Log:Zhu Yan and the Jewel of Am-Kharad!
Like a fella once said, ain't that a kick in the head?
OOC Date: March 3, 2021
Location: The CORAL VANDA, under the seas of PANTOLOMIN
Participants: Djahni Chromium, Khalim, Zyrette, Mandl, Nerys Arda, Tarq Najjic, Trip, Xyra, Nubri, and Zhu Yan as GM.
The short story: High rollers roll a high roller while rolling high, but underwater!
The long story:
[Zhu Yan]
Last time, on ZHU YAN ADVENTURES...
"ACK, HRK, BHLHCKHH."
- Surveillance Room Guard.
And now, the THRILLING CONTINUATION!
The man in the ORNATE-LOOKING SECURITY UNIFORM slumped against the wall UNCONSCIOUS while Zhu Yan, attired in his WHITE LEISURE SUIT with PINK SHIRT and LOAFERS WITHOUT SOCKS, locked the door. Then he moved to the primary security console and started typing. "So, you should all be receiving maps..." ding! "now. For those who weren't listening, our goal is to get into the central vault and steal the Jewel of Am-Kharad, which Baron S'ztlroy of Worker Repository Zero-Five-Three-Aurek (former)," he means Kashyyyk, "is using as collateral for the High Roller sabacc game."
Speaking of HIGH ROLLER SABACC GAME, now's a good time to get the lay of the land. The CORAL VANDA is a gleaming glittering undersea vessel, navigating the glorious and gorgeous CORAL REEFS of PANTOLOMIN while the occupants GAMBLE RESPONSIBLY. Everyone onboard is DRESSED UP to the TENS (the nines were insufficient), to the point where Zhu Yan at his best looked like he'd smuggled himself aboard. He probably had. The vessel itself has three decks:
1) Deck Prime: This is where the staterooms, restaurants, and casinos were, and where no one that wasn't dressed like a worker would look out of place. The staterooms were ornate, expensive, and the beds had CRISP WHITE SHEETS. The casinos? Packed, excessively well decorated, with all sorts of ways for one to HAEMORRHAGE MONEY. Plenty of EXTREMELY WELL DRESSED people doing EXTREMELY IRRESPONSIBLE things up here, gazing at the SIGHTS of underwater Pantolomin and losing MANY credits. In a private room, the HIGH ROLLER SABACC GAME is taking place! "The longer that game goes on, the more time we have."
2) Employee Deck: Worker areas, the bridge, ship control rooms, security, and THE VAULT lurk here. Without a disguise or a good excuse, coming down here was a great way to get sent back topside (ish). Within the vault lies... THE JEWEL OF AM-KHARAD! "There's two guards blocking the vault entrance, more on patrol, and internal cameras are slaved to a redundant security system so if I bring them down, they'll come back up and raise an alert. Someone's gonna have to patch into the security panel there and shut it down."
3) Maintenance: A twisty maze of little passages, all alike. Excellent for navigating the vessel while remaining unseen for those of STEALTHY DISPOSITION and CATLIKE TREAD. A long time ago, Zhu Yan and an UNNAMED ASSOCIATE stashed a bunch of weapons in a secret crawlspace down here in preparation for a heist that never took place. If you want blasters, someone has to come down here and get them. "With any luck, the blasters tucked away should still be serviceable. But we should try to avoid using them if we can, bodies mean mess."
Which brings me to my next point. All weapons were confiscated upon boarding. Unless someone's managed to shove a blaster in an anatomically impossible space, no one's made it onboard armed. Not even Yan, and he loves his Bryar so much he might as well /marry/ it, much to EJ's ENDLESS FURY. "Say what you will about Trandoshan slavers but I'd much rather he /not/ have the thing." Oh, he was still talking. Right. He was also TYPING FURIOUSLY, uploading a new sudo user with his own credentials and installing a shell script to scrub logs as he ran commands. "And remember the main goal. We need to be /clean/, and we need to be /quiet/. Every corpse we leave cuts our chance for escape in half, so keep that in mind. Take a few minutes to look at the map when you can, then execute your assigned tasks. Get to it!"
His instructions given, everyone had a couple of minutes to prepare, plan, and PULL OFF a HEIST deep under THE SEAS OF PANTOLOMIN!
[Djahni Chromium]
Stepping out onto the main floor of the casino to throngs of adoring fans and a wall of camera flash is DJAHNI CHROMIUM, GOD OF ROCK. What's he wearing, you ask? Simple enough; a ragged-looking military uniform replete with myriad anti-war slogans stitched into it and the sleeves ripped off to reveal his trademark chromium arm and the bevy of tattoos down the other.
"This place sucks," Djahni remarks with a grunt, his metal hand rolling a lit cigarette between its thumb and index finger. "Wonder if they have a resident act," he wonders.
[Khalim]
Khalim, dressed up, looks like he may actually, somehow, fit in here. Maybe it's the slightly obnoxious quirk to the grin he sends Zyrette, that says 'I was born to lose money deep underwater'. Maybe it's the somewhat antiquarian cut to his tuxedo, that says 'I was born to not realize this suit has a fifty-fifty chance to make me look like I shop at the historyholochannel.com, or very, very cool.'
But most of all, Khalim looks preoccupied. With the casino the stretches beyond his Falleen companion. And all the bells and whistles that call out 'CREDITS GALORE! WAITING TO BE NOT WON!' "Do we have time to pull some arms?" the Mirialan asks of Zee, eyes betraying a glint of desire to start popping credits into slots.
[Zyrette]
For this evening's festivities Zyrette wears a space Tuxedo, in the form of a one piece jumpsuit, with a bit of a twist. The black, shimmer silk pantsuit hugs her generous curves from top to bottom. One side of the jumpsuit's bodice wraps around in a classic tuxedo jacket, if form fitted, fashion. However, the second side of the bodice encases Zee's torso in a sleeveless bustier. The two sides of the tuxedo bodice meet in a plunging, sweetheart neckline, that allows the Falleen's, assets, to sit high and pretty.
For her accessories, Zee chose a serpentine theme. A 'diamond' and 'emerald' encrusted snake choker coils around her neck, with the serpent's head nestled daintily atop her décolletage. A matching bracelet crawls along the bare wrist and forearm. Likewise, a similar creature coils at the heel and down stem of both sky high, black satin pumps. She caries a satin clutch, with a serpent latch, to round out her formal wear. To complete the look a brush of shimmer glistens at the corners of eye lids, and the ridges of cheeks and temples, while naturally emerald lips are just lightly glossed.
Zee smiles briefly at Khalim, giving a shake of head as answer, "No, I don't think so."
[Mandl]
Mandl's flatly obnoxious patchwork quilted (yet still impeccable and smartly-tailored) suit-of-exotic-leathers allows them to blend seamlessly among high-stakes gamblers, but they do minimal "actual gambling." Primarily they schmooze, they distract, they divert-- loudly sipping ginger ale and throwing elbows! Haw, haw, haw!
[Nerys Greystorm (Nerys)]
Whomever said there was no such thing as the aristocracy on Corellia lied. Lied. LIED. One such woman made her way into the casino, pausing as she went through the security checkpoint, turning over this and that, as one does, her expression the height of supercilious disregard for the proletariat. That she had spent a few extra moments in the receiving area than might have strictly been necessary, well, a woman did wish to look her best.
And so she did, as Nerys Arda, daughter of Eion Arda (not a Greystorm today) made her way into the main floor, sashaying away from the entry and beginning a circuit of the tables, eyes scanning for the most likely companion of the evening. Between the black bandage dress and the sky high stiletto heels, she did not //appear// to be going anywhere quickly.
[Tarq Najjic]
There is a man standing with a black-and-red fan in his hands ... fanning himself. Despite being on the slim side, it's definitely a man in that long silk dress of scarlet. His other hand is holding up the dress's short train of black and red lace, so that he is ready to move. The dress is slit up the side, enough to show he's wearing platform heels and some skin-hugging leggings. No enhancements: this is straight-up cross-dressing, not drag.
He blows on a man's dice before a roll and looks around while his attention is on the table. "Good luck, love." He disengages and makes his way down the hall, brushing past Djahni Chromium after parting his crowd with extreme prejudice, only to hip-check him in passing with a wink. It would probably be more funny if those parts were more cushioned, but here we are: he's built like a gymnast. You know where the gymnasts are going: "On way to maintenance access." His fan has a datapad of sorts built in, and he's using it to read the map.
Tarq Najjic is here as very much himself.
[Trip]
Fuzzy feet slip on the rung of a chair as the small, tall eared creature made it to the common heights where one might regard themselves in the reflection of a mirror. Not necessarily dressed to be a playboy, this space bunny relied on its natural appeal by looking the part of a pet that suffered its master's vision of looking cuter! A vest, and pants, are all that adorn this diminutive creature named Trip. He slicked his long ears back, orienting them to lay over his back. "Alas, this will have to do."
That's the sound of a fresher flush, and someone comes out of the stall to see the Lagomorph looking at itself in the mirror. Something seems likely to come out in the form of a comment, but the gentlemen stows it, shakes their head, and moves out. Trip is soon to follow.
[Xyra]
Xyra's dress seems to move with her as if it was in the process of being poured into place, the fabric of her floor-length gown brushing the ground and allowing her legs to escape with each step of her stride before once more settling around her when she stills. She enters beside a green skinned Mirialan woman who /still/, despite the height of her golden stilettos, manages somehow to stand a couple of inches taller than she does. As her emerald eyes turn over to her companion, she smiles easily, offering a small roll of her shoulders after Zhu's voice had finished transmitting in her discretely placed ear piece that just happened to be extra-hidden under her long, crimson hair.
"Quite a vacation," Xyra's soprano carries to Nubri with a small smile. "Let's hope it goes better than Rishi." There's a playful glint in her eyes, casting her view back out over the casino at large. "I wonder if they'll let us in to see the sabacc game," she muses, lifting her eyebrows slightly.
[Nubri]
There can be grumbling heard "Couldn't I grab black, Red?" she mutters "I mean, I would stand out less... or I had a nice, gray suit..." she begins, in a clearly proletarian Coruscanti accent, before smiling, as her suspiciously heavy boots strike quite a contrast, also giving her perhaps an extra inch in height "Oh, Red, I think they should let us in." she winks "Why shouldn't they. We might hit the buy-in..." she begins "And... not sure. I mean, it might not be as eventful as Rishi." a hand is placed in her pocket "Or... think there is some back entrance to the sabacc game?"
[Zhu Yan]
LIGHTS, FLASH, and PIZAZZ. Such is the world of high stakes gambling and luxury accomodation! Djahni Chromium, that rat-faced bastard, was getting the most looks due to his status as a BONAFIDE ROCK STAR. In a not-quite close second is Xyra, because Zeltron, honestly you all saw this coming. This entire venue was designed almost exclusively to facilitate head turning, the more the better, and was thus a nightmare on anyone with neck pain like the safely-hidden Yan. Speaking of Yan, "'Kay. Maintenance access is..." that was Yan over the comms again from his lair in the locked security room, "if I'm tracking your datapad right it should be second door on the right. Hope you wore your dancing shoes, Fop, 'cause there's stairs." OH NO! Stairs! The enemy of all talented crossdressers!
Moving on! The door to the HIGH STAKES game was CLOSED, with a singular GUARD of MILDLY IRRITABLE DISPOSITION standing out front! Access could likely be granted with a quick tongue (not that kind, or maybe that kind, you figure it out) or a sizeable show of MONEY. Access to the secondary security system required accessing the EMPLOYEE DECK and finding the SECURITY TERMINAL, wherever that may hide! Without it, or an alternative, the cameras would see them PURLOINING THE JEWEL OF AM-KHARAD! This was of course not ideal.
"We could definitely stand to benefit from slowing that game even further. Plus, the more security up on Deck Prime, the better, will make it easier for Nerys and Fop to scour the lower decks," Yan mused, playing speed-chess with the plan instead of gluing to the script. "Pink," that was Yan, he hadn't yet learned or bothered to remember Xyra's name, "go start drawing a bit of attention. Do the leg thing. People love the leg thing. Green," this time it was Nubri, the only greenskin who's name he didn't remember, "see if you can find some alternate routes on to the Employee Deck that aren't the primary turbolifts. Assume those are being watched. Mandl," oh, THAT name he remembered, "if you're bored, start making a scene at tables doing... I don't know whatever it is you do but do it. Anyone else? I think you're all set."
[Djahni Chromium]
Smile and wave, Djahni, smile and wave. The former frontman does just that, schmoozing with the crowd who are so enraptured by the man's presence that they likely can't tell how much he wants to beat them all up and rob them.
Bustling through the crowd as best he can, Djahni makes his way over to the solitary guard between himself and the high stakes sabacc, his free hand moving to rest in one frayed pocket. "This," Djahni begins, jerking his head towards the rest of casino floor weighed down with rabble. "This doesn't work for me. Too many people trying to get at me, you feel? So, how's about you let me play a round or two in there, and maybe I'll see about mentioning to the entertainment director that you convinced me to do a free show for you guys?" He leans forward and reads the guard's name tag. "Doof." No wonder he's so surly.
[Khalim]
Khalim glances from the nearest slot machine, sitting all along by itself, and the door beyond, guarded by that mildly irritated guard-shaped barrier. A look to Zyrette, a nod and a pat at a pantsuit-clad hip, and the Mirialan is off towards that door.
BUT LO! THAT SLOT MACHINE! It pulls at him like a capital-class tractor beam emplacement is hidden just inside. He steers in its direction, briefly looking back to see if Zee might notice. Oh what the heck, cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching, in go the credits! Digital tinkling noises fill the air, and dark brown eyes gaze at the rotating digital reels... plink. plink. plink. YOU LOSE. "Yes! I used up all my bad luck for evening," he murmurs, and moves the rest of the way to the door.
Just as Djahni is finishing his appeal, Khalim adds, "There you are. I don't know what the problem is, but you were /supposed/ to have ALL ACCESS." The Mirialan looks to the guard, "I'm Bonko Bonkerson, My Chromium's temporary managing manager. And this is unacceptable. We were ensured ALL ACCESS. By, the guy up there." He points, literally up.
[Zyrette (Zee)]
Zyrette has decided to try and secure that weapon's cache. And despite what Zhu Yan has said about quiet, she knows how his 'plans' usually end up. Still she would prefer quiet. All the same, the Falleen woman abandons Khalim to the temptations of gambling and moves quietly towards the maintenance deck. She takes the turbo lift down to access where she's clearly not meant to go, moving quietly, as she exits the lift. And this is what she got all dressed up for?
[Mandl (Man)]
Mandl buys into table after table, taking their hand of cards or turn with the dice and setting it down, only to dance over to the next-nearest table and repeat the process. There's tap-work, there's cane-theatrics. Loud, showy, and ridiculous!
[Nerys Greystorm (Nerys)]
Now. Now there were those who might tell you that the fun was above decks. Oh yes, but they were //wrong//. The best fun was to be had below decks. Nerys, making her circuit of the room, a smile that was all invitation offered to more than a few in passing, before she brushed past the man in the red dress, and then, she was gone, off to powder her nose. Much euphemism, there, but she was off, off to see the wiz-- no, no, off to find just the right place for a little tryst. A secret rendezvous if you will. Don't worry if you don't now this...it was a rich ***** thing.
[Trip]
Meeting Tarq along their path to the maintenance hatch is Trip. Trip raises up from all fours to stand on his larger feet, then bashfully holds his front paws up in a childish 'pick me up' fashion. A child would have little issue lifting him, save for the awkward legs and feet, though none of these issues awaited Tarq when Trip was picked up. Riding the Kuati human, Trip settles on their shoulder like some eccentric pet, adding further to the appeal that surrounds Tarq Najjic. "You are the only face among this crowd that I am familiar. Success or failure await, but I daresay we face it together." Trip says in low tone, confirming it with a nod, and subtle shake of his long ears.
[Tarq Najjic]
Tarq is all smiles and flirty fan-gestures back at Nerys before he picks up Trip without hesitation and ducks into the stairs on his right. Stairs leading down. This, this is why he didn't wear stiletto heels. Just platform heels.
Down the stairs they go, and then it's time for a costume change. He sets Trip down, kicks off the heels, shimmies out of the dress, and reveals that the train of his dress was hiding two eminently practical boots. What is he wearing beneath? The same material that was on his legs.
It's spy catsuit time! He picks Trip back up and peers down the hall. "Fop on station." And he walks along, checking the map on the fan. How quickly can he get into a maintenance tunnel? Time to find out.
[Xyra]
The /leg/ thing, he says. Xyra's smile curls her lips, and those emerald eyes of hers linger on some of the other casino patrons as she gazes around, meeting their gaze with an almost hungry stare of her own. She was a predator, and it was this environment she thrived in. There was something about the way she moved, from the way she rolled her hips to the way her eyes and lips worked together to form that kind of perfect, approachable, come-hither expression. It wasn't overly showy-- not the kind of cheap, heavy-handed peddling of herself one might expect of a courtesan. No, she was doing it for fun. Because to her, sexuality itself was a sport, a game to be enjoyed and indulged playfully.
Xyra's eyes gaze up towards her green cohort, that familiar, mischievous glint shining in those emerald eyes of hers. "I'll see ya, Green-- don't get into any trouble without me," she whispers, making an extra showy motion of pausing to lean close and whisper it in the other woman's ear. She winks playfully when she straightens again, turning and taking a glass of cheap sparking wine off of a water's complementary platter as she passes, winking at him as she does. She had already marked one of the older gamblers at a crowded table with the larger pile of chips that had been leering particularly hard, smiling at him and keeping herself in clear view of the rest of the establishment as she makes her way over to the stool he was sitting on.
She turned and slid up onto the edge of the table beside him to do 'the leg thing,' of course. One leg folded deliberately over the other, trying to draw the attention of the entire group of gamblers, but as Mandl's show drew her attention back over to him, she used that as well, gasping and pointing. "What is he /doing/?" she gushes, trying to draw more eyes on him and create more of a stir.
[Nubri]
Nubri looks after the Zeltron as she walks away, biting her lip. But then... it is time to get towards her own job, letting her eyes roam. There. A panel, perhaps with security. A hand goes into her pocket to withdraw the datapad, now to hide... plug the pad in and.... bingo! <<"Right. Exits... Port fore, an old maintenance shaft... a few emergency exits in a few spaces, a few random extra maintenance shafts...">> she stops <<"I think I'll just transmit them. Plentiful access, but I am not sure which are watched.">>
[Zhu Yan]
Khalim, you signed up with Zhu Yan. You have enough bad luck to last you six Falleen lifetimes.
DJAHNI & KHALIM:
Doof, as his mother ever so imaginatively named him (she's from Agamar, don't judge), was usually equipped to deal with all sorts of Rich And Powerful People trying to get access to Important Areas. But, you see, this was DJAHNI CHROMIUM. Of Djahni And The Salarymen. He'd been to one of their gigs many moons ago. So upon being confronted with The Man Himself and his ineffable STAR POWER, he was torn between duty and that funny starstruck feeling. "Look, sir, you may have all access, but the high rollers asked not to be disturbed," Doof explained with COPIOUS RELUCTANCE, and that seemed to be the end of it, except, "but for you, Mister Chromium Sir, I'm sure they won't mind. I know you're good for it." STAR POWER.
The doors behind Doof hissed open to reveal a quiet contrast to the CHAOS of the CASINO. Five individuals of varying size, sex, and species all sat inside the sequestered space surrounding a sabacc table, the room lit only by the glow coming from the GIGANTIC TRANSPARISTEEL WINDOW that showcased the BEAUTIFUL CORAL REEFS OF PANTOLOMIN. It was an absolute luxury. You could sell a light switch from here and feed your family for a week, and you wouldn't have to throw in sawdust! At the head of the table was a TRANDOSHAN in a TOP HAT and a MONOCLE. The Lord High Baron S'ztlroy of Trandosha, Taskmaster of Worker Repository Zero-Five-Three-Aurek (former), and not one to let REALITY get in the way of TITLEAGE. Is that a word? It is now. That grunting guttural hissing was helpfully translated by a floating micro-droid as, "Ah, <UNINTELLIGIBLE>," but sounded like 'Chromium' being hissed uncomfortably, "Come, join us. Your date, too. Our buy-in is five thousand credits."
MANDL & XYRA:
A song and dance number mid-gambling? Oh this must be the PAID ENTERTAINMENT! Bith being noted musicians, this drew hoots, cheers, jeers, and applause from the gathered gamblers, many of whom were distracted from head-turning at everyone else to focus on the absurd sight before them. Those who weren't, that's what the hype woman was for. Expert manipulation of perception and attention, as well as the 'leg thing' which Yan literally just made up on the spot, threw more of both towards the madcap Bith, leaving the perfect opening to escape for a certain...
NERYS ARDA:
Getting away from the chaos is easy. One minor distraction from a rampaging Bith and no one even noticed. The stairs led Nerys down into the Employee Deck, which compared to the glitz and glam of up above were plain, utilitarian, and functional. Zhu Yan was down here somewhere in the primary security room. How? A lady never tells. Now all Nerys had to do was navigate her way to the secondary security room, or... THE VAULT. "Datapad shows me as having you on my level. Welcome aboard." Speaking of the lady himself... "Vault is to the aft and the security room is port. The secondary one. My one's on the starboard. Fore is the bridge, don't need to go there. Fair warning, I can't see where anyone else is besides you, or, well, us, so you'll need to use your eyes and ears."
NUBRI:
Ping! Expert work on sussing out the ship has resulted in everyone's datapads updating with information that Yan definitely hadn't caught the first time around. Not only were the originally-unmarked exits now visible, but the expected guard stationings at them. Now, finding an easy way to navigate floors was child's play.
ZYRETTE, TRIP, & TARQ:
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
Well, it's not, but it's definitely dark. The maintenance levels are poorly lit in an attempt to conserve power, and possibly to get in trouble with health & safety. Obligatory red runner lights point out where the twisting passages lead, and red strobe lights add to the ominousness. Did something just creak? It's a submarine, it might have. Yan said that the old weapon cache was down here, and he'd scribbled a vague location on the map. Which is... where are you again? The frack is it with Yan and mazes?! Exits to other, key areas of the vessel exist in here, again, if you can find them. Though split up, each of the three of you is in this confounding situation. "I've pinged you the map of maintenance but security doesn't have access to the actual lighting down there. That, and if I do turn it on, it'll probably draw questions as to 'why'."
[Djahni Chromium]
"That's my man, Doof," Djahni says, switching his cigarette hand to offer the guard a chromium-plated knuckle bump; a rare blessing given to only a few. "Let's get it, Bonko," Djahni remarks to Khalim before slipping into the room and throwing his arms out wide, his lop-sided smile on full show for the high-rollers. Of course he's good for it.
"Five thousand credits, huh? Bonko, you've got my wallet; pay the good folks," Djahni instructs his 'manager' before he moves to slide out of his jacket and hang it on the back of an open chair, leaving him in what is likely an obscenely expensive sleeveless tank top made of purple synthsilk. He sniffs sharply and plops down in the chair, elbows draping over the arm rests on either side.
[Khalim]
Five grand. "Chump change!" Khalim decries, as he forks over the Yan-provided - was it? it was in his programmable cred-stick... maybe it was his own stash - funds. "I once saw this man simply stare at a fan for five thousand credits." The Mirialan straightens and smooths his jacket, then stares from high roller to high roller. "Before Mister Chromium enters this game, as his managing manager, temporary, I must know if each of you is up to date on your innoculations against any illnesses native to your worlds, other worlds, this world, or worlds yet to be determined. And if possible, would you or your managaging managers, temporary or permanent, be able to forward a digital signature indicating as such." A green hued hand is raised, "All very standard for galactic superstars, and folks such as yourselves. In fact, we are ready to provide YOU with the same, as I am sure you are JUST as concerned about catching something from Mister Chromium."
[Zyrette (Zee)]
Zyrette presses against a wall, using the feel of it, and her other senses to guide her as much as sight. The tip of tongue slides absently, to trace the outer edge of lower lip, as she tracks her surroundings. Of course, she also used what she feels is her sexiest asset, her intelligence. Doing her best to translate Yan's top notch map, into what she gathers from her surroundings. Zee manages to roughly find the area he indicated for the stashed stash. A few more minutes feeling around, and she discovered the molded duffel bag of weapons. And still another few more minutes to go through it, but at least there's a few blasters still in serviceable condition.
[Mandl]
Mandl continues to hold "the casino's attention" as well as they can, shuffling between cane-tricks, hat-tricks, and generally making a mess with cards and/or piles of chips.
[Tarq Najjic]
Tarq walks along, trying to keep his bearings. He had seen the map in the level above populate more from Nubri's slicing, so if he could just keep his position firmly in mind, he should be able to reach an area near the vault. In the darkness, he squints, walks onward, ducks a duct, and peers left. Stairs leading upwards, towards a maintenance access entrance!
He goes up to listen at the door, lowering his arm so the lagomorph can get to the ground by the door himself. "May be guards." And he listens, leaning his ear against the door. And maybe he's more than listening.
[Nerys Greystorm (Nerys)]
Nerys, who was, quite thankfully, the droid with all of the gifts, moved with an eerie grace, as she came to the bottom of the stairs, reaching down to slip her heels off, holding them a hand a piece, the spikes sharp enough to be used as weapons if necessary. She scanned the deck, hearing Yan's commentary, picking her way port towards where the secondary security panel was. Now, had she been alone, she might have gone directly for the tomb which needed to be raided, but, today was not that day. She kept her steps slow and careful, feet now bare, because who wore panty hose anymore, that was so BBY. As she made her stealthy way along the corridor, her eyes scanned the surrounding, and she paused, looking at a short handled wooden mop.
Nerys paused, looking between the mop and her heels. The mop and her heels. Kael had bought her those heels on a whim, when they had been windowshopping. He would understand if she came back with one of them covered in gore, right? Right? Ugh. But what if she ended up with blood splatter on her dress. She //liked// this dress. Ah well, perhaps you would murder something besides her feet another day, heels. Nerys set the heels down, as she took the mop, pulling off the shaggy end to leave the handle and the heavy wooden crossbar as she snuck up on the guard. And then *WHAM* right in the back of the head. She //just// managed to catch him before his fat head hit the security cams, and she slid him off of his seat, pulling him off to the side so she had the room to herself. She kept the mop.
[Trip]
Trip was of good use to Tarq by having them avoid hazards, and duck beneath low-bearing ducts and the sort. Trip's eyes adjust to the low-light well, but when it's pitch black, even he has issues seeing! When they arrive and Tarq helps the Lagomorph down, his shoulders rise and fall in a subtle shrug. "Maybe lady luck will favor us." It was more hopeful sounding than he intended, but perhaps there would be a stretch of luck, still. "What is our next move?" Trip runs a paw down the length of his ears again, like the nervous human tick where they ran their hands down their hair. Only Trip's fur was becoming darker, and his eyes with them..
[Xyra]
Similar to Mandl, Xyra seemed to enjoy taking her time with the distraction, bringing her fingers up to her lips to whistle at the havoc-wreaking, singing, and dancing Bith. After a moment, though, she glances over at the door to that private game, smiling coyly. There /was/ a mention of drawing security's attention being a good thing... right? Maybe it was that time.
Sliding off of the gambling table, she strides towards that private door and the guard in front of it, only to raise her glass of sparking wine and drain it on her way. "Was that Cromium?! Can I go in and see him?!" she asks excitedly, looking like she was going to walk right past him and into the sabacc room.
"Chromium!" Xyra squeals, /obviously/ his biggest fan, raising her empty glass and trying to squirm past the guard, if he tries to stop her. "I love you!"
[Zhu Yan]
DJAHNI & KHALIM:
There were grumbles of irritation and discontentment around the sabaac table as the bureaucrat spoke BUREAUCRATESE. None of them were here to deal with their day jobs. They were just here to lose OBSCENE AMOUNTS of CREDITS to each other AD INFINITUM. "I will send someone to fetch what you need," spoke the Trandoshan through the mini-translator. The robotic voice scrubbed clean the falsehood in his tone but his lack of action confirmed he had no intention of following through. "You have been requested to play cards. Please. Sit. Play." That was an order.
The dealer droid spun, buzzed, and beeped, dealing out the next hand to all seven participants now around the table. One of them, some sort of Ishi-Tib, kept glancing furtively at Chromium.
TARQ & TRIP:
The next move? Well, up the stairs was the Employee Deck. And, if Yan's map was right (it was, because it wasn't his, he'd stolen it), then the vault was a right turn down the corridor, an immediate left, then a near-immediate right to where two burly lookin' fellas were standing to give out drinks and canape- no they were there to wreck the shit of anyone who wanted to access THE RICHES inside.
ZYRETTE:
GUNS, GLORIOUS GUNS! Hiding inside the mouldy duffle were a few weapons of innocuous manufacture, ready to be handed out. They were dusty, and had picked up a sort of icky sheen simply due to years passed, but they were serviceable. Now Zee just had to G-the-FO outta here and distribute them.
NERYS:
Wham! He's never gonna dance again. That left Nerys free and clear in the secondary security room, and now between her and Yan they had near-total control over the casino's security. "Brilliant." Ah, Yan, he loved it when a woman beat the shit out of someone. Maybe that's why he was with EJ, the individual who held spot 2 on his "most terrifying individuals" list. "Send through the commands to shut down the internal vault surveillance and that should leave things clear once the guards are dealt with."
XYRA:
No! Not today Zeltron! Doof The Guard was a metaphorical wall, a man of prodigious girth and former physical glory. Tackling and restraining Xyra wasn't even exercise. He could have had a career. Played college ball, y'know. A wriggly Zeltron was, besides being the thing from his /dreams/, was smaller, weaker, more lithe, more curvace- STOP, DOOF, THAT'S THE LOVE GAS TALKING! "I'm sorry ma'am! That's the high roller's table!" Was his blood up because he wanted to protect the glorious Djahni Chromium, or because he was actually exercising in pursuit of his job, or because of the obvious fact that he was grappling an underdressed Zeltron? What would your /wife/ think, buddy?! "You aren't allowed in there!"
[Djahni Chromium]
Djahni just offers a matter-of-fact shrug at Khalim's insistance that everyone be up to date on their shots. It's a very real concern when you've got folks from different planets all mingling up close together. His attention doesn't stay on his 'manager' for long, though, because there's a young woman calling his name and being shot down by Mr. Doof. He taps his fingers idly against the side of the chair and looks back to the Trandoshan. "Well, while you're fetching what I need, why don't you tell Doof out there to fetch me that Zeltron gal, eh?" Djahni asks with a grin, leaning back in his chair and interlocking his fingers on top of his belly. "All this touring leaves a man lonely, you know?"
[Khalim]
Khalim sits. And he's dealt cards. Which he stares at, absolutely no idea what game is being played let alone how to play. The Doof-interrupted Zeltron-interruption draws his gaze, dark brown eyes fixed to the door they'd just entered. "That sort of disruption COULD be used..." The Mirialan's eyes shift back to his fellow players. "By someone IN HERE as a DISTRACTION." Those dark brown orbs narrow. "I see we're playing by Fliggletronian Rules." A hand is raised in the air, finger pointing. "WELL THEN. I call Fliggle! Let the distraction in, and be a distraction FOR ALL!" His attention shifts back to the Lord High Baron. "ALL ACCESS."
[Zyrette (Zee)]
Zyrette just abandons the moldy duffel bag. It's gross and doesn't go with her sexy sexy tuxedo. No, that won't do at all. So instead she finds creative and ethical places to hide them. One in the hand bag perhaps? The other in her decolletage? We may never know. Either way, they get safely stowed away, as she then makes her way back to the lift.
[Mandl (Man)]
Mandl's performance reaches its zenith, having visited every table for a card or a few chips by now, handing them off as they go. Just... manufacturing chaos, disguised as a jaunty slither across the entire casino floor, to a beat occasionally in-time with 'the actual entertainment.'
[Nerys Greystorm]
Now that the body was out of the way. Trust and believe, that was how most of Nerys' poses usually started, Nerys got to work at the computer system, patching into Yan's comms, as she relayed her location. He could see her, allegedly, but one could never be too sure. "I am going to disable the communication systems first before--" What was that scuffling sound? Was something loose in the under stairs? It had better not be space zombies, she hated space zombies. You hear that ZHU YAN!? No space zombies! At any rate, Nerys set that aside for now, as she tip tap tipped her way through the system, routing control of the comms to Yan's hidden station if he needed them, "Am I clear to get to the vault? Can you handle the cameras? If not, I can have a go."
[Tarq Najjic]
"Two guards. One for each of us." Another foolproof plan from Tarq Najjic, who holds a hand down for a high five - and to pick Trip up, before heading down a right turn, then an immediate left, and then a right turn. There the guards were!
Without hesitation, Tarq lobs Trip at the guard furthest from him. The Kushiban is away! The Kushiban is away! And he dashes after him, aiming a kick right at the nearer security guard's nether regions and an elbow at the man's nose. This is dirty pool; we're playing for keeps.
It is immediately clear that if this man ever had hand to hand combat training, or brawler experience, it was long, long ago. Thieves, right? They think they're too good for all the violence, and then- then the violence starts.
Tarq stares at the guard, eyes wide, before pursing his lips in a pout and making a kissy sound at him. "Hey there, big guy. You would not hit - little - old - me, would you?" He clicks his tongue. "You are almost type, but - arms too weak. Need man who can really put some /force/ behind it." It's like he's /trying/ to get punched.
[Trip]
No mammal should feel like they were thrown at any point in their life time, but Trip can say with a degree of certainty that it was fun. Despite it being a poor throw, Trip recovers momentum by landing, bouncing, and leaping to his opponent in a flash of white fur that had gone black by the time he reached the guy.
POW! Right in the kisser! Trip used his cranium to smash the guard's nose, then made it worse by latching onto their collar and hitting the broken nose again. The great thing about hitting the nose first was that it triggered the eyes to water! Harder to see! "AHHHHHHHHH!" Trip yelled, and tried to maintain his advantage until he could segue to the other foe!
[Xyra]
"Come /on/! /Please/!" Xyra's busy squealing and squirming. She was /not/ trying to win this fight. She didn't have a chance, anyway. But she also wasn't giving up, because the whole point was to /be/ a distraction! He was either going to have to abandon his post to carry her off or call some /other/ folks to come and do it for him. Either way, he... oh.
The third option, she supposed, was that Doofy just.. let her go. At the orders of the Grand Master Trandoshan, First Lord of Sabacc and Groom of the Backstairs, she finds herself suddenly free of the security guard and /not/, as she had planned, having the rest of the security team being called on her. Oh well. The best laid plans. Maybe this was.. better?
Straightening herself and fixing her hair, she sauntered her way into the sabacc room one hip at a time, smiling at all of those gathered, but having /eyes/ for Djahni. From the way she looks at him, maybe it wasn't all just an act, either. "Thank you, Djhani!" she gushes, surrounded by her cloud of pheromones. "I can't believe it's really you!" And without much fanfare or warning, she's moving to slide up and sit on the table right in front of him, crossing her legs deliberately, in much same way as she had out in the main casino to get attention. The 'leg thing.' Maybe. Or maybe it was at least /a/ leg thing. In any case, the dress falls apart almost up to her waist, and she smiles warmly as she places her hands on the edge of the table, leaning forward. "Can you sign my thigh?" She didn't even seem to notice there was a game going on. Or, at least, there /was/.
[Zhu Yan]
DJAHNI, KHALIM, & XYRA:
Well, distractions were definitely had. There was slight pout from the Ishi-Tib, who clearly wanted /his/ thigh signed or some equivalent. ROCKSTAR CRED, see. Everyone else, of course, was dealing with a different kind of distraction in the form of Khalim, who spoke like he'd just eaten a handful of Iego Shrooms and was now puking up rainbows. What a great mental image. "I do not know what this 'Fwiggertinian' ruling is," hissed out the Baron Trandoshan, "but it is not Republic rules." A sharp claw scrrrrraaaaaaaaaappppppeeeeeeeeed the table. "You will bet."
ZYRETTE:
Behold! Emerging from the twisty turny chaos that was the Maintenance Deck was the now hilariously well armed Falleen lady (status of ears in doubt). Let us not consider where three blasters are stored upon her person. It's good that she's come out armed, because nearby in near-considerable distress are...
TARQ & TRIP:
"UGH! WHAT? GERROF! OW! SITHSPAWN!" Y'know, it wasn't every day that someone was attack by a small fluffy animal. They were to be petted, or occasionally eaten if in dire need. Fists were FLYING! Taunts were being THROWN! It was a NO GOOD DRAG DOWN BAREKNUCKLE BRAWL over here! "Bridge we n-OW!" That was the first guard, cheesed off by the subtle prodding of Tarq Najjic, and copping first-hand the communication blackout implemented by...
NERYS:
"Take care of the cameras," was the buzzy voice on the other end of the comm. Oh Zhu Yan, you cad. "We need to cut /all/ the surveillance before we get that vault open. I'm gonna go help out the other two." Then there were the sounds of movement. Uh oh, looked like their overwatch was ditching his post!
[Djahni Chromium]
"Nobody plays that variant outside of that one bar on 1313, chief. I keep trying to tell you that it's not going to catch on," Djahni says, reaching over to give the Mirialan a clap on the shoulder before his hand is withdrawing and jabbing a thumb in his direction while the rocker looks towards the Trandoshan with a 'this guy' sort of face.
"Yeah, sure; who do I make it out to?" Djahni asks, pulling a felt-tipped duramarker out of his pocket (because he's always got one on his person for the occassional sniff. Or autograph). He doesn't wait to hear what the girl's name is, though, and instead just signs the boilerplate 'Keep on ragin', Love Djahni' along with a small, cartoony-looking middle finger.
The marker is tapped idly on the lady's leg as Djahni looks past her at the Baron. "Oh, I was gonna ask; you guys get food and drink service in here, or is that more of a Corellian casino thing?"
[Khalim]
An increasingly agitated Trando, a Zeltron misting the room with her perfume, a Djahni being Djahni, things were grinding to a glorious halt here in the high stakes room. But they couldn't grind to a halt. Slow was the objective, not stop. To stop would result in problems of a different kind. "Bet? Oh you bet I'll bet." His hand moved nearer the chips he was granted upon admission. "But before I do, I'd like to offer, on Djahni's behalf, a signed cred chit for everyone here." He points at a black striped cred chip sporting the denomination of five hundred credits, and those dark brown eyes shift to the Ishi-Tib. "Would you like a signed cred chit, Sir or Madam?" Time to get some other clientele involved in this slowdown. Djahni's question about refreshments brings a loud, "Yes! Food and drink! High stakes games produce high stakes hunger, and thirst!" Then, to keep things flowing, a tiny bit, he pushes a handful of chips forward. His bet. Khalim is in the game. Whatever game it is.
[ Zyrette (Zee)]
Zyrette escapes the labyrinthine tunnels of the maintenance area, only to find Trip and Tarq in peril! Well, maybe not so much, either way, the female Falleen slides in, uncoiled that jewel encrusted choked from around her throat. Instead, she wraps it around the throat of the prone guard, and uses it as a pseudo garrote. At least in so far as to choke out and incapacitate him. See, she likes jewelry that is functional and pretty.
[Nerys Greystorm (Nerys)]
And this was why Nerys' codename was Jetpack. Actually no, it wasn't. No one who //actually// knew her by that name had any idea WHY that was her codename. Suffice to say, when she heard the transmission from Yan, Nerys simply settled in to work, murmuring to herself as she worked, no sounds coming from her lips as she worked, hands dashing across the console as she worked to take control of the camera systems. It was an intricate bit of work that needed to be done. Timestamping the footage, vutting and inserting the images that were needed, trimming the video so that there was no visible looping of the record. It was a lot. But, that was the challenge and the trick of it. If anyone should happen to patch into the system, they would see nothing but the guards standing guard. Nothing at all to see here. Move along.
[Tarq Najjic]
There definitely might be peril over here by the vault. The surprise of their vicious attacks and taunting were about to wear off, and the guard Trip is savagely beating down is still upright and not being choked out by a Falleen... however much he might prefer it. "Tarq Najjic would only get in way," he says regretfully. And rifles the unconscious guard's pockets. There's a keycard. His gaze swings to the vault door. There are two contact points. He looks at the other guard. "On other hand, cannot let friend Trip fight alone!" And he launches a punch that - goes nowhere. Also another kick, which, while maybe distracting, isn't really hurting him.
He's just to distract. The Kushiban is the killer.
[Trip]
Trip maintains his menacing position, blocking this guard's view. Another solid strike, in the form of a headbutt, smashes against the already broken nose once again and Trip yells out, hanging on for dear life as the guard does his damnedest to unseat and throw him somewhere else. Fuzzy feet scramble and kick to stay rooted on their torso, while paws sink claws into the fabric of the collar to latch on and provide leverage for the repeating headbutt!
As he and his foe spin about, crashing into the bulkheads or whatever else, Trips voice grows and shrinks in volume depending on where in the spin 'circuit' he is.
"HHHHHEeeeeeeLLLLLLLp mmmEEEEeeeeEE!"
[Xyra]
"Syala," the Zeltron practically purrs down at the musician when he asks for her name, watching him sign really whatever he wanted. She chews on her lip as she seems content just to be settled there, perched on the edge of the table, letting him tap that marker against her while he asked around her about snacks. After all, there was no sense moving if she didn't have to.
But Xyra's attention does turn towards Khalim as she listens to him, laughing softly. "You make it sound like you all are running a marathon," she muses playfully, but even as she says the words, she turns her attention back to the table. "Wait-- are you guys playing /sabacc/? I guess I got a little distracted! Who's winning?"
[Zhu Yan]
DJAHNI, KHALIM, & XYRA:
They certainly were an odd bunch. Very odd. Too odd. As a matter of fact, The Lord High Baron S'ztlroy of Trandosha, Taskmaster of Worker Repository Zero-Five-Three-Aurek (former) was starting to get mildly annoyed. His closed fist SLAMMED into the table, making chips and cards and probably Xyra bounce. "Enough!" he hissed, and even the translator droid winced. "If you are going to play cards, play cards! We have not played a hand since you have entered! Otherwise you may turn and leave, or I will call security to have you REMOVED!" This guy really liked playing cards. It was a shame, because the Ishi-Tib was holding out a hand for one of those signed credchits before that happened.
NERYS:
As requested by Jetpack, the cameras shut off obligingly. This turned off all internal security for the vault. Now, if they could just find a way to crack open the damn thing!
TARQ, TRIP, & ZYRETTE:
The battle continues! With one guard ambushed and garrotted, he was down for the count. Now that he was prone, there was something hanging from his hip, red and enticing and matching a panel next to the vault door. A KEYCARD?! That left the T&T pair to tag team the final one, who was slipperier than a greased eel in an oil bucket. At least, he was slippery and dodgy, until...
ZHU YAN:
WHAM! A flying left hook from a man in a crisp white leisure suit collected the man across the face, dazing him for a whiffed follow-up. "Get his key!" instructed the portly but somehow extremely speedy Zhu Yan, who broke away from the fray to snatch the Red Keycard from the fallen fella. "We need both to get into the vault!"
[Khalim]
Khalim knew when he'd begun pushing too far, and his demeanor changes like a switch has been flipped. "Alright," he says, dark brown attention shifted to the Trando bossman. "We'll take our leave. Enjoy the remainder of your game." It was either enough time bought, or it wasn't, but Khalim, Djahni, and Xyra's contribution was now at an end. The Mirialan rises, cashes out, and exits the high stakes room. Back into the casino proper, where at least the Mirialan quickly becomes lost within the throng of mostly net losers.
[Zyrette]
Zyrette rose from the felled guard and uncoiled her make shift garrote. She slid it back around her throat with one hand, while the other reached for a fore mentioned key card. She nodded to Tarq and Trip, though only one was familiar. She then crossed to the key slide that matched the card. "On your count..." She offered in her calm contralto, and waited until indicated and timed just so... She then slid her key card.
[Mandl]
Mandl, sensing the end is nigh, starts kicking over piles of cred-sticks and chips, a dancer's riff on the ol' "guitar-smashing routine." 'My angst! It is manifest! PaY aTtEnTiOn To Me!' Yessir, the olll' torture genius bit, really keeps the crowd talking!
[Nerys Greystorm (Nerys)]
Nerys would leave the actual raiding to others. Alas and alack. She was still hard at work scrubbing the security systems. Identities needed to be obscured, images deleted, comms, what had been picked up altered, and oh, she might need to do something about that guard. Or at least put that mop back together so it looked like less of a lethal weapon. And, on the off chance that they could not get out the way they got in, she searched for access to the escape pods. And as she worked, she relayed the information to the team, marking out the best possible routes to escape. Pick the route you wanted, let the chips fall where they may. And once she had done all that it was possible for her to do, she wiped down the terminals, lest anything she left behind be traced back to the real Nerys Arda, who would not at all appreciate the intrusion, and made her own escape. The mop was re-mopified, her heels replaced and she made for the exit, post haste. Jetpack out.
[Tarq Najjic]
Tarq removes the keycard from the belt of the guard while Trip continues to beat on him, then, counts off Zyrette: "On mark. Three, two, one, mark." And he touches the keycard to the contact point and steps to the side. Just because they don't know about security bits like turrets inside the vault doesn't mean there /aren't/ turrets inside the vault. He waves at Yan, hooks a thumb at the open vault door. "After - you."
[Trip]
When the portly spacefaring action hero smashed the guard Trip was latched onto, Trip was on the ride back down to the ground. When they landed, Trip was on top, and he erased any hope of continued consciousness when he stepped on the man's face and jumped up, and landed harshly back down. Once for good measure, and once more infinitely more harsh to grow an inch. While that guard was counting circling Bantha, the Kushiban was casting his ears back down his back and dusting his paws off. A practiced leap found him back on Tarq's shoulder, a toothy grin offered. "Ready for round two!" Despite his fur fading from the shade of black to return to white.
[Xyra]
Xyra does, in fact, bounce. And that bounce is aided by the way that she leaps off of the edge of the table, startled from her place and holding up her hands defensively. "Sorry!" she quips, rolling her eyes. "Whatever. Geeze."
And she, too, takes her leave from the private little room. Much like Khalim's line of thought, they had either done their job well enough or they hadn't, and any further provocation was only going to make matters worse. Besides, she had to go get into hyperspace so she could get this farking ink off of her thigh.
[Zhu Yan]
And it's sweet, sweet victory! Yan had laid the groundwork, but it was the ever-meticulous Nerys that had got them through the doors.
There, within the vault were scores upon scores of lockboxes which needed some sort of master key to open, but they weren't the prize. Also they'd take too long. At the back was a RELIQUARY full of PRICELESS TREASURES, but none were quite so priceless and mysteriously ill-defined as...
THE JEWEL OF AM-KHARAD!
Whipping out a PLAIN CLOTH, Yan scooped it up, bundled it up, and tucked it into a pocket. "Y'know, aside from a few bruises, this is definitely the least-bloody heist I've ever run." And that was saying something. /All/ of Yan's heists were normally bloody. Just look at Mandalore. "I gotta go clean out the code I left in the security system. Hide the bodies in a cupboard somewhere, and maybe we can make it look like they were just having a tryst or something. Whatever. Quick and clean!"
