This is it, the apocalypse (Open/Corellia)

[Riley Topol]

The world was bright, the kind of bright that one would expect from any major city. It wasn’t that she had a problem coming here, it almost felt like where she belonged. Riley Topol was taking in the sites. She had ran into a cousin of hers and was sort of given a basic job. She was now working for the man, which was really in stark contrast to what she wanted to be doing. Really, though, how serious could someone be taken if they were trying to just take down the man from the shadows?

Besides, the benefits package for her job was great, and the bonuses were to die for. Riley was going to enjoy this. She was dressed pretty typically, black and red and leather. She liked the dark colors, for sure. The brunette was stepping away from the landing pad of the public transit shuttle, apparently she was on lock down for a ship for a while. Weapons were one thing, testing ships apparently was a bigger deal in public.

A backpack had her datapad in it and that was what she was trying to reach. Stepping off to the side, the dark alley that overlooked what was it, Treasure Ship Row? Anyway, her datapad. What would be nice is if she could implant this, into her arm, or something, let her use the Force to control it when she was doing whatever it was she was doing.

And this time? She was taking credits. Not from anyone in particular, and just working to do it to the bank. A way to say ‘take that, big business,’ as it were. Stepping up to one of the teller machines, she nodded, activating the protocol to hack into the bank system, just for walking around money, she wasn’t greedy.

"Oh, come on..." Was all she muttered as she entered another protocol.

 

[Jonathon Patches]

Patches hated lines... lines were the bane of his existence. They were always there, never moving, never ending. They couldn't be avoided - a necessary evil - and were something he encountered on an all too regular basis. In fact, he one time calculated that he had spent 0.4% of his life time waiting in lines; which doesn't sound like much at first, but when you actually crunch the numbers, that works out to forty-five days, six hours and... a quick glance at his holowatch showed three minutes. He suspected that the majority of people spent even more of their lives then him - given his penchant for bypassing them on a number of occasions - starting with their morning java, the line to punch into work, the line for lunch, lines for the refresher, the line to punch out, the lines to get home, lines for dinner, lines at the holo theatre, lines, lines and lines.

He found himself in this particular line - the one at the same bank as [member="Riley Topol"] by chance - largely in thanks to the gentleman to his right, and it was that reason that Patches shook his head at him, and muttered out of the side of his mouth... "And what did we learn from this little escapade? NEVER call a Trandoshan's bluff when he is holding an Idiot's Array..." at his partner [member="Noxu Za'tire"] , as Patches shook his head again, letting out a sigh.

"It's like you've never played Sabaac before... you have played sabaac before, right?" he asked, as he felt the nudge of the blaster in his back to take a step forward; that same Trandoshan brandishing the blaster that found itself in the center of Patches back, while a Bothan had their blaster fixated in the small of Noxu's back.

I hate lines... he mused to himself.

 

[Noxu Za'tire]

What a way to get back into the action.

Unlike his compatriot, Noxu liked lines. There were many things that were positive about them, but most importantly, out of the long list of pros, was the fact that lines tended to stall people from getting what they wanted. That was exactly what was happening at that very moment. Noxu's life was being saved by the wonderful and magnificent line that was Patches' bane.

Gazing over toward Patches, Noxu simply shook his head in response. "Nope," he replied calmly, even if it was a lie. "Which is why I gods damned said to not have me play Sabaac against a Trandoshan with an Idiot's Array!" Narrowing his eyes at Patches, he turned his attention back to the front and at [member="Riley Topol"]. In all actuality, he wasn't looking at Riley's upper half by any means--not at all. There was something far more attention-grabbing that Noxu's sight was focused on. "Nice leathers," he complimented nonchalantly.

With the jab to his back from the Bothan's blaster, Noxu took his step forward. "Damn. Is that a blaster in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?" he said sardonically. Once he was in his new position, which was a mere foot in front of his previous position, he looked back over to [member="Jonathon Patches"] and just tilted his head to the side. "Come on, man. Give good ol' Finley the benefit of the doubt. This was all a part of my plan. You'll see."

 

[Riley Topol]

Maybe she was making the line, what of it? Riley was just here, trying to get some walking money. It wasn't like she was a super thief that stole gold bricks from some exotic and aquatic locale, or robbed a drug lord for his safe. Nope, as of yet she was still a solo operator, out on the world fresh, from being institutionalized on a Star Destroyer that was spending more and more time being updated and retrofitted. Sure, she loved her home, but really? Maybe it was time to update, there were so many beautiful ships, and Santhe was making even better ones every day. She tapped at a button on the teller machine and waited.

There were two people behind her, fighting about money. That was why she didn't gamble, that was why she just kept her money saved. She couldn't bear to lose it for something silly and left up to that level of chance, no sir. And they were watching her, that was fine. Grinning, it was more than fine. She was going to let them carry on their conversation for a bit, and just listen, just like the daughter of a Starchaser should.

And the Trandoshan, that should be fun. Peaking over her shoulder when the card player, [member="Noxu Za'tire"] commented, she gave him a quick up and down with her dark brown eyes before winking. "They do their job, but it seems y'all are already taken." Turning back, she bit her lip as the machine finally dispensed credits. What was going on back there anyhow? Maybe she could help those two out?

She doubted it, they were being turned by the Trando, she figured, even if they did pay, they might be paying physically as well.

[member="Jonathon Patches"]

 

[Jonathon Patches]

"Really?" he asked as Noxu commented on the woman in front of them, "Blaster to your back, about to withdraw a large sum of credits you don't have, and you are hitting..." he paused for a moment, as he finally caught a glance of the woman in front of them. He shrugged casually, and then turned back to Noxu as he commented, "ok, fair point, they are quite nice leathers... but not helping matters."

He scoffed at [member="Noxu Za'tire"] 's attempt at reassurance. He had seen Noxu's plans in action before; they almost certainly never ended well, especially for Noxu himself and whomever he happened to drag along. Unfortunately for Patches, this time he was participating more than his usual role of "admiring" from a distance.

"oh sithspit... you don't even know what an idiot's array is, do you? It's a hand, not a cheating device!" he said under a muttered breath, the tone in his voice might have made it carry.

"It's my mistake really..." he said in a non-chalant tone, "when I asked if you had ever hustled before, I should have been more specific if you had been the hustler or the hustlee..." he said, shrugging.

[member="Riley Topol"]

 

[Noxu Za'tire]

All was going according to plan. At least, he thought everything was. When was he ever wrong? Never. That's when. Even in dire times such as the one he was currently in, he was never wrong. There would certainly be some way he'd be able to blame the entire event on Patches, and at the very least, the woman right in front of him. In the end, however, none of it would matter if the dynamic duo weren't able to escape being at gunpoint by two angry former clients.

With a shrug of his shoulders, he simply smirked. "It takes a very articulate mind such as myself to be hustled so well and still manage to make it out with a few creds in my pocket," he admitted with utmost pride in himself. "What about you? When I give you the cues to actually, you know, do your part, you're nowhere to be found. What does that say about your teamwork skills, huh?" His gaze went back to Patches for just a moment before turning back at the Bothan. "Seriously. This guy," came the blame.

With another nudge of the blaster to his back, Noxu turned back forward and looked ahead. Taking a quick glance down toward his duster, he peered at the two empty holsters which would normally hold his twin blasters. Damned things confiscated. I could easily take the two of them out, along with this guy, and get home scott free, he mused to himself.

"Well, since you seem so adamant about me not being the brains of the operation, how do you plan on getting out of this, huh? Just want to fork over all our credits and get stranded here again?" he asked [member="Jonathon Patches"]. "Cause, if I know these guys -- and I sure as hell know these guys -- they're not going to let a witness..." he paused for emphasis, "...go free without a small chunk of credits.. or a finger."

[member="Riley Topol"]

 

[Riley Topol]

Credits. Finally. Shaking her head and licking her lip as she realized she was probably on some form of recorder, she shrugged. Who was going to recognize her? She was living aboard a starship for the past 20 some odd years, and in the Fringe, not the Omega Protectorate. “Y’know I can hear ya both, right?” She grinned as she stepped away from the machine.

Looking the two men voer and then their escort, she couldn’t help but let out a short giggle. “You both did somethin’ wrong, eh?” The big trick would be to keep htem talking, and make it so they guardsmen would leave them alone. Then there was the issue with her getting something out of this deal.

Running a hand up through her hair. “You have to come a little more prepared if you’re going to hustle with someone new.” She said this to [member="Jonathon Patches"] before looking at @Noxu Za’tire.

The real trick was that her holdout was inside her jacket, and she was doing her best to make it known such, with the way she was moving her hands and letting them, if they were able to see, a blaster there. Sure, she was doing something beyond her realm, but her father always told her someone had the right to choose their own destiny.

For a former smuggler, he had some sort of rules.

 

[Jonathon Patches]

[member="Riley Topol"] , [member="Noxu Za'tire"]

Patches shrugged casually as Noxu attempted his best to lay the blame at Patches feet; as if this was somehow all his fault. Hardly, he mused to himself, trying to remember the amount of times he had been caught red-handed on the job... well, ok, more times than I care to count... or am capable of counting... he further mused to himself. But it's always part of the plan, he told himself reassuringly.

It was then, that Noxu - probably without a plan of his own - wanted to hear what Patches "masterful" plan was. Rather than wait for Noxu to come up with a plan of his own - Patches didn't have the time for Tatooine to freeze over - his eyes started scanning the room.

"First... I am going to disarm my guy first," he said, canting his head back to the Trandoshan, and then back to Noxu, "because he is much more menacing than yours; I still can't believe yours is still standing... just looks like a fuzzball on legs," he said, nodding to the Bothan.

"Then, I am going to kneecap ol' Trando here, get him more on our height - I don't like when others look down at me - and probably use you as a meat shield while I trade shots with your furry friend there. At that point, there will be a commotion, and I am hoping you will have gotten up from your cowering position and we can make our way out with the fleeing people before meat head ones, and meathead two's boss and entourage can pick us up..." he said, his voice trailing off, as he nodded to a balcony above, "because I don't know if you have noticed, we are not alone..."

It was then that "leathers" in front of them turned to Noxu and Patches, and asked if they were aware she had heard them. Patches chuckled, and saw opportunity arise. "Oh, we weren't sure... I was debating on raising my voice a bit more just to be certain," he quipped, casting her a wink

It was then that the recognizable flash of metal caught his eye underneath the womans jacket, and you didn't have to tell him twice. A mischievous grin formed on his face, as the thought of his hand wandering up "leathers" jacket was more than enough to entice him.

A stumbled step forward and into "leather", and his hand was already up her jacket as he whispered "Sorry about this...", before pulling out her blaster and turning it onto the Trandoshan, firing two shots. He turned his aim towards Noxu for a moment, and debated on pulling the trigger, before fixating it on the Bothan, and clipping him in the shoulder. The blue rings indicated the blaster was on stun, and two shots to a Trandoshan was more of a cat nap then a stunning.

Patches looked down at the hold out in disbelief, as he exclaimed, "who keeps their hold out on stun these days?" he asked before firing a couple of shots at the balcony, "change of plans... RUN!" he exclaimed to Nox and leathers, not really waiting to see if they would follow suit.

 

[Noxu Za'tire]

Teamwork.

Somehow, through events that he wasn't quite sure of yet, he'd managed to get into some serious poodoo with the man to his left. There were a few things he wasn't quite fond of, but being a hostage in the middle of a line was something that made him thrilled. After all, hostage taking was the spice of life in the world of a smuggler. It always got the blood pumping, the adrenaline flowing, and the brain going into overdrive. Truly, there wasn't anything else like it.

As Patches continued with his long-winded plan about how he was going to get the two of them out of the situation, Noxu found himself falling asleep while standing. Not an unusual predicament, really. If it wasn't him talking, then he truly didn't care much to listen to anyone else. Maybe this is why you always get into trouble, he thought to himself; a small smirk on his lips.

While [member="Riley Topol"] showed off her leathers, Noxu just gazed with satisfaction at the spectacle. It wasn't until he noticed the slight metallic look near the holsters that he realized just what she was intending to show off. Oh, right. Plan.

Much to his surprise, however, it was the man to his side that decided to make the move first to try and go for the blasters, or at least get a nice handful of leathers. Knowing him, it was probably a bit of both--mostly the leathers, though. That was when Noxu had realized that he'd have to do something in order to stop himself from getting blasted in the back while Patches took care of the other two. Teamwork.

Quick thinking was and wasn't his strong suit when it came to life or death situations. Most of the time, he'd just throw all caution to the wind and go on the fly, but very few times, he would actually plan his actions out ahead and hope they'd all go according to plan. This was not one of those times. As [member="Jonathon Patches"] brought the blaster around and took a shot at the Trandoshan, Noxu braced his left foot onto the ground and kicked his right leg up and back toward where the blaster was aimed at his back. When his heel connected with the Bothan's elbow, his arm flung up and lost the tight grasp on the blaster due to a wildly lucky and successful connection with the creature's funny bone.

"Who keeps their hold out on stun these days? Change of plans... RUN!"

"Gods damn it! Who doesn't shoot to kill anymore?!" Without needing a second to even consider the idea, Noxu started to take off running. He'd only made it a few steps before he felt the heavy thud of a metallic something land on his head then fall off to the side and onto the ground. The blaster! he thought to himself. While rubbing his right hand on the top of his head where he was sure to start bruising, he grabbed the blaster from the ground and shoved it into his holster.

Then, he ran.

 

[Riley Topol]

All she wanted was to create a little bit of excitement here. That was it, really. She promised. And well, helping these two hapless men seemed like the best way to do that, didn’t it? She smiled as she realized that one was finally starting to get the picture. Sure, Riley wasn’t here to save the day, she wasn’t a hero, her father made sure she knew that their kind weren’t heroes. They did what needed to be done, and sometimes they chased the thrills of life.

Just like now.

She watched as @Noxu Za’tire started to move just after [member="Jonathon Patches"] groped took her blaster out of her jacket pocket. Really, she wouldn’t mind any extra touches form etiher of the two men, but right now? Well, if you thought you were going to die, she figured that was fair enough. Grinning as Patches whispered she nodded.

Stun shots, of course. She wasn’t here to rack up a body count. “I’m not here to kill nobody!” She hollered back at him. Looking up and seeing the rest of the gunmen, she nodded. Time to go, definitely time to go.

She looked to the other guy who ran back for a blaster. Looking up at the balcony, she used the Force to tug the rifle astray, not from the man’s hand, but definitely to mess up his aim. She smiled and nodded, at least she wasn’t going to get busted for that use of the Force, right?

 

[Jonathon Patches]

[member="Riley Topol"] , [member="Noxu Za'tire"]

"I know right?" Patches exclaimed to Noxu's query, as he made his way to the exit. "I am all for asking questions first and shooting later... but that policy generally goes out the door when they have a blaster pointed at me!" he said, as he stopped at the exit to the bank, and waited for Noxu and Leathers to make there way out.

Patches fired off a couple of cover shots at the balcony, as - not surprisingly - Noxu was the first one out the door, shortly followed by "Leathers". Patches gave a wave to the onlookers, turned his recently procured blaster on the doors control panel, and fired off a couple of shots at it. Alarms and sirens began to fill the bank, as the doors to the bank slowly hissed to life and began to close; but not before Patches made his exit, into the panic ridden streets of Corellia.

He flipped the borrowed blaster back to "Leathers", and cast her a wink, as he said, "Thanks... Suppose I owe you one..." and paused for a moment, as he added with a smirk, "Don't worry... Noxu here owes me a few; he can pay you quite handsomel..." his voice trailed off, as he looked left and right, trying to locate his former partner.

"Nox?" he asked, spinning on his feet, trying to find where they had been separated, as sirens began to fill the air.

 

[Noxu Za'tire]

[member="Riley Topol"], [member="Jonathon Patches"]

The moment the blaster was picked up off the ground and securely held in his hand, he knew it was a bad idea. Any bit of delay and his "partner in crime" would leave him behind so he could get away with ease. It was usually how these things worked, and he wouldn't be surprised in the least when it actually came to pass. In the end, it was the way of life for a smuggler or any form of real criminal; which is why it always paid to be one step ahead of the game.

As he ran to try and make it out the door, he saw Patches take a potshot at the control panel. Gods damn it. Always! he thought to himself in a small, building rage. Unfortunately, he wasn't one step ahead of the game, so he needed to act on the fly. After a brief interaction with his shoulder to the door, that was now effectively sealed off, he cursed wildly -- and most likely loud enough that he could be heard on the other side, "Gods damn it! Son of a queen!"

Then, it was his turn to act fast. After quickly noticing that the ground floor was effectively sealed off from any exit due to the bars, his second option was up on the second floor. Taking a left, he ran up a few of the stairs. Pulling a small metallic ball from his inner-coat pocket, he tossed it down the stairs. The very moment that the ball hit the ground, it exploded in a flurry of smoke, rising up from the device to cloud the view from below. Good start, he complimented himself as he continued his run up the stairs.

After taking a sharp left turn, he was now on the second floor of the bank. Okay, you got this. Just... the window. Shoot it. Grabbing hold of the newly procured blaster, he took aim at the glass at the front of the building. Key structural points, it's probably a secured window, but you can break it... maybe.

Aiming directly at the four corners of the window, he took one shot for each corner. The glass was strong and sturdy, clearly a defense against any kind of firefight from the inside or out. Fortunately, he knew some ways around it. Amping up the blaster's strength to nearly full, he took four more shots... then about six more. That oughta do it, he thought to himself. Reaching over to one of the metal chairs, he lifted it and lunged it toward the window, causing the glass to shatter--mostly. There were still a few jagged pieces of the glass that protruded from the sill.

"I'm going to kill him. I'm seriously going to murder him," he said aloud as he got a running start. Once he'd reached the window, he took a jump and turned his body to the side to try and avoid any glass on the way out. Unfortunately, he wasn't as small as he'd always made jokes about and managed to get cut along his left shoulder by one of the larger jagged pieces of glass. That, however, wasn't as bad as the drop he had to deal with, all the way to the ground.

THUD!

"Gods frakking damn it!" he cursed loudly as he hit the ground and bled from his shoulder. This, however, didn't stop him from getting up and taking aim at Patches with the blaster in his right hand. Aiming it toward his head, he fired... or at least, he tried to fire.

Click, click, whiiiiirrrrr....bloop... blergh....

The gun's power was drained and there was nothing that fired. Lucky bastard.

 

[Riley Topol]

Stun shots knocked people out and got them to at least leave you alone. Riley called an Imperial Star Destroyer home, it wasn’t like she had much to worry about. Between that and dealings with Santhe, she felt she was pretty safe. Still, she wasn’t going to get caught out this way. She was going to keep up with [member="Jonathon Patches"], figure the rest of it out later. Simple, right? And it made sense to her.

When they made a run for the door, she was keeping close on his tail. Getting out before the door shut, and watching as he took a shot at the control panel. Because? Well, t was going to keep the inside in, but now they were in the streets as well, with sirens? Smart place to be, really and truly.

“You might.” She grinned, looking him over before taking the blaster and checking the ammo on it. Terrific. That many gone? She slipped it back into its holster and looked around. “Should proba---.” She felt the need to escape before she heard the glass break. Stepping back at about the same time the glass started breaking, she was seeing the other part of this makeshift trio, [member="Noxu Za'tire"], fall from the sky and aim the blaster.

When it didn’t fire, Riley looked between both of them. “Might be time to go?” She said, nodding down the street, there were the green CorSec lights flashing nearby.

 

[Jonathon Patches]

[member="Riley Topol"] [member="Noxu Za'tire"]

“You might.”

“Should proba---.”

"Wow... you're a natural wordsmith aren't you?" quipped Patches with a wry grin, his head wandering from left to right scanning the panicked crowd for one Noxu Za'tire. However, Patches didn't have to search long until Noxu made his entrance in his usual dramatic Noxu Za'tire fashion.

Broken glass lay everywhere, a high fall, and one person short of breath and a little upset were all the teltale signs one would come to expect with Nox. So it was met with little surprise when Patches found himself at the wrong end of a blaster in the hands of Nox, as he asked, "Nox... where you been?"

On the inside, Patches was a bit relieved at the misfire, though on the outside, his demeanor and response was cool as he quipped, "Ha... you can't tell me that's the first time that's happened," he said with a smirk.

At leathers insistence it was time to go, Patches couldn't agree more, as he quipped, "Chit, if a woman asks me to get out of here... you don't have to tell me twice... you in Nox?" he said, slapping him on the shoulder jestingly, before deciding the nearest side alley might be a good start; they could assess the situation better once gone from peering eyes and the sounds of sirens were in the distance.

 

[Noxu Za'tire]

He was going to kill him. Without a doubt, Noxu wanted to kill Patches and probably hide the body. Of course, they had other fish to fry at the moment, so that would have to wait until later--at which point, he would probably forget, pick up a few drinks, get drunk and forget the whole thing happened. That was definitely the likely scenario at the time.

When Patches slapped Nox on the shoulder, he winced in pain. "Gods damn it," he murmured out. Reaching into his left coat pocket, he pulled out a small packet of kolto and applied it to his cut up shoulder. "Frakkin' get the hell on it already!" he cursed out, already starting to make his way hurriedly over to the nearest side alley to get away from the bank before it'd inevitably be broken out from.

The very second he arrived at the alley, he leaned his right shoulder up against the wall and let the kolto do its work in closing up the wound and making it far less painful. "We are so gods damned frakked. It's entirely your fault," he said, eyeing Patches.

[member="Jonathon Patches"], [member="Riley Topol"]

 

[Riley Topol]

She waved her blaster at him and grinned. Right, so she was giving @Noxu Za’tire the spotlight to fall on them, instead of talking through it. What? Did [member="Jonathon Patches"] care what she had to say? She met a few people who she knew were trash, but this pair? She was actually having fun. And that was kind of a dark idea for the two of them. “You’re just lucky you’re cute.” She stuck her tongue out.

Really, that was about it, but still, no need to kill people she was running with, just needed to be faster. A dead teammate wasn’t going to slow them down that much, no one to question, if they’re dead. Looking at the scene with the gun, though, that was…

Was it supposed to go off?

Looking at the two, she shook her head. “We’ll be fine, just need ta get some space.” She looked up to the sky. “Either of you two have a ship?”

 

[Jonathon Patches]

[member="Riley Topol"] [member="Noxu Za'tire"]

"What? It's never my fault!" exclaimed Patches with a smirk, then shrugging casually as he added, "Well, almost never..."

He glanced down at the alley from whence they came, and though no tail appeared to be on them for the moment, the increasing volume of approaching sirens meant that may not remain the status quo if they lingered too long. He started making his way down the alley, as Noxu bandaged himself up.

"We going to have to leave you behind Nox? You aren't going to slow us down, are you?" he asked with a grin, as he pulled a small piece of glass from Nox's other shoulder without warning.

That's when "Leather" chimed in with her question. "Whoa... you work fast there, don't you sweetheart? Don't even know our names and are already asking, back to our place?" he quipped playfully, as they made a right down another alley, putting further distance between themselves and the bank.

"Now I am all for skipping the formalities and pleasantries; don't always need a name... but Nox here," said Patches, pointing to his friend, "he's more of the romantic type... needs a name, your family tree and your future aspirations before he'll even go to second base," he said with a chuckle.