The current holder of 'most notorious lounge in the Karin spaceport' belongs to The Lucky Lizzy.  The club came about because of a shrapnel grenade and an 8 year old girl.

It was ten years ago.  The CFA, or Citizens Freedom Army...or nutso wankers, take your pick...was holding another of their tedious terror campaigns.  Sargent Aldous Atherton was in charge of a small squad that oversaw security at Sister Maria's School and Daycare, which because it's future scholars were the children of the rich and powerful, was always a popular one-stop shop for CFA kidnappers needing to make their next big score.

On that day though, the CFA nutso wasn't there to shop.  He was there to damage the merchandise.  The guy managed to get through the security net and make it close enough to the loading/unloading zone at the school's front doors to lob a shrapnel grenade.

Sargent Atherton saw the grenade quite clearly.  It came in over head, arced down, and struck a young girl squarely between the shoulders.  She fell with a cry, skinning her knee, but refusing to cry because she was a brave girl.  The grenade rolled down her back like it was sick of the whole gravity thing, and came to a rest on the ground, taking a quick break before it blew up into a billion itty bitty jagged bits.

Now Atherton was a resolute bastard.  In fact he was a bastard's bastard.  But for some reason, all he could think about was his little sister.  The one who died when he was twelve.  That's as far as he got in his thinking.  Because he took two steps and did the only thing he could think to do.

What?  You think he jumped on the grenade?  Are you stupid?  No.  He had his rifle in his hands.  And as he took those two steps, he swung it so he was grabbing it by the muzzle, swung it back and over one shoulder, and as he arrived, swung it back down like a golf club.

Sister Maria's God watches over drunks and fools.  And Sargent Aldous Atherton was more than a little of both.  That swing connected.  Beautifully. The grenade came up off the ground.  It went airborne, and as the charge inside the grenade started to detonate, the grenade had scuttled under an empty hov-bus.  All it's billions of itty bitty jagged pieces managed to pierce was the undercarriage.

Of course no good deed goes unpunished.  In his rush, Atherton hadn't put the safety back on his rifle.  Who actually undoes the safety on his rifle while guarding a bunch of eight year olds?  Oh.  Atherton.  That's right.

By the time the surgeons finished, Atherton had just enough of a spine to keep himself standing.  But his military days were through.

Luckily for ol' Aldous, that girl's father was the CEO of Blacklight Industrial.  And he knew how to take care of those who took care of his.

Atherton got enough of a reward to open The Lucky Lizzy.  Whether 'Lizzy' is that eight year old girl, or Atherton's little sister, or some bimbo he has a yearn for, who knows?

What's important here is, besides being a rather swinging little dive, The Lucky Lizzy also has back rooms.  And those rooms are always kept...uhm...'bug free'.  And they are available for use only to those who Atherton knows quite well.

Like his old commanding officer, Ledo Typhin. Maybe ol' Ledo's back there right now with some associates, talking over old times...

Silver was rocking back and forth on her chair creating a slight squeaking sound. Over and over in the silence there was the soft rhythmic screech of metal scraping metal. At first it had been unnoticeable. Then it had been annoying. A stern look from Ledo had gone unnoticed by the drifter and now Ledo was caught in a mental civil war. On the one hand he could easily make her stop by saying something but on the other hand if he was going to lead this group he needed to present the airs of a leader and a leader is not petty or bothered by such trivial things.

At this point he was just casting glances over to Tepha lounging in the corner hoping she would notice and say something but she was absorbed on her comm and for the last twenty minutes seemed oblivious to Ledo's discomfort, possibly even his presence. The silence stretched on, punctuated by the squeaking. Ledo pretended to be looking up local news on his own device but each squeak was a spike through his brain, ripping his concentration apart every couple of words. Resentment boiled within him and he entertained the idea of just shooting the drifter to be done with it. Rig and Tepha probably wouldn't care, not really. Just another dead drifter to dump in the alley behind the bar.

Maybe she was high on drugs? Maybe she was crazed from not taking proper medication or malnutrition? It was self-defense!

He couldn't even enjoy the daydream because of the squeaking. It was consuming him. It was surrounding him, coming from everywhere. Perhaps he would internalize it and hear a phantom squeak for the rest of his life.

Just then the back room door opened up and Rig's large frame walked in. Finally the silence was broken with movement and noise and Silver sat up straight and the infernal squeaking stopped.

Ledo smiled as his longtime friend sat down at the table.

"So? Any sight of some work?"

Gary 'Rig' Rigan was a large man. Not quite muscular, not quite fat, he was just imposing. He seemed to always have grease stains on his hands and even freshly laundered clothing would develop smudges soon enough. He looked like a caricature of a blue-collar factory worker despite his higher education and years of service among the stars.

He took a swig of his beer to wash away the dust of the docks before nodding to Ledo.

"Yeah, Cap. Got three items that look to be promising. First is the The Erika Elana. It's picked up quite the reputation. Crew is always flush with cash but never seems to move any cargo. Friend of a friend's brother claims they move around tiny boxes, not large ones. Carry a small box out by hand and come back with full bank accounts. Most definitely something illegal but what it is I don't have any idea. Information maybe? Don't need cargo tonnage to move data drives around. Could be some kind of black market tech but nobody knows."

Ledo didn't respond and while Silver and Tepha pretended to be doing their own things their eyes were locking onto Rig quite frequently. He took a read of the room and gave a nod as he continued.

"I think the rumors are right, they're moving something small and portable. Should be easy enough to snag but its risky. If it is data and its encrypted then we've got a useless hunk and some pissed off people expecting their package. Could be alien tech or something else illegal but without knowing what they're moving we wouldn't know how to turn it around."

Rig let his thoughts soak into the others as he took a swig and continued.

"Next up I looked into that thing Tepha overheard."

At the sound of her name the fashionably dressed woman in the corner straightened up again and flashed a smile, proud to be able to contribute to the gang of ne'er-do-wells.

"Seems legit. There is a trade show and security does seem sketchy. Now this is something where we can figure out what we're going to steal and get a buyer lined up. Anything we steal would practically sell itself. We might not even have to steal anything, just borrow it for a bit and get some high resolution detailed scans of it. Could be a lot of money in industrial espionage. Could also be some useful toys for us."

Tepha gave another smile and finally put her phone down.

"However there is also something potentially more simple we could handle. Turns out a dock hand's been skimming and the guy who runs the docks wants to have a chat. She's gone to ground so it'll take a bit of digging. Probably not much money in it up front but I think it's our best shot. We get in the good graces of the dockworkers and they can clue us into something worth doing."

Tepha seemed to deflate a bit hearing competition for her idea. Especially something so mundane as bounty hunting. She had convinced Ledo to strike out for the rim with the promise of thrilling heists and adventures like in the films but going around asking about a missing person wasn't glamorous. There was a reason why heist films were all slick and thrilling while cop movies were gritty and depressing.

"Won't this dock guy have his people looking for her anyway? What's to say she hasn't already been found? This dockworker, she could be dead already and they could just be asking around to make it look like they're not involved, right?"

She tried to make it sound as innocent as possible. Rig probably wouldn't buy it but he didn't have to. She just needed to make sure Ledo didn't see the manipulation coming.

Rig finished his beer and shook his head.

"Nah. At least not yet. You can tell when someone's looking versus when they're just pretending to look and Barney, the guy who runs the docks, he is looking. These kinds of things, there are a million holes to hide in so the solution is to cast a wide net. Have a million eyes looking and I'm betting we're light years above the competition in terms of capabilities.

It's not much but good jobs rarely are. People who go big and flashy on their first time tend to make a lot of mistakes and tend not to get a second time. We start small, build up a strong foundation and a network of support and that's how we get the money we need to get a ship. Or to put it a better way that is how we keep a ship. You've seen the presentation that banker put together for us. Quarter of a million a month is quite the noose to put our necks into."

Tepha furrowed her immaculately groomed eyebrows at Rig.

"We also need to be alive and capable to fly it. Spending the next decade grinding out a few bits here and there isn't exactly a winning plan either. High risk means high rewards and those rewards could get us into the stars in a matter of weeks!"

She cast a few glances at Ledo who was watching the pair stoically. She was trying to hook him with her eyes to drag him into the conversation so he could take her side. She wanted her thrilling heist!

Ledo stirred. the discussion had reached its natural conclusion and he needed to weigh in. This is what a good leader does. They let their subordinates speak their minds so that they know they are being heard but then the leader has to step in and use sheer willpower and charisma to make the group fall in line.

Ledo made sure to give proper eye contact to both Rig and Tepha as he spoke, starting with Rig.

"You're right, we need to build up some contacts and a solid foundation."

He turned to catch Tepha's eye before she could start to complain.


"And you're right, we need some big money or what is the point of all this? So why not do both?

We don't need everybody to dig for this dock worker and we can't have everyone casing the trade show at the same time.

We don't have to make an absolute decision now based off of a few bits of rumors. There isn't a gun against our heads that says we have to rush down one road to the exclusion of all others.

Rig, you and Silver go and see what you can find out about this missing dock worker. Tepha and I can case the trade show and see if we can identify anything worth stealing or ways to bypass security.

We'll meet back here tonight, share what we've found and continue to make decisions informed on intelligence, not hearsay."

The tone in Ledo's voice made it clear he wasn't open for discussion or argument. Years in command as an officer and a Captain had allowed him to use his voice and posture as a light switch for debate. One stance meant they were free to share their thoughts, a slight change in posture or tone meant that they were expected to follow orders. It seemed the smart thing to do, not jump into anything with both feet until they were sure where they were going to land but mostly, above all else, Ledo didn't trust himself to work with Silver for the rest of the day. Sending her with Rig on some wild goose chase meant he didn't have to stare at her stupid scar and imagine putting another one right below it. He wanted some space from her and pretending to be a spy or bank robber with Tepha would be just the distraction he needed.

Rig heads towards the dock, keen to get a meeting set up with Barney. Even if they don't end up finding Lettie it would be good to introduce themselves as operatives on his side just in case they bump heads later on.

He heads down to the docks and starts putting the word around that they're just some new fixers in the area looking to pay their respects to the man in charge.

OOC:

Results: Streetwise (INT) = 9
Persuade (SOC) rolls: 6

08:48, Today: Gary 'Rig' Rigan rolled 9 using 2d6-3.  Streetwise/SOC -3 untrained.
08:49, Today: Gary 'Rig' Rigan rolled 6 using 2d6+1.