Public Comet Chaser's Coterie (RTL, Vagrant Fleet, Spacer's Guild)

[Aeshi Tillian]

Comet Chaser Station
BLUE MOON CANTINA

Aeshi glared down at the two scrawny humans at the back corner table. They stared up at her initially, but when she rested her hands on the hilts of her .48s, they scrambled off, taking their drinks with them.

"This table is reserved," Aeshi said, glowering at the others in the room. She flipped a sign that read reserved back upright. It was a large table, all things considered, with room for plenty. She had no idea why the two stragglers had claimed it. They weren't Free Spacers or Spacer's Guild. There had been a yellow miner's company patch of some sort on their jumpsuits, but she couldn't make out the insignia beneath the grime and grease that covered them.

"Sheev letting the place get really run down," Aeshi grumbled, plopping a couple bottles of whiskey on the table. She'd let out some signals and made some invites through her network of contacts. Free Spacers. Guild. Even some old networks in touch with this new Vagrant Fleet she'd heard out on the fringes. The League was good and all, for a government at least, but governments could only do so much. They could only do so much. Spacer trash, some of the big core world mercantile houses called them. Riffraff. Lawbreakers. Smugglers and renegades.

Aeshi knew better. They'd have to look after each other, look after themselves. So she'd called this little coterie gathering in what would be the most discreet and the safest place. A dive bar run by Squib salvage prospectors. All sorts of questionable folks gathered around, even if they had started letting in some sort of mining guild scabs. But a credit was a credit, after all, she supposed.

They needed to put a plan into action so nothing like the siege of the Five Veils could happen again and no Core corps could get their greasy palms anywhere in the Outer Rim where they could leverage their wealth to seize power. It might take a war to drive them out, but only if they let them in the first place.

Like the old Underground. Normal people, everyday folks with useful skills. Even some of the mining people could be good, she would have to grudgingly admit, even in the big outfits. A little larceny, a little sabotage, a little corporate espionage. Sneaking intelligence through borders. Even some good old-fashioned smuggling, if it came down to it. The NIO had turned into an Empire. The Maw were ravaging the Core. Hutt syndicates were gaining strength in their old haunts.

Aeshi figured it was time to start punching back. They needed a plan. Resources. Targets. Information. Then just step back and let everyone did what they do best.

Break some hearts, maybe some knees, and more than a handful of laws.

 

[Tessa Sedaire]

Theme

Done running from her name, Tessa had taken up the connections her father and Uncle had left for her. Arriving in the Heartfire she had been smuggling relief and military supplies for various Rebel and Underground cells. The old diehards where her father's last name would buy entry to build her own rep. Business was good, but not great. A message likely meant for her old man had wound up in her inbox, and she had taken a keen interest. Seemed like something she could care about more than credits. She had sent a wave to Liam, but he was likely too busy in the core playing hotshot soldier like their father.

The redhead slipped in unnoticed to the meeting, and found a seat at the table, nodding to Aeshi Tillian as she pulled off her gloves and waited for the inevitable grilling of who she was and where she came from. Cybernetics glimmered at her fingertips, humming slightly and glowing to any who could sense the Force. A dozen or more pieces of wide-band tech tickled her fancy, but for the moment she restrained her info-hound senses and focused on nursing the wine she had pegged from the bar and made her way over with. She had a tidy sum of credits from skimming the infostream and running scams. No need to be greedy unless a cause called for it.

 

[Aeshi Tillian]

Tessa Sedaire

The first to arrive was someone that Aeshi didn't recognize, but something about her made her awareness itch, through some way she could sense in the Force, but another that seemed oddly familiar. She pursed her lips slightly, but nothing. The face did not ring a bell, and the wine certainly didn't. Had she ever met someone who drank wine?

Aeshi couldn't think of any. She nodded and raised a glass of whiskey to the newcomer. "Name's Aeshi Tillian. Don't think we've met before, although you seem oddly familiar. We've not crossed starlanes before, have we?"

 

[Tessa Sedaire]

Smiling, Tessa raised the wineglass in a salute at her temple, sticking out two fingers to mimic the ages old military gesture. Tillian was a name her father had mentioned, and it meant she had found the right crew. The name wasn't immediately on her mind, but the one speaking to her was in the Underground, or at one time was. Julius' notes had stated she ran a ship and was reliable.

"Likely not. Most of my life was on Denon, in the slums."

Sipping, she considered the next options carefully, but went with her full name anyway.

"Names Tessa Sedaire. Doubt we've met, though you've probably heard the family name..."

Aeshi Tillian

 

[Aeshi Tillian]

Tessa Sedaire

Aeshi’s nose wrinkled at the mention of Denon. “Denon? The slums?” She shivered slightly and spread her arms to gesture at the bar. The lights were dingy, the bar dirty and stained. Squibs hawked and bartered junk parts and rock chunks at more than a few tables. Everyone bad at least one visible weapon and undoubtedly several hidden.

“Welcome to the high society of the Outer Rim. Grats on escaping the hellholes in the Core. Ain’t nothing sweeter than the fresh freedom of the galactic event horizon, I can tell you that.”

She remembered those days all too well. The hunger aches that never really diminished. The grime of rain-slicked air pollutants that grew layer by layer and scrapping with the other urchins for a pile of trash bins to sleep in. And the fear. That never went away. It had kept her on edge, nerves perched on the edge of a vibroknkfe without end. Aeshi had jumped at every sound. Especially booted footsteps. Those were the Sith soldiers or their police force goons on patrol.

She shook her head to bring herself back to the present. “Wait, did you say Sedaire? Like Julius?” She shook her head, chuckling softly. “Yeah I know that name, for sure didn’t expect to run into anyone again though”

 

[Mariah of House Marr]

Mariah wasn't sure quite what to expect here. She wasn't certain she could get credits, whether by being hired, paid for her droids, or just...taking them from whatever enemy they had. What she knew was that the people she was going to attempt to work with had a fairly good reputation. And hopefully, if they did end up looking too closely into her past, weren't going to cause problems for her. But that was the price of living as she did, and she planned to continue paying it. White-5 came with her, armed with a pv-16-sunfury-pulse-pistol, and an IR-1. Some day she'd make a more independent model. Would really be beneficial to get an upgrade designed to operate without her input. Regardless, the droid still did it's job when she needed a bodyguard. Her ship was safe of course. Plenty of swarm-drones, plus the 20x Aristaeus Drones, and it's own security counter measures. She'd even had some of the swarm drones stay nearby just in case more firepower was needed.

Yes, it was perhaps a bit overcautious. But she could have gone a step further and not come at all, or used only White as her stand in. That was after-all what she made him for anyway. Coming brought another risk, her necklace. While it's only real power was preventing her aging, it had a presence that one could potentially sense in the force. It was unavoidable really.

She smiled as she saw the woman she was here to meet, nodding to Aeshi Tillian . Someone else was already here ahead of her, she didn't recognize this one. Tessa Sedaire . She whispered to White to simply keep his distance, and defend her if necessary. Didn't need him to bring any greater sense of worry than might already exist. She could always send him a message quietly if need be. "Hiya. My names Mariah. Hopefully I did indeed get the right place." she said. Not entirely sure if she should actually say Aeshi's name aloud or not.

Aeshi Tillian Tessa Sedaire

Equipment:
mariahs-necklace
mariahs-gauntlet
repulsor-board
2x bar-58-blaster-pistol

 

[Tessa Sedaire]

An eyebrow lifted at the newcomer Mariah of House Marr , and nothing more before Tessa nodded in greeting and turned back to answer Aeshi Tillian on her question. While the Droid and girl were interesting, she was trying to break old habits formed on Denon, and scanning memory banks and compiling ways to murder or rip off a friendly were just a matter of course no longer.

"Julius is my father, yes. My mother was a Scientist on Denon. Most of her family were government until the corporations took over, then they went sort of resistance. I am just coming to know the old man though. Trying to make my own name. He mentioned you were a good sort to throw in with last I saw him."

 

[Aeshi Tillian]

Mariah of House Marr Tessa Sedaire

Aeshi leaned back in her chair, watching as the newcomer appeared, and spoke. Her eyes caught the movement of the droids lurking through the crowd. Interesting. Lots of those with technology and cybernetics this time around. More eclectic than she remembered from last time, which was good. They'd have to do things under the radar and discreetly.

Machines and technology could do many things without attracting the attention of the Sith, or even the Jedi fanatics. She didn't trust any of them. This NJO had thrown their lot in with the imperial secessionists and helped put this new empire in power. What that said to her about the Senate, well, she was not sure. It gave her bad feelings though.

"Good to meet you, Mariah," Aeshi replied, raising her glass in welcoming and gesturing towards an open chair. "Take a seat." At Tessa's words, she raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"I never would have guessed he'd thought that highly. Hope I can live up to that sort of expectation. But make a name for yourself?" She grinned and leaned forward on the table. "That I reckon you'll be able to do on your own. What about you, Mariah? What brings you to this little party?"

 

[Mariah of House Marr]

Mariah nodded and smiled as Aeshi Tillian invited her to the table, "Thank you." She adjusted herself into the seat as she listened to the other woman speak. Family talk, that always was an interesting topic wasn't it. Course, she'd missed too much to actually know what was going on. And the name 'Julius' was not really going to help. Too many people in the galaxy to go by one name. Could get a big shot senator or some hutt's footman.

A question was posed to Mariah, who hummed a moment in thought leaning against her chair, "Could be the credits or business. Could be your rep. Heard the surname a few times and seemed...reliable, if that's the right term. What people said anyway." She said shrugging, "I got a very durable ship, a lot of tech knowledge, specially droids, and I feel that I can be helpful. So long as I'm not suffering a net loss and getting my guts shot open, I'm willing to help where I can."

She couldn't name one specific reason. She usually was willing to help where she could, even when it meant some risk. "Guess it's just regular life to me. Galaxy isn't peaceful. Help, get help, and do business, wherever you can. But especially if you can trust the people."

Tessa Sedaire Aeshi Tillian

 

[Tessa Sedaire]

Sitting the empty glass down, Tessa wiggled hands inlaid with bio-circuitry and faintly humming with the Force. The Droid that Mariah bought would feel passive data and presence begin to roll off the girl. What had started with talent in Mechu-Deru and a tech affinity had been turned to... Something else... A doctor on Denon had seen to that, and Tessa had finished the work he started. She kept the radius of her ability to just their tables. But scanners and the like would all light up if anyone had any, as Tessa gently extended her mind to make contact with the bits of tech the two held on their person, toying in a non-malignant way with what she could. Even lifting a good size rock was a struggle for her, but this talent was something she did like breathing, whatever it had become.

"My father wishes he had some of my talents. But I use them only for people deserving them."

Aeshi Tillian | Mariah of House Marr

 

[Aeshi Tillian]

Tessa Sedaire Mariah of House Marr

That brought an amused smile to Aeshi's face. "Well, first time I ever had myself described by reliable, especially in terms of my family. But glad to have you both regardless, even if it's just us three to start with." She was about to say more, but felt an odd tingle running up her cybernetic arms. One that didn't belong.

Her eyes narrowed and flicked back and forth between the two of them, but she let a breath hiss out through her nose for a moment, before taking another drink of the whiskey. "Yeah, your father had a lot of good skills, but I cannot say I remember technology being one of them."

She clapped the glass back down on the table and studied the others. "We need to start making plans. Picking targets. Securing resources. Finding allies. Being ready to hit the jackboots of the galaxy when we're ready and on our terms. What do you think?"

 

[Mariah of House Marr]

White didn't have eyes to narrow, but he detected something that he perceived as a passive potential threat. Silently alerting Mariah via her gauntlet. Which in turn had it's numerous sensors activated. Mariah glanced under the table at it as Tessa spoke, considering the meanings. She glanced at White who added more data. Short range, it didn't seem forceful, but it was there. The Repulsor board wouldn't grant much information, but her gauntlet and droid were important pieces of equipment to her. So she ran a test, manually shutting down it's reception to external sources. This wouldn't prevent complete force based abilities, but if her usage required the devices to be able to receive or send data, it would shut it down.

In that time, there probably was things that could be learned depending on how much skill or intentions Tessa had. The board had no information to exchange, it responded to signals from wrist pieces on Mariah. The gauntlet had a lot of encryption and scanners available to it. White would be the information dump given his memory storage involved a lot of Mariah's history, including her age and numerous past occupations, as well as some of his own specialized equipment and design. He was trying to back out of the signal range, using his own sensors to attempt to locate it's exact location, purpose, and reach. However much of her technology was not in fact combat or sabatoge oriented. White had combat functions and could operate a ship, but was not actually a very impressive AI compared to more advanced models. Her gauntlet had no combat capability and was practically just a bunch of tools for anyone who was used to computer work, if more on the slicing and sensor side. And the board offered no weaponry to speak of.

Mariah smiled and shrugged to Aeshi's reaction to her name. It was perhaps a term that needed clarification. Reliable as a citizen wouldn't have been the word she used. But some kind of reliable was definitely accurate from what people said. She listened to Aeshi's further explanation, not detailed but still more to go on. "Certainly seems good to me. Can't hurt having more allies. Though I won't lie, while I'm well prepared to defend myself, even sometimes against slicers, I'm not the strongest fighting force. Sure I could make a grand assault...once. But I don't run my own factory. I kinda just...go from place to place well protected, help make and fix things, and help transport things. You could be a little disappointed if you start thinking of me as a combat asset. Oh except White," She leaned back looking at the droid, "When I really want to fight or go somewhere exceedingly dangerous I use him remotely. Very effective."

There certainly was an acknowledgment in her response of the spread of influence. Though she hadn't determined her course of action yet. She considered saying it outright but thought that might be a bit much. She glanced back at her gauntlet to see if it showed anything, and glanced at White to see if there was any signs of change on him or if he had nailed down what was going on.

Aeshi Tillian Tessa Sedaire

 

[Aeshi Tillian]

Tessa Sedaire Mariah of House Marr

Aeshi shrugged before leaning back and spreading her arms out. "I've not got factories or anything either. Just a ship, a co-pilot, and itchy fingers." She patted the guns in their holster. "And that's all we need to start."

She scanned the rest of the station cantina for any unfriendly-looking eyes, or some ears tilted in the wrong direction. Nothing that she could see. She leaned forward over the table.

"To begin, we don't want to be getting into fights if we can help it. Cyber strikes, releasing information, subtle sabotage. That's where we'll need to start. Moving information and supplies, working covertly. In time, we may get more people to join us, but otherwise, I'd prefer to avoid a fight." She drained the rest of the whiskey from her glass before speaking in a low voice.

"Imperials like to use their ships to brag about their power, right?" She gave a wicked grin. "Well, ships are just pieces of machinery, right?"