@Penny
The protocol droid continually to dutifully translate Litki’s cries as the Jawa backed towards the entrance, but it wasn’t doing her much good. Her continued bargaining just seemed to anger the Twi’lek; his voice steadily grew louder and louder until he was shouting back at her across the length of his store.
“No! Absolutely not! No deal! Are you deaf, Jawa? There’s no work for you here! Get out of my-”
Suddenly, he fell silent — just as Litki, moving backwards, felt herself abruptly collide with a hard, armored body. A pair of Imperial Stormtroopers had just entered the store behind her.
The Twi’lek cleared his throat and shifted his weight back behind his counter, trying to regain his composure as a white gauntleted hand reached down to close tightly over Litki’s shoulder. A menacing silence settled over the store as the trooper slowly looked down at Litki, then back to the shopkeeper. From the look on his face, he definitely hadn’t been expecting them; in fact, his threat about calling them may have just been bluster.
“Do we have a problem, here?” the trooper asked the room at large, voice rasping through his mask.
—
@Tenshi @Yellow Brick Road @Anla'Shok @Ahlanna
Up on the catwalk, Ami’s admirer’s smile widened into a toothy grin at her response. “Something like that,” he said, as he moved a little closer — too close for comfort, in fact. “Actually, my friend and I were going to ask if *you* needed any help. These are still dangerous times, you know. It’s not safe to loiter alone for too long;
especially if you’re an offworlder.” Up close, the man’s face reminded her a little of a womp rat; he had small, beady eyes and a mop of thin, black hair.
His friend didn’t seem to be paying the two much attention; he was still staring intently down from the catwalk, at something in the crowd below. Suddenly, he gave an alarmed shout. “Skig, it’s her!”
Emerging from the cantina, it only took Zorah a moment to locate her target. The woman hadn’t yet gone very far, and seemed to be doing her best to stick to the crowd. As Zorah watched, however, she realized that the woman’s path was taking her towards two approaching Stormtroopers — the two who had just stopped Ada’koyi moments earlier, in fact. The woman noticed them, too, and turned abruptly to head the other direction; and that’s when the overhead watcher’s shout rang out from above.
“Gundark’s cantina! Grey mechanic’s jacket, headed towards the west — no, east exit!” Ami saw the man shout into the collar of his jacket, loud enough that she could catch what he was saying — and then he produced a small blaster from his front pocket. His friend took a rapid step away from her, apparently no longer interested, and hurried towards the catwalk’s railing.
The woman swore under her breath, and broke into a run. She was still unsteady on her feet, and didn’t make it very far before stumbling and falling — directly into Monisa, who she clung to tightly for support. The young Tapani felt something warm and wet seeping through her clothing where the stranger’s body pressed against her, and both she and Ada could see a clear look of desperation on the woman’s face. Her eyes fell for a moment on Ada’s blaster, and she breathlessly begged, “Please, help me! I - I have credits!”
The patrolling pair of stormtroopers began to push their way through the crowd towards the three of them. “Get away from that woman!” One shouted. The other took a more aggressive approach, raising their rifle and calling to their partner, “What are you doing? Just blast them both!”
Someone screamed, and the crowd exploded in panic as the station’s populace hurried to clear the trooper’s paths.
OOC: You all have a moment to act, if you would like, but if anyone wants to take any obviously aggressive action it'll be time to roll Initiative.
—
@kckolbe
Moments before chaos erupted outside, the grizzled cantina owner fixed Maj with a skeptical eyebrow. “Migraine, huh?” He sounded dubious — and glanced over for a moment to watch Zorah as she hurried towards the exit — but then turned back to Maj with a disinterested shrug, evidently deciding that whatever she was up to wasn’t his business. “Nothing too interesting, Cerean. Times are peaceful, business is good. Enjoy your drink.” And with those rather dismissive words, he turned away, apparently not especially interested in conversation with his customer.
That didn’t leave Maj by himself very long, though, because there was another customer who
was rather interested in speaking with him. The Chadra-Fan by the bar had slipped out of his seat and was strolling towards Maj’s booth, passing Gundark on the way. Upon arriving, he unceremoniously invited himself in, sliding right into Zorah’s recently unoccupied seat — then paused for a moment, lifting one his leathery ears, as he listened to the muffled commotion coming from outside.
“Well, that sounds bad,” he muttered, with a shake of his head, though he didn’t really sound too concerned by the thought. Like many of his kind, the Chadra-Fan had a squeaky voice, and spoke quite quickly — though he wasn’t too difficult to understand, even over the noise of the cantina. “I hope your friend is ok. It’s a shame we couldn’t meet; she seemed like a nice sort. Ah well. Just us, then, I suppose. I’m Tenda Feek.”
The Chadra-Fan leant his hands on the table, and leant forward as he lowered his voice to a more conspiratorial whisper. “And you’d be Maj-Esyuu, yes? A mutual friend asked that I meet you here. I believe that you and I have business to discuss.”
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