Oh, It's You Again

[Geneviève Lasedri]

It had been a huge mistake to even consider Subach-Innes for a supplier, though there was no way Geneviève could have known this prior to the first meeting. Even afterwards, there had been little cause for concern of a buyout that would affect her in any way. Companies come and companies go--even the monsters.

But it was a different sort of monster that Gen was having to deal with. The lines had been quiet for some time now, but the deal had still been made and snoopers could be expected to do nothing less than snoop. Gen had let her guard down for what she had known was a stupid move. She had a new CEO now, and this Subach woman was unbelievably irritating to have on her mind at all anymore. But there was no escaping it. There were dangerous details shared between the two of them that needed to be eliminated eventually.

The unavoidable call had come in, however. And now Lasedri was hanging in space aboard her blockade runner, just outside of Protectorate territory and awaiting Circe's ping. Hopefully, this would be short and sweet. Geneviève was not in the mood to stay for dinner and a movie.

"This is Intangible, Ugly Duckling," she muttered into the comms maliciously. "Present, if you're out there..."

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

The Cyracuse-class drone carrier Circe was currently on had been one of the few things that had survived the second shattering of her dreams. She had thought it couldn't get any worse - she was wrong. And here her ship was, staring back at Genevieve's corvette. "You don't need to code with me, Gen. I know you're there, and you know I'm here. I also know you probably consider me a loose end, since Subach has 'folded.' I happen to have a new business now, however, and I would prefer to continue performing business with you... so long as you don't try to eliminate me."

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

Oh, this is cute. The last thing she wanted was to do any more 'business' with this freak. The truth was, she rather enjoyed the radio silence ever since Subach-Innes had gone under, and Geneviève even reveled in Circe's losses. Just desserts, she had deemed them, laughing at the misfortune of her blackmailer. And in the meantime, she had arranged a backup plan to preserve her company should anything else befall her in this annoying situation.

"The feelings aren't mutual," Gen grumbled. "What do you want?"

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

"To discuss work regarding the Omega Protectorate." She said, solidly and simply, ignoring the foul mood that Gen appeared to be in. "Things haven't been fun recently, and I'm not going to be dealing with any more nonsensical business anytime soon - which means that I'm going to require your assistance. Most of the product lines were sold, but I did save some for later use."

She smiled. "The Protectorate may find your goals beneficial as well."

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

Screw the Protectorate.

"Yeah, I prefer to avoid nonsensical business as well," she retorted, rolling her eyes. If this woman thought she could come crying to Gen for protection from her own mistakes, that would just be another one in the jar. Lasedri was not a very forgiving person, especially when her own life was at risk. She was not going to be the fallback or the instrument to her own demise. And in actuality, Gen was beginning to gather the advantage with her Rebellion building and Circe's fortune declining. "I'm not doing anything with the Protectorate. But I'm glad you've found the bright side to all of this."

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

"You hate me, don't you?" She paused. "You think that just because I have information on you, that means I'm going to use it against you. I have never had the intention to do such." She paused once more, unsure of how to continue responding.

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

Gen smirked; nearly laughed in response. "You're frakking right, I hate you. What did you expect? You think I'd trust you?" She never trusted much of anyone, and certainly not this type--especially after the ordeal on Silver Station.

But even if this woman had good intentions--somehow--her competency was certainly in question. There was no rational reason that Lasedri could fathom that would produce any desire to associate her company with the failed owner of Subach-Innes. "You have little to lose, as I see it. You either come begging to me like a queen, or you're about to threaten me with data."

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

"Actually, neither. I'm going to, one more time, ask you to come and enjoy something nice with me. Say what you like, but I only acquired the information because I expected you'd up and run away, considering my personal reputation." She paused, unsure as to how to best proceed now. "Would you kindly be willing to partake in this just once?"

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

Gen crossed her arms, ever skeptical and highly malignant towards Circe. What had happened last time she had trusted her? Oh, right.

But it never hurt to hear someone out before killing them--or at least threatening to do so. "Fine. I'll listen," she gruffed. "What is this glamorous idea you have in mind?"


[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

"Simple. All I want is to get you a bite to eat. You've proven unwilling to have a day of relaxation since the moment we met, and I honestly am tired of you constantly seeing that you're tense and ready to explode like a thermal detonator any minute." She crossed her arms.

"Okay?"

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

Oh, this was good. "You want to take me out to dinner." She turned her head away from the holocam and raked her hands through her hair, mussing the strands up as her chest spasmed in withheld laughter. All of this, just for a meal? Surely it was not so.

Regaining composure, Geneviève returned her gaze towards the projection of Circe and gave a sinister smirk. "You're sounding a little desperate, don't you think? No one cares about me, and I like it when they don't." She snapped at one of her officers our-of-view of the cam, and mouthed a command to him before continuing this hilarious conversation. "Where did you want to eat, Mother?"

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

"I care about you, if you can believe that." She crossed her arms. "I'd like to take you out to a nice, fancy, worthwhile dinner. Something you'll enjoy once in a great while." Hopefully Gen would acknowledge such, because the last thing she wanted to do was make sure that what she was doing was supported by the evidence she had behind her.

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

Geneviève performed a double-take, incredulous at what this woman was telling her. If she thought Gen was that much of a fool to believe there was any sort of attachment... Yeah, you care about having me in your pocket.

"Give me one reason I should believe that," she began, "And one reason I should care." Joy was not something Lasedri had been particularly apt to pursue. What she desired more was security and control of her own life. And Circe was an obstacle to accomplishing just that. "Because you know I wouldn't take you up on that. Not without collateral."

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

"I have something I'll be delivering to your ship soon. It's my greatest advancement in genetic engineering. And you can have it until we're done to prove that my intentions are sincere." She motioned for a pod to be brought forth, one which carried a green-skinned familiar object.

"Okay?"

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

Gen waved her hand indifferently at the image of Circe and glanced at her crew. With her other hand, she wiggled her thumb to signal the audio mute on her end of the holo transmission and began to converse with her captain. "Prepare for retrieval of... whatever this is. Make sure it's absolutely contained, and disintegrate it if need be." She would take no chances--always thinking like a hunter to avoid being the kill.

Lasedri reactivated the audio. "Fine. Where from here?"

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

"I'll send you to the coordinates of the place we'll be eating at. No need to do anything to the pod except make sure that it's still keeping what's inside in stasis. If not, well... it'll be rather worthless." Such was the way of a Vinithi body, the epitome of Circe's career as a genetic engineer, recreating that of the body Rave Merrill had once made for her.

"Meet me there when you get the opportunity."

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

Abregado-Rae boasted plenty of high-class restaurants, which made it an unsurprising choice for a meeting location if Savan was so intent on having 'fun'. As if that was a thing.

Scowling, Geneviève took a seat at the appointed time, not being very inconspicuous at all about the presence of her own agents within the vicinity. They had been given orders to disintegrate whatever that green thing was should anything suspicious occur inside the restaurant. She wore all black, per usual, though this time it was a halter-top dress with armorweave leggings below the flare. She trusted no one, and this [member="Enigma"] least of all. That was why a small syringe containing a rather potent drug was strapped to her right thigh.

"You got me here," she snarled, never one to start out on a positive note with shady associates the likes of this one. "You better make sure I don't feel like killing you over the course of this... chat."

 

[Onrai]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

Circe sat back in her chair, a smile on her face as she ordered a thick, juicy nerf steak wrapped in bacon and topped in a delicious pale green sauce. The feeling of tension she knew was building up in Genevieve's head made her shiver with delight as a glass of wine was brought to both of them. "See, here's the issue, Gen. I want to be friends with you. I honestly do. But the tension you're building isn't helping to grow our relationship. Have I done anything legitimately malicious to you, sweet thing?"

Such was a sincere question, after all.

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

If she had been drinking a liquid, Gen would have squirted it out of her nose in laughter at this insanity. "You're feeling lonely and you needed an imaginary friend? That's why you went through all this trouble?" Oh, some people were just hopeless, alright. But there were plenty of other men and women in this galaxy to get along with--much more open and inviting people. The Rebel leader had, quite possibly, been one of the worst targets for friendship this universe had ever seen.

It was uncomfortable to think about. Her hand reflexively darted to the skirt of her dress, touching the syringe that was beneath the fabric. Nothing came of it, however. This was almost too rich to interrupt. Nothing malicious, she said? "I seem to recall winding up in my own medical ward last time we met. Sweet thing."

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

And I seem to recall in particular you initiating the conflict. I wouldn't have left you in such a battered state, had we been able to behave less like characters in an online game and more like mature adults." Such was a fair point from what Circe recalled - she had not been the one to pull a gun on Genevieve. If she had even attempted to do so, she could never have taken the moral high ground.

A Sith taking the moral high ground.

How ironic.