A Memorable Evening

[Sarah Lymia]

Lymia’s eye widened in a mix of surprise and anger. Snippy much? For all Sarah cared, that old bat could chew on her sword. Last time she tried to act nice toward the so called well-to-doers of Coruscanti high society.
At least the comment had made Mrs. Counis shut up that damn racket that was in her head.

“Alright.” Simple answer rather than provoke another reaction or the Inquisitor just might lose her patience…and in front of the Empress that wouldn’t look good.

The old woman’s mind calmed down and sent soothing waves across the room clear as daylight to Sarah. Even if a person wasn’t an adept, they definitely had the ability to cause ripples in the force. And Lymia was an expert at seeing emotion almost to a tangible level.

Heartfelt, yet extremely protective (and assertive) thoughts caressed the air over the shoulder of the young man across from Valten. The son, perhaps?

….and then the woman next to the sun glanced back towards the mother, her hand moving to the same location the emotional aura had just passed. A switch clicked inside the Inquisitors head, the hawk-like clarity of vision, disguised as a glance across the room picked out every last detail of the exchange between the mother and unknown woman.

A small smile crossed Sarah’s lips as she turned back towards the Empress and her Husband.

Interesting.

[Milivikal k'Vik]

Milivikal stared at the shot glass for a moment. This was a game she could play. It was a game mastered it dark spaceports where bartenders were shot at if they watered down the liquor (to start, anyway).

Her head lifted ponderously, but her eyes were wide open. Mili grinned, and the shots were downed in rapid succession. Rekoj was a dangerous man, but Mili was a dangerous woman, and, given the venue, any open hostilities were unlikely. She paused, stonefaced, and then resumed grinning.

"I bet the Minister could drink you under the table." Milivikal whispered loudly.

[Cael Bathala]

“You know, we never did Caprioril.., something about a security risk, if I remember right,” Bathala added, absently rubbing thumb and forefinger against his chin. He tried to avoid looking at Kajeela devouring the poor bird that had been placed in front of her, but couldn't help but glance her way for at least a moment.

“I've never thought of piloting as noble though... seems like that award should go to the military's ground 'troopers.”

[Aree Ankarta]

"You have no idea what you are talking about. No idea what grounds you tread on with that question. I know what you are, Nya. Watch where you stick you pretty little nose... and behave yourself. You see the company we keep."

Dar had always told her she was too quick to fly into a rage about some things. He'd said it so many times she had been sick and tired of hearing it - but it'd left an impression, nonetheless. All the more so considering what had happened between them.... so when she'd been alone, after she'd left him for dead, it'd been something she'd worked on.

Sometimes her temper still got the better of her. Sometimes her fears, her emotions, her instincts caused her to overreact, to panic, to become angry. There had already been too much of that this night. She'd been a bundle of nerves arriving at this place, and things had steadily got worse since. Yet she'd begun to relax slightly, to get accustomed to each particular thing and the possible dangers tugging at her from all sides. She'd begun to feel a strange kind of elation, a certain smugness, knowing that she could indeed manage to keep her true identity hidden right under the nose of the Grand Inquisitor himself.

Even the odd impulse she'd received to protect Caran - and her puzzlement about its origins - hadn't truly rattled the walls of her sudden growing confidence.

That little speech of his didn't quite shake them either. It made her angry, certainly - but not afraid. And it was a cold, spiteful kind of anger that set her above all else, above him, above the inquisitors and anyone else in this room.

Slowly, ever so deliberately, she pulled back from him, but only to bring herself within range to look right into his eyes. Everyone else was temporarily forgotten; her eyes were the only vessel of her anger as the frosty smile stayed on her face as if plastered onto it. Her voice was nothing more than a low, barely audible hiss when it finally came. And it only did so after another moment, after leaning forward once more to do as he had done.

With a fluid motion, she slid one of the forks - the only thing coming close to a usable weapon - next to her plate off the table, and had the pointy side pressed against his crotch with some force before he as much as registered her hand disappearing.

"Listen, shabuir, I am a bounty hunter, inspite of these ridiculous rags you've had me put on, so don't think just because you know my other name that you know anything about me."

She applied some more pressure with the fork.

"I'll give you a piece of advice, vaar'ika, that you'd better take if you value your gett'se. Rat me out to anyone about my name alone, and I'll make you regret the day you met me."

She was almost certain by now that he knew something much more dangerous than just her true name, but some instinct told her to play innocent. Not because of the inquisitors present - though they should have been the most compelling argument - but because she simply had to.

[Eliessa Corta]

Karl

Beside her, Moff Quenn and Jake Russard were talking, their faces turned together in quiet discussion. Opposite, Aurelias Kazaar was doing his best to see the bottom of his bourbon glass and Adelaide was flirting with that rock star (or runway model or whatever he was), Idalix..This left slim avenues for the Judge to pursue conversation. The young V'al Counis heir was in an intense exchange with his date - a force of nature, by the look of her - and so this then left only the Grand Inquisitor beside her with whom to interact.

This was not an unpleasant impasse, but a risky one. Valten was a dangerous man, impeccable manners aside, and she was not a fool to think otherwise. She decided to keep things on a neutral path.

"It is nice to see your Inquisitors relaxing a little Grand Inquisitor" she began, trying not to eye too obviously Rekoj as he slammed back another of the lined up shot glasses. "All work and no play makes for rigid, brittle soldiers, I hear. Too bad Atrapes couldn't come.."

Neutral was not a strong trait for the Judge, however.

[Old Man Russard]

Yeart Quenn

Jason's expression revealed some surprise at the boldness of Yeart's response. The Old Man had been more than willing to play the game of insinuation and innuendo, naming no names etc etc, in order to set up this deal and protect Quenn's anonymity, but it appeared not to be necessary. Besides which, giving such an upfront reply confirmed what had only, till now, been speculation as to Quenn's interests in the Kuat Drive Yards.

Still, Russard was old school and would not rush headlong without due respect to Quenn's perogative of 'outing' himself to anyone who might hear.

"Its a small order - six vehicles only, but they are very specialised and are a Russard Industry design. We call them the "Cowboy Class AT-Shuttles" after our inspiration (Russard resisted the urge to look Kazaar's way, his granddaughter's maniac chauffer) and we expect full discretion from the builder. The designs remain RI property completely and entire."

[Kajeela Tarruurri]

Cael, Roger, Jakys, Jason

Tarruurri tugged hard at a stubborn peice of flesh with her teeth and managed to strip it expertly from the bone. As it disappeared behind her lips which glistened slightly from the greasy bird, she curled a smile to each man in turn, "Trrrooperrrsss, Rrracerrrsss -- thejy arre all nutsss jif jyou asssk me."

[Adelaide Kasperian-Kazaar]

"An exhibition?" Del queried, interested. She ignored Kazaar's reaction for the moment.

"That actually sounds like fun"

She didn't care that much about what a TIE looked like, but Del considered that she just might enjoy spending some time with Trix. He certainly was very different to any male company she had spent any time with recently, or, ever. A man where there were no associations with her past, or who had no knowledge of her recent wretched, horrible deeds - and if a big boring hangar with a space ship or two lunked in it was what it took, then Tricerus Idalix could count her in.

"Im sure I can wrangle some time away from Judge Corta for something like that" she said with a shy smile.

[Vince]

Tricerus looked pleasantly surprised at Adelaide’s professed agreement to go to the exhibition. He’d expected her to say, ‘I’m sorry, but I’m terribly busy and all that day; would you pass the mustard?’ But she instead smiled shyly and said that she’d probably be able to get some time off to see starfighters with him. It seemed this party was worth coming to after all. He smiled in return, hoping she’d become a bit more comfortable in his presence, before remembering Kazaar on the other side of him, and becoming hyper-aware of the man while resolutely not looking at him.

“I’m glad,” he said. “It won’t be so boring with some good company, I suppose. Not that it’s boring, but exhibitions can be a bit routine. Thankfully they aren’t so formal as this.”

He took a sip of his wine and a bite of his meal, having served himself (with frequent pauses to see if Adelaide wanted some as well) while speaking about the TIE fighters.

[Emelie Shadowstar]

If it wasn't the Inquisitor's comment about her "good aim", or the warning from his superior, it was certainly Milivikal's whispered quip that brought a short but polite laugh from her that was covered almost daintily by her hand.

The two shots that made up the next round sat before her and she picked up the first slowly and a glance was cast at each of the trio that made up her 'drinking party'.

"Under the table... that's rather dull."

The first of the two shots was downed as smoothly as the original that had started it.

"I much rather see him dance upon it." Emelie let the playful little smirk reform. "Those were some rather extravagant moves we all saw earlier."

A wink finished the statement before the second shot was handled like the others.

[Yeart Quenn]

"That might be arranged."

It was a small order. Not what KDY usually went for, especially not if the design was outsourced. It would be difficult to convince engineering to support this.

Then again - he was the head engineer. He could simply claim it was his design.

Trouble would be freeing up a fraction of the yards to build these in. Right now all of KDY was taken up by the Empire's own orders.

"And what, if I may ask, is in this for my company?"

Not that those credits would ever flow into KDY's accounts.

[Estelle Russard]

“It was, of course. You'll come to our little city, then?”

There were many reasons to befriend someone like Estelle Russard and though he did not know her yet, he had a hunch that they same could have been said for Sasseeri Reeouurra. The Cizerack offered him just a hint of a smile.

“I don't doubt that Iziz would be thrilled to welcome you – and, truly, any of this party's charming guests.”

"That is very kind of you, Prime Minister. You can be certain I will take you up on it"

Estelle's smile was wide and her excitement for the idea was obvious. She turned to include the Cizerack beside her, "Its important to seize such opportunities, dont you think, Miss Reeouurra? Ah, here are our meals."

[Taataani Meorrrei]

Taataani looked about, somewhat amused that Paxan had been assigned to a table of somewhat less influence than her own. She would at least be keen to keep his interests on the tip of her tongue, since he had done her the good favor of giving her access to the cadre of influential people assembled here. It wasn't fair that he was playing with what was essentially a short deck. He might have more names on an Imperial resume, but Taataani had a lifetime of charisma, and it didn't take much of it to make an impression enough to gain access to one of the head tables.

She looked across and a few seats down at another of her own kind. She'd been privy enough to overhear the woman's name. Tarruurri. She arched a brow. Not any sort of name she'd know. A strange type of woman who set off beyond the cluster to make her fame, but by some strange line of work indeed. She was some sort of security personnel, yes? Hmm, no matter. Taa smiled demurely at her, making a note to size her up at some other opportunity.

The meal arrived, and as Taataani had imagined, it was suitably spartan for a Cizerack's tastes. If this had been Carshoulis, she would have expected to be lavished with an abundance of bountiful dishes, but she did understand the company she kept. At 85 years, she was certainly cosmopolitan enough to understand how things were done outside of the cluster. She picked up the knife and fork to dissect her game birds. How quaint.

The gentleman to her left appeared to be in some political office over a world called Onderon, which intrigued the Meorrrei clan matron.

"Goverrnorr, jI have hearrd of jyourr planet, and jI thjink therre jiss rroom forr mutual bussjinesss herre."

Taa made sure to place a hand on Salem's shoulder, further putting an impression of her on him.

"jI rreprressent a gujild of venturre capjitaljisstss jin the Carrshouljiss Clussterr that arre jinterressted jin jinvesstjing jin corre rrevjitaljissatjion prrogrramss. Perrhapss jyou wjill keep me jin mjind forr thjiss?"

[Salem Ave]

The food was sumptuous and although Salem did not find himself as impressed as he might have done, had dining with royalty not been an everyday normality for him, he nonetheless nodded in appreciation at what was set before him. The steam which rose from the plate hint at all manner of tastes and textures.

Yet before he could begin, a hand fell on his shoulder. He looked up into the face of one of the feline-like humanoids, somewhat more matronly than the other with whom he had shared a lingering glance. A smooth smile formed on his lips.

“Indeed.”

Victer Dejan was responsible for overseeing the trade and industry of Onderon now, but it was ultimately Salem whose hand guided the course of the world's economic development. Lifting his glass to Taataani in a small toast, he took a sip before going on.

“To those willing to take the time to explore it, Onderon has a great deal to offer. I hope you will both have the chance to see it for yourself.”

[Taataani Meorrrei]

Her smile broadened and she sipped with him to the concept of an arrangement.

"jI have a team that would be jinterressted jin a tourr. We rreprressent hjigh-capjital jinvesstjing gujildss and arre alwayss lookjing to jimprrove opporrtunjitjiess forr everrjyone."

She paused, a bite of game bird to sate her and let the politician think about her ideas.

"Would you be jinterressted, jojintljy, jin passsjing along jinterresst jin betterr trrade ssecurrjitjy along the Hjydjian Wajy?"

[Salem Ave]

“Very little of Onderon's trade actually travels along the Hydian Way,” Salem noted, then with a diplomatic cant of his head continued: “Though trade security is something Her Majesty Adraudia is especially concerned with, particularly given the number of smugglers and pirates we seem to attract from neighbouring Zeltron Space.”

[Caran V'al Counis]

He laughed then. Of all the things, audaciously, he laughed and deftly slipped a hand tightly over the one of hers that held the fork and leaned in again. He didn't appear nervous or worried about such a prized possession, but it wasn't the first time that someone had thought to threaten his manhood.

"Aree, it's good to know that you like to play dirty but..." his eyes shifted to sweep over a few of the table's other occupants before coming back to her. "...this really isn't the time or place for it. And medical science in this day and age is capable of many things, even the most delicate of repairs. I would suggest you remove the implement willingly, before I am forced to wrest it from your grasp. We can have this discussion later, if you really need to."

With that, he released her hand and sat back. Her hand and the fork still had not moved, but it was of little concern. Was she really that worried that he would give her up? What he was concerned about was that he didn't think he could, if it came to that. Further concern was that he wasn't very concerned about it at all. How far was he willing to go, in any direction?

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

She hadn't looked up, wasn't going to... Sasseeri nearly hid herself behind a napkin as her loud and brassy half-sister chatted up the handsome Prime Minister. Instead she nearly knocked a wine bottle out of a server's hand as she hurried to turn back to her own table, putting her back to her full-blood sister and sitting stiffly. She caught a glimpse of Rekoj at the end of the table doing shots, and looked down at her wine glass as she lifted it to her lips.

And tipped it baaaaack. Empty again, Sasseeri put the glass down and caught a glimpse of what was going on next to her.

"Get a rrroom," she muttered, catching V'al Counis' eye. Sasseeri picked up the portion of bird that was her meal, and took a bite out of it, delicately scooping what hung out back into her mouth. How had Taa ended up on the guest list? Apparently her business dealings were doing better than last Sass had heard.

[Taataani Meorrrei]

"We arre becomjing a much ssmallerr galaxjy, wouldn't jyou ssajy?"

Taataani framed her petition to the ruler of Onderon as she raised her wine glass to her lips.

"jI thjink jit'ss tjime to open that two lane rroad a ljittle wjiderr. jI overrssee thrree medjical corrporratjionss wjith technologjy that'ss at the cuttjing edge. Conssjiderr the advantagess forr both of uss."

A sound caught Taa's sensitive ears, and they twitched slightly. Smiling to Salem sweetly, she adjusted her glasses slightly.

"Excusse me."

She briefly rose from her own table, traversing over to the other as she noticed a very familiar extended relative of hers.

"Madame Reeourra."

A curious smirk crossed her face as she wondered what her nefarious half sister had her claws into at this event. It was as unusual and unlikely as her own entry into this social game, she figured.

[Adelaide Kasperian-Kazaar]

Tricerus

Adelaide had to agree with Trix, the formallity of their present company was a bit daunting, although she would hardly lump Aurelias or that Rekoj man in with their elite table guests, that was for sure. The brash Inquisitor was thoroughly enjoying himself, racing to drink his companions under the starched tablecloths. She thought that Kazaar would probably be up to the challenge - her ex could certainly out do anyone she'd met when alcohol consumption was the task to hand. She doubted Tricerus was much of a drinker, watching him as he lifted his wine glass and glanced about him over its crystal rim. The contrast she saw only served to endear him to her.

Del felt eyes on her and lifted her gaze to find the Old Man watching her watching Tricerus. He looked away without a shift in his expression.

"You prefer a lower level of company do you, Trix?" she queried, teasing him a little.

[Old Man Russard]

Yeart Quenn

So, all pretense was put aside as Quenn declared the company to do the ship building was his.

"Apart from a very reasonable price for service rendered? What is it that you desire Mr. Quenn?"

Jason had kept one eye on the Kazaars across from him, both of them were being cold to each other, which was not unexpected given their history. Del bringing the Idalix kid into the mix was begging trouble though, but happily, Aurelias seemed not to care.

The Old Man then fixed the Moff with a firm glint, qualifying, "Be reasonable, now"

[Jason Russard]

Kajeela, Cael, Roger, Jakys


Cael, Roger, Jakys, Jason

Tarruurri tugged hard at a stubborn peice of flesh with her teeth and managed to strip it expertly from the bone. As it disappeared behind her lips which glistened slightly from the greasy bird, she curled a smile to each man in turn, "Trrrooperrrsss, Rrracerrrsss -- thejy arre all nutsss jif jyou asssk me."

"Nuts? Perhaps Thrill-Seekers is a better term, Detective" he said amiably.

"They are not that much different to you, surely Miss Tarruurri? A certain element of danger and risk is involved in their occupations, just as in your own. Racers just appear more glamorous I think"

He singled out Jakys, "Were you stationed at Caprioril, Inquisitor?"

[Vince]

Trix almost blushed in embarrassment at Adelaide’s words.

“I... I didn’t mean to say that...” he began to say, but seeing her grin, he realized she was teasing him. He smiled in return, glad that she was comfortable enough to do so. That fact also served to ease him as well.

“Well, nothing against our present illustrious company,” he said, “but it’s a bit... daunting. I do prefer more casual settings. I don’t want to offend anyone, and it’s all too easy to do that when you might forget a title, or use the wrong fork. There’s a difference between acting like you know what you’re doing and actually knowing what you’re doing. All I seem to be good at is acting like I do. Save perhaps for flying.”

With a slight grin he took another sip of his wine, absently noting that it was very good, before remembering that it would have to be, if judges and empresses were guests at the party.

[Adelaide Kasperian-Kazaar]

Adelaide pretended she knew what she was doing all the time. It was only just recently that she had any luck being convincing at it.

"I think half the people here dont know which order the utensils should be used in and the other half dont really care all that much. They're just happy that they were invited in the first place. Its not every day one gets to eat with Royalty."

She punctuated her words by popping a forkful of food into her mouth and chewed with relish.

"It must be a thrill to fly like you do. I envy you that"

[Aurelias Kazaar]

Kazaar snorted. "Those things're frackin' death traps. No shields, no frackin' life support. Ya think th'Empire didn't givva damn 'bout their pilots an' just wanted t'crank out machines."

He interrupted Trix 'fore he could put in his two cents. "Look pal, I know all 'bout th'TIE D'fenders'n Advances. Nice ships...if th'Imps really cared 'bout their pilots, they'd make more o'em.

"Gimme o'HWK-290 any day o'the week." He snickered. "Fly circles 'round ya."

[Vince]

Trix smiled widely at her statement. Flying was one of the few things he loved about his current employment. Just as he was about to speak, Kazaar spoke up.

He almost jumped, having... well, not forgotten that Kazaar was there, but simply had lost track of him with most of his attention on Adelaide. Instead of seeming angry at the man’s interruption, Trix instead played with his food a bit, and grimaced slightly. He latched onto Kazaar’s comment concerning the HWK light freighter as something to help himself forget Imperial military doctrine concerning starfighters. It was something he'd managed to live with while flying TIEs, but not something he wanted to think about now.

“290?” he asked, taking a bite of his steak. He was thoughtful for a moment. “Oh yes! CEC, isn’t it. I’ve never flown one of those before. Doesn’t seem as easy to modify as the YT series.”

He swilled some more wine, ignoring Kazaar’s other comment on being able to out fly him in a light freighter. It certainly was possible, the Imperial admitted mentally, but not likely; not in an Interceptor.

[Aurelias Kazaar]

Kazaar's laugh was like o'speeder engine that was havin' trouble startin'. "Everyone frackin' love th'YT-series. Big frackin' whoop. Good ships but over-frackin'-exposed."

"Don't you have a YT-2000." Delly asked pointedly.

That earned o'snort anna drink. "What's ya frackin' point. Might have one, don't mean I frackin' use it 'lot.

"An' th'HWK's modify jus' fine. Wouldja believe Russard has a buncha stuff that works pretty frackin' well with th'HWK's. Saved m'ass o'buncha times."

[Vince]

“I don’t doubt it,” Trix replied affably in response, mentally curious about how such modifications had saved Kazaar from trouble, and what the man did to get in situations where such modifications were necessary. There was no doubt the man would know about modifying ships better than he would. All he could do was fly them. He had done research on fitting shield generators to an Interceptor; but to actually get one rigged would cost much, and he wasn’t wealthy enough to outfit the entire squadron.

“Though, to have a YT and an HWK; it must be costly with upkeep and fuel. And it sounds like you’ve had quite a few situations where modifications have saved your life. What do you do, Mr. Kazaar, if you don’t mind me asking?”

[Aurelias Kazaar]

"Well ya don't run'em at th'same frackin' time flyboy." Kazaar smirked'n took 'nother gulp o'wine. Prefer o'good bourbon orra beer, but th'stuff wasn't bad. Still...he'd promised th'Kid not t'get drunk so he was gonna 'least honor that request. Even if he couldn't smoke. "That'd dry m'bank account pretty damn quick."

"When I ain't makin' sure th'Kid Russard's showin' up on time f'architect jobs, I hunt lowlife scum who don't deserve th'air they breathe.

"How 'bout ya? When ya ain't flying f'the Empire what'd ya do? Hang 'round with dames'n drink?"

[Vince]

“True enough,” Trix replied, nodding. Still, it cost about 4,000 credits a month at least to keep the TIE fighters serviceable when not in use. And for every hour of flight time, the amount doubled. In fact that figure was on the cheap side, considering that the standard TIE and Interceptor fighters were quite cheap relatively. The Defenders and TIE Advanced fighters, already very expensive, were much more. Then again, freighters weren’t fighters and were made to be more durable and less intensive in that respect.

“Being a pilot for the Navy doesn’t leave me much down time. This has actually been my first leave in about six months. When I do get leave though, I spend it relaxing and visiting places, or drinking with wing-mates.”

[Rekoj]

Rekoj slapped the table in ruckus laughter sending wine classes, utensils and plates jumping. The brooding beauty to his right had snapped from her stupor and then without hesitation, slammed back her shots with trained efficiency. To top it off she marked the end of her mysterious silence with a soft quip along the lines of Rekoj being drank under the table by the Minister of truth, of all people. The Inquisitor could only grin wildly at that sentiment while leaning across the table to steal back the liqueur bottle. Eagerly splashing refills into his drinking partners shot glasses.

"Oh my ladies you've got it all mixed about." Rekoj paused a moment, raised one of his filled glasses to his lips, poured and swallowed. "If you were impressed by the moves that could be done on top of the table. Imagine what could be done if I were...under it." He gave a sly wink to Miss. Shadowstar while at the same time moving a covert hand beneath the tables drooping cloth and gave Sanya's knee a playful squeeze. The Minister jumped with surprise bumping the table hard enough to send a wine glass or two further down its length spilling.

[Yeart Quenn]

Ah what a complicated question! He desired a great many things, none of them fit to mention at a table such as this. Except... for one thing at this table.

It was worth a gamble. Probably too transparent, but there was no telling what this old man would think of his little 'infatuation'. In his experience, dealing with anyone as old as Russard Senior was as unpredictable as it could get.

He assumed a confidential air, and leaned closer to the old man.

"Tell me, what kind of business do you do with Tagge Co.?"

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

"Madame Reeourra."

A curious smirk crossed her face as she wondered what her nefarious half sister had her claws into at this event. It was as unusual and unlikely as her own entry into this social game, she figured.

Sasseeri took the time to lick her fingers clean and set down the chicken bones before she looked around at Taataani. "Hello, sjisterrr." She smiled sweetly.

Was Taa going to go into another rant about the purity of the bloodline and how half-breeds conceived during a male's Kree-Arr should be aborted rather than put their half-siblings through the indignity of their existence? Sasseeri pictured a Trandoshan ripping Taataani's head off, and her smile widened.

"jI djidn't expect to see you herrre. Such an eljite parrrty."

[Taataani Meorrrei]

"jI would ssajy sso."

Taa smiled, taut-lipped, as she stood swirling her wine glass slightly. Inwardly, beyond her expression came the dark thought not elite enough, obviously.

"Admjisssjion to ssuch an event jissn't cheap. How much djid jit cosst jyou?"

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

As much as it irked her, Sasseeri couldn't let Taataani bait her into an argument, no matter how civil it might appear on the surface. She ignored her half-sister's question.

"Busjisness jis good. You've brrranched out sjince we last talked. The Clusterrr too small forrr you?"

[Old Man Russard]

Yeart Quenn

"A Gentleman never says" the Old Man returned cryptically, not liking the lascivious glint in Quenn's eyes.

"Better put your cards on the table Quenn and tell me what you want. The short version, Im an old man and no telling if I'll live through this damn dinner"

[Adelaide Kasperian-Kazaar]

Tricerus, Kazaar

Adelaide had been following the back and forth about ships and modifying and fuel economy between Trix and Kazaar with growing consternation - they weren't frelling bonding, were they?

She slumped low into her seat and held out a stiff arm for the server to refill it as he passed by the table, which he obliged, right up to the rim.

Good bloody night, she groused into her glass and glared at her ex-husband.

[Taataani Meorrrei]

As much as it irked her, Sasseeri couldn't let Taataani bait her into an argument, no matter how civil it might appear on the surface. She ignored her half-sister's question.

"Busjisness jis good. You've brrranched out sjince we last talked. The Clusterrr too small forrr you?"

Taataani ran a claw along the rim of her glass.

"Ssjissterr..."

It was a word she used so reluctantly.

"...jyou can't verrjy well sstajy jin bussjinesss forr long wjithout expandjing jyourr marrket. jI would thjink jyou would be famjiljiarr wjith that concept."

Her ears bobbed upward in a show of rapt curiosity.

"Sso then jyou musst tell me what ssorrt of deljicjouss sscandal jyou'rre jinvolved jin now. jI'm alwajyss jinterressted."

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

"jI don't kjiss and tell," Sasseeri said, sipping her wine and finding it empty again. Irritated, she set the empty goblet down on the table. "Rrreeouurra jIncorrrporrrated jis dojing well. Verrry well," she amended, clicking a manicured nail against her wine glass as a servant went by. "But then, people wjill always gamble. My casjinos arrre turrrnjing morrre than a prrrofjit, even wjith the warrr grrrjindjing on."

[Vince]

It was in the conversation’s lull that he noticed Adelaide was seeming quite displeased. He frantically searched for something to say.

“Er. So have you run any interesting errands for the Judge lately?”

Trix very nearly grimaced at how badly that had come out.

[Taataani Meorrrei]

A pity at her half-sister's new-found love of modesty. Taa fancied a scandal to dip into from time to time. Even better if it was one she could leverage against the troublesome mongrel.

"Congrratulatjionss on jyourr ssuccesss."

She smiled sweetly, canting her head backwards slightly to give weight to her praise. Taking another drink of her wine, Taa deftly extended a dataslip to Sasseeri, leaning in slightly.

"jI trrusst jyou won't be leavjing Corrusscant too ssoon. jI would ljike to put jyou jin a possjitjion to make even morre monejy. Mjy sstarr charrterr companjy jiss now the larrgesst operratjing out of the clussterr. jI can thjink of nothjing betterr forr a few monjied old ladjiess frrom Carrsshouljiss to do than to losse monejy jin jyourr cassjinoss, and to pajy me forr the prrjivjiledge to brrjing them to jyou."

Taataani wasn't an idiot. She knew Sasseeri's real trade, and knew the sort she paraded out in front to anybody who was looking. She figured then that Sasseeri would be inclined to attach herself to a proposal that could both make money and bring legitimacy, which was an even more valuable asset. That it would enrich the Meorrrei clan matron's own purse just as much was irrelevant.

More relevant would be the indirect access she would have to the comings and goings of her wayward relative. In Taataani's mind, she would rather deal with that sort of thing in-house, rather than stay her hand and let real problem starters like the Kei'Ai'Rrei to fill the vacuum. Government trouble with Sasseeri would become government trouble for Taataani and thus House Meorrrei. It was unacceptable.

"jI'm gojing to Coco Djisstrrjict tomorrrow to bujy a few thjingss jI cerrtajinljy don't need. jI thjink jyou sshould come too. Lunch, and we'll talk about that, too."

She nodded toward the dataslip, her cordial expression returning to meet Sasseeri's face. What a curious and vexing relationship. Sasseeri was loathsome and despicable, but shared a disturbing number of qualities that Taataani herself couldn't help but admire or compare to her own.

[Aree Ankarta]

His lack of concern angered her further. Her hand stayed where it was; if anything, she increased the pressure.

Let him try to do something about it - he can try all he wants to, he's not going to manage... I've got all the power on my side, all the power the Force can lend me!

Only - she didn't. Not here. The moment the thought had formed in her mind, every alarm bell in there had gone off.

Slowly reasoning filtered back through the emotions coursing through her. Everything inside her had been building up to lash out at him, but this was not safe. This was too dangerous. This was too reckless.

The Cizerack next to Caran was grunting something, and she barely caught the words "get a room." The woman should mind her own shabla business!

But it showed her that her actions hadn't been unnoticed, and it was possible the Cizerack wasn't the only one who had done so. A foolish move, after all.

A crimson glow stole on her cheeks. She still felt angry, and a little bit flustered. What was it about this party that was bringing the worst out in her?

But she didn't have to look far for an answer. It was sitting right next to her. Yet, as she stared at him, something inside her just ... gave.

"Fine."

She simply let the fork drop to the ground. Its impact with the floor wasn't even heard over the hubbub of voices. Still, she dropped her voice down to a mere whisper when she went on talking. Her eyes bore into his, trying... trying very hard to see something in them that would make her understand him.

"I do not know what you want from me, Mister V'al Counis. I do not profess to understand why you chose to employ me, since you have no true use for me. I do not know what you think you know about me other than what I had already told you. It is obvious you have a hidden agenda, this party acting as a kind of testing ground. I do not know what you wish to accomplish with it, neither will I go along with it further: consider the debt paid in full - I quit."

Wrenching her eyes away from his, she stared down onto her plate where some dish had been put in front of her. She had no appetite for it. All she wished to do now was to leave this sordid event. It was frustration that had made her say the words, but in hindsight it might be the best for everyone concerned. He was bringing out the worst in her. And that was rather frightening, considering what company he had her keep.

[Adelaide Kasperian-Kazaar]

Tricerus, Kazaar



Adelaide's face suffused red, which had nothing to do with the merlot she was gulping down -- well, almost nothing.

She averted her eyes from Kazaar's direct stare, he was as curious as Idalix to hear her reply to the question, only his expression held a perceptiveness that she knew only far too well. It was a warning look. She should not trust too easily.

The room was full of Inquisitors and Del suddenly felt very warm and anxious. Her trip to the Citadel with the judge had taken her some time to recover from. If she thought too long on how her presence here, as there, in the midst of so many Imperials was like a canary loosed among a score of feral cats, she feared she may disolve into a puddle of quaking and quailing abject fear. Her guilt over Crei, her horror at her own cuplability, had not diminished at all, but had only been covered over, disguised under layers of her pretending at normalcy - much like a pussing, oozing wound hidden beneath layers of padded gauze. Every now and then there rose a chance that someone might get a whiff of the putridity of who she really was and she felt stricken for fear of such exposure as Tricerus watched her. She held her glass to her lips.

"I cant talk about my work" she said at last, in an effort to press the bandages a little closer over the wound, stiffling the stench.

"It's a legal thing" she offered to Trix, by way of explanation.

[Vince]

“Oh?” he said curiously, settling his cutlery down; he had finished his food. “I can understand that, I suppose. It seems much like how one can’t write home in too much detail for fear of the censors blotting out almost everything.”

He sighed and sipped his wine, racking his mind for some topic to get the conversation into a good flow.

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

Shopping? With Taataani?

Sasseeri blinked, and looked at her wine glass. How strong was this stuff? "Uh, surrre. Lunch."

Wajit a mjinute, njitwjit, you can't go shoppjing. You'rrre gojing back to Tearrrr's fleet tonjight, with that damn jInqujisjitorrr. Her eyes strayed to where Rekoj was putting down another shot, surrounded by high powered women. "Oh wajit, jI can't do jit tomorrrow. How long arrre you jin system?"

[Taataani Meorrrei]

Taataani looked off to the side for a moment, flashing through her immediate itinerary.

"Anotherr thrree dajyss, ssecurrjing trranssporrt charrterrss mosstljy, but jI can fjind tjime jif jyou can."

She gave an easy laugh, despite the distinct feeling of being dirty simply by proximity to her mongrel relative. She hadn't nicked the expensive silverware by now, so maybe she wasn't quite the fiend Taataani assumed she'd be, though.

She, too, followed Sass's eyes to the obnoxious and lecherous forrda who was certainly not in his element for an event of this nature. She smirked at her half sister.

"jYou musst tell me, ssjissterr, doess rrank herre among thesse forrda have that much prrjivjilege?"

[Cora V'al Counis]

Disbelief made her stare for longer than it was wise. She wasn't sure that what she'd seen really could be linked to her own thoughts - but it had to be more than just a coincidence! The girl had put her hand on the exact same spot on Caran's shoulder - and that look...?

Averting her eyes and looking pointedly down onto her own plate, she tried to focus her thoughts on the possibilities.

Could the girl be an adept?

There were not many people that could claim they had spent enough time with an adept to be able to tell them apart from ordinary people - not even when the Jedi Order had still existed had they mingled much with the 'plebs'. But although she couldn't exactly say how, Cora usually knew; it had been a useful skill over the years.

Being an adept at this time and age wasn't very healthy in the long run - most of the ones Cora knew of were Imperial agents in the service of the Inquisitoriate. Of course she wasn't supposed to know that; she considered it luck that she'd been allowed to find out this bit of detail about them.

Something about the way he had introduced his assistant to her now jarred her. Hadn't he called her something entirely different at first? Caran might have his flaws, but he usually was pretty sharp in picking up on someone lying to him. Unless the person was trained in countering just that sort of thing.... and something about her just seemed... wrong. It could very well be, therefore, that the girl was herself a member of that abominable organisation, if she dared sit under the nose of Valten himself, flaunting her presence. Which meant that the Inquisitoriate already knew. Or guessed, and had sent her to uncover the truth.

The urge to rush over there and confront Caran again was growing by the second, but that... might not be advisable. And yet - she couldn't just leave it as it was...

Her face as grim as her thoughts, she began to eat what was on her plate, so as not to betray her disquiet again to that woman. But after a few minutes' rising frustration, she put her fork aside and leaned into her husband's side.

Her voice a barely audible whisper, she asked, "What do you know about this assistant of Caran's?"

[Getar V'al Counis]

This party was a fine event, but by now he seriously wished for nothing more but the end. For one, there was Cora and her obvious discomfort; although she seemed to have regained her wits sufficiently, all was not well. She'd nearly given him a heart-attack when she'd talked back at the inquisitor at his other side in her usual haughty tone. It seemed she'd not caught on to the woman being an inquisitor after all - which was a sure sign that her thoughts were otherwise occupied.

Had she been herself, his wife would never have missed something as important as that.

With the inquisitor - whose reaction had had something in it that he hadn't liked at all even if she'd seemed perfectly pleasant - on his one side, and his oddly behaving wife on the other, he felt thoroughly uncomfortable. It wasn't any longer an issue of how to broach the subject of Caran to her - he simply wished to see her home safely again without another incident.

To see both of them home safely. Cora wasn't the only one worried about the fact that Caran was sitting with so many inquisitors.

He was about to turn to his wife and suggest finding an excuse to get them all out of here, when her voice came whispering into his ear.

"Hummm... what?"

The question took him by surprise. What was she worried about now? A look at Cora proved that quite plainly - there was an odd glint in her eyes that he didn't like at all. What did she want with the girl now???

"Ahh... not much. They did some business together, he told me."

He was hesitant about telling Cora that the girl claimed to be a Mandalorian, nevermind the bit about being a bounty hunter. He knew Cora had had some issues with the Mando they'd hired as a teacher for Caran once. He liked the girl well enough - a bit too fierce, maybe, and too independent for his taste, but then he didn't have to work with her. As long as it worked for Caran... there was no need to mention her affiliations.

"She worked as a mercenary before. Or something like that... got into some financial mess he helped her out of, and accepted working for him as a means to repay him for it."

Getar knew quite well that there was a lot more to her than appeared to be. There was more to her than Caran had told him, to begin with. The head of Counis Corp, Getar couldn't simply overlook Caran's actions without at least making some independent enquiries into the people he hired. He wasn't finished with the enquiries, either - what he'd gleaned from them so far had been very interesting, and led to some troubling questions, starting with why a member of the newly reformed Bounty Hunters' Guild would give up her profession to work for his company. He was fairly certain she hadn't given it up entirely - even if there had been no further fulfilled bounties to her name since she and Caran had taken care of the corporation's problem on Uyter.

Her Mandalorian background was a puzzle. According to Caran, she could speak Mandalorian fluently, and she certainly wore their armour, but there was very little other evidence linking her to the Mandalorians, as a name search had shown. Perhaps, if the Mandos were indeed no race as that Kazaar fellow had suggested, she'd only joined them recently.

"Seems to be doing alright, from what I can tell."

It'd taken him by surprise that she actually looked really pretty out of that armour. He hadn't seen much of her when he'd taken Cora off her hands earlier, but what he'd seen wasn't at all bad - a softer, more womanly side of hers.

"Pretty little thing, rather," he added, wondering if Cora's odd glint and her question had anything to do with that very female habit of seemingly always being on the lookout for eligible matches for their children. If that was the case, Cora would have made a very miraculous recovery from her earlier disposition.

[Adelaide Kasperian-Kazaar]

“Oh?” he said curiously, settling his cutlery down; he had finished his food. “I can understand that, I suppose. It seems much like how one can’t write home in too much detail for fear of the censors blotting out almost everything.”

He sighed and sipped his wine, racking his mind for some topic to get the conversation into a good flow.

Adelaide nodded, not trusting herself to address that subject further - or any subject for that matter that hit too close to who she really was. Best to steer the conversation away from herself.

"And where is home for you then, Trix? Do you have family, siblings?"

[Yeart Quenn]

"Very well."

The old man's attitude was refreshing, in a way, his sarcasm - possibly - even equalling his own.

"I am interested in widening the field for KDY. My predecessor was satisfied with keeping KDY's interests restricted to Kuat and its engineering ideas, but I do not share his view. Obviously."

He gave a self-satisfied smirk at that latter remark. Though the meaning - and the humour - was entirely lost on anyone but himself, he couldn't refrain from dropping these little reminders every once in a while. It sparked memories that he savoured to this day... always ending with the triumphant glee he felt every time his eyes fell on the carbonized slab of his predecessor which now made up his desk at KDY.

But back to the matter at hand...

"I would like to make a start with Tagge Co. However - I feel it would be advisable to pitch KDY's interest through a third party, since my status as Moff and head of KDY might be a little misleading. I certainly wouldn't want some others to think I was trying to curry favour with the Tagge family, who is so close to the head of the Empire now."

[Old Man Russard]

Quenn was an odd duck. The way he smiled as if he had a whole secondary conversation going on in that head of his..

The Old Man hurrumphed, "So KDY wants to expand and you want me to give you the credibility you need so that Tagge Co, Sanya in particular, wont run screaming off in the other direction?" Jason arched a speculative eyebrow, "I could make introductions" he offered, "And, if you come up big in our end of things, a vote of confidence from Russard Industries could go a long way for you"