Chloro
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Post by Chloro on May 16, 2016 12:17:25 GMT -8
Shapes and things. Some round, some square. Telling yourself didn't matter didn't make it stop Vaalia from mithering mentally about the irregular seating patterns and helter skelter arrangement of tables. Vaalia crossed her legs, uncrossed them and flopped back. What do the cool people do when they wait? See that guy there, the picture of the hard man - unshaven, armed, unsmiling - he's perfectly motionless, radiating a aura of no-nonsense…
Ha. Anywhere else he'd be considered a danger, but anyone hanging about in the Lumpen Follicle was a threat to no-one but themselves. Who'd actually want to come here? It was an abandoned subterranean parking lot, stealing electricity using an extension cable from an office hundreds of meters up and they their biggest concern at the minute was whether or not the lady (pejoratively), who was taking up a whole cubicle by herself was actually going to order something.
Vaalia pointed at her crude handmade sign - "Looking for a lonely outworlder - bring own backpack" and shrugged apologetically. The waiter couldn't actually read but it had bought her another ten minutes. She drummed her fingers, noticed for the first time that they weren't in ascending order and shoved them in her pockets, trying not to think about it. Think about something else - the interesting collection of weapons that grey-haired outworlder had. Too powerful for an assassin. Too small to equip an army.
She stopped thumbing her toothbrush and remembered to look around. Would he notice her? The lanky girl with the black hair, green eyes and immaculate teeth, symmetrically pointed.
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Post by Ernest Maslanka on May 21, 2016 9:13:38 GMT -8
Ernest wandered casually into the bar, black-market trading point, smugglers' den, or whatever it was. A man walks into a bar...sounds like a bad joke.
The dingy and chaotic room twisted and warped alarmingly, and he couldn't help but mentally trace the waves to their centre: a blond haired man, leaning back in his seat while sipping a luminous drink. He was surrounded by a nebulous group of laughing sycophants, but appeared to be giving them no real attention. He radiated barely controlled anger, his lips locked in a twisted smile that bordered on a sneer.
Ernest wrinkled his nose in disgust, but was careful to direct his gaze to his general surroundings. He would deal with the disease later. He slouched over to the bar and, when the bartender, so scruffy that his species was undeterminable, grunted at him, Ernest ordered two lomin ales. He figured that they would be perhaps the least toxic on the menu, if they were at least half genuine. While the bartender shuffled and poured, Ernest shoved the few credits into a puddle on the bar and turned to take in the room.
There she was: the dark haired, skinny scamp of a girl. She was camping out in a private cubicle, with a wonky sign propped on the table. He couldn't help but laugh a little at the wording, even though he was the butt of the joke.
Drinks finally ready, he edged his way through the untidy patrons and clutter to her table. "Well, hello there. Keep a lonely outworlder company?" Without waiting for her reply, he sat down next to her, pushing an ale in her direction.
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Chloro
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Post by Chloro on May 23, 2016 14:29:48 GMT -8
Just as Vaalia was sure that Earnest had been turned into fertilizer, there he was, the grey-haired offworlder, seeming no worse then when she last saw him. Also, he didn't have an agony of goons with him, which was a palpable relief. He surveyed the scene cooly, taking a note of Bad Gallagher and his mates, the barkeep and the joke of a menu. To her surprise, he actually ordered something and came over to her table, setting the drinks on the table and repeating her ransom demand back at her, in a way that could not be described as threatening.
Thing were meant to go more this way:
E: "You clueless waif! Do you not know who I am? How dare you strike my beautiful face! Return my effects, or else you shall suffer greatly!"
V: "My apologies, for damaging your glorious bishihood and inconveniencing you, your eminence, but I was terribly hungry and I have many cats to feed, who scratch me, yes, scratch me something fearsome when I have nothing to give them. So, you see, I had no choice…"
E: "Do not waste my time with your peasant's concerns. Here is a million credits - feed your feline masters and waylay me no longer."
Maybe if Vaalia had a transparent skull, it would have been possible to watch the whole dialogue unfold. Instead, Vaalia stared, nonplussed. She had a blaster under the table, in case he tried any funny business. A small voice asked if being charmed constituted 'funny business'. Well, it wasn't. It was rather sad how little it had been used before on her. But two can play this game. She was plenty charming herself.
"Yes, er, hello."
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Post by Ernest Maslanka on May 24, 2016 15:14:46 GMT -8
"Do you usually invite people you mug out for a date?" he said, pushing the drink gently in her direction. He kept his hands resting lightly on the table. He couldn't see hers, which meant she probably had a weapon trained on him. The last thing he needed was a trigger-happy woman knee-capping him in fright. "My name is Dr Ernest Maslanka. You are?"
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Chloro
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Post by Chloro on May 25, 2016 14:05:21 GMT -8
She was about to protest. Her first date would have been something nice, where she was told she would blush when a butt-chinned, haybales-for-arms, super-ayran god offered her flowers and an invite to a restaurant (which was like a food queue but with seats). However, since Mr Maslanka was probably male and they were sitting… Vaalia swallowed. It was starting to feel uncomfortably like a date. She'd just need to get this meeting back on track.
Leaning forward, Vaalia scooped the Lomin Ale tankard in one hand and dropped her voice.
"Nice to meet you, Mr Masla… Dr Masla… Earnest."
Damn.
"I'm Vaalia…"
Double damn. Why did she give him her real name? She took a swig and hoped that the doctor didn't remember her name. She was about to continue, except, whatever was in the tankard wasn't Lomin Ale. It probably was sludge from the refresher. Vaalia spluttered and spat it back into the tankard. It went up her nose.
It was on her teeth.
Her teeth.
No, not that.
She could feel sweat prickle her neck and her hand slowly draw back as if spellbound to her pocket where her solace lay - her toothbrush. Vaalia felt oddly self-conscious about using her toothbrush in front of Earnest, something that had she hadn't felt before. Was she trying to impress him?
"Er, um, I have your stuff."
She fixed him with her no-nonsense gaze, while her toothbrush scraped away at the goo on her enamel, real or imagined.
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Post by Ernest Maslanka on May 25, 2016 14:37:11 GMT -8
Ernest flinched as the girl, Vaalia, choked on her drink. He gave his a quick sniff, which he instantly regretted. It was setting your nose on fire with a tang of whampa cologne. Oops.
He reached for his coat pocket, planning to offer Vaalia some water from his emergency flask, only to find himself arrested by what she was doing: she was brushing her teeth, with a euphoric, compulsive vigor that was impossible to ignore. Obsessive compulsive, or just smart? Either way, explains why she's the first humanoid I've seen in this dump with white teeth. He couldn't help but watch, with considerable professional interest - was the brushing motion repetitive or varied? Was the toothbrush new or old - was this an object fixation?
Wait, what did she just say?
"Ah, yes, my things. It was nice of you to leave the note. Could I have them back, please? I'm afraid they won't be of any use to you or anyone else; they only work for me." He did his best to shrug in a way he hoped was friendly and just a bit diffident.
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Chloro
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Post by Chloro on May 26, 2016 16:04:39 GMT -8
Not too firm, otherwise you could end up damaging the gums that held her teeth in. Brushing didn't need elbow grease, you let the bristles do all the work. And these were some pretty magical bristles. They were some hyper advanced alien tech that, apart from conquering plaque, made Vaalia think clearly, at least as long as she was brushing.
Yes, she knew they didn't work. She'd tried blasting the wall of the alley where she picked them up. That dramatically damaged their resale value. Also, it wasn't like Maslanka's hardware was a pair of BlasTechs that any two-bit gangster would instantly recognise. The gangster might need to refer to a tattoo on his forearm reminding him what a BlasTech looked like, but he'd at least know. Vaalia snerked. Gangsters like those usually had instructions on how to use them tattooed on the other arm. But Vaalia knew that the doctor needed them more than she did.
"So, 20,000 isn't too much to have them back, then?"
Well, it sounded more like:
"Sof, 20,000 isn'th thoo mutch to haf fhem bah, 'e?"
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Post by Ernest Maslanka on May 30, 2016 13:17:14 GMT -8
Ernest stared blankly at her. Twenty thousand credits! Did I really hear that right? Hard to tell with that toothbrush in her mouth. Rather than reply, or even acknowledge what was an audacious demand, Ernest settled back into the seat, checking cautiously for any particularly gruesome stains first.
Money wasn't a problem. Years of treating the ill-health of body and mind on his home planet had given him an extremely healthy bank balance. However, he didn't see why he should just hand over money to this girl, seeing as she's done nothing to deserve it. Quite the opposite.
On the other hand, she was clearly having hard times. Apart from her toothbrush, most of her clothing looked like it had seen better days. Also, he couldn't help but admire her decision to call him out, rather than just dump the weapons and gear as useless. Bold.
The angry blond man at the other table gestured casually, bringing a drink flying to his hand. His followers cackled as he dumped the dregs back over one of their lower ranked members. Ernest felt his stomach roil as the very air seemed to twist out of place. This disease needed urgent treatment. Not here. Too open, too many people.
He dragged his attention back to the toothbrushing girl... no, young woman. If he focussed on the rhythmic action of the brush against her pretty white teeth and pink tongue, it seemed much easier to block out the twist and sway and stench of the disease around them.
"Vaalia, wasn't it? I have an even better idea. You hand over my things, and I'll give you a job that'll pay far more than just 20,000 credits. Interested?"
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Post by Patrick Avem on Jun 4, 2018 13:48:24 GMT -8
Auri smiled to herself as she caught the flicker of annoyance on his face, she loved to be annoying, or rather she loved a reaction whatever that reaction was. Sighing she looked back out to the surface that was taking up more of the view than the stars that were being left behind. She wasn't sorry to see them go, she was much more of a fan of solid ground than sailing around in ships. "Admit it though, you've known me hardly any time but you like me, and you get lonely drifting around on your own. It's not you to be apart from people, I can sense your need for company." She didn't really care if she was wrong, she had gotten a reaction to her comments about him leaving her and she was going to keep pressing the subject, it was the closest she'd come to genuine conversation with Patrick so far. He had become emotional about something, even if he did try and hide it in his face. "Anyway I don't need someone to be responsible for me, hey I'm not even responsible for myself most of the time. Anyway... I've kind of forgotten the point to this, so you going to come back to my place or not?"She grinned and glanced over at him, she had never invited anyone back before, mostly because she other than one person she had never had anything resembling a friend but also because anything in the refugee district wasn't normally worth taking someone to see. She wondered why with Patrick it was different, she had been the most honest with him than she had with anyone in her "post-waking" life and she didn't know why. Perhaps she just wanted something she had never really had, a friend. Someone that stood on equal terms with her, no power over her, no wanting of romance, just there to talk to and be herself for a change. It was refreshing. |
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Auri
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Post by Auri on Jun 12, 2018 12:06:45 GMT -8
Pulling herself a little more upright in her seat she watched him leave, smiling as she counted down in her head thirty seconds before making any attempt to actually get up. The move was partly to cause a moments frustration if he walked off the ship he would have to stand and wait for her, but also if anyone started firing then at least she would get a heads up before stepping out to join the firefight.
Auri felt the warm breeze hitting her skin, it stank of frying foods and exhaust fumes, the whole moon felt heavy and polluted, she swore her lungs had to repair themselves every time she left. She strode past Patrick, not even giving him a second glance as she just assumed that he was following her, this was not a place to pretend that you cared about people, this was a place to make sure others knew you were important. Or at least you might be important.
"So this is home." She said eventually, stepping through the gateway to a world that wasn't like anywhere else on this Moon. She wondered how Patrick would react to the place as she guided him into a sprawling city of stacked storage containers with windows and doors hacked out of the metal. A few looked like they had been designed to be places that people should live in, but most looked like something you wouldn't want to keep a pet monkey lizard in for fear of disease. She could feel eyes on them, while she was used to the curious stares she wondered in the intensity was a sign of recognising she was with a stranger or they were angry with her for some reason. She wasn't aware of causing any problems before she left, but it had been a few months. Tracing a path through the high rise stacks, she eventually stopped at one shadowy tower and indicated the metal staircase to Patrick.
"Third floor, and then it's all mine. Pretty isn't it?"
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Post by Patrick Avem on Jun 20, 2018 10:40:28 GMT -8
Patrick kept the mild frustration with her manner from his face, allowing the patience learned in the military to keep him occupied at her delays and actions, keeping eyes out for the prowling masses. As they began to move through the streets he began to revert back to old habits from the streets of Oridin City. Hunching slightly in his dust brown cloak, hiding his weapons under it, and keeping a constant hand on the knife stashed up his sleeve, just in case. Keeping conversation to a minimum he mostly followed Auri a few steps behind, watching for as much danger as he could, both with his physical senses as well as his other senses.
Upon arrival to the stacked crates he was both impressed by the ingenuity of the people living there and appalled by the squalor. It wasn't a whole lot different then some other areas he had visited in on other planets, and he did his best to keep himself ignored until their abrupt stop at Auri's home "tower". Absolute perfection. He flashes a brief smile before gesturing to the staircase. After you, my lady. To a degree it was pure politeness, but mostly he was doing it out of a sense of personal safety. He was becoming more familiar with Auri, but he was far from trusting her yet, so he was going to avoid any sort of trap that might be there, just in case.
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Auri
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Post by Auri on Jul 22, 2018 13:22:21 GMT -8
Throwing him a grin, Auri knew that this place was not even good enough to be classified as nice let alone perfection, but she didn't hang around as she start to run up the stairs. She felt about twenty years younger as her boots hit the metal beneath them feeling a sense of joy flowing through her at the idea of being home and free. Looking back over her shoulder at each level she checked that Patrick was following her up, encouraging him to keep up. Eventually she arrived on the third floor, the metal door of the container in front of her, reassuringly locked still. Her world was still intact. Quickly tapping the code into the pad, it glowed green and the click told her the door was open, she didn't wait any longer as she pulled the door open and stepped into the darkness inside. She could have negotiated the place in the dark, but for Patrick's sake more than her own she flicked the light switch and a few dim bulbs cast more shadows than light into the room, revealing a single living area with just a few screens and curtains separating the areas out into cooking, cleaning and sleeping. Normally she was here on her own, the only person that had ever stayed here once was Dark, but he'd always preferred to sleep in his ship.
Turning to welcome her guest in, Auri noticed a data chip on the floor that looked like it had been pushed under then door while she had been away. "Oh, looks like I have mail, hopefully not a rent demand." Retrieving the chip and slipping it into a holopad that was sat on the table she watched as the blue light filled the corners of the room that the lightbulbs had failed. A small image of a twi'lek male appeared, he looked grumpy and Auri smiled at that as she turned her back on the recording and started to get undressed as she moved to stand behind the curtain, her eyes flickering around for clean clothes.
Auri, you've been gone a long time. Dark still hasn't returned either. Master isn't happy...
"Tell me something new, he's never bloody happy"
The recording continued over her mutterings
...He orders your attendence at his side the moment that you return. Do not keep him waiting. He has work to be done which will hopefully go better than you most recent escapades. He is aware of that too.
The word that escaped Auri's lips was not pleasant, but as she stepped out of the curtained area now dressed in clean clothes and pulling her hair up into a braid behind her head she still looked happy.
"What are you planning on doing now? Because it looks like I have to go somewhere but if you are looking for work it might be profitable, I can introduce you to some of the galaxy's finest criminals or just get you a good drink. Up to you. If you prefer I can let you crash here and then you can come and go as you please until you are more settled on your plans? If I had the time I would show you the highlights of the place, but I can only really give you the basic rundown. There's the bed, there's the 'fresher, there's where you make food." She finished by spinning in a circle and pointing to the various items, before turning back to face him, folding her arms and grinning infectiously.
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Post by Patrick Avem on Aug 6, 2018 13:18:28 GMT -8
Patrick kept close behind her as they ascended to her apartment. It wasn't a luxury suite, but it wasn't exactly a grungy pit either. At least as far as he could tell nothing unnatural was growing inside the place, which made it a far sight better than a few places he'd had to sleep. Taking one of the few chairs in the room he can't help but overhear the message as it's played in the small space. Anyone called Master would be trouble, but at the same time he wasn't exactly in a place to be choosy. Purposefully avoiding looking at her as she changed, even if she was behind a curtain, he began to contemplate his next steps. He could just leave, take his ship and go back out in the galaxy, but then he'd be back at square one with nowhere to go. On the other hand following Auri to her mysterious contact could get him killed, or make him rich. In a game of risk vs. reward he knew what hand he had to play. Standing up he smiled at his companion. I suppose I'l come along. I could use a good drink, and if things work out I wouldn't mind a source of pay. Where to? It was time to toss the dice....
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Auri
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Post by Auri on Aug 17, 2018 13:16:00 GMT -8
Walking across back across to the door that they had entered before, she looked back at Patrick and beckoned emphatically with both arms waving before her. "Come with me then my new and delightful friend, I am going to show you the best of times and the galaxy's most glamorous spot." She glanced him up and down, approvingly "Don't worry you are probably overdressed for it, I definitely will be." Her eye roll indicating that she was talking in her case more about her the amount of clothes than the type. "I am going to take you all the way to New Vertica, only the most exciting city on the planet. Technically it's one of the few cities here and we aren't actually on a planet but a moon but I'm taking liberties."
As she spoke she headed out the door, back into the stacks of storage crates, she held it open behind her for Patrick to follow her through, as he did she shut and locked it behind them. Pausing to stare out at the view before them, the sun was setting, it's red glow shone through the metal containers like they were built as some great fire temple. Silhouetted people moved through gantries as they either scurried home in fear of the approaching darkness or slipping out as predators in the night. Auri had never feared the darkness here, but she knew that she probably should, it was probably more luck that nothing had ever happened to her but with the life that she had lived before this time there wasn't much else that could hurt her now. The thought struck her now as sobering, and for a moment the fading sun lit her shimmering skin and gave it a rose sheen and her face lost it's usual smile, her gold eyes losing their glint of fun.
"We can catch a shuttle from the sector gates, down there." She pointed to a gap in the stacks, "It's about an hour until we get to the city, but then it's not far from the station to the palace."
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Post by Patrick Avem on Sept 24, 2018 14:48:02 GMT -8
Swept up in the movement of it all the former First Order pilot gets the feeling that a smart man wouldn't want to go to a place like their destination, but he found himself liking Auri, even if she was a bit eccentric and odd, it was far more interesting than the fanatical pilots he had been forced to spend most of his time with recently. Making his way behind her he once again adopts his somewhat hunched posture and palms his knife, just in case. Without incident the pair made it to the Shuttle and off toward the city.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2018 7:52:29 GMT -8
The Third Galactic Civil War and the resulting demise of the Galactic Alliance had displaced many who strove to escape the militaristic regime of the First Order. The Zygerrian warlord admired the First Order from afar but grimaced at the sight of refugees who flooded this sector. It had become gang territory for a long time until he instilled order, order by his vision, upon the planet. Now, that the Hutt Cartel was back in business, the Zygerrian viewed these refugees with potential... potential for slavery profits for the most part. It seemed that every so often, men in his pay would enter the Sector and proceed to round up able men and attractive women, alien, human and humanoid alike, to serve the Hutts on Nal Hutta or the establishments owned by Nasir. Their services would bring the coin to his pockets and that's what mattered to Nasir, profit and profit.
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Post by Zordo The Hutt on Feb 24, 2019 8:31:54 GMT -8
Nasir's slave trade on Nar Shaddaa was still booming. While the influx of refugees looking to escape the clutches of war had died down considerably, the flow never ceased completely. And where Nasir succeeded, the Cartel succeeded. Investing in a portion of Nasir's business, the Cartel ensured his business remained profitable...and there was always a profit to turn on Nar Shaddaa, one only needed to know where to look.
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Post by Zordo The Hutt on Feb 1, 2020 16:42:30 GMT -8
Even though galactic scale war wasn't prevalent throughout the galaxy at this time, many sentients ended up on Nar Shaddaa. And often, not by choice. As refugees, these people would either find meager work or become enslaved by the Hutt Cartel to be sold off world through Zygerrian slaver Nasir D'Nar's operations on the planet. While it was never anything glamorous, the steady stream of refugees never ceased, allowing the slave markets to prosper.
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Anjylla Markare
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Post by Anjylla Markare on Feb 10, 2020 7:46:40 GMT -8
Anjylla Markare had found her way into the Rusty Tap several local hours ago and got a Rodian Slingshot to start what promised to be a busy cycle. The Tap was familiar to her and a good place to start a venture like this- 3D, the protocol unit that handled the bar service, usually had a solid idea of who or what might be a problem to patrons like her running goods under the table. The "quiet fee" was always the same- 200 Credits, under the table, and no questions. You got a back booth reserved for high stakes card games or holochess, unlimited parwan nutri-cakes, and plenty of privacy. Funny thing about the card booths- a lot of the technology that went into preventing cheating and hacking of the holochess units could be turned outward to shut out regular surveillance. Nothing the military could care to throw at it, but peacekeeper units were blind.
And if you had an Order cruiser zeroing in on your card table, you were well beyond fried at that point.
Beyond that though, it was an easy gig. And the message Anjylla had gotten from the Berrick promised to pay out well. Danger rating was a little higher than she was used to, but that came with the territory when you were dealing with that many zeros. Only time she'd gotten a score that high was when she played porter for a Mon Cala duke.
Anjylla glanced at her chrono, one hand above a dataslate, leaning into the countertop. Watching the countdown.
3.
2.
1.
Send.
A message went out to a pre-selected com receiver. Her holo image, the Rusty Tap's address, and card booth 7. She'd wait for two standard hours. If there was no arrival, she'd consider the whole thing scratched and drink that lost paycheck away...
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Post by Berrick Dahnos [RETIRED] on Feb 11, 2020 2:04:55 GMT -8
Less than a half hour after the message was sent out, Syrena strode into the Rusty Tap. She was dressed in a leather and chainmail overcoat, armourweave pants and jacket, thigh high leather boots, and forearm length gloves with armoured vambraces. She paid no heed to 3D or any other patron as she worked her way through the bar and over to card booth 7. Sliding in to the booth on the opposite side to Anjylla. The pair of swords strapped to her back jostling as she came to rest in the booth
Anjylla? You can call me Syrena. I'm here on behalf of Mr Dahnos to represent and help provide some protection where his business interests are concerned...
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![Berrick Dahnos [RETIRED] Avatar](https://i.imgur.com/52pYmTJ.png)