Discarded
A brief interlude from a sabacc game between some very disreputable characters. For those not familiar with the in-universe Star Wars game of sabacc, think of it as poker played with Tarot cards.
The PDF version features an illustration by myself, visible at this link.
This story was originally a submission to FurAffinity's Thursday Prompt writing group.
Discarded
Story and illustration by: DankeDonuts
https://dankedonuts.sofurry.com/
A flash of yellow energy lit up the otherwise dimly illuminated room.
The Pantoran was thrown backwards into her chair. Which tumbled down to the floor, depositing its blue-skinned occupant along the floor in a twitching heap. A black crater in the middle of a chest that rose and fell for the last time.
Across from her, in a circular indent carved out of the wide, oval shaped table, stood the dealer. A Shistavanen wolf-man. Held in one dusky brown hand, a K-16 Bryar pistol set to over-charge.
No one seated at the table said one word for or against the act.
Not the many-horned Zabrak assassin with the cybernetic eyes and correspondingly circuit-like facial tattoos. An assassin with a reputation for messy kills. Very messy kills.
Not the pale skinned and white-eyed Umbaran, clothed in the vestments of a Dark Side worshipper. A loan shark known for making deadbeat borrowers disappear.
Not the prune-faced Dressellian. An enforcer for Boss Tavoo, the local crime lord who would no doubt be taking a slice of the floating casino's profits for the evening. In exchange for protection from Imperial law.
Not the tall and lanky human female, blonde and severe. A gun-runner running from two death marks. One courtesy the Empire, the other Saw Gerrera's paramilitary fanatics.
Not a single one of the players dropped their Sabacc faces, nor lowered a hand towards their own weapons. Several of which were carried on open display. Several more weren't.
Nor did they interfere with the dealer. Who silently leaned forward, drawing his free hand past the modest Hand Pot to one side and the enormous Sabacc Pot to the other. Coins and credit chips having been exhausted by all parties, the take now included a number of precious items the players happened to have on hand when the game started. Such as the control cylinder to a speederbike, an exotic dagger, blaster packs, flame gems, personal trinkets. As well as markers representing commodities not to be found at the table itself; A crate of deathsticks, the stolen deed to a Tibanna mine, five kiloliters of Bacta, a fully operational Droideka, a thermal detonator, three Zeltroni slave girls, and still more.
The furred hand reached the Pantoran's cards, laid out upon the table. Four cards, the holographic sheen over each displaying in total the Three and Five of Coins, The Commander Of Flasks, and The Fool. Not a bad hand, but not the one that had won, either.
His face as stoic as the rest, the lupinoid scrapped a claw across one corner of a particular card. The image of the Three of Coins flickered once, twice, three times before settling on a new design. That of the Queen of Air and Darkness. Another scratch, and the card became the Master of Sabers. The word 'skifter' needed not be spoken. Every gambler worth a damn knew one when they saw one.
Taking the card in hand, he tossed it away from the table. It landed perfectly upon the dead woman's torso. Back side facing up.
The dealer resumed a straight-backed posture, and gave a quick, hard look to every remaining player. Baring his fangs, he asked them all, "Does anyone else want to cheat?"