Private Handshake

[Rinea]

The soft light above the door went from green to red.

The echo of Rinea's footsteps made nice with the ambiance of rolling water, and indicated her every step closer to the Sith. She brought the cigarra up to her bluish-purple lips, inhaled slowly, and let the smoke hang in her lungs. She exhaled so subtly that the smoke absconded from her mouth like exhaust off a ship's engine, rolling into a steady fog that--for a second--obscured all her face but the red glow of her eyes.

She held the cigarra out. "Please," soft-spoken. "I have to ask questions, but information isn't the only reason we made contact."

"As a Dark Lord... Do you get to bargain?"

The light turned from red to green, and by proximity alone, the door behind Kaila slid open.

Two options. Cigarra and conversation in front of her, an opportunity to find out exactly what this was all about. Or... the quick exit right behind her. Likely to never see each other again.

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Armor
Tag: Rinea

Her expression did not change.

It was that same dour face the woman had worn for some time now.

But seeing that door lock, it made her fist clench.

She wondered if Rinea could feel it as she approached, the way the force became subtly charged. And when she turned to regard the clacking of boots, the fire in her eye burned just a little brighter than before, against their smoky opposite.

She held the cigarra out. "Please," soft-spoken. "I have to ask questions, but information isn't the only reason we made contact."

"As a Dark Lord... Do you get to bargain?"

Kaila took one last glance at the door, and exhaled slowly.

"It depends." she said, turning to take the cigarra between two fingers.

The droid scanned it first, bathing the pair in soft blue lines, and only when the light flashed green did she continue.

She did not smoke right away, rather she pulled away her glove between pristine teeth, and exposed blackened fingers which had no natural cause to be so.

And just one touch against her bare skin was enough to flicker and light the end.

After a long drag and shooting the smoke away from her host, Kaila was ready to continue.

"I am one of two souls in this empire authorized to conduct trade with the outside. It has given me some additional influence."

"That does not mean however that I may change foreign policy as I see fit."

She took another drag, eyes wandering to the water fixture in thought.

"If you play your cards right, I can get your foot in the door and quite possibly—with your participation—sway the Assembly in your favor. But nothing is guaranteed."

"However..."

Her gaze locked with Rinea's own.

"If you pull something, it would be my duty to clean up the mess."

​

 

[Rinea]

Rinea smiled. Briefly.

Then, the Chiss turned away and sauntered over to the nearby couch, where she took a seat. Her hand gestured to the empty cushion, an invitation to continue, and insistence that there was no hurry.

"I am one of two souls in this empire authorized to conduct trade with the outside. It has given me some additional influence."

One of two? She nearly chuckled at the irony of that exact phrase coming from a Sith. If only it were just two. Might've made her position easier in this matter. She found herself in a headspace that felt right for this meeting. Like standing in a hallway between serious and the most distant version of friendly.

"Is that a modest statement? Two out of many suggest my agent approached the right Sith."

She then tilted her head at the mention of this 'Assembly.' "Is that your governing body?" She asked. "You're authorized to conduct trade, but you still need permission for every deal you strike?" It sounded like an unusual relationship. Why the middleman act? She refrained from asking, at the risk of seeing the Darth storm out for real this time.

"If you pull something, it would be my duty to clean up the mess."

Their eyes met and locked with mutual intensity. "Of course." Clean acknowledgment.

"Is trade the only thing you're authorized to conduct?"

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Armor
Tag: Rinea

She tracked her movements, right up until she sat down.

Her gaze settled on the empty space she pat, and Kaila froze.

Something about this, and that smile, reminded her too much of a certain royal, who once invited her to share a throne in much the same way. Late night in a dimly lit ship just as this.

It was the last thing Kaila wished to think about right now.

"Hm."

She tried her best to banish the thought, taking another drag of her cigarette while joining the Chiss, fixing her eyes upon anything else despite the potential threat she pose.

"Is that a modest statement? Two out of many suggest my agent approached the right Sith."

She then tilted her head at the mention of this 'Assembly.' "Is that your governing body?" She asked. "You're authorized to conduct trade, but you still need permission for every deal you strike?"

The young Darth did not answer right away.

She'd not been modest as she could have been, in fact she was tired of being the humble one in the order.

The fact remained that she needed some leverage in... whatever this arrangement was to become, if anything at all. Yes there were a handful at the very top who could authorize trade, but no one likely to deal with extragalactic refugees. Not on friendly terms, at least.

But even if she likely was their best option, Rinea didn't need to know the details.

Not yet.

"She got lucky, I suppose." was all she'd say about it.

"The Assembly is the closet thing to democracy in our empire. The Emperor rules all, but the Assembly allows landed Sith Lords and Imperials of some repute a hand in governing the wider empire outside their own territory. This allows him to focus on his own designs as needed."

She regarded her with a sidelong glance then.

"But I do not mean to suggest I need the Assembly's permission for everything."

"If I were proposing some grand pact between our nations, yes I would go through the assembly if not bring it to the Emperor myself. The more you want, the more involved."

"But on a smaller scale?"

Kaila turned closer to the Chiss, gesturing as though she were moving pieces on a board.

"Money, crime, war? I rule my domain and all within it."

"And I choose my allies as I please."

​

 

[Rinea]

Sith democracy was an interesting concept, to say the least. It was a good lens into understanding their government. To hear the term "landed" implied something akin to feudalism, an archaic solution that certainly felt appropriate, though less elegant than the Moffs.

She wondered if it benefited the Emperor specifically in the way that his 'loyal' subjects might spend more time in competition with each other, rather than turn their attention to him. She only heard mention of him once before, in the Sluis Van report, and even then, it was only known of his involvement in the Blackwall.

Rinea enjoyed another drag from her cigarra and blew her smoke just off to the side of their shared space.

"Money, crime, war? I rule my domain and all within it."

"And I choose my allies as I please."

"Money," she repeated. It was the one word among the three that was most alien to the Chiss. "We have become... 'aware' that this galaxy is largely a credit-based economy. Ours was too, once upon a time," she didn't even pretend to not be the alien in the room. "It is not a resource we brought with us."

"Weapons, ships..." Sentinel Crown, though it remained unmentioned. "... supplies, tools, and lives." She listed it all out.

"But not money."

More importantly, they were fast in search of a world to call their own. Or at least a subset of the officers thought it ought to be their chief priority, no matter what High Command believed.

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Armor
Tag: Rinea

"A world without money..." she muttered.

"...it's a good dream."

Kaila took another drag, the cushion sinking deeper under the woman's surprising heft.

She spent some time there smoking in deep thought, staring into the the clouds while she pondered the situation before her. These people were certainly facing desperate times, stranded in another galaxy, perhaps another reality, alone and without funds and without support. Sure it sounded as though there were more of them, but they couldn't have been many.

Not compared to the empire, and certainly not the galaxy.

On the other hand, could that be the only thing stopping them from trying to eradicate her people?

"I still don't see how I benefit from this."

She turned to face Rinea.

"It sure isn't the money."

​

 

[Rinea]

Rinea was a ghost while the Sith contemplated her own thoughts. The Chiss' movement was silent, slow, and self-contained.

Another drag.

Recrossed her legs.

Leaned in a little when she began to talk. The Darth's skepticism was understandable, if not expected. "If... I went to other Dark Lords. If... I mentioned I met with 'Anathemous, Dark Lord of the Sith, Governor of Echnos, Warlord of the Second Legion.' If I mentioned my interests. Your refusal. Who among them would be foolishly arrogant enough to eat from the hand that their competitor sniffed?"

Rinea gently raised her hand. A nonverbal 'wait, please, I have a point.'

"I don't ask that because that's my intention, but I like to think I have a head for power games, and that itself... Especially from an outsider, a true outsider, might be useful to your own games."

She leaned in, ever so slightly, shy enough to be for any reason at all. "I get close to people. I listen. I know things." She leaned back.

"And in time, I will know much about this galaxy. Yes, that includes the Sith. It also includes all the rest, and that is my offer."

Another drag.

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Armor
Tag: Rinea

Rinea was closer than before, when Kaila turned.

It was a subtle difference, but her eyes quickly darted from where Rinea should have been to where she was now.

"If... I went to other Dark Lords. If... I mentioned I met with 'Anathemous, Dark Lord of the Sith, Governor of Echnos, Warlord of the Second Legion.' If I mentioned my interests. Your refusal. Who among them would be foolishly arrogant enough to eat from the hand that their competitor sniffed?"

She quirked a brow, and that was all the prompt Rinea needed to signal there was more.

Not that Kaila disagreed. The chiss had just given her insurance, at least in the early days of this operation. As she explained more however, the nature of their proposed alliance grew more clear, but so too did the possibility that they might outgrow Anathemous in time.

Kaila needed to be careful.

She leaned in, ever so slightly, shy enough to be for any reason at all. "I get close to people. I listen. I know things." She leaned back.

"And in time, I will know much about this galaxy. Yes, that includes the Sith. It also includes all the rest, and that is my offer."

Very careful.

Her face took on a subtle heat as the chiss leaned in much closer than before. It could have meant anything really, to emphasize a point, to illustrate control, anything—but right now, so soon after losing her, it felt...

She pressed her blackened fingers to her lips, cigarra between them, and looked away to take a longer drag than before.

Kaila took equally long evacuating the smoke, hand rested upon her knee.

"So... my money, your information. Is that the extent of what you're after?"

She frowned at her anxiously, the weight of risk in her eye.

​

 

[Rinea]

When the Darth turned back to Rinea after the long drag, she might have noticed the Chiss had a hint of a grin.

"My proposition," she began appropriately to reveal her need, "is more beneficial than that."

"Your material assistance and expertise in setting up assets that might help us generate or acquire whatever resources we need. All without it tracing back to me or my people. That will, of course, aid me in establishing an intelligence network. One which I will tap you into--for your support."

In so few words, she of course described 'a front.' If her people were to survive at all, they would need a way to repair and maintain the Fleet, a way to establish a foothold, and sadly, yes, money. Sure, she might have negotiated a more transactional exchange, but...

"I do find long-term partnerships bear sweeter fruit."

Rinea noticed the Sith had gone through her cigarra particularly fast, especially after that last drag. "You're down to the filter." The Chiss mentioned.

Instead of getting her a fresh stick, she plucked the one from her own lips and held its still-burning end out for the Sith to take.

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Armor
Tag: Rinea

The chiss had won and she knew it.

Kaila could see it in her smile.

But now, after so much tension, Rinea had put out a lure that was... enticing.

And Kaila bit, even knowing it may be a hook. Fronts she could do, she'd created and nurtured them for so ong—out of shear necessity—that she'd gotten bloody good at it. Spies were a little more tricky than that, and though there was some overlap between Rinea's line of work and the life Kaila once lead, she knew the different in quality would be staggering.

Because no one taught her to do what she did.

Rinea knew what she was doing.

"I do find long-term partnerships bear sweeter fruit."

Rinea noticed the Sith had gone through her cigarra particularly fast, especially after that last drag. "You're down to the filter."

And damn well, to pull a move like this, after saying something like that.

Kaila knew what was happening, evidenced by the heat she felt in her cheek.

But all the same she gently pinched that cigarra between her fingers, and looked her right in the eye as she took another drag. It wasn't a defiant look, it was too soft for that. Just a quiet acceptance.

Follow by another puff of smoke, or perhaps a defeated sigh, as she glanced away.

"...sweeter fruit." she coughed, and closed her eyes.

"Just promise me that when we do this, you're not going to wield my resources against the Sith."

"There's a lot wrong with it, but it's my home now."

"And the best chance this galaxy has."

​

 

[Rinea]

Blue fingers stretched out to pluck the cigarra from those blackened tips.

Rinea held the lit thing over the table, and her eyes never left the Sith's own.

She felt what Anathemous asked was a request already lying to itself. There was weakness in those words. Not weakness of character, but weakness of resolve. What the Chiss saw before her was not merely the spectacular color of the woman's cheeks--that itself a suggestion. It was a shaken hand wrapped around what Anathemous needed. No matter how much the Darth's fingers might bleed, they would not let go, and right now she looked down at those blackened tips and saw unfathomable red.

It was power.

"And the best chance this galaxy has."

Her glowing red eyes did not even flicker in the slightest. Her lips did not twitch. Her cheeks did not rise. Not even the tension in the muscles underneath altered. Yet, inside, Rinea burned like starbirth. Everything before that... a riddle to get to here. What Rinea heard in those few words was the heart of the woman manifest, whether or not correct.

Anathemous had her entire existence wrapped in a goal, and through her eyes, Rinea imagined the Darth saw a ravine between her and whatever it was she desperately pursued. She saw the Sith as the only bridge strong enough to get her across. And so Rinea wondered if she might replace it...

The crack of a gentle smile.

Brick by brick.

"Of course."

Kaila Irons