Public In All The Wrong Places

[Ki'an Vizsla]

Location: Wakeelmui
Local Time: 23:07​

It was nice to have some spare money for a change considering the Mandalorian was rather selective about bounty jobs, some of which he deemed far too unfair a penalty on the target, but his most recent job of gathering intelligence had paid handsomely so he took the opportunity to wind down in a bar on a nearby planet and after a few hours at the establishment he was several drinks in.

As someone with such a friendly nature, it was easy for him to get along with similarly friendly people. Despite entering the bar alone, he had befriended three individuals who had come and go during the course of the evening until finally it was his turn to leave after recognising he had had enough to drink. He bid his most recent companion goodbye and replaced the helmet that had been sitting beside him before rising from the booth and walking towards the door.

However, as he reached the door, a man put his arm out to prevent the Mandalorian from leaving and immediately after he felt a pair of hands grab his helmet and lift it from his head so he whipped around to face the person who did it. "Can I have that back, please?" He asked politely but the man didn't answer and instead appeared to inspect the helmet. "Is this Mandalorian iron?" He asked as he knocked it with his fist. "How much do you think this is worth, lads?" The man asked his two companions who had almost surrounded Ki'an.

"It's not worth your life. You will be hunted down by Mandalorians if you try and steal what is rightfully ours." He threatened the men, two of who laughed at such a threat, but his tone remained calm. "It would be out of our hands and in someone else's by then." One replied. Ki'an reached for his helmet but it was moved out of his reach and he was in no state to initiate a confrontation. One of the men gestured with his head for the other two to follow him outside and Ki'an had little choice but to follow the man in possession of his helmet.

Now in the street, he was suddenly shoved against the wall and had each arm held there as the men were apparently smart enough to realise he had enough power in his wrist to burn them to a crisp. The third man, holding his helmet, then began to take a fancy in the rest of the armour as he eyed up the armour on his chest and shoulders. Passers-by did little more than steal a glance at the situation.

 

[Shai Maji]

Shai had been quite busy the past few weeks if not the entire month. Between seeing her new companion, getting deals set up between her company and others for materials, and actually getting the place up and running to produce and test the designs she had been working on, she was constantly on the move. But things finally seemed to calm down and she decided on treating herself to a day out. Simply for herself.

She touched down on a place she hadn't visited in years and disembarked. She had decided on leaving her armour in the ship to keep a low profile but she kept her particle pistol and satchel full of goodies with her. She tugged at her tank top as she walked from the landing pad and started to look for the cantina. She was surprised to see that the place was in its late hours. "Guess I sorta miscalculated the time with this one." she muttered to herself with a snicker. After a few minutes of walking and exploring she arrived at the cantina... and blinked at the sight of a bunch of thugs pinning another mando to a wall. That dude looked utterly smashed on top of things. She sighed in annoyance as she marched over to the three thugs inspecting the guy... not creepy at all. But she wasn't one to judge.

Upon reaching the group, she drew her pistol and levelled it at the middle guy as a very recognizable hiss-and-click sounded off. "If you've ever seen what a particle blaster does to a person's head... you'll know it's a good idea to let go of my friend here." she muttered with a cold and threatening voice as she glared at him and the other two. "If you haven't... well it's better if you let him go anyway." she continued with a dark, unnerving giggle as she grinned at them.

Her right hand separated and opened up to reveal a vibroblade as her eyes watched the three thugs very closely. Any wrong move and they were going to have a very bad day...

Ki'an Vizsla

 

[Ki'an Vizsla]

With a man on each arm, the Mandalorian was helpless to free himself from their grip so he grew increasingly concerned that his armour would be peeled from him as he could not prevent them from doing so in his current state. It seemed their minds set on what they wanted and they knew the intoxicated man in their grasp had little power to stop them.

However, it seemed luck was on his side tonight as a stranger stepped in to commandeer the situation, though he had no idea why. Upon seeing a weapon pulled on them, the man holding his left arm drew a blaster to aim at the stranger but Ki'an took advantage of the lack of pressure on his arm and ripped himself free of the man's grasp to draw a blaster and pointed it at the man in one swift movement before firing a stun bolt at him.

The remaining two, upon seeing they had two weapons against them, relented and the man handed the helmet back to its rightful owner cautiously. One indicated to the other that they should run and they soon took off down the street. Ki'an attempted to make himself appear less pathetic to the stranger as he was embarassed about the events that had just unfolded. As a Mandalorian he should've been able to manage the situation on his own.

"I'm not normally like that... I've just... had a few drinks." He told the newcomer. While he wasn't lying about the drinks, there was every possibility that he would've gotten into the same situation when sober as he was not the best fighter among his peers which led to his feelings of insecurity. "I'm sorry, I mean... Thank you." He held a hand out to offer her a handshake in gratitude. "Why did you help me? Can I buy you a drink in return?" He asked. It was uncommon for strangers to help each other - his time on the galaxy had proved that much.

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

The one guy tried to draw his blaster and Shai was ready to drop him. But the drunken Mando seemed to still move quick enough and stunned the fool before he could get anything done. The other two remained where they were and Shai stepped even closer, pressing her barrel against the back of the man's head. "What's it gonna be, schutta?" she asked him as her menacing grin grew.

They finally let go and ran off. With a cackling laugh she holstered her gun and her right arm morphed back into a hand. She glanced at the man with an amused look as she looked him over. "Yeah I can sympathize with that, no worries." she assured him as she gave him a light tap against the shoulder. She took hold of his outstretched hand and gave it a firm shake. <"Mandos help each other out. Simple as that."> she quipped in mando'a. <"I ain't gonna let them slit your throat and steal your shit. That'll just be messed up. And I ain't sayin' no to a free drink."> she flashed a wink as she smiled, nodding to the bar. "I'm here for a drink anyway. Though I don't think you need to drink anymore, you look marinated enough as it is." she joked as she walked with him.

Inside she ordered a beer and waited for him to pay for the pint before she sat on a stool by the counter. "The name's Shai. And who might you be?" she asked him as she took a long sip of her drink.

Ki'an Vizsla

 

[Ki'an Vizsla]

The Mandalorian replaced his helmet to conceal the look of shame on his face that followed. The newcomer seemed to accept that the situation had been as a result of his intoxication rather than his lack of skills so he relaxed a little, though the feeling of insecurity was still bubbling below the surface, a feeling that always lingered in the Mandalorian.

Ki'an seemed taken aback by her suddenly speaking Mando'a, to which he responded. <"Are you... a Mandalorian?"> He asked, seeming confused. She didn't wear the armour so he didn't understand her relationship to Mandalorians but she seemed proficient in her use of the language and her statement suggested she was a Mandalorian. He smiled beneath his helmet at her reply and gave a short nod. <"Of course."> He replied. She had certainly earned a drink.

"That's... Fair." He responded, recognising that he had drank his fair share for now. Once at the bar, he placed the credits in the bartender's hand for Shai's drink before accepting it and handing it to her, then taking the stool next to hers. "I'm Ki'an Vizsla. Nice to meet you." He replied. While many of his mental faculties remained in tact, his helmet hid the extent of his intoxication as his eyelids dropped sleepily from the effects of alcohol.

Part of him wanted to question her on why she wasn't wearing the armour as the Resol'nare dictated but he didn't want to initiate conflict with someone who had just aided him.

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

He introduced himself and she lightly tapped her glass against his helmet with a smirk. "Likewise." she quipped as she took another long sip. "And to answer your question from before, yeah. I'm a Mando." she stated as she glanced around then back to him. <"But I keep my armour in my ship when going out like this. I hate the attention it draws out of Mando space. Plus it's actual Beskar, not Mandalorian Steel. That doesn't help the situation at all."> she explained to him as she looked into his helmet.

She couldn't see his face but she knew that he wasn't exactly all there. <"Hey."> she spoke up, giving his helmet another tap with her bottle. "Are you falling asleep?" she asked him with a wide grin as she rested an arm against the counter. "Dude where's your ship? Before you pass out here and I need to lug your ass back to mine." she asked him with a shake of the head as she rose to her feet. The last thing she wanted was to talk to a guy that was barely awake.

She turned to exit and waited for him to come along. She at least got her drink so she wasn't about to complain. Plus this place was going to be open for a while so she could always come back for more. Once they left the building she followed after him. But in the corner of her eye she noticed something. A small group was tailing them... with those same two idiots among them. "Hey man, heads up. We got a tail." she muttered to him as her hand rested on her blaster.

Ki'an Vizsla

 

[Ki'an Vizsla]

"Oh, great! It's nice to meet others." He replied, seeming pleased that she was a Mandalorian. <"Yeah... That makes sense. That's never happened to me before. Most of the time it's just a few more glances in our direction but clearly there are some brave enough to try and take us on for the armour."> He replied, instinctively switching to the language he was spoken to in though some of the words were slurred. He nodded in agreement. <"My armour is beskar too. It was my father's and his father's before him."> He told her.

Ki'an looked down for a moment, his mind drifting elsewhere until Shai tapped on the side of his helmet, making him flinch at the sudden noise. "No. I'm fine." He replied. "At the docks. In 7B." He told her. "But I'm fine. Honestly." He tried again to convince her as he rose from his seat to join her. Once outside, he hesitated for a moment while recalling the way to the docks before setting off.

Both his heightened state and the lack of peripheral vision from his helmet meant he was none-the-wiser about the group tailing them until Shai mentioned it. In a not particularly tactical move, he looked around to see where the group were, inadvertently alerting them to the fact they had been spotted. Now the numbers were uneven and even the alcohol could not heighten his confidence by enough for him to not feel concerned by the sight. He drew a blaster with one hand and kept the other free to allow for use of the flamethrower if they got uncomfortably close - though he knew to be mindful of his highly flammable friend.

Shai Maji