510. Den Var - Trychon

Raezyr and Trychon spent the next three days wandering around the walkways of Den Var, or at least the one particular district. Since Den-Var was nearly a city-planet, the various districts were broken down nearly arbitrarily and with little difference... remnants of when they were separate cities. It left a lot for the two to learn about the planet, but they were simply happy to be in a modern setting again.

Trychon did a bit of searching for a merchant who had the sort of technology he was looking for. Raezyr commented more than once that he was like a woman trying to find the perfect dress, as Trychon whined about the selection before finding what he was looking for, or some of it. He grumbled about having to update some of it himself, but Raezyr noticed he was becoming more himself, now that he had a datapad to tinker with.

Raezyr had taken care of most of their general acquisition needs while Trychon nitpicked his own shopping list. They kept in touch via comlink and were able to get a general feel for the area and the people.

They met up at different establishments the first two nights. Both were similar to other cantinas and pubs they'd run across before, but neither had the general feeling they'd enjoyed at Club Sky, so that was where they met up on the third, and what they assumed to be their last, night on Den Var for a few weeks.

Raezyr was there first, and found a table nearer the Sabaac tables than the other night, hoping that they'd get more personable service and less of the mechanized versions. There was also the possibility that they'd decide to try their 'luck' at Sabaac again. They'd played for just a few hours at the other bars, really getting a rhythm together and figuring out how to manage to win a hefty sum without cleaning out their victims too quickly. They'd managed to pay for their restocking and all but a few of Trychon's new gadgets in this manner, and even though they hadn't needed to do even that, Raezyr really hoped to earn the rest of their expenditures back.

One of Raezyr's hopes was rewarded when he was approached by a true server and not a droid, however it wasn't an attractive woman as he'd hoped, but a middle aged man. Raezyr shrugged off his fortune and after the hearty greetings from the enthusiastic server, he ordered a pair of the local brews. Together, he and Trychon had narrowed the Taxl monks' ale into a particular group, and were still searching for something that would serve as a good substitute when they ran out.

When the drinks arrived, Raezyr decided not to wait for his brother and poured his ale. He took a sip and made a disappointed face at the glass. He felt Trychon enter the area, and waved him over. It was a pointless gesture, but he felt it made them appear more normal. He grabbed the empty glass and poured out the other ale for Trychon as he made his way to the table and sat down.

The older brother smiled immediately as Raezyr slid him the now full glass. He took a drink and made a disappointed face at the glass. "Nope. Not even close. Still... yum!" He drank a bit more, and his smile returned.

Raezyr matched his actions by drinking as well, and decided that it wasn't bad at all... it just wasn't what they were looking for. "So you're ready then?" When Trychon nodded, he continued. "Good. I am too. When I checked in earlier, Mannix was roaming around a bit more. His mood is just as sour, but he's becoming more curious I think. We should probably leave before it overwhelms him and he decides he wants to take a look. Then he'd be truly overwhelmed."

Set in their plans for the next day, they discussed their experiences from around the district, which Raezyr had learned was referred to as the Lodo District. In general, they found that there was a real mix of aliens in the area, either more so than other planets they'd been on or perhaps they were less segregated, and more intermingled.

Raezyr mentioned that he'd been out on the walkways both with and without his helm. In either instance, he felt no odd glances or feelings. The populace seemed to be overwhelmingly accepting and welcoming. Trychon agreed that he'd received nothing less than positive greetings wherever he'd gone. There was not even any overlying sense of potential discovery of their reputation in the core worlds.

They had several different ales over the course of an hour or so, though they still struggled to find anything of a quality similar to what the monastery had produced. They relaxed and enjoyed simple idle conversation and laughs.

Eventually, there was a Sabaac table that had a pair of humanoids leave, their luck having run thin. There had been plenty of open seats prior, but this table seemed to be particularly inviting. There was five remaining players at the table, including two furry aliens neither Trychon nor Raezyr recognized the species, two portly bearded humans, and a Rodian who seemed to be doing very well for himself. Raezyr gestured towards the open seats, and Trychon nodded before they grabbed their drinks and headed over.

Raezyr and Trychon made no attempt to pretend to be unacquainted, as most of the bar had probably seen them together now. They took the open spots at the table, Trychon between one of the bearded men and a the unknown alien, and Raezyr between the other fuzzy alien and the Rodian. It appeared as though the two who had left had indeed been pretty down on their luck. The two humans and the pair of aliens both had decent piles of credchips in front of them, and while frustrated, still seemed to be in fair spirits. The Rodian gave off waves of happiness though, as he had by far the largest amount, by orders of magnitude.

There was some small talk through the first few hands, and it turned out that the Rodian had indeed earned a bit off of both the groups at the table, but a near fortune off the two who'd left. The two Sith had to take a different tactic from some of their other games they'd played in for several reasons, but mainly because they cared more about being accused of cheating at this bar than the others they'd played at.

They started out playing naturally, without trying to influence the other players too much or even feeling into the Force intentionally for a sense of direction in the hand. They had a few decent hands, but also found themselves slowly bleeding chips to the Rodian, who was as smug and pleased as ever. Raezyr and Trychon planned out how to handle the game through a brief discussion using the Force.

Through feeling the gentle waves of the near future, they had a sense of what to expect, though not perfect. They continued slowly losing credits, though they did their best to lose some back to everyone but the Rodian. As their confidence grew, so did their success against the Rodian. They then continued to help by concentrating on the various players and trying to pass on certain emotions of wariness, risk taking, and so forth to nudge them in the right direction as they saw it.

The Rodian on the other hand, became increasingly frustrated and began to gamble more recklessly without any direct influence from the two Force users. It was then, as he was down a third of his chips and losing patience quickly even though he still had more than half the wealth at the table, that the two brothers began taking chunks of his credits for themselves.

The mood at the table was quite chipper outside the one card player, and there was jokes and chuckles along with the occasional bought round. Finally, the Rodian snapped and threw his cards down and pounded the table before calling security, who was already on their way. He was quick to accuse the table of cheating, particularly the human newcomers, who now had most of his chips as well as some from the rest of the table. He started mentioning names and explaining his credentials as a gambler, and was clearly dumbfounded as to what had happened.

The two Sith said nothing, and didn't have to as their new friends quickly came to their defense, pointing out how the brothers had been down in chips before capitalizing on the Rodian's mistakes... which he'd made from being already flustered. The Rodian was outraged and began to lunge at one of the furry aliens, but Raezyr was quick to catch the man's outreaching hand in his own.

Raezyr was on his feet in a flash, with both hands on the Rodian's jacket, but he decided to wait, and was rewarded when the Security guards grabbed the Rodian and led him away.

Trychon patted Raezyr on the shoulder and said "Well, boys... I think that's about all the excitement WE can take tonight..." He was slightly inebriated, and knew that Raezyr and their friends were as well. "Let us buy you fellows one more round at our table before we leave though."

All four of the Sabaac players agreed, equally happy about the Rodian's gambling demise, and all a few credits richer for it... though none as much as Trychon or Raezyr. They all sat down at the table and enjoyed a few stories and ales. The aliens got up to leave one round before the two bearded men did. When the bearded men got up to leave, they insisted upon a friendly embrace. The man who hugged Raezyr paused after releasing him.

"You guys are some of the kriffin nicest strangers we've ever met." He took off his black hat, which was flat crowned and had an encircling brim that turned up slightly on the sides, and he placed it on Raezyr's head. "Take this! It's a great hat... you'll love it!"

The other man handed his similar brown hat to Trychon, who held the hat for a moment before exclaiming... "This... is a great hat!" before placing it on his head with a genuine smile from ear to ear.

Raezyr thanked the men, who went on their way. As he was leaving a few credchips on the table for their bill as well as a gratuity for the man who'd originally served them as well as the women who served them as they played cards, the middle aged man walked up to them and introduced himself. The Sith brothers didn't catch his name, but he handed them a card and told them they were invited upstairs for a more exclusive party.

Raezyr responded slowly, starting to strongly feel the effects of the last three rounds. "I really like this... part of the bar. Thank you though... maybe next time."

Then the two Sith left Club Sky and headed back to their ship to get some rest.


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Trychon slowly opened his eyes, but was unable to see anything initially. Shaking off some of the cobwebs in his mind from the drinks they'd had the previous night, he tried to put his hand to his face and ended up pulling away the brown hat he'd received from their new friends whose names escaped him.

He got up and stretched, yawning as he walked out to the cockpit, with the hat firmly in place on his head. He found Raezyr making the final preparations for launch to head to Hoth.

Raezyr looked at him for a moment before laughing. "How many rounds did we have last night?"

Trychon yawned again. "Counting them takes the fun away. Except when you're counting."

Raezyr shook his head, which was not adorned in the black hat. "Those hats are kind of ridiculous."

Trychon took his off and looked at it before placing it on the console. "Yeah... I think I like them." He grinned.

Raezyr began working on his preflight routine again. "Don't get too comfortable... you have a message to send, don't you?"

Trychon vaguely remembered losing some bet to Raezyr, perhaps about the reaction of the Rodian, but he was unsure as to what it actually was.

He headed to the back, where their holomessage recorder was, and took a moment to remember what he'd decided to say. He knelt and lowered his head in a sign of respect and loyalty before turning the recorder on.

"Master Eiron... we've returned from our mission among the Taxl Monks on Altax III. Our mission was met with mixed success...."