Private An Unexpected Call

[Talohn Atar]

The Crimson Wolf​

Get his ship fixed - Naboo

The crimson wolf had always been Talohn's pride and joy. A custom corvette made for him by Freebird Industries. It was one of a kind. A fact that became even more cemented following the company's end. Could he probably get another ship? Sure. He was the uncle of Mandalore the Iron, brother to Darth Metus of the once prosperous CIS. Not to mention a fairly accomplished individual himself. With connections like that, getting a ship to fit his needs would be doable. But he didn't want any ship. He wanted his Crimson Wolf. The ship he taught Leea to fly in. The ship he spent years of his life with Zlova on. The ship he raised his daughter on. That ship, and only that ship, would do. It was this need that drove him somewhere he was typically too hesitant to go. A planet that was ground zero for one of his greatest failures. Well, not his personally. The CIS had fallen in that final fight on Naboo, and while he could hardly blame himself for not being able to combat a threat that toppled an entire empire, he still felt some semblance of guilt for the lives he couldn't save that day.

After landing his current ship, a simple Fang Type starfighter, in the Theed spaceport, he began making his way through the city. Those orange colored eyes drifted about the streets. The infrastructure had been rebuilt well enough at least, and the environment itself hadn't taken extensive damage from that damning day. He took some solace in that. He noticed some taxis were available, but it had been so long since he'd been on what clan Verd once called home...he decided to walk to his destination. He occasionally had to use his datapad for navigation since the layout of the city had changed completely. But the change was of a thriving sort, which he was once again happy to see.

After a long while of walking, and a quick stop for a sandwich, he finally arrived at the doors of his destination. The grayish blue furred cathar looked down at himself, the fact that he wasn't really dressed to meet with a corporate big wig only just now occurring to them. Simple black leather boots with brown cargo pants, a white shirt and a brown leather bomber jacket. His usual. He took a bite of the cold cut sandwich in his left hand, shrugging to himself. They would have to deal with it. Those terrifying teeth would be visible to the desk clerk on the other side of the sliding glass doors for a few moments as Talohn proceeded to hork down the last half of his sandwich in two colossal bites, his mouth easily able to open much wider than a human due to being the carnivorous species that he was. He then burps quietly into his hand, tosses the wrapper into a trash can by the door, and steps inside proper.

The clerk at the desk stares at him oddly as he approaches the counter, having seen what happened to his lunch just outside. Talohn tilts his head. "What? I did it before entering the building."

The clerk sighs with a shake of his head before speaking. "State your business."

Talohn, still all polite grins despite the Clerk's reaction, responds. "I'm here to see Miss Locke."

The Clerk furrows his brow, checking a datapad. "No one fitting your description is on the appointment list. And all due respect, sir, you don't seem like-"

Talohn taps a few times on his own datapad, a schematic suddenly overtaking the Clerk's screen. Talohn cuts him off, eyes narrowed. "Send that to her. See if that gets me an appointment." Those teeth that had disturbed the clerk earlier were bared somewhat as the cathar frowned.

The clerk gulps, complying as he taps the send button on his datapad.

What Emilia would Receive would be schematics for a ship that was definitely made by Freebird Industries before it was shut down. But it wouldn't be a model she recognized.

Emilia Locke

 

[Emilia Locke]

//: Talohn Atar //:

​

Wearing: [X]
Objective II

Emilia did not see the schematic the moment it arrived. Messages, reports, and requests filtered through her office in steady streams throughout the day, and while important matters reached her quickly, they still passed through layers of staff and review first. Her office occupied the upper levels of a restored administrative tower overlooking the lake district of Theed. From the outside, the building blended seamlessly with Naboo's classical architecture, pale stone columns, and wide terraces catching the afternoon light, but inside it was unmistakably corporate in its design, with quiet halls, polished floors, and discreet security measures embedded in every doorway and corridor. Emilia's workspace itself was spacious but not ostentatious, dominated by a wide glass desk facing the broad windows, where the lake shimmered in the distance, and the skyline of Theed rose in elegant spires above the trees.


When the schematic finally appeared on her display, Emilia paused what she had been reviewing and studied it carefully. The signature design language of Freebird Industries was unmistakable to someone who knew ships, but the model itself was unfamiliar. That alone held her attention longer than most things that crossed her desk. The hull lines suggested something custom rather than a production run, and the more she examined it, the more obvious it became that whoever had sent it knew exactly how to get her attention.


After a moment, she reached for the comm built into the desk. "Reception," she said calmly once the line opened. The clerk answered immediately, and Emilia continued without raising her voice. "The Cathar who sent the schematic. Send him up." There was a small hesitation on the other end, clearly recalling the earlier interaction in the lobby, but Emilia's tone did not change. "Yes. Send him up. And next time someone brings in ship schematics like that, don't wait for the appointment list."


When the line closed, she remained where she was for a moment longer, the projection of the ship hovering faintly above her desk as she considered it. Whoever Talohn was, he had come prepared, and that alone made him worth speaking to. By the time the doors to her office slid open and security guided the Cathar through the final corridor, Emilia had stepped out from behind the desk to meet him. She greeted him with the composed ease she carried into most conversations, her hazel eyes briefly meeting his before drifting back toward the schematic floating in the air beside them. "Mr. Atar, I presume," she said, her voice even but welcoming. "Freebird Industries had a reputation for very distinctive work, but I don't recognize this design. That usually means there's an interesting story attached to it."

​

 

[Talohn Atar]

Memory Lane​

Much to the internalized discontent of the clerk, Talohn gave a polite smile and a slight bow of his head once the message was sent up. "Thanks." He then made his way out into the lobby to casually fall backwards into one of the chairs with a deep sigh, idly scrolling through his datapad as he waited. One of those pointy ears almost seems to perk up as he overhears the clerk at the front counter receive orders, his features once again breaking into a wide grin as he snickers with slight excitement. He folds the datapad shut and slips it into his coat as he stands up. He looks between the two security guards that receive him at the elevator. He'd been about to say something when the view interrupted him. Orange colored eyes went wide as he was lost in the sights of Theed that sprawled beyond the window of the rising elevator. One of the guards had to poke his shoulder to get his attention when the elevator arrived at it's destination. A slight hiss of surprise left him as he snapped out of his awe and quickly turned about to face the elevator doors as they opened.

One of the guards puts a hand on his shoulder to usher him forward through the corridor. He could understand their slight apprehension. He certainly didn't look like someone who would typically be on the premises, not to mention his sudden intrusion via atypical means. Mix that with the fact that cathar weren't common enough to be consistently known...to them he was a weird blue fuzzball with eerie eyes, scary sharp teeth, and in a signature grungy spacer outfit to boot. They were suspicious. As any good security detail should be. He was definitely dressed far below the position he held within the Mandalorian Empire. This sympathy did not stop him from swatting the hand off of his shoulder as he made his way forward through the corridor.

He grins as she speaks, opting to confirm her words. "You presume correct. Though culturalll...." The l's end up elongated as he trails off once again, the window to Theed that's behind her once again absorbing all of his attention. He'd been waling towards her before, but his course altered to go right past her instead, a hand resting on the window as he gazed upon what was beyond, the view even better than it was from the window. He seems...lost for a moment. As if he's somewhere else. In another place, another time completely. Behind those orange eyes, Theed was repeatedly flickering between what it was now, and all too vivid visions of the destroyed streets and crumbled buildings full of fleeing civilians, the city and world itself overrun by eldritch horrors that waged the final battle the CIS ever had. The clear sunny skies constantly shifted within his mind into that dark red they had been as it was marred by a massive tear in the universe itself that brought wretched destruction upon all that he and his clan had sworn to defend.

He shakily inhales before letting out an exhale that begins somewhat shaky, only evening out towards the end. He seems to deflate somewhat, as if a tension that had been there for entire years of his life left his body. He'd heard her words, but hadn't properly processed them yet. "Just Talohn is fine. Or Mr. Talohn if you insist on formality. Culturally, I don't have a last name. We don't really do those where I'm from. Atar is in reference to a clan rather than a family. There are about two thousand or so individuals that 'Mr. Atar' is applicable to." He chuckles wryly. Noticing he'd left fingerprints on the window, he breathes on it before rubbing the fingerprints away with his sleeve, causing a slight squeaking to echo across the room. "Sorry. I got distracted. I'm...relieved this place has recovered so well. I haven't been back since...." He trails off again.

Finally, he turns away from the window, facing Emilia again. There's a certain sadness in his eyes, yet he continues on with the conversation. "It was a one of a kind vessel. I'm sure you noticed the purpose of the vessel is too...hyper specific for mass production. More of a heavily armed mobile home than it is a business or combat vessel. I had my first date with my life partner on that ship, raised three kids on that ship, helped evacuate Theed with it too when the universe itself ripped open over the planet." He looks back at the window again. "I wish I could have done more than evacuate, but that was a beyond hopeless situation. Even my brother, Isley...an individual of colossal power, wasn't able to do much for the planet in the long run." He purses his lips for a moment. "I won the ship in a lottery of sorts. It was a prototype. Sadly, whatever research they were collecting data with it for never really got to come to fruition. Currently, the ship is sitting on a mountain on a planet in the unknown regions. In half."

Emilia Locke