A Small Piece of the Action

Posted on Mon Apr 29, 2024 @ 12:08am by Civilian Thavas Th'Omtala

1,125 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Things Past
Location: Rigel II, Benvolio's Italian Restaurant
Timeline: Prior to March of 2394

OOC NOTE: The Iotian Outfit depicted are an extension of the TOS Episode "A Piece of the Action".

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[ON]


On a rainy day on the pleasure planet Rigel II, Thavas Th’Omtala walked into Benvolio's, the Italian restaurant that one of his clients 'had a relationship with' (ie: the restaurant and its owner were caught up in the client's protection/extortion racket). The client, with whom Thavas had a long business relationship with was Kyklyx “Kicker” Kylyx, a low-level crime boss with the Iotian Outfit. Long ago, the Iotians were introduced to the history of Chicago gangsters of the 1920s. The strongest cultural trait of the Iotians is that they mimic other cultures. They developed space flight from a Starfleet communicator left behind when Enterprise 1701 visited their planet. They developed warp tech from a derilict Romulan vessel they encountered. All of this meant that the galaxy now had, as a human friend of Thavas once said, 'Space Goombahs'.

Kicker earned his nom de guerre because he enjoyed kicking the crap out of people. Sometimes literally, as in he kicked them so hard and so many times, they defecated. Sometimes Kicker actually kicked people to death. To facilitate this outcome, Kicker's footwear always had reinforced toes, heels and shanks.

The lighting in the restaurant was low and subdued. Thavas scanned the restaurant with his eyes and saw Kicker seated at a table in the back, exactly where he'd expected to find him.

Thavas approached the table. When he got close, he was intercepted by two of the stranger people a person could encounter.

Members of the Iotian Outfit liked 1920s suits. Thavas had cut and tailored many of these for Kicker over the years. The two men approaching him were also wearing suits constructed by Thavas. They were mixed-species and physically were more like their mother than their father.

The smaller of the two torpedoes was Kicker's half-cardassian son, Nyklys “Nicky the Neck” AKA “Nicky Neck Bones” Kylyx. He wore a suit like his father, slick, but not too flashy.

Nicky the Neck AKA Nicky Neckbones got his noms de guerre from two aspects. The obvious one was that he had a nice set of prominent cardassian neck bones. He was also prone to stabbing people in the neck, stepping on people's necks, breaking people's necks, hanging people by the neck, and so forth. Nicky wasn't one to limit himself.

The larger of the two was Frynklyn “Frankie the Forehead” Kylyx, Kicker's illegitimate half-klingon son. His suit was much flashier. He wore a full on "Zoot Suit", also made by Thavas. Frankie was six foot four inches tall, about 250 pounds or so of solid, klingon muscle, and got his nom de guerre from his impressive klingon forehead. Frankie was a fairly simple sort. He liked to head butt people with that impressive klingon forehead, which usually cracked the target's skull like an egg or at least left them with the kind of headache that inspires a person to do whatever it was Frankie said to do.

"Hey, stitcher," Nicky said, holding up his hand. "You just stop right there."

Frankie didn't say anything. He didn't have to. He was a mountain of a man standing in Thavas' path. Frankie got his point across just by existing.

Thavas stopped. Nicky searched and scanned him. He looked at the sheathed hrisal (long, gently curved knife, a bit like a saber) in the andorian's left hand.

"Hey Pops," the nasty little piece of work said. "Stiches here's got his pig sticker with him. Want I should take it?"

Kicker laughed. "Only if you wanna be da pig he sticks!" he said. "Let it be. Thavas ain't gonna cut us. He's here ta do some business. Ain't that right, Thavas?"

Thavas smiled. "You are correct, Mister Kylyx," he said. "I am here to conduct business. I deal in textiles and secrets, not in death."

"See, boys?" Kicker said. "What did I tell ya? Sit, Thavas, have a bowl of bolognese. Nicky! Have Antonio bring over a bowl of bolognese for our friend here."

Nicky narrowed his eyes at Thavas and then turned and went to the kitchen.

Thavas sat and Kicker poured him a glass of red wine from a decanter on the table.

"So," Kicker said. "Is we all set?"

Thavas nodded his thanks for the glass of wine, took a sip, and then answered. "Yes," he said. "The cloth you've purchased has been delivered. As usual, you have paid up front..."

"And what we do with it now ain't none of your business," Kicker finished his sentence for him. "That's what I like about you, Thavas. Youse do things clean."

A waiter came out with a bowl of bolognese and silverware, followed by Nicky.

"Thank you," Thavas said to the waiter. He started to eat while he continued their discussion. "Now, about that other business..."

"Did they agree?" Kicker asked.

"Yes," Thavas said. "Starfleet Intelligence will get security off of your back on Federation colony Kella IV, but only if your information is good. I assume I can trust that it's good?"

"Good?" Kicker said. "Good? Of course it's good! You know how the Outfit feels about the Fed. We're on their side, always."

Thavas nodded his head. "My apologies," he said. "I shouldn't have doubted you. The data?"

Kicker nodded to Franky. The half-klingon legbreaker reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out an antique pocket watch, handmade and quite expensive from the look of it. He handed it to Thavas. Thavas gave Kicker a quizzical look.

Kicker grinned. "There's a data chip in it," he said. "Your contact can keep da watch. It's a classic! A small token of my appreciation."

"I will give it to them," Thavas said.

"Great," Kicker said. "Da boys and I gotta go. You finish your meal, and tell Antonio I said ta give ya some cannolis to take home. Who knows if you’ll be able to get’em as good where you’re going. See ya round, Thavas. I’m sure we’ll do business again soon."

"Be well, Mister Kylyx," Thavas said. Frankie grunted and nasty little Nicky glared for a moment at Thavas before following his father and his brother out of the restaurant. When they were gone, Thavas breathed a sigh of relief. Now that the comical but quite dangerous family had left the restaurant without killing him, Thavas could enjoy the rest of his meal. The food at Benvolio's was quite good, some of the best on Rigel II, and that was saying something. Kicker was correct. He would miss the food here. The Andorian tailor and merchant wondered if DS5 had anything similar.

[OFF]

Thavas Th'Omtala

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Sartorial Splendor

 

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