Star Wars: Shards Discussion Boards Chapter 3
  Kummer wolfe
Mon, Mar 31st 2025 01:17   Edited on Mon, Jul 21st 2025 09:28

Jammin at the Java Jumppoint

Safe House overlook by CB Ash using Krita and Midjourney AI
 
The trip to the safe house was discreet and quick.
 
It lived up to its name, sitting back off the main routes from the starport and marketplace, in a quiet, low to middle income area. A modest, one story building, the safe house had a subtle charm of being pleasant. Not to mention, as painfully ordinary as a street sweeper droid.
 
Drifter made two quick comm calls, then handed over the keycodes to Dizzy and Iwa. Once inside, Iwa quietly scoured the stolen data chip once more with the rundown on meet between Irrit Deeneru and Kelu Gil. Dizzy satisfied her inner trooper with a security sweep, then “is the fridge stocked for later” check.
 
Sadly, the missing piece of information is “when” Kelu might meet with Irrit at the caf shop. But a quick debate, that narrowly avoids the topic of armored wedding dresses, spells the situation out clearly…
 
... that the dust up at the cantina, along with the sniper shortly afterwards, would be more than enough motivation to accelerate plans. It would be best to get to the Java Jumppoint sooner than later.
  ****  
It’s a short ten minute walk to the Java Jumppoint caf shop. The place is modern, borderline low-Vor trendy with plas-wood and bamboo accents. Wide, lightly tinted windows give a plentiful view in or out. Tables are scattered against the walls, and a few in the middle. A long, practically cantina-like bar is equipped with the latest array of devices to brew, cook, and steam caf in more ways than was likely even legal.
 
As Dizzy, Iwa, and Drifter approach the Java Jumppoint, the place isn’t packed. Only ten to twelve people patrons are inside, none look excited. Most look calm, lost in their conversations. Drifter nods to Iwa and Dizzy, passes his com code over to them. After that, steps out of sight as agreed to patrol and search for Irrit on the outside, leaving the ladies to do their work inside.
  Iwa
Mon, Mar 31st 2025 01:54
Leaving Dizzy to do the threat assessment of the building, I quietly step up to the counter to order a Snickerdoodle latte caf from the baristas and scan the people in the place while I am waiting for the order. I also look for a good spot for us to lurk with little to no notice being paid and I spy a nice corner table with two chairs against the wall - made to order!   I grab my caf and meander over to my chosen spot while I wait for Dizzy to place and get her order before she joins me. I keep my eyes moving over the crowd casually while I look for any signs that someone is watching for someone specific to walk through the door. There were photos on the data chip so we all know who we are looking for. I am also checking to see if there are any alien species that shouldn't be here because they are allergic to caf or the smell would make the sick. I am almost on that list, but getting a sweet version helps.  
  Kummer wolfe
Sun, Apr 13th 2025 10:54   Edited on Sun, Apr 13th 2025 10:54
Iwa, you settle down at a table that seems, at best, one of the more defensible locations in the cafe. Out of the twelve patrons across the cafe, you count seven humans. Then there are the two Twi’leks, and one lone Rodian in the corner idly sipping his … well… you’re not sure what that is… but it’s green! The Rodian is chatting up a nice young human lady who is talking while marking notes in a datapad.
 
There doesn’t seem to be any immediate danger, just pending danger comes to mind. There is far too much wide pane glass with a lovely view into the street. It might give it that ‘trendy’ and ‘casual’ look, but it makes anyone near the windows an absolute target.
 
If that wasn’t enough, the tables are a fake wood. Something positively eye rolling to your inner Wookiee, but here it is. Those aren’t exactly that durable. Your bowcaster could turn one to a cloud of pressed wood shavings. A blaster? It probably could punch through, depending on the type of blaster.
 
Your eyes drift over the counter where there are three baristas behind the bar. Near them is the menu with an alarming number of ingredient ‘add ons’. Enough that it would delight any Toyndarian shopkeeper who chose to run a cafe and drown their clientèle with slightly overpriced drink additions from caramel to … well… you might need a 3PO unit to translate the rest.
 
That counter looks sturdy with a marble top. Rare! You don’t see those just anywhere. Also, that counter might even counter your bowcaster shot. The door leading to the kitchen also looks very sturdy with a steel kick-plate and everything.
 
So right now, no danger. But the future feels so very uncertain.
 
But you do have an itchy feeling between your shoulder blades... almost as if you are being ... watched...
  Dizzy
Sun, Apr 20th 2025 10:02
I keep staring at the menu for longer than I probably ought to.
"Stuicer-mint Bruiser,"" I read aloud slowly. I look at the lady closest to the order register. "Do I like that?"
"Do you like choya?" she says."
"I, uh, guess so?" Where have I heard about choya before? Not in stew or chile. Maybe mixed into dough?
The barista taps her register. "What size."
 
Guess I'm getting a fruit juice concoction that reminds me of bread, then. I was hoping for caf, but okay.
 
This gives me a chance to turn my helmet, cradled in my left arm, so the visor faces toward those wide windows. Meanwhile, I can glance at the access points behind the counter, the ones meant for employees only.
If that kitchen door is meant to be lockable, it's probably an electromagnet. Probably on the same power circuit as the emergency lights. One cuts in, the other turns off.
The only assured privacy in this place is going to be in one of the little refreshers. An exchange could happen there without observation -- but it would look weird for two people to be in there at the same time. We need both of those 'freshers to be unavailable, after we manage to search them ourselves. Or else we need to
...
heyyyyyy, yeah, we need to make them look like they've been bugged somehow. So anyone planning to use them for an exchange will decide they don't like the security breach. No matter whether that's two people in one fresher, or taking turns in there.
 
As I wait for my drink, I dig out an old flimsiplast and rip off a couple of clear spaces. I use my eyeliner stick to write on each one.
 
If there's one camera
there's probably three

gurlies watch yer six
 
I plan on setting my drink on the table Iwa chose, my bucket on my chair, and trotting off to go "wash my hands". I can plaster one of these on one fresher's mirror, the other on the second fresher's wipe dispenser, aaand
"Iwa? Got any self-powered LEDs that you don't want any more?"
  Kummer wolfe
Mon, Apr 21st 2025 01:05
Dizzy watches as the barista mixes the juice with a dazzling display of dexterity. One done so fast, the barista might have been juggling knives and grenades at the same time.
 
A quick glance gives Dizzy what she wants to know. While the kitchen door is meant to be lockable, right now it isn’t. There isn’t any telltale clunk of a maglock when the staff is coming or going through it right now. But, she does see the unmistakable sign of a high-grade maglock. A hint that whomever bankrolled this place has the credits to burn. A hutt isn’t likely, but the posh decor easily suggests a Vor with some sort of business sense.
 
Still, it’s obvious that is a thin chance for privacy.
 
Setting down her bucket and fruit drink on the table next to Iwa, Dizzy hurries off the refresher and sets to work. Flimsiplast stuck into strategic locations, Dizzy identifies four places in the refresher where she could place her “listening devices”. Right now, there aren’t any. Not there, or anywhere else in the refresher.
 
Another screaming sign this place is not funded by any Hutt of any kind, but absolutely Vor.
  Dizzy
Mon, Apr 21st 2025 01:36
If this were a High Vor place, I'd expect a protocol droid attendant in each washroom, ready to personally manicure and pat-dry the delicate bits of the Vor Bore.
Since this is more of a "Low Vor" genre, I check for a butler-y or ladys-maid-ish droid discreetly stationed in the hall between the baths, expecting to give each a quick cleanup between visitors.
This is the being to whom I need to quietly explain, "Honored citizen, a certain civic office received a quiet notification that certain. Shall we say. 'Excitable young people'? Yes, those. Are playing one of their titillating roleplaying street dramas. I have placed certain unscheduled visual cues in order to dissuade them from acting up in your refresher. They should be fine to remove and recycle in nine hours. No actual breach of the establishment's integrity should happen. Can we count on your reticence?"
 
Frak, I sound like Dame Vortorren. Guard duty was good for something after all!
  Kummer wolfe
Mon, Apr 21st 2025 01:59
The attendant droid practically materializes out from where it was hiding behind the decor screen and tastefully positioned over-sized begonia tree. Chrome with blue trim, it whirred out on its repulsorlift base it had instead of legs, while wringing two of its four hands.
 
“Oh, by the Maker!” it intoned in an exasperated voice and shook its almost humanoid head. “Not again! Those incessant street dramas of West Side Vor or Saber Rake the Masquerade are getting so far out of hand.”
 
While it wrung one set of hands, it clasped the other together in a prayer like manner aimed at Dizzy.
 
“Oh yes, you can certainly count on our reticence! So long as the refresher’s integrity is intact, this would be perfectly acceptable! Thank you so much!”
  Iwa
Mon, May 26th 2025 06:23
"Iwa? Got any self-powered LEDs that you don't want any more?" whispers Dizzy before she rushes off to the refresher. I stare blankly after her for a minute. I wonder if hanging out with her brother has put her brain on fast forward. Or maybe I am on slow motion still after that last fight. I need a week of sleep and what I really want to be doing is putting my new armor together. I feel the need to be working with my hands instead of trying to find lost art. I keep trying to remind myself of how important this is for the people who lost a part of their history, that I can help others, and that I am a small part of the light in the universe and I can never give up.   I snort a bit of laughter at how deep my thoughts plunged and take another sip of the frou frou drink while I continue to casually scan the room. I start to wonder about why this would be the place they chose to do the meet. Doesn't really appear to be dark and depressing enough for smugglers. I glance again at the green drink the Rhodian has. What in the world could that be? Could it be good? Smushed veggies maybe? Why am I having so much trouble focusing on what we need to be doing?   Maybe there is something in the drink? I stare into it suspiciously.
  Kummer wolfe
Sun, Jun 22nd 2025 05:42
Iwa stares at the Rodian’s green drink. Sadly, it doesn’t seem impressed. But the Rodian gives Iwa a coy smile as a light blush hits the scales on his face.
 
Your own drink shifts in its cup, begging for a little attention as well. Cloying and frothy, it’s the very definition of both tangy fruit, not too sweet kissed by a light foam and herbal tea.
 
That was, as the Force would have it, when a certain other Rodian sauntered through the door. One Irrit Deeneru, the art thief of the hour. Dressed in a lightweight, form-fitting jumpsuit, loose t-shirt, and shoulder bag, she wandered up to the counter to place an order.
 
It sounded like another green, veggie frou frou drink with plenty of whipped cream.
  Iwa
Mon, Jul 7th 2025 03:01
I watch as Irrit Deeneru waltzes in the door with not a concern in the world and goes up to the counter to get something weird to drink. Maybe that is the reason they are meeting here - they all have a death wish that involves veggie frou frou drinks!! I quietly laugh at that and then glance down quickly in case anyone heard me. I also take that as an opportunity to scope out where Dizzy has wandered off to. I start to formulate plans as to how best to approach Ms Deeneru.   First and most fun would be to just walk up to her and let her know that she doesn't have any hope of selling the stolen artwork and should just hand it over quietly. Then I could return the artwork and get back to work on my armor. Howver, I am positive that would not work and would end in either a fire fight or having to chase her. Not interested, even if we do have backup outside that could catch her - going to keep that as our last option for now.   Instead I watch her order her drink and then go sit down - close to me fortunately so it won't be hard to eavesdrop on her converstaions. I watch her and try to determine who is watching her. Speaking of that, I look around for Dizzy again. I don't want her going all stormtrooper on me!
  Dizzy
Thu, Jul 10th 2025 09:56
I tromp directly over to Irrit's chosen table.
As I plop down, not quite directly across the table but enough "opposite" that she can still see the front door and front windows, I say in that traditional opener to a Gossip Gal session:
 
"Oh my stars, I am glad you made it in today. We're overdue to catch up on all the drama. You will not believe what Clea told me that Kaithe told the Judge about Kelu. Buckle in, girl, I have a doozy for you!"
 
Then, leaning forward conspiratorially, I lower my speaking volume so it will barely carry at all. "I'm on-planet to wedding shop. We have reason to believe that Sig Coven and Kelu Gil are halfway through a setup to profit off your corpse. My matron-of-honor and I have declared Estrogen-Analogue Solidarity. Gossip back with me. Who you here to meet?"
  Kummer wolfe
Mon, Jul 14th 2025 01:54
As Iwa’s eyes sweep the cafe, yet once more for her suspiciously missing companion, a sudden cold chill comes over her. It isn’t from the ice, or the deep cold of the drink, but something else. A feeling so deep and primal, the sensation rockets up Iwa’s spine like a dire soundtrack in a low refrain.
 
The feeling that a certain Clone Trooper bride-to-be has initiated the social version of a “drop trooper frontal assault”. Either that, or social combat small talk, from a certain point of view.
 
At the table not far away, Dizzy leaned over the table to whispers conspiratorially to Irrit after her initial opening volley of conversation. The Rodian thief blinked, obviously as stunned as if she’d kissed an ion bolt. But after a second she recovered her composure. Irrit leaned forward onto one elbow toward Dizzy.
 
“Me? Well, since we’re being so honest, and you’re warning me about my impending corpse, I was going to meet a possible, temporary, business partner. Someone who represents a person with more money and ego than probably sense. But who am I to judge.”
 
Irrit narrowed her eyes a little at Dizzy.
 
“So, in the name of Estrogen-Analogue Solidarity and obvious ‘Gossip Defense Strategy’, don’t you think we ought to introduce ourselves? Unless I’m about to be shot in the back?”
  Dizzy
Mon, Jul 21st 2025 09:28
"Dizzy Anfisa," I say. "Would offer to shake on it, but we're pretending to be longtime gossip buds."
A split instant of consternation crosses my face. From the reelvant belt pouch, I dig out my palm-sized datapad with my BoSS passport on it. I glance at the name listed.
Satisfied, I shove it back into place. "Yup! 'Dizzy Anfisa', that's me. Got a couple of visual description notes for your expected partner? And are they supposed to have bodyguards, or for that matter a spring-loaded arm knife? Tell me what we're looking to not see."
Star Wars: Shards is a work of pure, unabashed fiction. In fact, it considers itself rather heroic, noble, and quite proud of itself.   The opinions expressed on the in-world pages or within quotation boxes are those of the characters and should not be confused with either of the authors, since the characters and authors tend to disagree a lot. But … This is the Way.   Names of characters, places, events, organizations and locations are all creations of the authors' imaginations for this fictitious setting, except where credit is given to the sources of inspiration. Any resemblance to persons living, dead, or reanimated is coincidental.   Star Wars TM & © Lucasfilm Ltd. Tapani Sector created by West End Games for Lucasfilm, and used in homage only.
No infringement is intended or implied.   Unless otherwise stated on page or within Metadata tab,
all other artwork and content are Copyright © Kummer Wolfe ( aka CB Ash ) and Jarissa Venters, 1998-2024,
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