Raarka's Space Bar and Grill, home of the famous Raarka special.

A small cantina not far from the space port in Cornet, yet deep enough within the city to attract those of ill repute in masses to the bar, where underhanded and illegal dealings are more than common. Other than being a common gathering place for gangs on Corellia, the cantina offers a host of food and entertainment, with the former greasy and the latter sweet. Holographic images of females from nearly every imaginable species dance in their promiscuous ways, while Raarka--the Wookie owner--serves up typical Corellian food such as smoked Nerf or Mounder potato rice, each dish carted away to tables by serving droids.

"A Corellian noale, please." A brown-haired female human asked at the counter, to which Raarka replied with an almost growling noise. The girl adjusted the blue scarf around her neck as she waited for the Wookie to serve her, feeling uncomfortable in the cantina. She had no allies, with only the blaster pistol at her side to guard herself from the crooks that occupied various tables within the business. Still, regardless of how she felt, the woman had need to be here--to find men or women willing to throw in their lot in exchange for a number of credits. Most of the criminals in the cantina were suitable for her cause, but she needed someone who didn't have their face plastered throughout the city.

Paying for the drink, the woman stirred it absently with a straw. It was best to appear occupied while she looked around lest the nearby scoundrels grew suspicious. After all, she didn't need a shootout or standoff as much as she needed help with her delinquent doings. With a glance to the cantina's entrance, she noticed two odd figures walk inside and take their seat at one of the tables. Squinting, the girl tried matching their faces to those throughout the streets, but she struggled to match a face to them. Newbies--just what I needed, The woman thought, her gaze never leaving until she decided to approach the two strangers.

Sliding into the booth, the woman took a seat next to the newcomers. Both of them were human just like her, and appeared to be around the same age as well. "Hey there," She stated, making conversation with them. "I noticed both of you happened to be new around these parts. Good for me, and good for you. Listen--I have a job that needs doing, but I need absolute secrecy about it. No trails to return back home, you know? Happen to be interested?" The girl went on to ask, waiting for an answer as she sipped from the noale. Surely they didn't just come to a known criminal hub of activity just to have a drink or a meal.

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The rugged, young man walked into the cantina with his new 'associate' and 'partner-in-crime.' The idea of a partner wasn't one that ever came to his mind before, but now that he got to know her, it wasn't so bad. Not only was Yazmin incredibly charming, but she made for a pretty good thief at times. He couldn't exactly remember how to the got intertwined in each other's business, but there was no doubt about it that they were both committing some kind of crime and needed each other's help to get out of it. As they made their way to the table, he opened up his mouth to continue their earlier conversation, his tone kept low for only her to hear. "I'm telling you, we need to get ourselves our own ship. I can't keep smuggling those weird 'Forcey' artifacts in those public transports. I may not be a smart man, but I know when it's time to stop before we get caught." Such a claim was true, both on his intelligence and his wisdom of their situation. The young man was hardly an intellectual, less-so than the average citizen that you would expect from a majorly developed planet or area. Of course, on his planet on Ord Mantell and the island of Avilatan, education wasn't a major concern for many. The planet had practically become a junkyard, aside from the rural areas.

"Just trust me on this. I may not have learned much, but if there is one thing that I taught myself, it's how to work a starship and how to get a good one." As they sat down, he put his finger down on to the table, staring her right in the eyes. "Courier-class yacht, perfect for smuggling. It comes with firelinked forward mounted light blasters cannons and a firelinked turreted light blaster cannon with a one-hundred and eighty degree arc that can shoot to our rear. Best of all, here's the kicker: we can modify it for our specific needs. Better engines, more armaments, more luxury, whatever we could want. The only downside is...it costs 185,000 Credits. We can start making that money any time we want though and save up for it. Besides...with you pickpocketing everywhere we go, we'll need our own ship to escape from. Imperial Troopers will stop any public transport we board to find us if we get ourselves an infamous enough reputation. Corellia is a starship-loving planet too, so they're bound to have something like that for sale somewhere around here. How does that sou-"

His conversation with Yazmin was cut short by the approach of a brunette. Looking over at Yazmin, then back to the stranger, Gaelden listened quietly to her offer. What a stroke of luck,, he thought. We'll get those Credits in no time. The possibility of making easy cash was something that gripped his attention, but he had grown wise over his adventures in the galaxy. The lack of information on this task intrigued him, but made him cautionary as he leaned back in his seat. "Well, that depends. How much are we getting paid and what exactly are we doing, ma'am?" Hilariously, it was easy to tell that Gaelden was from some backwater part of his homeplanet. Without the requirement of whispering, his accent came in full bloom as he spoke up. It was honestly a little silly, but seemed to fit the 'cantina' and 'criminal activity' theme just fine, strangely enough. Either way, it was clear as day that this young man wasn't from around these parts.

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Though Yazmin nodded to all of her partner's statements, she wasn't genuinely paying attention. They hadn't been partners for long, but she had already gotten used to his taking over of conversations. Instead of giving him her full attention, the young woman's eyes scanned the cantina, watching for signs of trouble to walk their way. She reached into the folds of her cloak and touched the wallet of credit chips that she had just swiped off some poor sod that was too ignorant to know that the back pocket was the easiest point of access on the body. She was, admittedly, a bit of a paranoid girl, always scanning for signs of imperial soldiers or planetary law-enforcement. Her scan had landed her eyes on an ugly Ortolan sitting at the bar, staring down at an empty glass. She'd run into imperial informants before, and even been given trouble by some, and they all did the same thing; head down, no noise, "blend" in. To someone who knew what she was looking for, however, they stuck out like a sore thumb.

Knowing her paranoia was exactly that, she brought her mind back to the present, in time to hear Gaeldon talking about her knack for sicking stormtroopers on them. It was true that the empire had chased her down quite a few times, but the fact of the matter remained; they were still unaware of the majority of Yazmin's actions. She also had a knack for being discreet.

As Gaelden's banter was cut off, Yazmin's eyes shot up to the human woman that approached the table. The girl's left hand dropped into the recesses of her cloak, locating the small blaster on her hip. She spit off a quick proposal for a possible job, quickly catching Gaelden's interest, as evident by his response. "Hold on now. She said, placing a hand on her partner's forearm for emphasis. She turned her sights on the woman and leaned forward, drawing her black hood from her head, exposing her pale face and vibrant red hair. "Let's backtrack, here. Obviously you're new here, too, because you would figure that Ortolan to be listening very intently to our conversation. I don't want to talk business here, since that guy is probably going to blab whatever he hears you say to some imperials for a few credits. Let's go elsewhere, then talk."

The responses given were what the girl was willing to hear, but also what she wasn't willing to hear. She was happy that someone was interested in hearing her out, but the woman was also upset that someone was listening into their conversation. I must've been blind not to notice big blue over there... The girl thought, nodding to the woman who spoke of speaking elsewhere. Even if her tone had seemed to be discourteous, the mechanical-armed woman was right. "Let us go elsewhere, then." The woman replied, just loud enough for them to hear as she stood from the booth.

Leading the group elsewhere, the woman made sure to divert between alleys and streets to attempt to break off the trail should the Ortolan follow. Eventually, they came to an alley far from the original cantina. Located on all sides were a number of night clubs, while the streets were filled with random parts and junk left behind by people who simply didn't care to clean up after themselves. As they passed by a flashy club with bright lights, the woman suddenly came to a stop. As if she was going to betray the two she sought out, the girl reached for her blaster, and a quick motion, turned her heels and pointed her sights down the alley.

However, it wasn't the duo she was pointing the blaster pistol at. Clicking the safety off the pistol, the woman watched eagerly for any sign of motion behind them. "Move," The woman ordered, almost like a demand to get her new acquaintances out of the way as she noticed the eavesdropper, and promptly sought cover behind the trash that littered the alley. There was no telling if the spy was armed, nor if he had friends. Additionally, there was a large potential for this to turn into a firefight, which might alert the authorities. It was something the woman preferred not to happen, but she needed to protect her group and the two humans, lest the Imperials catch them.

Aiming her blaster down the long alleyway, a line of energy shot forward from the woman's blaster pistol towards their stalker. The Ortolan, caught unaware that he had been spotted, yelped in pain as he was singed by the shot, leaving a nice hole in the fabric of his clothing. However, the yelping he made alerted two lowly thugs, presumably convinced to aid the alien for a share of the credits. With their vibroblades and blasters, they charged into battle from a corner, while the Ortolan flailed about in pain, struggling to come to the fact that his cover was blown.

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Gaelden listened carefully to the two as they spoke. Yes, that was right; Imperials were known for having snakes and rates hiding out in public to catch would-be criminals who would upset the order of things. It was a touchy subject for Gaelden, considering his background. He wished no ill-will for the Imperials, considering how he himself wanted to join the Starfighter Corps. The Empire, specifically the Imperial Navy, was an organization to be praised for bringing about peace to the galaxy for once. Unfortunately, he was never able to pass the screening tests, mainly because of his 'lower than average intelligence.' It was a hard blow to the young man's sense of pride. Even with his piloting skills, there was no way he'd ever become a part of such an elite group of military personnel. That was what made him turn to crime however. Going to off-limits planets, passing through Imperial blockades, stealing ancient Artifacts. He had to make a living somehow, Empire be damned.

Gaelden stood up as the two ladies made their way out of the cantina and followed closely. While not exactly a menacing sight, someone would certainly think twice before messing with the trio with him in close pursuit. His height advantage certainly aided him in warding off would-be attackers. Unfortunately, he only stood at six-foot-three, which wasn't that tall compared to many of the vast types of exotic aliens that littered across the galaxy. So there he was, a large, young man keeping up with his 'partner' and potential employer, looking almost like a body guard as he rested his hand on the baton at his side. The sight of an alleyway wasn't a comfortable one for him, considering how often he used to get mugged in the damn places. Gangsters weren't a nice group to run into and the Imperials getting involved only seemed to make it worse with their disregard for who started what. Still, he always did understand their motives. They were merely trying to keep the peace.

His worrying thoughts halted as their employer halted. He raised a brow, but seemed to catch on rather quickly that something was amiss. Although initially alarmed when she pulled her blaster out and aimed in their direction, Gaelden was able to make a quick grasp of the situation the moment she began to open her mouth. If she was really trying to kill them or rob them, she would have just shot first. Backing up against a wall, with Yazmin's forearm held tightly in his hand, Gaelden quickly moved for cover behind a corner. With his free hand, he reached under his kama, and pulled his heavy blaster pistol from it's holster. Thank goodness this thing was concealed. If CorSec or the ISB caught him with this, he'd be in cuffs faster than he could say 'Oh kriff!' As soon as their employer fired the first round, Gaelden immediately peaked out to see who was hit. Obviously some kind of mole, seeing as how closely the Ortolan had been following them. Noticing the Ortolan scrambling to move, even after it's wounds, Gaelden quickly moved out of cover to kill the poor thing before it could even alert the Imperials. Mercy was out of the question, even while it was writhing on the ground in pain. If there was one thing Gaelden would loathe to face, it was an entire Imperial garrison descending on their position.

Sliding back into cover, he looked down at Yazmin and gave a half-smile as he took a deep breath. "Like I was saying earlier, you bring a lot of Imperial attention on us."

Click.

Seeing the informant go down in front of their eyes had little effect on the morale of the bandits. Like most thugs, they were determined to receive their share of the credits, and taking down someone who had just killed a slave member of the Empire would only rake in more credits. However, what one of the rogues weren't expecting, was their blaster pistol being faulty. The Rodian repeatedly pulled the trigger, yet it would not fire and only making an odd clicking sound. Then, the even more unexpected happened. The blaster pistol overheated, sending an overcharged beam into a street sign, making a nice burn mark within the metal while the heat melted away the blaster pistol... until boom!

The other thug, watching his partner-in-crime quickly lose his hand to a faulty blaster pistol, grew enraged as his friend soon bled out. Aiming his blaster pistol directly at Gaelden, the bandit fired his weapon in hopes to avenge his comrade. Nonetheless, seeing his friend's hand be blown off had shaken him so much that his aim was off, and the bandit had completely missed his target. "Damn you, cowards! The bandit shouted in fury, despite his inner feelings of fear. The Ortolan was quickly shot down, and his friend lost his hand to a faulty blaster pistol. Without being lucky, the bandit knew he would either be considered an accomplice or shown no quarter by the scoundrels that fired onto them.

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Yazmin had been slightly alarmed by the woman's turning, especially as her gun was drawn. However, once it was clear to both herself and Gaelden that the woman was shooting past them, Gaelden grabbed her by her mechanical arm and pulled them both to cover. She took refuge behind the large man, hiding her small body from potential blaster fire. She was a good fighter, but she didn't always trust her aim. However, when the Ortolan spy was shot down, followed by one of the hired muscle, she saw an opportunity to strike.

"Got him, Gael." She said to her parter, rolling over her left shoulder as she drew her blaster from her belt and took quick aim at the brute's chest. She squeezed the trigger, the recoil jolting her frame as the blaster-bolt sail into the Thug's head, causing his skull to splatter across the alley wall, thus ending the engagement. She sighed, then reached up and grabbed Gaelden's coat, using his superior wait to pull herself upright. She chuckled, somewhat amused by the fact that her poor aim had come in handy for once. "Well, I don't want to end up in cuffs tonight, so let's make ourselves scarce."

It was a messy battle. The thugs had coated the alley with their insides, and the spy rolled around in pain until it was finished off. "Right, as you said. Follow me." The mysterious woman explained, sheathing her blaster pistol in its holster and motioning for the two humans to follow. She never explained where they were heading, but the woman had seemed adamant and knew where she was going. The travel kept going further and further into the depths of Coronet, until the party reached an old rundown chute of years long past. "I hope you like slides." The woman went on to mention, lifting up the hatch and climbing inside.

The slide was nothing spectacular, like those ones you would slide down at a McDonalds playground. Perhaps dizziness set in because of the winding curves, but by the end, everyone was on their own two feet once more. Despite this, trouble was still afoot. Seeing the appearance of unknown people had made those--with the same blue scarf somewhere on their body--within the facility jumpy, snatching their blaster rifles and pistols, ready to fire at the two humans. "Wait! They're with me." The woman exclaimed, her words seemingly enough to dissuade them from shooting the intruders.

Returning her attention to the two humans, the woman shrugged. "Well, it isn't much, but it is home." The woman replied, pointing out the disrepair that afflicted the facility. "Since you two are in the same boat like the rest of us now, feel free to interact with anyone. Most of them are a bit rowdy and rough, but don't mind it too much. When you've settled in, look for Garm--big and tall, has a beard but has no hair on his head. You'll know him when you'll see him." The woman explained, saying a final farewell before scurrying off to somewhere unknown.

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Ser paced around the perimeter of the room. She'd been here almost five days now, but she still hadn't gotten used to this place. Though she had to admit it was probably the safest place to be right now. But, enough was enough. She then realized that she'd been in her room for such a long time now, and had forgotten most of the layout of the facility. Guess some exploring was in order.

She stepped out of the door and started walking. Most of the doors around here were closed, and she really didn't feel like opening them. Who knows what's on the other side? Probably someone who's a little pissed that she just barged right in to their room.

She decided for now, she should head to the entrance, and try to get her bearings from there.

Following the twists and turns of various hallways and other rooms, she at last made it to the entrance. The hole where the slide ended sat in the same spot as always, and people were walking to... wherever.

A slight rattling sound caught her attention as she continued through, and turned her head towards the slide hole. After a moment of watching, three figures emerged. One of them she recognized, but she had no clue who the others were. Everyone at once drew blasters, rifles, and other various weapons. She might want to do the same. She reached for her saber when the woman she recognized said they were with her. Letting out an deep sigh, she slouched over, relived they weren't under attack. Everyone seemed to get the idea and put their weapons away and go on their way. Now, where was she?

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As the tension died, a different rattling sound started. A moment later the sound ended abruptly and small grey and brown ball erupted from a nearby derelict machine. The ball hit the ground with a grunt, and Bista straightened. One hand pushed against the aliens back, while another two rotated a part ripped from the machine's guts. The little alien examined the piece carefully.

”Bah!” He muttered before tossing it over his shoulder. Looking around the Xexto noticed the gathering; Assuming himself to blame for the tension Bista did something un-Xexto-like. ”What? Never seen an Alien before?” He asked rudely.

After a moment Bista recognized the lack of blue on the newcomers. With a glance he saw that no one had weapons on the strangers. He assumed they were cleared to be there. The alien shrugged and turned to face the machine he fell out of.