic she was bunking with. "This damned comn upgrade, its not working." "Give it'd to me." She said holding out her hand, with a pout Valfreyja handed it over. It took the mechanic only a few seconds to realise what was wrong. "I am sorry Val, but youd been dooped." The look of confusion on her face brought a look of pity upon the mechanic. "My dear, th'e man who soldt t'his to you isa crook."

Without saying a word Valfreyja swung out of her bunk, thunder across her face. She snapped the fake comn link upgrade from the mechanic's hand and went for the door, grabbing the Electroripper Staff from by the door. About two paces further and she felt a large tug on the end of the staff nearly causing her to fall over. "No, No, No Val, you cannit take t'his. Youd be arrested before youd get to the man." Grumbling to herself she let go of the staff and made for the exit of the ship. If she didn't have the staff she would have to use her fists.

___________________​

It was at most three or four hours from when she had brought the dodgy item to when she got back, but the blasted rock nibbler was gone. She let out a cry of anger bringing more than one strange look from passers by. The women paced from side to side, this wasn't about the money anymore, it was about the hopes and dreams of talking to her family that the Ryn had built up and crushed in an afternoon. But it seemed she was not the only one mis sold by this thief, a dozen others were surrounding the old spot complaining about something they had brought. Grabbing a man by the collar she hoisted him to one side, "Go speak to the Bazzar Master, that con artist would have to give something to get in here." She pushed him off to one side, the man fleeing at the strength of the angry blonde women. "I claim first dibs on breaking a rib." She called out to all those in attendance.

 

[Kirby von Danderman]

Kirby tied his oil spotted red bandana around his neck and brought his fingers down to his toes and then up into the sky, a loud symphony of cracks coming from his spine. He let out a satisified groan before wrapping his tool-belt around his waist and setting out into streets of Coruscant. He'd been sent by his father to go and purchase some new repulsor jet fusion caps for a repair job they were working on and he'd been given his Dad's credit card to pay for them.

His father's workshop was on the lower side of the middle section and it took him a good hour of walking to finally reach the closest Market Place. It was always so crazy up here with people of every shape and size selling anything and everything. Glowing green stones, tiny creatures trapped in cages, various fruits and meats but most importantly - scrap parts.

Dozens of voices fought for the attention of any potential buyers, and like a vision given to him by the force, one stood out to him in particular. "Spare parts! Scrap Metal! Mystical Artefacts! Jewellery! Circuitry! Equipment! Step right up I've got it all!" A small crowd had gathered around the man's bright green speeder-truck and were bidding on various different objects. After slowly edging his way through the crowd over the course of 10 minutes, Kirby finally had his attention. "How are you Young Man! Can I interest you in a bottle of droid polishing wonder fluid? Or perhaps the latest second hand dataphone?" He pitched in Kirby's direction, eyes firmly locked onto his. He seemed honest!

"Hey! I need 3 medium-size repulsor jet fusion caps - you got any of those lying around?" Kirby's eyes scanned his wares. He really did have everything. Small wooden boxes, hand held mirrors, tiny droid replicas, exhaust mufflers, circuit boards. A one stop shop. The Ryn male rubbed his chin before turning around and holding a dark brown piece of machinery. With the twist of his fingers, two more slid out from behind it until he was holding a fan of three dirty metal disks. "These what you mean?" Kirby took one, getting oil on his hands in the process, and examined it. "Yeah! How much?" He asked, a charming grin growing on his face.

"400.' the grin dropped 'Each." into a canyon. 1200 Credits?! "You won't find 'em cheaper anywhere else." That was almost as much as his father was getting from the whole repair job. But he'd never bought parts before, he didn't know what they were meant to cost. He reluctantly nodded and paid the man his money. The Merchant was kind enough to wrap the fusion caps in some paper and tied them with string, free of charge.

Kirby gleefully rushed home as if he were clutching a golden ticket to a chocolate factory.

---

"You spent how much?!" His father's words basically punched him in the face. "Kirby my boy! How could you be so daft! A fusion cap is 50 credits max!" His dad looked like he was about to pull his hair out. He picked the three disks up. "They're not even new, they look like they'd fall apart if you were to put them in a repulsor jet." He pushed the three disks back into Kirby's arms and, almost as if he'd spoken it into existence, the three disks all cracked right down the middle. "Go back to that swindler and get your money back you kriffin' eejit!" Kirby gulped, nodded and put the broken pieces into a his bag. He could tell by his dad's face that he wasn't actually angry with him - he was just disappointed that he could fall for something like that.

He went to his room to get his jacket and as he entered he looked at the Lightsaber hilt poking out from under his pillow. After a moment of hesitation he grabbed it and clicked it onto his tool-belt. Once that crook learned that he'd stolen from a member of The Jedi Order he'd obviously feel super guilty and give him back his money, right? Kirby pulled his boots on, grabbed his jacket and set out.

---

The energy in the market was very different the second time around. Instead of being filled with sales pitches and various biddings it was filled with frustration, arguing and yelling. What could only be described as an mini angry mob had formed where the Ryn's stall was. He pushed his way through the clamoring crowd and when he finally got to the front he immediately kicked some imaginary rocks. He was gone! Force damnit! Kirby crossed his arms and paced back and forth. His dad was gonna kill him.

It was then Kirby saw the woman snatch a man by the collar and approached her just as the man she'd grabbed scurried off. "Did he get you too?" Kirby looked her up and down. She looked tough. "He can't have gotten far!' he chimed optimistically. When she spoke about breaking ribs his lips receeded abit. She sounded tough too. 'Did that guy know where he was?" He nodded in the direction the man she'd grabbed had fled in and placed both his hands onto his hips.

@Braden @Oreus

 

[Zeyt Wic]

Fresh fruit! Would anyone like fresh fruit while they wait? Bargain prices..."

The murmuring had turned to bickering as victims began to direct each other, blame each other, and loudly voice their concerns. A few seemed to take the Rodian's offer for fresh fruit, tossing their hands up in surrender as they purchased something to eat. Jas didn't join them. He walked up to the woman who had made demands and tossed some random person away. Plus the young guy talking to her. A shallow head nod acknowledged the pair before he spoke to them.

"Are you the... investigation team?" Jas asked, a slight pause and eye squint in the middle of the question. "Seems we have some credits to hunt down. What's the best leads from the crowd?"

A half glance back towards the blob of dissatisfied customers seemed to confirm that none of them were doing more than complaining. Footsteps running back towards the group caused Jas' ear to twitch and soon his head turned to face the incoming sounds. The man from earlier was returning with a middle-aged twi'lek man in tow. His green skin was wrinkled and one eye seemed lazy. Deep bags took residence under said eyes as well. He wore somewhat formal attire as if an official of some sort, but not a police officer.

"M-ma'am, I found the bazaar master!" the clearly intimidated man gasped out as he stopped a couple feet away.

"Bazaar Master?" The tone wasn't filled with vile, maybe more so sarcasm and a light amusement. Jas squinted slightly as he inspected the Twi'lek from head to toe. "Too overworked to vet vendors, or do you have the Ryn's info?"

(Zeyt is in the form of Jas Mosprib. See Aliases on 2nd Post of Character Page for details of gear/appearance)

@homewrecker @Braden

 

[Valfreyja Tysdottor]

She was furious, anger ran through her veins hotter than the magma of a planet. Pacing back and forth like a caged animal, she would make the Ryn pay for destroying her hopes. "On the honour of my ancestor Buri I will teach you a lesson." She mumbled to herself as a blonde haired man who both seemingly was screwed by the alien, but seemingly not as pissed as she was. "By the cursed rock, I don't know. I sent him to get the Bazaar master, hopefully he has something." She was frustrated and snappy, not the impression her parents had taught her to give to new people. But this was a different circumstance.

Another approached a smug look plastered over his face, "No, do I look like I am in uniform?" Valfreyja spat back quickly, her eyes dancing over the crowd looking for any sign of the Ryn or the Bazaar Master. The later appeared rather quickly, a green skinned Twi'Lek, this had been the first time she had come this close to one of their kind. It was a shame she was not in the mood to ask him more polite questions. The brown haired man made rather pointless sarcastic comment which only gained a glare from Valfreyja. Stepping forward away from the pair she approached the green alien.

"The Ryn that was here earlier, he must have given some papers and payment to get in. Do you have them." The old Twi'Lek was hunched from years bending over a desk giving Valfreyja the height advantage, he looked up at her, a little fear in non-lazy eye. "Errr.Errr. Yes, Yes. Please come to my office. This way." He pointed back in the direction he came before beggining his slow shuffle walk, Valfreyja in tow, not looking back at the two pretty boys who had tried to speak to her.

@homewrecker @Oreus

 

[Kirby von Danderman]

"Errr.Errr. Yes, Yes. Please come to my office. This way." The old man practically whimpered before slowly shuffling his way towards his small office building in the corner of the Bazaar. Kirby, hands on his hips had a concerned frown on his face. "I was just here to get my money back-' He turned to look at the other man who seemed as if he'd also been scammed '-But now i feel like we should make sure she doesn't break that poor guy in half first."

Turning his entire body to face the other man he extended his hand, subtle oil stains on his fingers. "Nice to meet you, I'm Kirby, Kirby von Danderman - I'm a Jedi." He beamed, pearly whites on show, his hand waiting for the other to shake it. Regardless as to whether or not Jas shook it, he looked back in the direction Valfreyja was heading in. "We should probably get a move on before we lose them or he loses a limb." Kirby chuckled and began moving through the crowd after the woman and the old Twi'Lek.

Entering his office behind them both he held the door open for Jas to enter too before he closed, and locked, it behind them. Three already felt like too many people to be hassling the poor guy he didn't need the entire angry mob trying to fit down his throat too. Kirby looked around at the small room. Four people being in here felt like a crime and you could practically feel the air struggling to move around them.

Kirby crossed his arms and put on his best serious but non-threatening face. "Okay Mister...?' he looked at him, waiting for him to fill in the rest. 'Mr. Boa'Den' 'Okay Mister Boa'Den - what do you know about the Ryn that was there earlier today." Kirby's attempt at a stern voice was more humerous than intimidating but fortunately he didn't want to sound scary - he had the big woman for that.

@Braden @Oreus

 

[Zeyt Wic]

Few words were exchanged before the old man spoke up. The mob was starting to notice his presence and a few people were shifting closer out of curiosity. A little intimidation from the lady deciding to take charge and a few backed away once more.

"Errr.Errr. Yes, Yes. Please come to my office. This way." The Bazaar Master softly, timidly said.

Jas furrowed his brow slightly as he watched the interaction and the pair start to walk back the other direction. A half step forward, likely to begin keeping up, was broken only by the young man stepping forward to introduce himself. His greasy hand was extended out towards Jas alongside his little introduction. Only the briefest of eye contact was allowed before Jas looked beyond Kirby to the pair walking away from them.

"A Jedi? Seems we are in good hands then." He replied, before giving anything else. Jas' tone wasn't sarcastic or anything other than genuine sounding, at least outwardly. "I'm Jas, Gun-For-Hire."

After another moment, the mercenary shook the grubby hand with his own gloved hand. He smiled, perhaps a bit awkwardly, then gave a nod to Kirby when the Jedi noted that they should keep up. Jas turned his head to the mob of upset scam victims as they headed to follow the slow-moving Bazaar Master. A few of them seemed intent to follow. Most of them seemed to be mundane citizens in basic clothing. Likely not a soldier or Jedi among them if one based their view on what they wore.

"None of these people seem tough enough to chase down a scammer..." he noted casually, a bit of a chuckle following as he and Kirby walked. Jas subtly lifted a middle finger and aimed it at the crowd in a clear discouragement for any to join them. It seemed to rile up a couple of them while discouraging the rest. By the time the four of them reached the office, a few citizens were starting to catch up.

Click

The door locked as Kirby let in Jas. For now, the few who followed would have to wait outside. Kirby was probing for information about the Ryn first and Jas did not interrupt it. The mercenary simply furrowed his brow, crossed his arms, and leaned against the door as he listened to any response from this Mr. Boa'Den.

"Um yes okay. That seemed to be cart den 109. Only three carts claimed it today..." the old man seemed to be bad at his job as the computer console was clumsily handled. Typos and misclicks were abundant as he struggled to find the information. "What types of wares did this man have? I see... a fruit stand... an electronics stand.. and.. holonet connectivity issues. Wait... that last one was my mistake. One moment..."

Jas began to tap his fingers against his forearm as he watched the old man work. A side glance was given to the woman with them, but no words exchanged yet.

(Zeyt is in the form of Jas Mosprib. See Aliases on 2nd Post of Character Page for details of gear/appearance)

@homewrecker @Braden

 

[Valfreyja Tysdottor]

It seemed no matter her intention the two who had tried to introduce themselves were bent on coming along. Granted the later helped wade off some of the masses who were also following the Dwari Women. The Bazaar master slowly shuffled behind his desk, getting to the holocomputer, Valfreyja opened her mouth to speak when the blonde grease monkey opened his. She gritted her teeth in annoyance but didn't say anything to the man because Boa'Den, soon started to give what little information he had on the three people who had taken that spot.

Her brow furrowed when he said connectivity issues, this better not be a joke. "Try again." She grumbled, the Twi'Lek gave her a concerned look, probably knowing that she was not in the mood to be trifled with right now and frantically started pressing buttons trying to get it to work. Thirty seconds of obvious panicked actions was interrupted by a banging on the door outside. It seemed that the shrinking crowd had grown again and at least a dozen angry voices could be heard outside.

Barging up past the Bazaar Master she knelt down on the ground next to the terminal. "Move out of the way." Valfreyja pulled off the cover plate and started fiddling around with the circuitry. The banging was getting louder as she tried to get the system rebooted, pulling her head back up over the desk she looked at the two men. "Get rid of the crowd, I can't work with all the noise." Before ducking back down.

@homewrecker @Oreus

 

[Kirby von Danderman]

"Get rid of the crowd, I can't work with all the noise."

She bellowed, her hands currently deep inside the inner workings of the Bazaar Master's ancient terminal. Kirby turned to look at Jas, and then to the door which he had locked. He was hesitant to leave the woman alone with the man for fear that she would simply take her frustrations with the merchant out on him instead. He reluctantly turned around and approached the door, putting his fingers on the locking mechanism. He took a deep breath. It was show time.

"Here goes nothing." He twisted the lock and pulled the door open, immediately widening his stance to try and stop anyone from blindly shoving past him. "Attention citizens of Coruscant - the situat' "I want my money back!" "I'm gonna kill him!" "He stole my pet!" complaints immediately began drowning him out, and Kirby tried to speak over them once again. "Attention Citizen's of Coruscant! The situation is under control! We're trying to resolve this withou-' "Who the hell are you?" "She was called mittens I don't know why i traded her!" "Yeah! How come you get to handle it!" They got rowdy once more and Kirby didnt need to force to know that if they had any they would be throwing rotten tomatoes.

"Everyone, please calm down! I'm a Jed-" Apparently atleast one of them had a rotten fruit of some kind as it splashed into the wall beside him. Kirby looked at Jas and his expression spoke more than his mouth ever could. A sort of stern yet puppy eyed and desperate expression. He needed help.

@Braden @Oreus

 

[Zeyt Wic]

The crowd was rowdy again, they weren't going to be blown off so easily apparently. Jas watched as Kirby stepped out to handle the crowd, just his head turned as he kept his body facing the console and other pair inside. It was getting quite loud with the door open and the Jedi trying to handle them. The mercenary shifted himself closer to the door after getting the pleading look from Kirby. A moment of hesitation could be seen before he stepped to the door and put one hand on it.

"Don't you Jedi have magic powers to calm a crowd?" He half whispered at the young Jedi, then began to close the door, himself still inside. "Good luck."

As the door was about to close, Jas stuck a foot against it and sighed. Instead of slamming it shut on the Jedi and abandoning him to handle the crowd, he stepped out and shut the door behind himself. A frown was glued to his face as he observed the crowd. His arms crossed in front of himself as he listened to even more complaints.

"Shut up!"

"But Mittens-"

"I said shut up!" A firm voice from Jas growled back once more. "Unless you want to fight, shut up and wait over there quietly for us to do our work."

Jas patted the blaster at his hip slowly, making eye contact between a few different members of the mob. None of them seemed equipped or that they trained at all. These were regular citizens who would only get in the way of a fight.

(Zeyt is in the form of Jas Mosprib. See Aliases on 2nd Post of Character Page for details of gear/appearance)

@homewrecker @Braden

 

[Valfreyja Tysdottor]

The two young men left quickly to try and clam the group, though it was seemingly not as simple as they hoped. That was good the longer they were out their the longer she had to sort out this issue. As soon as they were both out of sight she rounded on the Bazaar Master blaster drawn pointed into the bottom of his flabby belly. Her thumb ran across the power setting, a light descending hum telling them both that the power was draining. "A low power shot to the stomach wont kill you instantly. No, it will burn the lining of your stomach the whole way through. You may patch up the external holes, but your stomach acid will leak out and burn your inside until you die of blood loss." Valfreyja spoke calmly to the man, a trait which made the exchange more threatening than if she had laced the words with anger or malice.

The man was a shaking wreck by the time she was done with him, cowering in the corner of the room as she stepped out through the door to appear between the 'Jedi' and the other man. "I got it fixed, though we have little information." She looked down at the blaster held by the dark haired of the two. "If you can use that follow me." Turning to the blonde Jedi "I hope you are better at fighting than talking."

Without adding much more she stepped off the steps and began heading to one of the plunge holes, you see this went deeper than level fifty two.

@Oreus @homewrecker

 

[Kirby von Danderman]

Like stepping on a cliffhanger's fingertips, Jas began to close the door as if he were going to abandon Kirby to his fate. His face fell and he gulped, before Jas revealed it was just a little joke and re-opened the door. He'd mentioned something about Jedi's being able to calm people down. They could do that? That's crazy... He hoped he'd be able to do that someday.

Kirby watched in awe as Jas immediately silenced the rowdy crowd. Maybe he didn't agree with the method he used but he had to admit it was effective. The crowd began murmuring in disapproval but still obediently shuffled away from the door giving the group some space. "Y-Yeah! That's right - don't worry everyone we've got this under control." He puffed out his chest a little and returned his hands to his hips. He'd helped! Right? "Look at that, you didn't even need me to use my force to calm them."

Suddenly the third of their rag-tag group joined them again. "How'd it go? Did he have anything we can use?" He asked. It was good news! She did! Kirby looked a little concernedly at the door but before he could go and see if the man inside was okay she snapped him out of his trance.

"I hope you are better at fighting than talking."

Why were they gonna have to fight? Where was this guy? He furrowed his brow slightly. "Wait, why? Where are we going? What did you find out?" She walked off without an answer, towards the plunge holes. He was nervous but he had to admit, he was kind of excited too. He was fighting crime! Just like a Jedi would. He looked to Jas. "That was a fun joke earlier with the door haha, you got me.... It was a joke right?" He paused. "....Right?"

@Braden @Oreus