[Open] Drinking with the Ravens

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Marek Starchaser"]

"Agreed...and likewise. I'm only half ancient male Whiphid." She tapped her temple with one lacquered fingernail, arching an eyebrow, and turned away.

She made her way through the place. She'd halfway lied -- well, more than halfway. Her intention was a little more ambitious than she'd let on.

[member="Lysle of the Hydian Way"] [member="Enigma"] [member="Sigourney Xanthius"]

A few minutes' observation and a couple of offhand questions got Lysle pointed out to her. With some interest, and mixed feelings, she noted the head of Subach-Innes engaging him in conversation. He stood with a statuesque Zeltron, too, which circumscribed Selka's options. Not that she'd planned on seducing the boss, strictly speaking, but options were options.

She caught the arm of a server. "I'd like to send a man a drink, if that's possible."

It was. Eyebrows rose stratospherically when she pointed out the man in question, but any server of quality would know what the boss drank when he was entertaining. Lysle's favorite drink arrived, courtesy of 'the lady over there at the sabacc table' -- currently holding the better part of an Idiot's Array and toasting him from afar with a half-full glass of champagne.

If the Red Raven boss man wanted an out, this was it.

 

[Seanna Vel]

It wasn't every evening one caught such a redhead like her in a joint like this. After all to her liking there was to many people but still she came if anything out of her own curiosity. Just maybe she would be able to talk business here with the Ravens after all. Even so she was dressed for the club life or so she thought she would be. After all this wasn't a normal place of one she hang out with after working such a hard day. Come to think about it her own standers was coming up higher lately. Knowing that she had to raise the bar to do business with some of the others with in the galaxy. Always had a mind to think bigger then just the little part of the galaxy she was in right now. There planets that was needing her help to get their goods to the market. Even the raw goods to make sure they got the most out of their money.

In a way she was watching out for the little guys, but with this also she was there for a little bit herself. Knowing how hard those that she was speaking for worked there wasn't a real break.

As she make her heal was on straight. How she hated these blasted things but knew that they had to go with the outfit. First things was first knowing where she would be heading first that was to the bar.

"Fire Whiskey on the rocks don't use any of that cheap, crap either sweet pea.", as she just smile one thing she knew was her whiskey. As if she had just spoken something. "You heard me right, there fire Whiskey oh while your at it make it a double.", as she could handle about any thing. Now came the part she dislike so much the waiting game.

​

[member="Lysle of the Hydian Way"][member="Darren Shaw"] Selka Ventus, Sigourney Xanthius, Marek Starchaser, Jan VonFowl, Cryax Bane, Adenn Gra'tua, Theoden Stronghammer, Sebastion Wulfsorrow, S1-000384,Jace Beleren, Chiasa Kritivaas, Lysle of the Hydian Way, Anastasia Rade, Darth Morgoth, LordAvalen, Enigma,​

 

[Corey's OOC]

See? That was going to be something he could use to his advantage. Maybe [member="Selka Ventus"] could come work for Bright Star when she wasn’t doing board work for Silk, and getting Marek the ships he needed for the new operation. And had to go and ruin the moment, didn’t she?

Tsk, tsk.

Keeping an eye, and the Force out for his Chief of Operations, Ryan Farnes, who was… at the bar and chatting up a Zeltron or two, Marek nodded. Right, the man earned some time off from worrying about the company. But the Tionese never slept. They waited.

What he was going to need to do was wait for the time to be right, for Selka to get where she was going and come over and speak to [member="Lysle of the Hydian Way"]. Simple enough, for now? He was taking note of the gaming machines, the table set up, the locations of cameras, and the security guards. Maybe Hegemonic could create something unique for him.

Soon it would be sabacc time.

 

[Sigourney Xanthius]

Lysle had been turning the majority of his attention towards Sigourney; something that greatly pleased her. He shook the hand of a beautiful woman, requesting a moment alone with the Zeltron. He turned to her, speaking, "You should come out more often. I know you've been sick, but they need you. We need you." Lysle seemed to study her face, though, Sigourney couldn't figure out why. "You are aware how long it takes for an infected wound to heal right? My immune system still isn't what it once was." She spoke with a chuckle. The Red Ravens had been her and Lysle's baby. She had coined the thought and sought out Lysle for assistance. That is, of course, after he prevented her from cashing in a bounty by catching her in a razor net. There was an air of confidence around him that first meeting that caused her to seek him out as a business associate. Lysle added, "What is a First-Mate without his Captain, eh?" He had been exactly right. He needed her just as much as she had needed him. He had run the business while she had been healing. A process which had taken longer than she had hoped for. Sigourney looked at him thoughtfully, "Thank you, Lysle. This never would have happened without you. You make a great business partner" With a grin she added, "and friend." They turned to scan the crowd, the conversation turning once again towards business. Lysle informed her, "Business is good. The Hutts are starting to join us. The Nexus are looking to ditch their business and join us. Everything is falling in place. The credits are making our vaults fat. But you should talk, I know you aren't a big talker, but no one man should have all this power. This power is yours, and yours to do with." Sigourney groaned. Lysle had always been one to push her to interact more. She knew it would help the businesses growth and that was something she had longed for. The Red Ravens had been created with the goal to control organised crime. Sigourney had begun with one objective and to succeed she would have to be the one to create more connections. She almost wished the infection still present.

Another approached her companion but she had no interest to interact with matters of business right now. Letting matters of the heart overcloud her head, she allowed herself to be distracted by the sight of an alluring female sending a drink to Lysle. A jealously formed, spreading itself throughout her body. She was moments away from getting up and approaching the female with a little firepower, though she thought better of it.

[member="lysle of the hydian way"]
[member="Selka Ventus"]

 

[Cambry Owens]

​

Events like this one were apparently something people did for fun. As the various bright, multicolored glows flashed across Cambry's wary features, he reflected on the fact that he found them nothing but distracting, and a little nerve-wracking. Great for fun, maybe. Also great for distraction in case someone wanted to murder someone hardcore. The spacer was more concerned with the second.​

​

He had some history with the Ravens by now, a few transport jobs and escorts, nothing huge. Morgoth had just transferred all the assets of the failure of the Nexus to the Ravens, so he assumed his equipment request would now go to Lysle, instead of the Sith. Hopefully Lysle would be more open about the status of it all. Either way, he took a moment out of his busy schedule watching the casino to send Morgoth a message.​

Once that was done, he returned to his original time-occupier.​

​

Cambry was sitting in a somewhat elevated position in the casino- he always tended to stick to the corners and the edges of rooms, and this giant party was no different in that respect. His hand twitched by his thigh, wishing he had his gun. But nope, of course not. He could swear the lights were searing his eyeballs. He let out a groan.​

​

Rising from his seat and rubbing at his eyes, he walked to the railing of the balcony, pulling up his helmet and fitting it over his head. It sealed with a light hiss, blocking out the smell of the hundreds of different kinds of booze and drunk people. What a relief.​

His Mandalorian T-Visor tinted, giving him much-needed protection from the dizzying lights, and finally the freedom to openly observe. So he did, casually leaning on the railing, he watched the room. The throng of patrons, the operatives, the leaders. He saw Morgoth and Lysle conversing. Lysle seemed kind of in the open, or so it seemed. Something about that put Cambry off-ease. Perhaps he was growing somewhat protective of his employer. Eh, probably not. He just gave out the money, that was all.​

​

The pseudo-mandalorian settled on the railing, leaning against it semi-comfortably as he continued to scan his frenzied environment. He jotted out another message on his datapad when a thought hit him.​

​

[member="Lysle of the Hydian Way"] // [member="Darth Morgoth"]​

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

Oh Jan wanted her to play cards. That was sweet of him, and she could certainly use the credits, it never occurred to her for a moment that she might lose. However, she wasn't sure how Lysle felt about his employees gambling. They'd be taking the money from the house as well as from the other players. Maybe he had a scheme set up so you paid a percentage back. Maybe he just didn't care. She didn't know so she had no intention of risking it.

She smiled regretfully at him and shook her head. Now she needed a reason to have turned him down. As someone joined her at the bar a mischievous smiled played at the corner of her lips.

That will do.

Let it look to Jan like she'd been waiting for someone, then he wouldn't feel slighted. With an open smile as though she knew him quite well indeed, she approached. Rising on tip toes, the ex-dancer kissed him on either cheek, commenting as she did.

"Your company is saving me from playing cards with younglings, I imagine it will be a bit of an annoyance for you, but it is the gentlemanly thing to do."

If we were being honest she did not think she was an annoyance in the least. She fully expected him to be pleased to have so easily found arm candy, but one never knew. Besides, it was a good trick all round and her dancing eyes were laughing at the joke of it. Save Jan's feelings, get to know this handsome beast, be seen with one of the big boys.. How fun when doing what she wanted to do anyway also met all her current goals. Assuming he played along that was.

[member="Jan VonFowl"] [member="Darren Shaw"]

 

[Isaac Ideus]

Isaac had finished making his rounds around the casino's secure points, ensuring everything was in order. He was finally of enough stature that security guards would heed his order. Whether that was because of himself or his connection with Mr. Rigger was a different matter that he wasn't concerned with.

He made his way up to the meet and greet where various syndicate heavyweights and the like we're to discuss business on amicable terms. He looked around at the flashing lights, scantily-clad hostesses, and expressions of jovial delight adorning the faces of the multitudes of ordinary gamblers. [member="Lysle of the Hydian Way"] knew how to throw a party, and he rolled out the red carpet when it was needed. A honey pot, of course, attracts all the bees.

He made his way past a few guards with a quick nod and entered the main gala where the heavy-hitters, well-wishers, and people-to-do were trading gossip and fact equally. He sauntered up to his two bosses, of whom [member="Sigourney Xanthius"] was a figure he'd only seen once or twice. "Feeling better, I see, boss?" he asked Sigourney, bowing slight at the waist in a display of respect. He turned to Lysle-- "Sir, security is airtight." he reported with a nod. In the absence of the POW Sergeant at Arms, he had found himself attempting to take up some of the slack. A maitre d' politely interrupted the group and handed a drink to Lysle, explaining that it was from across the room. Buying a drink for the casino owner... that was a new one! Isaac spotted [member="Selka Ventus"] across the room at the game table, glass raised. Isaac turned back to Lysle and chuckled. "I'll let you handle that one yourself," he said winking. "Me, I see plenty of lonely women here... too many," he smiled, adjusting his collar and straightening is back. "Time for some... research." He slapped Lysle on the arm and, turning to Sigourney, bowed his head again while walking away.

 

[Anastasia Rade]

Turning heads in such a positive fashion was still very new to her. She did know how to play off her strengths which was why she opted for is and not armor. The negative being that nobody would believe she was a Mandalorian. "It's a pleasure to meet both of you Jace, Sebastion, and Adenn. I'm Anastasia or Ana for short."

Before she could say anything she heard a crash and saw a bunch of drinks go flying. Suppressing a giggle she watched him clean it up. Ana would have gone to help him but she reckoned that would only embarrass him more. It was only when he turned around that she noticed it was Cryax dressed up in a suit no less. This must be the party he had been referring to."Cryax, it's nice seeing you here." She smiled as she took a sip from her drink. It was, at least for her, always nice to see a familiar kind face in a room full of strangers. She was sure he knew and understood why she was here. Perhaps he could even introduce her to the boss whenever he got free. "How is everyone this fine evening?"

[member="Jace Beleren"][member="Sebastion Wulfsorrow"][member="Adenn Gra'tua"][member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Jan VonFowl]

Oh, well. Jen wasn't here, all the other guys had gone to fawn over the blonde lady sitting near the bar, and Chiasa had basically walked up to a random guy just to avoid playing sabbacc with me. People seemed to be taking great pains to leave me alone, today. I sipped at my stolen drink, a sweet little thing, but I didn't know where it was.

I was totally content to sit here and let the night slip by. I'm no good with slots, and game machines weren't usually my thing. So, I took my loneliness philosophically, and sat in a booth, eating some kind of noodles with a thick sauce on them.

[member='Jen'] [member='Cryax Bane'] [member='Jace Beleren']

 

[Garza]

Being followed by the security team, I shook my head as the guards came over towards me. Clearly going to take away the sword on my hip, Drawing it from the sheath, I knew the woman would play along by the way she was hanging onto me, "Well darling, I got this just for you. Seemingly as how you like big swords."

Handing it to her, I was presenting is more as a gift, rather than a weapon, and for her to somehow put it away from the public eye. The Security guards came over, and since I was part of the Red Ravens, As well took place in the stealing of information of the black suns, not to mention, I was a Sith Lord who could do some real damage if warranted, They smiled at me. Asking if I had any other weapons. Opening my coat, they would find nothing but the sword's sheath and the clothes that I wore.

Quite convincing. They left me alone. For now that is. Turning to the orange and black Twi'lek, I smiled as she thanked me for keeping her out of a card game, and in return, "To you as well darling. Keeping some form of protection around me is rather warranted considering my status. Grabbing the glass again, I took a sip as I wrapped my arm around her. Since the guards would be watching me, I needed to make this convincing.

"Now, are you not cold in that getup?"

A smile plastered onto my face, It actually was nice to look at fine "art" that stood before me. While she was considered beautiful, I have seen better. I mean, once you see a Diathim, you can't see anything more beautiful. Considering as well, the Diathim that I had met was now my apprentice. but just because you have a small relationship with one woman, does not mean you couldn't look at another. Consider this like art. If you buy a beautiful canvas, does that mean you can never look at another piece of art again? Logic screws with people's heads.

One of the things that I loved to do. Screw with people.

[member="Chiasa Kritivaas"], [member="Selka Ventus"],

 

[Cryax Bane]

Cryax smiled at Anastasia and played off the embarrassment, giving her a half-bow and grinning warmly. "An unexpected pleasure, Ana." The Chiss hoped to himself that no one would ask how the two were connected as he wasn't sure how he'd answer. She had trusted him with secrets and he wasn't about to betray them now. Even accidentally.

He thought it best to stand back and let her mingle with the others so that the question didn't come up. He resolved to make sure that any unwise man who tried anything fresh with her, would be swiftly taken care of by one of the Mirari Security Droids.

Cryax then leaned over, softly rested his hand on her bare shoulder, and whispered in her ear. "If you want a change in scenery, Ms Rade, I'll be over there." He nodded his head in the direction of the booths where [member="Jan VonFowl"] was sitting, taking advantage of the Ravens catering service.

With that the Chiss slicer politely backed away and headed over to the booths, grabbing two more drinks from the R5 unit before it could run away from him. On his way he marveled at the crowd. There were some incredible-looking men and women here, along with a throng of gorgeous aliens, like the scantily clad orange-skinned Twi'lek who was turning heads left and right. He was unusually drawn to alien ladies.

He sat down across from Von Fowl and handed him one of the drinks, "Here, it looks like you could use this."

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[Darth Morgoth]

Melkor had waited until he saw an opening in the conversation and then said "Excuse me Lysle Would it be possible for me to borrow your services for a moment? I am sure I can make it worth your wild." Looking at his comlink he saw that his personal bounty hunter was here. He sent back a message that would read "After I finish this I will come speak to you, but please wait till you see me go out to the balcony to approach"
Lysle of the Hydian Way [member="Cambry Owens"]on

 

[Jan VonFowl]

I grabbed the drink from Cryax, and smiled.

"I don't usually drink, but a night like this probably warrants it."

I took a sip of the drink, an almost-cloyingly sweet taste.

"Between Sebastion, Lysle, and that guy with the sword, it's like I don't exist."

[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

The Chiss smiled at Von Fowl. Cryax knew the feeling. He stirred the ice in his glass as he savored the taste of the sweet liquor, and leveled his glowing red eyes at the young man across from him.

“Well, power’s like a magnet.” he said his head gesturing to Lysle. “And of course, he’s the man of the hour. That's understandable."

“As for the other two. Well, if I knew what it was that women saw in men like that, then that would be one life’s greatest mysteries solved. Sure, they’ve got the looks, but I highly doubt that they really know how to treat a woman properly.” He shook his head incredulously.

“Oh wait! You were talking about girls, weren’t you?" He didn’t want to offend the guy by making assumptions about his proclivities.

[member="Jan VonFowl"]

 

[Adenn Gra'tua]

Adenn nodded at [member="Lysle of the Hydian Way"] before turning to walk away, only to be greeted by [member="Anastasia Rade"] as he stepped away, which stopped him for a moment as he turned to the woman and nodded, before returning the greeting. Instead of walking to far off and probably getting lost Adenn decided to stay near his current location and observe, he slowly started walking around, looking over the people and objects in the immediate vicinity 'Sure are lot of people here' The bounty hunter thought to himself 'Almost too much to feel safe without my armor on... Shab, I don't know why I feel so vulnerable without my gear. Gah, shouldn't be too much to fear, with all the security droids combined with my scruffy looks.' He chuckled, locating all the droids he could in a few seconds 'I shouldn't worry though, everything will be fine.'

 

[Jace Beleren]

"I am quite well, Miss Anastasia," Jace said with a nod, "Would you care for a drink?" As he asked the question, he gently grabbed Anastasia's arm and began leading her softly to the bar in the center of the room. He was still probing the mind of the woman, only the surface however, because he was already close enough to being noticed. The fact that she knew Cryax was interesting to him, but he did not think much of it. It's not uncommon for people to know each other, even a introvert slicer like Cryax.

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[Riggs]

Theoden watched while sipping his caf. This place festered with outlaws, bandits, thieves, and mercenaries not to mention plenty of beautiful women. He decided he liked it here. But as he set his cup down he saw his target head to one of the walls where the refreshers were. Rising slowly, eyes panning for threats, he too made his way to the wall.

Pausing outside the doors he scanned once more before entering. Three men stood by the sinks laughing about scoring tonight. Only one stall was occupied. Seemed everyone was loathe to leave the floors where the action was. After a moment the men left and Theo turned taking three steps and kicking the door of the stall in. The man inside jumped where he was sitting snorting some spice.

"Sorak wants me to pass a message. No one thieves from him." As the man sputtered standing several wallets fell from his lap, wallets he had no doubt lifted as he crossed the dance floor. Grabbing the man by the hair he shoved him face first into the wall of the stall and held him there by the nape of his neck.

"Don't worry, you'll live. You make a better example breathing." Gripping an arm he placed it firmly against the wall of the stall then rammed a gauntlet fist into the left hand and wrist. Bones gave way. As the man squealed Theoden had no worry of anyone hearing over the music. Switching arms he broke the other arm and wrist.

Dropping the whimpering man to the piss covered floor Theoden retrieved the wallets and the man's identity chip. "Don't get those fixed or next time I take your hands." Turning he pushed from the freshers and went back to his seat to deposit the wallets and identity chip. "This man had these wallets. I'm sure your patrons will be happy to get them back. I think the man fell and hurt his hands."

Taking his cup of caf Theoden took a drink as his 'job' was done.

 

[Lysle of the Hydian Way]

Lysle was staring off, and at nothing in particular. His mind went blank, unthinking and thoughtless. A waiter approached, and he didn't notice him until he handed out a non-alcoholic drink, some lime and lemon with ice. He said something and pointed towards a lady, and by this time he began to refocus on the conversation he was having, squinting his eyes to see the girl who had bought him a drink. He rose the drink in her direction as thanks, taking a long draw from the glass before turning to face Sigourney as they continued to discuss business. The music was loud, thumping against his ears but her words were crystal clear.

"Yeah, I do make a great business partner, but not much else. I crunch the numbers and tell people what to do. I don't lead much, I just direct. You should get yourself out there once the 'docs' say you're good to go," Lysle said. Isaac approached and he brightened up some, a facade he performed with most anyone but Sigourney. She was perhaps one of the few who knew him the most, and she had too, they were in it together. Unfortunately after the bombings, a lot of others had seen another side of him, too. It wasn't a nice one either. To say the least, the chatter on the CryptNet had been replaced by a shouting match of curse words even the most hardened pirates hadn't heard before. Then again, someone had bombed his casino, twice. He was still furious about it, and mean't to cut the mans fingers off with bolt cutters the moment he found him. "Enjoy yourself, I'll catch up with you later, Isaac."

Morgoth managed to barge his way through the crowd and to Lysle, and by now it was just Sigourney and Lysle by themselves, except for Morgoth of course. When he asked for what sounded like a private discussion, Lysle interjected into his sentence, "You can talk to both of us or neither." Lysle was the frontman, that was for sure, everyone knew him. But did Jabba the Hutt meet every single one of his men? no. That trying job in the Ravens was reserved for Lysle, Sigourney's was to pull all the strings.

[member="Darth Morgoth"] [member="Isaac Ideus"] [member="Sigourney Xanthius"] [member="Selka Ventus"]

 

[Jen]

7​

​

It was no wonder Jennifer was here today as well, but those familiar with her would probably have, well not a hard time, but at least a harder time recognizing her than normally. She had used, at least one hour in her suite, on and off, between mutters of irritation and fustration, trying to straighten her hair. At least straighten it as much as possible for her with the natural hard in structure hair of hers. It acted almost as if it had been sprayed one too many times by a hairspray. So yea, it wasn't flat, but it pointed downwards and looked like it was flat. Or something. It was fine! Nohing to worry about.

Another odd thing was that today she wasn't sporting her usual mechanic trousers, nor leather jacket. No. Today she was wearing an actual suit and it didn't look bad on her, at least she didn't think so. She liked it, perhaps a bit too big ,but it gave some sort of look. Perhaps a new trend in the making!? Probably not, looked good on her nontheless, but she didn't plan on staying in here for long, mostly it was to try out the suit.. And have a few conversations and then get out, that was the plan. But she knew just as well as everyone else that such a promise could sometimes be hard to keep. Especially in this sort of gathering.

She made her way towards the bar, getting a raised brow from bartender until she casually waved him off, whispering something afterwards that could only be a comment about her being a part of the RR. With a shrug he proceeded to fill up a glass with a low procentage cider. She didn't want to be wasted and as she secured her glass she looked up and down the bar.

Now where could one find one of those exotic things people referred to as "conversations"?​

[member="Frederick King"]​

 

[Raziel]

Raziel stumbled across the threshold, earning himself a disconcerting look from one of the security guards. He laughed it off as one of his new “friends” grabbed his elbow. He’d met his new cover the night before, using his abilities to seek out an amiable group of heavy drinkers. It had been easy to mix in with them, and manipulate them into coming here.

The Spymaster had been part of Nar Shaddaa’s underworld for a long time. He’d been away for a few years, but with the moon just a stone’s throw away from ACA space, it was a significant operation for Abrion intelligence. Republic and Black Sun operatives, traders and criminals from across the galaxy – of course Spynet was heavily involved.

He chatted idly with his group of locals, making small talk about recent events. He subconsciously mimicked their accents and speech patterns – even though he was more than fluent in the local dialect anyway. Passing his credit card across the bar – the perfectly valid card tied to a solid identity – he ordered a round of drinks.

Raziel felt the cold Taozin amulet shift against his chest. Whilst the dark side user was an expert in cloaking his presence in the Force, it always paid to be cautious. He was virtually unarmed, this was just a little scouting afterall. Still, two of the plastic cards in his wallet were sharpened on one edge and soaked in Smartranq. A little better than his finger nails in a pinch, but not much more useful than that.

The arrival of the upstart criminal organisation had been heralded by some bloody events. They had grown so quickly that Spynet were suspicious of outside involvement. Soon they’d have to start trying to gather more information in the traditional ways – cyber subversion, coercion, bribery, infiltration. Everyone had strings that could be pulled. Their actions would not be predicated on the ACA stance on this new faction. Ally and enemy alike were targets to Spynet for intelligence gathering.

It was then that he noticed a familiar presence in the Force. What was that gurning fool Starchaser doing here? Raziel decided to keep his distance, as closed off as his own mind was the corporate leader might give up the gig if he managed to recognise him. Unlikely, given how little Marek had seen of the Spymaster, but he always erred on the side of caution.

He flipped out his datapad and called a number. “Hey, you coming for a drink or not?” he shouted over the music. With any luck [member="Adrian Cassidy"] would be on the other end of the unsecure line.