Bullet Time (Zander/Octavia/Keira/Diego)

[H3xle]

​

Dragon Palace Casino​

​

Forty-one stories of Red Raven induced gambling, drinking, gaming and various other forms of entertainment and vice. The Dragon Palace Casino was where IT happened, whatever IT was. Whatever you needed to find, if you couldn't find it at the Dragon Palace Casino then you could find out where you could find it. Practically nothing was off limits, so long as your fun didn't impede on another customers fun.​

​

​

This morning, four Ravens were conscious far earlier than many in the organization would say is entirely called for. They were meeting in the thirty-ninth floor, a floor dedicated to training when Ravens wanted to train and some of the more tame blood sports when the Ravens didn't need it. The training room took up the whole of the thirty-ninth floor except for a small hallway that held the bank of elevators and stairs that connected the lower parts of the casino/resort to the penultimate and ultimate floors.

Zander arrived first, he found that when he kept his special appetite sated, he needed less sleep. He had just...topped off as it were, over the previous evening with a young nubile creature who had heard rumors of the Blood Raven, the Red Ravens own personal Vampire. The creatures from lore having very little to do with Zander aside from a shared predilection for blood. The nubile creature was now sleeping off what would be a serious hangover and a memorable night, Zander was dressed and up on the thirty-ninth floor.

Zander was dressed in a pair of grey work out slacks and a matching grey sleeveless shirt. The shirt had his blood raven emblem on it, embroidered small on the upper left side of the chest. He had taken off his shoes at the door, habits of a long lost century. He strode out to the middle of the padded floor and began to stretch for the training that would soon be commencing.

[member="keira ticon"] [member="octavia dominia"] [member="diego ticon"]

 

[Keira Priest]

Teaching was never something Keira considered herself suitable for, regardless of the situation or what knowledge was being bestowed. It was a boring thing, in her eyes, a formality that wasn't entirely necessary. After all, she herself had learned and continued to through experience, never sacrificing much time for actually attending what could be called training sessions, but were really more akin to sparring matches, with her Gen'Dai mentor. That others actually considered her teachings worth their time was something that still managed to surprise her, in the end. She had no prior experience with training any individual, save for one minute exploit with a man that had turned out to value his loyalties to the Sith over anything else. That hadn't worked out so well.

Shortly after that transpired she had been called upon by the then-President of the syndicate, Cryax, to assist in training his half-brother in lightsaber combat. The arrangement hadn't gone too horribly, a contrast to what she had expected first walking in. Things had unfolded smoothly, ending with the both of them more or less unscathed, and he relatively skilled with a plasma blade. Now, well, now was a little different. Instead of working with another outsider, she would be training two members of the Red Ravens themselves, a pair that she supposed she was already predisposed to get along with, regardless of their individual personalities. How they all managed to get along would be something determined as time went on. She was never one to assume, especially with things like this.

The meeting had been called for a time fairly early in the morning. Not early enough to warrant much complaint, but enough so that they wouldn't be interrupted by any others should they chance to wander to this particular floor of the Palace. It was the aforementioned floor she had just arrived at, dressed in dark shorts that hung to her knees and a sleeveless shirt that was obviously cut out of an old t-shirt. Her feet were bare as she stepped into the room, lightsaber still at her waist out of habit more than anything. Rarely did the weapon chance to leave her side, regardless of the environment in which she found herself. It was one instinct that had never left her, and didn't seem intent on doing so anytime soon. Whether the others would have a comment remained to be seen.

The man that had arrived earlier had taken on a much more formal appearance, his attire seeming designed rather than something he had found, as hers was. But that was of little consequence. What immediately drew her attention from the moment she arrived on the floor was the aura he emanated through the Force. Dark and cloying, much like her own, it was a nearly palpable thing within the air itself. It didn't appear to hold the same unrestrained volatility that her own did, but assumption could just as easily be undermined later. His seemed to hold more of a potent refinement, a sense akin to a careful grooming in order to purify the darkness that surrounded him. An interesting feeling, all told, but in the end it marked him as another darksider, something she was familiar with.

Her arrival had gone unannounced, but she estimated him one to have already noticed her the moment she walked in the room, and perhaps even beforehand. There was something of a predatory grace about him, and it hinted at careful practice over the years. And this was only one of those that would be attending. The other was nowhere to be seen, at the moment. But this one had already done plenty in drawing her attention. "Hello." Sometimes one word sufficed far better than any drawn out greeting.

[member="Zander del Sangue"]

 

[H3xle]

Zander stiffened mid butterfly stretch as he felt a dark aura approach. The aura was on the elevator or stairwell, so whoever it was would have to be a guest of the Ravens or supremely gifted in the art of stealth. As [member="keira ticon"] entered the room, Zander rose to his feet. He kept himself shoulder on to her as he looked her over and she did the same to him. Two predators feeling each other out.

She was dressed fairly casually, the shorts were appropriate to work out in and the sleeveless shirt was altered from it's origins as another type of shirt. She was barefoot as he was, though he didn't see another pair of shoes at the entrance. They could simply be beyond, in the hallway, but it could just as easily have been that she had walked here barefoot. She was a beautiful young woman, the story of a hard life was written in the way she moved, the hard lines of muscles won by years of experience rather than years spent in the safety of a training school or dojo. All in all it spoke of hard won power, something that Zander could respect as he had had to scrabble for his own power, and would have to do so once again. It also told Zander about her personality. This was not Chiasa, Jenna or Leilani. This woman did not want to be flirted with, did not try to captivate with appearances. That actually gave Zander an ease of pressure. Until this point, Zander had only met women Ravens, which he didn't mind, but they all had seemed to be...voracious. This one, while beautiful, was a warrior, and Zander could be a warrior as well.

"Hello."

Zander offered a simple nod. There was no perfunctory smile, no flirting in his eyes. He let his predatory nature come to the fore. He turned to be fully facing the woman. He noted her lightsaber, but as she hadn't grabbed it and attacked he felt certain that she wasn't here to kill him, so not likely a Sith.

"Good morning." He replied to her greeting. His accent would be present (British sounding), but light. He could feel this womans power in the dark side, it was equivalent to what he himself had enjoyed, in ages past. "Would it be correct for me to assume you are Ms. Ticon?"

 

[Keira Priest]

His tone was careful, almost business-like, his Imperial-esque accent a further testament to it. In contrast Keira was relaxed and at home, informal, the inflection of her words casual, marking her as hailing from Corellia should he have bothered to brush up on his knowledge of galactic society. For all intents and purposes they were seemingly opposites, if it weren't for their presences in the Force that intermingled in a way that would have been impossible had he not followed the dark as well, ethereal tendrils reaching out to brush against those of the other, carefully poking, prodding, testing. But he didn't waver, ever obstinate, just as she, firm and unrelenting. These were all qualities she could appreciate and work with, molding and pushing him farther than he believed capable. That was how one became stronger, how they learned.

Standing silent as he observed her she remained decidedly quiet, content to let him assume what he would and waiting patiently for her chance to prove his assumptions wrong at a later date. This one was a careful watcher, noting all the details of an individual or his surroundings with a quiet intelligence. He was smart, an unsurprising fact, but he wouldn't have survived so long if he wasn't. No one did, in the criminal underworld, and he was smarter than most if he'd managed to find his way to the Ravens with such seemingly effortless ease. Before this meeting she hadn't witnessed him meandering about the Casino, but that meant little, though it told her that he'd woven himself seamlessly into the fabric of the organization, never once pausing out of uncertainty or fear. Respectable.

"It wouldn't be correct for you to assume anything. Assumptions get you killed." The first lesson, though perhaps more of an unwarranted one. Her tone was firm but not admonishing, regarding him as an equal rather than a lesser or a student. "And I'm not 'Ms.' anything. I've never been, and I don't fancy starting now. But yeah, that's me. You can just call me Keira." Overdone formality had never been her thing, nor had formality of any sort. Such trials were unnecessary, in her eyes, only complicating situations that didn't require it, making things seem far more stuffy and boring than they really were. It was one of the reasons she was the farthest from a diplomat one could get, and why she hardly ever chanced to find herself in a negotiating position. Getting straight to the point was always a much better alternative.

Slowly she stepped towards him, her pace measured, stopping once they were within a proper conversational distance, marking them as a step closer to acquaintances and one away from any sort of enemy. No moves were made towards the weapon at her hip, or to draw upon the Force in any manner, whether offensive in nature or not. She merely kept her awareness about her, not pushing out her aura but not bothering to conceal it either, allowing the darkness about her to be felt, examining his own in return. Always she was on alert, ever watchful, never letting her guard down. It was how she had stayed alive for this long, and how she would continue to do so. Thankfully he seemed to demonstrate much of the same behavior, traits that were nothing short of absolutely necessary, in her eyes.

[member="Zander del Sangue"]

 

[Alexis Altunen]

Octavia Dominia, formerly a Nar Shaddaa infochant, now a Red Raven, used to have quite a bit of feelings that she thought were merely hunches. She could, more often than not, tell when people were lying, and she sometimes knew when danger lurked nearby. Once she had met Khaleel Malvern, a dark Jedi and a most difficult man to describe, she had begun to realize that her hunches were not hunches at all, but a latent Force sensitivity. Vi, as Malvern liked to call her, knew very little about how to use or wield her power, and so she had come to the thirty-ninth floor of the Dragon Palace Casino, a diamond in the rough.

Vi entered the training room, dressed in a stretch catsuit that hugged every curve. Just because you were about to sweat, didn't mean you had to look boring doing it. She took off her heart-shaped sunglasses and examined the room. The two Ravens in the room, a man and a woman might or might not have known who she was, but she sure knew them. The Promenade Princess knew everyone. It had always been her business to.

The woman was Keira Ticon, a dark Jedi Knight who used to be friends with the Chiss who used to run the organization, or as she liked to call him, the big blue queen. Word on the sector was the two had an ugly falling out which seemed to be par for the course for blue boy. The man was Zander del Sangue who was rumored to have a prediction for blood. And this was not a metaphor. She was intrigued to find out more about this Blood Raven, as he was known, but she was sure she would in due time.

"Hi, I'm Octavia. You can call me 'Vi.' I hope I'm not late." she said looking first to Keira and then to Zander, and giving each a nod and her best pageant girl smile.

[member="Keira Ticon"] [member="Zander del Sangue"]

 

[Dessh Ekwesh]

Diego Ticon could hardly wait to see his sister. The half-brother of Keira Ticon had not seen his sibling since...Force knew how long? The young Force adept, who himself was recently reunited with the whole Ticon brood, spent a year training with the Jedi Order with the now-Grandmaster Corvus Raaf, training he excelled in skill-wise. His rebelliousness had been a problem for the Order, however, and eventually the former swoop ganger decided it was time to part ways with them. Diego never did anything halfway, so when he cut ties, he just disappeared without a goodbye.

Clad in white tank top and black training pants, Diego sauntered into the room with a casual demeanor, as if he hadn't dropped off the face of the galaxy for a good year. He knew that Keira, now a Knight, would be training the Red Ravens today and he showed up to surprise her, and to let her know that this time he would be back for good. After all, the Ticons needed to stick together. Not only did Diego come to Antecedent to keep an eye on his sister, but he also wanted to finagle his way back into the Red Ravens. They were a bigger operation than the Lower City Renegades, his old swoop gang on Taris, and like most career criminals, Diego was ready to make his mark on the galaxy, even if it was painted in blood.

"Well look at you,” he said to Keira with a huge grin and a belly-laugh. “Molding young, impressionable minds. The future of the galaxy is doomed.”

Diego was back!

[member="Keira Ticon"] [member="Zander del Sangue"]

 

[H3xle]

Zander was continuing to appraise [member="Keira Ticon"], she seemed to be very comfortable in who she was and was thus not giving very much away. After a few moments, the room became twice as crowded, with the arrival of [member="Octavia Dominia"] and [member="Diego Ticon"]. Neither of these people seemed either as dark as himsef or Keira, nor as powerful. Octavia looked familiar, she had been at the bar the day he had come in to Chiasa with his offer. She had been lurking around the casino a fair bit, in fact, but never drew near enough to Zander to peak his curiosity. Feeling her aura, he could tell that she thrived on both being noticed and being overlooked, a dichotomy that would need further investigation. Diego was something different. His aura felt gritty, as if he were keeping some chip on his shoulder and trying to make it look natural. He seemed to know Keira, though his assumption of Zander as young told him that the man was not paying attention to his sense of the force. That was doubly as dangerous as making assumptions.

After offering a polite nod and smile to both of the newcomers, Zander slid back to the ground and continued his stretches, paying silent attention to the goings on of the others.

 

[Keira Priest]

The two presences that made themselves known minutes later were both vaguely familiar, the one of a darker nature nudging at her subconscious as if it were trying to tell her something of its importance. The woman who claimed the decidedly neutral aura entered first, the way she was outfitted and how she moved telling Keira just as much about her as she would have been able to detect through the ether. While not one completely unused to any combat scenario, the new arrival hadn't necessarily participated in a wealth of her own, likely preferring to remain on the sidelines to some degree. It didn't make her weak by any means, but it left a bit of work to be done. The way her aura clung to neither side of the spectrum spoke of either a careful neutrality in all things, or a recent discovery of her talents. Past experience told her the latter was more possible. True neutrals were rare.

The instant the second voice rang out she froze, slowly turning to face who she already knew was standing there. For a moment all she did was blink, unsure of what to say. Her older brother, [member="Diego Ticon"], a man she hadn't seen, let alone spoken with, in years, had wandered into the room as if it were the most natural thing for him to do. Well, it wasn't as if she hadn't become accustomed to his arriving like this, but after the amount of time they had spent apart, she wasn't able to respond as quickly as was typical. But eventually she stepped towards him, meeting his bright blue eyes with her amber gaze, "It's been four years. Four karking years, Diego. Where the hell have you been?" Without giving him a chance to respond she simply hugged him, refusing to let go for a few long moments, finally releasing him. "I missed you, you bashard. What happened to the Lumo'sinior?" He'd be able to translate the Old Corellian, that much she knew.

Despite the fact that two of them had just quite literally had an impromptu family reunion she stepped back to survey the entirety of the room. One more wouldn't throw a wrench in anything, and she was happy to have her brother back in her life, even if two Ticons would spell chaos for the rest of the Ravens, eventually. "Well, I'm assuming he's sticking around," Here she nodded towards Diego, "So that makes four of us all told. For those of you that don't already know, my name's Keira, and that's what you can call me. No titles and formality, because that just wastes time." Hooking a thumb towards her brother, she continued, "This is Diego, my older brother, and a royal pain when he wants to be. Don't worry, you get used to it." With a half-smile that told the man in question she was mostly joking, her demeanor seemed to relax with a familiar face in the room, and family no less.

When it came to the teaching side of things, she found herself unsure of how exactly to proceed. Then again, at any other point she would improvise, and this wasn't much different. "We'll be working on Force Reflex, an ability that, if you do it right, will slow down everything and everyone around you, giving you more time to react to something that would usually be deadly. In this business you're going to need it if you want to survive your first real fight and the ones that come after. Dying tends to make things awfully boring, or so I've been told." It was a skill she had exploited times before, and one that allowed her to survive her first encounter with a Mandalorian, countless sparring matches with Kezeroth, and numerous battles in between. Such was the life of a criminal.

[member="Zander del Sangue"], [member="Octavia Dominia"]