"Some things you can't escape from, I know that best. No matter how far you run, no matter how many years you think you've been safe.. one day there'll be a knock on your door, and you'll open that door long enough to regret you ever did before someone like me blasts you into oblivion," Valentine said. Harsh but true words. It's how the Black Sun Syndicate operated, before the Red Ravens tore down their millennia-long empire, and now it was how Lysle ran things. The Ravens were a family, you were in for life. Not many were pardoned from the Syndicate. Julian was one of the lucky few, but even with his pardon he was still tied to the Ravens. Perhaps forever.
Shipyard, she said. It was no surprise to him that she wound up working in the alleys of the Blue Sector. Shipyards on Corellia were hard labor and poor pay. It is what made their shipyards so competitive to the rest of the galaxy. Affordability and quality, at the expense of quality of life for the workers. Not all, but from as far as Julian had seen, most. "The Smugglers Moon, that's right, but it's more like a warzone between hundreds of minor cartels, it's a good place to get shot if you fall in with the wrong people," Valentine said, almost warning her. "I didn't like being told what to do by the Empire, ironically, that's my full-time job now. Tell me what to do and I'll do it," he said with cheerful irony.
"Barkeep," Valentine said, gesturing to the man to come over. As he did, Valentine leaned into his ear and muttered quiet words to him. To the keen eye they'd notice the pink-red scarification on both Valentines and the barkeeps wrist, a Red Raven. In fact, everyone in this cantina had identical modifications made. As they took sips from their drinks, sleeves slipped down just enough to reveal the scars. It was the look they all shared when Valentine entered. They knew one another. All of them.
The bartender nodded and moved back to sitting at a stool behind the counter as he waited for the next round of drinks to be ordered. "I'm sure you've heard whispers of the Ravens," Valentine said. The cartel at the time had been the biggest empire-syndicate in the galaxy, stretching from the Unknown Regions to the Core Worlds. There wasn't an underworld that was not manipulated by the workings of Lysle of the Hydian Way. Valentine didn't know it, but that empire would crumble in months to come, shattering into a thousand pieces as every crime lord tried to tear away their own piece of power. "Take this," Valentine said and slipped Blue a medallion. A Red Raven. Symbolism was everything to this flock. "It's not easy to leave, but this might buy your way out of trouble down the line, it'll put the fear into anyone who knows what's best for them."
Valentine wasn't usually the caring type. He'd done it with Svel and look how that turned out, not very well for him. Perhaps it was coming home to Corellia and seeing the same struggle he'd been through. What he would have done for a ticket off this planet that didn't come with an Imperial soundtrack. Then there was the part of him that knew if Blue used that medallion one day, she would go from being indebted to one cartel to another, a far bigger, more fiercer one. "We should go see about our alien friend that owes us some credits." Valentine stood up from the stool, put out his cigarra on the countertop and quickly finished his drink.