ic Incursion: Backwater

[Gizmo]

Bliss' appearance under her helmet didn't get a moment's reaction from the boy, through some combination of jaded indifference and all-consuming hunger. He snatched up the ration bar after it had bounced twice along the rooftop but had the presence of mind to quickly check for any signs of tampering before ripping open the wrapper and taking a bite. Even then he was cautious, chewing carefully as he sized up his unexpected benefactor. "I see a lot of things," he allowed cagily, keeping one hand free for his little shiv, however little effect it was likely to have. His voice was noticeably hoarse from exposure but still conveyed both his youth and a surprising mental sharpness. "Maybe I can help you, maybe not. What kind of information were you looking for?"

 

Inside, the purple bartender lifted both arms in extravagant welcome. "Hello hello! Another two souls come to languish in purgatory, eh? Well, the least we can do is have the good sense to be drunk for it. Have a seat!" He gestured to the stools in front of him before pouring a few finger widths of something darkly amber coloured into the glass he'd been cleaning out. Before either Voidrunner could claim the drink he downed it himself in a single swig and knocked the glass back down on the bar top.

 

"Ain't you supposed to be staying sober, Iqué?" a middle-aged Zultasian at a nearby table called with the cadence of a recited line, setting the bartender up for a reply he already knew was coming.

 

Iqué didn't disappoint. "Bah, it would take far more than this to impair me, Noz, you know this! Besides, the universe is coming to an end, eh? I refuse to go to the next life having let perfectly good liqueur go to waste." He regarded the decanter for a moment and hummed. "Well. Perfectly something."

[TheAbsurdist]

She settled back, with that kind of weird boneless grace her species had.  It was sometimes unnerving, but to someone like this kid, who was hardened by circumstance... well they tend to not give two mounds of huapa.  "The sheriff, and his cronies.  I need to know more about them.  I figure, since you got a seat up here, that maybe you know a bit about someone like him.  Maybe he's run you off of things before."  She shrugged and looked away, back towards the street, not out of paranoia, but she already had to give up a bit to get him this far.

Her two thumbed hand strayed down to the pouch that had the then bars, and then she looked at the child sidelong.  "I am willing to give you more.  For info, course."  Her Lor wasn't the best, and sometimes it sounded a little... twangy, even as her voice alternated between sing-song and harshness that was the trait of her people speaking... well any language.

[Brown Dynamite]

"If the universe is coming to an end.  I s'ppose there's no charge for our loitering and boozing?"  Roulette leaned forward.  "If not, first round is on Zaul.  He wanted to make sure you knew he sent us.  You now what he seems like so swell a guy, I think he meant to cover everyone's drink and not just ours."  Roulette was aware of the fact that his point over the sheriff not trying anything in a public meant a lot less, if the place felt a whole lot less public.  However, he wasn't going to jump to conclusions.  Especially when their server was a fan of nihilistic humor.

 

Roulette, looked over at the older Zultasian across the way.  Before turning back to Ruby and addressing her plan of action.  "If you really want to know where to start asking about Tiggs.  I'd start with someone who looks like he both frequents this place and might reasonably hear the underground rumour mill."  Roulette wasn't trying to play to the stereotype by suggesting this 'Noz' might be a good start for finding more work.  He was simply calling back on his own experiences as a less than law abiding citizen.

[Darksider42]

"Well its either here or out there." Ruby said as she started to relax near the bar. "And here is more appealing." She was surprised Roulette decided to go ahead and charge the sherrif, but then again audacity seemed to be Roulettes favorite place to be in. She nodded as he spoke to her. "Sounds like a plan. Besides, I've been meaning to see how you work anyway." She replied as she leaned against the bar and watched on. "By the way, you have a list I can look at or are you got nothing but surprises for me?" Ruby asked Iqué. 

[Gizmo]

The urchin's suntanned complexion blanched a bit at the direction Bliss' inquiries took but he seemed to warm up a bit to her, or at least to the promise of more food. "Zaul's a bully," the boy said flatly and the mercenary could tell he didn't mean it in a childish schoolyard sense. "He only gets to be sheriff because nobody can stop him. He's smart. He wants to be in charge of more than just one city but he doesn't..." He frowned as he tried to think of the right word. "He doesn't overextend himself, see? He hears everything that happens here and people he doesn't like either leave or disappear." The scrawny redhead reflexively backed up a little into his alcove at the thought.

 

Inside, Iqué's face screwed up in a scowl as Roulette name-dropped the lawman. "Bah! You can tell Zaul I am through waiting on his lackeys as if he owned my bar," the magenta barkeep told the pair, planting his hands on his hips. "No longer will Iqué be treated as some--"

 

"Simmer down, Iqué," Noz called, inserting himself into the conversation again with a weary tone. "Zaul's a karker but these two look too smart to get stuck dirtside like the rest of his bunch. Put it on my tab if it makes you feel better."

[Brown Dynamite]

"Not a fan of the long arm of the law?  I'm surprised he seemed like such an amiable fellow.  Couldn't wait to scoot us here fast enough."  Roulette commented.  A hint of sarcasm seething through his voice as he did so. "As much as I would enjoy to discuss his poorly tusked choice of travelling companions.  I can assure you, we're not anyone's lackey.  At least, not without the right amount of credit."  His hand made a pinching motion to sell the point.

 

With this he actually had the gall to raise himself up onto the bar.  Taking a seat so as to better face the older Zultasian while he spoke.  "I'm sure whatever point you were going to make tall, bright, and handsome would more than satisfy my curiosity in wanting to know how far Zaul has rubbed you the wrong way.  Unfortunately, we are in mourning.  A friend of ours seemed to have been vaped before we arrived.  He was holding on to something very important to the wide eyed too pink for my taste friend over there."

 

At this mention he pointed at Ruby.  Before pivoting his body on the bar so as to get a better view of both the bartender and its patron.  "So, how about we charge the lawman as originally inquired.  And, instead of getting all worked up chat like reasonable tuskless beings we all are at this end of the world extravaganza?"  He of course had to include the broan presence a second time into the conversation.  It was simply more flash and flair  into the conversation, using muscle with likely a poor reputation to keep the focus on Zaul being a problem and separate entity from them.  

 

Just one that they weren't above letting pay for the drinks.  Or at least he wasn't.

Edited November 23, 2014 by HG Morrison

[TheAbsurdist]

She nodded before turning her head back to him, her race didn't smile.  But then their mouths were somewhat scary, all things considered.  "Ah.  Did anyone you know disappear?"  She settled with her forearms resting on her knees as she looked over them to the boy.  It was easier to cow adults, they had the ability to appreciate violence and it's implications more than a child could.

 

Still...

 

She moved her arm a little, and one of the tendrils slithered out, going down, to pull another bar out of her pouch and then carry it over to the boy, holding it up for him to take.  She didn't like the idea of a smart bully, while they were still cowards, it meant he was probably aware of his failings, and worked to cover them.  But summarily just removing him in a time like this would mean...

 

Crap...

 

She was happier as a gladiator.  She was going to punch Roulette later.

[Gizmo]

"Keep it in your flight suit, son," Noz drawled with a hint of amusement, leaning back in his chair. "And watch what you say about tusks. Naouk is an easy going sort but you're 'bout one crack short of getting your arms torn off." He pointed over Roulette's shoulder to a hulking slab of muscle hunched over a drink in the far corner. The bar patron in question wasn't Broan but it was easy to see why he might take offense; he reminded Ruby a little of an elephant from back home on Earth. Naouk snorted and didn't turn around but he did square his shoulders to better accentuate his imposing girth. "Now, this friend of yours, he happen to be some pirate with a big mouth, name something like Tin or Trig?"

 

"That is what 'rubs me the wrong way'!" the bartender fumed, making an unfamiliar gesture to emphasize the phrase, mimicking his native language's equivalent of quotation marks. "Free drinks for his boys, protection money, well! Iqué was not born yesterday, these are the costs of doing business. But shooting customers dead in my bar? No! I say, no!" He slammed a fist into the bar with enough force to rattle the glasses at either of the far ends.

 

The boy on the rooftop watched Bliss' tentacle with curiosity mostly buried by wariness. Hunger won out again and he snatched up the warped bar, tucking it away somewhere with quickness learned and practiced out of desperation. "No, I live here because my other options are so good," he replied flatly, wrapping his arms around his knees. After a moment trying to stare Bliss down he realized it was a hopeless exercise and sighed. "...my father wasn't very careful about what he said or who he said it about."

[Brown Dynamite]

"Apologies, I have nothing against tusks themselves.  Great for all your eviscerating someone with your face needs.  But, can't say I've never met a Broan who doesn't have one finger firmly resting on the trigger finger.  Then again my current traveling companions share their temperament."  At this Roulette chuckled before giving Ruby a noncomittal shrug.  He then chewed on the information for a moment fighting back a smile.  "Tigg. Ah old Tigg, Bet his mouth was heard before his face was seen."

 

Shot dead in this bar, huh?  There was  slight difference in the information they received from the sheriff.  Ex Khanate patriots leaving him as more blood than flesh.  Or something to that effect.  Personally, he hadn't ever met a Khanate patriot let a lone an ex patriot.  But, Khanate territory was vast.  Someone had to buy whatever Kinan Khan was selling.  At least until he lost a war.  The government wasn't exactly what one would call stable and that was before the universe started eating itself.

 

Rather than accuse Noz of anything, he re emphasized Tigg's statement into a question.  "Shooting customers dead in your bar?"

[Darksider42]

Ruby raised an eyebrow at Iqué's continued rage at Zaul. "Well, he really does sound like too much trouble for what he's worth." The bounty hunter said. The aliens actions and the amount of hate he had garnered among the locals did make her curious. "I think I will have a drink after all. You have any Aterian Mix?" She asked with a smile, while her fingers once more tapped at her wrist comp. The words "Know Bounties" could be seen faintly on the holo display by those that bothered to look.

 

Her attention did not break away from the bartender. "So...This thorn in your side show up recently or has he been here for a while now?"

[TheAbsurdist]

She looked at him flatly.  "Nn."  She nodded when he spoke, "Anyone else you takin' care of?"  Her arms remained folded across her chest.  The grousy alien moved a little bit, as he spoke, she couldn't really say anything else to soothe the boy.  This was not her department.  But... could she weigh the cost of this as being greater than the chaos, or worse that would happen.  But...

[Gizmo]

"Ol' Zaul's been running this town longer than any of us have been here 'cept Naouk and we're pretty sure Naouk was born on that stool," Noz drawled, sliding his empty glass toward the edge of the table and tipping his chin toward it significantly. "Course things have gotten worse since all these folks started showing up looking for a place to stick their heads in the sand. Lotta desperate bodies to bilk but you got fights breaking out and resources getting scarce, too, things you wouldn't mind having a real lawman around for. Bloom's off the quros, get the feeling Zaul's got his eye on greener pastures." A sly smirk slowly spread across the Zultasian's face. "'Spose it might be worth something to know where he's hanging his ugly ass hat at night, hm?"

Iqué scoffed as he moved from around the bar and refilled Noz's glass. "You do not know that, old cheat. Zaul is bootscum but he is clever and very careful."

Noz's smile widened enough to show teeth. "Oh no?" He jerked his head at the nondescript Zultasian across the table from him who hesitated with a morose expression before sighing. The second spacer's skin took on a wet, glossy texture that quickly spread to include his clothing as well. Like putty his form ballooned until Roulette and Ruby were looking at the spitting image of one of the two Broan who had been accompanying the sheriff earlier. The shapeshifter folded his arms as if to ask if the collective audience was satisfied before melting again, this time solidifying in the unmistakeable garnet complexion of a Grue.

[Brown Dynamite]

For once Roulette was left silent.  He hadn't much interaction with the Grue.  That he knew of.  They weren't the only shapeshifters in Space.  But the Unity had a reputation.  His silence was in no part related to some sort of prejudice against the Grue.  He was just genuinely surprised.  "That information does have some worth."
 
Zaul was an ineffective arm of the law.  Especially for the increasingly growing population.  That much was clear.  Though, Roulette felt that way about all lawmen.  Now there was the actual prejudice lie.  He did want to know where Zaul hung up his boots.  It was the best way to see if the Lor's very private weapon plans.  

 

He assumed the demonstration meant the Grue had already infiltrated Zaul's inner circle.  And perhaps it was not alone in doing so.  However, he didn't think the Zultasian was planning a coup d'etat.  Merely profiting which raised a curious question.  "Not to speak ill of all these...fine gentlemen.  But, where would one even find a real lawman on this place? I doubt the refugees are lining up for a job."

[Gizmo]

"Um." The boy on the rooftop looked a little nonplussed by Bliss' unexpected question, glancing about his makeshift hovel. "I take care of myself alright but nobody else, no." The second part of that was obviously true even if the first half seemed more than a little generous. Based on how ravenously he'd eaten the first bar the bounty hunter had offered him and the way he'd hoarded the second it was pretty clear he was barely managing to feed himself. The former gladiator also recognized obvious signs of old injuries, mostly healed but having never received proper treatment. Some of them might have been from falls or mishaps but most she knew could only have been the result of violent beatings. With the number of refugees living on the streets she'd seen just on the way from the spaceport Bliss could assume competition for resources was stiff among the homeless. The boy was quick and clever but given his age neither quick nor strong enough to fend for himself indefinitely.

[TheAbsurdist]

She frowned a little, or what her race did for frowning (It was similar to what the Lor did, though more narrowing of the eyes), before she rose to her feet.  She pulled out the remaining three bars before moving to the boy and thrusting them into his hands.  "If someone comes after you, hit them in the face, eyes, throat, and then you run...  Not that I really need to tell you that.  Keep safe..."

 

She hopped up onto the edge, and looked down towards the streets.  "Oh... I am on the Voidwalker, if you get into too much trouble we will be here another day or so, or if you hear some good, juicy bit of news loiter there for me.  I have to catch up."  She was trying to be terse, trying to be... well trying not to grow attached to the mammal snot beast, or to feel undo guilt.  Though now she had context, and a reason to thrash Zaul.

 

Then she stepped off the roof, diving down towards the ground, before one of her tendrils shot out, and lashed around an odd bit of constructing, slowing her descent, before she made it to the ground, her helmet back in place.

[Darksider42]

"Some time huh?" Ruby said as she tapped her wrist comp, the displace shutting down. The lack of money from either someones head or secondary contracts was already starting to irritate the bounty hunter. The fact the bartender apparently ignored her drink order did little to improve her disposition on the matter. She raised her eyebrow when the patron revealed his true nature. "Bit far from the Unity." She muttered to herself. Other than that slip from her lips, Ruby decided to stay quiet and let Roulette continue on. Turk seems to have things on track...So far anyway.

[Gizmo]

"...right," the boy replied simply as he watched Bliss drop back to the ground, leaning over the edge just long enough to make sure he didn't miss the display before ducking back out of view. The former gladiator found the bar her partners had entered without trouble and stepped inside to find Roulette and Ruby speaking to a Zultasian and Grue among other species represented among the patrons.

The Grue grunted a sullen affirmative to something Ruby had said while Noz spoke up. "Bit far from everywhere, chummer. Grue took a lotta heavy hits lately. Those shiny @#$% that did in Lor-Van seem to got a taste for them, if you ask me. Unity'll bounce back eventually, probably, but for now some of the smart ones didn't take it real well how disposable their big brain boss treated them."

"Can... speak for myself, Noz," the Grue interjected, although the hesitation in his - or her, it was always tough to know with the red shapeshifters - voice suggested it was a fairly new concept. Looking past the species, he was much like all the other refugees the Voidwalkers had seen in the city, haggard and desperate but determined to do what they had to do to survive.

Noz raised his hands in apology. "Fair enough, K'jel. As for a new sheriff, Mr. Cool Guy Visor, that sounds like a 'tomorrow' sort of problem to me."

[TheAbsurdist]

In fairness to her, she wasn't swinging in wildly.  Bliss tried to avoid mad dashes towards anything, even if she was more than a little headstrong, and prone to violence as a solution.  She was a soldier, and her species, the females had more aggression instincts, even if it was initially geared towards protectiveness of nests initially.

 

Right now though she was rejoining her crew, and fighting an urge to take him back to their ship.  It wouldn't help matters.  Not in the slightest.  She dropped to the streets, without much swinging, and let the tendril retract, hoping that most were just going to ignore what she did because it wasn't important to them.  She moved to the front door of the building, and pushed it open with her helmet was closed about her face.  In the midst of whatever speaking was going on.

[Brown Dynamite]

Bliss' arrival could only mean that the location had been scouted as safe.  That or she wanted to punch him and it couldn't wait.  Roulette was never sure and Bliss was certainly still holding a grudge.  Or at least pretending to.  Their ship's captain was both easier to mess with and figure out.  The gladiator took more work in figuring out.

 

"Right a tomorrow problem.  Not ours.  Couldn't care less what happens here."  Then Roulette smiled finally leaving the bar.  Making his way over to their table.  "Of course, I have to ask.  What's a today sort of problem?"  He still wanted the opportunity of recovering the weapon schematics if they still existed as the Lor, or what was left of them, would pay a pretty penny.

 

But, if there was other paying work to be done.  He wasn't going to say no that either.  The refugees needed a place, no matter how cramped, to properly refuge.  And it was becoming clear that this wasn't that place.  At least at the moment.  But, Roulette wasn't a social worker either.  Morality wasn't cheap.  Assuming I've read the subtext right.  

[Darksider42]

Ruby turned her head to the door as Bliss reappeared. "And here I was starting to wonder if I should send a search party." She said with a slight smirk before turning back to the main conversation. The bounty hunter honestly did not know if she would have taken that literally. Bliss and her species was still something of an unknown quantity in her life. That should be remedied eventually.

 

"That seems to be the story going on around the galaxy from what I've been hearing." Was all she had to offer the in reply before slipping back into silence. As much as she would like to start dwelling on the galactic thread treading through the cosmos, there was still the possibility of making bank on the job at hand. At least she did not have to work the room for intel for a change.

[Gizmo]

"Just how much do you need me to spell this out for you, son?" Noz asked, frowning slightly and looking more than a little annoyed at how obtuse Roulette was intentionally being. "You're looking for what that Tigg chummer had with him, I know where the guy who had him killed stores his assorted shinies." The older bar patron glanced over at Bliss as she entered but didn't seem any more surprised by her than the rest of the bounty hunters. "You lot seem about as subtle as a sack of spanners, frankly, so any collateral damage that might occur, well, I think we're agreed it couldn't happen to a worthier sort." He gestured to K'jel and the Grue metamorph produced a small, palm-sized device that projected a small map of the city. "You take what you came for and let us worry about cleaning up the rest once you're gone. Clear enough for you or do you need to borrow a bar rag for your fancy visor?"

[Brown Dynamite]

"No, that's plenty clear.  But I'll take the rag as well.  Hard enough to keep this thing clean"  Roulette smiled.  "I just needed to know we weren't  being given the run around.  Hate for the collateral damage to be a waste of time."  He needed someone to for a fact say that Zaul collected the schematics.  A spelled out assurance was just good business. Technically the assurance was only for where it would be if so. But, it was as good as they would get it seemed.

 

"Ruby, you like all those fancy little trinkets right?  Feel like navigating ?"  Roulette made his way back over to the bar.  "So...about those free drinks?"

[TheAbsurdist]

Though a combination of physiology, and the side-effects of the numerous genetic and cybernetic augmentation Bliss's joints tended to pop readily.  It was weird enough for her shipmates when she woke up, and they would see her push and pull her joints back into place, looking like someone threw a drunken squid against a wall.

 

Now she was loosening up, with the loud, disconcerting sounds of popping in her joints as she moved towards the bar, casually tapping the control that made the helmet pull away from her face, so she could look at everyone in the eye.  Or in the case of Roulette, the visor.  "Where?"  Came out her raspy voice, she pressed her hands down flat on the bar as she leaned towards the man.

[Darksider42]

"Oh please, you've demolished more buildings that some warzones I've seen." The Bounty Hunter said with a roll of her eyes. She distinctly remembered some of them being brought down on her head back when she was chasing after Roulette. "I was gonna anyway." Ruby replied as she rose from the bar and moved over to the Grue for the map. "Speaking of going, I think we can skip the drinks for now." As much as she wanted one herself, work like this requires a sober mind. Good aim would come in use as well but that was something of a given seeing what they were going to be doing.

[Gizmo]

With a little cajoling Iqué was convinced to throw in a bottle of something for the Voidrunners' trouble, although from the smell of it Roulette couldn't be sure whether it was closer to a beverage or industrial solvent. The map provided by the sullen Grue proved fairly easy to follow even if having only recently left the hivemind it evidently hadn't occurred to K'jel to note landmarks or anything else to help them along. What passed for a global positioning network on the dustball of a planet had been a joke even without the crowds of refugee ships cluttering up orbit but Ruby proved up to the task of compensating for unreliable signals.

The coordinates brought them to a storehouse made of the same hardened sand solution as most of the buildings they'd seen. The doors, however, were made of sterner stuff, metal that would have been more conspicuous if copious amounts of rust hadn't helped it blend in with the sand. Vents spaced out around its exterior suggested lower levels below ground and a familiar Broan patrolling the perimeter with a sizable scowl and an even more sizable rifle suggested they were in the right place.