When Life Gives You Mandos

[Willard Jamaane]

The Pau City Blockade Runner might be extraordinarily quick, but Will was fairly sure it had rodents. He remained standing for lack of a sanitary place to sit down. Staining this suit just wouldn't do.

“Miss Calina, my name is Willard Jamaane. I'm a consultant.” He glanced back at the passage to the cockpit, then refocused on the blonde and the shot-up stealth boat. Each, in their own way, dominated the cargo hold. “Captain Merrill has asked me to facilitate your transition into your new life, and help you customize that life to your taste.”

His gaze drifted past her to the stealth courier. "The Mandalorians really were exuberant with you, weren't they."

[member="Calina Ovmar"]

 

[Lina Djo]

It had taken a long while for Calina to peel herself out of the pilots chair and dry her face. The evidence was still there, puffy eyes and slightly blotchy skin but anyone with half a brain would have been wise enough not to comment. And Calina was fairly certain the Mara didn't hire anyone with less than half a brain.

Arms wrapped about herself as she processed Willard's words, glancing back over her shoulder. "Exuberant is a word that describes a lot that the mandalorians do, normally without necessity." She looked back at him, with a shake of her head.

"Lets go back to this new life part, and start with, what new life?"

[member="Willard Jamaane"]

 

[Willard Jamaane]

[member="Calina Ovmar"]

"Miss Calina, you are, for lack of a better term, burned. I'm given to understand that your enemies list now includes beings with such grandiose names as Darth Carnifex and Mand'alor the Hell Wolf. They know your name, your face, and your assets, which I'm told are-" Briefly, his eyes flicked over her. "-considerable. Captain Merrill has tasked me with arranging for your future options."

Ah - a surface clean enough to sit. He settled down on a large toolbox, one ankle crossed over the other, and laced his fingers together over his knee.

"As a wise man once said, consider the following. A clean and open-concept penthouse apartment on Coruscant, overlooking The Walk and not far from the business district - or from Captain Merrill's fiance's residence. An entirely genuine Galactic Alliance passport with an entirely new surname. A straightforward opportunity to start fresh, sheltered by the unfettered opportunities and total anonymity of the metropolitan class. No strings attached; Captain Merrill has covered my reasonable bill."

 

[Lina Djo]

The former name worried her, Kaine was more than capable of crushing her skull given the chance. The latter though? She almost scoffed, but the state of her ship in the corner of her eye reminded her sharply of the dangers of hubris. She caught the up down look too her eyes narrowed. Two companies, one still very much tied to her mother for the people who knew her well enough. Yes, her assets were considerable.

"There's always a catch." she said softly, but opted not to pursue the topic further. She'd take that up with Mara, seeing as she was footing the bill for this. She settled herself onto a container running her hands through her hair, still a slight tremble in her finger tips. Damn them all, she thought, damn them all to the netherworld and back.

"Ok." she said after a moments contemplation. "There are things that need consolidating, assets in particular. One of the companies I own is tied to my deceased mother. It was left to me, and anyone with half a brain can trace that. It need to lay a trail for them selling it off without losing it. And I'm open to Coruscant," a slight smile. "Never had a penthouse."

Never really been free before.

"You mentioned a name change? You have suggestions I presume?"

[member="Willard Jamaane"]

 

[Willard Jamaane]

[member="Calina Ovmar"]

"Those arrangements are simple enough to make. I can liquidate your mother's company almost overnight. As part of my background research on this commission, I looked into that company. Its assets will be placed in a blind trust until final sale, and the proceeds will revert to you through a series of shell corporations and in-kind trades. As for your other corporation - Lina Industries, I believe? A single station hidden in an obscure asteroid belt? I can arrange untraceable lines of communication between you and the corporate officers. As long as you don't publicly maintain contact with them, or visit the site yourself, or allow people from it to visit you, it should only present a moderate risk."

Sitting on the toolbox made him twitchy. He stood and brushed off his derriere subtly.

"As for a name, might I recommend something Hapan or Tapani? A minor noble from either culture can pass unnoticed anywhere that matters - and the Hapes Cluster and Tapani Sector are large enough that the chances of being outed as a fraud are beyond minimal, if I design the backstory correctly."

 

[Lina Djo]

Calina raised an eyebrow. "How the feth do you know about Lina Station?"

Its location in the asteroid belt had been a deliberate move, not only to keep it out of the way of people who might see such a place as an opportunity to cause trouble, but so that it was not easily found. Her stomach twisted. To not visit the one place she'd set up as a sanctuary? She could feel that well of emotion rising again. She rose and began to pace, trying to keep it at bay.

"I know a tapani noble, Mecetti. Choosing a house from there feels too much like tempting fate. The only Hapan name i know is D'jo. Will that work?"

She'd need more too, more than just a name change. She'd need to mask her presence too, not a difficult thing to overcome, she'd studied under Cerbera for long enough to know how to make a simple amulet.

[member="Willard Jamaane"]

 

[Willard Jamaane]

[member="Calina Ovmar"]

"Miss Calina, I'm quite good at my job. A Cardan Five is not a small station, and imagine how many dozens of spacers have run supplies there through the Borkeen Belt. I admit I was very lucky to find it regardless. Imagine how fortunate someone like Darth Carnifex could make himself. Money, power, fear and visions open many doors. My advice is to ensure that the money and the power are on your side; fear and visions are not my department. For your assets to work in your favor, you must distance yourself from liabilities. To pass unnoticed, Miss Calina Djo must be saucy, wealthy, ambitious, impetuous, calculated - calculated most of all."

 

[Lina Djo]

Carnifex had something that no identity change would stop. an apprentice collected from a backwater world, dubbed the Oracle. She'd no doubt that if he really wanted to, if he thought her a worthy threat to handle himself, then there would be no escaping him. Fear and visions may not have been Willard's department, but they were definitely Kaine's. Fine, so she lost her sanctuary. It was just a place. She could find another. This trail of thought seemed to work in easing the emotion back down again.

She stopped dead in her tracks at the word 'saucy' and turned to stare at the man. "Wealthy and ambitious is already a trait. Impetuous and calculated I'm practised at...but saucy? Please tell me that's not a requirement."

[member="Willard Jamaane"]

 

[Willard Jamaane]

[member="Calina Ovmar"]

"Of course not - but a certain lack of inhibition will be valuable camouflage in the Coruscanti upper crust. You'll adapt, I'm sure. You'll refine and calibrate your approach. Who knows?" He smiled and meant it. "You may feel at home. You may even feel like yourself - a new version of yourself, new and improved. The Mandalorians have a useful principle: cin vhetin, virgin snow, the blank slate. A rebirth is independent of what came before."

 

[Lina Djo]

She ran another hand through her hair, unsure which concept was more terrifying to her. She was, by default, unrelaxed and wary. Relaxing had never been a thing growing up under Anaya Fen, and every step taken under her eye had to be done with caution. Stepping away from that and into the Sith Empire meant inhibition was natural. The only time she could ever recall being less so? Was on a certain station in the Outer Rim, with an anzat and what had that gotten her?

She was hugging herself again. That little well of emotion was rising again. She swallowed hard, lump forming in her throat and blinked rapidly against tears. "While I appreciate the meaning, I'd appreciate it more if you did not quote mandalorian culture at me right now."

[member="Willard Jamaane"]

 

[Willard Jamaane]

[member="Calina Ovmar"]

"Of course, Miss Djo."

He gave her a moment by turning to his crosh-hide valise. A number of documents required his attention, as it happened. Calina Djo might be destined for great things, but she still needed everything up to and including a Coruscanti library card.

"I'm told The Walk is a nice spot," he said over his shoulder. "Much safer than other entertainment districts on Coruscant. Organized crime, the civilized kind, will do that. An interesting place, The Walk."

 

[Lina Djo]

She was eternally grateful in that moment, for Willard turning his back and giving her a moment to collect herself. Tears were for solitude, where weakness could not be seen or exploited. She wiped her eyes and took some slow breaths. You survived living under the boot of Anaya Fen, you survived several months in mandalorian prison, you survived Kaine before and after he became the Emperor of the one sith and you just escaped death again by a hairs breadth. What is the Walk in comparison to that?

Nothing. It is nothing. Just another challenge.

She wiped her face, shook herself mentally and stood just a little taller. "Sounds like the perfect place for opportunity to present itself. There's one more thing that needs to be seen to. My mothers ship is too well known. I need to torch it. Been meaning to anyway I just..." She wanted to say didn't have the time, but truth be told she was a little more attached to that place than she'd like. She settled for a shrug instead. "Would you recommend anything else? A change in appearance, perhaps?"

[member="Willard Jamaane"]

 

[Willard Jamaane]

[member="Calina Ovmar"]

Once her voice stabilized, Will finalized a document and stamped it with the mark of a Coruscanti Commissioner of Oaths. He blew gently on the high-tech ink and laid the document back in the valise, then turned to face her.

"Might I recommend a Santhe Challenger? I use one myself. Lovely ship. As for your appearance, there are any number of excellent salons and day clinics I could suggest. It's stunning what a few millimeters' difference makes to facial recognition software - the earlobes, the eyebrows, the cheekbones, the jaw. Not enough to fool someone who knows you, not enough that you'd see a stranger in the mirror, just a nip and a tuck. And, of course, you'll need a Coruscanti socialite's wardrobe to really sell the new you. Blue is very in."

 

[Lina Djo]

Now they were really stepping into the realms of the unknown. Salons and shopping? That should be very teenage girls dream right?

She looked a little daunted for a moment, chewing the inside of her cheek in thought. Adjusting her features for the sake of avoiding facial recognition seemed like a reasonable thing to do. She'd never been vain enough to care much about her appearance.

"...I may need your help with that last one. I've never shopped for fashion before."

[member="Willard Jamaane"]