Shiny, Spicy and Maybe Crazy

[Alienor Vankar]

Boy, she couldn't remember when was the last time she had seen Molly. Alienor (http://www.opusbeauty.com/assets/upload/projects/11/880/image01055521d6cd1bc0.jpg) always made sure to keep in touch with her friend, but it'd been forever since their last heist. They had to fix that soon. It was why the young pirate - officially well-known musicial in upper circles and martial art trainer about everywhere else - had decided to pop up on Bespin. She knew that Molly did stuff there and she wasn't going to decline her friend's invitation when she had got it! She wasn't sure of what this trip could bring, but she was itching for new business ventures and new adventures altogether. The money wasn't a big deal for her at the moment, but credits and reputation could always be useful.

She had just landed and now needed to find her way to the rendezvous point with Molly. They'd definitely need food and booze to catch up with all the craziness that had happened in their life. She had no professional obligations for a good week, so she could make her visit count.

[Molly Black]

A little human girl, around seven standard years, was sitting on a bench adjacent to the lifts leading from Port Town, to the Residential District of Cloud City. In one hand she had what could only be described as an enormous lollipop, spun into a spiral of rainbow colors and flavors. The child was enjoying it so much, she almost forgot she was working at all. When she spotted her quarry, she hopped off the bench onto her feet and approached Alienor, sugary sweet in sticky hand.

"Hey... You're Ali Tankreyd, aren't 'cha?" Digging into her pocket she pulled out a piece of paper and a convenient piece of children's coloring medium. "Can I have your autograph?"

The piece of paper was already filled with script, penned in fanciful pink ink, not waxed crayon. It was obviously the abundantly girlish script belonging to Molly Black. It read: Follow the kid.

Waiting for the autograph of the famous musician, the little girl grinned up with a face full of expectancy and colors that had run together on her lips to become one indistinct blue-black mess.

[Alienor Vankar]

Humming one of her all-time favorite tunes, Alienor nevertheless saw the kid approaching. Or rather, she should say she saw the big ass lollipop with a little girl attached to it. She grinned to the kid's question. "Yup, that'd be me, sweetheart." She wasn't used to have children ask for her autograph, but generally speaking, it was common in certain places across the galaxy.

And Ali was really curious about it. "Sure thing." She grabbed the pen and looked at the paper, a wicked grin showing up on her lips when she recognized Molly's handwriting. Without hesitation, she scribbled with a fancy autograph for the kid, as a rael artist would do. "Here you go." Quirking a brow, she waited to see where the girl would wander to.

[Molly Black]

"Thanks!" Sticky fingers snatched up the paper. The kid inspected it with a grin before stuffing it none too gently into her pocket. "K, bye.", she grinned revealing a missing tooth and the new one growing in slightly askew.

With a spring in her step, the girl skipped away into the flow of pedestrian traffic. One hand carrying her lollipop, the other swinging madly at her side. She went around the natural curve of the facilities design until she was at the lifts before a different section of the residential district. Only she didn't hail a lift to ride in.. She disappeared into the stairwell. Giggling, she made a run for it.

She did however leave a trail of colored sugar hand prints..

They led to a rented apartment. #AA14 on level 192. The name plate reading, 'Minock. T.'

[Alienor Vankar]

That kid was cute for sure though Ali bet she was one heck of a mini spitfire too. That was probably such a deadly combo had been Molly's choice. She watched the little girl scamper off, and then casually began to follow her, as if she knew where the hell she was going. She caught sight of the colored sugar hand prints quick enough, and then it was follow the trail for the win.

The young blonde found it quite amusing and it was kind of a clever way to show her where to go. Of course, she couldn't help wondering in which poo-doo her friend might have got caught to rely on such a game, but she would find out soon enough.

Taking the staircases when time came, she reached the apartment number 72. Stopping in front of the door, she read the name plating and knocked.

[Molly Black]

The door whooshed open right after the knock, Molly Black's curly dark head popping out. She grinned at her friend, but made a show of peering both ways down the halls before saying so much as a word. "Judy got home?"

Across the hall, if you knew what you were looking for there was a much less obvious smudge of sticky goo on the entry hand plate of #AA15. Molly blew out a sigh of relief and pulled Ali into her temporary apartment. "Sorry about that. Can't be too careful right now. I think I'm being watched, and around here that is not a good thing. love."

"You didn't see any male Chiss loitering about, did you?", she asked, with an expression that was an odd mixture of fearful and hopeful.

[Alienor Vankar]

Ali's face lit up as her friend opened the door but she noticed how she peered both ways before anything else. She nodded to the question, guessing Judy was the lollipop cute monster. "I saw her enter..." She drawled before looking across the hall to be sure. She wasn't sure of what was going on, though this place wasn't the first one where she was on her guard. It was pretty much a healthy habit to develop when you loomed in the underworld.

She quirked a brow at what the brunette said. "Watched? Darling, what did you get yourself into?" She asked once she was inside the apartment.

At the question about the Chiss, she gave it some thought, going over the itinary she had followed to get to Molly. She pursed her lips. "Yeah, very briefly but I saw him not so far before the last turn to this building."

[Molly Black]

Relieved that Judy had made it home safely, she vowed to fork over half her candy stash to the kid in further payment.

Molly turned to Ali and bit her lip, a sure sign that yeah, it was that bad.. "I'm in a bit of trouble with the locals. They think I know something. Doesn't matter if it's true. So, until I can figure out how to fix that mess, it's just not safe to be me right now. Sorry for the drama."

Giving her friend a quick hug, she held her by the arms for a minute, truly happy to see her. "You look great! Celebrity becomes you.", she teased.

As for the Chiss.. "If you saw him, be certain that he saw you too. I'm not at all certain I can trust him, but right now he's all I have.", she admitted. "Plus you, and a bottle of wine if you're in the mood for a sipple?"

[Alienor Vankar]

Alienor had been happy to receive Molly's invitation and had thought it might be mostly hanging out and possibly discussing new heists and ventures. In an odd way, she was relieved that Molly hadn't hesitated to reach out to her in times of need. That was what friends were for, the good and the ugly. She had the gut feeling the latter wasn't going to go away in the blink of an eye. "Okay, sweetheart, you just tell me what I can do to help. I hate drama but I love kicking it in the ass."

She smiled at the quick hug and blushed at the compliment. "Why thank you! The last tour has been crazy busy, so I'm happy to have a breather!"

She wasn't sure what to think of the Chiss, but was looking forward to hear about all of this. "I brought you a selection of some millesime bottles. They're still aboard my ship, so we can fetch those later. For now, bring on the wine and tell me all about what's going on!"

[Molly Black]

Molly began by opening two bottles. She had a feeling both were going to be required before nights end. Pouring two glasses, way more than half full, Molly pondered the situation. She had wanted Alienor here for a few reasons. Firstly, they had been friends for a long time. Molly trusted her not to suddenly sell her out to the highest bidder. Alienor had no need of money that dirty, considering her talent and presence in the greater galactic music industry. Secondly, she was not only a prodigy with music, but with planning heists of all kinds. Ali had been responsible for the acquisition of some impressive ships over the years. If Molly was ever going to get her ship (http://theholo.net/forum/showthread.php?17597-In-a-Darkened-Corner&p=259004&viewfull=1#post259004) back, it might have to be done.. creatively.

"Let me start at the beginning.. Okay, when I first moved from Coruscant to Cloud City, I took a job as a waitress (http://theholo.net/forum/showthread.php?15002-Decor-and-more) in a place called the Cloud 9 Bar and Grill, right? It was pretty much what you'd expect, but it wasn't my only job. I worked directly for one of the Vigos. I, uhh.. owed her a debt. Anyways - the point is the shit hit the fan!"

Escorting Ali toward the living room space, she invited her to sit and handed over her glass, before going back for both bottles, knowing how this was going to go..

"It went sideways when I helped a friend. (http://theholo.net/forum/showthread.php?19087-Collect-Call) Got some stuff out of his apartment and brought it to him. That's it. Turns out though the Empire wants him. Like, really wants him.. and if you've noticed, there is a strong Imperial presence on Bespin these days..", she sipped, and sipped, and sipped...

She left out the details of just who Barton Henning was and what it was she had brought to him. Not out of any suspicion of Alienor, but rather to protect her. The less she knew the better on that count.

"So...they figured out who I was, as a result I became a person of interest. Me!? I am remarkably un-interesting.", she griped.

"I tried to sneak back into Cloud City and that was when I met him. (http://theholo.net/forum/showthread.php?22582-When-She-Was-Good)"

[Alienor Vankar]

When Alienor saw Molly open two bottles, she found herself somewhat more worried than eager. And Gods knew she loved her booze. Yet, she didn't say a word and just smiled in thanks to her friend when she was handed a glass. The wine smelled divine and it tasted equally good. Even in difficult and worrisome times, she was grateful for her friendships. If Molly could put up with her craziness, she could certainly be there for her no matter what.

"Yeah, I recall the waitress job. That was about the last time you gave me a real update about what was up there." Since then, they had both been extremely busy with life and short messages summarized in "Hey how are you doing? Miss you. Must meet soon." had been the crux of their exchanges. Planting herself on a nearby seat, she brought her legs beneath her and sipped on her wine while listening to what her friend explained. Taking in all the details and memorizing all that could be useful for whatever they'd have to do to get Molly out of her current predicament, she already wanted to jump in the action and see what could be done.

"Sweetie, not sure hanging out with me will keep you out of more trouble, with how good I'm at that, but I'm here. Not sure yet how I can make you really un-interesting, as I doubt you'll ever be that, but we can work miracles, right?"

[Arriana Rezner]

There was a knocking at the door, a quick series of sharp raps.

“Temperance,” a voice said through the door, in a thick Cathari accent.

[Molly Black]

"Oh, you're not here to get me out of it, darling." Molly assured, Alienor with a sage nod and another lengthy sip from her glass. Licking her lips she smiled in a manner that promised mayhem. "I've decided. There's no going back. The only way out is through, that's where you come in."

The sound of her alias being called at the door brought a smile to Molly's face. She canted her head that way. "Reinforcements."

With a grin, Molly gained her feet, practically skipping to the door. Sliding it open, she smiled, another weight already lifting off her mind. It was like getting the band back together....only the only one who could qualify as a musician was Ali...but otherwise, just like it. "Hey...", Molly smiled at Arriana, happy she had decided to come. Sorsha had trusted her, and that was good enough for Molly Black. "Nice to see you again. Come in!"

"Arriana, this is....well.. Alienor Tankreyd. Surprise. Now it's a party."

[Arriana Rezner]

That ever-present feline role to her gait, Arriana entered the apartment with a smile on her face. She couldn't say how long it had been since she had crossed paths with Molly Black, but it was too long. The Imperial occupation of the city had made some of their business difficult and Arriana's contacts had it on good authority that Molly's difficulty had been a shade deeper than most.

Though Sorsha was gone, there were traces of her time with the Black Sun left still. The alliances she had secured were strong. Arri was grateful for that. She eyed the stranger, knowing that if she was good people to Molly, she could be trusted.

“You didn't tell me it vas a party. I vould have brought some Iridonian dancing boys to ogle,” she said, punctuating her words by pressing the tip of her tongue to one sharp incisor.

[Alienor Vankar]

"Whatever you need, hun. You know I'm in." Alienor replied without hesitation and a deadly grin on her lips. She wasn't the kind to backdown and she was fiercely protective when it came to her friends. She had a good heart but if anyone threatened people she cared for, she would unleash hell and not care about how far she would go.

When she heard someone knock at the door and call out for Molly, she quirked a brow, chuckling when the Cathar was brought in and her friend introduced everyone. "I'm not one to turn down a party. Well met, Arriana. The dancing boys would have been appreciated for sure. The alchool is good so it'll do." She chuckled and raised her glass to mark her words.

[Molly Black]

"I do love the way you think...", Molly remarked of the Iridonian dancing boys. "Maybe we can have them over to celebrate our success?"

Crossing through the kitchenette, Molly retrieved another glass and brought it over to the table. "Red? Nothing fancy here, Miss Rezner. I was going to buy the better bottle, but then I saw these shoes and..." She let that thought rail off. Considering the shine on the new black heels, they were probably killing Molly's poor feet, but you'd never know it. She always wore heels.

"I know.", she smiled appreciatively to Alienor. "I'm holding you to it. See the thing is, I want us to come up with a plan to steal back my ship."

[Xel-Naga]

The refresher sounded off and the door opened to reveal the burly Black Sun Enforcer, and close friend, and frequent customer, of Molly Black, Xel-Naga. "I definitely wouldn't pass the dancing boys." He said as he shoulder swaggered across the room to the table, where he took a seat and declined an offer of wine with a wave of his hand. From the inside pocket of his coat he produced a flask, which he immediately pulled a sip from. "Ididonians are so last season. Carshoulis had some of the most exquisite dancers I've ever seen. Cute little things."

He nodded his head in acknowledgement of his fellow Black Sun agent, and superior. He didn't work with Arriana directly, but he knew of her. His own work put him frequently underneath Sanis Prent's operation at the Cumulus Casino. Hustling debtors and throwing out trouble makers.

"You sure we can't just blast it out, Molly?"

[Arriana Rezner]

The glass of wine was much appreciated. It could have been the cheapest red this side of Coruscant, for all Arriana would have known. She sipped it and thought it tasted about the same as any other red wine she'd tasted. Whatever you could accuse the Cathar of, it was not class.

“Carshoulis.” The word wasn't a curse, but Arri said it as such. Uninvited, she found herself a chair and flopped into it, somehow managing not to slosh red wine all over in the process. She eyed Xel.

“You do know ve can't headbutt our vay out of all problems, yes?”

[Alienor Vankar]

When yet another person joined the party, a man whose name she ignored and who didn't introduce himself, Alienor kept quiet. She watched the interaction of the rest of the people who obviously knew each other. If Molly trusted them, that was good enough for the blonde. She wondered how this whole heist would go but she was excited.

"Blasting things can be a lot of fun and practical, but I take it we should go for a sneaky approach?" She said with a devious spark in her bright eyes, loving to scheme and see them to fruition. She had done a whole lot of crazy things in her life and she was ready to do more.

[Molly Black]

"Arri, is right, Xel. I think this one calls for slightly more precision. Besides.. we might hit my ship." She shook her curly head in a stern manner that suggested shooting holes in the hull of her luxury yacht was not an option.

"Xel Naga. Alienor Tankreyd." Molly introduced the two, expediently. "Not that Miss Celebrity here needs much introduction, but admit it, you guys had no idea she sang and ripped off ships!", she grinned.

"Maybe your celebrity is the angle. Sweet young thing like you, might be in the market for a party ship with a pool, right?"

[Xel-Naga]

Shrugging his shoulders he took another hit from the flask. "But it's fun if when we can." He hardly expected that to be the solution, but punching his way through things was what he was best at, so might as well try that angle first. Every other idea can only be better.

"'ello peach." He nodded his head toward Alienor. "I like that one song, Blue Harvest. Great stuff."

Now that they were settled in the ideas were starting to pass about. Molly tossed out a decent idea, but it needed a little fleshing out. "Maybe the rest of us could pose as her entourage, or stalking paparazzi, and slip away when they aren't looking?"

[Arriana Rezner]

“Bodyguards, perhaps,” Arriana offered as she reclined further into her chair, embodying the Cathar ability to look both languid and alert in the same paradoxical pose.

“I'm hardly the celebrity you are,” she added, inclining her head to Alienor, “But the local garrison knows me. I have some... friends who may be able to see that the right eyes are looking in the wrong direction at the right time.”

[Alienor Vankar]

"Hey, getting invited to perform allows me to scout many places, making it easier to pillage them, or their owner's ships." Alienor replied with a devilish grin before taking another sip from her drink. Truth was that she rarely sang in her music, but it seemed that the few times she did, boom there was a galactic hit. She'd have to consider including more sung tunes in the future.

She smiled to Xel. "Why thank you!" Blue Harvest had been heavily remixed and spread out much more than she had expected but she wasn't going to complain one bit about that.

"All good about using celebrity to look into that ship. I have the reputation to like fancy and sometimes surprising things. Someone posing as a paparazzi can work well. I could pretend to cause a scene and the profession knows I beat their butts if they annoy me." She had done it before. "So running for your life makes the perfect excuse to slip away."

She then looked at Arriana. "Bodyguards might not be the best angle as I rarely have them. Anyone who might be familiar with me would find it suspicious. And any way you can make the local garrison look the other way when we need it would be welcome."

Alienor winked to Molly. "So what role do you want, darling? Fashion designer? Or would you rather disguise and play paparrazi? Frankly, you guys know this place better than I do. So I'm happy to follow lead." That proved how much she valued and trusted Molly because she wasn't the kind to easily be in follower position.

[Molly Black]

Molly took her glass and sat on the floor, just in front of Arri's chair, her back leaned up against it beside the Cathar's legs. From there she could reach the wine bottle for quick refills, which she helped herself to without a second thought.

Grinning at Ali's creative uses for her fame, Molly lifted her glass to that. It was a very shiny foil for the lady pirate. "Yeah, she'd kick my ass in a heart beat.", Molly commented about Alienor's fighting skills. Molly Black was a lover not a fighter. Alienor on the other hand would have made a damn good Enforcer, despite her lack of brutish appearance. That was what they had Xel for though..

"I can alter my appearance. Trust me, they won't know it's me. I'll accompany you as a consultant of some sort..?", she offered. "Arri can get the distraction we need."

"Xel... how do you feel about blasting your way out.. once you're in my ship? I can live with that. Laser cannon. Blaster cannon. Missile launchers. Sorsha wanted me to be prepared for anything, so go wild. In fact!!!" Molly sipped her wine excitedly, feeling the flush of heist planning and alcohol catch up with her. "You should totally take me hostage. It'll go with my cover."

[Xel-Naga]

"Aye, I would like that. Much easier to blow your way out than in. They never expect it."

It was not in his usual playbook. He was employed by Black Sun to do two things; look intimidating and beat the shit out of people. He was not paid for his abilities to fly a ship or operate the gunner's station, but rather for his ability to stand imposingly in a door frame or lurk for hours in an alley waiting for his target to stumble out of the bar so he could shake him down for what he owed. And failing that, beating him mercilessly within an inch of his life. Torture? Yep. Threatening loved ones? Of course. Tying them down and tickling them till they wee? Sometimes it's the only way. Infinite possibilities to influence someone to settle their debts and tabs.

This is a great opportunity to do something outside the ordinary.

"I don't know how to fly your rig. Taking you hostage will fix that problems. 'sides, I've always wanted to tie you up."

[Molly Black]

Sitting next to Arri was a lot like sitting next to a cat, one that had been sitting in a sunny window somewhere basking a while. The Cathar exuded some kind of sense of coziness when she was relaxed, it made Molly scoot closer and snuggle up to the side of her leg. Or it might just have been the wine, she was a few glasses in..

With a giggle at the enforcer, Molly raised her glass."What a coincidence! 'Get tied up by Xel-Naga!' is on my bucket list! We should just tick it off the list now."

[Arriana Rezner]

A lazy smile stretched onto Arriana's lips as Molly nestled up against her. With her glass in one hand, she settled the other on the other woman's head, fingertips sifting through her dark hair and scratching her scalp.

"Ve have the bones of a plan. How soon do ve begin to put the meat on them?"

[Alienor Vankar]

Alienor chuckled before taking another long sip of her wine. The company was good and despite the difficult situation, she was having a great time coming up with some evil plan to get Molly's ship back. This was her kind of stuff.

When her friend suggested she could play consultant, she gave it some thought. "You could be my new image consultant. I could be crazy enough to get a new one. I've not had one in a few months, so timing would be right." Truth was she just kept her agent for practical reasons, but other than that, she liked to do things on her own, despite having trying to do things the "regular" way on a few occasions.

She laughed at Xel suggesting to tie Molly up. "Oh that sounds promising.... I'll have a first row seat, uh?"

Glancing at Arriana, she considered the Cathar's question, knowing it was up to Molly to make the call. "Ready whenever."

[Xel-Naga]

"We should have ticked it off a long time ago." He chuckled loudly, his face peeling make into a rare mask of mirth. It quickly faded when he remembered Arriana was in the room. Molly was one of those very few people he felt comfortable with enough to drop all the masculine bullshit and tough guy act and enjoy the moment. It wasn't an image he wanted to cultivate within the organization. Black Sun would eat you alive if they thought for even a moment that you weren't up for the job; and he had a reputation for brutal efficiency that could drop a few pegs if it gets around that he's laughing and smiling at a wine social.

"I have a few clients that need their feathers ruffled, but I can reschedule that to later in the week. Consider my calendar open.

Should I wear a fake mustache? Maybe a wig?"

[Molly Black]

Peeking up at Arriana, Molly answered with a thoughtful expression, clearly still putting it all together in her mind. "Soon, I think. You have no idea how much I miss my clothes."

"And that's perfect Al!"

Al? When had Alienor been shortened to just Al? Whatever. Roll with it.

"So you're going to suddenly be in the market for a luxury yacht at a discount. Which the impound just so happens to have.. Your consultant will of course have to demand an extreme discount considering how long it's been out of service, and what with all the personal effects on board that will have to be cleaned out! Then the main event.. Ropes and all. I like it." Molly approved the whole thing, with a wine flushed face.

"I'm game whenever. Arri, you have the job that requires planning I think, when can you make it happen?"

[Arriana Rezner]

Arri swirled the wine in her glass, watching it, as if there might be some answer to Molly’s question hidden within.

“A few days to find someone open to the idea of being bribed.”

She paused to take a drink.

“Maybe two veeks until they’re on the right duty rotation.”

[Alienor Vankar]

Alienor gave a mildly amused and slightly surprised look when Molly called her Al. That was a new one even after years of friendship and wine talk. She chuckled and refilled her glass as she watched the exchanged. She pondered on all that was coming together. It was good that they were ready to jump into things, because as Arriana said it would take some preparatory work before they could jump in.

"I can stay for a few weeks. I don't have other engagements before a month for now. I'm already booking a few performances while I'm here, and I'm sure that it will help prepare the word that I need a new ship."

It wasn't out of the ordinary for Alienor to stay in a place for a few weeks or months at times for work purposes. Whether word came out she was there as a musician or as a martial art instructors, the other side of her legal work. And using free time to work on more illegal dealings was something she was used to do.

[Xel-Naga]

There was a lot of angles, a lot of parties. This whole thing was far more complicated than his usual operation; which mostly focused around pushing people into corners and hitting them with things until they cough up enough credits to satisfy the interest on their gambling debts; and then a few more hits to persuade them to beg for credits from the few family members that were still talking to them. This plan on the other hand was like an onion with layers to peel back to reveal more plans.

And none of those plans involved mobilizing heavy power armor and blasters the size of a baby bantha.

"So let me get this straight. We go in posin' as the crew for the fair peachy lass, start some sort of commotion as a distraction, and then I grab Molly and drag her on board while a few greased tosspots look the other way to buy us enough time to get it powered up and in the air?"

[Molly Black]

Molly couldn't help but perk up at the thought of Alienor's performances while in town. If all went according to plan, a fair few of them would be in Port Town, more fun there anyway. And anything involving the two of them had better be that, or they weren't showing. To put in nicely, the whole thing was maybe just a little crazy, but for Molly that usually meant that she was on the right track, so it worked.

Glazy-blue eyes swung toward Xel, while she poured another drink into her glass on the table. When he concluded the summary, she raised the glass. "That's the gist of it."

The possibilities were making her a little giddy, or the alcohol was.. She was so close to getting her ship back she could hear the splash of the pool.

While pondering Xel in a wig, and shaking her head at the image, she turned to peek back at Arri. "So... we're calling it, two weeks, maybe three rotation pending?"