Tales of Taverns and Travels

[Fiolette Fortan]

Undisclosed Location​

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Malaka Cantina​

[member="Kurayami Bloodborn"]​

​

When Fiolette mentioned she had lined up a meeting with Mr. Bloodborn, Taeli bristled and said she had other plans. Fio, not wanting to force her beloved into an uncomfortable situation left it at that. She would travel just beyond Confederacy space, the Fleetwood once more crewed with her personal assistants made way for a cantina. The cantina was located in what could be considered a shanty town. A hub-bub of floating ships, parts of asteroids and scrap pulled together to make something to live out of.

The Fleetwood managed to find berth at a small port. The lights were dull, colors washed away in a lackluster afterglow of Nar Shaddaa. Fiolette's boots hit the rusted durasteel floor and she swore she heard it creak. Barely there signage pointed the way to the promenade. The narrow corridor had just enough room for her to walk along and just squeeze by the other people as they walked past. Perhaps it was a good thing that Taeli stayed behind in Sith territory.

The recycled air washed over her nostrils and at first gave her cause to hold in a nauseated feeling. Fiolette took a moment to adjust to it, now it was just stale and reminded her all too much of the early days in the Atrisian Empire. Things like fresh air were a luxury to grunts back then, a lift from the port took her to the promenade. Although it sounded as if could use a repair or at least have one hundred pounds less to carry.

Upon the doors opening, the promenade was brighter than the port - air was still stale as all hell. It was an open floor plan for sure, you could walk around and pop into every bar on every level. Diners and whatever passed for high end restaurants were down a level. Music from every which way assaulted her ears and the Galidraani already felt out of place. Still, this is where they had agreed to meet.

She took a step to the left and then another before committing to the direction. Rounding half way through she managed to find the place. Malaka. Parts of the word were barely lit up, and as she stepped in - it was more dim than the port. Perhaps someone forgot to pay the electric bill, Fiolette thought. The redhead settled into a corner booth and waited for Mr. Bloodborn.

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

Kurayami had never been the most trusting of people, and the shanty town that was chosen as the meeting place was perfect in his mind. If anything went south it would be easy enough for him to disappear into the crowd. He wasn't quite so concerned about such developments, but it was good to be ready just in case. He guided a borrowed J-type diplomatic barge to an open landing pad and powered down. Taking a deep breath to center himself, he made his way down the boarding ramp and started searching for the meeting place.

He strangely did not look out of place here, sure he felt like he was, but that was partly due to arriving in a ship that was definitely not seen around these parts hardly ever. He had made sure that if anything happened to the ship that the company would be reimbursed for the loss. It was Nar Shaddaa after all. Never knew who was going to try and steal something, or what they would go after. Kurayami was well aware that the ship wasn't the most likely target given the fact that making a clean getaway would be rather hard. Meanwhile, he just looked like any other spacer one might run into here. Old, faded squadron jacket, black utility slacks, a pistol holstered on either hip. Yet inside a pouch on the left side of the belt was a lightsaber, he made no outward sign of being ready for trouble, his hands shoved into the pockets of his flight jacket and his head facing down as he continued towards the cantina.

What was the name of the place again? Pulling out his datapad for a moment he checked and took note of the name... Malaka. Well, that sounded,uh, interesting to say the least. It took a bit of wandering to get there, but soon he found himself standing in front of what had to have been the most run down and shoddily built cantina on Nar Shaddaa. Which was saying a lot. He stepped inside and immediately looked around, taking stock of his surroundings and seeing if he could spot the woman he was supposed to meet with. A few moments later he saw her sitting in a corner booth and made his way over, sliding into the seat across from her.

"Apologies for being a bit late, got turned around on the way here. You said you had something you wanted to talk about. Shall we order drinks and then discuss business?"

[member="Fiolette Raaf"]

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

Fiolette gave Mr. Bloodborn a polite nod as he took a seat and apologized for being late. The Nar Shaddaa-esque world in which they met on left a lot to be desired. Signage and a decently paved durasteel walkway among them she noted his faded squadron jacket but said nothing of it. "Of course," you didn't meet someone in the arse-end of the Galaxy and not have a drink, or five to pass the time.

The cool of the stale air waft over her again but by now she had adjusted to the stench. She grabbed at the singular holomenu that sat at the booth's end tucked behind various condiments and gave it a look over. It certainly had a colorful array of drinks to be ordered that was for certain. A Nautolan woman approached the table and spoke in Huttese, Fiolette ordered a straight shot of whiskey on rocks and then left it to Mr. Bloodborn to order for himself.

"I appreciate you taking the time to meet with me here, Mr. Bloodborn," she began just as soon as the waitress had left their table and the hub of the cantina buzzed louder as if to compete with her voice. "I thought perhaps we could work out a bit of trade between our two organizations, given that money is of no object to either one of us, I imagine." She did her homework on his reputation.

[member="Kurayami Bloodborn"]

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

While he wasn't entirely unused to places such as where they found themselves, he still felt strangely out of place. He shrugged and worked on refocusing himself as he greeted Fiolette and made his quick apology. He smiled softly as she agreed to having a drink, that always seemed a good way to keep things from getting overly formal and made it a little easier for him to feel comfortable. Granted it wouldn't do to have too much to drink, but overall he wasn't too worried about that.

Once the Nautolan woman approached and asked for their order in Huttese, Kurayami too a moment to think before settling on a Cassandra Sunrise. It was true that the drink itself was on the strong side for most people, but it had always been a favorite of his. He wasn't paying much attention to the waitress when he ordered so if she gave him any strange looks, they went unnoticed.

He listened to Fiolette quietly, grabbing his flask from its place in one of the pockets on the lower right leg of his pants, taking a sip of the namana nectar within before placing it back where he had taken it from. She was suggesting some sort of trade deal between the two of them. Certainly could be interesting.

"It isn't often that I get direct requests for meetings that have to do with business. Well at least not outside of the standard ones with my assistant, but those are a necessary evil." It was true that he didn't enjoy the meetings, but he knew that they were vital in keeping the company running smoothly. The fact that the cantina had gotten louder didn't seem to faze Kurayami in the least, he just continued on as if this was normal for every conversation he was involved in. "You are correct in that money is of little concern to either you or I. Primo Victorian has quite a reputation for quality products, be they ships or other goods. I am open to a trade deal. Tell me what you had in mind."

He picked up his drink as it was delivered to the table and took a swig as he awaited her answer, seemingly in no hurry.

[member="Fiolette Raaf"]

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

By now the atmosphere of the cantina had grown on her, drinks were served to both Mr. Bloodborn and herself. She swirled the whiskey in the glass carefully. "I have pilots who need additional training, and I hear you are quite the pilot yourself." Fiolette took a swig of the whiskey and let it roll down to the back of her throat. Certainly stronger than anything the core had to offer, she set the glass back down on the table. "In exchange, I'm willing to design and/or produce a starship or even starships if that's what you're looking for."

Straight to the point she laid out what she wanted, and what she was willing to offer in exchange. Fiolette downed the rest of the whiskey and pondered a second shot. The redhead flagged the waitress down, "could you be a dear and just bring my companion and I a bottle." She spoke in Huttese and tipped handsomely to ensure that it was done. In a moment's notice a bottle of whiskey and a complimentary shot of 'Exarch's Creed' was offered. A rather interesting to name to a drink that could rip the varnish off most furniture.

[member="Kurayami Bloodborn"]

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

Kurayami always felt at home in cantina, just an after effect of being a part of a merc squadron for so many years. However long that had actually lasted was lost to him by now. Taking another swig of his drink he watched Fiolette swirl the whiskey in her glass as she made her statement. Admittedly she wasn't entirely wrong, but she wasn't entirely right either.

"Additional training? What kind of training are we talking? What ship or ships are you needing them trained on? Close air support, dogfighting, general, basic training for nuggets? Not sure where my name came up, but I suppose some might consider me a pretty decent pilot. In my mind, it's just what I do."

The slow burn of the whiskey as he sipped at it was always comforting and reminded him of the amount of time he had spent with many others bonding over drink in a similar fashion.

"Interesting. That is quite an offer as far as payment goes, a bit unorthodox, but I have had a project in the works for sometime. The design is one I have been working on for sometime, just wanting to use a bit of the old Nubian aesthetic, but with a more modern twist. As far as role A mobile home and factory would be the main roles, definitely get it as well defended as you can. Outside of that go crazy."

Technically, he had accepted the offer without directly saying yes. He made no mention of her flagging down the waitress and the smirk when she made the order in Huttese would make one wonder if he was amused at the order or if it was more as sign of approval. Maybe he was just starting to feel the alcohol a bit more now. When the complimentary shot was set down in front of him he eyed it warily, he'd heard stories that never seemed to end well that started with shots of the stuff. He'd wait and see if she moved to pick up her shot or if she left it on the table before he took his own.

[member="Fiolette Raaf"]

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

Fiolette poured herself another shot of whiskey and listened to Mr. Bloodborn. The recycled air was no longer noticable, she wondered if that was the whiskey settling in or simply memories. Memories of the old days, that once more seemed to shoot to the front her mind in places like this. For his part, Mr. Bloodborn had wondered how his name had come up, she nodded a small incline of her head. She was going to tell him but the conversation moved past that and he began to regale her with what he had in mind. Another shot down, and another shot poured she continued to listen Nubian aesthetic. A small huh, in the forefront now. The old memories were quickly shoved back as she tried to recall Nubian ship design. A home, a factory both really is what he was looking for and so she sat back for a moment and looked over at the complimentary drink, 'Exarch's Creed.'

"I see, certainly something I can work on I do have access to Foundry so that should make this a bit easier as far as building time goes." A pause as she threwback another shot with ease, the burn by now had faded and it was simply another drink. "Now as far as piloiting, we can work on something of instructions. I can offer some of the best pilots that we have now and you can train a squadron in what you do best. They're already trained on the basics. Where we're at now is their advanced training, so someone more suited for close air support for example as you mentioned, or perhaps a little more than that. I'll leave it to you to create the most effective advanced training."

She took the drink into her hand contemplated its contents a moment before returning her attention to Mr. Bloodborn, "most of our pilots come from either the First Order, the Sith Empire or even the Alliance as it happens these days." Fiolette took the drink and threw it back and took a moment to let that one settle. "That's... that's stronger than it looks." She motioned to what she just had, "excuse me, sir can we get two more of these... Exarch's Creed."

"Yeah, sure one second." The waiter remarked.

[member="Kurayami Bloodborn"]

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

Kurayami followed Fio's lead and poured himself another shot of whiskey. Knocking it back, he waited for her to pour her next shot before doing the same. It seemed so second nature to be somewhere that recycled air was that the Corellian took no not of it, whether from the start or now. It was sometimes a bit annoying sure, but he'd spent at least as much time in the cockpit of a fighter as he had walking around by this point. And some of those landings while spectacular were a bit bumpy, made him wonder if he had any scars on his head from those. He couldn't remember any, but that wasn't truly saying all that much. Wait, what was she confused about? Or at least she seemed confused by something he had said or done.



Thinking over things, he reasoned that it hadn't been the drinking mostly because she was keeping pace with him quite well. Maybe it had been something else. The 'huh' was something he only noticed after mentioning the Nubian aesthetic. He shook his head. He should probably clarify. "I mean, it isn't like the old stuff ya know? Like something like the Nubian ships, but not like them too. Ya know? I mean like something like, uh, like retro but modern...so like Nubian but kinda...I dunno...organic too? Like a butterfly or dragonfly type of thing. Almost like its alive but its made of metal. Makes sense right?"



It seemed that she at least had some idea of how to take care of the design elements. That was always a plus. Anything to reduce the build times would be more than welcome. "Well, it is good to hear that you have access to a foundry. It's less that I don't have access to one, but that I don't have the ability to produce parts of the requisite sizes to accommodate a decent production schedule for a vessel of such dimensions." Downing his next shot he continued to answer her as to what she was expecting from him in terms of training. Advanced courses, that should be rather fun. Whatever he was best at...what exactly WAS he best at. He had never really thought about that. Oh well, he'd figure that out later he supposed. Just a course that covered advanced situations in each of the major disciplines.



"Glad that they at least know something of what they are doing, makes my job a hell of a lot easier in the end. At least a little bit easier. So advanced courses, hmm? I'll try to incorporate a bit of everything, maybe split them into flights based on their performance in the different aspects. I am sure that some will be better at dogfighting, others close air support, and some will likely be best as a wingman. Or as some pilots I worked with called them, 'bait.' " After saying this, he slammed the shot of Exarch's Creed as well. FIolette was right, it did have a nice burn, definitely stronger than expected. She ordered two more. Was it two more shots or two more bottles? Only time would tell how the server took the request.

[member="Fiolette Raaf"]

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

Fiolette tilted her head in slight confusion, but also somewhat amused by the gentleman before her. Quietly the Galidraani knocked back another shot and listened to him as he spoke. She only nodded along as he spoke and took another shot. He then went on to say that the ship would be quite extensive in its size, but that wasn't a problem considering she had been pushing the envelope on what her facilities could do. She shifted in her seat a moment and relaxed a moment or two, shoulders down and less tense as she listened to him carry on about the training she had mentioned. "I'm sure we can go over the exact designs at a later time, no need to rush into the full... details now, as it were." And, not in his current state, Balance forbid.

Now part of her worry at this moment was getting up, as it turned out - Exarch's Creed was a type of gin. Fiolette could handle her gin just fine, however; this one seemed to be that friendly hand on the shoulder. The one that told her to stay awhile, relax because her body wouldn't be able to handle the entirety of rising to her feet. "I see, so we're speaking of quite the large vessel then mhmm?" Fiolette asked, but honestly, she had an idea of where he was going but given his current state he was liable to spew out a number of dimensions. "I can give you office coordinates to one of my offices here within the Confederacy if you like-"

As the waiter came by she asked for water and coffee, and then turned her attention back to Mr. Bloodborn, "sounds good and yes they could use the advance training. I'll need them to be trained extensively to ensure that not only my products are safe, but my wife's as well." Taeli would expect nothing less than perfection and Fiolete wouldn't have it any other way if she were quite honest. "I have some knowledge of piloting but not... a great deal, I was always grateful that there were others who could fill the role." Now, of course, she had no problem helping him develop the curriculum rather, Taeli could probably do that. After all, she did form lesson plans for those acolytes on a daily basis. "As far as curriculum, I'm sure we can develop that later on. If you'd like- I could have a... um, a wife of - well, a colleague bring over some material if it helps."

The water and coffee were set on their table along with cream and sugar. Fiolette thanked the waiter again and tipped him heavily - again. Water first then coffee, she still needed to get back home and preferably sober.

[member="Kurayami Bloodborn"]​

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

Apparently Kurayami had managed to confuse the poor woman across the table from him. He knocked back the next shot as soon as it was set down. She nodded along as he rambled/spoke, it was quite clear to outsiders that he was a bit over the edge.

"That is fine with me. The designs aren't finalized, but have been something I have been working on for quite some time. The size got larger over time as I started to realize that I was going to need more space for projects and other equipment."

She may have thought that in his current state he was less than coherent but the whole time they had been talking he was working out the possibilities as to what the training should include.

"Quite a large vessel indeed, at the least a 5 kilometer ship and looking for 10 kilometers as the main goal. Yes, coordinates of one of your offices within Confederate space would be nice."

He remained seated, not due to the fact that he would be unable to stand or even necessarily unsteady if he were to do so, but sitting was so much more relaxing, and it fit the air of the bar far better. So she was looking for a defensive squadron moreso than an offensive one? Either way he was sure that he was going to need to make sure that both were taught to equivalent levels of mastery. If she didn't have a great deal of knowledge in piloting. If there was a base that he could work from then that was always helpful.

"Sure. The more I have to look at and see what gaps need to be filled in from there, the more comprehensive I can make the training."

[member="Fiolette Raaf"]