Faction Thyrsus: Great Bargains on Terrible Things (Spacer Guild)

[Amea Virou]

Zef Halo

Okay, good. They seemed to have agreed to the plan. Amea followed along as Zef led her back to the place where he had been denied his payment. It was supposed to be rather straightforward. They’d talk to the employer, make them see the error in their ways. Amea opened her mouth to speak.

“Hey, so we should talk.”

Or rather, that was what she would have said. What happened instead was that Zef opened his mouth to talk and let out a big scream. Or rather, he raised his gun, he squeezed the trigger, and created a catastrophe. The girl remained frozen for a second as she looked at the dead body in horror.

And that, was exactly, when things spiraled

The sound of several blasters unholstering and firing in their direction called from within the small storefront. Amea ducked behind cover and threw Zef a wide-eyed look of surprise.

“What the hell, man?!” She hissed over the fire. One of the enforcers stepped out and she quickly grabbed him to hold as a meat shield. “We were supposed to talk to them first!”

 

[Koushou Mito]

Mito was only two peanuts into her own stash when she saw the first of the Too Bigs notice her little stall and change course. The Nezumi stood up a little straighter, not realizing she was bouncing on her back toes a little.

Looking up at Jerec Asyr as he approached and reached down for the Vonium chain- she'd expected that to go fast and was pleased she'd been right.

"Trade only, no credits," she said firmly. Normally she had a stipulation that it had to be something she could carry, but known Wynter Rackham was here to help meant she didn't have to do that! "Whatcha got?"

Using credits to try to make purchases had been.... well, frankly troublesome in the past, and she had more use for functional or tradeable goods.

The Elnacon Porl Berlmat would overhear that on his approach as well- Mito didn't know WHAT he was but boy he was big wasn't he? Sure everything was big to here but- "Gosh you're tall!" Before she could really think about it.

As the first human gave her a smitten smile, she nodded emphatically. "She's very pretty!" Mito agreed whole heartedly with the human. "You should tell her you like the way her claws shine. I bet she puts a lot of effort into them!"

The stand was small. Too small to accommodate a crowd and yet, one was forming. Mito felt very important and her chest puffed up a bit as a THIRD person swung by.

"You can look- but you break it you bought it!" She warned Maynard Treicolt , very seriously. Especially ridiculous because the item in question was technically already broken.

"Trade only, no credits" Mito repeated for the benefit of Katria Vekarr and any other new bystanders. "And thanks! I got it all myself!" Chest puffing out a little more.

Of course, Wynter had helped her get it here, but she'd put in the hard work of stealing it all.

 

[Jerec Asyr]

Koushou Mito

"Barter? I've got just the thing!"

As the Nezumi conducted her business with the others, Jerec pulled back and rummaged through his bag. "Silane," he said absently, "did you see where I put the - oh, here it is." He produced a small shard of black crystal encased in a cube of transparent brown resin the size of the Nezumi's head.

"My buddy Quekko pulled this out of me before he died. It's shrapnel from a big Sith ritual explosion I, uh, interrupted. Gave me headaches and bad dreams until I stuck it in Jedi nullification resin. It's kyber, so it's valuable. Fair trade for the chain?"

 

[Zef Halo]

"Yap, yap, yap - is all y'all kids do these days." Zef growled through the cacophony of mini-war being waged in the midst of the market. "Shoot fist, talk after." Daro Tarsi would be proud. He wondered where that ol' fool was. Probably livin' off a brothel somewhere in the Mid Rim. "Now listen, they got 'em self entrenched in the storefront. We ain't breakin' through with these shit pistols we've got." The smuggler still carried some know-how from his days as a Warmarshal of the Mandalorian Crusaders, despite the fading memory; some things stuck like muscle memory, forever.

"You look like you got 'em quick feet on ya." Zef stated. His cover was shrinking. They had to act quick. "Find a way around 'em, flank 'em. I will cover ya." the scoundrel reloaded, the barrel clicked and he shouted, "NOW! GO!"

Zef popped out of cover and pulled the trigger relentlessly sending powerful bolts all over the storefront.

She better be fast.

Amea Virou

 

[Amea Virou]

Zef Halo

In and out, in and out. The breaths that blew through Amea’s nose brushed against her shield’s neck before she grabbed his rifle and ran away in a sprint. She had pushed the man in her arms towards his friend and last thing she heard before she rounded the corner was his body hitting the floor. In her head she ran the calculations and it all pointed towards this turning into a shitfest. At most they had a few minutes before any form of authority showed up, and quite frankly from reading the news stories about the Thyrsian Guard it was a prospect that scared her.

She pushed with all due haste up along a balcony, each step burning against her thighs as she pushed against the boundaries of what her unprepared body had been ready for. One of the thugs must have the same idea. With a punch to his face and a push to the side, Amea let the man fall over the railing. They hit the ground with a thud and Amea pushed back into the courtyard again.

Now she had the higher ground, and with it she began to fire at the legs of the people down below to provide Zef with cover. It wasn’t center mass, but it would be a hell of a lot easier to convince these folks to settle the hell down and explain that it was all a mistake.

“Zef, go!” She shouted for him to do whatever it was he had planned to do.

Oh wait, no. He didn’t actually have a fething plan. That was his whole thing.

“… Idiot.” She muttered under her breath and kept on trying to minimize the body count.

 

[Porl Berlmat]

Porl smiled as the little mouse like being puffed their chest up with pride in their little shop. A trade only shop. What did Porl have on him that he could trade for the blank birthday card. He hurried checked his pockets, nothing. His hands ran over his spiked gauntlet then he thought of something. The creature grapped one of the spikes and began to wiggle it and pull it until it popped out from the gauntlet. His tough fingers folded some sharp parts in and began to form a very small spike with an even smaller handle. "Here you are little one, something for you protection." Porl bend down once again and placed a very small blade made from the spike in front of her. "A fair trade?" Porl asked. Koushou Mito .

Before the answer came to Porl he heard a few shouts followed by a mini-war breaking out a few stalls over. People began to start clearing out and the few guard started on the troublemakers. "Never civil these things." Porl rose to his full height and took stock of the situation. One man had just opened fire on the guards and his friends seemed to have taken the high ground to provide cover fire. He watched as the older mans cover was riddled with blaster fire. "Might as well do my good deed of the day." His eyes scanned the area before they fell upon someone selling parts to small starfighters. An old X-Wing wing would do. Porl lifted the wing and ran forwards slamming it into the ground infront of Zef, providing a little more cover. "Need a hand?" Porl asked as he slammed against the cover attempting to hide his rather large form behind it and leave enough room for Zef.

Zef Halo Amea Virou

 

[Kingsley]

"Iss that you? Sstarss, it'ss been too long. Jerec, keep shopping. Captain Kingssley and I need to...catch up."

He quickly hacked a sticky wad of phlegm into one talon while Silane's back was turned and used it to straighten out his rugged head plumage. His heart was racing. It had been so long and he had never expected to see her kind, whatever kind that was exactly, again. Kingsley was little more than a fledgling when they first crossed paths along the Torrential Burp.

"Rrrawk! I thought you might blame me for how we left things on Kamino."

Walking with his old flame made Kingsley feel young again.

"What's with the farm boy?" he tilted his beak over towards Jerec Asyr , "I bet he doesn't know who you really are."

 

[Koushou Mito]

"Oooooh," Mito reached out with both little grabby paws for the tube Jerec Asyr held out. Whiskers quivered as she sniffed it, and then gave it an experimental bite. Not too hard, just enough for teeth to tap and get the sound of the material beneath.

Not being a force sensitive, this was unlikely to cause problems for her, even if the containment failed, though she wasn't thinking in that regard. She was aware enough to realize however that it should absolutely stay in that resin.

"Deal!" She squeaked, gesturing to the chain. "Well traded and have a great day!" Beaming up.

She didn't have much time to study the crystal however, head cocking the other direction at Porl Berlmat , peering up and watching him as he- what was he doing?- breaking a tiny sword off of his gauntlet covered in tiny swords!!!!!

"Very fair," she nodded, in awe as she accepted the blade. Really, it was, much like Jerec's trade, MORE than fair. But that wasn't how Mito viewed the world anyway. "Enjoy the card!" She called after him as he headed off to whatever Very Too Big business he had.

 

[Jerec Asyr]

"No, Kingssley, in ssome wayss he doessn't know me like you did." Silane sighed. "I've missed you. It'ss been sso long ssinsse I felt the touch of your featherss."

A good thirty yardss - ahem, yards - behind them, Jerec went from pocketing his little rare-metal chain to looking for his girlfriend. The bazaar obsscured ssightliness (dangit).

"Silane? Uhh...Silane?"

He squinted through the crowd. His eyes went wide. There she went, arm in arm with the same moldering turkey who'd taken a shot at him over Kessel: Captain Kingsley .

Her body language was unmistakable. Jerec wilted and headed for the nearest bar.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

It was very rare for two Nezumi to meet in the wild, unless they travelled together, even more so it was strange for two Nezumi of the same clan yet with otherwise no ties to one another. Yet, by the strange machinations of the Force, Koushou Akito found herself staring at a Nezumi that was, unmistakeably, a Koushou. Unless, of course, it was some kind of rouse to bring the future master assassin out, or some trick by her master that would inevitably bring her great suffering and unforeseen wisdom.

No, silly, the master was why Akito was there.

The Pale Serpent had asked her to establish contact in this region, to scout for places through which they could work. So many of these places were Too Big. Some were Too Big for the Too Big even.

Three times now, she had almost been stepped on, and another two times she had been forced to use her cat mace. TWO TIMES! That is a two-hundred per cent increase of her normal days. And these cats were both bigger and meaner than the one lurking around in the Bastion palace. Damn cats and their seven clawed rimbilly, mangy paws.

And there Akito stood, a few minor scratches away from pristine, staring at a stall whose proprietor had enormous ears and a fine collection of treasures.

Akito jumped down from her hovercart of goods, grabbed it by the handles, and steered it frantically toward Koushou Mito 's fine little stall in a sprint then stopped just short of a crash.

"I have coin, I have wares. So do you, so let's barter!"

She pointed her taloned little finger at the smaller mouse. Akito was always the best conversationalist.

 

[LT-137]

The blade was immaculate. There was no contesting that. Its hilt was hand-crafted from polished bone, likely pilfered from the carrion that dotted the Sea of Thirst. The silvered edge of the weapon was visibly smithed to perfection, a testament to the craft of its maker. Yet, it wasn’t worth the asking price. Ten thousand Solari? Khonsu scoffed, audibly, as he placed the blade back from whence it came. He told the woman off, and that he wasn’t interested in paying gouged prices for what was - in his eyes- a worthless trinket.

No one save the richest of tourists would pay such prices. It was downright criminal.

Khonsu smiled then. It seems he came to the right place.

Some rumours circulated throughout the Fleet of a new Bazaar that opened up within the Northern Districts of Nicaea. It was said that one could purchase almost anything there for prices that ranged from reasonable to downright outrageous. While the Thyrsian Warlord was pleased that more commerce found its way onto the Homefront - there was a part of him that wondered how long it would last.

The Silver Jedi wouldn’t take kindly to the trafficking of illicit goods through their territories, but then again - it’s doubtful they’d never know. Their watchful, ever-present gaze found itself rebuked whenever they approached the Thyrsian border. The Independence that Thyrsus presently enjoyed was hard-fought over, and they wouldn’t let anyone - even the vaunted Silver Jedi Order - bully them into submission.

Khonsu’s spatial galleons made sure of that.

With such thoughts in mind, the Master of the Sun Guard continued purveying the various wares that populated the Bazaar. His armoured gauntlet ran across several items that caught his interest but ultimately returned them from whence they rested. Many of these items were useless by his standards; some were even outdated. But, then again, the Sun Guard always found themselves on the bleeding edge - especially when it came to technologies devised to dominate the battlefield.

He couldn’t deny the affectionate sensation of nostalgia, however, and thus moved onto another stall with his smile growing ever wider.

However, fueling the desire for sentimentality wasn’t why the man pursued the rumours that ultimately led him to the Bazaar. Something else drew him here. Something that not only necessitated the deployment of several Vigil Oculi agents but the appearance of the Supreme Sun Guardian himself. Together, with Khonsu himself in the open, and the others skulking about in the shadows, they would find their target - inevitably neutralizing them.

Until then, it was his chance to relish the finer antiquities that this Bazaar had to offer.

 

[Koushou Mito]

The familiar tone and tenor of another Nezumi voice pricked up Mito's rather large ears. Dark eyes blinked and she brought her paws up to her mouth, stuck the smallest fingers in, and let out a high pitched whistle of greeting.

"That," she said, tone admiring, "Is a GREAT hover craft."

Someone who knew Mito well might recognize the avarice underlined in the tone. For someone else it would be less obvious.

Was Mito considering stealing it?

AbsoLUTEly.

There was, perhaps, a good reason she was not generally welcome for long in polite Nezumi society.

She hopped up onto the top of her tin stall casually, peering up and over and into the pile of things Akito had already gathered. A better pile than her own, if she was being honest, and her ears drooped a little. She couldn't know that having the connections Akito did gave her that edge.

"No credits, only trade!" She announced, the same as before.

Darth Ophidia

 

[Smeg]

A market!

The food! The sights! The smells! THE FOOD!

Bright red eyes as big as pies practically boggled out of their googles as Smeg scampered through the marketplace. His sensations were very much overwhelmed, not so much by the intrigue of illicit shopping but instead by the sheer volume of street food available to his grubby little paws.

There was a glaring problem here, however, the Skraal didn't actually have any money, heck, he didn't have pockets! How could he enjoy this delicious feast if he couldn't even pay for it?

As if you had to ask, of course, he was stealing it.

His stomach was already uncomfortably full having sampled meat on sticks, meat with chips, meat in bread and then just a full leg of meat. What kind of meat? He had no idea. Didn't really have an opportunity to ask given that he was ambushing people as they paid for their street food and running off with it.

Meat is always good, but now it was time for dessert.

Smeg scrambled, eyes darting from side-to-side only to be obstructed by a bit of a crowd. Giant bodies, big bodies and small bodies with hovercrafts. Smeg could only imagine that the temptation of delicious dessert could draw such a crowd.

The white rodent made his best attempt to be sneaky, circling around until he was behind the neighbouring stall and the Herglic who ran it.

There it was, his final meal of the day (or maybe the hour). A pile of peanuts sitting atop a makeshift stall which seemed to be run by a rodent even smaller than he, the runt of his litter! He licked his teeth, face twitching as the cogs in his head turned and tried to think of an approach.

An approach didn't come.

His feet pitter-pattered ever closer to the pile of peanuts until he was looming over them with all the gluttonous intent in the galaxy. Practically salivating now. His scabby little claw started to move towards the pile...

Koushou Mito

 

[Darth Ophidia]

"I know! Built it myself."

Akito let go of the controls with her hands and steered with her tail as the little hovercraft made a hover-doughnut in front of the stall. Her hands firmly pressed against her sides.

But as Mito climbed up on her stall, Akito steered the hovercraft steady and close so she could see. There were:

• Three metal disks with strange markings.
• One candy bar, expired.
• Uncooked pasta.
• A disembodied, cybernetic eye.
• A twisted piece of metal that is always cold to the touch.
• A tiny flute made of bone
• A talon with a hole through the base.
• A scroll with unintelligible writing.
• A glass orb filled with red smoke
• A sample of L' E D G E Eu'd cologne.
• A stone that changes colours when you look at it.
• A single slugthrower bullet.
• A bag of hard candy.
• A tiny cage with no door.
• A small glass jar labelled d̷̡̢̨͔̀̈́r̶̡̲͜͠a̶͎͕̯̓g̸̭͑͂̎́o̷̧͔̓̏n̵̹̚ grease.
• A flimsiplast with music notes.
• A bag full of wires and electrical equipment.
• Something wrapped in a bundle of cloth.

"Okay, just trade." Akito hopped down into the storage of the hovercart and started rummaging around to show all the things.

Koushou Mito Smeg

 

[Koushou Mito]

She leaned in, starting to poke through the gorgeous pile of things. Absolutely envious. It meant that she did not see the initial approach of the Skraal.

"What do you want for the candies and this?" She asked, holding up the metal that was always cold to the touch. Some of the stuff was a little TOO WEIRD, but she also couldn't help but eye the talon with the hole in it- that looked USEFUL.

And then-

"Hey!"

Reaching out, she smapped Smeg 's paw with her tail. Turning around to give him a furious look, paws going to her hips.

"That's my rightful property! What do you have to trade, yah?"

Darth Ophidia

 

[Smeg]

Smeg's paw recoiled as it was thwapped by the tail of the stall owner, an instinctual hiss erupting from the Skraal's diseased maw. Nobody liked getting caught, after all.

“Tradez?!” he cried out curiously, reaching for his own pockets only to find that he didn't have any, for Smeg did not wear any clothes. This was quite distressing. If there was nothing that he could trade then how was he to get the peanuts?!

Bent whiskers twitched in thought, the large rodent not quite ready to give up upon this delicious bounty.

However, there was a second mouse. One who had her own emporium of snacks and knick-knacks! It would be simple, he would trade using the wares of the hovercraft mouse! It was simple, it was ingenious! Was he the smartest Skraal in all of time and space? Actually, that was a legitimate question, as his species were known Corsuscant-wide to be notoriously stupid, barely sentient, even.

“Smeg willz tradez you dis kandy bar!” he announced happily as he scurried over to the hovercraft, his thieving paw reaching out to pick up the expired wares of the second mouse.

He was really getting a hang of this trading stuff.

Darth Ophidia Koushou Mito

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Akito picked up the bone flute and gave it a few toots as Mito picked through her storage. The notes seemed to echo in the air a few seconds after they had been made, as if it was played in some great, empty hall. Two toots were right, and one honked falsely.

Akito reared her head, looking down at the flute, adjusted her fingers, and gave it one last toot.

"Excellent choice!" Akito handed the flute over to her tail and lifted the hard candy out of the rest of the pile- "How about, for trade-"

As she eyed Mito's stock for items in return she purposely neglected to mention that the cold piece of metal was an integral part of a lightsabre she had stolen, disassembled, "reassembled", and then returned to its owner. Akito reached for a glowing, pea-sized node.

Whap! Mito smacked Smeg on the hand with determination. When Smeg reached for Akito's candy bar for trade, Akito similarly whapped Smeg on the hand with the flute she held with her tail, without even looking.

"And what will you trade me for that?"

She straightened up, crossing her hands over her chest and tapping her foot, while the flute swayed menacingly at the end of her curled tail.

"No freebies, mister!"

Koushou Mito
Smeg