Droid For Hire

[Maleus]

Tatooine. A place filled with beggars, swindlers, cheaters, and liars. He was home. The Zabrak adorned a black tunic ending at his ankles where his onyx boots were fitted. He'd set off through the nexus of bodies shifting in random directions - some were making their way home, others were going to get a fix. It didn't matter, none of them mattered. The only thing that mattered to him right now as reaching his destination as the air of the desert planet was unforgiving. This bar was not only known for it's 'festive' ambiance, but also a place to eat and drink. Though, in reality few went there for that....

He was nearing the establishment but felt a disturbance with every step he took.Then it began, it started out as something minuscule, practically ignored by his descending foot-falls. But then it became incessant, something that began to beat against his consciousnesses. "Hmm." Where the eyes were blind his intuition was not, an invisible sphere expands - slowly sweeping through the area like a radar pinging a ship. "Aha.." A familiar signature one that he had grown fond of. He observes the patrons entering and leaving, what they were wearing... Their words - while indistinguishable to the average ear were carefully heard. The thing that stood out to him was the Droid, not because of it's presence in the bar, but because of the people who surrounded him.

Unlike the other cowards, Maleus's saber hang loosely from his hip. Just within reach.

 

[NG-888 (Eights)]

That idiotic karking droid. What in Constructor's name was he thinking? Just calling out the merc right there, and getting Eights involved too. This droid really was naive. Hopefully the Jedi slung around his neck was powerful enough to protect him, because Eights alone was not enough to stand up to a pissed-off merc who looked like he had quite a bit of experience.

Speaking of the Jedi, Eights gave an involuntary spark at the neck, singeing the Jedi's jacket. Whoops. Serves him right for getting personal without asking. Eights liked his personal space. Oh well, seemed like he might be in for a fight. Eights liked this chassis, he didn't want it to be destroyed. Being uploaded and downloaded from the HoloNet was a pain. Then again, he could always just slice into this other droid... bad idea. Stealing others' bodies was not socially acceptable.

Eights ran several thousand simulations in the next few milliseconds, then decided the optimal action in this situation was to A. Stay in the protective range of the Jedi and B. Cuss the other droid out in rapid-fire binary.

"Nice going, scrap heap. You just insulted the possibly deadly merc with the force user cat girlfriend. What kind of virus makes you dumb enough to make such a nerf-brained move? If I had it my way, I'd reprogram you myself. But now we have to keep it chill so the deadly mercenary that you just pissed off doesn't kill us. Think before you speak."

Outwardly, Eights whirred in what he hoped was a placating tone.

"Thank you, Jedi. And no offense to you at all, sir. I'm sure that you'd be a perfectly good master to this protocol droid. I just believe he'd appreciate payment."

Eights silently cursed himself. There was no way to improve this situation. The best-case scenario was to just stick with the Jedi and try not to get killed.

[member="TC-103"] | [member="Tugoro Taidarious"] | [member="Gavin XIII"] | [member="Elizabeth Verdan"]

 

[Tugoro Taidarious]

Tugoro felt a jolt of electricity run along his arm, as [member="NG-888 (Eights)"] released a discharge that slightly singed the sleeve of his brown leather jacket. He hadn't been wearing his robes, as to avoid suspicion on the Techno Union controlled world. Jerking backwards from the talkative robot, Tugoro would glare briefly, before smirking and playfully giving the droid a gentle push on it's face with his fist. A quiet metallic clang would resonate from the impact, revealing the robotic hand that the young man possessed.

He wasn't going to do anything to the droid, though if it decided to take him on then things wouldn't be pretty. [member="TC-103"] would also be relieved from Tugoro's grasp, as his gaze turned to the door of the cantina that had slid open. There stood [member="Maleus"], not even bothering to approach the group as he ominously watched from afar. The Jedi thought to be a vision at first, his mind playing tricks on him. Though, there was something very real about the way everyone in the bar averted their attention briefly to the Zabrak, before moving on.

 

[Gavin XIII]

Gavin was still glaring at the two droids and the annoying kid, until the more angry-looking (could droids look angry?) one sent an arc of energy at the guy's sleeve. The blonde man just snorted, laughing as quietly as he could so he didn't disturb his fluffy new friend. When he calmed down, he was just grinning.

"Look, I just want the red metal-man here to show me another place to eat. I'm not awfully fussed about whether I have to pay him. His er... friend with the zapping problem is welcome, too. I just don't have anything bigger than a shuttle to fly around."

[member="Tugoro Taidarious"] [member="NG-888 (Eights)"] [member='Elizabeth Verdan'] [member='TC-103']

 

[Empty Slot]

[member="NG-888 (Eights)"] [member="Tugoro Taidarious"] [member="Gavin XIII"] [member="Elizabeth Verdan"]

TC-103 had a confused reaction to the insults that the droid had flung at him. Unless there was some sort of mercenary code that he wasn't aware of, there wasn't much that he done that could have insulted or angered the mercenary to a point where he'd be violent. Whereas the line about not releasing him was a bit insulting, it shouldn't have been nearly enough to drive someone to anger.

"Excuse me for the disrespect, sir, but I don't believe that I had spouted out too much of an insult of his actions. Even so, I've been thinking logistically since I had begun talking to him. I find for there to be a low chance of a man who would be trying to impress a Jedi, who I assume is well trained in Jedi arts and morals, to become violent unless it was in a scenario of self-defense. I may have been a past member of a Hutt cartel but I know how to think in a calm matter without gravely angering others. That is, assuming you aren't by my speech of defense."

It seemed strange that the droid who was trying to protect him a few minutes ago was now shouting away at him. For being a diplomat, he didn't seem to be very good at controlling his temper, which is always a fatal mistake during negotiations.

Out of that topic, TC-103 was a bit concerned at how all the mercenary had mostly almost 'stole' him just to find another place for food. It was a bit strange, but it not being for maniacal purposes was a greater expand towards TC-103's argument that the mercenary wasn't even bad. He was a comical and possibly violent when needed man, not evil.

 

[NG-888 (Eights)]

Eights tried desperately to calm down before he realized what had just occurred. Kark. He felt the decision making cortex circuit slip back into place. Constructor, he needed to get the credits up to buy a new cortex. This one went haywire a very unsafe amount. What had he even done? Eights took a moment to review his memory database. It seemed that he had... what? Taken this man as dangerous when he clearly was fine? Tried to "rescue" a droid from a normal being at considerable risk to his own chassis? Sparked a karking Jedi knight? Cussed out this innocent droid for nothing?

Eights practically buzzed with shame. His actions had been entirely unfit for a diplomat. He was a disgrace. Why in Constructor's name did he act like this? Why was he broken like this? As the error of his ways came crashing down on him, Eights ran simulation after simulation of apologies. First, he chose to apologize to the droid. Eights had beem cruel, and unnecessarily so.

"Fellow droid, I am so sorry for my actions. Please, do forgive me for my previous unbecoming conduct. My decision making cortex flipped a circuit, and, well, you can see what happened from there. My words and actions were very unkind, and I apologize deeply. To you, respected Jedi, I apologize for the previous spark. My chassis can become very agitated when I go, well, it's embarrassing to say this, haywire. And finally, sir mercenary, I apologize for any insult I may have given you. I was unable to think before I spoke. I am sure you are perfectly respectable and kind to droids. As a method of apology, fine sir, I would be glad to lead you and the young miss somewhere to eat. I know another fine cantina not far from here, if you would like to follow along. I cannot stress enough how sorry I am."

Mentally, Eights screamed at himself. He flipped out, and was reduced to this. This was pure servitude, and he hated every moment of it. Hopefully leading the merc to the next cantina would be enough to fulfill his debt, but he wasn't sure how he could repay the other droid or the Jedi. Oh well. So be it. He would have to pay for his mistakes.

[member="TC-103"] | [member="Gavin XIII"] | [member="Tugoro Taidarious"]