Lords of the Fringe Dominion of Thakwaa

[Yasha Cadera]

"Dude, for real?" I eye the Arbiter as he left-left-right's his way into Lucianus' guard. Adair covers and takes some hits, but he keeps sweeping through and it's only then I realize I'm beginning to seep in the crowd enough to understand when them's fighting words. "Got a sense about some things, and Alen Na'Varro's one of those dudes."

Leaning back, I string my arm over the next chair over and grin. "No money of my own, pride cometh before a fall, let's make it interesting. A Favour. What do you think?"[member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Marselia Urstalis]

Zombies? Ecch. This?

Much better. She'd have dragged Jared along if she could but he had his head so deep into getting the squadrons together that he didn't seem to have much time as of late. She could mope, or she could be entertained. Of course, she could hardly blame him for not wanting to watch a couple of what she had heard were the Fringe's most...

She shook her head at where that train of thought was headed, tittering a little laugh as she dropped into a seat alongside [member="Anders Sivas"]... in fact, the very one the other Fringer had stretched her arm across the back of.

"I think... this is one of the better things I've done with my time in weeks," she quipped crossing her legs at the ankles, and fixing her eyes on the fight. It was one of the better moods she had been in, ever since the New Order popped up right over her home world. Nope, she wouldn't be dwelling on that today. "Though, I'm afraid I don't know which one is which..."

Lia turned her head and looked at the other two, her face touched with bemusement, catching a look at the other guy, [member="Jorus Merrill"]. "...comes with the 'new girl' territory."

Then she looked back to the fight.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Anders Sivas"]

"Favour it is, bro." He kept his eyes on the match, but not too tightly focused, just watching the fight as a whole. From time to time a move caught his eye. "I'm a little short on cash my own self, though it's easy enough to raise in space this rough. I'm not saying I pirate, but there's plenty of folk out here that have a little too much, got it the wrong way, and won't suffer for its lack, if you know what I'm saying. But favour it is."

He glanced at [member="Marselia Urstalis"] and pointed at the pit with his chin. "My boy's about to go for it."

 

[Yasha Cadera]

"Let's shake on it. A favour for the winner. Anders Sivas. Can't say I'm ignorant of that myself, or I was. Force works in mysterious ways. Wonders and opportunities, eh?" Space being rough and times toughening were things I understand all too well. If not for [member="Jared Ovmar"]'s patronage, I'd be worse off and underweight - well, more underweight than I already am. "Hello, gorgeous. Can't say you're wrong." I grin and wave my hand that's still plastered on the chair [member="Marselia Urstalis"] sits down in. Hey, if the woman wants to sit there, knowing my arm is around it, she's welcome. I'm in full Anders mode, for all intents looking like an effeminate if lanky man with one ankle propped up on my knee.

"The big bearded guy who-ooooouch!" I wince again, as Alen's next jab-cross-hook combo land with steady thunks and Lucianus takes a tumble toward the netting around the ring. "Who just pummelled Lucianus Adair, is Alen Na'Varro. Alen's the one I'm betting on winning. Lucianus is. . . his bet."

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Anders Sivas"]

"Jorus Merrill," he said, all matter-of fact. Anders Sivas -- the file was thin, but interesting. Elected to High Council as a fething Apprentice. Personal student of Spencer Jacobs. Some said pacifist, most said healer, all said empath. Worked closely with Jorus' little sister.

And on the flipside, Jorus had just given a name associated with a protracted guerrilla war against Fringe, one that had died down in recent months -- as well as bacta interests on Verkuyl.

But what was one to do? Buddy gives his name, you give yours back.

 

[Ilias Nytrau]

She hadn't watched a fight in... oh, two years at her best guess, unless she was to count the very first jaunt she went out on with the Fringe. That was quite the rush. It was also quite something to have met a majority of the Fringe's most prominent membership in one go, and have to step out of her comfort zone to work with others in a common goal - something she hadn't done in six years. She had become accustomed to the isolation of true independence after having put down not one, but two backstabbers in her first two years away from home. She thought that had told her everything she needed to know about people, but on a hunch she had taken the opportunity to put herself among others again, and they had done so much to begin proving her wrong on her beliefs in that respect.

Just before she slipped into her seat on the free side of [member="Jorus Merrill"], she caught a glance of the less ladylike flop of Marselia. Considering what little she'd managed to glean on the girl's background, she might have been a little surprised. Perhaps it was the freedom - she had been a wee bit like that, at first, herself. After a moment, she took her seat and crossed one leg over the other, and listened to the chatter beside her as her eyes went to the fight.

The two fighters were attractive, that much was certain, but she was long accustomed to seeing past the pleasing aesthetic to the meat of it all - how each man moved, how they, in ways, knew each other, as well as how much they did not.

 

[Marselia Urstalis]

Her eyes never leaving the fight, with the clip at which it was moving, Lia leaned towards the one who had mentioned his name as '[member="Anders Sivas"]', as he explained who was whom, and which of the two he and the other, [member="Jorus Merrill"], had laid their bets on.

"Well, I'm just here for the entertainment. The Dawn Treader gets a bit stuffy sometimes," she admitted, "you wouldn't think so, for a ship of its size."

She turned her head slightly towards the two beside her, noting the blonde on the far end.

"Oh, I am Marselia Urstalis, by the way. But call me Lia, I insist."

 

[Yasha Cadera]

"Bacta rights." I sniff and my head snaps around a bit, turning away from the fight to see Rave's brother with a new cognizance. "Well met, Jorus. I share a portfolio with your sister. Here for the fight, or family business?" Now I know what the man whose injuries sent Mia Monroe flying through our space on a vendetta looks like. [member="Jorus Merrill"][member="Marselia Urstalis"][member="Selinica Miriya Cailis"]

"What size is the Dawn Treader, ah, Lia?" I know there's another girl on the other side, I can't see her too well, but I give a wave and keep watching the match. "Ooooo didhejustgetkickedinthespl--oooo can you guys feel the hurt?"

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Anders Sivas"] [member="Marselia Urstalis"] [member="Selinica Miriya Cailis"]
And suddenly there was chatter, or maybe he'd just undergone some empath-driven location shift from a featureless crowd to a group of actual people.

"That's me," he said, not quite catching what the ginger said behind Anders. "Today, just here to watch the fight. I'm a little fuzzy on how this'll translate into -- holy feth was that a good hit. Buddy did the same block in a row and got dinged for it." He collected his thoughts, tracking the fight. "Fuzzy on how this translates into the local leadership succession. Winning's a far cry from ruling, as your predecessors found out the hard way."

 

[Ordo]

The worst part about the big weapon was that it tended to run out of ammo fast and with out a energy source when she was spent she was spent. Ordo dropped the weapon while the barrel was still spinning and pulled his beskad. The black blade wasn't force anything, but it was handmade in his own forge. He moved forward along with the others and began the dirty job of killing monsters, his new favorite occupation.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Said predecessor put her bastard sword through half a dozen undead within a quarter second. Gore splattered, as gore often does, and her phrik-clad self stomped straight ahead into the thick of the pack. She laid about her with Winterlight. Time to really get to work, apparently.

"Evening, @Ordo." Talking was hard; didn't want to get gore in her mouth.

 

[Marselia Urstalis]

Oooh, yeah... that didn't look very nice. Lia winced slightly, and answered [member="Anders Sivas"]'s question.

"It's an ImpStar Deuce so in metres... about... sixteen-hundred long, eight-hundred wide, and six-hundred tall."

And it was home, these days. She had become alright with that, nothing had been anywhere near the comforts of her childhood home - and she was not too far out of childhood, if she bothered to consider it for a second - but comfort had somehow become secondary over the past several months. Priorities had changed.

 

[Yasha Cadera]

"Bacta hits me right here." I slap my chest, pulling on my jacket to keep it over my chest. "Have fun with th-ooohhand Lucy bit that with wooden teeth!" My shoulders rise up, I almost grab the medkit but both fighters are still going at it so I play good little medic and stay in my seat. Or was that good little… I shake my head and put a hand on my temple - a breeze passes by my face as I clear the empathic 'fog' of the high emotion crowd. Hopefully it'll give me more than a few parcelled moments where I'm more my own. "Dang, I'd hate to be in that ring right now, but hey, at least I've got some bacta and some skill to heal them later, eh?"

Spencer would be proud. "That's a big ship, Lia. I've got a Pathfinder-Class, myself. 360-odd meters of brilliant deep space exploration. Not as colossal as a .. wow yea that's a city in ship form. Nice to get a stretch planet-side? Planning to stay in Fringe space long?"

[member="Marselia Urstalis"][member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Ilias Nytrau]

She had been keeping tabs on the conversation, glancing back to the people alongside her every couple of minutes, and catching the wave [member="Anders Sivas"] gave her, offering only a small smile in return.

"Mm. I really don't see how that translates well at all," she agreed in response to [member="Jorus Merrill"], "brawn in most cases rarely equates to brains, in my experience."

Goylus had been a fine specimen in attestation to that fact, and she believed wholly to this day that it had played a huge part in his death - at her hand, no less. She crossed her arms, mostly an unconscious act, feeling the most security in herself, than in others.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Anders Sivas"]
[member="Marselia Urstalis"]

"Yeah, saw the medkit. They say you're good at what you do, and the way these jokers are it it, you're going to have to -- sorry, you said Pathfinder? My wife and I designed and built that ship." Now this -- and he couldn't avoid it -- was a whole other side of Jorus Merrill. Goofy grin included. He chucked his chin at Marselia, inadvertently turning his back on Miriya as she started speaking. "And you've got a Deuce-"


He cut off, turned back; couldn't be rude. Well, one could, but today wasn't the day, nor this the place. "I've known champions that could lead, but precious few. Ben Watts comes to mind." He gestured down into the pit, glancing at Miriya. "Now, if these boys are the Dark Side's answer to Ben Watts..."

 

[Yasha Cadera]

[member="Jorus Merrill"][member="Selinica Miriya Cailis"][member="Marselia Urstalis"]

"Aw, I do my best. Which usually ends up in lives saved. I'm kind of waiting for a call from the others, to be honest. Should probably let them know I'm available for med evac. But, th-oooyeahtheseguys'llneedmemore." Ashin was on the other side of the planet. Ordo, a host of others I know can take care of themselves for the most part. Even defending against a zombie horde. As Lucy tumbles into the netting, I half rise and fall back as he gets up. My eyes flicker from hazel to green as I stare at Adair. One, two broken ribs, contusions, soft tissue damage sprouting - the man'll have some real goose eggs in a minute or three. It's taking a serious amount of control to stay in my seat.

That's when it hits me: How does Jorus know? I'm not a blip on the universe anymore, and that's more terrifying than Alen Na'Varro's roundhouse kick to Lucianus' knee. "Aw, man! Oh man!" I grin. "I love my Pathfinder! It was a gift fr--I love it. Modded mine out a bit interior-wise. Made some of it into a mobile surgical unit. Commissioned her the Sumatiyara - The Wise and Joyful Thought. You designed it? That is epic, dude! Totes epic! How'd you think up that beauty, eh?"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

She pressed ahead into the mass, claws scraping at her armor, her Tenloss Warrior helm, her grip on the sword. More than once she gathered the Force and shoved the undead away, gaining room to limp on toward temporary refuge in what appeared to be the transport she'd heard about. Simple thing -- industrial, carrying ardanium to a factory a couple hundred klicks away. Ardanium. Something about that tugged at the back of her mind as she shoved out the undead, slammed shut a door that was more warp than right angle, and gave herself a moment's breather. The Force was inexhaustible, Luke Skywalker had claimed, but her ability to draw thereupon had its limits.

Ardanium. She wrackd her brain as, in the fitful light of rents in the hull, she examined the cargo labels. Gore dripped from her sword and armor, barely audible over the scratching at the bulkheads. Something about...ardanium.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Anders Sivas"]

"The aesthetics, the concept, that was all Alna -- I'm an ugly freighter kind of guy, but she, my wife, she's got a real genius for starship design. She's one of the best ever, and no mistake. I was copilot on that gig, and didn't mind a bit. Learned a lot." He grinned faintly. "Glad you like the modularity. Frigate guns, handles like a '1300, crew of two, but what I love most is bein' able to turn it into anything you want. I raise my daughter on mine, on the first ever built, the Daragon."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

She'd braced the crashed vessel's door, but not too well, it seemed. It yielded with a mindboggling sound of rending metal as she spun back toward it, or tried to. Her right knee buckled, as was its wont, and she fell to the deck kneeplate-first, raising her sword. She found herself between two pallets of ardanium as the wave of undead stormed into her.

The Force lashed out, throwing them back -- and again, and again, until they pulped and stopped moving in a coherent way. Gore slimed the pallets, infectious fluids.

Not ideal, and she still couldn't remember why the ardanium was important. Some other place, some other set of priorities -- it wasn't important for the zombie outbreak, or for the leadership succession, as far as she could recall. But she was getting tired and couldn't really recall it at all.

Feth.

 

[Marselia Urstalis]

[member="Anders Sivas"] | [member="Jorus Merrill"]

Lia waited for Anders to finish replying to Jorus, then she replied to Anders, herself.

"Planet-side's great. All this time out in space is something I'm still not all that used to," she gave, "but it's not too bad. There's a certain appeal to it, I suppose."

And then there was the matter of the next question. She mulled that over. This was the new plan.

"I am, we are planning on sticking. Hopefully it's a lot more cohesive than the imperium we came from," she smiled, at her use of the 'we'. "We, as in myself and Jared Starchaser - the Dawn Treader is his - are both fighter pilots. I met him in my brief stint with the Fel. So, that figures into our plans amongst the Fringe as well."