Rabbling the Rousers (barfight pt. 1)

Posted on Fri Nov 29th, 2024 @ 11:32am by Aarav Macae & Lieutenant Kyan Mackenzie & Caithlin t'Leiya & Shea Voran II & Skili VaTemishon

3,301 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: What Lies Ahead, Between, and Behind
Location: Sumi Saloon

Many of the businesses in Haumea had been seeing a boost of business since the recent boom of popularity. Something must have been happening on the home planets, because right now all Aarav was hearing about was how great colony life was.

And he had to agree. The laws of Haumea were not as convoluted as they were everywhere else, and he was not sneered out of half of every establishment for being a giant, muscle mass of a man who performed in a 'circus.' Here, he was proprietor of this rather loud and rowdy bar, something he had looked forward to since his daughter put the Circus to retirement. Half of the performers came with them, of course. One does not just leave family behind. But Aarav was happy with this retirement plan.

It meant he got to run a bit of his own fun.

Today was just like any other day; loud and cheery. Sumi's crowd tended to be a bunch of regulars; akin to pubs he used to visit when they were touring through Europe. No one seemed put off by the knick knacks he had put around everywhere of trinkets he collected throughout the years, some from fans and some he had picked up through sightseeing. There was a set of hand-whittled wooden figures that he was particularly proud of; they were the only non-alcohol items he kept on a shelf behind his bar.

He was happy to join his staff (which consisted of three different former circus types for the night) in administering drinks. As loud and cheery as it was, it was something he could call home.

Skili sat in a corner, tuning her guitar and watching, trying to get a feel for the room and its patrons.

Caithlin was also somewhat in a corner, the sort of spot someone interested in always having a defensible position would pick by default; nursing a drink that she suspected from her time on Earth before this would have qualified as fairly strong for humans. Her presence there at the moment owed itself to another thing she'd picked up from watching people on Earth, specifically how many Federation leaders seemed to act in a crisis or anything adjacent to or following one: See and be seen.

Skili watched the Romulan woman, Romulan vocals were something she was not good at, but she knew some of their popular ballads and, having finished with her tuning, began playing one just using the guitar. it was good practice to play other culture's music.

At another table an odd grouping sat hunched over their cards. Kyan stole glances around the table as everyone considered their next bets. Across from the Onlie sat Rava, a Ferengi man who was visiting Haumea Colony to assess whether or not it would be a good spot for a "Wemba's Toy Emporium" franchise. He was flanked by two other Ferengi, Dint and Loik were their names, and they apparently worked for him. Rounding out the group was a Hermat named Adrione 22 and a particularly gruff Tellarite named Garut Kev.

"What did you say is the name of this game hoo-mon?" one of the Ferengi asked casually, peering across the table over his cards.

Kyan didn't look up. "It's called Hold'em... from one of the old American provinces on Earth. Georgia or sommat... I cannae remember." Then, " an I told ye I'm nae Human. I'm an Onlie."

"You'd think... with those big ears you could hear better." Lev grumbled. The Ferengi didn't respond, but knowing Ferengi, Kyan figured he probably took it as a compliment.

Being the last to bid, he grabbed some slips from the pile in front of him. "Anyways.. It's three slips I bid." He offered, tossing the latinum in the middle of the table. "An now Adrione can show the next card."

The Hermat discarded the top card on the deck and turned the next one over, laying it face up on the table next to three others.

"Oh..." s/he cooed. "Interesting...that's a three, a four, and a five on the table... I wonder if anyone has the others... "

The front entrance opened to admit a dark-haired woman in a worn brown leather bomber jacket over a white t-shirt; a badge pinned to the lapel, dusty trousers and boots. She smiled as feline eyes took in the establishment, right hand idly tapping an enclosed holster hanging on her right hip; "Now this is my kind of place..."

Sauntering through the room right for the bar she gave a respectful nod to a few patrons, eyes even taking three Ferengi 'Traders' playing cards. Yep, this place brought back memories. At the bar, a hand slipped into her jacket, palming a strip of Latinum which she then slid toward the Bartender. "I don't suppose you have Tanganika Bloodwine? That stuff from Ketha's okay, but they tend to water it down too much for my taste."

Aarav had his eyes on the Ferengi as if he expected the trip to abduct the young child who thought it appropriate to play with them. He was no stranger to children being able to bluff full grown adults into a false sense of security, but he also knew full well that a Ferengi would have tried to have all the tricks up their sleeve. And he had seen the kid around, which made him a resident, and therefore someone Aarav felt necessary to protect.

Naturally, no one had yet informed him what an Onlie was.

But his gaze snapped to the new patron, glint in his eye when he caught sight of the badge. "For you, Marshal? First drink is on the house! And you're in luck, I had a trade go sour and got a bottle of Tanganika's as an apology. I'll get you a pour. Are we traditional or stemmed glass?"

"Traditional, of course." Shea smirked, pocketing the slip of latinum.

"I shall make sure it is the right temperature as well - I was informed this vintage does well lightly chilled." He offered a big grin as he gestured around the Saloon. "You've come at our most busy night of the week - our Klingon friend over there is even providing music. Always a treat!"

"Really..." Shea glanced over, leaning on the bar while accepting the pressed-steel mug and proceeding to take a sip, watching the room carefully. This was the best way to acquire information, after all; a good spy wouldn't just break into an enemy base and loot their computer files... you could more easily acquire good intelligence simply by visiting a place where everyone gathered and listened. You would be surprised at how much people talked when they felt comfortable.

Skili continued her playing, watching the others, especially the new arrival. Just tracking the patterns of the people and playing music.

Caithlin took notice of the newcomer and her positioning and observation of the room, with the sort of sense and instincts that had been honed over nine decades or so in the Empire and its cutthroat capital; and the woman at the bar was pinging every one of them, a whisper in the back of her mind that she was looking at the most dangerous person in the room...other than herself, that was.

As it happened, Kyan did have the other two cards needed for a straight. But he also had an agenda. He'd known Wemba, the old Ferengi who owned "Wemba's Toy Emporium", since she was a newborn. Her father Dahg had been the Daimon of a freighter called the Latinum Beetle, on which the Onlie served as the "tactician" as the Ferengi called it. Dahg had gone to the Divine Treasury around the time the Dominion War had kicked off, but his daughter had put his latinum to good use. And now she had male Ferengi working for her

Kyan wasn't sure how old Dahg would have felt about that, being a traditionalist. Whatever her father's opinions might have been, Wemba definitely had the lobes for business. She was making profits hand over fist since she'd started opening stores on colony worlds.

"I fold so. The cards is jobby and I need ta refill me drink." Kyan sighed, throwing away his straight so Rava could win. "I'll be right back." Then as he got up and turned to leave. "An I counted me strips too... so dinna get no sticky fingers!"

The Ferengi nodded while Gamut Kev mumbled something about not being a thief. Whatever he said fell on deaf ears as Kyan made his way over to the bar where Aarav and the human looking woman stood leaning on the bar. Whether it was his height or the fact that she was leaning on the bar, he could tell she had a holstered beam weapon. He didn't have one on him, but his karambit was sheathed on the back of his belt. Knives were more fun anyway.

Kyan stood on the footrest and rested his arms on the bar as he peered up at Aarav. "Hey Can I have a Icoberry juice, and three Sluggo Colas for those Ferengis over there."

Shea smiled softly, glancing down at the 'kid' beside her. She knew better than to assume appearances; he was in a bar playing a cut-throat (sometimes literally) game with a group that looked like they could hold their own, after all. "You winning, or luring them into a false sense of security?"

Kyan offered a shrug. "I'm losing, the shame of it. But it's on purpose so it is. Wemba says I need ta make sure they have a fun time. She's after puttin a store in Haumea. The which she says she cannae do if her investors dinna want ta do it. So I reckoned that if I let 'em win some latinum the now, then they'll like it here. And then WE get a Wemba's Toy Emporium." He figured since she was a grup, she didn't care about such things. "You prolly hear the jingle on the ad nets. Come on all you girls and boys, Wemba's got yer favorite toys, Betazoid Barbi and Marauder Mo, tell your Moogie its time ta go... to Weeeemba's to Weeeemba's... Get here fast these deals won't last!" Then, because it was a part of the jingle..."Approved by the Ferengi Commerce Authority."

It made sense to him anyway. And since he wasn't a girl, nor would he rub anyone's ears even if he was, it was the best he could do. Besides, Wemba's Toy Emporium was probably the best toy store going. So if it cost a few strips of latinum to get one close by, so be it!

Unfortunately, Aarav was not as well in the know; as far as he was concerned he was looking at a really articulate child. Who may or may not have had a bunch of angry Ferengi in a few minutes. "Consider it done, small one." Aarav was quick to have a nearby member of his waitstaff round up the aforementioned Sluggo Colas. "How is your game going?"

"Eh. I'm lettin em win. We played Tongo last night so I get ta pick the game today. I just hope that Tellarite dinna ruin the game. "Kyan looked back over to check. It looked like they were arguing about something. "I'll take me latinum off his fat arse if he ruins me plans so, the porker!"

"I see. That's quite a business venture, eh?" Aarav's brow rose, and his eyes wandered to the Klingon bard in the corner. If an altercation was going to happen, he wanted to make sure the fiercest-looking patron was on his side - the side that would cause the least damage to the bar. "Bard! How about a break? I have a special brew just for you!"

Skili finished the bar she was playing and set the guitar aside. "I would welcome a drink, playing does not make one as thirty as singing but I will not refuse."

"Excellent!" Aarav had Kyan's icoberry juice in front of him before he pulled out an unlabeled glass jug that was darkened by the contents inside. He pulled off the cork and the distinctive smell of juniper, a hint of citrus, and an odd odor that may have put off anyone who was not familiar with blood wine varietals. "I had a friend import this from a Klingon vintner who had given Earth gin a try. Much stronger than their other varieties, I hear. Thought if anyone should give it a first go, it should be someone giving us a good show!" He winked, sliding her over a healthy pour of the deepened red elixir. "Can't have you goin' thirsty when you're addin' atmosphere, eh?"

Skili picks up the glass, take a sniff and a sip, and then knocks back the rest. "Very pleasant. If I could have some water too. Is there anything you would like me to play?" she asks gesturing to the guitar.

Shea merely nodded, listening and taking another sip of her bloodwine, eyes trained on the table the game was taking place on, watching the debate for signs of escalation.

"Oh I can do you one better than 'some' water," Aarav scoffed, as if the request was presented as a challenge. He disappeared under the bar for a moment, then another, before he hefted a gallon-sized ceramic jug from underneath. It was slammed onto the counter, and by the icy smoke coming off of it suggested it's temperature. "I keep this for whenever we have such talent come through the doors."

"HEY!" came a voice from the other end of the bar. The sight of the angry, red-faced farmer, shirt now drenched with the beverage that had been spilled was what Aarav was greeted with as the man stormed over to the bartender. "What's the big damn idea?!"

As he shoved by, he bumped into the table the Ferengi were at with such force that it nearly tipped the table over. Its contents, however, were spilled onto the table nearby. This incited one of the patrons, who now had playing cards in his beer, and suddenly a punch was thrown at one of the nearby Ferengi.

Skili played a dramatic sting on her guitar as she watched the disaster unfold.

Shea watched the tossed table and thrown punch with growing amusement. Yep; this was going to be a fun place. She downed the last of her drink and slammed the pressed-steel mug back onto the bar before standing upright and reaching for her holster, pulling the tab to unlock the top flap concealing what Kyan mistook for a beam weapon...

... it wasn't...

She didn't draw her pistol, at least not yet... Shea wanted to see how far this went first!

Kyan turned toward the commotion just in time to see one of the Ferengi that had come with Rava take a punch. To their credit, the Rava and the other one tried to come to his defense, but were no match for the burly human that had attacked them. Seeing his plans circling the drain, the Onlie took a swig off his Icoberry juice and hopped off the footrail onto the floor. "Dinna let no one get me drink. I'll be right back!" he said to either Shea or Aarav. Then he rushed into the fray.

It didn't take long to weave through the chaos of people standing up and jostling one another. In a flash the crimson haired boy was between the Ferengi and their attacker. The human moved to go around him but Kyan simply stepped back into his path. "I'd ask ye ta lay off my friends mister, they dinna do nothin to ye."

"Get out of my way kid!" the grup snarled. "They ruined my drink and got beer all over me."

Watching the small alien interpose himself to try and defuse the situation, Shea decided to wait until a punch was actually thrown or something got shattered before she ended things. She'd been in her fair share of bars and bar fights... Long ago she'd learned quickly that it was best to let people vent a bit before taking them down and dragging them to the nearest drunk tank to sleep off the hangover.

"How often stuff like this happen?" Shea asked Aarav, glancing at the man behind the bar and jerking a thumb toward the commotion in the middle of the room.

"Not often," Aarav commented, tactfully taking the icoberry juice in question under the bar, setting it in a hopefully safe spot for the Onlie trying to help his companions out. "Usually when it does, somethin' real wild is 'bout to happen." Aarav suddenly had a suspicious look on his face, before he reached down to pull out an old, wooden Earth bat. It looked as if it had been repaired multiple times over, but still sturdy. "Just in case."

His eyes darted to the start of the altercation, where the human farmer seemed to be joined by equally as disgruntled farmer types of many shapes, sizes, and races. "Step aside kid," one of them said. "We aren't gonna bully a youngling. Just give these big-eared dopes a good scare not to mess with us."

For their part, the Ferengi huddled together with the two underlings in front of their boss. They weren't fighters and it showed, but then again Kyan hadn't ever met a Ferengi would was a fighter. It just wasn't their thing. He heard them whispering to one another about maybe bribing the humans. But he wasn't going to let them do that. Letting them lose their money would be almost as bad as letting them get beat up... probably worse.

"Sure an ye could'na bully me if ye was after doin it anyways." Kyan offered with a cheeky grin. "On account of because I'd whoop yer fat arse like yer da shoulda did."

"Move or get moved." the first farmer replied in that irritated way that grups often did when they were tired of arguing.

He was big; almost two meters tall and solidly built. He was strong for a certainty. He'd manhandle Kyan easily if he got ahold of him. They both knew that. But then so would just about every other grup that the centuries old kid had ever tangled with. Some of them had done it. More of them had gotten an unwanted surprise. Sizing him up, Kyan placed this one in the latter category. "Move me den ya arse faced wanker!" Kyan answered finally.

That had the desired effect. The farmer stepped forward with the intent to grab him. Kyan shifted to a wide stance and crouched, leaning forward in a Esquiva Diagonal technique he'd learned in Capoeira. The farmer grabbed air and the Onlie swung his back leg around behind him, which carried him into a standing position facing the Farmer's back as he regained his balance. When he did, he whirled around to face his target. Kyan couldn't stifle a laugh at his red face. "Gotta be quicker than that... old man."

What he didn't expect was that one of the Ferengi would actually get involved. In a moment of either madness or bravery, one of the underlings leapt up onto the big farmer's back with an ear piercing scream or battle cry. Kyan nearly doubled over laughing at the bewildered farmer staggering around with a Ferengi on his back.

Skili watched all of this with increasing amusement and began to play what some would recognize as yakey sax on her guitar.

Shea watched with growing amusement, sipping her bloodwine. "Wild indeed... you're right about that. I think I'll wait until someone gets too frustrated before stopping it."

RSS Feed