MC: AOTE: Fraught With Disappointment

[starmark2k]

"How many Pieces?" Nic asked as he turned to Jack. "Hey let's get a drink before we head back to Echo.

[steven]

"Never turn to chance to get drunk," Replied Jack, who had his eye's set on a certain building, to the other's it seemed like any ordinary building, but to Jack it wasn't.

[Writer]

"There could be bits of sharp metal involved," Jana told Nic. "Could get stabbed an' stuff... like with sharp little shippy knife-bits." She shook her head. "If you ask me, that's worse than exploding... much more painful."

[starmark2k]

"Alright we'll buy that part... after we get a drink." Nic replied taking the credits out of his pocket and handing 200 credit over to Jana.

[Writer]

Jana grinned. "Now when ordering a drink," she said, "there's only one question to ask... is the Corellian Ale imported or did they try to make it themselves?" She pointed to a sign on a nearby bar and said, "This is a quality establishment!"

 

The sign read: 'Corellian Ale imported from Corellia weekly!'

[JasraLantill]

“I’m not saying that I don’t win a fair amount when I play, but to take up a career as a professional gambler?” She looked around the room. As far as ship’s went, the Echo’s furnishings and decor were pretty standard. No opulent fabrics, fancy storage units, or highly polished surfaces —a testament to Nic’s frugality. Beryl grinned. “And give up all this?”

 

Still grinning, she shook her head in answer to her own question. “The trust fund is just a safety net set up by my dad, when I was working for him at CEC testing the new CR-90 Corvette series cruisers. Not the most exciting job, I must admit, but….” She paused for a moment. “Anyway, guess he thought I was a bit too reckless with money or something. Which I’m not, by the way,” she quickly pointed out. “But neither was I ‘saving for my future’.” At this she rolled her eyes. “So, he set up this fund for me. Didn’t find out about it until he died. And,” she continued after a long sigh, “that sort of caused some problems between me and my mother. She’s a co-signer of the account until either she dies or I get married and have a family.” At this she snorted sarcastically. “Like either one of those things are going to happen anytime soon.” Beryl then donned a mischievous grin. “But fortunately for me, and unknown to my mother, I know her transactor code. And, even more fortunate, she has the statements sent to Rayne, because she can’t be bothered by them. And he doesn’t mind if I use it, as long as it’s for ‘emergencies.’”

 

Beryl tried to peer over the countertop to see the dish Ryshana was putting the finishing touches on. "That ready yet?"

[Writer]

As the trio approached the bar, Jana caught the name and her eyes widened. "Corellian Pride Cantina," she said, gesturing to the sign. "You two are lucky I'm with you or you'd not get in."

 

She continued toward the door. "Corellian Pride is a cantina chain run by Corellian Merchants' Guild. Only members and their friends can get in and I," she grinned, "am a member. The CMG is quite a useful thing to be a part of... so my dad always told me. And I've found it quite useful too. In CMG spots such as this cantina, I, being Corellian can get many services we might find useful... information, trade contacts, repair facilities, messaging, financial services..."

 

She entered the cantina and was promptly scanned. The scanner beeped. "Pureblood Corellian." A cheer went up around the establishment. Then, Nic and Jack stepped in and the place fell silent again. The scanner observed them both and buzzed. "No traces of Corellian."

 

"They're with me," Jana called out. "Damn good crew, they are too!"

 

Laughter echoed through the cantina and the men were allowed in, following Jana to the bar.

 

"I see your Corellian Ale's imported weekly," Jana said to the bartender. He nodded and beamed.

 

"Just got a fresh shipment this morning," he announced proudly.

 

"I'll take one," Jana ordered. Then, she turned to Nic and Jack. "And what'll the two of you be having?"

 

"Orders are on the house," the bartender told them. "You two are in the company of a pureblood Corellian... we ain't had a pureblood in here in months!"

[steven]

Great, an Corellian only cantina. Jack thought to himself as they approced.

"You two are lucky I'm with you or you'd not get in." Jack heard Jana say, he simply replied with a usually sarcastic coment.

"Well I'm going to have to thank my lucky stars." Jack said before drowning out Jana's proud to be Corellian speace and walked into the bar. She got scanned, people cheered. Jack and Nic got scanned, "No traces of Corellian."

"Shocking isn't it, after all I do look like the average Corellian, don't I." He replied.

 

"They're with me," Jana called out. "Damn good crew, they are too!"

Laughter echoed through the cantina and Jack turned to Nic to wisper 'Am I the only one who didn't find that funny?' The two men were allowed in and they followed Jana to the bar.

 

Jana began talking about Ahle, again Jack droaned her chit-chat out and only respouded when Jana asked what they'd like.

 

"Orders are on the house," the bartender told them. "You two are in the company of a pureblood Corellian... we ain't had a pureblood in here in months!"

 

"Seriously? Here? No purebloody Corellian. Now that's surprising, espically since we're on Coruscant, you'd think they'd be more, wouldn't you?" Jack replied sarcastically before saying "I'll have a regular beer, please."

[stingerhs]

Beryl grinned. “And give up all this?”

 

Ryshana smiled at the comment as she went ahead and popped the piece of meat into her mouth. Chewing slowly, Ryshana savored the flavor as best as she could while listening to Beryl.

 

Beryl tried to peer over the countertop to see the dish Ryshana was putting the finishing touches on. "That ready yet?"

 

Turning off the burner and grabbing two plates, Ryshana then said, "It is now." Dealing out the food from the pan in roughly one half, Ryshana handed a plate over to Beryl. "And watch how you chew that Yossf Bird: the oil makes the meat even more tender than it already is." As Ryshana grabbed some utensils, she remembered that she might want to test Beryl's precognitive abilities in addition to the relatively mild test she just gave her with the tool.

 

As Ryshana joined Beryl at the table with her own set of food, Ryshana then said, "Well, if you are as good of a gambler as you say you are, then get ready. If you're up to it, you might have to pull some money out of that fund to repay me."

[JasraLantill]

Beryl's brow raised. "Are you suggesting a little after-dinner card game?" She glanced over her shoulder to the corridor threshold as if expecting to see Jana suddenly appear with her 'disapproval-of-gambling' look. "For actual credits?" She grinned. "You're on. You sure you can afford it?"

 

"You sure you can?" Oliver interjected, his head still buried in his datapad. "You know that Jana doesn't approve of gambling."

 

Beryl gave him a deadpan look. "Yeah, well, Jana isn't here, is she." She eyed him over. "You playing?"

 

Oliver looked up. "Me?"

 

"Yeah. You. I've taught you the basics. You're not that bad. You in or what?"

 

Oliver considered her offer for a moment. "I think I'll sit this one out," he said. "Playing for zorgang nuts is one thing. Playing for actual credits is something else."

 

Beryl shrugged. "Suit yourself. Well, Ryshana, it looks like it's just you and me then. Any particular game in mind?" She took a bite of food, and an expression of bliss came over her face. "Mmmm...," she said to Ryshana, then swallowed. "This is excellent, by the way. You got to make this again sometime."

[starmark2k]

"Well if they're on the house i'll have an Ithorian Brandy." Nic asked for knowing that it was perhaps one of the most expesive drinks in the house. Ithorian Brandy was considered a delicassy among nobles before the empire and was expensive then but the empie started putting restrictions on trade with non-human worlds so all Alien drink prices spiked up. Ithorian Brandy also has an acquired taste and most people who didn't grow up in wealth never even tasted. "I ain't had one of those in years."

[stingerhs]

Beryl shrugged. "Suit yourself. Well, Ryshana, it looks like it's just you and me then. Any particular game in mind?"

 

"I was thinking about some Pazaak. I picked up a couple of new side deck cards for my, erm, 'emergency' deck, and I'm wanting to try them out," Ryshana stated as she started to eat.

 

She took a bite of food, and an expression of bliss came over her face. "Mmmm...," she said to Ryshana, then swallowed. "This is excellent, by the way. You got to make this again sometime."

 

Smiling, Ryshana said, "Thanks, but I'll have to decline the offer to cook more often: I don't want Nic assigning me the 'cook' position like my last job."

 

Taking another bite, Ryshana got up. "I'll be right back. I'm gonna go grab my deck."

 

In less than a minute, Ryshana was back with her deck. "Well, whenever you're ready, let's play some Pazaak."

[JasraLantill]

While Ryshana was away retrieving her side deck, Beryl went to get hers and the main deck from where she kept them in the cupboard in the common room. Returning to the table, she began to shuffle the main deck with all the skill of an experienced high-class casino dealer.

 

Disturbed by the repetitive fluttering/slapping sound of her shuffling, Oliver looked up from his datapad. "Do you have to shuffle the cards that way?"

 

"Yes," Beryl said matter-of-factly. "I'm limbering up. Sure you don't want to play?"

 

"No. I want to read." Oliver let out an irriated sigh, rolled his eyes, then went back to his datapad.

 

Beryl was still for a moment, watching Oliver, then, just as he was beginning to relax again, she shuffled the cards again, but this time, slowly--just to irritate him.

 

"Hrmph!" Oliver snorted, and Beryl grinned mischieviously.

 

Ryshana returned, and Beryl sat the main deck on the table, followed by her side deck. "So, Ryshana, what's the ante? Should we start small, say, at twenty, and work our way up from there? Or are you feeling a bit more adventurous?"

[Writer]

The bartender grinned at Jack and gave him his beer. "Quite the sarcastic wit, you've got," he said. To Jana, he said, "I think I understand why you keep this one around!"

 

"Oh, he's the best damn pilot in the galaxy!" Jana answered grandly, giggling. "That's why we keep him around. The sarcastic wit's an enjoyable bonus."

 

"Alright, so what about the other?" the bartender wondered. "With his expensive taste, you'd hope he's useful for something..."

 

"He's cute," Jana answered. "Not to mention, he's the captain."

 

The bartender seemed startled for a moment. "Not you?" He frowned and glared down at Nic for a moment. "Does he treat you well? Is he a good captain?"

 

"Would a pureblood Corellian sail under any but a good captain?" Jana demanded levelly. The bartender's grin returned and he gave Nic his drink.

 

"Drink up," he encouraged. "You're highly praised, Captain... uh..." He stammered, unsure of Nic's name.

 

"White," Jana supplied. "But everyone calls him Nic." Shrugging, she pulled out a tiny card and handed it to the bartender. "Is this a mailstop?"

 

"Sure thing," the bartender answered, taking the little card and scanning it. "Ah! Ms. Jana Vincent. You've got six letters."

 

"Six?" Jana wondered. The bartender handed her a datapad and she reviewed her 'mailbox'. "Junk, junk, join the Empire, join the Rebels, junk... oh! From Mom!" She opened the one from her mother and read over it quickly. "Aww!" she whined, "they moved! They're in a smaller apartment now... not our lovely little house." Shaking her head, she sighed. "I'm gonna miss that little place."

 

As she handed the datapad back to the bartender, one of the more intoxicated patrons caught her eye... or more specifically, the striping on his pants caught her eye. "Bloodstripes?" she murmured. Grinning eagerly, she crossed the room to sit with the older man.

 

"Congratulations, Sir," she said respectfully. "It's an honor to meet you."

 

"The honor is all's me... mine," the man slurred. "You's pureblooood."

 

"You're wearing second class bloodstripes!" Jana interrupted. "That's no small feat. What's your name?"

 

"Na-name?" the man stammered. "Ooh! Uhm... Gavin Tercer."

 

Jana ran the name through her head and frowned thoughtfully. It wasn't a name she recognized from the small list of men and women who'd earned bloodstripes. Suspiciously, she wondered, "How did you earn your bloodstripes?"

 

"Earn them?" Gavin Tercer laughed. "Bought them in an antique store here on Coruscant!"

 

Suspicion was replaced with shock and horror on Jana's face as she stood abruptly. "Petchuck! What in nine Corellian Hells do you think you're doing with them?" She drove a hard, little fist into his face and drew her blaster on him. "Where is that antique store?" she growled. Startled and a little unsure of what was happening, Gavin Tercer told her where the shop was. Satisfied that he was telling the truth, Jana knelt and ripped the bloodstripes from his pants.

 

"Hey!" he complained. "D'ye know how hard it was to put those on?"

 

"There's a reason it's so difficult to put them on, yet so easy to take them off," Jana growled. ""A Corellian is entitled to kill any other Corellian wearing bloodstripes without having earned them." Raising her blaster a little to aim at his chest, Jana glared angrily at him and finished, "May your rot in all the hells there ever were!"

 

The shot of her blaster rang out inside the little cantina, startling the other patrons. They all turned to stare at Jana, who held up the bloodstripes. "He didn't earn them," she explained. As all the others returned to their drinks, Jana crossed the room, bloodstripes still in hand and sat down with Nic and Jack as if nothing had happened.

[steven]

Jack gave Jana a dark look "What the hell did you do that for?"

[starmark2k]

"Corellians." Nic said shacking his head.

 

"Hey!" The Bartender shouuted.

 

"Sorry, no offence." Nic replied looking up at the Bartender who was still agry. "I'm with the pure-blood." he said in defence which worked as he walked away.

[Writer]

Jana held up the bloodstripes. "Jack, do you know what these are?" Without giving him a chance to answer, she explained. "These are second-class Corellian Bloodstripes. Different from first-class by color; first-class stripes are red, second-class are yellow."

 

"They are earned by knowing that the right action will hurt, but doing it anyway," the bartender said. "My brother's got first-class stripes... charged into an ambush to give the person he was supposed to be defending a chance to escape. It's a miracle he got out of that alive."

 

"Shot several times, I imagine," Jana observed. The bartender nodded.

 

"The doctors were astonished he even survived," he said. "So was CorSec. He's back on duty now..." He smiled slightly. "... no doubt keeping his eyes open for a second-class situation."

 

"I wish him well in finding it and living through it," Jana said softly. Then, she handed the bloodstripes in her hand to the bartender. "I don't know how soon I'll be back to Corellia." She explained the location of the antique shop to him and said, "Make sure all bloodstripes you find are sent back to CorSec, will you?"

 

The bartender nodded. "Traitors will pay. The bloodstripes will be returned."

 

"Finish up your drinks," Jana told Nic and Jack. Then, she shot an odd look toward Nic. "And you... explain to me how you managed to acquire a taste for Ithorian Brandy?"

[starmark2k]

"That's a story for another day." Nic answered in his usual don't Push it way, which he always did when someone asked questions he didn't want to answer. Nic finished off the glass and placed it on the table. "I'd look after that it's a good year." Nic said to the bartender and turned back to Jana "c'mon lets go."

 

All three walked out of the bar and headed to the speeder. "Captain Raikelli..." Someone said from behind causing nic to stop and turn. It was an imperial junior officer standing there, on seeing nic he stoppes speaking. "... oh sorry i thought you were someone else." he said as he started to walkaway.

 

"Wait." Nic said. "Who did you think i was?"

 

"Captain Kriss Raikelli of the Imperial Dreadnaught Kraith Venon." The imperial replied before walking away.

 

"So he mae captain." Nic said to himself. "C'mon Beryl and Ry will be wondering where we are."

[steven]

"Words of advice, don't shot someone unless you know who you're shooting at. For all you know that guy you just murdered could of had family," Jack said before he stood up to leave.

[Writer]

"I have countering words of advice, Jack," Jana said. "'A Corellian is entitled to kill any other Corellian wearing bloodstripes without having earned them.' Family or no, that piece of filth offended the very honour of all Corellians. For any Corellian in that bar, to leave that man alone once we'd learned he did not earn those stripes would have been outright disgraceful. And if he did have family, they're better off without him."

 

She shrugged. "If you still don't believe me that any other Corellian would have done the same, we can talk to Beryl about it when we get back to the ship."

[steven]

"And I don't give a wamp rats ass if he came in wearing the damn robes of the emperor himself, Jana, aswell as those damn bloodstripes, the guy was wearing a ring, a wedding ring. And since this guy doesn't look older than 30, I'm guessing he has atleast one kid. Tell me Jana, how would you feel if you came home to find your father was murdered just because he was showing off a something he bought in the shop."

[Writer]

"It's the bloodstripes that make all the difference," Jana answered. "If he'd gone home wearing them, even his wife, if she were at all Corellian would have done the same." She shook her head, frustrated. "You aren't Corellian, Jack. I can't expect you to understand the full reasoning behind my actions. But at least understand that no military force, no police force, no Corellian would stand in the way of what I did."

 

"And my father does wear first-class bloodstripes," she went on, defensively. "He earned them, okay? Didn't steal them like some dishonorable... ke'dem!"

 

Still upset about Jack's inability to understand Corellian honor, Jana continued to mutter in Old Corellian about the situation and how her action was justified.

[steven]

Jack's anger rose, really tempted just to punch Jana and leave but he knew Nic would stick up for her and he'd be alone "Life is a valueable thing Jana. No matter who you are your life effects overs. You don't just needlessy take it. And I could care less what those damn stripes mean, you just take them off someone. There was no need to just murder him like that. Just to let you know, my own father was killed just like that, because he did something small to offend one person. And just like old matey there he had no idea he was offending that person. To this day I still don't understand why my father was killed, but he was and that's all I know." Jack replied as he pushed past her and left the cantina.

[starmark2k]

"Both of you cool it!" Nic ordered "We can talk about the Value of a life when we're all dead."

 

Nic got into the speeder and waited for Jana and Jack to get in.

[stingerhs]

((note: this is a joint post by Jasra and i.))

 

"What's the point in gambling if you're not willing to put something on the line?" Ryshana asked with a smile. Before Beryl could answer, Ryshana then said, "100 down and six on the side with five to go." (100 credits in the pot, six cards for a side deck, and best of five wins the game)

 

"You're on," Beryl stated as she picked out her side deck. Wanting to be a bit adventurous, Beryl picked out two +/- 3's, one +/- 6, 2 +/- 1's , and of course her lucky +/- 2.

 

Meanwhile, Ryshana had already picked out her side deck and was shuffling the cards. Setting the deck down, Beryl cut the deck and slid the deck back over to Ryshana. Ryshana then began to deal the cards. Beryl's first card was a 5. Ryshana's was a 9. Both of them took another card. This time, Beryl got a 10 which brought her total to 15. Ryshana got a 4 which brought her total to 13.

 

Before Ryshana dealt the next card, she used the Force to temporarily increase her speed and dealt Beryl the second card in the deck rather than the first one. It was a 4, which brought Beryl's total to 19.

 

In that instant, Beryl paused. Her hand was already poised on her side deck, ready to deal out one of her cards to counteract a different card. Instead, that card was dealt to Ryshana: a 7 which gave her 20.

 

"Darn! Oh well, you can have that round," Beryl said with a bit of a begrudging tone. She hated losing even if it was just one round.

 

Over the next couple of rounds, Ryshana randomly did the same trick of giving Beryl the second card in the deck to gauge her reaction. Each time, Beryl reacted identically: she was expecting one card value and got another. The confusion also took its toll on Beryl's play: Ryshana swept the series handily.

 

"Hey, I thought you were good at this sort of thing. Bad luck today?" Ryshana asked kindly.

 

Beryl thought for a moment. She couldn't quite figure it out, but she was starting to think that Ryshana was doing something to throw her off.

 

"I don't know. I guess my luck ran out for that game. Don't worry, though. It'll be back in this one. Let me deal this time," Beryl said.

 

Agreeing with Beryl, Ryshana passed the deck across the table. "Same game," Beryl stated as she picked out a similar side deck for this game. Ryshana did the same, but this time she knew that she wasn't going to have quite the same control over the outcome like she did last time.

 

As Beryl dealth the cards, Ryshana did come up with a different strategy to gauge Beryl: to let her play normally and compare the two outcomes.

 

This time, the series took all seven rounds to play with Ryshana winning yet again. This time, Ryshana was able to figure out why Beryl had been confused during the first game: she was anticipating the top card before it was dealt to her. It didn't have anything to do with her cheating: it just had everything to do with Beryl using the Force without realizing it.

 

In fact, Beryl's style of play wasn't all that differnt from Ryshana's, but there was one major difference: Ryshana could actively sense how the entire game was going to turn out in several different ways. It was a technique that few Jedi had bothered to master, but one that Ryshana had learned from necessity: she could figure out the order of the cards in the entire deck before the first card was even dealt. It was a huge advantage, and Ryshana hardly ever lost a game simply due to her knowing what was going to happen. For Ryshana, and Beryl to some extent, Pazaak was no longer a game of chance; it was a game of mathematics and skill.

 

Once again, the deck was transferred to Ryshana for her to deal out the cards in the next game. Beryl was almost incensed: she had never lost two games of Pazaak consecutively since she had learned how to play Pazaak back at the Academy. Finally wanting to speak up, Beryl then asked, "You're not using any of those Jedi tricks in this game, are you?"

 

"A little," Ryshana admitted. "But it's no different from what you're doing."