One for the Road (D7, MM)

[Cal Arcton]

Cal had just nodded agreement to Runi when Quinn made her announcement. He turned, staring blankly at her. Behind him, Demona briefly flickered into appearance, also staring blankly at Quinn. A few moments later, she flickered out again. Cal didn't notice.

"I, uh. Uh, well..." He scratched at his stubble a moment. "That's... not what I expected to be hearin' when I got up this morning." After a moment, he grinned. "But it makes sense. Not surprised you've been cheating at cards, or that you're a mobster's daughter. That all fits."

He gave her a solemn nod. "But actually, so does that you're a Jedi in training. That fills in as many pieces as the rest. And to think that I just thought you were a weird kid..." He shook his head, smiling. "But I'll trust you, Quinn, so long as you trust us right back."

[Korvalus Dunbri]

Kor had arrived later than everyone else but definitely in time to see Quinn's outburst. He chuckled a bit "glad you took my advice kid, not quite how I imagined it but hey at least you did it."

"So what? We are airing all the dirty laundry huh? Putting all the cards on the table?" Kor knew a go bag when he saw one on Bank's shoulder "what? Everyone finds out your secret and you split? Thought we were a crew, thought we looked out for each other and watched eachother's backs. We all got skeletons and baggage don't bug out now, we need everyone together more than ever right now."

[Runi Vizsla]

Runi raised her hand. "I mean, I just found out yesterday that my mom embarked on a career as an Imperial Inquisitor. So there's that."

[Cal Arcton]

Cal turned to Runi, his jaw dropping. Again. "Your mother's alive? And she's an Imperial Inquisitor? Here?"

His mouth finally closed. He moved behind the bar, shaking his head, and fetching out a bottle. "Does anyone else need a drink? I know it's early, but..." He shook his head as he poured bourbon.

[Korvalus Dunbri]

At that kor' s eyebrows shot up a bit "that inquisitor is your mother?" There was a long pause and he looked at Cal "yeah, I'll take a drink."

He sat down "Well while we are confessing things...." he trailed off and took a deep breath "I don't talk about my past a lot because I'm not exactly proud of it. I used to be a peace officer on Corellia, well that parts fine but when the Empire took over....i..i joined up. Became a trooper." If the glass was in front of him he would take a long drink.

"I was a trooper for a long time, became an officer and everything. I served the Empire most of its lifetime. I left after the battle of Hoth. I had done too many things I wasn't proud of." He sort of drifted off his voice and eyes lost in thought.

[Soren Lom]

Soren listens to everyone as they take their turn speaking. His face stays relatively emotionless for each of their confession as a pit in the middle of his stomach churns uncomfortably. He nods his head slowly as Kor finishes speaking and lets out a big breath through his nostrils before slowly beginning to speak, "Look... I get it. Strength in numbers... 'We're all scarred people'... Go team go. That's just a bunch of words trying to get someone to stick their neck out for someone else."

He looks to Runi, "I'm sorry about your mom thing... That bites. But there's nothing I can do to fix that. Inquisitors and force jank and stuff... Is beyond me."

He turns to Quinn next, "Same with you Quinn... I don't know how you got into the mess you're in, but that's a world that frankly I have no idea how to navigate."

He looks at Kor, "I understand that life a lot man. It sucks... it takes something from you and refuses to give it back. But with me... I got out. Well.. I got busted out I guess. And while the woman who helped me was brave and badass... I've always just run. That's how I live. I'm not a brave person. When the going gets tough, I get 'going'. Like... going far away 'going'. I'm a coward. You're right to not trust a coward."

[Cal Arcton]

Cal set the glass of bourbon, nice and stiff, in front of Kor. And, as the big man finished speaking, Cal gave him a reassuring clap on the shoulder. He knew the other man's past was a difficult one. but it was also the past, and they were beyond that.

He folded his arms casually across his chest as he looked at Soren. "Seems to me we've all got something. Everybody does. Which means that everyone's got their own stuff to deal with. I get that, I've been doing that since I was sixteen."

He shrugged, his expression thoughtful. "Everyone walks their own path. But, it seems to me, that all our paths have come together. And I guess that means we have the choice to walk this road together, with each person helping the others' burdens just a little..." He shrugged. "Or we pretend we're all walking alone, until it's time to walk our own ways again. I know which one I'd choose. Walkin' with you folks is a gift I'm not inclined to waste."

Unfolding his arms, Cal took a step closer to Soren, smiling. "So, too bad, my friend." He said. "We do trust you. I guess you can do with that what you will. And if what you will is to be on your own way, so be it. I'll just look forward to the next time we walk together. I just hope you stick with us a while longer."

[Runi Vizsla]

Runi lifted a glass she'd grabbed earlier. "Cheers," she agreed. "You gotta do what you gotta do."

[Quinn Largo]

"What mister Cal said," Quinn nodded.

[Soren Lom]

Soren tilted his head and bobbed it side-to-side, visibly fretting over the decision he was having to make. After a few moments he spoke, "What do you guys even have in mind? They have an army... and a Star Destroyer..."

[Korvalus Dunbri]

Kor pulled himself back to the now, his eyes sharpened as he heard Soren's question "not quite an army. They have soldiers and some vehicles and an inquisitor." He paused then "but this isn't the Empire, just a small fraction of it. They only have one ship, probably one command structure. There are people here who know how they work, myself included. They just have Noventa city occupied at the moment, forces concentrated at city hall and maybe one or two other key areas. The fact they haven't instituted a curfew or regular patrols shows that they are stretched thin."

Kor may not have been the sharpest vibro knife in the arsenal but he knew how the Empire worked. After over a decade of working with them he had picked up a few things. "They are using fear and big displays of force to control us right now. Between talented individuals like ourselves and a few others, the rangers, and the various criminal elements whose lives will become more complex with the Empire here we have the man power to take them down. They can't hold this planet against unified resistance."

[Soren Lom]

"And who leads this resistance?" Soren asked.

[Cal Arcton]

Cal shrugged. "Leader doesn't so much matter, so long as everyone does their part. That's what it's always been like with the Rebellion. And with Noventa. Sure, it's nice to have a symbol, or at least someone to call the shots. But in my experience, those things fall into place just so long as everyone stands up and tells the invaders 'no' with one voice."

[Dartris Ribmatt]

This time he didn't bother with his men to enter. It wasn't the time or place for a chance to intimidate. Instead, he would let them be outside for a few moments while they settled up matters. No greater time than the present, really. Other things would be in play soon, and now he had no choice but to prepare for them.

As he looks around to everyone, he glances over at the man who seemingly looked like he was packed up and ready to go. No one he recognized, but then again, that didn't matter all that much anymore. Something was up one of them for sure, and for now, keeping it out of earshot of those guards was the smartest way to go about it.

"Mornin' everyone. Figure I would come over and check up on ya'll to see how you were doing? Hope everyone made it out of that trap in one piece then?"

[Cal Arcton]

Cal grimaced. Their business wasn't quite done, but maybe it was done enough. Everyone had said their piece, anyway. He gave Soren a quick nod and smile before turning to Ribmatt.

"Mornin'." Cal drawled. "And yeah, we made it out alright. Seems like just about everyone did; the Imperials aren't cracking down quite as hard as the usually like to, it seems."

He folded his arms across his chest. "You here for the datapad? We've got it. After that, maybe we could discuss the situation that we've all suddenly found ourselves in."

[Dartris Ribmatt]

"Sounds good..." He moved in over to the bar. "First off, gotta say, I am quite impressed you managed to find someone who could disguise himself as me so quickly. With the make-up and the arms...Quite impressive indeed. Fooled them well enough that they didn't even realize the guy didn't have robotic arms. Really...really impressive." He says it in such a way to imply the complete sarcasm behind it. "I suppose this goes without saying that, although the point of it was not to have me go in there and request something of my team, since that doesn't exactly test my security measures in the way I was hoping..." Ribmatt pauses, giving a annoyed grunt. "...It still met within the requirements of my task. So I won't fault you for having a person so talented in disguises in your back pocket. Even grabbed my voice, I hear. Now that's some tech you got on hand."

He looks over at the newcomer suspiciously and pauses, looking over at him for a moment with his belongings before turning back to Cal. "Listen, if you want to skip over that small detail about who you hired to play me, well, I'll respect your wishes and not pry cause now ain't the time to start looking into it. As you said, Cal, there's a larger situation we have to deal with." He looked him over, not using the playful term of 'lawman' as he normally does. "Though..." He leans into the bar, favoring his right metallic arm as his voice gets deeper in its pitch, like trying to quell something from within. "...And I suppose this goes without saying, but I'm going to say it anyways because I want to make sure I'm understood. I don't want any more reports of me going around to places I've wasn't at. If I ever hear about something like that again without my express permission, I'm gonna come back here again. And it will not in the role of the friendly man you all know and love."

He paused and looked over at the room, his face turning from the friendly face you've seen him to a look of a man ready to strike and giving everyone a look. "I hope I've made myself clear, then?"

[Cal Arcton]

Cal kept his eyes narrowed, even if his smile remained. He shifted, just a little, his crossed arms relaxing. "Of course. You've got nothin' to worry about from us. We've dealt straight with you, and we'll keep doin' so. We're not interested in making enemies that we've got no cause to."

He gave a studied shrug. "But if you ask me, if you're not happy with the results, well, maybe you're looking at it from the wrong angle. Don't focus on how good we are, or how fast we did it, but just on what we did. And then think about what a group that's half as good could do with two weeks instead of two days." He nodded. "You'll get our reports, and I think you'll get some good info to act on, if I do say so myself."

[Dartris Ribmatt]

"Results, in the end are what matter, lawman. Didn't really care how you got there in the end so long as you got there. you gave me the results. As I said, I'm satisfied." He motions for the datapad to be brought to him. "To be honest, I'm more upset with the guards not realizing the cybernetics arms weren't there. If things weren't so desperate right now I would fire the lot of them. So we're good now. Just had to make that one single point clear."

He nodded and gave a smile. "To show you this...technically I don't need to honor the contract anymore. Law's been taken over, I can go back on my deal without worrying about the Rangers or something calling me up."

He paused and shouted over to one of his men, who brought in a case and laid it on the barstool, before opening up the case to reveal a large stack of credits. "5000 credits is yours. I expect that report to be turned into me when the shit around here settles."

[Cal Arcton]

"Well, not most Rangers." Cal said. Reaching up, he pulled back the corner of his vest. Pinned to his shirt was the silver triangle badge of the Sector Rangers. "Guess lawman isn't just a nickname anymore." He said blandly. "Retirement wasn't really doin' it for me, anyway. And besides, I suspect a man's word is even more important in your particular line of work than most."

He let the vest fall back down to cover the badge. "Speaking of, hope you don't mind my askin' about your plans in these..." Cal pursed his lips, "troubling times?"

[Dartris Ribmatt]

He looks over at the badge and smiles. "They keep pulling you back in even when you're out." There is a nod off respect to it. "Well, don't get yourself killed doing the law's work."

"Well...I prepared as best I could." He shrugs. "My sort of job is one where it doesn't really matter who's in charge. Even if I want them gone." Ribmatt paused and looked at everyone "Yes, believe it or not, my intention is that I want them gone...but I can't take any direct actions against them for reasons that don't concern you."

He gave a slight moment to pause. "Which is why I wanted to make sure ya'll got your pay today. Might also be making a little shopping trip later. Maybe give me some credits and a list, I'll see what I can find, eh?"