A New Dawn

[Marriskcal Lati]

Marris Renatus
Equipment | Dress & Hairsticks
Location | Council Chambers, Federal Assembly, Oroaturoo
Allies | None
Interacting with | [member="Sentus Olan"]
Status | Curious

[SIZE=11pt]What Marriskcal wished to understand was the views of the ruling class of Oroaturoo.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]They talked about opportunities, but she only heard wealth.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]They talked about prosperity, but once again, she only heard wealth.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]A better life, indeed![/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]It was greed, pure and simple.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The young woman carefully veiled the disgust she felt for these civilians. She remembered the echoes of Seto’s words, ‘Some don’t have enough credits, others don’t have time, and some just can’t keep up.’ Even months later, Marriskcal acknowledged that she was still unable to fully grasp what her Ren brother meant by them. But the economic concerns of the soft and spoiled were not matters she wished to learn about.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]She was about to disengage from the small assembly of lavishly-dressed individuals when a movement caught the notice of her keen eyes. The blonde focused her attention to the dark haired male that before them, making a passing note of their orator’s relatively young features and the confidence in his poise. “Sentus Olan, High Lord of the Federation of Allied Systems and Supreme Commander of the Federal Military,” someone whispered to their companion. Marriskcal wondered how would he measure against the First Order’s Supreme Commander.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]When the floor applauded, the blonde conformed, her hands coming together lightly.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Perhaps she would learn more from their military leader.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Her sky blue eyes were rapt on his form as he began to address the chamber, her mind parsing his speech. It soon became clear to the initiate that most of his words were reiterations and variations of what she has already heard from the others. If he had continued in the same vein for the rest of his discourse, Marriskcal would have dismissed him, and coloured him with the same brushstrokes as the rest of the politicians and influentials standing in this room. But as expected of a military leader, High Lord Olan touched on the military influence the Federation wielded, even as he carefully avoided giving name to those he did not look upon favourably.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The praetorian inclined her head in a thoughtful manner as he spoke calmly of protecting the innocents and rebuilding worlds ravaged by war. The refined smile Marriskcal has worn since she entered the reception gained an irreverent curl when his words ended with a warning to the ‘tyrants’ and ‘villains’ of the galaxy.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Light and dark. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Black and white.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Good and evil.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Marriskcal concluded that Sentus Olan was a bit of an idealist. Or perhaps, a politician who knew the minds of his people. After all, every word out of his mouth was something the masses wanted to hear.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]As she watched his form descending from the dais, the blonde made up her mind. Abandoning her caution in favour of having a rare chance to speak to him personally and hopefully catch a glimpse of his thoughts, Marriskcal moved towards the High Lord, her veneer of a young heiress with the perfectly painted smile back in place.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“High Lord Olan, may I have a moment of your time[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]? I would like to hear more about your views, if you do not mind sharing them.”[/SIZE]

 

[Kyyrk]

Orrico smiled at [member="Loreena Arenais"] as she bounced along. Oh to be young, unscarred, and full of life... Oh well, he never was much a bouncer even in his younger days. He adjusted his coat as they walked. Simple duster though it may be, it was one of the nicer things he owned. He remembered visiting this planet, a long time ago. It was one of the few places he'd been on holiday, rather than assignment. As they stepped inside the celebration hall, Orrico glanced around. "Give me the signal when you're ready to leave, lil' lady. Otherwise I'll probably be at the bar, scoping out whatever money making opportunities I can find."

He moved through the crowd slowly offering nods of recognition and greetings to people as he walked towards the bar. He sat down at a vacant seat, and tossed a credit chit on the bar. "Get me a Bakuran Ale, my friend. Older the better." He looked around. Something was gnawing at the back of his head. He was about to give up, when he noticed a figure in the crowd moving towards him. Well, not him, specifically, but towards the bar. A face--helmet, really--He'd not seen in a long time. He picked up his communicator, and sent a message to Lori, text only. Keep an eye out, Kiddo. Just saw someone I recognize. If he's here, trouble probably isn't far behind...

 

[Kyyrk]

Dorin stepped aside and gestured for [member="Lis'Ra Fennick"] to lead the way to the bar. He trusted her even less now. Half a century was plenty of time to learn body language. She was tense, possibly even scared. Sharp change from her cool and collected mentality a moment ago. As they walked, he spoke in a hushed tone. It was probably a strange sensation for Lis'Ra. His voice was little more than a whisper, and yet he could clearly be heard, and probably only by her...

"For the record I said I would buy you a drink. I said nothing about getting one of my own. I don't know what you're here for, and frankly I would rather not know. But know this: You follow through, you risk making this the problem of the Federation. You kill someone, and you make it my problem." His faceless helmet turned to look at the girl. "That said, you'd best work on a few things. Gonna get yourself killed if you're this...sloppy in the future."

 

[Lis'Ra Fennick]

Her body went rigid as he spoke in such a low volume, it reminded her of a darker time and it honestly scared her to death. Her pulse was rapid and her hands were shaking as she moved towards the bar. Her grip on her backpack tightened and her other hand was clenched into such a tight fist Lis'Ra could feel blood. She was beginning to fear the man walking beside her so she needed to find an exit, quick. She scanned the room quickly but so far nothing yet. Biting her lip she lead the man towards the bar, with every step her heartbeat got louder and louder.

"Are you threatening me?" she asked in a low voice as she stepped up to the bar and sat on one of the stools. She didn't dare look at him out of fear and loathsome. She was going to get this bounty one way or another, it didn't matter to her, she wanted this kill. Her eyes narrowed as she ordered her whiskey and a plan was soon forming in the back of her mind.

[member="Dorin Arkx"]

 

[Kyyrk]

Dorin pulled off his helmet, closing his eyes momentarily as he placed his visor over them. He gestured to a bottle of something to indicate his own order, and sighed quietly. Outwardly, he didn't appear much older than [member="Lis'Ra Fennick"] was. Yet...he carried himself as someone who'd seen and done so much more. The visor turned to Lis'Ra as he spoke. This time hushed, but he did not use the Force to amplify his voice for the recipient. It seems he'd put the fear of the gods into her well enough already.

"I don't make threats these days, kid. Galaxy's too big and mean to care either way." He watched her silently for a moment, almost as if he could see the gears turning inside her head. His head dropped to look at his boots for a moment as he spoke. "I saw a family of four outside the hall this morning. The children were so excited. Got to go to a big party. Get dressed up like they never had before. The parents...well...they had a look I've seen too many times. They looked...relieved, you know?" He picked up his glass as it was handed to him, and took a gulp of the drink. "Federation was official now. And soon...They could start helping people. People like that would give everything for their children. To see a better world for them to grow up in. But...times like these...They're unstable, kid. I'm old enough I could have been your father. Seen quite a few empires rise and fall in my day. And all it takes is one well placed knife."

Dorin stood, clipping his helmet to the back of his belt. He picked up his drink, and looked back at the girl. "I don't know what you're here for. Don't know how much they're paying you. And frankly I don't care. But ask yourself, whatever they're paying you...is that worth destroying the lives of thousands of innocent families? Thousands of innocent children? I've fought for a long time to make sure the things I've seen never happen again." He let the words hang for a moment, then turned to walk away. "I've got my eye on you, kid. Whatever you're here for...make the smart decision. Don't make it my problem."

 

[Lis'Ra Fennick]

Lis'Ra watched the man speak, she took her whiskey and drank it in one gulp. She's heard this speech before, when she was living in the slums of Mygeeto and went to kill a family for food when a strange old man had stopped her from storming the house with only an old knife and a hungry belly. She watched as he got up and clipped the helmet to his belt, she also noted the way he reacted to light and how quickly he put the visors on. Licking her lips she watched him go, her eyes staring after him. Today, instead of a knife, she had a gun, today she wasn't starving to death, she was full, the only thing that remained the same was how broke she was. She stood up immediately and barged past people to the restroom, her eyes never wavering from the door as she shoved past someone and made them get their uniform dirty after she knocked their champagne on them. She ignored their yells of frustration and continued barreling past people.