Cold as Ice

[Evoza]

Bespin, Holiday Towers

Evoza wasn't really a fan of offering her services to governments instead of cooperations. Only because she was an assassin for hire didn't meant that she wanted to take part in a war, and use her skills on the battlefield. Cooperate jobs normally were focused on taking out the target unseen, and happened at fairly luxurious gatherings of the high society. No need to get dirt on her boots and all that, instead just a few drinks, a few drops of poison and then she could already collect her payment.

But the First Order was different. Not because the jobs were more glamorous than those of any other government, but because they paid very well from what she had heard, even more than most cooperate missions she had been part of. Money didn't made her happy, but there wasn't much more she had to live for but her work.

The holiday towers weren't the most luxurious hotel on Bespin. It was somewhere in the middle, far above the dirty holes poor people had to crawl in, but also far away from the lights above. Morning wasn't quite there yet. After a long journey to Cloud City, and a short and rather unrelaxing night of nightmares the young Chiss woman found herself at the bar of the establishment, barley touching the cocktail in front of her.

Some man from the other side of the bar had offered to pay for her drink, but she declined. She wasn't looking for company, or at least not that kind of company. Since she had grown from a girl to a woman this kind of situation had happened to her countless times, and she always reacted like today. Once day would come she would go out to look for work, but right now she simply wanted to pretend to be happy like the others in the bar.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Three pairs of feet marched along the external hall of Cloud City towards the Holiday Towers.

The leader was clad in black; greatcoat and a dangerous cross-guard lightsaber at his side coated in silver and charcoal. A helmet covered his head, a split visor gave clear views of the immediate vicinity. Behind the man, two white Stormtroopers followed with their E-11 blasters trained and ready.

The leader didn’t slow for anyone as people parted like some biblical sea at the sound and sight of the Knight of Ren and the First Order troopers.

Turning into the casino, they walked right in and stopped in the doorway. The masked man looked around and saw his target. The band playing came to a halt as silence fell for a few seconds.

"There," came the synthesised voice.

At that instant, his hand reached out into a claw-like grasp and his target, a human woman, convulsed and was pushed back into the bar, spilling drinks and patrons as she was dragged by the Force grip he exerted over her.

The Stormtroopers moved in across the casino and around various tables to their prey and hoked their arms under hers, dragging her towards the Ren. Face to face with the Dark Side warrior, she gasped, looking into a black void.

"You cannot escape the First Order, Mischaa," the voice growled. "For selling out your superior to the Alliance, you will now be executed for your crimes."

He nodded to the troopers, who took her away with little protest. The Ren looked around the casino, towards the bar and towards a Chiss whom he felt a stronger Dark Side aura about than most here. The Ren looked to her, a little wet from the spilled drinks, and then turned to leave the casino as quick as he had entered.

The troopers would take their prisoner back to the hawk-like transport across the City, waiting for the Ren to arrive and carry out the execution personally.

[member="Evoza"]

 

[Evoza]

The young woman sighed as a guest of the bar besides her spilled his drink over her in shock when the Ren and his soldiers entered the room. All she had wanted was a second to relax, but once more the galaxy had decided otherwise. No matter where she went, chaos seemed to follow, even if she was rarely directly involved in it.

A second sigh emerged from her lungs as she felt a strong cold on her leg, where her hand had been resting. In her confusion and frustration she had accidentally summoned her power, and the fluids on her dress had turned into ice. Her other hand moved from her drink to her head and rubbed her temple. Then followed the third sigh, as she noticed that she had frozen the cocktail as well.

Trying to either dry or heat of the stains on her blue dress she stood up and made her way to the exit of the bar. She needed a bit of fresh air, a few breaths to calm down before she would freeze anything else. Standing outside she caught another glimpse of the force warrior and his soldiers, while they were dragging of their newest prisoner.

She cared little about the human woman, there was not much room to have a sense of morality in her line of work. Yet she would still have liked it better if the whole thing had happened while she was still asleep or once she had headed of into the city. Normally taking out traitors, or whatever people called them in cooperate lingo, was her job, and seeing how graceless and openly it was done around forced her to ask the question if she would really fit in here as anything else than another mercenary for hire.

Her eyes wandered to the Ren several times, while she did her best to not actually look at him, pretending to admire the architecture of Cloud City. It was a skill she had picked up on as cooperate hitman, but it did little to hide her mix of confusion and curiosity in the force.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The Ren stopped, and turned around in the midst of the city and looked through the crowd across to the casino, and just as it felt like they were watching him, they were. The Chiss woman was outside.

"Take her to my ship," he said to the troopers.

He then made his way back towards the casino and the woman trying not to look, but doing a clear job she was interested.

"You," he said aloud, "hold it right there."

Granted, there was little concern for his safety and she didn’t look dangerous or with allies, but she had an aura, and she was watching them. Her mood was darker than usual, and her mind was evoking interest and desire rather than fear and confusion.

"What are you doing on Cloud City in First Order territory."

[member="Evoza"]

 

[Evoza]

At first Evoza simply pretended to not hear the words spoken by the Ren at first, trying to keep up the impression of a inconspicuous civilian. Only when the man addressed her a second time she allowed herself to react, wearing her best mix of confusion and innocence written on her face.

"Who? Me?"

As subtly as possible she began to survey the area, marking possible escape routes just in case. There wasn't to much she had to fear, as her records had been wiped with company money more than one time. Still being a hitman wasn't the kind of profession people looked at without caution, and normally she preferred to not openly announce what she was.

"Just a drifter, trying to see more from the galaxy than Csilla. Heard the First Order is a good place to make a few quick credits."

She gave him her most friendly smile. Neither her cloths nor her overall appearance really hinted that she was more than just a tourist enjoying Cloud City.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The Ren raised a finger.

"I’ve seen and heard enough of your sort to last me a life-time, Chiss. Don’t play dumb."

Her aura, however, was positive, regardless of her reason for being her was one he heard time and time again. It wasn’t coincidence she followed them out.

"The First Order is more than place just to earn credits. You do that dancing on tables or serving food. The First Order will give your purpose, strength and the resources to shape the galaxy one system at a time."

He moved back to look at her.

"The Force is with you, Chiss. Your stance on the Jedi?"

[member="Evoza"]

 

[Evoza]

The blue skinned woman raised an eyebrow when the Ren spoke about purpose, about meaning in her life and that the first order could give her exactly that. If she was honest she had her doubts about that, she had done enough work for governments on the side to know that their methods were as dirty as those of anyone else.

"As I said, I'm just some drifter. I will happily leave the shaping of the galaxy to people like you, as long as I can afford my next meal"

This was getting a bit heated for her taste. The force warrior had seen beyond her mask of faked emotions rather quickly, and while he didn't knew exactly it was still a risk to stay and talk to this man. After seeing what they had done it was not impossible that her profession would get her in trouble as well.

"The jedi are as meaningless to me as the sith, or whatever you are. Religion was never my thing."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

He nodded. She was honest. That was admirable, even when faced with one of their kind.

"Good. I have no time for politics or religion either. Come with me."

With a sharp turn, the Disciple walked through the city and knew the Chiss would follow. She was too curious and eager not to. Turning here and there on an external walkway with the magnificent view of Bespin all around in the clouds they had control of, a sleek black medium-sized transport craft with folded wings waiting on a landing pad. The two troopers waited with their prisoner on her knees.

The Ren approached and nodded to the side of the pad.

"See if this one can fly. And then do not disturb us."

He didn’t give the prisoner a second glance as she started to fight and protest, but she wouldn’t last long before she was launched over the side to fall through the void of Bespin to the unseen ground below the clouds.

The Chiss had followed, and he beckoned for her to follow him up the loading ramp into the main hold.

[member="Evoza"]

 

[Evoza]

Evoza followed behind him, taking in the scenery but still a bit wary about the whole situation. Her cooperate handle "ICE" refereed to more than just her blue skin and her talent to cryokinesis, she earned it for her rather cold demeanor and the fact that it was hard if not impossible to get close to her. It didn't seemed like she was in danger in his company, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.

"Pretty cruel way to kill her."

There was no emotion in her words, it was a completely neutral statement. More than once she had been tasked with delivering similarly cruel deaths, but if possible she preferred to do these things clean. Poison for example, not the kind that made someone suffer, but a subtle yet quick acting one. She followed the ren up the ramp, knowing that from here on she was more or less in his hand now.

"So that's your job? Hunting traitors and then killing them?"

That was a risky one. People with such jobs normally preferred to not talk about them, for their own sake and because there were probably rules in place that prohibited them from going into detail. In the cooperate world a number of contracts was signed that made sure that she would be punished for allowing anyone insight in the details of her work.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

He stood and turned in the hold, the landing ramp down as the white troopers took stance below.

"Betraying your Order is cruel. Seems only fitting."

He reached up and unclipped both sides of the helmet, and pulled it up and over to reveal Connor Harrison, former Jedi Master of the Silver Order. His voice was normal, his face human.

"I am a Knight of Ren, the elite followers of the Dark Side of the Force who aide the First Order, followers of the Supreme Leader in his quest to vanquish the Light and the Jedi." He swept his hair back and sat the helmet down on the side. "Or something like that."

Connor turned and looked at the Chiss, guesting with his hand for her to speak.

"Do you want to live your life in the shadows, or do you want to serve the First Order as an official agent. A Knight Of Ren."

[member="Evoza"]

 

[Evoza]

"For someone claiming to don't care about religion and politics you seem awfully dedicated."

There was a slight chuckle from the Chiss woman, but it was merely there to overplay her real feelings. She wasn't 100% up to date when it came to all the different orders, but her own upbringing in the force was attributed to the shapers of Kor Var. They preferred to stay isolated from the public in contrast to the jedi and sith that always had their hand in this alliance and that empire. And by the sound of it these so called Knights of Ren were similar in their nature.

"Honestly? I'd rather stay in the shadows before becoming some religious zealot fighting for a ... what was it? Supreme leader?"

It was hard to say which word was the greatest turn off. But "knight", "order" and "official" were all strong contenders. Evoza was a woman that rather did her work of the books, and while not overly happy with the nature of her work, had always enjoyed the level of freedom it gave her. Throwing that away to be part of what people called a higher calling was very low on her bucket list.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor scoffed, a wry smile on his face.

"You can fight for whatever you want. Religion. Conquest. Peace. Justice. It’s all the same at the end of the day, just with a different motive. There is Dark, and there is Light. You choose your side, and you strive to uphold it no matter what you call it."

He splayed his fingers over the top of his helmet beside him.

"Jedi follow Grandmasters. Sith follow Emperors. Soldiers follow Commanders. Assassins follow Crime lords No matter what pride you have, you are someone’s puppet. It just depends how unique you make yourself to one day become the puppet-master."

The Ren raised his head, looking at her.

"Remember that when you’re in the shadows, living as a nobody, to be killed as a nobody and remembered as a nobody. Now, get off my ship before you join the girl on a one way trip down to the surface."

[member="Evoza"]

 

[Evoza]

"But sir, you wouldn't throw a innocent woman into her death. What would your men think, with all the screaming and crying?"

She forced a friendly, absolutely inconspicuous smile while looking at the Ren. Yet somewhere in it was something cold, something calculating, so well hidden that all but the most perceptive would simply miss it when looking at her. She wasn't the most fierce warrior, or the most silent assassin, but many man had fallen to believe that she was nothing but a young woman in pretty cloths.

"Now instead of pushing me into my death, would you point into the right direction. The first order surly got an office or institution where a yound drifter like me can hire as a "bounty hunter" and aquire a "license" to do her job."

With bounty hunter she meant hitman, and with license some backroom where a shady first order officer gave out of the book missions for deniable assets like her. The man could tell her whatever the hell he wanted, she had seen to much to believe that the First Order was any different. They too had to erase threats silently, they too needed people to do their dirty work where official involvement was to high of a risk.

"And don't try to tell me otherwise. You can go anywhere in this galaxy, yet in the end some things stay the same. There is always work for people like me."

For just a moment the smile was gone, her words and expression allowing him a hint into her psyche. It was dangerous, but despite the rather unfriendly encounter she still felt like the Ren would been an ally in the First Order. Even if he didn't knew that yet.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The girl had a cold charm to her voice. It was dangerous and uncertain. It was somewhat appealing. Connor noted she didn’t move or protest, but rather took another avenue of exploration which again earned her points.

"My men follow me, and they serve well. They do not question the Ren, which makes them the most loyal and unforgiving fighting force in the galaxy."

He turned, tapping his fingers on his helmet as he walked in a small circle around where it rested and perched on the edge of a table.

"You will come with me to Dosuun, our capital. There in the city of Avalonia you will find what you need. Officers will take you to where you can sign up to one of our divisions, prove yourself and show why we should take you on to fight the disease that runs rife in our galaxy."

Connor nodded to the Chiss as he picked up his helmet and placed it over his head, his voice turning and his identity gone to the troopers as he called them back for the ship to prepare to leave.

"The girl comes with us to Avalonia."

[member="Evoza"]

 

[Evoza]

"You mean unquestioning executioners serving a dictator? No offense."

Again her tone was completely neutral in nature, with no hint of approval or disapproval in it. Ultimately she cared little about the what and why of such things, she had witnessed violence and murder for reasons even more questionable than those of the ren. At least they seemingly believed to actually do good for the galaxy, something she couldn't say about many of the cooperate world.

"I assume the First Order can get my belongings from my room and send them to Avalonia? Because I have a few "personal objects" that I require for my work."

Personal objects meant her combat suit and weapons. She had little doubt that the First Order had well suited replacements that she could claim, but like anyone in her or a similar line of work she had grown used and attached to her own gear. Also she already had been threatened to be killed today and someone spilled a drink over her favorite dress because of the ren, so getting her stuff back to her was the least they could do as repayment.

"Do the Ren have names? Or should I simply address you as Mr. Ren from now on?"

There was a light chuckle, and Evoza's rather frosty personality warmed up just the slightest bit. If this wasn't some trick then she would soon have some real work again.

[member="Connor Harrison"]