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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LostSoul" data-source="post: 627272" data-attributes="member: 386">It was hard to tell the passage of time on Casino Royale.  Behind the moon of Socarro VI, it never recieved any direct sunlight.  So night grew into night.  It was the perfect place for a den of sin.  Troy felt at home here.Socarro VI had a long and illustrious history.  It had gone through hell during the Clone Wars, where it had its name changed to Sorotarr after the general who forcibly subdued the population.  During this time, Sorotarr built a large defense platform - the basis for the Casino Royale.  It was a meeting point for all sorts of undesireables, and many of these stayed on after the war.  In the end it was liberated due to a combined Republic, Kalarban, and Norval fleet.  But it was never the same.Troy always felt welcome here.  The journey was only a few days from Kalarba.  Troy and Arthur spent a lot of time there, retreating to the Casino whenver things got a little too hectic in the palace.  It was a good place to disappear, to lose yourself.Troy woke up feeling restless.  He was still tired after his rest.  His dreams were strange and wild.  They all had a feeling of loss, of something that was just out of his reach and if he could get his hands on it everything would be right.  But he never could, he just kept falling deeper into darkness.After washing up on the Bee-A's captain's suite, Troy got dressed.  He chose one of his old suits, an expensive and classy one, but he wore it slightly off.  He strapped on a wrist holster, but didn't have a blaster to fit.  He'd have to find another one.  He grabbed a pack of cigarettes and an old lighter stamped with a Norval II flight insignia.  He neglected to shave but fixed his hair.The docking bay was alive with activity.  Darius was sitting on a folding chair smoking a cigar.  Next to him was a grill, and a few cuts of meat were grilling there.  Arthur was directing a group of mechanics, arguing with them about the best way to fix Bessie.  Feyd was nowhere to be seen.  Arthur spotted Troy and walked over to him."Have a good sleep?" Arthur said.  Troy stopped to light a guntha stick.  "Not bad.""We saw you on the comms.  Looks like you're a celebrity here."  Troy nodded and sat down on a fueling cell."You hungry?" Darius said.  "Dinner will be ready soon.""A drink would be nice," Troy said.  Darius reached into a cooler and threw him a dantic.  Troy cracked it open and took a long gulp."I could use one too," Arthur said."The cooler's open," Darius replied.Dinner was good and greasy.  Troy felt refreshed after the meal and the fatigue drifted away from him.  He stood up and lit another guntha stick.  Darius was talking about his old job as a grill chef on some backwater rim planet.  He led a different life now."I've got to head out," Troy said.  "I'll see you back here for breakfast."  Darius nodded and Arthur waved.  "Try and bring back something interesting," Arthur said.--- Star Wars ---He met Brooke at the base of a posh hotel.  She was dressed in a slinky white outfit.  She had a small amount of makeup on her, a pale shade of blue that was the fashion in the core worlds.  She looked ready for anything."Here's the hold-out you wanted," Brooke said, handing Troy a small and highly illegal blaster.  He fitted it into his holster.  "I hope you won't be needing it.  These players are above that.""It's good to have some backup," he said.  Brooke smiled.  "You've got me," she said.They took a glass elevator up, high up, above the lights and common casinos below.  Troy stared out at them, receding in the distance.  Brooke's reflection caught his eye.  She still had the sadness in her eyes.  Troy wondered what it was from but the question was taboo.  He hoped he would find out in time.They entered a regal suite, similar to the ones that he and Arthur would book when Arthur still had command of the royal Indobok treasury.  It was opulent and garish.  It was made for people who wanted to show off their wealth, to take eyes off of themselves because what was there was never quite as beautiful as the things they owned.  Three man stood around a table filled with drinks and exotic foods.  They nibbled at these and drank, laughing boasfully at their own exploits.  Two of them wore Imperial uniforms, the other been a businessman.  They looked up at Brooke and Troy.VP Egus Glotto of TransGal Meg, Rear Admiral Stuus Motti, Moff Zin Zit."Gentlemen," Brooke said, drawing their eyes to her.  "Let me introduce Troy Chance, an old friend.  You might have heard of him.""We saw you last night in the casino," the businessman said.  He extended his hand.  "Egus Glotto, Vice-President of TransGal Meg."  Troy shook his hand."This is Rear Admiral Stuus Motti," Brooke said, introducing one of the Imperial officers.  The Admiral kissed her hand and shook Troy's.  "And this is Moff Zin Zit.  We are expecting another player; he should arrive soon."The waiting was always the hardest part for Troy.  He took another couple of drinks while Brooke exchanged pleasantries with the other men.  He fended off a few inquiries into his business but these went unnoticed.  Brooke commanded the attention of the men, and anything said to Troy was just faked courtesy.Troy studied the men while they talked.  He picked up some tells from each of them, and he knew that would make this night easier.  Brooke had a talent for bringing things out of other people while telling little of herself.  Each question she answered told her more of the questioner and gave away little.  She had used this on Troy before and with him.After over an hour of waiting and small talk, the Imperial Moff suggested starting.  "Our last guest is taking his own damn sweet time.  Let's just get going."  Troy was ready for this, and took his place at the gaming table.  Brooke prepared the table."Enjoy yourselves, gentlemen," she said.--- Star Wars ---The game went well for Troy.  He played up and down, losing some at the start but bringing his total up slowly.  He intentionally lost a few big hands but made them back over time.  He faked nervousness with each hand, although he knew that he could have easily cleaned out the men in only a few hands.  To lull them into false security was better.He had already raised his winnings from fifty to nearly a hundred and fifty when the suite's doors opened.  A small entourage of people walked in - two masked guards, three half-naked twi'lek dancing girls - all around a smallish hutt on a repulsor platform.  The hutt was smoking a large water-pipe, blowing foul-smelling smoke into the air."Let me introduce Gulguthra the Hutt," Brooke said.  The Hutt laughed in a booming voice, the laugh directed at Brooke."We all are here, tonight," Gulguthra said with a thick and strange accent.  "De real game begin now."Gulguthra was right.  Troy had to give up his former style, his game of cat-and-mouse, and really put his mind into the game.  It wasn't long before Egus Glotto and Stuus Motti had called it in.  Glotto watched the game continue, while Stuus Motti proceded to empty the drink cart.  The twi'lek girls were giving a dance, and the Rear Admiral watched them intensely.Brooke was still watching the game, making small talk and flirting whenever she could.  Moff Zin Zit was thrown off with her teasing, but Gulguthra was immune.  Hutts are notorious for their vices, but even more renown for thier ability to shrug them off when it suited them."Ho ho ho," Gulguthra laughed.  "Dis hand be mine!" he said, and one of the guards moved the pile of credits over to him.  He had taken most of the other three's money, and now Zin Zit was left with little.  Even Troy's winnings were dwarfed by the Hutt's.  Troy wondered if it had been a mistake to get into the game with a notorious gambler.  He had heard of Gulguthra among the seedier cirlces he hung around with.  A gamer, a gambler, a deadly enemy and worse friend."I'm going to fix myself a starburst," Brooke said.  "Does anyone else want anything?""Corellian whiskey, on ice," Troy said.  He recognized the clue and had responded in kind.  It had been long since they had worked together in a game like this, in any game.  But together they had never been beaten, nor had they ever been caught.  They worked with such subtlety that even an interrogation droid would have missed it.The cards were dealt.  Troy had a good hand, but good enough?  He realized that Zin Zit had something, as well - and Gulguthra was an unknown.  Troy decided to fake a tell.  He stared at Gulguthra, hoping the hutt would take the aggression as the sign of a bluff.  If the hutt had gone for it, Troy had no way of knowing.Betting followed.  Both Gulguthra and Troy increased their ante.  The stakes grew higher and higher.  Brooke put in her own suggestions, causing Moff Zin Zit to think that she could be bought with the winnings.  The Moff threw in almost all he had.  Troy and Gulguthra responded.  The pot was nearly half a million credits.Brooke changed her tactic.  She brought out the growing doubt in Zin Zit's mind, forcing it to the surface, making it grow so that it he could not ignore it.  Zin Zit threw down his cards in disgust.  "Too much for me," he said.Gulguthra laughed.  "So, Troy Chance, human, it is down to us.  You have de Hutt's courage.  We see if it lasts, eh?"  The slug laughed again and slapped Brooke on the rear.  That last move just to take Troy off his game.  He knew there was something between them, but the hutt know how deep it ran?Gulguthra put the whole of his cash on the table.  There was over a million on the table now."Can de Troy Chance meet dis?" the hutt boomed.Brooke gave a signal.  "Not with my cash," Troy said, "but I've got a ship that will cover it."  He threw down the passcard to the Bee-A.  "A new Imperial Customs Guardian Light Cruiser."  It was worth nearly eight-hundred thousand."Let's see what you got," Gulguthra said, and laid his hand on the table.  A pure sabaac.  Glotto whistled.  Zin Zit harrumphed.  Even Brooke was taken aback.  The hutt had been cheating."Not bad," Troy said, and laid his down.  An idiot's array.  Troy smiled and leaned back.  Brooke sighed as tension washed off her.  Gulguthra laughed, louder than before."Troy Chance, you are my human favourite!" he said.  More was left unsaid.  Gulguthra knew that Troy had outcheated him.  "We will game again, eh?  Let me get some of dis back."  The hutt laughed, and the tension was gone.  Troy collected the chips and dumped them into an accounting droid.  The game was over, and Troy had won.He stayed behind, making more small talk and spending some of his money.  Brooke calmed the losers down.  Finally Troy decided to leave.  Brooke caught up with him."Nice game," she said.  Her sadness was there now, just below the surface."Couldn't have done it without you," he said.  What could he say to her?  His mind was tangled.She put her hand on his arm.  "Make sure you give me a call tomorrow.  I need to ask you for a favour."  Troy looked at her hand there, and she removed it quickly.  She took a step back.Troy put his jacket on and nodded.  "Will do."  He had the feeling that something was lurking there, left unsaid.  He didn't know how to get at it.  With Brooke he never knew.  He smiled and walked to the door, turning as it opened to look at Brooke.  She watched him, and he couldn't help but feel he had let her down somehow.[Game notes - Brooke and Troy enjoyed a hefy bonus to Gambling when they worked together.  2D in d6, which probably works out to +4 in d20.  Even with this bonus, Gulguthra had an advantage in skill, and when that last roll came down it was pretty exciting.  But Troy won in the end, and walked out with a lot of cash.]</blockquote>

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