All In (Ovmar)

[Velok the Younger]

She left @[member="Jared Ovmar"] to his work and got to hers.

The collection comprised thirty-four glasteel viewing cases, each with one to five glasteel levels. Security like mad, but that wouldn't matter. Doubtless Ovmar would show up any minute with 'the password is IHeartTails' or 'ClawMeSenseless' or whatever. Rave wasn't so concerned with getting the stuff as she was with perceiving it, evaluating it, applying the senses of a master alchemist. This room held hundreds of millions of credits' worth of art. She could literally hire a good flotilla off this. She cared about pretty much none of it. Money had long since faded as an objective, an obstacle, and a preferred solution.

Within reason.

Humming gently to herself, she slipped a Sith concentration talisman around her neck -- resale value, fifty million -- and let the alarms blare. If that startled the hairball out of Ovmar's grasp, well, so much for master mentalist. Security appeared, then thought it best to be elsewhere. Rave cracked another transparisteel case, this one full of unique gems. She pocketed a few of the better pieces, things that would go well with her prostheses and evening wear, then closed her hand around one golden stone big enough to fit between circled thumb and forefinger.

"Got it," she called back, absolutely ignoring the chaos.

 

[Arage Bao]

@[member="Rave Merrill"]

Alarms were disabled, security teams went back to their posts, the Furry Monarch was under their control. Most importantly, all traces of their intrusion were removed… well except the broken alusteel, Jared sighed inwardly as he trundled into the room, his eyes noting the orb in Merrill’s hand.

‘May I?’ the Sith Lord requested gently, extending his own hand before accepting the priceless artifact.

‘Well, well, well… Plagueis was right once again.’ he murmured to himself. Still looking intently at the artifact he posed a question.

‘Any other things we might want? holocrons, artifacts? Anything useful?’

 

[Velok the Younger]

@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

"Nothing worth having." She gestured at the jewels and assorted other mundane treasures. "Just vanilla glitter for vanilla people, though they'd never admit it. Everyone has to be special. Relevant. It's like -- well, we all know people like that." She reclaimed the Orb of Passage deftly, bit her lip and kissed the rock. "Blood trail accomplished. So. Shall we?"

As she spoke, she pocketed the Orb of Passage. With eyes and mind, she scanned the rest of the estate. Ovmar had the place under control.

"Feel free to look around; see if anything catches your eye. But we really should be going."

 

[Arage Bao]

@[member="Rave Merrill"]

‘I trust your judgement.’ sorta.

Jared took another look around and then shrugged. He could always return later on, if necessary.

‘Let’s roll.’

 

[Velok the Younger]

@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

Once they were back in the ship, and safely away from Kothlis, Rave immersed the Orb of Passage in nullification resin and a velokite box, then came to say hello.

"We need to talk. Plagueis isn't a name that you drop lightly. I didn't catch all of what you said, but I had to raid a Jedi praxeum ship, I'm talking full-on smash-and-grab, to get his work. More than what Velok had of it, anyway." She folded her arms across her belly and leaned against the ship's bulkhead. "So when I say we need to talk, what I mean is you need to talk."

 

[Arage Bao]

@[member="Rave Merrill"]

It had been a slip of the tongue, enthralled by the orb and its potential, pleased that things had gone well once again yadadada, you know how it goes. When Jared realized what he had just said, a part of him hoped she hadn’t noticed, clearly.. that wasn’t the case here.

He lit up another ghostly cigarette, the implication that this happened after such a successful heist was distinctly made.

“What do you want to know.” the Sith Lord simply said.

 

[Velok the Younger]

@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

"What form of Plagueis you're referencing. Holocron. Spirit. Video or audio recording. What it contains, when you got it, and what you're willing to take in trade for it." The words came out rapid-fire as she pushed away from the bulkhead, though she didn't approach; the ship was confined enough.

 

[Arage Bao]

@[member="Rave Merrill"]

‘What if I said… everything?’ Jared tilted his head, studying Rave.

 

[Velok the Younger]

@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

"Then you could name your price."

 

[Arage Bao]

@[member="Rave Merrill"]

“We both know this is beyond prices, beyond everything this Galaxy has to offer. This isn’t tradeable.”

Not tradeable in a permanent fashion at the very least.

 

[Velok the Younger]

@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

"You have no idea what I've made. Everything of mine you've ever seen is nothing compared to what I've stored away. I can kill worlds and gods. I can control time. But I'm not possessive -- just for access, I'd offer fair compensation."

 

[Arage Bao]

@[member="Rave Merrill"]

“I have a pretty good idea, Rave. That’s why I don’t ask you out for dinner.” the first jest in their short conversation, progress. When Ovmar started joking, it meant there was an opening, it meant that he wasn’t closing himself off for opportunities.

“Make me an offer I can’t refuse.”

 

[Velok the Younger]

@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

"Access to Marka Ragnos' holocron. The Sword of Ieldis. A Velok Emblem."

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Rave Merrill"]

Jared nodded at that offer, it was a step in the right direction. But there were more things to consider here, access to Plagueis’ works could mean two things. Either he’d have to separate them from the entire Archive, or he’d have to give her access to the entire thing.

First thing wasn’t interesting, splitting up assets would mean diverting attention between two subjects, increasing the chances of mistakes and attracting the attention of the wrong sort of people. The later was preferable, and yet it in itself had two problems, the cost would go up and more importantly… did he trust Merrill enough for such a thing?

The Sith Lord raised himself from him seating position, walking over to the view-port across from him. Studying the patterns of Hyperspace he started to speak.

‘We have known each other for a long time now, Merrill. Been through some scraps together, saved each others asses more than once. Question remains though, are we being Sith right now?’ Jared turned around, leaning against the frame and studying her. ‘Part of this is a trust-issue. Answer this one question, and I will tell you exactly what I want.’

‘If the profit was high enough, and the costs and risk low enough. Would you betray me?’

If she tried to lie, he’d know or at least suspect. Only the truth would be enough, either way.

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Jared Ovmar"]

One did not lie to a mentalist.

"I don't know. I don't think so, but there's no way to know for sure. Jorus used to say you can trust a man's heart without trusting his arm. Intentions and feelings don't mean much once the moment of truth shows up. That's about the best answer I can give you, Jared. I don't know, but I don't think so."

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Rave Merrill"]

Jared shrugged. ‘Works for me. I have a different idea on how we can proceed, you see… the Plagueis’ assets are tied up with the rest of my library, and I ain’t keen on separating them, you understand. With that being said… I think we should consider something else.’ he scratched his chin and continued. ‘Why not pool our resources together? Instead of playing the Sith game, trying to outwit each other, hiding our cards… we could join forces, create one big Archive the Sith Empire itself would have been jealous of.’

If this was even remotely interesting to her, he’d continue to speak about it, otherwise he had other offers.

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Jared Ovmar"]

"Sold."

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Rave Merrill"]

Jared didn’t even blink.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t surprised, he had expected at least some kind of resistance towards the plan, then again… the archives of Plagueis -were- pretty exciting.

‘Don’t rush into it, Merrill. If we do this, we can’t have secrets.’ the Sith Lord thought about that statement for a while, before looking pointedly at her. ‘Okay, some secrets are fine, there are things even I don’t want to know. But you understand what I mean, relationships, partnerships… they have broken down, ended in treachery far too many times because one or both held secret archives on the side, which only invites strife and jealousy.’

‘If this is to work, we have to commit to it.’

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Jared Ovmar"]

"Jared, how do I put this...I got what I have by building it from the ground up. Less than a decade ago, Iron Crown/AEI was Laekia House of Leatherwork. I'm the best alchemist there is because I committed to my specialization. And I've only ever loved one man." She grinned without humor. "I can do tenacity. Don't think this is a flighty decision because I said yes so quickly. I have the measure of my allies, you included. You're one of about two that I'd trust for something like this.

"Do you have a location in mind? Because I can suggest...many."

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Rave Merrill"]

Jared simply nodded, nothing else had to be said. More words would only be wasteful.

When she spoke about locations, the Sith Lord grinned one of his many grins, as he replied to her; he also made another grabbing motion in the air.

...an orange appeared out of nowhere, without looking all too surprised he started peeling it.

‘I might have an idea or two, yes.’ he added.