World Tree MUSH

  The planet of Malastare is traditionally an open port. Its visitors arrive from all across the galaxy. That's made for good business in the spaceport of Port Pixelito, especially with curious offworlders filtering in from the Vines... or their money. It's not unusual to see a lot of strange things, here. The people who live here are pretty blase about weird offworld visitors.

  Pixelito boasts a lot for the discerning traveller. It's mostly a seedy industrial spaceport, but some districts cater to the upper class. Their swanky resorts are placed in areas that accentuate the views and hide the rest of Pixelito's gross industrial grunge.

  Juno waits near the Vine outside one of the upper-class resorts. It opens onto a small, quiet plaza hidden from the rest of the bustle by careful gardening and decorative walls. A simple fountain drowns out the sounds of the city. Stone benches line the perimeter. It's on one of these that the pilot waits.

  Her posture is such that she can get up fast without breaking an ankle, and both blasters are holstered in plain view, just in case there are any pickpockets or other ne'er-do-wells in the area. She's keeping a weather eye on both the Vine and the pathway that leads in, but she pauses long enough to pluck a flask from a pocket, unscrew the cap, and take a curt swig before slipping it back into her jacket. It helps with the gravity. Really.

  Here, she blends in a little more. She could be a smuggler. A pilot for hire. A bounty hunter. A mechanic. A fortune-seeker. It's easy to get lost in crowds so diverse, and with such light Imperial presence. Even a woman of Juno's rank and reputation can blend in, as long as she plays her cards right.

  She settles on the bench and tries not to think about all the ways this could go wrong.

  So she blends in, and she waits.

    Roma, several days ago.

    "Sinorita this is a rather outlandish reaquest... a world where things weigh more than normal?" Da Vinci seems incredulous, but his tone is one of wonder and curiocity. "A facinating concept, at least. How about this, give me three days, I will fabricate something for you."

    Three days later, Piera is approached by the inventor with a pair of boots and some kind of assembly that resembles a skeletal web of struts and hinged components. "This can go under your normal clothes. I included padding so the metal won't rub." he looks pleased with himself, "Don't worry, my assistant helped ensure the system works as intended. It shouldn't limit your mobility but provide some extra support should your weight indeed increase on this world as you expect."

    Piera nods a little. "Thank you Maestro... you have been a great help to us and Il Mentore." she smiles and bows faintly.

    Present:

    Piera walks through the Vine, stepping out with a sudden buckle of her legs under the added weight of the planet's gravity. The hidden metal frame on her legs creaks faintly as it locks at the sudden shift, allowing the Assassin to regain her balance and shift her weight a bit. "Maestro is a miracle worker." she muses to herself, adjusting her hood and looking around for Juno.

    On spotting the General, the younger woman approaches and dips a little nodding bow. "Safety and Peace."

    One of those curious offworlders is one Josuke Higashikata! He... does not blend in, not at all. If it's not his peculiar hairstyle, it's his clothes -- he's gone for that slightly western look, with a lime green turtleneck worn under a dusty brown v-neck sweater, slacks of a darker brown, and shoes of a light shade of green that doesn't quite match his turtleneck, but certainly doesn't clash. He's also got a pair of dark brown half gloves on his hands as well.

    Currently he's near the resort as well. Though he's less concerned with blending in and more concerned about his hair. which he's fussing with. The increased gravity's seriously messing with his 'do, and he very much doubts he's going to find hair gel that deals with increased gravity. Particularly not on such short notice...

    It's not the first time Hyouka has been to Malastare, but it's the first time she's been here just for the sake of being here. Last time, she was on a job; this time... well, this is sort of a job, but her job is to get to know the feel of the place, so it's like a relaxing tourist visit! And if they're gonna go somewhere upper-crust, she's certainly not going to complain.

    It helps that she's a cyborg; though outward appearances might paint her as an elf, her body is entirely artificial, and strong enough that the planet's gravity isn't a bother. And for once, Hyouka has put on just enough makeup to bring out her natural (artificial) beauty, letting her genuinely look elven. It's a striking difference, especially with her hair down for once, and the casual-but-nice clothes she's wearing make it a smashing night-life look indeed.

    "-ah! There she is." As soon as Hyouka spots Juno, she's weaving her way through the crowd carefully, waving to both the pilot and Piera.

>> SUMMARY[Hyouka Kiyama] >> Looking more like an elf than usual, dressed for a night on the town.

    So. Malastare, huh.
    The higher than normal gravity makes things... Pretty interesting when your wardrobe consists of 'beskar armor plating'.
    To his credit, The Mandalorian does not outwardly show any signs of being bothered by the strain of higher gravity than what he's normally used to.
    Though the gravity is doing a number on the floating pram at his side, it has to work overtime just to keep aloft and The Child within it doesn't look overly pleased. But it's not like he could have just left the little guy on the ship or something.
    Though he sure looks out of place in an upper class classy resort area, he waits with Juno, helmet dipping in a nod of greeting as others begin to arrive through the vine.

    Gross industrial grunge suits Serrah just fine.

    She made a point of doing some research into the fashions of this world. Now, coming in behind Hyouka, there's a woman with short blonde hair in a Corellian haircut, wearing a brown leather jacket with midnight-blue shoulders (which doesn't quite match the Corellian style on closer inspection), and with a bandolier with a number of round baseball-sized objects hidden in pouches.

    She nods as Hyouka spots Juno and the Mandalorian. "I still can't remember where I've seen her before," she murmurs as they approach. "Probably at the coffee shop from before I died. Uh, wow I don't think I've been on a high-gravity world before."

    She gives Josuke a quick wave -- her hand doesn't go up exactly as high as she intended -- but then she spots Piera, and her expression approaches but doesn't quite hit a scowl.

  The wait is long enough that Juno pulls out her flask, toying with the cap as she unscrews it for another swig. She glances up at... the... sound...? of someone walking. Piera, as the creaking metallic sounds soon reveal. The general nods in greeting, though she does arch a brow at the... sound...? of Piera's harnessing and support.

  Well, that's one way to solve the problem.

  A nod is also given to Josuke. He... doesn't really fit in, but that's okay, because most people don't really fit in here. Malastare is one of those galactic crossroads where it's easy to get lost in, and he doesn't stick out as much as he might think. When people here rub shoulders with aliens, there's a certain degree of tolerance added to the weird-o-meter.

  Serrah is squinted at for a long moment, and Juno's eyes flick back down to the flask in her hand, which she stuffs into the inside pocket of her jacket. Was she hitting it that hard? Oh, no, just offworlder weirdness. She tilts her head a little, squinting harder. "...Hunh. Delany? That you?" Her head shakes. High-gravity worlds earns a twist of her mouth. "Get used to disappointment. I never liked them."

  "Right." With exaggerated care, Juno pushes herself up to her feet, testing her balance before she trusts enough to step away from the stone bench. Credits are dispersed through the party, and a hand is pointed to the nearest major road leading out of the plaza.

  "The casino is this way. It usually caters to offworlders, so you shouldn't attract too much attention inside." Juno shifts her weight as she starts forward, beckoning for the party to move along. "Try to remember if you do anything stupid and attract Imperial attention, I'll be leaving you to the Corellian slice hounds."

  Her hands slip into her pockets. "Long story short, don't attract Imperial attention."

    The creaking is largely stopped once the assassin is moving. But locals might be forgiven for thinking this offworlder has some poorly tuned Droid-legs. The look from Serrah earns the Dhampir a bow of the head. The movement seems to jostle something loose, and a grey haired tiny person falls out of the folds of that hood, latching onto the cloth and scrambling under the extra gravity for a moment or two. Magenta eyes glance around, as the white 'body suit' glimmers from being freshly painted.

    The shinki scrambles back up and perches on Piera's shoulder, attempting to seat herself there prim and proper.

    The Assassin nods to Hyouka, Mando and Josuke, the Shinki giving the pompadour boy a little wave in greeting.

    Josuke notices Serrah waving, and Piera nodding in greeting! He waves! And yeah, he doesn't quite get his hand up as high as he thought it was going to go either. It'll take him a bit to get used to it; his mental calculations aren't going to compensate instantly, after all. Though he doesn't seem to be having too much trouble standing up, so there's that!

    He'll notice the group congregating, and head in that direction. "Hi everybody!" he greets with his customary broad smile. Oh hey, credits? And he blinks at Juno's words. "A casino? They don't have an age limit, do they?" he asks as he follows. Since he's uh. Still underage, at least in his world.

    Ah, there's the Mandalorian. Hi, Mando! Hyouka gives him a little wave. The look from Serrah doesn't escape her notice, though, and there's a curious glance between her and Piera; but the cyborg shrugs and decides to just brush it off for now, missing the appearance of the shinki entirely. "Oh, now here's a fun night on the town," she quips as Juno hands out the money.

    It's about then that she spots Josuke, and she gives the young Stand-user a cheerful wave. "I wouldn't worry about it too much," she says to the young Joestar, with a light and encouraging pat on the shoulder. "You look old enough, and I'm not sure there's a lot of people here who'd be eager to call someone your size on it. Just look grumpy, nobody'll bother you."

    Normally she'd be objecting to the corruption of youth, but... well, he's not spending his own money, right?

    Serrah manages not to smirk as Juno glances at her drink. "Yep, it's me," she says dryly. She shrugs. "Not disappointed, just surprised, is all. I'm tempted to cheat with one of my other abilities, but, y'know." She gestures vaguely as she accepts the money. "Low profile, and all that."

    She smiles faintly at Josuke. "Knowin' this side of the galaxy?" she says. "We're probably good."

    The sight of Piera's shinki gets a sigh. "Oh yeah, Hyouka, she's the one I, uh, told you about before," she says, keeping her tone neutral. They're working together for the moment, after all, and the shinki doesn't seem bothered or abused or anything like that, and again, low profile. Serrah is not one to try to rock the boat on her own initiative.

    She hesitates as they start heading towards the casino, then gets out a decidedly un-Corellian looking smartphone, unlocks it and squints at it for a moment, and then in a ripple of shadow, her jacket transforms into a more accurate copy of whatever she was imitating. "Thhhhhhhhere we go."

  Juno looks like the gravity is very definitely affecting her, in spite of the fact that the heaviest-looking thing she's wearing is her light leather jacket. Fortunately, it's a short walk to the casino, and she hangs back with the Mandalorian and the Child.

  The casino is somewhere in the middle of the scale between seedy and ritzy. It caters to the middle class traveller. There are games of chance, card games, dice games, computer-assisted betting... everything one would expect to find in any cantina, and then some. It's bright, it's moderately loud, it's flashy, it's glitzy. Everybody in there is going to do everything they can to part fools from their money, but it's not really about winning, today.

  "Age limit?" Juno cocks a blue eye toward Josuke. "Not here. Go nuts. You're gambling on the Rebel's credit; we're considering this research for an op. Whatever they're building here, we don't want it entering completion. A few credits is a small price to pay to keep our logistics open."

  Juno finds herself a quiet corner where she can order a Corellian whisky, nurse the thing for an hour or two, and watch the offworlders as they move around in the high-gravity environment with a soldier's practised eye. This isn't just a chance to socialise, but an exercise, and she seems to intend to treat it as such.

    Hyouka turns when Serrah calls her name - only to let out a soft, "...oh." Her eyes sweep back around to Piera again, and it's hard to gauge what the look on her face is, but it's certainly not a happy one. But no, no, they have a job to do, be professional. "Ah, let's see..." She taps her chin, looking around. "Ah, what was that card game? Sabacc? I wonder if they've got a beginner's table somewhere around here." She looks over her shoulder at Serrah again, already back to the more jovial mood that fits the evening. "I'm going to see if I can find someone who'll teach me that sabacc game. Meet back here when we're out of money?"

    Piera nods to Juno, moving to join the crowds moving around the various gambling stations. She's quickly lost to sight, save for perhaps the watchful eye of Juno, or Serrah's enhanced vision. Careful steps soon turn more confident as she adjusts to the added weight on her frame, supported by the invention by Da Vinci.

    Aquila looks around, watching Serrah for a few moments, before she summons her helmet and uses the visor to open several tabs, setting herself up to give advice to her partner. The pair seem to be in sync, though certainly not in a /close/ relationship, unlike Hyouka and her pair.

    Josuke returns Hyouka's cheerful wave. Though her advice gets a blink. "Well, yeah, there is that," he notes to the mention of his size. He tries to look grumpy, and... well, he can definitely look scary when the mood strikes him. But he's just too honest, and the attempt here just ends up looking pouty. Ah well, maybe it'll still work.

    Serrah's words of 'this side of the galaxy' get a nod. "I hope so," he notes. "The last thing I need is to attract the wrong kind of attention." And Juno's words confirm it. "Gotcha. Thanks, I just don't want to get anybody in trouble. Least of all myself."

    Serrah also manages to pull herself together. "I think we're on the wrong planet for that, Hyouka," she says. "We're just ... jumpin' right in, left to the, uh, the Corellian slice hounds. Lemme know if you need, y'know, extra muscle."

    She pauses, regarding Josuke a moment. "Try just, uh ... tensing up," she says. "No need to look grumpy, just, y'know. Be on-edge, or something." She shrugs. "Or, I mean, just let your size carry it, up to you. This is actually the first time I've straight-up disguised myself, heh."

    "Oh, you'd be surprised," Hyouka replies, giving a breezy wave. "For the price of a drink, there's a lot of people willing to teach a pretty lady just enough to win some money out of her, and then I can pick up the rest from there." DARGN issues a soft, "Hyouka, you're terrible at gambling." The woman snorts softly. "Someone else is covering the tab tonight. I can afford to have fun being a terrible gambler."

    She saunters up to one of the low-stakes Sabacc tables, opening with a softer-voiced, "Well now. I don't suppose one of you would be willing to teach a new player? There's drinks in it~..." Maybe it's the promise of free booze, the beautiful elven features, or just the promise of a new player to fleece a bit, but she's able to insinuate herself with the players at the table quickly enough.

    Josuke nods to Serrah's advice, giving one of his customary smiles. "I'll try that, it'll probably be all right," he decides. Then, to the group at large, "Everybody be careful, okay?" A nod here, and he'll find some trouble to... well, NOT get into. He doesn't really know a lot about the place, and he wants to just get some basic information before he starts searching for more relevant information.

    Serrah considers Hyouka's comment on the subject of a pretty woman getting you to do what she wants, and simply nods. "I concede your point," she says. Not that it occurs to her that she might try the same tactic; apart from anything else, she's currently taken on an appearance which is decidedly ... scruffy-looking.

    She returns Josuke's smile, and then, with a swagger to her step, Serrah strolls on over to where a cluster of gamblers are placing bets on a pod race starting in a few minutes, hosted by some Hutt or other. She isn't sure how podracing works, or what a Hutt is, but the clips they're currently showing of a previous race look reasonably exciting, and she likes the kind of gambling where she doesn't actually have to do anything.

    It frees up her attention for listening, after all.

>> SUMMARY[Serrah Delany] >> "They have podracing on Malastare. Very fast, very dangerous."

    "You too, watch yourself here~!" Hyouka calls out to Josuke. She'll be occasionally glancing his way now and then, just to keep an eye on the kid. But for now, there is a card game to be learned! And it's a space future card game, so there's lots of neat little bits to it to learn. "Ah, so the card can change, I see, I see..."

    She picks it up relatively fast, though part of that may well be DARGN parked in her head and looking up rules and guides to cover what the players at the table don't tell her. Unfortunately, she really is just not a great gambler. Between the drinks and her losses at the table, her money isn't going to dwindle quickly, but it is going to dwindle steadily.

    Although, she does have one advantage in that she can't get drunk - so the more drinks she buys for the table, the more her disadvantage evens out.

    The objective is to get used to the gravity, so Piera and her companion are doing just that, milling through the crowds, observing the various games, but not partaking. Eventually she passes both Serrah and Hyouka in her travels, pausing a bit longer to watch them at 'work' before continuing on.

>> SUMMARY[Piera Forta] >> Side-character stuff.

    When Piera pauses to watch, Serrah ignores the Assassin as if she hadn't seen her -- no calling attention! -- although Piera herself might be able to tell that she's been noticed.

    Serrah then heads over to finalize her bet; based solely on intuition which has never been honed or even practiced before, she places a quarter of her current credits on the racer with odds exactly halfway between the median and the highest value. As much of a someone-else's-money business expense as it is, she doesn't want to waste the credits, and this seems like as good of a bet as any.