Beautiful Castagne | CIS Dominion of Hex [S-46]

[Shia Kryze]

"You know."

Shia replied dryly, putting her helmet down with casual disregard for its safety. It was generally a sure bet no one would take a Mandalorian's armour.

"I am about the least 'must wear the armour all the time' Mando'ade you'll meet. Except Clan Americus, but they officially classify as 'strange'. I'm wearing this because I literally just got off my ship, and on account of not wanting to bring a warship into CIS space, I didn't pack anything except the armour liner."

"Can you watch all this?" She asked the store clerk, apparently considering her armour liner perfectly decent attire... which to be fair, it was, if a little form fitting for your average member of the public. "Thanks. No, don't charge it to some CIS wonk, I... look, just take it from my clan account."

She shook her head slightly at Mishel and walked back to her changing cubicle.

"You Force Leapt, great. I was paying very detailed attention to the precise nature of the inchoate wrath slamming into me." She spoke casually as she shuffled through options, as if they hadn't be trying to kill one another.

"No... no... maroon? Ugh. Maybe. Oh. Hmm. Yes."

There was a brief pause in the conversation while she actually got changed, before stepping out in... considerably less than she had entered in, seeming apparently unconcerned she was now unarmed and unarmored.

"I like beaches!" She announced cheerfully, looking so utterly unlike the armoured warrior who walked in it was startling... except for the fact that, even for a human, Shia's frame is all defined muscle and curves in a manner some have described as intimidating. For a Rattataki, she's positively enormous. "So lets do that, and you can tell me why you've stopped being a homicidal Jetii and maybe you'll listen to my explanation that a dead man ordered me to attack Utapau, for what sounded like very good reasons at the time."

[member="Mishel Noren"] [member="Peyton Steele"] [member="Alessandra Creed"]​

 

[Mishel Kryze]

[member="Shia Kryze"] | [member="Adron Malvern"] | [member="Alessandra Creed"] | [member="Peyton Steele"]

Keep it in your pants, kid.

Words of wisdom from her master ran in her mind as she tilted her head and placed a finger on her lips. Mishel just rolled her eyes and scribbled instructions on a pad, "yeah that's fine, send it to the 'Starstruck,' which was the name of her Blockade Runner with a 'soaring comet' or sun as the woman liked to call it across the bow. "Thank you so much you're a doll." No way was she letting that armor sit in a store, "so you can fetch that from my boat before you leave and I can drop you off at yours." That was the end of the discussion and suddenly Mishel felt like her mother Hazel. A moment to say a word for her youth, she exited the store, "well maybe you should start." Her tone was catty at best, as she headed down the street and toward the beachfront.

"You look good by the way," the Tygaran complimented the Rattataki as the music flooded in from the stages. Steel drums, guitars and soft voices - yeah, yeah she could definitely stick around this place. "You're funny if you thought I was a Jedi back in those caves," she said with a smirk the cobblestoned streets turned into wooden planks with a set of stairs that led to the sand. Mishel took a moment to relax against the railing, "Ashira bless this place. One day, one day I'm getting a beach bungalow here like right down there." All she could really see were one or two people who she didn't know but looking the other way where all the others were partying? "This way."

Speakers made into the rocks carried the sound that helped cover private conversations.

Mishel turned to try and speak with Shia and maybe it was just the way the sun reflected off the sand. Or maybe it was just that the Tygaran just now noticed the sheer muscle on the Rattataki. "Can I just... can I touch?" She gestured to like every muscle-bound area she could, "like here, here and here cause wow... like holy Ashira, wow." A bit of laughter just from the sheer ridiculousness of it. Then again, Mishel didn't exactly hang out with a lot of muscular folks, like at all.

With that out of her system, "okay, well... mhmm not sure if I can give you the whole story. I mean if you're willing to walk and talk, sure." After all, there seemed to be quite the long stretch of beach and sandy shores, low tides with crystal clear waters.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk_WUs-zlNU[/media]

 

[Shia Kryze]

Rattataki can't blush, exactly, but they do have a similar physiological response which darkens the skin, either that or Shia is having some kind of strange attack in response to being gestured at.

She paused for a long moment, then shrugged slightly. "Uh. Sure. I guess." Behind the almost childish awkwardness there was a glow of pride however, because for better or worse - probably worse - Shia was as vain as the next person and it clearly wasn't often she got compliments.

Her thoughts drifted away slightly as the long, sandy beach stretched out in front of them - to exactly what she was doing, with whom and... uh... why? She glanced half lingeringly, half furtively over at Mishel, then sighed - trying to make it sound like she was thinking about her story, rather than the person next to her.

"Well, my whole story is pretty long. But the short, relevant version is that some former... high ranking members of the Mandalorian Clans - now Empire - had and have a hate on for all things related to the Force, except the Sith, weirdly. So they lied to the populace and told us the only support we were getting was from the Sith Empire, when the Silver Jedi Order had tried to deliver relief supplies. Then you have Mia - crazy Sith demons in her head - Munroe who, well, caused our third apocalypse in as many millennia. So they told us no one would help, the Coalition wouldn't sell the crystals and... well, you should have seen things back then. We had kids dying from radiation sickness, massive population displacement, the works. And family is important to us - so I went. I think you missed my philosophy conversation with Ember, but I can summarise the same thing I've said to everyone who asks - it's a harsh galaxy, you've got to fight to survive, sometimes playing nice doesn't work. Of course... turns out, Ra was actually missing, the Empire was leaderless aside from the Cuir Rekr and everyone was panicking. Oh, and there are some state secrets I shouldn't mention, even on a nice beach."

Strangely, telling the whole story - even if it did come out fast and in one go, distracted her mind (if not her eyes) from her surroundings and companion, briefly.

Edit: Helps if you tag.
[member="Mishel Noren"] [member="Adron Malvern"] [member="Alessandra Creed"] [member="Peyton Steele"]​

 

[ToKola Bakari]

Location: Castagne Beach | Time: Afternoon | Objective: Have a little fun | Tags: [member="Scherezade deWinter"] [member="Daisy Americus"]

It was tough to get Daniel to go anywhere that didn't include blaster fire or fast moving objects that are either flown or ridden. However, when he heard a few of the Americus clan were making there way to a big planetary party, he was one of the first to jump for the fun.

Originally he had been tailing his older sister Daisy to make sure she stayed out of trouble. Of course, trouble was an extremely relative term amongst Mandalorians, even more so among the Americus clan. Perhaps the only man walking the beach in jeans and a cattleman hat, he was basically a walking explanation of everything he was and stood for.

He had been searching the beach for a while, and not after long he finally found his sister, talking to some girl on the other side of the sands. Without a second thought he made his way over.

Daniel had been hosting a rather healthy bottle of Americus moonshine in his hands, once he finally gained his sister’s attention he would wave the bottle in the air. “Hey, sis.” He called out.

Taking a brief swig from the bottle, he glanced down to the woman who was in the sands. In a brief gesture of greetings, he tipped his hat forward. “Hey sis, who’s the cute lookin’ one?” He asked, jamming a thumb in the younger-looking woman’s direction. Not giving Daisy a moment to answer as he often did, Daniel offered Scherezade a warm smile, bordering a grin.

“Hey there, name’s Daniel but you can call me Dusty.” He offered with a cheer-filled tone.

Daniel likely looked like some form of fool. His shirt had come off since they landed on the planet, revealing a decently tanned chest sporting more than a handful of scars. His deep blue jeans had a thick crusting of water and sand at the bottom of the legs. To beat it all, on the left side of his waist was a large cord that fell down from his waist. The man had been carrying around a lasso, as if he was still back home.

Daniel sat down beside his newest friend in a rather invasive fashion. He glanced at the bottle in her hand and arched a brow.

“What you drinkin’ on? If you're lookin’ to wash away troubles you should try somethin’ stronger.” He held out the black unlabeled bottle with a slight smirk to him. “Now this stuff here. Black lightnin’, finest hooch this side of Nar Shadaa, made by yours truly.”

He glanced up at Daisy with a questioning expression. “You ain't borin’ her to death with all that sugary talk are ya, sis?”

 

[Eugen Aker]

Location: Castagne Droid Spa
Objective: Tour (BYOO)

The Shadow had come to Castagne to look into mystery viruses, but she didn't miss the opportunity to explore the world off hours.

She had come at a good time when the entire planet was in celebration for some cultural event, as well as their entry into the Confederacy. The CIS seemed to be growing every day, she wondered if the former territories of the Galactic Empire were now on the table for absorption.

There were all sorts of interesting sights, some kind of self-contained party able to be found on every block. However, none of that really drew her attention.

Just about the most intriguing thing she had stumbled upon was a droid spa. It was a funny scene, witnessing all manner of droids cycling through the facility, from meek mouse droids to giant security models that would be right at home on a battlefield.

"A droid spa, now I think I've seen just about everything," she told Allyson at her side. "Think they offer any special packages to cyborgs?"

[member="Allyson Locke"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

Location: Droid Spa
Objective: Touring (BYOO) w/ [member="Jyoti Nooran"]

Allyson had tagged along, taking a moment between missions and training to spend time with a certain Jedi Master. Connections with the Confederacy was something Allyson had not seen coming, but to be welcomed on these worlds was a welcomed notion. Wandering, they were able to see a little bit of the cultural festival, she tried to remember a time she had been to a celebration such as this and she couldn’t think of anything. She wondered if Corellia had anything like that and she had just decided to shut out the memory.

The droid facility was something that caught her eye as well, unlike the woman next to her she doubted the spa catered to anything organic. Chuckling softly, she nudged the woman knowing that small bits of physical contact in public was appreciated. She had learned a lot about the Echani culture because of Jyoti, so when she got the chance she made sure to take advantage of the woman’s martial heritage.

“They probably do, you want to go and check it out a bit more?” An arm hooked with the Jedi’s as she began to lead Jyoti closer towards the droid spa. “Doesn’t hurt to ask.”

 

[Karlie Lynn Destat]

Location: Main beach area
Objection: Play nice and meet/greet CIS invitees
Interacting: Rolling the dice here
Post: 2



"Ok....just letting you know I'm heading over to the main beach front." Karlie informed her father.
Her father, Viceroy Tarssin Destat, hadn't figured on Karlie to check in with him. It had been a simple request in hologram form for her to take 10 day leave from her research aboard the RD-IV lab orbiting Castagne. But as it may, Karlie had not played the entire message out and as soon as she got wind of the 10 day leave aspect of the message...
Yea, she bolted down like a hot meteor and wasted no time in soaking up the Summer rays on her beach front family estate.

But as it turned out and it took her father to finally locate Karlie...she had been given leave from her orbiting tin can for the sole reason to help establish relations with visiting CIS members that Castagne, or rather the High Cabinetry invited.
"Well, I don't know...you sounded pretty dry before. I thought you'd be mad at me...you know..." Sure, she could play the sweet daughter who's feelings were hurt by her father's reprimands.

"I mean...well, I didn't play your message through and all. I just wanted some time off.... being cooped up there for two months, is like doing prison time..." Oh she were winging it and had to be careful of not over doing it. Still, he had not made any effort in approaching a fatherly apology.
"...you know?" Still nothing from her father.

"Uhm..dad...you still there?"

Yes, he was still there and asked why she was still at the beach house. If she were truly sorry and had indeed made a err in missing the message in its entirety then she'd get her butt down to where some of the CIS guests were and make nice.
He was going to count on her.

"Yes... I know I pushed to study the virus live...
Yes, dad. You can count on me....
Ok...love you.
...Bey." The hologram closed off from his end...of course he gave her his love. But what was most important, his confidence in her.

"Sigh... he's so on to me..." She shook her head, knowing she had lost the ability quite a while back in pulling the wool over her father as she used to do so well. Then again, she had been more like her mother then...a protege.
Karlie shook her head thinking of that dreaded spectre that had at one time rooted her twisted will in her head.
Sadly, her own mother had been found to be of sith...a little too late. By the time her mother were exposed, the woman had slowly and methodically started to influence Karlie through her teen years to follow her path. Unknown to young Karlie and her father, her sith mother were priming her to be her apprentice.
Her mother was the epitome of pure evil...
But the sith mother was gone, had been gone for quite a few years now...along with Karlie's midi count. And the latter had been by Karlie's own hand...her atonement...her salvation.
But the girl had in many ways been robbed of developing normal adolescent social skills while she had been under the manipulation of her sith mother. In so many ways, Karlie was a bit handicapped in her social development. At 25, she were more like that of an 18 year old...just cresting into adulthood. But she didn't lack intelligence. In that avenue she were quite a prodigy...

It weren't that far a walk to the main beach from the small beach front estate she had opted to spend her vacation tanning. Only it turned out to not be a real vacation at all, as Karlie had first thought, but part of what the Cabinet had set up in welcoming their fellow countrymen. Castagne, under the directive of the Cabinet had proposed and been accepted as part of the CIS. This event called for hosting of their finest assets, the colorful beach lines, island resorts and what their capital city of Constantine had to offer.

The beach house was not at all on a reclusive beach. There were no private or reclusive beachfront on Castagne per say. All the coastlines, including islands were open to all citizens and guests. In so many ways, Castans weren't hung up on social classes...not like most systems at least. The Destat's beach house, the one located just South of where one of the beach festivals were set up had no fences or private beach signs posted at all. Anyone could walk along the beach-line between ocean and estate. Private property, like the beach house or other establishments were always respected and common courtesy was a norm among Castans.

Karlie loved the beach and could for the most part have spent her entire so called vacation at the beach house and enjoy the adjacent amenities of the nearby main popular beach just a 20 minute walk away. And being a regular beach goer she dressed more casual and not so much to impress. Besides, her father had said it wasn't a formal event, but one which should make their new friends and neighbor, the CIS feel just as home as they did. As such, after showering off her lotion, Karlie put on a pair of comfy jeans...comfy to her at least and a light open shirt over a bikini top. naturally she had a bikini bottom under those blues. There were water rides and slides of many kinds on the main event beach. And the water park was one of her favorites since a little girl.

Of course, no need to have styled her hair for she didn't expect it to stay dry. She simply towel dried it and had been good to go.

The event had started two days before. The same day she podded down from the station to the beach house...or in her case; splashed down a few meters past the break-line. Not something her dad had been too keen on doing, especially in using one of the station's emergency escape pods. But that was Karlie, still young, restless and rumbustious...with little lack of common fear or sensibility most times. And that was her father's concern, as he understood that as intelligent as she was, she still needed to catch up on what her mother had suppressed.

"Oh...this is new.." Karlie said to herself as she neared the festival scenery. It was for the better part much like the water park layout just inland enough to be away from high tide. Only that it now seemed to encompass its way to the shoreline.

"Oh hey...how are you?..." She replied to one of the locals who flagged her down.
"What?... Oh yea,...fine too...thank you..." Karlie waved as she continued to approach the extension of the park.

There were certainly more than the usual amount of people...both young and old. many seemed her age...some younger...some, quite different. Seemed this was as much a new experience for Karlie as it were for the many few here that were not Castans. It were easy to see who most were and were not. Then again, quite difficult with most.

What caught her attention, then curiosity were the body arts....both facially and everything else. She had knowledge of the practice among many systems..in both permanent dyes and temporary. If it were her choice, she would most opt for temporary markings.
"Hehe...Oh, and who are you today?.." She chuckled, asking a little boy with a stripped markings...obviously marked up by the few artists treating children with such fun body markings.
He was a tussler.
"Oh..and what is a tussler?.." She asked, not familiar with what the little boy had chosen to be marked as.
Well, for her information, a tussler was a predatory feline..a hunter of the great dark forest on a moon which Karlie again was not familiar with. Then again, there were literally thousands upon thousands of habitable star systems throughout their galaxy. It was mind blowing at the varied feline species,let alone the entire animal kindom.
"Oh, I see....Grrrrr..." She played along and growled back at him, extending pretentious claws and curling her upper lip and nose. The little boy screamed in delight and ran back to his group of friends, who pretty much mimicked their own animal delights.

Karlie was just as delighted, as she got closer to the group of artists. Unbeknown to her, she were standing just over to the left of [member="Srina Talon"] , who by the way seemed to be having a good time creating such animal art on the many children that were gathered.
It was of no consequence that she wouldn't have known Srina, for when they had last met, both had been suited up in hermetic enviro suits. Not in Karlie's wildest dream could she have guessed that the previous commandeering Srina..the one that had almost put a blaster bolt through one of Karlie's research team member turned zombie was crouching below her, face painting a little girl.

"Who?..what?...me?..." She laughed, as another artist who had just completed a face paint on another boy asked if she wanted to get painted up. Ahhh...so that's what they were using...water paint, Karlie noted. Yes it was pretty neat, but she shook her head.
"No no....not right now. I just never..." No she never seen it done before...not on Castagne at least.
"...well, it is pretty nifty...fun too, I see...." She replied, wondering if that individual was Castan or...a guest?
Funny it didn't make a difference, as whomever it was, was enjoying themselves as much as the children.

"Oops...sorry..." Karlie then said as the young crystal blonde who had just finished applying a feline facial on the little girl stood up and bumped into Karlie. Apparently it were Karlie's err in not watching how close she were to the young woman.
"Got distracted....
Just amazed at the artwork you make up artists are doing with the children... " She unknowingly were speaking with Srina.

"Is this popular on many systems?" Karlie asked, for she assumed by the intricate handiwork, they (or at least the platinum blonde she had bumped into) couldn't be Castan. Her guess was either these artists were guest themselves or artists brought in off world, just for the event. Castans rarely marked their bodies, especially here along the coastline. It was really never seen.
Not that it was shunned or anything of the kind, for Karlie thought it nifty. Just that with such markings and the strong sunlight...one would be multi hued/tanned if such markings stayed on too long.

But as far as the children were concerned, they actually enjoyed running around pretending to act out in fun, what they were painted to be. And being children, they eventually wound up in the surf, or down the many water slides of the park which this event had been made an extension of...naturally washing the water colors off. And by the loos of one or two some would come running back for new faces.

 

[Adelram Thul]

Location: Castantine
Objective: Classified Above Top Secret
Post: 2

"I remember. It was a cold November." Darth Zurvan said.
"I remember you as well. You were a blonde haired silver tongued devil then, or that was the show you were putting on at the moment. The exchange went down well." The Imperial agent replied with a spat. Sitting in an ergonomic office chair, he watched the Sith carefully as he spoke, as if he was looking for a way out of his situation. "You can't tear the information from my mind like the others. I've been trained against those force arts. But you already know that."

"You know the original Imperial Intelligence and its agents had a code. Anonymity and Deception." Zurvan said as if he was giving a lecture. "For instance, lets say being a Sith Lord is complicated for a public figure such as myself. Black robes, red lightsabers, factory over-engineered body armor." Zurvan body langue showed exasperation. "But if I walk around in fancy robes, with blonde hair, expensive cologne, and have an entourage of snobs, people think galactic noble." Zurvan pulled out a blaster pistol and fired a bolt into the imperial's left knee cap. The man wailed loudly and crumpled to the floor. "So like if I shoot you, nobody expects a Sith. They expect me to hack you to pieces with a lightsaber."

Darth Zurvan fired another round into the man's right leg causing a the man to scream and shout even louder. Zurvan watched for a minute, letting the Imperial suffer in agony. "Where is the Karking List!" Zurvan demanded, his voice raising in anger.

"...I know... what you did..." Imperial made out defiantly, trying to speak through his pain and heavy breathing. "... The biological weapons program... They should have never given you the samples... But if the CIS finds out what you been up too-" The imperial agent was silenced with a shot to the head. Zurvan let the blaster slip from his gloved hand and fall to the floor of the office. He gave one last look around to see if he had missed something, but among the overturned furniture, ripped up floor boards, and torn apart file cabinets there were no leads to been found.

"Agents we have one more location to check." Zurvan said over the comms. He had a feeling he would find what he was looking.

 

[Maggie-Rae Americus]

Location: Streets
Objective: Live it up!
Friends, enemies: TBD

Well ain’t this just like a Concordia County Fair, thought Maggie-Rae as she strolled along the uber-clean walkways of Castantine. She knew that ultimately as a Mandalorian she should be supporting the Quelli sector and even more importantly the Mand'alor, but with planets to visit like this one, the Confederacy was feeling more like home. Mags had never seen so much abundance in one place. Hell, even the trash cans were pristine enough to eat out of.

“Ain’t no thing as too much,” Maggie-Rae said to the first street vendor she visited. “Especially when it comes to food.” She had him pile her plate high with fried crispic and then at the condiments table she applied a liberal amount of apple slug sauce.

With the platter juggled in one hand, her next stop was for some good ole Castantine wine. “Oh no,” she warned as the vendor went for a small dainty glass. “I’m gonna need you to supersize that, sugar.” A giant cup was procured and Mags waited until it was filled to the absolute brim with the sweet-scented alcohol.

For a gal who came from nothing, this kind of prosperity was nirvana to Maggie-Rae Americus.

 

[Daisy Americus]

On the Beach in Castantine wearing this and sitting near [member="Scherezade deWinter"]​

Daisy hadn’t meant to bother the drenched-kitten just by talking. Mostly, it just seemed like something she should hear. Most people that had a shoulder to cry on, or a friend to complain to, wouldn’t have been letting sand get shoved up the back of their shirt by the surf all alone. Seafoam blue-green eyes lit up when the brunette gave her name. It wasn’t the most joyful introduction but it was more than she had counted on. “It’s mighty fine to meet you Cher-uh-zaw-dae.”

Her brow furrowed. It sounded different when she said it, versus, when the red-eyed girl had spoken. It was crazy but sometimes people really insisted she had an accent. She most certainly did not. “Did I say that right? It’s real pretty, but, can you say it again for me?”

She didn’t address the second part of her statement. Daisy didn’t want to rub this poor girl raw by reminding her of things she didn’t have. She also didn’t want Cher-uh-zaw-dae to feel like she was trying to put on airs or rub anything in. “Can I ask—Are you from the Confederacy or are you from Castagne? You don’t look like one of these shiny-happy-people so I was assumin’ the CIS.”

“But, you know what they say about assumin’—.”

The sun-kissed country belle froze when the water moved in a way that was entirely unnatural. The prone woman lying in misery beside her, more than likely cork high and bottle deep from the way she kept taking casual swigs of booze, didn’t really seem to notice. Daisy could feel her jaw set tight for a moment when the hulking masses rose from water as if they were made of it. Castagne was supposed to be peaceful but if Concord Dawn had taught her anything, it was to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

The full sight of the armor caused her hackles to lower almost instantly. Clan Dravere? This was the very last place she had expected to see those particular boogeymen. Weren’t they allergic to sunlight or some such nonsense? Either way, as the men approached like masked monsters from the deep, Daisy decided that they didn’t seem all that scary up close. Rough around the edges, definitely, but no one was about to turn tail and start heading for the hills. If anything, carrying nets full of sea-life, they just looked like a group of hungry man-folk who wanted some supper. Though, far be it from her, to stand between a boy and his grub. No thank you.

Her golden head tilted when one of them stopped to speak and her soft eyes filled with curiosity. His voice, his manner, was something that she recognized. It drew on a memory that she couldn’t focus on. It was cloudy. Distant. “Thank you kindly for the advice, but, you don’t need to worry. Ah’m keepin’ an eye out.”

He then said something else. Surprise would show easily on her youthful face. He knew her? She didn’t respond to that, mostly because she didn’t know how without sounding rude, but accepted the small sea creature that he peeled from the front of his armor. Daisy looked at it confounded. What was it? It was almost leathery to the touch and a little prickly. It looked like a star in a very round about kind of way. “A sea star?”, she asked man as he walked away, not sure what to do, though it was very interesting. Fragile, in a way.

She was not sure he would answer.

Regardless, her fascination with the armored Mandalorian and his men was cut short, when a familiar voice graced her ears. Speaking of hot messes, her brother looked like he’d crawled out of the bottle he was holding, after being lost for three weeks. Paw would be proud. Her smile blossomed, real and true, when Dusty arrived. This brother, though one of many, was her best friend and often the only person she could confide in about missing home. He might make fun of her for a lot of things but that subject was always safe. “How’s it hangin’?”

If he told her low and to the left, there was gonna be a fisticuffs. Ugh. Brothers.

“This is Cher-uh-zaw-dae.”, she introduced her new friend brightly, not realizing, that she was probably butchering her name six ways from Sunday. Daniel sat down and she looked back down at the sea creature in her hands. A thought occurred to her and she felt a little bit of phantom panic. Could this thing survive out of the water for long? Thoughtfully, she let it leave her hand with a little bit of forcie hocus pocus, and gently lay it back down in the deeper parts of the water. It was darn pretty but she didn’t want it to die just because she was curious.

Daisy smiled while her brother tied to sell the brunette on his moonshine. He was proud of it, a little too proud, but he had a right to be. It was pretty fierce. Then, he just HAD to run his good ole’ boy schtick by taunting her and she frowned, an embarrassed blush taking to tanned cheeks. She looked down at the sand. “I am not.”, she paused, her lips pursing, before squinching to the side a little guiltily. “Ah…Well I might have been.”

“I’m real sorry if it seemed as such. Ah was just tryin’ to make conversation and sometimes I get carried away. If you wanted to talk about it, ah know we don’t know each other, but ah can promise you my brother and I don’t judge.”

The sweet woman wallowed mentally, momentarily, before brushing it away. There was never any harm done by offering a kind word to a neighbor when they were down in the dumps. “If you do drink that Cher-uh-zaw-dae ah would advise that you start off slow. It’ll strip paint right off a starship hull faster than a hot knife through butter.”

[member="Scherezade deWinter"] | [member="Daniel Americus"] | [member="Corvus Dravere"]​

 

[Mishel Kryze]

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MztSXSJqWTg[/media]

The sand beneath their feet felt cool in the shade of the trees, Mishel grinned when Shia gave her the go-ahead to touch. Mishel felt the Rattataki's muscles with her fingers and could not stop her smirks and grins. "I mean if I had to lug around armor like yours I guess I'd be pretty muscular but oh, this is nice, yeah..." She ran her hand along the other woman's abs. Washboard abs were always a thing that the Tygaran could apprecipate. When Mishel was done she merely locked an arm around Shia's and it felt good, natural and made Mishel feel good as they walked down the shoreline with the sound of the waves rolling in to accompany them.

"Are you... did you blush?" She asked and smirked a little, the brunette looked up at the Mandalorian. "It's fine if you did, but you should definitely take pride in yourself. You look good." And then Shia began her story which was fine with Mishel. The Tygaran had no pressing need to divulge her full story at this moment, yes it may have been weird to be walking down the beach with someone who pretty much tried to kill her. But, Mishel knew then and now that - that didn't have to always be the case. Love always found a way, whether that was platonic, familial or otherwise. She listened to Shia's story.

Music continued flow through the rock speakers adding to the ambiance of the moment. "I would not expect you to give out state secrets but this, this is enough." Her words were geniuine the warmth of her tone signaled her sense of calm and comfort. Alcohol notwithstanding the brunette had to admit she was having a good time. Mia Munroe and her crimes were something that she was aware of, the lies of a government also something Mishel could relate to - maybe not crazy Sith demons but if brooding Ren voices of doom were anything to by. Population displacement, yeah - the Alliance experienced that now even as the Jedi padawan experienced a peaceful walk on the beach where the Castagne sun kissed her skin.

"I have a pretty long and complicated past, long story short is that when you met me. I was at a point in my life where I didn't want to live, I didn't want to be part of this Galaxy anymore. I was tired of being depressed, tired of existing and I just wanted to end, and I thought if I slid myself on that beskad I could be done with it all." If someone had been looking for a different story, they were wrong. "So yeah, exploding chaotic darkness - yeah... Just a physical manifestation of what I was going through internally. So when I laid there in that mine shaft. I told Ember I wanted to be shown the light, seemed a better alternative to death. A better ... alternative than to let the Ren win. Because if I had offed myself then, then yeah that was giving them the easy W. And... no way in the Nethers am I giving them an easy W."

She let go of Shia's arm and ran a hand through her long dark locks. "So yeah that's... that's my story, part of it anyway." The part that mattered she figured as hazel-green eyes got another chance to sweep over the Rattataki's form. A smile on her face as she wanted to laugh at the absurdity of their situation, and as she looked down the shoreline and then looked back she gestured at a small spot beneath what could pass for a palm tree. "Could probably sit there," Mishel led the pair to the spot beneath the tree and sat down in the sand, burying her feet beneath the grains of warmth. She took in the sight of the water rolling onto the shore, "yeah I could probably sit here all day."

[member="Shia Kryze"]

In Scene, Somewhere: [member="Alessandra Creed"] | [member="Adron Malvern"]

 

[Shia Kryze]

(music)​

​

​

Amber eyes stared at the sand beneath her feet as Shia walked along beside the Tygran woman, the arm locked through hers a thrill to her senses so strong she felt the need to focus on the warm sands for a moment to centre attention.

Aunt Vivi's Maxim No. 245: There is no overkill, only open fire and...​

​

... no, sorry. No. 246: Sometimes the galaxy will throw you the unexpected, take it, for it must often be enough.​

She let out a tiny breath and relaxed into the walk, listening silently to the story the other woman was telling. Once she would have been highly ill-equipped to understand the context, but now she at least understood some of it. Even if she was, she thought, actually unclear on who the Knights of Ren really were, or what they really wanted. Other than apparently to break someone who, as far as she could tell, was far too good to earn that kind of treatment.

As they came to a stop in the shade of the small palm, she let her gaze run along the scenery, almost drinking it in, before permitting it to slip to the Tygran half a second or so after the Tygran looked her over. She paused, then quirked the smallest of grins and gently squeezed the other woman's hand.

She didn't know what to do now, which is not a situation she was terribly well accustomed to - there was always some family teaching, some part of Mando'ade culture... something, even if it was just pure reflex. But pure reflex was perhaps not serving her too well, as Mishel sat down in the sand there was a long, awkward pause.

Then it clicked, somewhere in the back of her head, old words - ancient words really - Mandalorians had repeated time and time again to their children.

"Shereshoy." She breathed, a genuinely content smile on her face.

So she sat down next to the Tygran, wrapping one arm around the other woman's shoulders - let reflex do what reflex does. The situation might look a little ridiculous, she might feel oversized and ridiculous... but she didn't, actually. She let her mind settle into the physical sensation of skin on skin, of cloth on cloth, of the noise of the waves and the brilliant glare of the sun off the water.

"Well," She said, her voice considerably more unsure than her motions. "I'm not going anywhere, did you have any plans for the rest of the day?"

[member="Mishel Noren"]​

 

[Mishel Kryze]

​

Instinctively Mishel curled into Shia's form the moment the Rattataki slipped her massive arm around her. Quietly she breathed and relaxed, she sat legs crossed over one another. The Jedi felt so small, small but safe where she was and sure it may have seemed ridiculous to the outside world. But then, the outside world could kark itself. The Castagne sun dripped its light onto the ocean and there it danced and glittered for all to see, the soft breeze carried with it a whisper of hope and maybe a promise of a better tomorrow. Once upon a time this was something that Mishel only fantasized about, the sort of thing you read about in a holonovel or watched on a holoflick.

The feeling of being next to someone, someone who you felt comfortable with.

The Force worked in mysterious ways she thought, or perhaps Ashira was playing a massive trick with her feels. Mishel wasn't sure, and right now she did not feel like questioning it. When she arrived on Castagne her goals were to get drunk, eat free food and just forget about Coruscant. The Tygaran got so much more and from the most unlikely source. And maybe that was part of it all, life was funny in what it gave you. Make the most of what you're given Coren would say to her on Sullust. Like a fire and a flood somethings were just meant to be, and as Mishel rested her head against Shia's form something just clicked at that moment.

There they were sitting together beneath the shade of the palm watching the oceans.

"No," she replied softly, "and if I did they're all gone now." Mishel moved to look at the Rattataki in the eyes, yeah... this was definitely something she could have only ever fantasized about back on Virgillia VII. When her brothers and sisters were asleep and she was left to her own devices when she used to lay awake at night in her small wooden shack. Eyes staring up at that deep black sky, as the stars twinkled back their sweet truths and steady promises that tomorrow would be better, tomorrow would be a better day. That day had arrived, today was a better a day in the sun and on the sands. And as the ocean rose and fell, so did the beat of her heart move steadily.

Like the fires and the floods of the world, somethings were just meant to be.

[member="Shia Kryze"]

 

[Corvus Dravere]

Location: Beach
Post: 2
Nearby: [member="Daisy Americus"] [member="Daniel Americus"] [member="Scherezade deWinter"]

He joined his compatriots, giving little attention to the group behind him. They'd already established a makeshift firepit using some spare metal, a hollow for the logs, and a touch of fuel for the fire to start. The metal frame was, essentially, a jerry-rigged table with a grate on the top for the cooking of food. Easier to set up with a small welder than carrying one through the surf - much less chance of barnacles getting attached to. No one wanted to eat any barnacles.

What did they want?

Fish. Shrimp. Oysters. Mostly the first two, and especially crab or lobster if you had the time to hunt them down. They did not. They'd already been late just nabbing the catch they had.

So in the short time it took the shrimp to get ready, he grabbed some metal skewers, jammed the jumbo shrimp into place, and traipsed back over to the Drunk, the Lasso, and the Blonde. "Shrimp?" He asks, in that static-laden voice so characteristic of those speaking through helmets. "Fresh caught. Didn't even put up a fight."

More terrible Dravere humor.

 

[Alessandra Creed]

Location: Beach (Far off from the main event area...)​

Wearing: Black Wrap Bikini​

​

Alessandra felt him before she saw him. His signature in the Force was surprisingly warm with a clean earthen flavor that reminded her of autumn skies. She had learned to place it long ago, and as such, didn’t bother moving from her incredibly relaxed position. The raven-haired woman heard the telltale scrape of a chair moving over the wooden deck and a small smile flickered at the edges of crimson lips. The Minister of War truly couldn’t seem to keep his distance for long, and for the most part, she didn’t discourage it. He was serious, efficient, but somehow retained his wit. It was a rare quality.

“Did I now?”, she breathed lazily, her voice a low purr as her head tilted toward him, though, she made no move to take the drink right away. That required movement. Every part of her being protested at doing anything more than breathe. The fresh salty-sweet air combined with the scents of several cook-out parties was the closest thing she could remember to something that felt like paradise. Geonosis wasn’t the putrid brown rock it had once been, full of poodoo spires and insectoids, but it was still unbearably arid and hot. Dust got into everything.

Ever so slowly the Creed woman sighed and pushed herself up lightly on one elbow and accepting the offering. Slowly, she brought the drink to her lips and took a tentative sip, before taking a real one. No one could ever get her drinks right. “How did you know I liked these?”, she questioned teasingly, setting down the drink on the flat top of the lounge. Her fingers pulled down her sunglasses and she took a leisurely perusal of her attire.

It was a far cry from the tailor made suits she generally saw him wear. No cane either? Well. Hell must have certainly frozen over. Once she had her fill of the Minister of War she pushed her glasses back in place and leaned back on the lounge with a delicate sigh, before letting her head turn toward him, not wanting to appear rude. They didn’t speak for a few moments. They could, easily, if they wanted to—but they didn’t have to in order to appreciate each other’s company. It was nice.

“How are you enjoying Castagne, Minister?”

It was an innocent enough question. But, something about her tone, or perhaps her body language made it seem entirely indecent. The Brentaal IV born woman had a way about her that most within the Confederacy seemed to lack. The feminine population typically seemed a touch wild, cold, licentious, or just didn’t prefer men in the slightest. Alessandra had been born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She sought to impress through her work ethic, however, she didn’t let her personality suffer due to professional courtesy. All that she was, everything she was, remained on display because at the end of the day she had nothing to hide. “A girl could get used to this.”

She laughed a little, just barely, the sound breathy and entirely at ease. When the holiday ended she would be back to sassy attitude and snake-skin briefcases, but today, she simply wanted to treasure existing. It was good for the mind, body, and soul to have time to wind down. She was glad the Vicelord seemed to know it too. Because for every violent, disturbing problem they handled, when the mayhem was over—the galaxy kept moving. They couldn’t remain frozen in horror. They needed to learn how to handle the day to day without freezing up.

Alessandra smiled at Adron. It was polite, touched with sly sweetness, and entirely unreadable. He wouldn’t know whether she was pulling his leg or entirely serious. The woman gestured toward the half of the lounge that she wasn’t occupying. “You do realize there was plenty of space right here—Don’t you?”

​

[member="Adron Malvern"]​

 

[Adron Malvern]

Location: Castagne | Time: Afternoon | Objective: Relax? | Tags: [member="Alessandra Creed"]

As Alessandra took her drink Adron took it upon himself to take a light swig of his own beverage. He glanced down at it for a moment, noticing it had been too heavily cut with the soda. Perhaps the hot day called for the bartender to be a bit light with the whiskey, or maybe he was trying to preserve stock, either way Adron had a slight disappointment in the drink. His eyes returned to Alessandra as she tried her own drink, that same tease of a tone fell from her lips and he returned her question with a knowing gaze. It was brief and had an almost serious cue to it, yet finally it he offered her the verbal response he knew she wished to hear. "Well. It just seemed like the right type of drink for the day." He said, nonchalantly as the woman returned to her more relaxed position.

Whenever Alessandra peered at him, even from behind the shades that hid her beautiful chocolate eyes, Adron felt as if she saw something a bit more than the average person could see. She could see who he was, outside of the uniform and the suits. At times it would send a slight surge through the man's spine that he did not enjoy. For everyone the man erected a firm barrier that kept them from his internal workings and with the simplest laugh or the briefest gaze, Alessandra could manage to slip through cracks, without Adron even knowing. She inquired about his time on the planet and he returned with a seemingly disinterested chuckle before taking a sip from his glass.

​"Beautiful planet. I've been here the past few days analyzing it's strategic value to my office. It's raw...a jewel that isn't likely to be seen too often on this side of the galaxy." He admitted.

​There was a pause before he drew his lips into a thin line, his tone turning to one of jest as he spoke. "But....It's too quiet for me." He revealed, gesturing to the waters not far from their view. "Beautiful water, good food, and nice music is nice for entertainment but that's all it is. A planet to entertain me. I like planet's that can engage me, challenge me."

​Adron's blue eyes fell over Alessandra's exposed form. The black wrap that slid from one side of her body to the other while still accenting her toffee colored skin. Her flawless form was a contrast to the marred mess that his body was in comparison. "Not to say the planet doesn't have it's advantages." He said, providing a confident smile as his eyes returned to Alessandra's. As Alessandra spoke again, Adron snorted a bit more than he had intended to. "You'd get bored." He said, his tone a bit more serious than usual. "I've seen how you take your work. The life of the sun and waters isn't for you, Minister." He returned with an amused taunt of the word.

​Bringing his glass to his lips once more, Adron took a rather healthy sip from the cup. A good bit of the whiskey rushed into his throat and left that sweet burn that told him he was growing closer to the loosened feeling that alcohol gave him.

​When Alessandra pointed out the other half of the lounge, the man merely returned her words with an examining look. It lasted a few seconds before he gestured over to the empty area. "I know, looks boring over there. Besides, I'm right where I want to be."

​Adron turned his eyes to the ocean blue, taking in the scenery with a nostalgic pause. He could remember the beaches on Serenno. Though he never actually walked them himself, he had flown over them many times when traversing the planet. "Too hot. I grew up in the Mountains of Serenno, it was nice and cold. But honestly, I didn't really like it so much, I was just used to it." He turned to Alessandra and arched a brow a bit.

"You were raised on Breental IV, weren't you? On occasion my House traded with the Commerce Guild's associated with the planet but I've never been. Is that more your preference? Or do you prefer places where you can soak in the sun?"

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Location: Beach Front, where water meets the sand.
Close-by People: [member="Daisy Americus"] [member="Corvus Dravere"] [member="Corvus Dravere"]
Post: 4

​

"Scherezade," she tried to say after hearing the pronunciation of Cher-uh-zaw-dae. It was a horrible, terrible pronunciation. It made her ears wanna bleed. Why was it that so many people had issues with her name? Sure, it wasn't really common, not even back home, but it was only four syllabels long. It didn't even require that much jaw movement. No one in the 'verse had trouble saying Tchaikovsky, so why was Scherezade so hard? "CIS," she answered the question, "sorta," she added, "no shiny."

Was she still with the Confederacy? Theoretically, she supposed she was, or certain messages would not have gotten through, such as notifications of meetings and all of that. But she had told... She had told so many people, before she'd been sent into the Darkness, that her loyalty did not lay with the Confederacy, but with the Nightmother. And now that it was no longer with the Nightmother, now that she no longer was a part of the Mandragora... What did that make her?

Daisy said something about a sea star, but Scherezade wasn't looking. In fact, he eyes were quite closed, trying to keep the sun out of it now that Daisy was sitting next to her and not standing between her and it. A mental image of what a sea star rose in her mind, courtesy of grandmother deWinter, but she shoved it away. She didn't want to open her eyes and look.

Another voice joined the parade. Scherezade would've blinked at being referred to as the cute lookin' one (and cringed at the "Cher-uh-zaw-dae" being repeated despite her efforts to correct it earlier), but it was hard to blink when your eyes were already closed. There were too many people sitting or standing too close to her. She could feel the walls of the social situation closing down and snapping shut right on top of her and for a single heart beat, she couldn't breathe. Another name added to the list. Daniel, or Dusty. She didn't understand what the two names had in common with each other but she wasn't about to ask.

And now she had Daisy on one side, and Dusty on the other, and another wave of water washed over. She covered the bottle cap protectively. Daniel Dusty was offering a bottle of something else, and Daisy was warning her about it.

Scherezade inched a little bit backwards, sitting up now. The world was spinning aster than she wanted it to, and apparently the two were siblings. Because everyone got their siblings back, except for her. Scherezade groaned and accepted the bottle. Without pausing, she flicked it open with her thumb and took a gulp. It was strong stuff. The kind of strong that people claimed would put hair on your chest. Last she checked though, her chest had been hairless; just a scar from the lightsaber that had been stabbed straight into her heart.

"There's nothing to talk about," she finally said, and took another gulp before returning the bottle to his rightful owner.

And then there was food. Scherezade's stomach rumbled, trying to remind her again that it needed more nutrition than what could be found at the bottom of a liquor bottle. She ignored it and shook her head, letting her body drop on the sand again.

 

[ToKola Bakari]

Location: Castagne Beach | Time: Afternoon | Objective: Have a little fun | Tags: [member="Scherezade deWinter"] [member="Corvus Dravere"] [member="Daisy Americus"]

Daniel was actually a very predictable man. Especially when it came to his older sister’s question of how it’s hanging.

“Low and to the left, but kinda weird of ya to ask.” He said, offering a sly smirk to his sister. The man had used that phrase since he was a boy and, without fail, into his manhood.

When Daisy tried to pass Scherezade’s name off to Daniel, he spent a good moment rolling the difficult name off his tongue. “Cher-.... Cheru….Cheruzha….. Aww hell. Imma call ya Cherry!” He said with a genuine smile, tipping the brim of his hat back to reveal his messy brown hair. When Daisy spoke about his drink of choice, the man let out a good natured laugh. “It's gotta kick to it.” He admitted.

After giving the bottle back to Daniel, Scherezade fell back into the sands again. Daniel gave her an ultimately confused expression before looking up to his sister. “Somethin’ I said?” He asked before glancing over to Corvus, who seemed to be busy with a small bonfire scraped together in the sands.

“Sounds like Cherry could use some grub.” He said, pointing a thumb at the girl as her stomach gave off that subtle rumble.

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Location: Beach Front, where water meets the sand.
Close-by People: [member="Daisy Americus"] [member="Daniel Americus"] [member="Corvus Dravere"]
Post: 5

​

"Imma call ya Cherry!"

Something inside Scherezade snapped. More words were said, but she wasn't listening anymore. Cherry was too close to Shery. Her grandmother. Grandmother deWinter. The one who had imprisoned her for five hundred years, the one who had torn her away from her family, taken away any chance she could have had for a life with her parents and her twin brother and... And then dumped here in this time where everything was just bad and everyone just wanted your trust only to betray you later.

When Dusty was done talking, Scherezade's eyes opened and she looked at him, the rage coming off of her in waves. She sat up quicker than any other person half as drunk as her should ever have been capable of, a knife already sliding from her sleeve into her hand.

A moment later Dusty was flat on the ground and she was sitting on top of him, the knife ready to cut his throat.

"You will never call me that!" she screamed, "my name is motherkrakking Scherezade! Sche-re-za-de! Get that through your head! Not Cherry, not Shery, not Pebble! SCHEREZADE!!!" she screamed again, "SAY IT! SAY IT BEFORE I CUT YOUR THROAT!"

 

[ToKola Bakari]

Location: Castagne Beach | Time: Afternoon | Objective: Have a little fun | Tags: [member="Scherezade deWinter"] [member="Corvus Dravere"] [member="Daisy Americus"]​

​

Daniel had been beyond caught off guard. The man was turned towards Corvus when he felt the invisible weight that forced him to the ground. It was overpowering, to the point where he could not even reach his pistol that was on his waist. As his hat flew off and he slammed into the sand he let out a loud grunt as the wind was knocked out of him.

“What the-” His words we're cut from his mouth as he heard Scherezade’s voice boom from above him. Realizing she was the one who caused this he tried to speak but was deadly silent when he saw the blade near his face.

“Woa! Woa! Put that knife away!” He exclaimed, pulling his head away from the blade.

As she continued he grew frustrated and confused, to the point where he yelled out in a thick, outer rim accent, however the words spoken we're not Galactic basic, they were entirely Mandalorian. *“Solu’va ve’ganir dini’la dal’kutla be’chaaj a’ni!” It was not often that Daniel used his mother tongue, and it generally was not good.

*Translator*
“Someone get this crazy queen off of me!”