Noventa - A Star Wars Story

(eggspecting)

The bar was open, but Cal wasn't working.

Instead, he sat off to the side, a glass of bourbon in his hand. He liked running the bar and talking to everyone, but sometimes it was more enjoyable just to sit and watch. Cal took a sip of his bourbon, sighing pleasantly at the taste.

To the side of him sat a man who had been so quiet it was hard to notice him there. He sat hunched in on himself slightly in a dark corner of the room, his back resting against the wall.

"Taking a break I see."

Cal smiled, taking a long sip from his drink. "So are you, by the looks of it. If that's how it works, anyway."

He raised his glass to Soren. "Have a seat. You want a drink? Bar's open to you, you know."

He shook his head, "Nah, I'm good. Got something to do in a bit where alcohol doesn't help."

He shifted in his seat slightly, "Learned quite a bit about that boss who came in here the other day..."

"I see." Cal let his eyebrows go up for a moment. He shook his head. "Well, that sounds about right. You never stop for long, huh?"

He grew more serious as Soren shifted. "Oh yeah? What've you got?" He gave Soren a nod.

"Stay busy or stay dead... that's how it tends to be for me." He said with a shrug.

"Guy who was in here yesterday bragged a lot about himself and how he is part of the Black Sun. From what he says, Ribmatt is the Underboss of Noventa City, which means that he is one in charge of most of the major criminal operations in the area. Ribmatt came into the city about 10 years ago, and personally killed his predecessor by shooting in the head twice and making it look like a suicide, then assumed control. There were stories he used to be someone bigger in the underworld, but was overthrown in a coup attempt and barely managed to escape, losing his left arm and right hand in the process."

Soren continued, "Overall, that drunk zabrak actually likes the guy. Unlike the stuff he heard about the last Underboss, Ribmatt actually wants to keep the good talent in while weeding out the incompetent ones and the sociopaths. He also tries his best to avoid having the citizenry involved with the larger scope of his operations, so he highly discourages his people doing petty crime in the area, leaving that for the fodder so the Sector Rangers can focus on that while his men focus on the drugs and smuggling operations. But just because he is nicer does not mean he is not violent or vicious, having killed several of his own men that got out of line. He's also a excellent hand to hand combatant, and his cybernetic arm only adds to his abilities with it."

Soren then finished, "Weird quirk about him though.... it's pretty clear Ribmatt doesn't like going to Providencetown and sends others for him unless it's absolutely necessary. It may have to do with Rullarc, his boss and the Vigo of this Sector.... but Torrid wasn't too sure the exact reasons why."

Cal listened as Soren spoke. His glass of bourbon was in his hand, but he didn't drink from it.

He was silent for a time after Soren finished, gently swirling the bourbon. "Interesting." He finally said.

He leaned forward, letting his arms rest on the table. "What's your take on all this?"

"He's a person to watch... for both good and bad." He replied.

"I've seen much worse."

Cal grunted, taking another sip of his bourbon. "Yeah. Me too."

He sighed. "Even when I was a lawman, I knew that there was always gonna be crime. And some criminals you could work with. Some you couldn't. It's my feelin' that Mr. Ribmatt is one of the former. Rullarc kinda strikes me as one of the latter."

He looked at Soren. "You know what sort of drugs he deals in? Is it more the mostly harmless recreational sort, or more the spiral down until you die sort." He chuckled. "I can't be too critical; I run a bar. But I'd like to think we give more to the community than we take."

"I'd figure some of both to be honest... It's the Black Sun. They'll sell whatever gets them money."

Cal grimaced. "Yeah... you're probably right."

After a moment, he sighed. "I'll be honest with you, Black Sun isn't my first choice. I suppose it's better to have friends than enemies, but, well, you know the saying 'with friends like these'..." He shook his head.

"You're using 'friend' a bit broader than I would... He's an acquaintance and it's best to keep him at arm's length for as long as is possible." Soren replied with a nod.

Cal smiled. "I expect I am. Everyone's a friend until they give me a reason they're not. And I've put holes in people I called friend thirty seconds before." He shrugged.

"But then, there's friends and there's friends." He gave Soren a nod. "Sounds as though any job this Ribmatt gives us we need to be careful of. Give it a second look. Make sure we're not giving more power to someone we're just gonna shut down in a year's time. That sound about right to you?"

He nodded, “The good news is you seem to have picked up a nice group of close friends in the last little bit too. People you rely on.”

Cal nodded casually. "Yep. Runi, Kor. Even Quinn." He chuckled softly. "And you."

He took a slow drink, his eyes on Soren. "You ever think of introducing yourself to any of the rest of them? I mean, a proper introduction?"

He tilted his head, “Maybe...”

He took a couple of deep breaths. “They seem like good people and all... it’s just, difficult.”

Cal set down his drink. "I'm gettin' that impression." He said, watching his friend carefully.

After a few moments, he smiled. "Well... nothin' says you have to. Just..." He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it'd be good. What makes it difficult?"

"I mean... it's an issue of trust really." He said simply at first, trying to gather his thoughts.

Slowly, Cal nodded. "Seems to me that a lot of people have a hard time trusting someone who can change their face. I imagine that makes it hard to send trust back the other way, too."

He narrowed his eyes. "Or is there more to it than that?"

"Nope. Put a good finger on it. There's always that tension." He nodded.