After the incident with Khaljos Kind's ship, Gin had been keeping a closer watch on what the Dudes were up to. A good thing too, or she could have ended up in some very nasty trouble after they picked up a job from a spice merchant. Fortunately they'd picked up some samples, so she could find out exactly what it was before committing to selling any of it.
What it was was pretty much what the Dudes had been told it was - except that it was extremely toxic to arcona. Not a bad deal though. She'd just have to be very cautious about who it got sold to.
Things were returning to something resembling normality on Listehol. Her preferred booth in the cantina was now being referred to as the 'Both Booth', and while she wasn't a big player, enough business was coming her way that she wasn't having to seek it out.
Then shortly before the big pod race day, Dax showed up in the Both Booth, looking for work. He needed money - doubtless something to do with his sister or his spaceship. She found just the thing for a competent engineer and slicer - a sabotage job on the Czerka Corp racing pod. Getting to the pod though - that would be the challenge. Gin called up Track-u-bot and Mnessas to help out, and got to watch as Dax suggested that perhaps Track-u-bot could help by preventing them being tracked - a sort of reverse tracking. Track-u-bot spontaneously rebooted.
The four of them together made it into the pod hanger without being spotted by either life forms or cameras. Dax got to work on the pod, while Gin took the opportunity to have a nose around. She was glad she did - someone who clearly hadn't been expecting anyone to be poking around in here had left notes about Czerka Corp's own sabotage plans. Of the two other favourites to win the race, one pod racer would be subject to a hit that night, while the other would be targeted by a sniper during the race.
It rapidly occurred to them that a) if they prevented a hit it could potentially result in some kind of reward and b) this would also give them a strong tip on who was likely to win the pod race.
They gathered at the bar where that night's target was hanging out. Not hard to spot the likely assailants - several of Borka the Hutt's enforcers. One was causing trouble over by the bar, which was no doubt a distraction. Gin ignored it and went searching for the pod racer. Acting like an excited fan keen to meet a popular racer was in no way a challenge. It might not be the real reason she was here, but at the same time it wasn't a lie. Once close enough, she whispered a warning to him, pointing out the assailants.
Over by the bar, Dax had got involved in a fist fight. Of course - the woman behind the bar who'd been the subject of the disturbance was his sister. But Gin had done her job in time, and both she and the racer had blasters ready when their booth was suddenly crowded with Hutt enforcers.
One bar fight later, in which Mnessas (now dressed in the (drastically hemmed) robes of a sith) performed some throws that seemed to defy the laws of physics, she had the gratitude of the pod racer, plus two VIP tickets to watch the race.
Race day dawned, and it was time to place bets. Betting on the racer they'd saved the previous night seemed like a safe bet, even if the payout wasn't too great. But Gin had one more piece of information about the race. Master Reshi would be competing. And Master Reshi was a champion pod racer.
Her bets placed, Gin made her way to the VIP area, accompanied by Mnessas. As expected, she saw one pod taken out by what had to be a sniper shot. The Czerka Corp pod failed in a truly spectacular fashion, with each engine pod going flying in different directions as the pod tore itself apart. Dax had more than fulfilled his contract.
And then the sniper took a second shot, this time at the one pod that remained from the three favourites. The Czerka Corp sniper - or was it Track-u-bot up there on the dusty knoll? Not that it mattered. She had bets on both her new acquaintence and Master Reshi, but the latter winning would be significantly more financially advantageous.
Reshi won!
The big race might be over, but there were still other races to enjoy, particuarly the all-comers ronto and other large riding animal race, which Mnessas and Track-u-bot were already planning to enter. Gin wasn't planning to do anything other than watch - but then she got a visitor wanting to sell a narglatch. Perhaps it was just the excitement of the day's events, but somehow she found herself handing over her entire winnings plus a bit more for this ridiculously dangerous animal.
It was an exciting race. Mnessas and Track-u-bot on their racing rontos, Dax on a bantha (she wasn't sure where that had come from) and her on her new narglatch.
Track-u-bot won, despite Mnessas attempting to influence things via a large box of fireworks strapped to the back of his ronto. The narglatch, Gin was glad to see, completely ignored the fireworks, but they did allow Mnessas to pip Dax to second place. Gin happily brought up the rear. Just getting through the race without falling off was quite enough.
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