Call of the Hunt

[Madalena Antares]

The Tower, Eve, The Scintilla​

[member="Zel Nar"]​

Seated within her office at the Tower, Madalena stared at the stack of paperwork that lay in front of her. There were few things she disliked more than paperwork. Had it already been a week since she'd tried to feed it all to the paper ripper machine? Now it seemed as though there was a bigger and badder stack to deal with. She had absolutely no intention to deal with it at present.

Dressed in her armor, the Head of the Hunt shifted her gaze to look outside. Blue skies and a lot of people on the streets. Eve was a happy city, of that there was no doubt. She still had some hours to go before the scheduled training with the rest of the Hunters that had joined their ranks, and there was still so much go to go over. Weapons, armor, requisitions, strategic planning… And of course, they were all getting ready now before they would hit Zonju V a mere few days from now.

But before that, she had a meeting.

"PD-3PL," she said, turning around to a humanoid looking droid that had stood behind her, his silvery exterior tainted in pink. She was going to kill her sister for covering everything in pink one of these days. With a grin, she handed him the large stack of papers. "You're going to do this for me. Get just the super important and urgent ones out of there and I will review them after-"

The buzzer sounded. That was it. That was her meeting.

"Shoo," she waved at the droid, and took her seat. She was ready for her meeting with the new recruit.

 

[Zel Nar]

[member="Madalena Antares"]​

It had taken some time for the young Kel Dor to make his way to the Scintilla, hoping around from ship to ship to make his way there. Most of the trip wasn't spent in comfort, having to hide in crates or in cargo bays to avoid the trips. He would even have to spend some time off the ships as well, stealing some food and other things. The life of a homeless Kel Dor is a difficult one, each time having to nearly suffocate himself just to eat.

But, eventually, he did arrive at the location he was told to go to. The young Kel Dor feeling nervous about it. His eyes go up to the tower, staring up to the peek. Steeling himself, he looks to the entrance and makes his way inside. Inside, he looks around and walks over to the first person who looks like they work there and tries to get their attention. "H-Hey," He calls out to them to get their attention, his voice modulated by the rebreather on his face. "I'm here for a meeting with your boss, I think... Zel Nar." The young Kel Dor waits for them to check and verify, then follows the given instructions on how to get to where he needs to go.

Up to the office he goes and he stands outside the door, looking nervously at it. After a few seconds of further courage building, he steps up to the door and heads into the office. His head tilts around as he takes in the sight behind those goggles attached to a pretty scuffed up and old looking rebreather. His clothes are also in a state if disarray, damaged in various locations. Clearly not really fit for a meeting with anyone, but here he is.

That gaze soon settles on the armored being that is Madalena. "H-Hi," He greets as he reaches up to adjust the sitting of the mask and steps closer to where she is. "I'm Zel Nar, I was told to come here."

 

[Madalena Antares]

[member="Zel Nar"]​

Madalena's eyes became ever so slightly wider as [member="Zel Nar"] entered her office, her gaze falling on the Kel Dor. She knew of the species, but she couldn't recall ever having seen one in the flesh. To the Dark Paladin's mind, they were almost creatures of fairytales. And now one of them was standing here, in her office, a new recruit, willing to… Fight with them?

Her hands went for the stack of papers that were no longer there. Dangit. The file on him was probably buried somewhere within it. And the stupid droid was not going to realize this was one of those things that were important to her. This was all her fault though – she should've been better prepared.

"Please, have a seat," she smiled, giving him the warm smile she was known for.

Madalena pressed a few buttons on her desk, and immediately a short droid wheeled in, carrying a tray of various refreshments and drinks. Nothing fancy; water, juice, coffee, tea. Did Kel Dors even eat or drink normally? Was it possible with the breathing mask they wore? She wasn't certain. Still, it would be rude of her not to offer anything.

"So you're our new recruit," she said with another little smile, "How much have you been told about the Agents of Chaos, Mr. Nar?" came another question. Before she could explain a bunch of things, she wanted to know where they'd be starting.

 

[Zel Nar]

[member="Madalena Antares"]​

The widened eyes don't escape his notice, it's a look he gets quite often. His species does stick out with their unique looks, especially thanks to the mask. This seems to put him a little bit on edge, but he at least doesn't run away. From behind the mask, he watches Madalena go for something on her desk, but upon seeing nothing in the location she reaches for he feels a bit of confusion.

With the offer of the seat, he looks towards it and makes his way to a chair and sits himself down upon it. He studies her behind the mask, his expressions not really readable thanks to it. Though his gaze shifts to the droid as it comes in with drinks. "Thank you." Though he gives his thanks, he makes no move to reach for one of the drinks as he turns that masked gaze back to the armored woman as she begins to speak.

His head nods towards her, confirming his status as the new recruit. The question about what he knows has him seeming to raise his brows up a little. "Mr. Nar?" There is some surprise that comes along with the reverberated speech from the rebreather, but he doesn't linger on that little bit for long. "I... Don't know anything." He admits to her as he folds his hands in his lap. "Someone told me I should come here, that it could lead to me getting stronger."

 

[Madalena Antares]

[member="Zel Nar"]​

Ha. So calling him Mr. Nar had taken him somewhat by surprise. That was good – it was an icebreaker that Madalena could make use of. "What do you prefer to be called?" she asked, "Zel? Zel Nar? Something else?"

And then… Well, now it was her turn to be taken by surprise again. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It was almost like the very early days. It would be somewhat strange to say they felt like they were only yesterday, since they did happen less than a handful of months ago. It was amazing how something so new could feel so… Part of her, already. And the day had been almost magical to Madalena, with the few ships of them making their way from the Southern Systems into the Unknown Regions, and being found by Discordia along the way. None of them knew why they'd headed there or what would become of it, only that there was a general unanimous feeling of it being the right thing. And Madalena was not only a Force User, but a Sith Sorceress in her own right. She knew when to trust the gut feelngs that the Force planted in her.

"That is true," Madalena said after a short silence, "but that is not the entire truth. We make people strong, but only when they are our people. We have a mission in this galaxy, and that is to topple down large governments and organizations who think they have the right to rule more than a single planet. If you are aware of the large territories those such as that of the Sith Empire for example…"

That one was always the easiest to explain. If you were not part of the Sith Empire, you were most likely opposed to its ways. At least on paper.

"We aim to free the galaxy of such shackles," Madalena said, and the gleam in her eyes would be hard to miss, "And if you join us, we will make you strong so that you could be part of what takes them down."

Leaning back, her shoulders relaxed a touch. "You do not have to choose now," she delivered the final part, "Take hours. Days. Weeks if you want to. Walk around Eve, our capital city. Speak with our people. Make an informed choice. We are safe here in the Unknown Regions since none would dare to lift a finger against us after what we've done for others here, but that is not how it's going to be when we travel to other parts of the galaxy. We intend on being quite disliked and hated until our goal is reached."

 

[Zel Nar]

[member="Madalena Antares"]​

"Zel is fine." Comes the young, reverberating voice from the mask. There's a small hiss that comes from the mask and his browse raise up over the eye pieces and he reaches up to start fiddling with the likely damaged mask. It looks like the mask had seen better days overall. After a few seconds, the slight hissing goes away but he still fiddles with the mask for a few moments longer before his hands lower down and rest once more upon his lap. With the hissing gone, his posture seems to relax slightly. His head is turned towards Madalena, but with his eyes and most of his face hidden behind that mask and the attached goggles, it's hard to even tell if he's looking at her. Or actually listening.

His fingers shift together as the woman speaks, and he remains quiet. A sign of listening comes, though, and he gives a slight nod of his head as Madalena continues to speak. There's still no movements to the offered refreshments. It is only when Madalena finishes speaking, does he himself speak up.

There's a slight tilt to his head before he speaks up. "Isn't that what the confederacy wants to do?" His brows furrow against the upper rims of the goggles as he seems to think quietly about it. "I think, anyway..."

The young Kel Dor sinks back a little into the chair he sits upon a little. "I'm... Used to being disliked and hated." Comes the admission as he interlocks his fingers together in his lap, the grip tightening. "My mom was killed because of how my kind look. I watched her die. Other kids would throw rocks at me, or hit me with things." His hands interlock even tighter as anger seeps into the voice that comes out of the rebreather on his face. "I want to be stronger..."

 

[Madalena Antares]

[member="Zel Nar"]​

Zel it was, then.

As the hissing began, Madalena looked at him with interest and curiosity. As she'd never met another of his species before, she wasn't aware as to all the details of the mask; what was it? Was it meant to hiss? No, she was certain that it was not; his relaxing body language once it was fixed was evidence of that. Did he… Did he require a new mask? She made a mental note to check later. First, he had questions that required answers.

"The Confederacy does not," she smiled confidently, "I served with them for a long time, first as a Knight Obsidian and then as a Knight Commander. What they do is collect planets, usually in return for helping with something small and minor that they could've helped with for a much smaller fee. The planets sign over to them under the guise that they will enjoy more protection, but that is always a gamble; the Confederacy may or may not help in times of need, depending on the mood of its leaders. Some planets are taxed, some are not, again, depending on the mood of the leaders. Most higher ups get their advancements and positions through nepotism. And the Viceroyalty exists mostly as decoration. There is no democracy there of any kind save that which entices the imagination."

Leaning back in her chair, she listened a Zel spoke of his mother. Nodding, she motioned for him to stand up as she did, and walked the both of them to the window.

"Look at the people you see walking down the streets," she said softly, "Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children… Many of them have lost something. We are new enough so that every person here, has a reason to be here. No one has been born into the Scintilla, not long enough ago."

Leaning with her shoulder against the window now, she looked right at him, the glow of her eyes focusing on his face. There was no disgust on her features, no lack of respect. Quite the opposite. "No one will even consider throwing rocks at you here, and the only sort of hitting you'll experience are during training and battle, when you sign up for it. I am the Head of the Wild Hunt and I will make sure, Zel, that you will be strong. Stronger than you might even be imagining now. That is what I do. But first, I need you to be able to work your mask right without it doing the hissing thing. Do I need to get you a new mask?"

 

[Zel Nar]

[member="Madalena Antares"]​

The young Kel Dor listens to Madalena's explanation of the confederacy. There's a cant of his head to one side as he considers the words carefully. "I thought they were all about planets governing themselves or something." This seems to be more of a spoken thought than anything else. The skin around his goggles folds downwards as he furrows his brows somewhat, thinking on the subject.

Though, he's brought out of his thoughts as he notices the motion for him to stand up, and he does so and followers her to the window. From behind those goggles, he looks down at the streets below and watches the people walk around. He even leans forward a little to get a better view. Though, he pulls back a little when the woman starts to speak once more and he takes his gaze off of the streets to look up at her.


There's a few moments of silence after she finishes speaking, and he brings up a hand to his mask and lightly runs a finger over it. "It got damaged when someone threw something at me. It works... Kind of. The seal will just sometimes break on it." Zel explains as he lowers his hand away from the mask. "I'd like a new one... But I don't have any credits to pay for one."

 

[Madalena Antares]

[member="Zel Nar"]​

"Only in words," Madalena answered. She had known it for a long time, much before she'd left. She had fought for them anyway, trained their people. Most of the Knights Obsidian had been shaped under her leadership, had undergone her training and her guidance during missions. To say that she had been invisible there would have been to lie. And yet, perhaps it was her deep involvement that had kept her from being able to be completely blind to it.

But it would have been a lie to claim she would have left quickly. No. Unless certain events had come to pass at the right time, Madalena Antares would still be the Lord Marshal of the Knights Obsidian, fighting despite her opinions, keeping them close to her heart. And she would have no shame in it. The Confederacy had been her secondary concern. Making sure its people came back safe and sound from wherever they were sent, that had always been the primary objective for her. It was why she had garnered their respect. And why she knew, that would she return to Confederate space, she would most likely be perfectly safe as long as she did not start something herself.

But such musings were not for the present time.

Nodding as Zel explained the situation of his mask, she motioned for him to follow. "Come with me," she said, and led them to the elevators. The Tower was made of two tall buildings, and she knew where most of the things in it were.

Within minutes of exiting her office, they entered a laboratory. A few more hallways, and they reached a specific branch that she wanted to, but more importantly – there were several shelves full of different kinds of rebreathers.

"This is where we work on protection from various air born viruses and gasses," she explained, "These shelves hold the most common gas masks that one can find in the Core. If any of them fits you, take it. If you join us, I will commission a special mask for you, free of charge. I take care of my people. Always."