The Street Rats (Dev Thread, PM to Join)

[Nyx]

7 Years Ago, Coruscant Undercity.​

​

"You! Stop!"​

The preteen sprinting through the alleys of Coruscant didn't bother turning around as the officer screamed for her to halt. She moved nimbly among the dealers and junkies, the officer focusing on her and her stolen goods at the moment. She turned around a corner, temporarily disappearing from the officer's point of view. He grunted in frustration as he also rounded that corner, his hand on his weapon- only to be faced with an empty alley.​

​

The thieving preteen in question smirked as she strode away fro the officer. Those guys were always pretty easy to lose in the alleys. They just didn't know the place like she did. The girl tossed her prize from hand-to-hand as she made her way to her home for the past few years.​

She maneuvered through the undercity, making sure to pickpocket some more credits off of some suckers on the way. Hey, a girl needs to survive. She was lucky enough to not run into any more officers on her way, and entered an old collapsed metro tunnel. The planet-wide city had long ago abandoned the tunnels, and they were now taken over by people with nowhere else to go.​

​

"I'm back, and I brought goodies!" She announced as she walked up to the small fire, the dirty faces surrounding it turning to look at her. They brightened as they spotted the bundle of food she had in her hands and a young boy beamed at her as he stepped forward, taking it from her hands.​

"Our triumphant hero returns again." He praised, opening the bundle and distributing the food inside to the three other hungry faces, not one a day above twelve. "Good job, Nyx. I don't think we could have gone much longer."​

Nyx smiled as she sat down next to the fire, warming her hands and smiling as she saw her fellow street rats tear into the food, even as her own stomach quietly growled. Sometimes, seeing them actually eat was all she needed to keep going.​

 

[Nyx]

Nyx yawned as the four kids around her finished their small meals, and for the first time in awhile, they looked not miserable. A girl with a pair of circular goggles on her head spoke up after a moment of silence.​

"So, where'd you get the food, Nyx?"​

Nyx stayed silent for a moment, not sure how to tell, then the boy that handed out the food spoke up.​

"Don't worry about it, Kath. Just be glad we actually ate tonight."​

Kath hesitated, then sighed and went back to scratching the back of her hand.​

"I guess, Jett."​

Jett gave a quick grin to Nyx, who returned it, her heart fluttering a bit. The other two kids exchanged worried glances, and one of them spoke.​

"You know, Kath, it's getting late, you should head off to bed." The boy smiled knowingly as Kath, the youngest among them at nine years of age, whined.​

"But Cal, it just got dark! This is bull poodoo!"​

Cal simply ignored her complaints as he dragged the girl into the abandoned metro car, where they had some pallets set up. The other girl waited for them to leave before turning to Nyx, her expression one of worry.​

"Alright, who did you steal it from?" The girl crossed her arms as she stared at Nyx, waiting on an answer.​

Nyx sighed as she stared at the ground, unwilling to look the girl in the eye.​

"I got it from one of the Reds, alright Mena?"​

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

7 Years Prior​

He watched as the hooded figure darted across the narrow Coruscant street, then he smiled. He felt the blaster at his side, ducking down into a narrow alleyway. He loved the underworld, it was a street rat's hideout. The male unslung his dufflebag, still watching the hooded figure as it moved closer.

"Jess said you were trustworthy. I gotta say, I didn't quite believe him"

The hooded male stood back, watching the other slowly. The male with the dufflebag and also the male who spoke reached for the zip of the bag, unzipping it slowly. He removed some Bantha Meat, handing a slide to the hooded male. "Coruscant, some days I wish I had a ship. Just packup and leave" the male told the hooded male, smirking. "Name's Jardo. Pleasure to meet you Chet"

The hooded male, Chet stood back. The other male, Jardo, smirked. Chet seemed quite annoyed at something, and slowly he asked how Jardo knew his name. Jardo slowly explained it, Jess had set the meeting up as a test to them both. Jess, a name that had cropped up quite a lot. Jess, a street rat with an attitude, the top rat. You know.

Slowly Jardo stood up, grabbing his bag yet again.

"We gotta go"

[member="Nyx"]

​

​

 

[Nyx]

Even from her place at the fire, Nyx heard her companion's sighs of exasperation. The Reds were another gang of kids that had set up at a nearby warehouse, and were making this tiny section of Coruscant their territory. Nyx's group had already had a few clashes with them, and one of them had left Cal with a broken arm that he was still recovering from. Mena and Jett wanted them to have nothing to do with the Reds, but Nyx and Kath both wanted to go out and get revenge. This latest act of defiance was likely something that would come and bite them in the ass later, but on the other hand, it had fed them.​

"Nyx, you already know how Jett and I feel about this." Mena scolded. "You've got to leave the Reds alone; I don't want one of us to end up dead!"​

Jett snapped at Mena to stop that line of thinking, and she mumbled an apology while Nyx stared at the fire, her face impossible to read. An awkward silence filled the air as the three kids were left with their own thoughts, something they had far too much experience with for their age.​

​

After a few minutes, Nyx stood.​

"Where are you going?" Jett asked, his face scrunched up in concern.​

Nyx mumbled an excuse as she walked out of the tunnel, her hands buried in the pockets of her ratty pants. She walked the streets of Coruscant, her head bowed down, distracted. She needed to watch out for her friends; but the Reds were complicating everything. How did she deal with that? How?​

She sighed, looking at the crowd around her. Maybe she could pick some pockets, take her mind off things.​

[member="Jardo Snow"]​

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

They were in reds territory. Not smart to be honest, but they had to trade food some way. Slowly Jardo and Chet climbed up the ladder behind the reds warehouse, Chet shaking his head. Slowly Jardo climbed over the edge of the rooftop, nodding. He then stopped, pulling Chet up behind him. This was the only reason Jardo had said to go, red's. He heard them returning, thus he knew it was time to go.

Slowly both men crawled along the roof, stopping to peak through one of the roof windows. The reds were in there, trading something. Jardo couldn't quite make out what it was. Chet stepped ahead, moving along the roof quickly. Both men reached the ladder the other side, both men sliding down said ladder.

Now to go back home.

[member="Nyx"]

 

[Nyx]

Without Nyx there, the Street Rats stayed up, talking to each other about what to do.​

"We need to move." Mena posited. "The Reds are going to come after us; it's only a matter of time. And we may be good, but there's more of them, and I heard from one of the factory children that their leader has a blaster."​

Among the kid street gangs, a blaster was a big deal. It put you on top, made you powerful.​

Jett sighed, looking away. "We've worked hard for this place; we shouldn't have to leave."​

Cal rubbed his only-recently-healed arm, remembering the fight with some Reds.​

"I don't want to leave, either. I was outnumbered; if all of us teamed up-"​

"No." Mena snapped. "We are not fighting the Reds!"​

​

While her compatriots argued amongst each other, Nyx walked the crowds, so deep in thought that she didn't realize she had walked straight into Red territory. She strode the streets, and didn't look up until she saw someone scurrying down a ladder on a warehouse. Before she could question that, however, she felt someone tap her shoulder.​

The girl turned around, only to have a fist slam into her face.​

"Come on! This prissy jerk stole my food!"​

She felt a flurry of kicks hit her body, and Nyx curled up into a fetal position as she waited for the Red beating to end, or someone to interfere.​

​

[member="Jardo Snow"]​

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

Watching Chet walk away was stupid. He'd been fed and now he was walking off, nice. Well, Jardo was going to do it as well to be perfectly honest. He shook his head, ducking down an alley as to avoid the reds. Well, he hoped to avoid them anyway. As he left the alley he blinked. Some little girl, a red from the look of her beating on another child.

Jardo wasn't a fan of the beating, and he hated the reds so he did what he did best. He removed his blaster, slowly creeping behind the young girl. He placed the gun on her head, ordering her away. She sort of stood there, looking around before running away. Jardo put the gun away, offering the girl on the floor his hand.

"You alright?"

[member="Nyx"]

 

[Nyx]

When the beating stopped, and the Red girl scampered away, Nyx thought that maybe she was dead, and the Red was just trying to get away before officers arrived. The preteen cursed herself for going into Red turf. She should have payed attention, she should have avoided this whole area! But no, and now she was dead, and she had left the Street Rats without anyone to provide for them. If she wasn't dead, she would cry, but the girl supposed tears were useless now.​

​

"You alright?"​

Nyx actually looked up, and saw a man looking down at her, concern in his eyes and a blaster in his hand. Oh. So, she wasn't dead.​

She slowly rose, weak from hunger and the severe beating she had just received. The preteen looked at her savior, her eyes mostly blank at this point, staring past him.​

"I. . .I can't think." She whispered. "Where did the Red go?"​

​

Back at camp, the debate still raged, with Kath waking up and joining in.​

"I say we sneak in to that warehouse and teach 'em not to mess with the Street Rats!" the little girl announced, miming a fistfight. "Those wusses won't know what hit 'em!"​

Jett sighed as the other three argued amongst themselves. Nyx had been gone a long time, and with the Reds on the loose, he was starting to worry. Dammit, he should have gone with her! If she was hurt, or dead, he would-​

No. No, he wasn't going to think about that. The preteen knew that Nyx was the most capable among them, and that the Reds could never touch her. She would be back any minute, he just had to wait, his heart growing more anxious every minute she was gone from his life.​

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[member="Jardo Snow"]​

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

Jardo shook his head lightly, handing the preteen the bag of meat. Slowly he heard her questions, and chuckled lightly as he replied. "She ran back to the others. Oh, don't worry, they'll be back in force. Let's get you home then us D3 Street Boys are gonna go scout the Red's" he told her lightly, letting her lead the way.

While walking he shook his head, thinking about the Red. He could of easily shot her, quite simple really. However, something kept him from doing so. Maybe he had a soft spot for kids or something. Eh, maybe, maybe not. All he knew is that D3 Street Boys could use this girl. They could use someone like her.

Plus they had food.

[member="Nyx"]

 

[Nyx]

Nyx stood there for a moment, gaping at the bag of meat in her hands. She hadn't held this much food in her hands in at least two years, and the preteen barely registered what [member="Jardo Snow"] was saying. Then it clicked, and she looked up at him.​

"O-Okay. Just follow me; careful, we're still in Red turf."​

​

Back at the Street Rat camp, the kids were starting to get worried.​

"Where is she?" Mena muttered, poking the fire with a metal rod.​

The others all felt the same, but said nothing. They all knew that Nyx was the best among them, and without her, they were in trouble.​

Which is why when she walked in, it took a moment for them to notice her before she was swarmed by the four kids.​

"Where were you?"​

"What happened to you?"​

"Was it the Reds?"​

"Who's he?"​

The four of them turned to Jardo, their eyes narrowed.​

"Who the hell are you?" Jett demanded, stepping forward.​

 

[Edward Frisby]

[member="Nyx"] [member="Jardo Snow"]

Frisby had been watching the entire scene pan out. The pair on the roof, the girl being beaten, everything. It was boring work, but then again, it was his job. A weequay lieutenant in the Cartel thought he could get big points with the bosses by getting some of the Coruscant's smaller gangs to absorb into the cartel, he'd heard that they were causing a "ruffle" down there but thought they were low-grade enough to jump at the chance of joining the Cartel. So he had one of the Cartel's more subtle muscle, namely a man named Edward Frisby, scoping them out. But there was something both Frisby and the lieutenant hadn't counted on.

Children. They were just children, muddling about in the garbage. Whatever source his superior had needed to be shot. These weren't full-blow criminals, just some squabbling orphanage rejects fighting each other for food. But wait, something was happening. One of the pair, a mere "boy", pulled a blaster on the girl beating the other girl.

The boy showed finesse when dealing with the larger girl, and the smaller girl wasn't being as hostile to other gang-members as the rest of the lot. Sure, the boy helped her, but most of the ones he'd seen would have spat at anyone trying to help. This made them different, at least from the rest of the rabble, and thus bearing further surveillance.

Frisby leaped from his perch on a sign attached to a building and grabbed a flag pole displaying a tattered Republic emblem on it before landing on both feet. With a grunt, he stood erect, and began following the pair.

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

Jardo couldn't help but smile. He'd just saved their friends life and they seemed more bothered trying to find out who he was. "Jardo Snow, D3 Street Boys" he told the one who'd come towards him, chuckling. "And, if you don't mind, back down. I think I just saved your friends life, but i'm willing to call the Red's back to her" he told the male, smirking.

"Now, do you need anything else from me?"

[member="Edward Frisby"]
[member="Nyx"]

 

[Nyx]

Jett hesitated, knowing he was dealing with a dangerous man. One who also saved Nyx's life.​

He sighed and turned to Meena raising an eyebrow and jerking his head towards [member="Jardo Snow"].​

"She needs medical supplies." The girl answered. "Bandages, anti-biotics, bacta if you can get your hands on it."​

Jett turned back to Jardo, his face conflicted.​

After a moment of thought, he sighed.​

"Alright, we need you to get those supplies."​

He puffed out his chest.​

"But I'm coming with you!"​

​

None of them realized [member="Edward Frisby"] watched from the shadows, and stared at Jardo for his answer.​

 

[Edward Frisby]

[member="Nyx"] [member="Jardo Snow"]

Edward grumbled as he avoided puddles of a brown substance that he hoped wasn't the first thing to come to mind. Slimy, damp, and decrepit tunnels. Not Frisby's idea of a good location for children to be living, anything for that matter. Whoever had leaded them down there needed a serious talking too. Finally, the two stopped beside a fire that other children were gathered around. Edward watched from behind a pile of rubbish, intently listening to what they had to say.

It appeared that the children were now seeking medical supplies. For a brief moment, Frisby considered giving them some of his, but he thought better of it. He would let the situation play out, and study these children, the first two in particular. He still found it odd that they were helping each other, heck, the boy offered to help. It was... different, then what Edward had seen and experienced.