2443/Shots First

Shots First
Date of Scene:	12 June 2015
Location:	Bar and Grill at the Edge of the Multiverse
Synopsis:	Spacers of various sorts and others gather at the Bar and Grill. The arcade is a central focus where Chewbacca plays (and damages) Space Invaders and Groot competes on Dance Dance Revolution with Kotone Yamakawa.
Cast of Characters:	Kotone Yamakawa, 20, 428, 437, 707, 751, 781, 814

---

Han Solo (814) has posed:
There's something about Solo that allows him to find the dark recesses of bars no matter where in the Multiverse they are. Which is why he's currently tucked away in a slightly darkened booth right now, leaning back against the seat and the wall. He's got one arm up, fingers tracing the grooves in the building as he sits with a swagger that only few would be able to imitate.. and those with the right eyes would be able to indentify as Strictly Solo's.

For a man that's always on the run, he sure doesn't seem to be too worried about being out in public like this.

There's a few empty shot glasses on his table and a couple of bottles of Corellian Whiskey, as well. There's even a datapad sitting on the table but Han isn't paying too much attention to any of the above. He's busy. Being himself.

Rocket (781) has posed:
Somewhere out in the Multiverse, Rocket leads Groot towards a door. "I've told you before, I was heading towards the lounge and walked into a bar somewhere else, I can't tell you how it worked or why it hasn't happened again," he is saying to his friend. In response, Groot says, "I am Groot." ((I know you told me before, I just wish you had been able to show me this, it sounds facinating.))

As the pair walk through the door Rocket exclaims, "See! This is the place, it just happened!" As he walks towards the bar to order a drink Groot remains behind examining the doorway.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Sure, the food she gets in Malibu is good enough, but at times it's just nice to get out of the house and just get some proper junk food. The bar and grill is perfect for that, and besides... there's always interesting people to meet here.

    The blind girl enters the bar on her own, and she easily slips between the people on her way to the bar where she places her order for food and drink. Though she turns her head when she hears a familiar voice, then /grins/. "Hey, Rocket!" The little mercenary earns a slight wave, and she even turns to face him even if she doesn't need to do that for her own sake. "You and Groot got here to grab some food too?" For that matter. "... what does Groot eat anyway?" It's a legitimate question!

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
The nice thing about the Multiversal Bar and Grill is that you can get there from pretty much anywhere when you're hungry ... and as soon as the door 'closes' behind Toph, it opens again to reveal Xiaomu, grinning contentedly and carrying a bunch of nigh-bulging bags from stores like Gamers, Sofmap, Animate, Tora-no-ana, and so forth.

She's polite enough to step clear of the door (with a polite bow to Groot along the way) ... and then she pauses, tilting her head back a bit and just sniffing at the air, before opening her eyes again and heading towards a table, nodding a greeting to Solo as she spots him.

Then Toph's greeting to Rocket sinks in, and Xiaomu perks up a bit, vulpine ears twitching. "Huh - Toph, right?" she asks the blind earthbender, knowing her from the radio more than anything else. "You know the ho- the tree?" She double-takes at Groot before actually setting her bags down and pulling out a chair for herself. Maybe he's NOT what she first guessed ...

Peter Quill (751) has posed:
Peter Quill has been here for a while, maybe even before Han himself! But he's been hunched over a game of Space Invaders in the arcade this whole time, possibly waiting for Toph to show up. But he doesn't seem to have noticed her presence, as he's still tapping away at buttons, blowing up invaders! "Take -that-, evil alien scum! Get off my planet!"

Rocket (781) has posed:
When Toph enters Groot continues to examine the doorway and waves to her. Then, when she asks about his eating habbits he says, "I am Groot." ((Remember, after we played Laser Tag I explained that its primarially phtosysnesis but...)) and Rocket interrupts him and says, "Neither of us want that lecture again, Groot!" and adds "Hi Toph, been a while."

When Xiaomu enters Groot nods as if he might have seen something he understands. Then he is asked about and he says, "I am Groot." ((Call me Groot.)) to said newly arrived fox spirit.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone has been in the bar, she's just been on Miter since the whole incident with Vert, on Rory's Earth. Kotone was angry and had been talked down by Albert into helping limit the number of people who will die because of what Vert hs done to that world she'd been near Han Solo whom had got a few looks from her while she's been sipping at her own drink. She has a datapad in hand and she notices Rocket's arrival

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Whatever Groot said is made funny by Rocket's comment, and Toph snickers slightly. "You guys were awesome at Goldie's party, by the way."

    .While she hasn't met the fox spirit before, Toph knows voices better than anything else. So when Xiaomu addresses her the earthbender nods. "Yeah, haven't changed my name lately. You're Xiaomu, right? I remember your voice." There's another voice she hears however, way from the back in the direction of the arcade. Ah, great. He's here. Once the waiter behind the bar gets her tray with food and drink ready Toph tosses over some cash to him, then gestures to the others. "Meet me over at the arcade once you've gotten your food and drinks." Then she hurries off, rushing past Han and Kotone's tables, not spilling the things on her tray even as she ducks to the side and avoids any people in her way.

    And Peter might be surprised when the blind girl sets her tray down on the arcade machine next to his. "'sup, Parfait Lord?" she asks, then reaches out to pick up some of her fries to munch on.

Han Solo (814) has posed:
While Han is doing that thing where he keeps a close eye on those coming in and out, he doesn't really need to do much of anything else to get his presence noticed. Especially considering what's going on when the giant hairy Wookiee decides to take a few matters into his own hands.

Chewbacca's towering form cuts a path through various patrons as he wanders in the general direction of the arcade. People may or may not be worried about the hairy creature and then some but it may have more to do with the fact that he's got his eyes set on something. He stops right next to the Space Invaders game. A moment later his big hairy paw drops a quarter right on the machine.

Chewbacca growls.

Peter Quill (751) has posed:
"Wondering why they have Space Invaders at the edge of the multiverse." Peter answers as he continues quickly tapping at the machine, then looks over at her, tilting his head. "Hey, they've got virtual reality helmet games here. I think they'd work great for you. You can hear the enemies and beat 'em up without seeing them!"

Then, suddenly wookie, and he looks up at him. "Whoa, big guy, have at it." He holds his hands up and backs up next to Toph.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Xiaomu smiles, bowing to the animate tree (whom she initially mistook for an animate *holy* tree), "It's good to meet you, Groot - and as Toph said, yeah, I'm Xiaomu ..."

She trails off. "They really do have an arcade here. If I weren't so hungry I'd get in line for Space Invaders ..." Her stomach growls on the last few words, and she turns her attention to what she takes at first to be a menu. "Bah, just the cocktails list ..." She scowls.

She pauses to look between Toph and Peter, then at Chewbacca. "Man, am I the only one who doesn't really know anyone else here in person yet?" She takes a moment to unsling the Buddhist monk staff she had across her back while her hands are full, but there's just a jingle of the rings before she wedges the staff along the back of her chair so it won't be in her way, or in anyone else's.

Rocket (781) has posed:
Having satisfied himself at the door after Xiaomu's entrance, Groot -- no small thing himself -- parts the gathered patrons as he approaches Rocket at the bar where the furry member of the duo is ordering a beer and nachos -- with extra cheese and jalapenos. "I am Groot." ((I want to play some of the games, give me some quarters, Rocket.))

Rocket chuckles at Toph's comment. "Thanks, we actually watched the movie when we got back to the Rack 'n' Ruin that night," he explains to her as he pulls out a handful of coins and hands them to Groot.

Now equipped with coins, Groot follows the lead of the walking carpet and heads into the arcade. However, Space Invaders is not his game. Instead he heads towards Dance Dance Revolution. While it seems he was going to wait his turn he instead seems to startle the current player, metaphorically throwing him off his game; the rest of those gathered around seem intimidated by Groot's presnce and let him mount the newly vacated platform.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    While most of the people here seem to be humans, there are obvious exceptions whether they be little humanoid raccoons, walking trees, foxy ladies... or big walking fur carpets.

    She isn't alarmed by whatever that is, instead she listens to Peter as he suggests the virtual reality helmet games. "Huh? Sure, why not? It's not like I can play the game you're currently playing." Toph raises an eyebrow as the big furry guy walks over to the game that Peter is playing, and she senses the quarter being placed there. Did that thing just /growl/? "These things run on quarters?" How silly...

    Though she looks curious as Rocket and Groot head over to another game machine. "What kind of game is that?" she asks, tugging on Peter's sleeve.

Annie Sandberg (437) has posed:
     Annie arrives through the door, grinning as she realizes where she's unexpectedly ended up. Luckily, though there is a bar, this place is kid-friendly (and android-kid-friendly for that matter) so there's still a lot on the menu for her. After ordering a cheeseburger, she wanders toward the arcade where others have gathered while she waits for it to be made. "Hi Toph," she says as she spots a familiar face, before looking curiously toward Groot attempting to play DDR. His performance with Rocket at Tony Stark's birthday party was a good one, but... was that machine really rated for big tree people?

Han Solo (814) has posed:
    Han's eyes pass over most of the people that are in and out of the bar at this moment. He makes a few mental notes about bodily figures and where things may or may not be on particular persons, while also keeping one eye on Chewbacca and whatever's going on in the arcade section of this place. There's even a bit of a smirk as he notices a huge tree headed in the same direction of Chewbacca. In the next moment he's pouring himself another shot of Corellian Whiskey.

    Chewbacca takes a moment to turn and look in Groot's direction. His head tilts for just a moment and he sends a growl in that direction. It's a low grol of greeting, as should be pretty clear from the way he's just kind of nodding at the Groot. Perhaps there is a bit of kindred spiriting going on between hulking alien powerhouses.

    When Peter's no longer in the way, Chewbacca takes up the controls. The quarter gets put in and the game starts. Chewbacca focuses in on the screen, hunches over and grabs the controls.

    START GAME.

    5 Seconds Later...

    Chewbacca roars angrily and smashes the Space Invaders screen.

Rocket (781) has posed:
Groot shrinks to a height of six feet as he steps onto the DDR game and drops a few quarters into the machine to activate it and begins cycling though the list of song options.

Rocket finds a table near the DDR game and, after setting down his beer and nachos, hops up onto a chair at it. "It says Dance Dance Revolution, so I'm assuming its a dance game," he says to Toph. Then, to Annie he says, "Don't worry, Groot thought of that," as his friend reduces his height by a quarter.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"HEY!!"

Xiaomu is out of her seat as soon as she hears the distinctive sound of an arcade machine being smashed. "Are you CRAZY?!" she yells at the Wookie. "Do you have any idea how valuable a pristine Space Invaders cabinet is? Somebody probably still makes replacement monitors - at least in the Multiverse as a whole, we hope - but you don't just go smashing an arcade game because it made you mad!!"

Clearly she is not intimidated by the big furry guy ... although, she *is* standing back out of Chewie's reach, by at least an extra meter. She doesn't have to get up in his face to yell at him.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa notices a few union elite's she's aware of and well it doesn't seem so bad tonight right? She looks over to Toph for a moment as she passes by her own table and she then finishes up her drinl and ighs a bit.

"Wait did you say DDR?" "

That goe her attention to be sure. If Han is paying attenion there's something a bit odd about the blue haired woman near the table he was at. Then Chewie wrecks the game console and cringes but hey there's a chance for her to do something. She gets up passing Han as she heads for the arcade games. She looks cringing at the damage.

"I can likely find parts to fix that, but you know big guy? You could get kicked out of here for busting the place up...then it's an end to the good times right?"

She's not hostile she just seems to be legitly concerned.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
The door opens.

It stays that way for a few seconds.

A blonde woman with blue eyes and an outfit very similar to something the sorts of a mercenary or smuggler, in fact rather like Han Solo, might be wearing. She's very ordinary-looking, except for a slightly light complexion, or the dark shadows under her eyes.

She stares at the room for a second or two, briefly uncomprehending, and then screws her eyes shut for a brief instant.

"...Bloody hell," there comes a quiet murmur, tones clipped and precise with an accent rather specific to Corulag but easily mistaken for British, "I'm never going to get used to that."

The door closes as she eases into a room, immediately finding her way to a booth; coincidentally, the booth right bside Han Solo's. How quickly she does so suggests she's making an immediate attempt to avoid attention. Or maybe it suggests she's just really tired.

From a nicely sheltered spot, however, she has a chance to get a look at who's in the room... study them at her own leisure, perhaps, and determine whether any of them are friend or foe, and perhaps briefly glossing over the weirdness happening at the arcade area, because her brain is politely filtering that out for the moment for sanity's sake. Best get a look at the room first, /then/ worry about any incidental insanity.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "A dancing game?" Toph snorts, about to ask further... at least until Chewie smashes the screen of the game. "HEY!" she says, turning to face the cookie with a stern look on her face. "There's no need to smash the games here!" Yes. The five foot tall girl is not scared of telling the big creature off for destroying things. Because she doubts he can repair it immediately.

    Though suddenly Toph blinks, turning her head before she walks off again, leaving her food behind as she heads off to the nearby booth...

    "Hey, Juno!" At least Toph doesn't yell it out, and she is smiling as she reaches out to give the woman a friendly punch in the arm.

Peter Quill (751) has posed:
"Dude, don't smash Space Invaders! I mean, unless you want to, Big Guy." Peter actually follows after Toph when he hears the name, and clears his throat a bit once they approach her. "Hey... I've been hearing about a lot of what's going on. I was honestly on the fence about what to do." he admits, keeping his voice low. "If I try to take the money, I know I'll regret what happens after, so..."

Han Solo (814) has posed:
    Han finishes his latest shot and sighs. "Here we go again." This is muttered to himself as he pushes himself up and out of the booth. He snatches up one of those Corellian Whiskey bottles and a clean shot glass and proceeds to wander past the booth next to him, setting them both down with a 'you're going to need this' smirk tossed in Juno's direction, before he just continues making his path over to the arcade. Maybe he knows that look of hers pretty well.

    Chewbacca is raising another hand to do some more smashing, growling in the direction of the game and everyone that seems to be taking an issue with him punishing this game for beating him so fast. Luckily, though, Han is right there to plant a hand on Chewie's back. "Hey, hey. Relax." Han immediately turns to the crowd and extends his free hand towards them. "You're too smart for this anyway. We'll find you something else to do."

    Chewbacca seems to be calming down, though he snarls past Han and at those that were prepared to tell him about himself.

    "No, you can't rip their arms out of their sockets for being rude to you. Not right now, anyway." Han looks at the gathered group and gives a bit of a warning eyebrow.

Rocket (781) has posed:
On the DDR platform, Groot selects 'I believe in miracles' and rolls his shoulders as a human might to stretch their muscles as the selection of backup dancers appears on the screen for him to sellect from. He turns towards Rocket and asks, "I am Groot?" ((Rocket, what was that saying about blondes again?))

Rocket, taking a break from munching on his nachos, says, "They have more fun, Groot. That's what you're remembering," to his friend before sitting back to watch him play the dancing game; however, he also keeps some of his attention on the wookiee -- especially after Han's comment about ripping arms out of sockets.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Xiaomu is very near to snarling right back at Chewbacca, to judge by the scowl on her face and the glare in her eye. She's pretty sure she could dodge an attempt by the giant furball to rip HER arms out of their sockets, but ...

Well. Truthfully, it's one of those things you don't want to put to the test if you don't have to, so she sticks with glowering for a few moments longer before going back to her table - and intercepting a waiter on his way past so that she can place her order.

... and a couple of minutes after that, she's pulled out a Nintendo 3DS, has unwrapped one of the games she picked up from Sofmap, and is contentedly playing whichever game it is, the Space Invaders incident all but forgotten. Anyone who wants to converse further with the sage fox is probably going to have to get her attention away from the game first.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
A familiar voice calls out through what's otherwise a generally chaotic atmosphere. The blonde woman looks over her shoulder, only to be punched in the arm before she can even reach the booth. Toph is blinked at somewhat blearily, and so is Peter Quill. The latter earns a brief scowl. "You again?"

"Look, Mister Quill, I don't understand what your insistence is in involving yourself in my business, but I'd rather you not. It's not a game. This is my life at stake, as I'm sure you may or may not be aware of. I can promise you that if you're thinking about taking up the bounty, I /will/ reduce your ship or whatever it is you're piloting around the galaxy these days into its component atoms. And if I don't, Galen will. You won't /live/ long enough to regret taking the money, I promise you that."

High-strung, a little?

Pause.

"Hello, Toph."

Pause.

It's about then that Juno takes note of the guttural growling of Shryiiwook. As that's not really something one hears outside of Kashyyyk, the pilot's head turns, very slowly, toward the source of the sound. She blinks somewhat owlishly.

"Why is there a Wookiee over there." Her question is spoken too flatly to really be a question; really more of a statement, as though reiterating that there's a Wookie over there and there probably shouldn't be a Wookie over there.

Annie Sandberg (437) has posed:
     Annie gets a bit scared by the smashing of the arcade machine (particularly as it wasn't the one she was expecting to get smashed), but soon she's back to her usual cheerfulness as her food is ready! She rushes over to the bar to get the cheeseburger, before heading back toward the others. "I hope nobody gets their arms ripped out," she says with a frown. Though, if anyone did, she'd prefer it to be herself- it'd probably be a lot easier to fix. She takes a bite from the cheeseburger as she looks to watch Groot.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Let the wookie growl and smash, Toph is more concerned about Juno at this point. So when Peter talks about being uncertain what to do, she reaches out and punches him in the arm. Hard. And her expression is serious as she points one dirty index finger straight for Peter's face. "If you try to sell Juno out, then I'm going to smack some sense into that thick skull of yours!" It's seldom Toph is this serious. But selling people out? That's just LOW.

    Though the moment Han speaks and makes it clear that the big guy with him is talking about ripping arms out of sockets, she leans back. "Violence is forbidden in here, furball." A wookie? So Juno knows what kind of creature that guy is? "If he's going to smash stuff then we'll get thrown out, buddy," she says to Han.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa gives Han a slight look, she's had enough people try to cow her in her life btu she's bnot about to pick a fight. She gets the idea Han is clearly trying to cover for his friend to prevent a fight.

"Right, right sorry."

She seems to mean it there's no snark in it.

"Your friend seems to be ... quite the fighter if he cna throw a punch like a full con cyborg."



She may or may not have spotted Juno but knows her comrade and well friend? She kinda sees Juno as a friend and would like to make some ffort on that, yet right now she seems to be well on edge given she's got Vader after her like a rabid pit bull.

"Well I'm Kotone Yamakawa and this has at least not been a boring evening, right? We should really focus on having fun tonight and not starting a brwl."

She looks to the DDR machine and is going to try to get up on it if there's a spot. Kotone seriously wants to get her dance. Then Juno reveals her self and she gets a grin.

"I beatcha can't beat my score on this game and I think the Wookie came for a drink and or Dinner?"

Peter Quill (751) has posed:
"Never saw a Wookie before." is Peter's answer to that, then slides into the seat on the other side of Juno's table, leaning his elbows on it. "I was thinking about taking the Starkiller guy's bounty, I thought maybe they'd leave you alone if I did. But the more I hear about this Empire, the more I realize that there's no simple fix."

There's a beat, and he adds, "I like you. I don't know if it's the Space Brit thing you've got going on, or that I just think it takes some serious balls to betray an entire empire, but I like you. I know it's not a game, but I can make money -and- get you your freedom at the same time. There are probably a billion people out there who'll pay big money for Vader's head, so..."

He shrugs his shoulders. "Seems like the answer is to catch Darth Vader himself and sell him to the highest bidder."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
For all that Xiaomu LOOKS like she's engrossed in her new game, her ears are visibly perked up at the conversations back and forth ...

And then she looks up, straight at Juno and Peter. "You do realize that the higher a bounty is, the more dangerous the criminal, and/or the more dangerous the organization that's *offering* the bounty is, right?"

Rocket (781) has posed:
"I am Groot." ((Hello small blue haired one.)) Groot greets Kotone as she joins him on the DDR. Then the music begins and he starts to move his feet as the arrors on the screen. After a few moments he begins to improve additional movements of the torso and arms -- one of which extends out over Kotone beside him.

"Give him what's for Kotone!" Rocket calls trying to egg on the competition and eliciting a hurt toned "I am Groot?" ((You aren't cheering for me, Rocket?)) from Groot as he continues to dance.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
"If he tries to sell me out," Juno says patiently. She lets her hand rest over Toph's shoulder, both restraining and reassuring; she can take care of herself. It would feel good to punch someone, actually. Really good. "You're not going to have anything left. Sorry. I've about reached the end of my patience with this bounty nonsense."

Half a glance is cast to Yamakawa, and all Juno does is shake her head. Not here, not now. She shouldn't even /be/ here, but the bloody door to the bloody crew quarters decided to put her in this bloody bar, /again/. She definitely wasn't seeking it out, this time.

"Wookiee. Very tall, very strong--" And then Peter says something dumb. Juno slaps her hands flat on the table, staring at Peter with enough coldness that the vacuum of space might just be a little more inviting. Anger flares. "If you so much as think about looking in Galen's direction over that /bloody bounty/, so /help/ me I /will/ risk the security systems in this place if it teaches you a lesson that sticks."

It takes her about a second or two to simmer down from that. Apparently, Peter's hit a shiny red button. She sits back down in her chair, half-glancing to Xiaomu. "Also, yes, he'll probably rip you into shreds. Trivially. He was trained to assassinate Jedi, and somehow I doubt you're on the same level as the generals of the Clone Wars."

Pause.

She just reaches up and pinches the bridge of her nose. Every time he starts to say something almost smart, he follows it up with something even more dumb, like capturing Darth Vader.

"I think you just stopped making sense right there. Piss off. I've had /far/ too little sleep over the past three weeks to even begin wasting my time with that. I'd appreciate the offer," she says, in a slow and measured way that suggests she's exercising willpower not to lose her temper again. "But I'm fairly certain you're still not taking this seriously in the least."

Han Solo (814) has posed:
    Han shoves a handful of quarters into the paw of Chewbacca before sending him off into the arcade. "You know the rules. Don't get us kicked out of here. The drinks are too expensive anywhere else."

    It is about this time that Han starts picking up on different words and phrases that are familiar to him. They have a lot to do with Bounties and what not. Han's hand drops towards his blaster out of reflex, though he makes sure to make it look like he's just relaxing his hand there.

    "I can get this place a new machine. No problem." This is said to anybody that might actually need to know this so it doesn't look like he's just going to wander off and leave the machine broken. Even if that really is the plan.

    Chewbacca roars in the distance and Han's eyes cut over to him. "Hey! Hey! No!" It looks like Chewbacca is about to smash the Whack-A-Mole machine. Han snaps his fingers and points to try and calm Chewie down without moving because he finds himself listening to this horrible plan of Quill's and that's just not a good idea. There is much headshaking and an even audible smirk.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Yeah, Parfait Lord isn't a genius, is he? Toph stands by the booth and blinks slowly. Twice. Then she tugs on Juno's arm. "I got some food, come on. You're tense as a bowstring, and arguing with dunderheads won't draw less attention to you." Besides, they should make sure to play some of the games before the wookie smashes them all.

    Either way the blind girl heads back to the machine next to the broken Space Invaders machine, though she snorts and raises her hand, using a few brief gestures with her fingers to bend out the broken metal parts of her food... and pointedly bends them in Chewie's direction. "You better follow up on that, it looked like Parfait Lord liked it." She doesn't see the appeal of those games, for now the whack-a-mole game and DDR seems more fun to her. Maybe she could try that dancing game and just copy what the other person is doing?

Peter Quill (751) has posed:
"I'm a human who grew up around a bunch of aliens who could have ripped me to shreds more times than I could count. I'm a professional, I've got experience. You think I don't understand the risk? You think I don't find it a little terrifying?" Peter offers to Juno, spreading his arms out across the back of his seat. "I'm dead serious about doing this. I'll learn as much as I can about the empire, Vader, and where he's hiding. This guy's bounty is probably so huge that I could even get the Ravagers in on this."

"Humans, especially Americans, don't need special powers." he says before casually gunfingering at Juno, as if to indicate her as a human. "We've got ingenuity. Captain America punched Hitler in the face and ended World War II with his bare hands." He didn't claim to be a master of world history. "America beat the British and gained independence from the iron grip of the queen's monarchy, because they were determined and wanted it more."

"Freedom, independence, justice. That's the -American- way, and I won't back down from a guy like Darth Vader, I don't care if he could explode the sun with his pinky finger!" He slams his fist into his palm, sounding quite determined. "I'm taking the guy, me and the Ravagers, then you'll see just how serious I am."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "Ummm, no. He did not. He froze before the war ended, dunderhead," Toph calls back to Peter with a deadpan look on her face. Seriously, he should meet the guy sometime. Or not. Because she likes her sort of uncle better than exposing him to... this.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Xiaomu turns her 3DS back off and sticks it in an inside pocket of her vest. "So does your big furry friend actually know how to play arcade games, or should we find him one of those 'test your might' punching-bag things and make sure the Bar and Grill has insurance on it before we turn him loose?" she asks Solo (and Chewie). "It sounds like he seriously subscribes to the Segata Sanshiro school of button-mashing ..."

Annie Sandberg (437) has posed:
     Annie watches Groot's game for a bit before, somewhat nervously, approaching Han. "Hi, um, do you think I could talk to your friend?" she asks, looking towards Chewbacca. She didn't want to get near the Wookiee directly in his current state. "I know a lot about games, so maybe I'd be able to help him find something... gentler," she suggested. Maybe not arcade games, but something else. Something that might not lead to things getting smashed. Hopefully.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Something in the blonde pilot's brow twitches. Arguing with idiots might not draw any less attention to her, but it might feel a hell of a lot better. Juno's about to go with Toph as suggested, because the idea of putting something in her stomach that isn't caff or stimtea sounds good, but--

"Oh." It's more of a chuckle than an acknowledgement. A dangerous sound, actually; there's no mirth in it at all. "No. No, it doesn't work like that. Vader is the right-hand man of the Empire; Vader does not hide. He calls the shots. He assignst he bounties. And he most certainly does not bloody well /hide/. You have /no idea/ what I've been dealing with over the past three weeks, or what anybody who crosses Vader deals with. None at all." She laughs; the sound is bleak, and mocking. "Unbelievable. This is still a bloody /game/ to you."

"I'm finished with you." She glares. "Do what you want, as far as Vader is concerned, but /leave me out of it/. And go find yourself another table," she snaps.

An order to the waitstaff soon produces a Corellian whisky, which is coincidentally the exact same thing on Han Solo's table, which in turn is one of Juno's safer bets for drinks. Strong enough to get her attention; not quite enough to reduce her to a flaming wreck, if she's careful... but enough to loosen the bowstring-tautness of her nerves, maybe.

Han Solo (814) has posed:
    Han has this look on his face that pretty much says: 'the hell is America' and he's almost thankful when questions are sent in his direction. "Ah, be my guest. You might want to keep your distance, though. He's in a mood."

    Chewbacca sends a growl back towards Han.

    "Be nice! She's going to try and help you!" Han looks back to Annie with a silent 'good luck' and nods her off in the direction of Chewbacca.

    Attention off in Xiaomu's direction now, Han crosses his arms over his chest. "He doesn't like losing. That's all. Who does?" Han's tone is just a bit more on the defensive side. He's the only one that can talk about his Wookiee Companion!

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is very keen on DDR as she looks to Groot nodiing to the plant like alien.

"Hello to you as well shall we get to it?"

She's also moving now at a fairly high speed but she may be hitting the pad a bit hetter than one might expect her to. She's just really here having fun at this point she does catch what Juno and the vibe is basically leave her be, okay she tried she know she can't seem to do much to help but she just hates seeing Juno and Galen in the situation they are in. She does respect Juno's wishes to not get to the DDR machine maybe it was in poor taste? She'll just focus upon her dance at this point. Han seems to have the whole mess handled htough which is good for everyone. Soe she dances away now.

"Ya that's the good part about the nation, those ideas can't be killed Peter."

She gets he's serious to help but well she shuts up now getting on with dancing!

Peter Quill (751) has posed:
"I -don't- know what you're going through, or anyone else. But you know what? Doing something dumb with the high chance of death never stopped me before." Peter slides out of the booth, then starts heading back to the arcade. "You'll thank me later."

Rocket (781) has posed:
As the dance goes on Groot gets more limber and 'into' the motions but a few poorly placed steps at the beginning leave his score trailing behind Kotone's the whole time. However, at the end, it is obvious from the literally face splitting grin on his face that he enjoyed himself. "I am Groot!" ((That was fun!)) he says to his dance partner as he steps down off the platform -- out of coins as he is.

Having finished his beer and most of his nachos during his friend's dance off, Rocket translates: "He had fun, Kotone. More than he would have alone I'm thinking." Groot nods at Rocket's embelishment.

Annie Sandberg (437) has posed:
     Hearing Han's comment about Chewie not liking to lose at least gave Annie an idea of where to start. "Hi," she said to the Wookiee, trying to sound confident- even though she was a 7-year-old-shaped android facing a... very large being. "My name's Annie. So... I guess if you're getting frustrated with these games, we could find one where you can't really lose," she suggests. "Maybe we could see if those helmets have something like that," she adds, pointing to the selection of VR helmets. "Something that's more about a story than competition or fighting might be nice. Like... an adventure game."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "Hey, Parfait Lord, Juno... let's eat and play some games," Toph calls over to the two, then she heads over to Annie and Chewie. "So what kind of games are there here? Anything I can play?"

Rocket (781) has posed:
As Groot opens his mouth to speak -- probably to ask for more quarters the way he was extending his hand to Rocket -- a beeping sound comes out of Rocket's outfit followed by a muffled voice saying "/I am the property of.../" but it is cut off Rocket slapping his side and saying, "Voice Command: Mute!" toward his armpit. Groot sighs and nods even before Rocket says, "Time to get back to the ship, it'll stink like nobody's business if I forget to take those chemicals off the heat on time again."

Groot waves to Toph and to Kotone, then to everyone else, as Rocket hops down off the chair and says, "It was nice hanging out with you guys..." he stares at Chewbacca for a moment considering and then adds, "Gotta do this again sometime," he adds before the duo head towards the door.

Han Solo (814) has posed:
    Chewbacca stops in mid smash of Whack-A-Mole to turn towards Annie. He tilts his head and gives a soft growl in response to her, before his head nods a little bit. He drops the Whack-A-Mole hammer back down to the machine and reaches out with his oversized clawed paw to allow Annie the ability to lead him off for some adventure gaming.

    +20 to Adorable.

    Han just watches all this go down and finally moves to cop a seat back in his booth because it's pretty safe to sit back down now. Chewbacca Crisis Averted. For the moment, anyway. And Han goes for another shot of his Corellian Whiskey.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa had an amazing dance off with Grood she had fun she really did enjoy the whole bit of dancing she lost herself in something. She forgot about her issues her trouble, her state of being and just danced. Okay more flail about, this is DDR after all. Still the point is she's having fun and she ends up having just beat Groot she still had fun.

"Not bad you might need a bit of work there big guy but I'd play you again."

She waves t0o him as he departs and now she goes to see what other games she now heads to her own seat to get another order in, however she's looking over at Han for a moment curious about the man still.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
The former Imperial takes a moment to order something to go, passing the order off to one of the establishment's ubiquitous waitstaff, before leaning back in her seat.

"I'd rather not." Juno glances over one shoulder to regard Toph, briefly, before shaking her head and hunkering down in her seat. Reaching for her glass, she presses the nice cold condensation-laden glass to her forehead. Feels nice. "I'd rather stay here. I shouldn't even be here in the first place; I'd intended to find something to eat for Galen. I may as well bring something back to him that hasn't come out of a rations pack."

The unspoken part of that is 'if she spends more time with him she might try to kill him.'

"I'll stay here, thanks. Go ahead." She waves Toph on. "I probably won't be here for long, anyway."

Annie Sandberg (437) has posed:
     Annie smiles happily at Chewbacca. She was glad that she'd managed to get through to him. Maybe he had a soft spot for kids? In any case, there were many VR hardware options, including one that seemed to be directly compatible with her systems, allowing her to experience the game in the exact same way she experienced reality. With the same programs loaded on each, they could definitely play together! She looked through the lists for a game that looked good.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"So I didn't catch your name?" Xiaomu asks the Wookie's 'manager'; her food is arriving, so it's probably just as well her attention got yanked away from gaming. "I presume you're more than just the 'manager' for tall dark and fuzzy over there."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    The former Imperial is really going through a tough time. That much is clear, and well... Toph can't blame Juno's response. So the blind girl nods her head once. It's not herself she's worried about either. But right now it's wise to not stress Juno out further. "Okay. Get something cold to drink and then get some rest." She will reach out to yank Peter with her, muttering under her breath to him. "You really are dense..."

Peter Quill (751) has posed:
"Hey, I made up my mind." Peter says as he follows along with Toph, letting himself get dragged about. "This is what I do. This is basically my -job-. Fly in, do dangerous things, get paid for it. That's in the job description of Legendary Outlaw. Plus... I can't let this guy keep going after her."

Han Solo (814) has posed:
    Han kicks his feet up and gets even more comfortable. Keeping a low profile as much as possible. Which is why when he's asked questions, he hesitates for just a moment. "Solo." Han had to toy with the idea of wanting to use his real name or something else. However, considering that there's some kind of rules going on in this bar to keep them alive. Besides, if nobody wanted to collect his bounty by now, then he's pretty sure he's safe enough to give out his real name. "Captain of the Millennium Falcon." Yeah, he's not no stinkin manager!

    Chewie may have a soft spot for kids or he just wants to be nice. Either way, he waits (somewhat) patiently while Annie goes through the games. When somebody at random walks by with a plate of food, Chewbacca snatches it.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Twisting, the former Imperial glances over her shoulder, toward where she can hear Han Solo making his introductions. She's been half-listening; that's the man who seems to be in cahoots with the Wookiee, isn't it?

"A starship, I take it, with that fellow hanging about." She lifts a brow, eyeing Han appraisingly. "Millennium Falcon? I don't recognise that ship... you're not with the Empire, I take it?"

Even from across the room, Toph would notice the question isn't so casual for Juno; she's still tense as a bowstring. A bowstring on the verge of snapping, maybe.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "If it was just some guy then she wouldn't be in this mess to begin with," Toph snorts. "Just trust me on this, don't talk about it with her." Hey, what's this? Toph notices how Juno talks to Han after he introduces himself, and something has her even more tense.

    Heck, the games can wait. This is far more important.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"Captain, huh?" Xiaomu says with a wry grin. "Haven't heard of the ship before, but it's a big Multiverse ... I'll keep my ears open for it."

Then she digs into her meal, her attention quickly becoming fully absorbed by what appears to be a very delicious meal. Don't expect much more conversation out of her.

Peter Quill (751) has posed:
"I can't help her if she won't tell me how, so all I can do is come up with my own ideas." Peter turns around to watch Toph. His hearing isn't anywhere near as good as her's, so he just sort of watches her to see why she's stopped. Though he does notice Han. "That guy's just trying to pick her up. Lame."

Annie Sandberg (437) has posed:
     Annie ends up picking out a fairy-tale based adventure game. Those shouldn't be too tough, right? You could even customize your character. "Okay, how about this one? It's nice."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is just at her table eating her food now and maybe she's listening in without meaning to given her senses are agumented to some degree after all. She's trying to not listen in though and mind her own business for the moment.