Ali's new pet sleen

Talk about a pet who looks just like its owner. :P

Back on the Wanderer

(( The following is converted from RP that took place on 4/18. As always, my eternal gratitude goes to the player of Selus for being so much fun to RP with. ))

Selus found Aittera waiting in the cockpit when he returned to the Wanderer. He walked over to her, bending down to kiss her cheek, then put a bottle of Corellian Whiskey on a nearby table. "Gift from Renn'a's sister of all people."

She looked up at him with that look that said she was sure she was losing her mind. "Renn'a has a sister?"

"Apparently so.  Got my name from a Black Sun contact.  Just met with her.  Wanted me...or us really, to facilitate a meeting with her sister, and also whatever information we had on Kiabe.  Told her we didn't have much on the wife."

"She expects us to just put in a holocall---" Aittera stopped mid-sentence as a thought occurred to her. "Does Ragious know about this sister?" She was on her feet in a heartbeat, though there was no room to really pace in the cockpit. She found herself walking to the viewport window instead as she contemplated the ways this new information could be used against her enemy. She wouldn't actually put the woman at risk, of course, but the potential of using Renna's sister to either compromise the slave's loyalties or even tempt the Darth into a vulnerable position was too much not to consider.

"No.  Kiabe did.  Will'a was apparently her guest for a time.  I tried to explain how loyal Renn'a is to her master, but she still wants to meet her.  Not our concern though, after speaking to me she decided that she didn't want our help after all."

"What?" She wheeled around to look at him. "Why not?"

"Because she understood how full we already have our hands."

Aittera opened her mouth to form a protest, but stopped short with a scowl, realizing that she'd be arguing with a person who wasn't even present. A sense of impotent rage had been building since she'd left Khor'deth's lavish hotel room with the feeling that she'd somehow been conned, and now, it had formed a full head of steam. Rubbing three fingers against her forehead, she stomped past him and out of the cockpit, heading for the liquor cabinet. 

Selus followed her, carrying the bottle of whiskey he'd brought back.  "How was whatever you were doing?"

She had already pulled a bottle from the cabinet when she spied the one in his hand and remembered its existence. With a frustrated sigh, she rocked her head back to roll her eyes at herself and the obsessive swirl of jumbled thoughts that were plaguing her. When she looked back to him, it was with a charmingly sheepish grin and held out the bottle in her hand. "Trade you?"

He handed over the bottle to her and took the one in her hand. "I am guessing that it went okay if you're that distracted."

"I am waiting for risk analysis projections for Ragious's activities from an old friend who owed me a favor." She opened the bottle he'd handed her and took a deep drink as she walked over to the couch. "I met Khor'deth."

The cathar paused when she mentioned Ragious's son, stopping in his tracks for a moment. "How did that go?"  He recovered quickly and moved to join her, plopping down next to her to slide an arm onto the back of the couch behind her shoulders.

"Weird," she scowled. "I don't know what to think of him."

"What does your gut tell you?"

"It doesn't. That's part of the problem." She took another hefty drink from the bottle, then shook her head. "If he wasn't a pureblood and a Sith, I might actually like him."

He looked over at her with a shocked expression that quickly formed into a grin. "That's some high praise coming from you."

Aittera smirked, giving him that look that said she could either kiss him or smack him. "Ran into someone I haven't seen since my SIS days at the party. Apparently, he's a pirate now."

Selus grumbled something about pirates. "I hope he's at least going to be a useful pirate."

"If he's not, I'll shoot him."

"Oh!  Can I help?"

She laughed. "If you're really good."

He gave her a grin. "I promise."  Laughing, he leaned over to kiss her cheek again. "What about the pureblood though?  Is he like Ragious?"

The question wiped the grin from her face, prompting another long, deep drink before she answered. "Nothing like him. He's charming, rational, even-tempered and eloquent."

"That is...a surprise.  Truly.  I don't think I've ever heard of an even-tempered prueblood.  Charming sure, rational, even eloquent, but I didn't think even-tempered was possible for any Sith."

"If I hadn't seen it for myself, I wouldn't believe it."

"Guess I really do learn something new every day."  Selus once again looked over, this time with another grin. "What the hell did he say to get you so riled?"

"He offered to broker a truce."

"Come again, I don't think I heard you right."

Aittera took another drink, glaring straight ahead as she watched the conversation in her mind yet again, having been replaying it in such a way several times since she'd left the casino. "He would be more than willing to help me cease the hostilities. His words."

"Do you believe him?  Do you think he can do that? If so Aittera, I want you to take his offer."

She gave him an incredulous look. "You're joking."

"Not even a little.  Angel Girl, you and I are too smart to not know how this ends.  Even if we kill Ragious and somehow both manage to survive, which isn't very likely, we then deal with Kiabe, and then someone else, and someone else.  I'd rather just go back to living our lives without dealing with the Sith."

She stared at him for a long, silent minute. When she finally spoke, there was an edge to her otherwise quiet voice. "Even if he's telling the truth, what happens if we're in a firefight and realize that it's Ragious's ships we're fighting? Do we tuck tail and run and leave the Republic with two---" She corrected herself with a bitter note--"one less ship working in its defense, or risk breaking whatever treaty we've negotiated?"

"That is why we negotiate.  No more personal vendetta."

"He made it personal when he raped me."

"I know, and he deserves to die for that, but not if it means killing ourselves."

"I don't care if it kills me."

"I care.  Don't you see that, I don't know how to live without you."

That broke through her stubborn demeanor so easily, it left her with a stricken expression, forcing her to look away from him and down at the bottle in her hand. She almost hated him for saying it and for knowing that it was the one thing he could say that could cut as deeply as it did. The Aittera that walked away from the SIS hadn't survived Davin's death, and Selus knew that.

"What if it is me, Angel Girl?  What if it is my life you have to trade to kill him?"

"I wouldn't let that happen."

"But we can't know for certain that it wouldn't.  We have an opportunity to end this.  Now.  We negotiate an end to hostilities, we go back to this being only about the Republic and Empire's war, and get the personal crap out of it."

"Until the next time one of us is captured? In the meantime, he's one of the most effective leaders they have. Think of how many people we could save if we stop his campaigns." Every argument sounded weak in the wake of his statement, and she knew it. 'He's already won,' she thought, and for a moment, she really did hate him.

"As I said, we negotiate.  We cease the personal vendetta, not our defense of the Republic. I don't want to take away from the hurt he caused you.  It was bad, we both know exactly how much, and what came after.  But if we can stop this here and now, with both of us alive, then I think we win."

"He won't see it that way. I'm not sure I can either."

Selus sighed. "I won't make you do this.  I couldn't even if I wanted to, but I can't see any downside Aittera."

She took another drink as she contemplated just how much it felt like he was making her give in. "No. No downside at all." The fight drained completely from her, leaving her glaring resentfully down at the bottle in her lap as she gave in. "I'll set up the meeting. You'll want to be there." Defeat number two.

He nodded, cautiously reaching over to take her hand. "I know this isn't the outcome you wanted, but it is the outcome that keeps you safe."

She didn't look at him as he took her hand. "Right."

The Star Cluster Casino Penthouse

(( The following is converted from RP that took place on 4/17 just after Krayt/Invicta's party on Nar Shaddaa. As always, my eternal gratitude goes to the player of Untruth for being such a great RP'er. ))

Lord Khor'deth Arren opened the door, clad in exactly what he wore to the party minus the vest; his black boots, black pants and black shirt hugging his body and showing off his muscular chest and arms. "Aittera Timm, I wondered when you would find your way to my door."

The redheaded spacer smiled politely at the tall pureblood, the slightest note of curiosity in her otherwise even tone. "I had a feeling you might be expecting me. Your holopictures don't do you justice, Khor'deth."

He stepped aside to allow her entrance, motioning toward the sitting area. "Would you like a drink?  I just opened a bottle of Chimbak wine, though admittedly you weren't the guest I was expecting to drink it with."

She stepped through the door to move toward the indicated area. "I hope it won't be an insult if I decline. I was never a fan of Chimbak." She took a seat in what she could best surmise was the opposite of where he was likely to have been sitting, preferring to keep enough distance between them in case the need for a hasty exit was necessary.

He took the seat opposite her, scooping his glass from the table next to the chair. "No insult at all, I was merely being a proper host."  He raised his glass to his lips for a drink, staring across at her. "Now, what exactly are you here for?  I can't imagine it is to attempt kill me, though I have to say the aftermath of that may be quite fun.  I suspect you're here to see just how much like my parents I am."

She lifted her chin with an appraising smile, her blue eyes sharp as she read his body language, listening for any subtle inferences. "I thought that would be a good place to start. You're aware of my feelings about your father, obviously. Are you aware of the circumstances that led to them?"

He nodded. "I am.  You and your Cathar destroyed some of his fighters, and he responded in the only way he knows how."

"I suppose that is a fair assessment. You could say I responded in kind myself for what he took from me."

"He did love that ship."  Khor seemed to be living up to his even tempered reputation. "While I don't agree with his actions, and would have taken a different approach, there are many Sith that would not only applaud what he did to you, but would have done far worse."

Aittera seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself and the conversation. "I'm aware of the latter. What would you have done differently?"

"I wouldn't have started out abusing you.  I would have only done that as a last resort.  I hope you don't think me arrogant, but I have no doubt that had I been the one to capture you, I would have made you forget all about your Cathar, and the Republic."

She chuckled - though not in an unpleasant or disdainful way - and gave a simple shake of her hair, sending the cascading scarlet waves into motion against her back. "That might be a little arrogant," she teased. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and call it confidence though."

He gave her an open armed shrugging gesture, a smile on his lips. "Come now, I see you looking at me, that shake of your head to show off your hair just the right way, you're already flirting, Aittera.  The question is, are you doing it on accident, or deliberately?"

"That would be telling, Khor'deth," she answered with a charming smile of her own. Truthfully, she had, of course, been aware she'd done it. It was an instinctive reaction to the inference that she could be so easily conquered. Bring it on. He wouldn't be the first to find out how wrong he was. "So, I guess the most pressing question has to be: will you be getting in my way?"

"That would be telling."  He gave her a grin as he leaned back. "Why are you escalating your conflict with my father?  You killed his men, he punished you, you blew up his ship.  Why not just end it?  I would be more than willing to help you cease the hostilities."

Her expression grew serious, but he'd gained her respect already, so she spoke candidly rather than continuing the charade of 'playing nice'. "His punishment didn't end when Selus took me off of that ship."

"Allow me to help you then, Aittera.  The way I see this ending is bad for both of you.  It puts in danger everyone dear to you both.  I know you and my father can never be allies, but you and I have no bad blood between us.  Let me stop this for you before it goes somewhere that you don't want it to.  Let me be your ally, your friend and help you move past what was done to you."  Khor was either the best liar and actor she had ever seen, or the concern he was showing for her was genuine, and everything in any training she has had on body language was telling her that he was showing true concern.

His reaction caught her off guard, making her bristle with a sudden discomfort. "Why would you want to do that?" she asked, just barely keeping the suspicion from her voice.

"Because I do not wish to see your family, or my family destroyed when I could have prevented it.  I do not come at this completely unselfishly. What you and Selus did to the Avenger took a lot of bravery, and intelligence to pull off, and gaining you as an ally is much more appealing to me than having you as an enemy."

"I couldn't do anything that might lend itself to hurting the Republic down the road."

"I would never ask an ally to betray their ideals, Aittera. The Empire has enemies beyond the Republic."

"As long as he's acting against the Republic, he's a threat."

"We're at war, Aittera, at this point I'm a threat to the Republic.  Are you going to draw one of your pistols and shoot me?"

He stood, and removed his belt, letting it and his sabers fall to the floor before opening his arms. "If you truly feel that way then you should shoot me now."

She watched his belt fall to the floor, then looked up at him, truly perplexed. Why did men continue to insist on telling her to shoot them? "You're nothing like I expected."

"Everyone seems to say that."  He continued to stand there like the perfect target.

It was damned unnerving to her. This entire conversation. She finally stood from her own seat, shaking her head in a futile attempt to reconcile what she was experiencing with everything she believed before she walked in the door. "What do you think you can do for..." She shrugged, a hand gesturing outward, palm up. "...making this go away."

"Quite a lot.  I was the one that kept him and the Armada from coming to blows after Jheryth Chrystopher tried to set them against each other.  I give you my word that as long as you do not attempt any further escalation of your conflict that my father will forget you ever existed."

"What about Sky?"

"My father's interest in her waned when he met Katina."

"You're just going to snap your fingers and make everything go away?"

"Not exactly.  I am heir to two Sith households, Aittera.  Both my father's house, that he has no claim to, and my mother's which she allows him a large amount of control over.  Due to the deal I negotiated with Krayt, I have been given much leeway in speaking for him.  He would never dare go against any deal I have made, because of the power I am able to bring.  Making this deal with you will strain my relationship with him for a long time to come, but it is that or watch you and he destroy each other.  Because I tell you this with certainty, if you were to continue on the path you are on, either you or Selus would have to sacrifice your life to end my father's."

She considered this in silence for several minutes, weighing her desire for revenge, the nightmares she still had, the sense that still came to her - even with the protection Sky had given her mind - of Ragious's presence. In fact, it was almost as though she forgot Khor was standing there at all as she turned to pace in the open space beyond the seating area.

Khor sat there in silence as she paced, allowing her her deliberations for the time being, hoping his last words sunk in because of everything he has just told her, he is most certain that the destruction of his father will come at the cost of her or Selus' life, everything he can read from the force having told him so.  Finally, after several moments of silence, he spoke up again. "I promise you, whatever way you are thinking he will still use to circumvent me and get to you, I will stop him.  While you don't know a lot about me, when I give my word it actually means something, and I will give you my word that you will never have to worry about my father again."

Aittera finally stopped pacing, her back to the strange enigma born of two of the most violent Sith she'd ever run across. Her voice was quiet, contemplative. "I need to speak to Selus about this. He's just as involved as I am. It wouldn't be fair not to include him in my decision." She was waiting for her gut to weigh in, starting to wonder if Khor was having some kind of influence beyond simple conversation that she just couldn't detect. Damned Force users.

"Of course.  When you are ready to give me your decision then you know where to find me.  I have this room permanently reserved for the foreseeable future.  It comes with comped chips for the casino, and I would invite both you and Selus to take advantage of them as I myself do not do my gambling with games of chance."

She took a further moment to pull her thoughts back to the immediate, then turned to face him with a nod, extending her hand to him. "I'll be in touch. Thank you."

Khor stood and moved to take the hand as he bowed to her, once more giving her an open and undefended target should she choose to shoot him. At that point, it would have just been cathartic to shoot someone. Negotiation was not one of her stronger qualities unless one counted her ability to out-drink most people she met.

She gave him a slight smile. "You certainly have the distinction of being one of the most interesting men I've ever met." 

With that, she turned to head for the door.

The Next Step

Aittera looked up from the communications console of the Wanderer, which had become something of an office for her since losing the Devious Hope. Frowning, she turned to look over at Selus in the captain's chair. "I think we should go to Nar Shaddaa first."

Turning to look at her, Selus got a curious expression across his furred face, his blue eyes narrowed. "Why there?"

"I just heard from a contact there that puts Ragious's son at a party hosted by a pirate armada twice in the last month. I want to get eyes on." She paused for a moment, thoughtful. "I'm also short on usable intel. If we're going to keep up the offensive, I need contacts that can get inside Imperial space without rousing suspicion. This party might be a good place to put out a few feelers."

"Yeah, but pirates?  Really?  I hate pirates."  He frowned and grumbled but it was clear she had his support as he dropped them out of hyperspace and began making new jump calculations to take them to Nar.  "I didn't know we were going to keep up the offensive.  I figured we'd see what he does with us blowing up his precious ship."

She smiled at his protest, leaning in to kiss his cheek as he began his calculations. "I think it's better if we don't give him room to retaliate. If he couldn't have the decency to die on our first try, we need to hit him again as soon as possible."

Selus frowned as he nodded, not wanting to give voice to his worry just yet.  "So we'll go to Nar and see if we can't scope out his kid."

She noted the frown and offered, "Gives me an excuse to wear something pretty."

"At least you can find the silver lining."  He grinned at her, leaning over for a kiss as he pulled the control lever to send them back into hyperspace.

Aittera kissed him deeply before turning back to her console. Their time away together had been rejuvenating, and she was returning with the single-minded conviction that Darth Ragious was going to suffer at her hands for what he'd done to her - to them. 

Riukii's bio

(( Posted this to Krayt Armada's forums and realized I hadn't cross-posted here. Should probably look to see if I forgot to cross-post Ali's while I'm at it. ))

Name: Riukii (pronounced Roo-key) Talsyn

Age: 24

Race: Human (with cybernetic implants)

Gender: Female

Ship: Rydge's Dust

Rank: Captain

Background: Riukii grew up on Tatooine, the youngest member of a moderately sizable but tragically poor family, with one thing on her mind: getting the hell out. It made her a tad misunderstood by her parents and siblings, who genuinely believed she'd grow out of her somewhat problematic adventures that seemed adorable at 6 and dangerous at 14, but they did the best they could to love and protect her throughout. In retrospect now, their over-protective nature would have likely been better served with the application of a firm hand, of course, but it was what it was. When she was 15, she was visiting Anchorhead with one of her brothers when she looked up in time to see an old, beat up Lethisk-class armed freighter preparing to land at the spaceport.

It didn't take her long to find the pilot - a tall, muscular ratattaki with piercing eyes smooth-talking his way through customs - and it was love at first sight. Rusok Talsyn was an enigma to the young, impressionable girl, and their relationship was like riding a tornado for the next four years. He taught her everything from flying to fighting as they took bounties, mercenary jobs that he called challenging (which were often simply insane), smuggling jobs, or chased after rumors of treasure and quick credits.

When Riukii finally realized that her lover and business partner was perhaps a little too out of control, she tried to make a clean break of things and leave him behind, but Rusok wouldn't hear of it. For the next year, her life became something of a nightmare as he stalked her, terrorized her, and showed just how much of a psychopath he could be. In the end, he died in what she jokingly deems 'a malfunctioning airlock incident', and she inherited his ship.

Now, she works for herself, and she wouldn't have it any other way. She's learned a lot about the Dust's violent and storied history, and if you get a drink or two in her, she'll bend your ear about it for hours. She's a free spirit who basically goes where the credits are, and joining Krayt was both about making more money and finding strength in numbers after her last contract with a Sith cabal renewed her silly paranoid notion that she'd like to live to see her 30th, 40th, and even 50th birthdays.