Tricks and stones

[Balkar Din]

So, three guys walk into a bar. A wookiee, a kel dor, and a clawdite. Which is which?" The man at the center of the table looked around, shuffling his pazaak deck after asking the question. Silence. "Fine, fine, i'll deal the damn cards already. Can't even get a crack on those ugly faces of yours..." As he passed the cards out, he would casually slip a card into his sleeve every so often, all the while he never broke eye contact with the other players around him. Apparently, he wasn't as slick as he thought.

"I saw that, you cheating slime!" The guy who called him out stood up and reached over to grab at his wrist, which wasn't very hard to do, and plucked a few cards from the jacket sleeve. Smiling innocently, he got up and held up his hands. "Alright, alright, you've got me. I didn't wash my clothes. See what happens when you forget laundry day? Cards just sprout everywhere!" "Oh no, you're not getting off so easy. Guards!" In an instant, two gammoreans shambled over, grunting loudly. They'd apparently been watching the whole thing, and were just waiting to be called over. "Evening officers!", the corellian proclaimed, his face bright as ever. "This must be your lucky day. Look, pork rinds!" Either they loved pork rinds, which was weird, or they were just plain stupid, because they turned around, giving the man plenty of time to whip out his blaster and fry both of them. "Cheers!" And like that, the man took off, heading out of the bar with three burly men on his tail. Life of the party.

[member="Val Cardin"]

 

[Garik Reed]

Val watched from a distance as the group played their card game. Pazaak. That took him back. Cardin took a sip of his drink, as he watched the man at the center perform a slick, but not perfect pick of the cards, sliding one into his sleeve every so often. Val, no stranger to cheating, caught it way before the man did. He just smirked, and took another sip. As soon as someone called for the guards, he started leaving. As he was leaving the bar, he heard a couple blaster shots. And that's why I left, he thought.

Suddenly, the man came running by him. Val flipped around, his coat whipping at his legs. He brought both of his shoddy blasters out of their holsters as he turned. Instincts told him trouble was coming. Cardin fired off three shots, hitting each of the men square in the chest. All of this happened in a matter of seconds, and Val dropped his guns back to his holsters. He turned back to the man, and ran to catch up with him. "Come on." He whispered, trying to grab the man by the elbow, and drag him off deeper into the streets.

[member="Balkar Din"]

 

[Balkar Din]

Right, left, left, gun! As Balkar rounded the next corner, he skidded to a stop when a man from the shadows pulled two pistols on him. Ducking as the triggers were pulled, he turned around to find his three pursuers dead. "Wow, thanks man. You didn't have to-" He was cut off when the savior of the hour grabbed his shoulder and pulled him into the alley. Hey, he wasn't about to argue with the guy who'd just saved his life. Once in the darkness of the alley, he spoke up again. "Okay look, I don't know who you work for, but I swear i'll get the money back eventually, okay? I rip a lot of people off, so don't worry, your boss isn't the first."

[member="Val Cardin"]

 

[Garik Reed]

Val was actually shocked when the man thought he was some sort of bounty hunter. He shoved one of his hands at the man's shoulder. "I don't even know who the kark you are! All I know is, I take care of my own." He jabbed a thumb at himself as he said the last part. "Oh, and by the way, pull the cards in with your pinkie. No one will catch ya'." Cardin made a a gesture with his hand, as if he was dealing cards, and showed the man the trick. "Cardin, by the way. Val." He shook his head, and moved over to eh ally wall, leaning up against it.

[member="Balkar Din"]

 

[Balkar Din]

"Alright well, I don't know what you mean about 'your own', but..." He cut himself off this time as he watched the man show him a more efficient way to trick the other players in a pazaak game. 'Shut your mouth, Bal', he chided himself. "Um, thanks. Balkar Din. You can call me Bal, for short. Or stick with Balkar. I don't care." He looked around, as if paranoid someone was going to snatch him up and shoot him point blank, probably for good reason too. "Say, that's some good shootin' there, tex. Nice moves."

[member="Val Cardin"]

 

[Garik Reed]

"Thanks. If I heard right, you took out a couple guards pretty quickly. At least, I assume since they didn't follow you." Val looked at the man, and ran his eyes up and down him. He'd make a good Raven. Cardin shrugged, that was business, and business was no fun. What was fun, was cheating people out of their money. "Say, I know a pretty good place for us to run a con, if ya' want. It's an underground fight ring up the street. Always bet against me, and I'll lose. Just, I don't wanna get punched without a share of the credits, of course." Val moved away from the wall, and gave him, a 'what d'ya think' look.

[member="Balkar Din"]

 

[Balkar Din]

Not two minutes in, and the man was offering a way for extra money. Not a bad deal. Balkar considered the idea for a moment, and came to the obvious answer. "Dude. If it gets me some extra credits, i'm all good with that. Hell, i'll even volunteer to fight. I can't hold my own anyway, so there's no chance i'd win. Where's this ring?"

[member="Val Cardin"]

 

[Garik Reed]

"Eh...I don't know anyone there who would bet ON you, no offense. That's why I figured I could do it." Val started walking out of the ally, and pointed down the street. "It's down this way. C'mon." Cardin started walking towards where he remembered the club. Eventually, he came to a run down building, rusted, with holes in the walls. He walked up, and knocked on a heavy door. Val knocked with a pattern: knock-knock-knockknockknock. The heavy metal door slid open, revealing stairs that led downwards, and a hunched over, small man.

[member="Balkar Din"]

 

[Balkar Din]

"Heh... good point." Bal followed his new companion down the street where he knocked on a door in a certain code. Upon the knocking, he saw the door open, and the two walked down into the building. Looking around, he whistled softly. "They got some real fight club thing going on here. Oh wait." He realized then that that's exactly what it was. From what he'd heard, one could make nice money from betting on these fights. No wonder Val had wanted to come here.

[member="Val Cardin"]

 

[Apoc]

It would soon be his second fight, and his second win. Apoc, or "the man with no name" was a regular at the club. It was an easy way to make credits and let off some steam. It was always better to beat someone to a pulp in an environment like this, it was like laws didn't exist and there would be no repercussions. Soon Apoc's next victim would be chosen. After his last preformance, where he made a grown man cry for his mummy, nobody seemed to jump at the chance to be his next challenger. But still, the masked man waited inside the fenced off arena, remaining silent.

(OOC: My idea is that Val could fight Apoc. Its up to you.)

[member="Balkar Din"]
[member="Val Cardin"]

 

[Jaster Awaud]

Jaster was always up for a drink. More was anyone willing to stop the 6'2" mandalorian in his bright yellow Beskar'kandar with the gold trim. His crew was close at hand and had a few men outside so he could enjoy is Mandilorian rum. In his mind nothing could ruin his day.

Just as he was settling in he saw his favorite fighter come in through the door, [member="Val Cardin"]. He wasn't alone, the man accompanying him Jaster didn't recognized him but a friend of his fighter is a friend of his. He stood up and waved them over, also grabbing the attention of a waiter.

[member="Balkar Din"] [member="Apoc"]

 

[Garik Reed]

[member="Apoc"] | [member=Jaster of clan Awaud] | [member="Balkar Din"]


Val stepped into the junky fightclub, and looked around. Immediately, he noticed a man sitting at a table off in one corner. He waved him over, and Cardin just shrugged at Bal. He walked over to the man, and sat down at his table. "Do I know you?" He looked around the room, and his eyes landed on a bar. With their plan, he was going to take a beating tonight. Val desperately wanted a drink, but needed to stay sober, that way someone might actually bet on him. That was the only way their plan would work.

 

[Riley Reese]

Riley sat at a corner booth by herself. Her helmet hiding her ever watchful eyes. She wasn't paying to much attention to the arena below, but rather the crowd itself. Out of the corner of her eyes she caught movement. She turned to see a Mandalorian she didn't recognize waving to a man she did, Val Cardin Her eyes narrowed some as she scanned him, before turning her attention to the man with him. This man she didn't recognize, but knew she probably hear his name before the night was out.

 

[Balkar Din]

Balkar immediately noticed his new friend's longing for a drink, and clapped him on the shoulder. "Hey man, we earn some coin from this, and I'll buy you a drink. I'll actually pau for something. Alright?" He eyed the armored man that seemed to be checking his buddy out, and raised an eyebrow. "Looks like you've got fans." He turned back around just in time to be shouldered by a dug with a scowl on his face. "Geez, though crowd."

[member="Val Cardin"] [member="Riley Reese"] [member="Jaster of clan Awaud "][member="Apoc"]

 

[Jaster Awaud]

[member="Balkar Din"] [member="Val Cardin"]

Jaster cared little for other men, even less for criminals, but gambling, that made him excited. Val didn't know him, he tried very hard to not be noticed in these types of places, but he had quite a lot of credits ready to be placed on Val. He wanted the money safe, "No, and you probably won't," Jaster had a reputation as a high ranked healer official, "but I'm here to make sure you win your next fight."

Jaster called the bartender over to his table, "Keep the alcohol away from here and I'll make it worth your while," Jaster looked at Val's friend, "you can have your pick as well, on me." Jaster didn't like the attention that brough to him by there company, "you can go now if you like."

Jaster continued to sip on his Corillian Whisky, fingered two of his men, Mandilorian as well, to escort the fighters from his table. Alone... That's what Jaster enjoyed when gambling.

 

[Garik Reed]

Val looked over his shoulder at Bal as the strange man spoke. He gave him a look that said, 'Can you believe this guy?' Once the man stopped talking, Val just stood up, looking a bit weirded-out. He looked back to Bal again, and started moving away from the table. "What the kark...?" The pilot just shrugged, and began pushing his way through the crowd. Finally, he spotted his target. A besalisk.

Val motion for Bal to move back. "Try not to be seen with me. Only way this guy won't catch onto us. Once you see me get ready to fight, place all our credits on the other guy." Val slipped a comm to Bal, which had a good amount of money on it. About 20,000 credits. He held up his hand as if to say, 'wait here.' Val walked over to the four armed alien, who had a crowd of people surrounding him. "Heeeyyyy, Val, good to see you, buddy!" Quickly, the fat besalisk exchanged credits with four people at one time, using each hand to dish out debts, and to collect. "Good to see you to, Rav. I want a fight." Val crossed his arms, and looked around at all the betting. "Of course! Got the perfect guy!"

[member="Jaster of clan Awaud "]| [member="Balkar Din"] | [member="Riley Reese"] | @Apoc