The Ziost Affair [The Primeval][PM for late invite]

[Seanna Vel]

Finding herself walking to this party she heard about not because she wanted to but because she wanted to branch out with her company but more then that she wanted to enjoy herself. Even then she let herself wonder about more then that. Not really wanting nothing now as long as they had some good whiskey even maybe getting a dealing start on her own company whiskey other fine liquors.

Being stopped at the front. "Look sugars where would I hide a weapon on me." after all here out fit wasn't some old bag lady clothing. she had heard some where about not weapons, even so she did as she was told. Knowing that it was hard for her to believe. It just seem like they was enjoy this patting more then they did the guy that was in front of him. Even then she didn't wait for another second. "Okay enough or your get one of my fist in your mouth, pretty boy." giving a chuckle.

Coming to be patted on her butt as she took a step away. " Just had to make sure there was nothing hiding there." Finding herself walking before trying away.

Prev"

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Fun? She was wearing a tube of fabric that hardly covered her shebs! Not to mention who this event was hosted by. She touched her ring with her fingers. At least she had that with her, as well as whatever else her husband had managed to sneak in. But there was no fun to be had here. She missed her armor. She felt naked. She felt exposed. She felt like someone was going to stick a knife in her belly at any second. A hand came instinctively to cover the tiny bump where her baby was growing. Not a chance.

"If you want to drink, Lor'ika, I will understand. You can head to the bar if you want."

...And I can stand here and watch the room. Someone has to keep an eye out.

She knew she wouldn't be the only Mandalorian here. Thank goodness for her mothers lessons in hand to hand combat. If it came down to it...

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[The Traveler]

@Aj'Rou [member="Ebon"] [member="Vaulkhar"] [member="Vengeance"] [member="Danger Arceneau"] [member="Lady Medax"] [member="Darth Vornskr"]
[member="Ijaat Akun"] [member="Aedan Miles"] [member="Rawnie Tal'verda"] [member="Doctor Azure"] [member="Judah Dashiell"] [member="Keira Ticon"] [member="Malcom Renolds"] [member="Yuroic Xeraic"] [member="Sempra the Hutt"] [member="Kana Truden"]


The Traveler stalked through the crowds of assembled...guest, of course they were guest but something was always off about mysterious invites. History had shown him one thing, never trust those who hide behind niceties. A lesson many would heed when dealing with him as well, as his intellect and politeness hid away a deep and seething monster that ached to be loosed on the world. In time perhaps the beast would be fed again, in time it would be released to bring forth havoc and destruction to the sith and jedi but for now it was contained in a calm demeanor.

His armor was most likely the strongest in the crowd as of the moment and even unarmed he was capable of defending himself, but he was not
Anywhere for battle or conquest. In truth he was as lost as to the identity of their mysterious host and the intentions behind this meeting of enemy, ally and all between.


His vision cycled between the various modes, stopping only slightly on the infrared to mark weapons and other sundries hidden beneath clothing. Few were armed, and fewer still were dangerous or fool hardy enough to start fight in the heart of Darkness with so much death and chaos surrounding them. His gaze turned towards a figure that he recognized, one he would have thought damned long before coming here for a party. This was interesting to say the least, very interesting far more then the rest of the assembled cast of back ground noise and would be legends of trepidation. He began to move forward going through the crowd with some manner of haste and stopped dead before the figure that he sought.

Even with her mask he would never forget the face of one he considered family, of one of his oldest friends in the galaxy and one of the few who might one day learn his true identity. He bowed before [member="Anija Betna"] " Anija of Ordo, in a million lives of a million galaxies had i never thought to see you here my old friend. Whispers of war and dark tidings, death and tragedy abound in the galaxy around. Yet today you step here in the mystery and danger that is present in such a polite yet foreboding invitation. Even with the Verde of the Protectors one should not count themselves safe here. Even i, who am death abound, lost and always found, forgotten and never forgiven must be wary among such... gracious hosts and friendly allies" if only she could see his face and the chuckle hidden behind.

 

[Marcus Itera]

Parties were places where all of the big-wigs tended to congregate in masses. Corporate executives, political figureheads, soldiers of honor, soldiers of fortune, and a myriad of other beings that could be of interest to a Special Enforcement Agent. Be that as it may, his jurisdiction didn't extend to all the way out in Primeval territory and Marcus was pleasantly surprised to find that his vessel hadn't been immediately reprimanded the moment he touched their airspace. In fact, they'd been as polite and quaint with their requests.

Marcus liked that. Simplicity at its finest.

Their only request was to attend unarmed, something the former Sergeant Major hadn't done since he was seventeen years of age.

"You really gonna hand over the Black Mamba?"

The Sector Ranger scoffed as he adjusted his hoodie. "Frak no. That thing costed me like eighteen hundred Credits, so I'll just leave it on the Harlequin."

The AI gave an exaggerated sigh. "Sounds like you're gonna be vulnerable. Sure you don't wear your old armor? This is supposed to be a masquerade and that could work."

"I don't really wanna stick out like a sore thumb," he replied, grabbing his mask and exiting the ship. "Besides, I may even have a hard time doing that if everyone there thinks I'm talking to myself."

"I just wanted to dance."

Marcus smiled as he made straight for the entrance. The guards looked him over before glancing at each other. The man looked more like some street hoodlum from Coruscant, or one of those weird serial killers that took interest on forum boards of the HoloNet. A simple mask concealed his face while a pair of matte black trousers and boots garbed his lower half. Upon his torso sat a simple, black hoodie void of words and logos.

"I'm here for the masquerade," he produced the flimsi invitation from his pocket.

The Weequay nodded, gestured to his companion and the two briskly gave Marcus a hands-on search before passing him through a series of weapons detectors. It wasn't like he was here to cause any trouble - he figured he could handle that if the need arose without projectiles.

"Cute mask. Where'd you find it?"

"My attic. Piece of an old costume of mine."

"You weren't popular with the girls, were you?"

He smiled. "Still ain't."

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"], [member="Rook"], [member="Keira Ticon"]

 

[Malcom Renolds]

Malcom turned as he continued to scan the room and saw his old friend Aedan. A wide smile beamed across his face. It was always good to see a friend. Especially one from the old days. Before he could get his drink, Malcom clapped him on the back. "[member="Aedan Miles"]! How's it goin' ya old pirate." He said happily, but not in too loud of a tone. He was curious if the man had managed to bring in a certain item Malcom never left home without. But only time would tell. For now, he simply wanted to say hi and see how he was doing.

Meanwhile his eyes continued to scan the room until one figure in particular caught his eye. Normally he would NEVER have suspected as much, but he'd be damned if it wasn't [member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]. Even in the dress and not her traditional armor, he'd recognize her anywhere. Actually it was then her lover...husband now? He wasn't sure. Couldn't keep it straight what was going on with her anymore. But anyway, it was then his peacock of an outfit had him grimacing just a bit and had him wonder if the ....man, was trying to look prettier than his partner. As they swooned over each other, he moved on his gaze.

And again to his amazement, he saw more familiar figures. [member="Anija Betna"] and her husband seemed to have showed up as well. All the friendly faces were starting to make Malcom feel a bit more at ease. At least if any nonsense went down, he'd would have plenty of backup. Hopefully things would remain civil though.

[member="Kenna Raine"] | [member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor shook his head, gesturing towards the plates of food that'd been brought out.​

​

"Nah, visahot, I think you, me, and little Galaar are going to do something along the lines of more filling stuff than alcohol."​

​

He winked at Rawnie, leading her over to the table. It was also an excellent vantage point to check out the rest of the room from.​

​

[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"] [member='Kaster Sane'] [member='Malcom Renolds']​

 

[Slade Zambrano]

[member="Keira Ticon"]

In truth Slade hated these sorts of things, but his father was supposed to be here today and while he actively hated the man he had to be here to show that the Zambrano family was as strong and capable as ever. Plus if he didn't show there was a very strong chance that his father would cut him off from his trust fund, and what was he supposed to do, get a job? Slade thought not, so he was here just doing his thing, and that thing entailed one thing. Drinking, and heavily at that. So Slade was at the bar with a drink in his hand and a small cloud of women giggling along as he leaned against the firm exotic bar the primeval had provided for the affair.

"So I tell the guy to do it, just do it!" Slade said with a chuckle before the women joined in with a roar of laughter.

It was always easier to cut right to the end of the joke rather than having to write the full thing and pretend to be funny, and luckily whatever the joke was it was funny. So as Slade took a long chug of whiskey he slammed his glass down and had it quickly refilled before his eyes. Best to get drunk enough so he could forget this horrid night. Forget how he had lost his way and fallen off the wagon while he was with Keira. He ran, he ran because he couldn't face seeing her again after all she had done for him. He only hoped she was okay, but then he'd soon get his answer.

As Slade casually looked over to see Keira enter the ball his gut bowed out of him and he dropped his glass to the floor shattering on impact. Ice, glass, and whiskey poured out over a good meter and the women around him looked at him with concern asking if he was okay.

"Leave... now." He said with a deadly tone.

The women quickly left as he turned back to the bar and ordered a bottle of tequila be put in front of him. The drink he had shared with her the first night they met. Slade couldn't approach her now, all he could do was sit there and hopefully drink himself into unconsciousness and not have to deal with the failure that was his relationship to Keira.

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Well. Free food was always nice. The further along she got in her pregnancy, more more hungry she felt more often. She was only just now starting to put on any weight. A little troublesome, considering how tiny she was. When her nausea allowed her, she liked to eat as much as she could. She followed his eyes to to buffet, grinning slightly. She hadn't even noticed [member="Malcom Renolds"] watching her from across the room.

Her hand went to her stomach again for the hundredth time that night. Sometimes, she liked to just touch it, make sure it was still there, still real. In these moments, she found herself wondering the silliest of things. What would the baby sound like? Would it love her? Would she be a good parent? Would Lorane help her build the cradle?

She smiled, clutching his arm for dear life as she stumbled along to the food.

"Smells amazing. I don't think I've ever had food like this..."

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

From behind her fan, Danger couldn't help but flash a slow smile.

"Now ain't you fit to make a girl blush," she'd drawl out with a tease. Hide a strand of auburn hair, cover the girls from sight, but there was no mistaking that sugary drawl anywhere. You can take the girl out of the backwater planet, but not the backwater planet out of the girl.

One dark gloved hand went reaching out to take the offered drink, fingers curling to lightly brush against his for a moment of the trade. "Sure you haven't indulged in a sip or to already?" her amused quip would float on over, a slight wiggle of her glass in emphasis as if to say he had already taken flight prior to her own.

The redirects were to draw attention away from the slight flush over her face, aware that his compliment was genuine despite her rather modest attire. Eye of the beholder and all that. Her green eyes trailed from dark blue and she would cant her head towards the nearest couple across the din.

"As to what we are doing... watching. Folk are all kinds of interesting when they don't think folk are looking."

 

[Enoch Zambrano]

So this was the rabble Anja insisted he host? Enoch walked through the halls of his Citadel, looking around at the various guests. The young man truly had no taste for parties. To him, they were just another place to get killed. No doubt Zambranos knew their fair share about getting assassinated, and assassinating. Hopefully, that wouldn't be the case. The Host Lord had ensured him no trouble would be caused at the party, said her guards would take care of it. So far all they'd done was stop weapons coming in, but they hadn't stopped people from slipping delicacies into their pockets and quickly leaving the party. His pocket book was only so thin. Needless to say, Enoch was in a grumpy move. As he walked through the dining hall, he drowned his drink, and abruptly threw it at a young servant. Boy barely caught the thing. Enoch laughed in his head as he watched the waiter fiddle around to catch the glass without dropping his plate of foods.

Then, Enoch had an idea. He hadn't seen his old teacher around yet, and he figured he might as well go looking for her. The man strolled through the party, his plain clothes marking him out from the rest of the dapper crowd. Why would someone pay money to look nice in front of other people? Enoch shook his head at the expensive dress of some young woman who's name he had no clue of. As Enoch walked to the elevator, he couldn't stop the steam from pouring out of his ears. A couple people gave him sideways looks, but he didn't care, he just wanted to find some way to enjoy this, party.

"Out." Enoch grumbled as he approached the elevator. The couple before him scrambled out of the metal box, whispering expletives to each other. Enoch just sighed as the doors closed, and the elevator began to drop to the main floor. Maybe Greta would be there.

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"] | [member="Darth Vornskr"] | [member="Darth Noxia"] | [member="Vaulkhar"] | @Naga Ite'sak | @Any other peeps I missed

 

[Darth Assimilus]

Stepping into the Party dressed in a fancy suit and tie, Kezeroth grinned showing his teeth to those around him. The facial expression looked more creepy than anything. This Epicanthix body was still something he had yet to get used to. Placing his arms behind his back he smirked as he walked slowly by the crowds. His fiery orange glowing eyes scanned the area. He could spot all sorts of familiar people. [member="Ijaat Akun"], A vod he had met in his past life. [member="Anija Betna"], another Vod he knew from his past life. It seemed the Mandalorians liked to party. Tilting his head to the side to adjust his hair Kez decided that he would have to go pick on them as soon as he got done picking on his old apprentice [member="Keira Ticon"].

Looking down Kez approached the young woman and greeted her with a bow. " What is..that?" he jeered as he examined her dress. She looked odd in his fiery sight with it on, Kez was used to seeing torn robes.

 

[Komo]

A Primevall ball. How exciting!

To say that Greta was excited she got the invitation was a monumental understatement. A formal masked party where identities were concealed from one another and thus people from all over the galaxy could meet despite their factions. It was a pity about the no weapons and violence bit, but she let that go because of all the other fun stuff she could have in its place.

Think about all the fun one could have! Enoch would be present as well, the party being hosted in his very Citadel in Ziost. It would be fun to tease him once more with whatever she could come up with.

Arriving at the Citadel dressed in her newly tailored Obsidian dress, Greta was smiling. Perhaps a little way too much. She looked ravishing in black and bronze, the soft luxurious fabrics swaying in the sudden breeze that came. Accompanying the gorgeous dress was an gold ornate masquerade mask, meant to hide her identity from those that knew her. Her amber orbs only seemed to sparkle more behind them. On her feet were a pair of matching heeled boots that rose up to her knees.

She walked up to the guard stationed at the entrance, before she was prompted to be searched for any weapons. The blonde smiled at the guard sheepishly before fishing out a pair of daggers from beneath her skirts. "Oh, you mean these?"

Greta handed her weapons over to the guard as she begin to make her way inside the building. She had not brought along her lightsaber for the exact reasons stated in the invitation. No weapons. The daggers were more of a mischief than anything else.

Besides, she always had the force.

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"] [member="Enoch Zambrano"]

 

[Laguz Vald]

She didn't say much — she never did — but she said enough for Laguz to grin like the cat that ate the canary, momentarily overcome with memories of all the chit that the two of them had gotten up to throughout the years. Crazy chit, for sure. Contracts and undertakings that anybody else would label as 'suicidal' and then carefully back away; not them, though. Kark.

Laguz shook xir head, pursing her lips in a barely contained smile as xe slipped away through the crowds again, meandering through the sea of people with an ease that spoke of talents beyond a pretty face and keen eyes. The merc had been around for a while, and the fact that xe was even still alive was testament enough to xir prowess in the line of work xe'd chosen to pursue.

That, and xir chosen company.

It gets mighty lonely on the top, they will warn you while you climb, and mostly they'll be right. If the bottom of the mountain is competitive, you can bet your ass that there's space only for a few right on the peak, and it's far more tempting to push the rest down the slope and reign on your greedy lonesome. Laguz had dodged that bullet at least in part, though not through any grand feat of self-restraint; it was, more or less, the lesser evil of the two. The sniper was a slave to avarice down to the bone, but even that hunger had its limits.

With the few of them that roamed the Galaxy, the shifter was prepared to make an exception for that other marked motherkarker who killed and robbed her way through the centuries. But only for her.

Laguz practically skipped up the steps to the roof, an excited grin plastered across xir face as xe sliced the door — so typical of Kala, to lock the doors behind her — and stepped out into the cool night air. You'd have to be blind to miss her, really, and the merc wasn't at all surprised to find her ass in the air like some common schutta off the street. For all her cool demeanor, the other assassin sure liked to show off her assets a whole lot.

What was it… twenty years? Thirty? The merc wasn't exactly sure, but it didn't seem to matter that much; the Siren had retained at least some of her habits, such as they were.

"Having fun?" Laguz called out as xe slowly approached the prone figure at the edge of the roof, hand resting in reach of xir knife if this all turned out to be a very elaborate ploy. It was a competitive business, after all.


[member="Kala Maedrin"]

 

[Kenna Raine]

Kenna was used to being the one all dressed up going to fancy parties like this without him. She would locate a target and get him to follow her outside. Malcolm would take of the rest and things ever went further than that. Kenna make than anything had been the behind the scenes undercover spy girl. Even now she liked that and tinkering with explosives.

She could tell he was tense about being here. This wasn't his forte so to speak and as such he felt out of place. "Normally but today your accompanying me," she lightly smiled giving his hand a light squeeze. This type of place was her area of expertise not his.

Kenna had many different dresses that she could have chosen to wear for this occasion. She didn't want to stand out though and draw attention to herself. Malcolm would be likely to punch any man who looked at her funny. As such Kenna chose a little black dress. It was simple and something she assumed correctly many others would have. None would be quite like her's but that would catch too many eyes. Which was fine, she wasn't on a job today.

He seemed much calmer now that he had a drink in his hand and saw he wasn't the lone Mando in the room. Kenna was calmer but she had practice in such things as this.

The room was full of people they didn't know, most of them enemies. Some she knew to be slavers but it was best she not say anything. "Perhaps we can find some new contacts here. If not, it is nice to just have a night out with no work."

[member="Malcom Renolds"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[SIZE=10.6667px]There was a certain [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]artistry[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] in observing the unaware. When sentients were oblivious about being watched there was just this sort of… genuinity that was hard to compare with anything else. It was beautiful to see the awkward stumblings of a young man trying to woo a disinterested girl, it was fascinating to see the hidden snarls, the dreamy looks, the smirks of presumed superiority and a thousand other, usually hidden, expressions. And yet. It also showed the sheer discrepancy between their lives and mine - they were so… careless, so oblivious to everything the Galaxy had to offer in lethal terms. It wasn’t hard to come up with at least a few dozen ways to assassinate every single one of the attending gentry, and I wasn’t even trying to be creative.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Then, that voice sounded through the silence. It cut through the thin layer of bullpoodoo and made me feel [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]right. at. home. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Miri~” [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]the voice sang in the night. High, carrying and dripping. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]A part of me had been wondering if she would try to off me while I wasn’t looking. It would have been so like her to eliminate the only [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]other[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] girl that could keep up with her, but it seemed that at the end previous entertainment overruled her distaste for [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]competition[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]. I peeked over my shoulder - and couldn’t help but grin just a little bit in reply to her big smile.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Came up with twenty-three point four methods to eliminate everyone downstairs. Only sixteen of those allowed me to keep my clothes clean sadly.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]I stood up, took a long stretch - not that I really needed it. It was more for Miri’s benefit if anything, not the [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]view[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px], as much as showing her that I didn’t have any visible weapons on me.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Didn’t mean there ain’t anything around though.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Nice look. Prefered the blonde with that little scar on her nose, though.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px][member="Laguz Vald"][/SIZE]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Lorelei Darke"]

Gerion squinted at himself in the mirror. He hadn't spent a whole lot of time deciding what to wear and how to wear it. Now several minutes before his date was due to arrive he was on the verge of second thoughts. Was a blue highwayman mask really the style to go with here? He hadn't worn his hair pulled back into a ponytail for years now. Was that really the road he wanted to go down? A more important question: was he concerned about his appearance (for the first time in years) because of the general opinions of the guests that were likely going to see him or just the opinion of his date? Truly if it weren't Cavill or some tentacled monstrosity souring the evening, he could rely on himself to do it for him. Then again, the night was still young. There was time for all three.

"Hogwash." He said to the mirror, now trying to make sure the mask wouldn't slide off of his face or constantly need adjustment whenever he was speaking. He inclined his head upwards and to the left, eyes not leaving the mirror. "Poppycock." Finally he looked at the mirror head on and pointed his chin down. "Bal-der-dash." Gerion placed emphasis on each syllable for good measure, then looked back up at the mirror. Again he stared for a few moments, sighed through the nose, and straightened his mask back into place from the millimeter it had shifted out of place. Gerion stroked his chin for a few moments, attempting to figure out which syllable had caused the mask to shift, turning the word over in his head. A moment later the door slid open behind him.

"Her majesty the Queen has arrived." The servant announced.

"Balderdash." Gerion said instinctively, then coughed. "Pardon me. I mean, excellent. Give me a moment."

Twenty seconds later, Gerion appeared in the main room of the shuttle. "Your majesty." He said by way of greeting. Then he noticed queen's signature red hair had been replaced with a more low-key blonde. Her eyes were also a different color than he remembered, and the Umbaran arched his eyebrows for a moment before arriving at the only logical conclusion. "You look stunning."

 

[WelshPsych]

Yuroic's introvert nature was coming through strongly as he remained quiet and just observed the numerous guests flooding through the building now, he took notice of them and though he didn't know many were Mandalorian it was something of an eye opener on how the upper classes of society dressed and acted, he hadn't thought such clothing was fashionable or stylish. He was simple in his tastes, some would say he was sime full stop.

The thought made him chuckle aloud as he shook his head.

He noticed the man approach with a following of attractive ladies, he sighed as he heard the apparent funny joke. He couldn't see himself being like that though he was also deeply jealous that he has lack of attention but then he saw the sudden change and the coldness the man showed. He shook his head as he took a long drink as he observed the others, more couples walked through from what he could see. Though they might not be couples.

He was tempted to grab a bite to eat but between the Hutt and the woman eating her weight in food he hardly believed that there was going to be any food left so he turned away and licked his lips attempting to build the courage to perhaps introduce himself, meet new people, gain allies or make enemies. He preferred not to make enemies, no one wants to but so is life.

 

[Quietus]

"Gerion," she smiled faintly beneath the shadow of her veil, painted lips giving an easy display of the expression that was otherwise hidden. The idea of a masque was a source of great amusement to the woman given the nature of her own life spectacle. Changing shape to blend in just seemed so ... childish.

I'm too old for these games...

But then there was Gerion fumbling with his mask, clearly having a time of it. Lorelei approached in a steady staccato of heels, glass of Reserve held aloft - no ice.

"You're too kind," she replied genially, closing the distance and leaning in to plant a kiss on the man's cheek in greeting. They were beyond the stiff measure of political pomp and truly she was bored of such formal etiquette. In the privacy of a ship, no Royal Guards in attendance, and after such an aged exchange with the man she felt he'd earned a measure of intimacy, "and handsome as always. Blue suits you."

[member="Gerion Ardik"]

 

[Eralam]

Most everyone looked to either be enjoying themselves or trying to get drunk enough that they didn't care if they weren't.

In other words, pretty standard as far as such things went.

All in all, Eralam was pretty terrible at reading thoughts and feelings. He could sense the energy; his affinity for it was worked into the deepest parts of his being. His droid body literally depended on it. But it was a bit like intercepting an encrypted radio signal. Just knowing that it was there was not the same as knowing what was going on.

He could, however, read the Force, and it was a tapestry to behold.

Most people thought of the Dark as a single uniform entity that stood opposite the light. Even many darksiders thought this. They were always going on about heresy and how their path was the only path and blah blah blah. Honestly, the only people who thought Jedi were the uptight ones had never met a devout Sith. There were days when the Iron Knight was convinced that the Force was a stick, and the only difference between light and dark was the end of it you chose to shove up your ass.

Here, the Force wasn't a monolith, it was a river. The dark energy flowed and ebbed around running shallow in some places, fathoms deep in others. He could sense the eddies as it swirled around a powerful Sith, one he'd have marked as being close to their Emperor, judging by the feel. Other, lesser darkness welled up from the sycophants around him. There were others for whom the darkness was not absolute. For them, the waters of the force were murky, but there was light to be had as well.

And then, much to the Shard's surprise, he detected the presence of a Jedi, the light almost blinding against the backdrop.

Interesting. This party was invite only, yes? That meant his hosts had deliberately brought a Jedi into a room full of ne'er do wells, and was probably perfectly willing to abide by the laws of hospitality and defend the monk if it came to it.

Of course, while all this was going on, the Shard wasn't keeping a lock on his own presence, but he doubted anyone would pick it up. Amidst all the dark and the beacon of light, his was perfectly clear, tainted by neither light nor dark. He didn't want that stick going anywhere near his mechanical bum.

 

[Connor Harrison]

”Why the hell am I here mingling with the enemy, Keira. Seriously.”

The whole thing stank to Connor. He was here amongst faces he didn’t recognise, but could smell their deceptive, dark auras through the Force. It was teeming with life; music, chatter and glamour. Glamour, that is, of a Primeval Citadel that was equally as haunting as the Host Lord herself.

Connor had to surrender his weapon and gauntlets, but made it quite clear his black and silver armour was staying – he wasn’t here to make friends, but he wasn’t here to cause trouble, but as the loser of the battle for Ziost, he wasn’t taking chances this time. And if he saw that space slug who had taken Chastity Lunelle away then he would break some bones.

The only thing hiding him was his mask – gold and black. It was enough.

Still, he was here as one to be respected and would show respect in equal measure. It actually felt good to take a glimpse into a world he wanted to understand in order to be the best.

He leant over to Keira at his side, eyes always looking for hidden danger.

”You do look rather fetching in that dress I have to say. Don’t let it go to your head though.”

[member="Keira Ticon"] | [member="Anja Aj'Rou"]