Dominion Aphranture Is Out There! | GA Dominion of Aphran

[Maijan Paisea]

TASK FORCE XESH

APHRAN | BEACHSIDE
Viribus | Kirk Korrado
PARTY ALL THE TIME

Everyone knew black markets existed. That was par for the course in this galaxy –– every galaxy –– but now they'd found it. They'd found it and shopped it.

In a sleight of hand, Maijan had managed to cast the falsity that she'd transferred over the entirety of their latest uncovering. A drug circulating through the market through several unnamed and unmarked sources. Which was fine –– it wasn't their job (yet) to uncover these sources. They just had to discover the drug.

Rolling her wrist several times, she wafted the smoke up and let the manufactured mist surround her. Her expression took on something more blissful after a handful of seconds, and she eased back into the recliner. There would be official tests conducted on the spice, Maij's was just a little more off the record.

The overhead sun glinted brightly against her exposed golden flesh, and she dropped her sunglasses back on the bridge of her nose. The smoking stick between her fingers continued to smoulder and permeate its effects.

"Fethin' finally.." Maijan purred, becoming heavy in the chair –– all several hundred pounds of golden body "I used to do this after everry job." She reminisced, letting the smooth words roll from her tongue in fond nostalgia. "Not afterrr..eh, I don't know howw many now." Unconsciously, she scratched at the spot in her neck where that little nano bomb ticked away tirelessly.

She rolled over to her side, perching her cheek in a hand and extending another hand out in her Zabrak companion's direction. "You wanna sample, or just see what happens?"

 

[Kisaku Oroken]

Objective II: The Forest that Speaks
Khefiir | Riyo Milne

Kisaku felt that tension rise, the saber tied to his senninbari began to sway like a branch in the wind. Twitching towards his right hand harder, and harder until it was standing against gravity at an angle, straining the cord that tied it in place. His mind had begun to empty itself, conscious thought retreating for the subconscious to take over. To fight, to kill.​

​

Khefiir's laughter tore him back to reality. A mix of emotions ran through him, first confusion, then utter relief. As the fear faded with the creatures bounding passed the path, he felt absolutely lightheaded. Drained, as if he'd just exerted himself near to fainting. He put a hand to his head, shaking it he drew in deep breaths still recovering from panic.​

"T-thank you, Khefiir, sir." He said, his voice coming out numbly. He wished his instincts could be praised. It was as close to the knife's edge as he'd come since he lost control on Jakku. Thinking about how he killed that rat, and how undoubtedly close to killing those Gorth made him feel sick.

He picked up his head as Khefiir spoke, managing to scrounge up some kind of curiosity despite how he felt.

"What.. Is that?"​

 

[Annasari]

COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY
Tags: Open to those in support​

Annasari sat next to the head of the table, datapad in front of her. She started intently at the words she had so carefully drafted. The freshman senator could only hope she had given enough ground to bridge the gap between supporters and naysayers. It seemed surreal that the first bill she had proposed had been one for restrictions. She had so easily crusaded in the name of freedom in years past, but there were people suffering at the hands of those who only sought profit. Despite her distaste for regulation, it was something that could not be overlooked.

Her gaze rose to scan the members that sat around her at the boardroom table. A mixed bag of populists, federalists, and independents, all united under the hope they could help those who could not help themselves.

"If we're all here, we should get started, yes?" She paused a moment, considering her words. "If you have concerns, now is the time to voice them. We must stand together on the floor if we are to stand a chance."

 

[Maou]

Aerarii Tithe ​

The B.E.E. act was a disaster. Kaito was no corpo but the Corellian Confederation did survive on its many industries. After worlds like Duro and Balmorra struck it out on their own Corellia had been limited to its more local systems drastically reducing the sector's tax revenue and eliminating hundreds of thousands of jobs. The industries that were left, mostly shipbuilding and manufacturing, were already suffering under REC's near monopoly on military contracts with the GA meaning Corellian business couldn't afford to change their practices, even with the proposed stipend. Not only had they suffered greatly from the withdrawal of two of its greatest allies, they also were still paying the Belters on Koleene back for the gross mistreatment under Directorate mining practices and the "emotional" damage for unauthorized mining on sacred sites in the Belt. If the B.E.E. act passed it would mean short-term devastation for his worlds, his less than reputable side businesses, and the loss of funds from his corpo backers.

THis could not pass.

"I agree Vice-Chancellor. This B.E.E. act is utterly irresponsible. How the dirty little scrap bitting terrorist managed to put together such a bill and get it to the Senate is beyond me but its here now and we are all forced to work together to dump this thing into the compactor."

 

[Rafiq Novak]

C O L L E C T I V E • R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y
Federalist Party Room

​

Senator Novak sat along the left side of the table, one of the newer representatives to the Senate with a voice that carried less weight. For now. The Corporations controlled many powerful, influential seats. He knew it well. Their money would severely inhibit how much of this bill made the cut, if any of it at all.

At the very least, there were those on their payroll who did not wish to lose that sweet flow of coin.

Rafiq, in contrast, cared nothing for payment. Compensation had nothing to do with his position, and he accepted only what he needed to live. The rest of his funding cycled back to the charity that helped displaced, disenfranchised workers that Incom had exploited. He would be disingenuous not to make it so, after running on the platform he had.

Now, seated listening to the Senator who drafted the proposal, he waited for Annasari to finish her opening statements. They were understandably brief. "Madam Senator," he smiled warmly. "Rafiq Novak, representative of Fresia. I just wanted to commend you on your bravery. It is not often that this kind of motion actually makes its way to the Senate floor in recent years."

Indeed, increasingly few had the stomach to withstand bureaucracy. "The first things I must address are what you might consider the least obvious; however, we are faced with an enemy who will smile in our faces while they tear apart our ideas.

The Corporations will not stand for anything that loses them money. Full stop. Direct action is nothing short of Cassus Belli in their eyes, and their representatives will treat it that way. We will need a great deal more data to place the burden to disprove a need for such measures on them. As it stands, the few cited findings of the SEC will severely limit the scope of impact that the Corporatists are willing to bend on.

The actions of the Incom corporation on Fresia are absolutely a sword in our hands for this matter." Rafiq produced his personal datapad and began to transfer files from the cloud to the datapads of all those present. A numbered list of incidents that had gone seemingly unnoticed with regard to both the environment and the citizenry appeared for them to peruse. "Foremost, we must address the obvious issues of fines and taxes. They will be more willing to budge on fines, because they are nominal in comparison to the revenues of the businesses in question; however, the proposed tax can be avoided by compliance with the proposed regulations. It will coerce them into action simply to protect their profit margins. This is something we should not give any ground whatsoever on."

He noted for the collective particularly the clause to provide for relief. "This specific bit will meet with hostility, I believe," he explained. "They will see it as robbing the corporations to return money to the people. Bottom up, if you will- I am sure you're all familiar with the trickle down theory, and its failures. They will very likely argue that the funding would ultimately be squandered by lack of critical oversight, and tie our hands up in paperwork. We should remove it for the moment and push for a separate measure, one that pools funding from a non-affiliated source and seems to less directly target the Corporatists.

That will curry some favor, I think," he said, glancing over his notes. "In all, I do not think that they will fully oppose environmental oversight; but if they do, economic sanctions on corporations by our respective worlds will put the necessary pressure on them to relax their positions a bit."

 

[Lucien Dooku]

THE CREW | DATE NIGHT

---

---

"Consider yourself lucky that I left my skifter back on Bespin."

He didn't want to admit it, but it was pretty embarassing to get his ass handed to him at a game that he'd destroyed others in for a living. She would find a momentary glare delivered her way, only for it be rescinded the moment she skipped off towards the water and warmed his heart like she usually did. Despite making the spacer look like a novice, the pain of losing at his own game would pale in comparison to the rising feeling of warmth that followed every moment he was with her.

The loss was out of sight, out of mind. He was just happy to be there with her, spending time away from the fighting and violence that proved their norm. Even better was the presence of Ryv and his new girlfriend, a woman by the name of Ripley Kühn that he'd never actually met before that day. She seemed like a cool girl though, and he was certain that she was chill if Ryv had actually decided to shack up with her.

Luc shot a wink in his direction as she kissed her, then removed his shirt as he sauntered off towards the water. She was a fair amount away from the sand by the time he arrived at the water's edge. He took a few steps back, then launched himself into the air with the assistance of the force and a little running jump to seal the deal.

He hit the water to Auteme's right, curling up into a ball right before his body collided with the water, sending tendrils and large droplets up into the air around them both. He emerged from the beneath the water a few seconds later, appearing behind Auteme with his arms poised to wrap around her from behind. "That was for cheating." He teased, planting a kiss on her cheek, then settling his eyes towards the setting sun in the distance.

"One month, eh? So far nothing terrible has happened to prevent our trip. I think we're finally in the clear."

​

 

[Kirk Korrado]

Task Force Xesh
Aphran, At the Beach
Maijan Paisea | Viribus

​

Task Force Xesh's newest member walked barefoot in the sand, looking out across the blue waves, and trying to forget he was the newest member of Task Force Xesh. It was of course preferable to actually rotting in the prison he was legally registered in. But, there was more than one kind of prison. Kirk considered the explosive chip in his neck to be one.

He was trying to figure what he'd done wrong... If he'd done wrong. Getting caught smuggling spice had not been the best first impression with Galactic Alliance law enforcement. Kirk liked the alliance. They helped people... he helped people. Well, by their definition delivering an entire cargo-hold full of refined spice to Jakku wasn't helping people. Having seen the way they live on that planet, Kirk had strongly disagreed.

Luckily the tricks of his trade had saved his ass. Instead of life in prison, he got to keep on living as a semi-free man. They even gave him shoreleave, although he probably didn't deserve it.

Trudging his way back to the other members of his new team through the hot sand, he could see Maijan lighting something and passing it to another one of their mutual partners in government sanctioned crime.

"Well kids, what's this?" he chuckled. Kirk took a whiff of the smoke, which smelled pretty much the same as every kind of spice he'd tried before. After all he was more used to giving the stuff than taking it.

 

[Ashalin Pelagia]

Coruscant, Corporatist Party Room
Objective III
Aerarii Tithe Maou
​

She was by no means a corporate shill, and for the first vote she would take part in for the Senate, she hadn't expected the first subject to be on environmental protections against corporate exploitations. And yet, here she was, sitting in the Corporatist Party room, giving a clear indication of where she would stand on the proposed bill from the Senator of Jakku... who was also a new addition to the Senate and Alliance in general.

It wasn't that she was against measures to protect the environment; her homeworld had been devastated and took decades if not centuries to recover, but such sudden protective measures could disrupt the economy. They were on a war footing, and anything that could interrupt production or cause business to flee to other regions of the galaxy could cause more issues than needed.

The Vice-Chancellor himself was supporting the opposition to this bill, but that wasn't too surprising. His corporate connections, on top of the financial side that anyone from Aargau stood to lose if the corps they helped fund failed or moved, made his opposition easier to understand. Senator Kiyoshi offfff, she glanced down at her datapad, Corellia seemed vehemently against the proposed bill and the Senator that proposed it.

She didn't say anything, she was the literal definition of a junior Senator when it came to the Assembly, but she would take notes as the meeting would progress.

 

[Auteme]

Lucien Dooku Ryv Ripley Kühn
​

She cried out when Lucien landed in the water, raising her hands to block her face from the splash. Before she knew it his arms were around her and she was grinning and giggling like a little kid who'd just gotten ice cream.

Well, he was very sweet.

"Yeah. A sign from the Force, maybe?" She laughed. "Kidding, I know. Just- yeah, we're lucky. I'm lucky," she said, craning her head up to return the kiss on the cheek. It was more on his jaw, given the height difference, but she was sure he didn't mind. Her eyes wandered out to the sun in the distance. Even in a galaxy engulfed in war, there was peace in the little things.

"Before we go, I've got to pack, and... is there anyplace in particular you want to visit? I could make a schedule. You mentioned a wedding, too?" Her inner need for organization clashed with her willingness to do just about anything with Lucien.

 

[Donavon Arturo]

Federalists Party Room
Rafiq Novak | Annasari
​

"Senator!" The voice caught him off guard. With a click of his heels and a slight spin, the Eufornisian turned to greet the man behind him. With a smile, he reached his hand out to the young spokesperson who had called for his attention. The woman was stout, and adriatic, her flowing dress as beautiful as her dark skin. "Shall it pass?"

"Yes" He stated matter of factly. He seemed slightly annoyed by the interruption, as he was far too busy calculating the upcoming vote on the bill proposed by the young Senator from Jakku. The bill would pass on party lines, however without the support of the Corporatist Bloc, and the rather unusual stance of Independent (A group of which he was technically a member), and the Populist Party, it would be a razor thin majority indeed.

"Now leave me be"

 

[Shoma Ike]

Corporatist Party Room, Coruscant
Objective III - Collective Responsibility
​

Senator Ju Li Kim
Representing the Atrisian Commonwealth

"Atrisia agrees."

As members of the Concord Party, the Commonwealth represented a swing vote in most proceedings, dominated as the Senate was between Federalists and Corporatists.

In this matter, the interests of the Commonwealth aligned with the Corporatists. And so the Atrisian senator found herself joining the council room alongside the Vice-Chancellor and the Corellian Confederation.

It was the words of the Corellian senator she referenced as she spoke. While not sharing in the sentiment regarding the bill, the end result was the same. "Environmental responsibility is a noble goal, but planets can already handle such affairs as they see fit. Such statesmanship is how worlds attract businesses to them, or cause industry to flee to other harbors."

It was a Concord position, but she was a Concord politician. What did they expect, other than the fact that part of Atrisia's vote against the measure was due to the fact that the Alliance did not need to impose its will on the member worlds. There were other, and less costly, ways of incentivizing cooperation to achieve that.

Which led to the other point.

"Beyond that, the costs associated with a systematic inspection program would need significant overhead. Given the escalating costs of the war, such resources are better served to reinforce our security."

That was it in a nutshell.

Atrisia appreciated the aims of the bill. Atrisia supported the ideals of the Jedi. But such a broad over reach, and at such a cost, in a period of war was simply too high a price tag for the Emperor or Empress to put their support behind it.

Aerarii Tithe Maou Ashalin Pelagia​

 

[Riyo Milne]

Objective II

Khefiir Kisaku Oroken

With the creatures approaching, Riyu joined the Trandoshan in his formation, placing her back towards his and circling around the Padawan, pulling her vibroblades into an Echani battle stance.

Attune to the presence of darkness and conflict, she could feel the force bend and be disturbed as the Padawan struggled to draw his blade. While she didn't know his exact thoughts or why he refused to pull, the young Shadow had been around enough darkness to sense the fear and conflict rising inside of him, almost like - the thought was cut off by the laughter of the Trandoshan, apparently having figured out these menacing creatures were nothing more than herd creatures broken free and gone wild.

"Farm Animals?" Riyu replied with a bit of incredulity in her voice, "To hear the rumours, I came into these woods expecting something truly horrifying like a Terentatek or a Technobeast." She let out a chuckle before deactivating and sheathing her blades in a quick motion, continuing to traverse the forest with these two new companions. Remembering the tension between dark and light in the Padawan next to her, Riyo looked over towards him with an uncertain, but sympathetic, smile, "Are you ok? You seem rather on edge."

She made sure to calm her own breathing, allowing the force to lead her, feeling it as it flowed through her and all the life surrounding. The unease still permeated the mist that filled the forest, so Riyo carefully focused her senses on the flow of the force through the forest, She continued her outward experience of calm and joviality, but maintained was alert to all that was around her- the greatest threat was not, necessarily, the local fauna. Something was troubling the younger of her new friends, and Riyu knew it was something he would have to face, sooner if not later.

 

[Ryv]

Ripley Kühn | Auteme | Lucien Dooku ​

"Auteme doesn't seem the type to cheat at a game. She's just lucky as hell," Ryv chuckled as he watched Lucien race off after her. "It's weird... being here, I mean. With everyone."

He pushed himself up to a seated position, his forearms resting atop his knees. "I've never really talked to you much about the war or anything that happened before you wound up joining the Order. I met Luc, he became one of my best pals. I'd die for him, hell, nearly did on Muunilist," he rolled his neck, back arched as if the conversation physically made him uncomfortable. "You should've seen him, Ripley. Even in the face of a Sith Lord, he didn't slow down. The man was literally unstoppable. Took everything I had just to keep on my feet, and by the end of it, he had to drag me into the dropship to save my life."

Ryv laid back out across the towel, hands clasped together behind his head, eyes on the distant sky. "I don't feel uncomfortable about their dating, given my own history with Auteme. I'm happy they're happy, that's all I really want for all of my friends. I think seeing him just reminds me of a war I should be fighting right now. And when I see 'em both together, havin' a good time, I can only wonder what's wrong with me? Why can't I just look past all the crap and enjoy the day with someone I really care about? Everyone else has it in 'em to squeeze out the happiness, find the hope to keep on fighting. Feels like I just can't seem to figure it out. I'm running battle sims through my mind right now, for the force's sake! I'm thinking about what it's gonna look like on Dromuund Kaas, Ession, or Malachor."

A quick shift saw him kick up, launching himself to his feet from the floor. His organic hand found his cybernetic wrist immediately, his eyes falling to one of many blemishes that marred his body.

"When this war's all over, I dunno what I'm gonna do," he looked down the shore, finding a group of younglings approved to join the older Jedi for a field trip or something. "It's all I know. Feels like I can't go outside without people lookin' at me like I'm some kinda freak... Metal arm, more scars than I could probably count, and a face that looks like a Sith Lord stomped on it on a good day."

His attention shifted to Ripley, where he unapologetically looked the slender and beautiful zeltron up and down. "I'm sorry you gotta settle with me, I guess. Lot better options out there."

 

[Seto Du Couteau]

Seto Du Couteau, Senator of Empress Teta
Location: Coruscant, Senate Chamber's Private Meeting Rooms
Objective Three: Collective Responsibility
Action: Listening and Speaking
Attire

Seto’s eyes continued to focus on his data-slate as he listened to the Vice-Chancellor and followed by both the Representatives of Corellia and Atrisia. He felt that the three of them were being a tad too hasty with their straight defiance against this piece of future legislation. Future if we do nothing to stop it from becoming law.

Seto drummed his fingers along his cheek as he furrowed his brows, making sure he hadn’t missed any detail on the proposed B.E.E. act. It wasn’t the hardest hitting anti-corporate bill he had laid his eyes on, if anything he thought some of the laws he had seen passed back on his home-world held more teeth. At least another layer of teeth, but at least with this we could possibly turn its teeth against itself. Seto eyed the part that included funding the efforts of Companies to improve their environmental efforts.

Though for some this might signify this as a ‘slippery slope’ and how this would only lead into further government intervention. No doubt a simple way to turn this piece of legislation would be to gut as much of the fines and turn the deadlines into nothing but mere suggestions. Targeted goals and the like. . . Seto raised an eyebrow and looked around the private room filled with his fellow corporatist senators. And hopefully like minded.

“Populism and progressivism will eventually win-out, let us not pretend that it won't because fighting against it would be costly in both credits and public relations, better embrace it under our terms. . . and it would be near impossible to remove amendments that would satisfy the Senators that are in favor of this bill let alone flat out denying it a chance to be voted on.” Seto spoke, leaning forward and placing his data-slate on the table.

“-Instead we should add amendments, specifically on the Environmental Safety Subcommittee that first must allow the planetary government’s own legislators to draft a plan in order to support this B.E.E. act."

"Until the ESS could verify and approve, the fines and taxes will be put on a moratorium as well as this Ten Year Commitment and Yearly Inspections be only enforced until such time.” Seto explained, gesturing with a hand to door, as if indicating the rest of the Senate Chambers as he spoke his next point.

“What Planet's populace would allow the Alliance to dictate how their Companies to be run? And I’m sure many Senators would agree that Planetary Sovereignty comes first.”

Seto crossed his arms over his chest, “-We will tell those who oppose that we will gradually improve our stances on the environment as we work tangentiality with our respective planetary government.” Gradualism is the tranquilizing effect on any progressive effort.

“Oh!” Seto raised his finger, “-this of course goes without saying, but should this bill become law it would be paramount that this ESS includes a couple chairs for us to sit comfortably in.”
​

|| Aerarii Tithe | Maou | Shoma Ike | Ashalin Pelagia ||

 

[Aerarii Tithe]

LOCATION: Corporatist Party Room, Coruscant
OBJECTIVE: III - Collective Responsibility
IN FAVOUR: Annasari | Rafiq Novak | Donavon Arturo | Seto Du Couteau
OPPOSED: Maou | Ashalin Pelagia | Shoma Ike
UNDECIDED: Faith Organa

Those in favour of the bill, please post in the Federalist Party Room.
Those opposed, please post in the Corporatist Party Room.

The meeting of likeminded Senators opened with strong words - as everyone had come to expect - from Corellia, who resoundingly announced that the bill needed to be defeated in the chamber. The member for Atrisia observed that planets already had arrangement sin place to manage these issues and that the costs of compliance would be far too high. The Member for Empress Teta suggested that they move amendments which would be agreeable to supporters of the bill, while advising that they lobby for a chair to oversee the new laws which would be sympathetic to their needs. The Member for Pelagon, newly elected, choose not to speak but offered support through their presence.

Tithe’s corporate holdings and interests simply did not allow him to support the bill. But… the Member for Pelagon may be onto something. Public opinion for this cause had slowly shifted in favour as the Alliance expanded to encompass further worlds, many of which had experienced heavy industrialisation.

“A say in the composition of the committee is necessitous,” the Vice Chancellor acknowledged. “But to simply stall the introduction of fines. No, we need to, ah, blunt the teeth.” The promised tax breaks for compliant companies was an attractive proposal but paled in comparison to the costs associated with retooling factories to meet environmental standards.

Unless.

“Local compliance,” Tithe suggested. “Yearly inspections, done not by this ESS, but the planet’s environmental regulation. Ah, yes. Planets would have the freedom to set their own goals and standards.” The unspoken extension was that planets looking to attract business could set low standards, creating what were essentially tax havens for pollution. Such a system was reliant on the local voting keeping the ruling government in power, but if the system created more jobs and the corporations grew richer, surely everyone was happy?

 

[Viribus]

R E D _ H O R N E T
GALACTIC ALLIANCE
APHRAN | BEACHSIDE
Maijan Paisea | Kirk Korrado

BROWNSTONE​

What kind of job was this?

Here they were, microbombs implanted into their necks that were bound to explode at any wrong movement, sent out to do dirty wetwork that would always be under the category of "plausible deniability" by the government they were indentured to. Covert black operations that the Alliance sent out their expendable assets to do the job done, hoping they would succeed and if not? Well, their hands would always be "clean" at the end of the day.

And now here they were on the beach as if everything was normal. It was all just an illusion at the end, and everyone seemed to believe it except the people building and continuing it. Something that his partner-in-crime enjoyed and experimented with. Oddly, Mai seemed to accept their position in the Alliance. Something that Viribus resisted and resented time to time. Only reason why he continued this act was for her. Anything and anyone else could go to the Nine Hells.

"Sure, I'll indulge with ya," he looked back at his companion as both of them sat and laid in their own recliners, bathing in the sun. He accepted the offer of whatever new spice that was out in the market, one that everyone didn't know exactly where it was produced and who was responsible for its creation. A new trend on the market it seemed, and one that was already being the new talk in the Underworld of crime from Nar Shaddaa all the way to Coruscant's underbelly. The muscular Zabrak inhaled and accepted the mist of spice that now entered his lungs, processed by his body that its side effects would kick in a few moments. Another inhale before he returned the sample of spice to his partner.

"Feels fethin' good, Mai. Damn bastard making this probably sitting on a pile of credits already."

His weight fell dead on the recliner, feeling slightly happy as a wave of joy rushed through his brain. Slightly distracting him from whatever thoughts on his mind and just relaxing. The few times Mai would see him like this as he was always the serious, humorless one between him and her.

"Miss the good times before all this schit? I fethin' do."

 

[Lucien Dooku]

THE CREW | DATE NIGHT

---

---

"The force had nothin' to do with it."

It never did, in his opinion. The force had no involvement in what led him to Auteme back on Coruscant. It was simply a matter of the two of them being in the right place at the right time. He'd never been one to put his faith in the mysticisms of the galaxy to guide him to where he needed to be. Back when he believed that the winds were guiding him to greater things, it had let him down when he really needed its help.

Truly it was just luck that led to their coming together, and he was fine with how it all played out. Whether it was his brush with the other side of living on Korriban, or their run-in with the Sith Emperor of Ziost, he wouldn't let the force change the outcome if the option had been given. There was a bond being created through their experiences, and Lucien felt more in tune with the world around him than he had in years. He'd lost himself in the darkness, only to find something to anchors to within the light.

Maybe Luc would never reach a point where he'd touch the light to the same extent as Auteme, but that was fine. He'd accepted the darkness that existed within him, and her presence made it easier to sail through the pain that still existed in his heart. The Light may have been out of the reach of his hands, but the closest thing to its embodiment was currently in his arms.

He'd live with that reality.

Luc turned his head in contemplation, looking out into the sunset with a grin. "Uhhh-" He released her from his arms, pressing into his back and letting out a yawn. "I've got a little uhh, contingency on Bespin from back when I was.." He trailed off, thinking of a way to sugarcoat his previous profession. "..Workin' as a freelancer." It sounded better than raiding abandoned temples at the behest of the highest bidder. "But other than that? Anywhere. As long as it's just me and you, I don't care where we go."

As long as they were away from the fighting for once.

"Onderon, Naboo, Tatooine, Hapes-- you name a place, and we'll find a way there. I promise. "

He turned back towards Auteme after a brief "Oh, that's right." escaped his lips.

"I never told you, huh? I've got a cousin out in the southern Rim who's gettin' married pretty soon. Thought it'd be chill to show up with my girlfriend, if you wanted to go."


Auteme | Ryv | Ripley Kühn

​

 

[Maijan Paisea]

TASK FORCE XESH

APHRAN | BEACHSIDE
Viribus | Kirk Korrado
SHE SELLS SANCTUARY

"Feels fethin' good, Mai. Damn bastard making this probably sitting on a pile of credits already."

"Miss the good times before all this schit? I fethin' do."

Viribus' words dropped below a decibel she could clearly hear, and she blinked once-twice as she registered the loss to her senses. "Mmm, yeah." She murmured, the words warm on her tongue and she dragged her fingers through the sand while the Zabrak followed the rhythmic requirements of inhale-exhale.

"I still think.." her words were slow, careful. Not for fear of who she was speaking to, but because the technicalities of their technological leashes evaded her at the moment. Could they hear what they were talking about? She knew the SIA were keen on their whereabouts, but anything else seemed...unrecallable right now. "Darrkwure might be able to help."

"Well kids, what's this?"

Still quiet, Maijan barely heard the Zeltron's arrival but she turned to the direction the voice was coming from. Perking up, she adjusted to sit and pass the stick Viribus had been enjoying over to their new partner in acutely-monitored-crime.

"You tell us, handsome." Came her answer after an indeterminate amount of time. "Something new cirrculayting through the marrkets." she shrugged noncomittally.

"You were in this business beforre, rright? Have a bit, give us yourr offish-i-yal opinion."

 

[Kirk Korrado]

Task Force Xesh
Aphran, At the Beach
Maijan Paisea | [SIZE=15px][FONT=Trebuchet MS]Viribus[/FONT][/SIZE]

"Well Miss Paisea, since you're offering." Kirk took the stick and inhaled the same as he'd seen the Zabrak do. A quick headrush was followed by... nothing. Yet, at least. He grabbed his chair and brought it closer to the other two, then plopped it down next to the gold lady.

"I can't give much of an opinion though. My area of expertise is smuggling the stuff. They don't like it when you tamper with the goods. And by they I mean the actual experts, the fellas cooking this stuff up." Kirk sat down and dug his feet into the warm sand.

"What's this stuff called anyway? Maybe I've run it before, depending on where you got it."​

 

[Viribus]

R E D _ H O R N E T
GALACTIC ALLIANCE
APHRAN | BEACHSIDE
Maijan Paisea | Kirk Korrado

​

A wave of euphoria rushed in him, the kind when everything was good and didn’t give much of a damn of what was going on. Well, to a certain degree. He was still sober and not lost from the effects of the spice. The waves of the ocean crashing into the sand and the Falannassi’s voice dropped in volume, his eardrums retracting but it was hard to notice when chasing that high.

To him if only meant he’d have to talk louder unbeknownst to him. It’s what his brain tricked him into thinking. That, and feeling overconfident by how strong he was.

Another side effect he was unaware of.

"You tell us, handsome."

Handsome? That sure made Zabrak a little jealous. Slightly. Only to put those thoughts aside from the dopamine of the spice.

“Mai should tell you that. She’s the know it all between me and her. But I think we stole it. Not sure, but it’s whatever to me.”