Public Head in the Clouds

[Lew Ardellian]

♫​

Loud, symphonic bass rolled through Cloud 9000, deep enough that Lew felt each beat in his ribs. Ethereal notes drifted above it, rising and falling with the pulse of green light sweeping across the dance floor. Bodies moved in flashes—silhouettes one moment, sharply illuminated the next. Behind a sprawling console of switches, sliders, touchpads, and glowing displays, a bug-eyed alien bobbed its head beneath a pair of oversized audio receivers. Lew had no idea what species it was. Tonight, he didn't particularly care.

This was R&R. A few hours of peace between transport runs, missed sleep, and long stretches spent staring into hyperspace.

He tugged at the front of his jacket. It felt strange being free of his flight suit and unburdened by his utility belt. The white jacket made him look expensive. He knew better. Under different lighting, he might have looked more at home leaning over the counter of a Corellian dive.

But when in Cloud City.

The digital menu floating above the table presented an intimidating array of cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. Lew scrolled twice, found no end to either list, and noticed with some dismay that the thing had a search function.

Sheesh.

He pointed to an image of a pale green drink served in a narrow martini glass. "What's this?"

The Zeltron attendant leaned closer to hear him over the music. "That's our signature cocktail - the Nimbus. Lum, Jogan fruit nectar, mint extract, and tonic, finished with white citrus foam." Her smile brightened. "It's quite good."

"Then you've saved me from reading the rest of this." Lew dismissed the menu with a flick of his finger. "I'll take one."

"Of course."

She slipped into the crowd and was soon lost among the shifting bodies and green light.

Lew glanced at his wrist chrono.

Yep. About that time.

He reached inside his jacket and drew out a slim pack of cigarras. The lighter snapped open beneath his thumb, its small flame briefly warming the cool green light across his face. He drew in, held the smoke for a moment, then let it curl lazily toward the ceiling. For once, there was no deadline waiting on the other side of a cockpit canopy. No cargo manifest. No failing relay. No client demanding to know why a twelve-hour haul had taken thirteen.

Lew settled back against the plush chair.

This is nice.

Spoiler

Feel free to write whatever, this is kind of just an open thread, not specifically PvP or PvE or anything at all - play sabacc, hang out, "Change the music", whatever!

 

[Nadi]

The sound hit her like a wall as she walked into the bar, almost forcing her back a step even through her sound dampening field. Her eyes also slammed shut as she recoiled from the lightshow, and she took her first dozen steps using her memory and other senses to avoid tables, chairs, and patrons.

<Karking obnoxious.>

Uncomfortable light flooded her eyes as she finally opened them again and quickly located the darkest unoccupied booth she could see, making a beeline for it and sliding into a seat that let her see both the room and the door.

<If people are going to keep making me meet in these kriffing places, I need to get some blackout goggles.>

Scrolling through the menu floating above the table proved an arduous task, so she opted instead to simply enter "meat" in the search and order the first three things that looked appealing, then sat back to wait.

She'd arrived early enough to be fairly certain her contact wasn't here yet, but once her eyes had a bit more time to adjust she still scanned the room for them just in case.

 

[Lew Ardellian]

♫ NOW PLAYING — CLOUD 9000

Lew watched the ember at the end of his cigarra glow brighter with each draw before fading back to a dull orange. As the previous song melted away, a slower synth melody drifted through the club, the pounding bass easing into something smoother. Green light pulsed overhead in time with the music, washing across the room in gentle waves. Smoke and theatrical haze mingled beneath the ceiling, catching the light until it looked less like a dance floor and more like the clouds rolling through the heart of Bespin itself.

Cloud 9000 had filled considerably since he'd arrived. The crowd had become a living current, flowing between tables, the bar, and the dance floor in an endless circuit. Conversations overlapped into an indistinct murmur beneath the music. Somewhere nearby, a burst of laughter erupted around what sounded suspiciously like a sabacc table before disappearing beneath the next swell of bass. A service droid slipped effortlessly through the crowd, balancing a tray crowded with glowing cocktails without so much as brushing a shoulder.

There was something comforting about it. Nobody here cared who he was. Every table carried its own stories, every patron their own destination once the music stopped. For a little while, Lew was just another face in the crowd.

The scent of citrus and sweet smoke drifted through the air as the Zeltron woman returned, weaving between dancers with practiced ease. A pale green cocktail rested effortlessly in one hand.

"You opening a tab?" she asked, brushing a loose strand of pink hair behind one ear as she set the glass in front of him.

"Yeah, here." Lew slid a credit chit across the table before nodding toward her. "Get yourself something too."

Her smile widened just enough to suggest she'd heard that line before, but appreciated it nonetheless.

"That's dangerous encouragement," she teased, slipping the chit away. "I'll try not to bankrupt you."

Lew chuckled quietly as she disappeared back into the crowd, swallowed almost immediately by the shifting sea of bodies and emerald light.

He rested the cigarra against the edge of the ashtray and picked up the drink. Condensation beaded along the chilled glass, cool against his fingertips. The first sip surprised him. Bright citrus gave way to cool mint before something sweeter lingered at the back of his tongue. It was refreshing, dangerously smooth, and almost certainly stronger than it tasted.

Well...

She wasn't lying.

The knot between his shoulders, earned somewhere between hyperspace jumps and cargo inspections, began to loosen. For once there was nowhere he needed to be. No cargo manifest waiting for approval. No temperamental hyperdrive demanding another repair. No client watching the chrono.

Just music.

Just people.

Just another evening floating above the clouds.

His gaze wandered lazily across the club, more out of idle curiosity than vigilance. Most of the patrons blurred together beneath the shifting emerald lights - couples laughing over cocktails, dancers chasing the rhythm, businessmen pretending not to recognize one another.

One figure refused to blend in.

Silver hair caught the light as she slipped through the crowd with deliberate purpose. While everyone else seemed to lean into the music, she moved through it as though enduring a sandstorm, eyes narrowed against the lights before disappearing into one of the darkest booths she could find. Even from across the room, she carried herself less like someone looking for a good time and more like someone fulfilling an obligation.

Lew found his eyes lingering another moment, if only because she looked so thoroughly out of place.

Guess not everybody comes here to unwind.

The thought passed as quickly as it came. He lifted the pale green cocktail once more, letting his attention drift back toward the room as the next song rolled in.

Nadi​

 

[Mercy]

MERCY

EMPRESS | WARLORD | STAR-ARM

Location: BESPIN | Direct Tags: Nadi Lew Ardellian​

.

Bespin brought back memories for her.

When she was just a street thug, making ends meet, taking jobs left and right. Life had been simple back then. You accepted a contract, you didn't ask too many questions and just beat the face in of the name on the contract. Just the way it was, no bones about it. But that was then and now she was... something else entirely.

Bespin and Cloud City were part of Sith space for years now, a decade if not more, so even this club wouldn't be a stranger to Sith showing up to party and make nice.

But it hadn't experienced someone like Mercy strolling in casually. She paused at the entrance and her sheer size meant she was an immediate fire hazard. People who were trying to get in, couldn't even see the interior of the club anymore or what was blocking them, since it was just all 'wall'. The people trying to leave for the night knew exactly why they couldn't, since they had to practically snap their neck to look up to see Mercy's face.

They wisely waited their turn as the large Sith Lord looked around the place calmly while taking a smoke from her cigarette.

Eventually she seemed to identify her target.

Mercy began to walk. Like a glacier, she carved a path forward, until she reached the table Nadi had claimed. Already some steaming fleshy food on it.

"Nadi?" Golden eyes looked her up and down.

Without asking for permission the woman sat down opposite of Nadi. Unlike her, she didn't bother to make sure she had a view of the rooms or the exits. The way the chair groaned under her oppressive weight and protested, the reason for that became only more obvious.

A predator didn't need to have eyes in the back of their head.

"Corellian Sunrise." She ordered without even sparing a glance at the waitress that had popped up like a genie. She sped off to accommodate the Sith.

Mercy sniffed. "Didn't know you were one of the People. Twice now in one week I meet one of us."

.

ERASE THE PAST

 

[Hasuras Na-Gerra]

Where I have passed, grass will never grow again.

Another figure entered, even taller than the last.

Hither came Gerra, Ashlord of the Vahla, wreathed in the plundered sable, carmine, and aurodium silks of Chandrila, the antiquities of conquered Coruscant, and the gemstones of Hapes.

With him came figures of foul repute and ill humor.

A grin split the hulking Vahlan's features and he bellowed into the club,

"A glass of your finest swill for a few hard working cargo haulers."

Those with him laughed darkly.

Makar Clyne Zev Corrin​

 

[Makar Clyne]

Makar strode into the nightclub with a rather sudden scowl forming. He'd either smelled something foul, or something about this floating castle in the clouds offended him greatly. Sure enough, he soon made it very clear what was problematic about the place.

"All the bars in all the systems we've been to seem to have the same terrible taste in music. Hopefully their drink is more palatable."

There were worse things than having a differing taste in music. Thankfully the brutal folk weren't here to dance. The bad news? They were here to drink the place dry. As the heavy boots of Captain Clyne stomped their way across the floor, he looked to Hasuras, a playful grin on his face. He was all about causing problems tonight.

"I will give you credit my friend. You take me to some of the most intriguing dives. Though if we spend much more time together there will most likely be talk..."

Such playful chides were common for Makar, he was a man of interesting tastes in his own right. Whether he meant anything he said, or his sense of humor was just mildly off-putting was anyone's guess. He would most certainly not going to tell anyone.

Makar found himself a table and waved down a waiter with a simple "You!" and a curl of his finger. He then ordered a few drinks for himself. Then several tall pilsner glasses were brought to the table. The pilsners being an odd neon color of plastic rather than glass.

"How quaint," Makar said, taking a long gulp from the plastic cup. "If this is any indication, we will have to make our own fun in this place."

Something caught his attention then, pulling him away from another complaint. There was a massive woman, one nearly a match for Hasuras in pure size. Mercy was enough of a striking figure to get a chuckle from Makar. "Goodness, one of yours out all this way?"

Lew Ardellian Hasuras Na-Gerra Nadi

 

[Arris Windrun]

Mercy | Nadi | Lew Ardellian | OPEN
​

Bespin was one of the last places Arris wanted to find herself. Mostly because of the eponymous gas company, her former sponsor. She had no disrespect for the organization - really! - but a worrying thought clawed at the back of her mind: 'What if they see me? What if they ask me to do some kind of endorsement deal?'

She shook the thought from her mind, trailing in behind Mercy, always the largest person in the room. Which is maybe why it looked as if Star-Arm had arrived alone, until the cyborg popped out behind her, hands on her hips, just above a pair of heavy handguns.

Unlike the Titan of a woman, all flesh and muscle, Arris was rather lithe, and more than that - she appeared more machine than organic from the neck down, with synthflesh stopping right where the neck and jaw met.

Arris looked at Mercy. "Corellian Sunrise? Again?" She sighed and eyed the server. "Just give me whatever might be mistaken for starship fuel."

She leaned against a pillar beside the table, idly watching Mercy reconnect with someone she apparently knew from somewhere else.

Reaching into her pocket, the cyborg drew a cigarette of her own - lighting it and then taking a long, smooth drag.

"You gonna introduce us?"

 

[Hasuras Na-Gerra]

Where I have passed, grass will never grow again.

"Goodness, one of yours out all this way?"

"Hah!"

Gerra let out a bark of laughter so deep and sharp that it sounded like the cracking of tectonic plates.

"A fine jest from the Cerberus Captain."

For Makar himself nearly stood of a height with Gerra. Then he followed the pirate lord's gaze and Gerra's mood darkened like the crackling of meeting thunderheads.

"That be no kin of mine. I'd tell thee 'ware lest it come to blows, but she'd never dare."

Laughing uproariously and pounding the nearby table with a fist, Gerra drained the pilsner in front of him, then snagged the Bespin whiskey brought over by another waiter and slid one over to Makar. In one prodigious gulp, he downed the glass, then hurled it down to the floor where it shattered into a hundred pieces.

"ANOTHER!"

Makar Clyne Zev Corrin​

 

[Zev Corrin]

Hasuras Na-Gerra Makar Clyne

Zev has his crew where use to bar hopping, but never to a place this good, usually only cheaper palces. The music was good, the lights where a bit much, a tad annoying to zev's twenty eyes, but bearable.

His crew, a mix of species, spread out around the place, some sitting at booths, others dancing. Zev however went to sit with Na-Gerra and Makar. He hadn't know them well but was acquaintances with them, more so Gerra then Makar.

As he sat down Gerra broke a glass, already asking for more. "Probably shoudn't break their stuff now should ya?" Zev said to him jokingly. When some pretty girl came by to bring Gerra another Zev asked "Just bring me what their having will ya?"

 

[Nadi]

Nadi paused her meal as the immense woman entered the room, and had finished chewing by the time she reached the table. It was the first time meeting in person, and Nadi wasn't sure how she knew of her lineage. She lacked the prominent golden skin and two-tone hair their species was known for, so perhaps it was the eyes and the membranes covering them. Or the teeth that flashed long canines when she took that last bite. She may even have made a guess as to why her skin wasn't the usual golden hue.

Whatever the case, it ultimately didn't matter. She was the contact Nadi had been waiting for.

Her eyes flashed to the comparatively child-sized cyborg as she stepped into view, holding to regard her for a moment before moving back to Mercy.

While Nadi was able to hear Mercy's words without issue through the sound dampener, the same would not be true of anyone trying to hear Nadi if she gave an audible reply. There was no way she was going to reduce the power of the device in a room like this, much less turn it off, so instead of making the useless effort to be heard through the silencing field she simply slid a small datapad across the table toward Mercy. Words flashed across the screen.

You said nothing about the muscle.

Mercy | Lew Ardellian | Arris Windrun​

 

[Mercy]

MERCY

EMPRESS | WARLORD | STAR-ARM

Location: BESPIN | Direct Tags: Nadi Arris Windrun Lew Ardellian​

.

Drink in hand Mercy watched the merc across the table with interest.

It truly was special to find one of her own in the Galaxy. Even if she was different than the Epica boss, who had been a pure Firrerreo from flesh to eyes. This one was different. Discolored, but the membrane was a telltale and Mercy saw more than most. Courtesy of her senses being blown wide open to an uncomfortable extent. If anyone would understand Nadi's need to keep a sound muffle around her, it would be the large woman across from her.

She leaned back as Arris asked for introductions. Right then Nadi pushed a datapad towards her. Golden eyes briefly scanned the contents and couldn't help but smirk.

"If she is my muscle, what am I?" Mercy quipped lightly towards Nadi before shrugging. "Arris, meet Nadi. I have never met her in the flesh, but her reputation as a merc is impeccable. Nadi, meet Arris Windrun. Dark horse, monster cyborg and my best friend."

Fingers gently tapped on the table as her gaze was drawn to the ceiling for a brief moment. Above in the skies negotiations were taking place that for some reason were being much more difficult than they had any right to be.

"This is gonna be a three-people job." She put her finger on the datapad and her relay transferred the details for Nadi to read. "Which, I know you are gonna hate, being a one-woman show, but trust me... having someone watch your back is not always a bad thing."

Mercy would know, having been a solo merc in the past herself.

The details were as thorough as they had to be. Why the Sith Covenant were on Bespin. The obstacles they were facing. And the location that Mercy wanted Nadi to investigate.

Her face tilted towards Arris.

"You, Nadi, then a third contractor who is already on site doing some scouting for us. I'd go myself, but we both know that I can't be inconspicuous even if our lives depend on it. This has to be done quiet. Figure out who is fucking with our negotiations, eliminate them, so we can get the deal done."

Eyes flicked back to Nadi.

"Pay is triple your going-rate, to smooth out the inconvenience of stressing out your introvert nature. Questions?"

.

ERASE THE PAST

 

[Arris Windrun]

Mercy | Nadi | Lew Ardellian | OPEN
​

Arris gave Nadi a little wave when Mercy introduced her. The technopath had been ogling the woman's cybernetics.

She let out a low whistle. "Hey, niiice tech. We should swap notes later."

The Talusian hadn't encountered many people as extensively modified as she was, except for the Ganks, but Nadi might have taken the cake, despite her outward appearance. Arris wondered how much of it was real, or if the pale cyborg had to lie under a vat and get synthflesh treatments as she did. Which was a reason Arris barely wore the stuff anymore. It was annoying to replace.

She took another drag and listened as Mercy began to explain the rest of her plan. Honestly, Arris wasn't so concerned as to pay attention. The important details would present themselves as they came.

Instead, she continued to smoke, eyes scanning the room... partly out of boredom, and partly a natural inclination towards threat analysis.

Her attention only returned when Mercy looked her way.

Arris thought of Manaan, too. "Yeah - I can handle it." She replied dryly.

The thought of working with someone new wasn't exactly encouraging, but that doubt was quickly overridden when Arris reminded herself that at least they'd have something to talk about. Assuming this woman liked to talk at all... Her attention was drawn back to the extrasensory 'noise' produced by the sound dampener.

 

[Nadi]

Nadi regarded Mercy in turn, then a spark of annoyance and paranoia flashed to the forefront of her mind as the smaller woman, who was still several inches taller than Nadi herself, spoke.

<How the kriff does everyone know so much about me?>

She could feel her teeth grinding together and made an effort to relax her jaw, which in turn was barely noticeable compared with the effort of reigning in the paranoia and preventing those lines of thought from running wild. She wasn't keen on conversation in a setting like this, and kept her focus on the business at hand instead of replying to her fellow cyborg.

These people were the Gifted. Steeped in the quasi-mystical energy that they said ran through everything and everyone in the universe. It was an advantage that Nadi had been required to combat several times during her tenure with the cabal, and one she had no doubt held vastly more surprises for her.

Chalking up their impressive knowledge of her to that intuitive advantage, she picked up the datapad off the table and spun it around to read. It didn't take long despite how thorough it was, and her eyes returned to Mercy as she placed the datapad back onto the table where she could see the screen.

Only one. Who is the third?

Mercy | Arris Windrun | Lew Ardellian​

 

[Lew Ardellian]

♫ NOW PLAYING — CLOUD 9000

Lew had just started considering whether the Nimbus warranted a second round when something changed near the entrance. The crowd shifted, bodies squeezing together as people stepped aside to make room for someone coming through.

Someone very large.

Lew watched over the rim of his glass as the woman entered, cigarette in hand. She stopped just inside long enough to survey the room before continuing forward, carving a path through the crowd with considerably less difficulty than anyone Lew had watched try it.

His eyes followed her destination and caught a familiar flash of silver hair.

Huh.

The woman from earlier apparently hadn't come here just to suffer through the music. Another followed in the first woman's wake, smaller by comparison, though Lew suspected most people suffered from that particular problem standing next to her. Lew took another drink and turned his attention elsewhere. Whatever brought them together wasn't any of his concern. There were some questions better left unasked, particularly when nobody was paying him to ask them.

The doors opened again before he'd quite finished the thought. Lew lowered his glass.

Another giant. This one brought friends.

"A glass of your finest swill for a few hard working cargo haulers."

Cargo haulers?

He looked the newcomers over. The one doing the shouting was dressed in enough finery to pay the docking fees on the Pintle for a year, and his companions didn't exactly resemble the loading crews Lew was accustomed to rubbing shoulders with.

Still, he'd met stranger people around freight docks.

One of them apparently didn't care for the music. Lew couldn't entirely fault him. The current track had enough synth in it to make an astromech jealous, though the steadily growing crowd on the dance floor seemed to disagree. Lew took another drag from his cigarra and watched the ember brighten between his fingers.

Then something shattered.

His eyes flicked toward the sound. Broken glass scattered across the floor near the newcomers, catching flashes of green as a service droid immediately changed course to deal with the mess.

"ANOTHER!"

Lew slowly exhaled a thin stream of smoke. There it is.

It didn't seem to matter what planet you were on. Every port had a place like this. Sometimes it was a dim cantina wedged between docking bays, other times it floated in the clouds with expensive drinks and music loud enough to rattle your teeth. Sooner or later somebody got too comfortable, something broke, and the staff started wondering whether whatever they were being paid was really worth it.

Cloud 9000 just charged more for the privilege.

The familiar Zeltron attendant appeared beside his table again, empty tray tucked against her hip. She glanced toward the commotion before looking down at what remained of the pale green cocktail in Lew's hand.

"Another Nimbus?"

Lew considered the glass for a moment.

"Yeah." He took one last drink and passed it over. "Better make it two."

Her eyebrow rose.

Lew nodded toward the other side of the club.

"I've got a feeling."

The Zeltron laughed softly as she collected the glass. "About what?"

"Not sure yet."

She shook her head and started to turn away.

Lew's gaze drifted back toward the newcomers. A server had arrived with several drinks, including something amber that looked considerably more familiar than the concoction he'd spent the last half hour drinking.

"Actually—"

The Zeltron stopped.

"Whatever they're having," Lew said, gesturing with his cigarra. "Bring me one of those too."

"The whiskey?"

"Sure."

Something in the music surged as her eyes followed his gesture toward the table.

"Another round?"

Lew glanced back at her. "What?"

"For them."

"No, I—"

She was already disappearing into the crowd.

Lew watched her go for a second before settling back into the chair.

...Kriff.

He drew from the cigarra and let his head rest against the cushion behind him. Somewhere between the second Nimbus and the broken glass, his quiet evening had apparently developed other plans.

Across the club, another round of drinks began making its way toward the self-proclaimed cargo haulers. Lew stared at it. Then took another drag.

Well. At least he wasn't paying for—

Lew stopped. His eyes dropped to the table, then to the empty space beside the ashtray where his credit chit wasn't.

Right.

He closed his eyes.

"Of course."

Nadi Mercy Arris Windrun | Hasuras Na-Gerra Makar Clyne Zev Corrin​

 

[Mercy]

MERCY

EMPRESS | WARLORD | STAR-ARM

Location: BESPIN | Direct Tags: Nadi Arris Windrun Lew Ardellian​

.

Arris was already trying to make nice with Nadi, which Mercy appreciated, because she wasn't really in the mood to be all too friendly. This whole Tibanna negotiation act was getting on her nerves. It should have been easy and simple. They needed the Tibanna, Bespin had the Tibanna and wanted money, and guess what? The Covenant had money in spades.

But somewhere, somehow, for some reason the negotiations were being tripped up anyway.

Her eye was drawn elsewhere as Nadi was reading the paperwork.

Some movement of the waiters back and forth from one particular man sitting in another corner of the store. It didn't take long for the establishment to start getting really generous with the drinks being handed out.

Mercy's eyebrows raised up at that.

Whoever Lew Ardellian was, he must be a wealthy man, to begin buying drinks en masse for the patrons of the club. She reached out to snatch her own glass and raised it towards him in a quiet salute, before finishing of her Corellian Sunshine. She did fucking love the whiskey coming from that resurrected planet.

Maybe it was the hint of death that accompanied it.

Arris thought of Manaan, too. "Yeah - I can handle it." She replied dryly.

"I'd be disappointed if you couldn't, sweetheart." Mercy drawled as she dragged another cigarette out, offering the case to both cyborgs, if either was interested in a smoke.

Only one. Who is the third?

Mercy's eyes flicked back to the datapad and then chuckled.

"Another mercenary, I doubt you know him. Mr. Navarro came highly recommended from certain sources." Specifically Arris Windrun ex-Alliance officers, who conveyed that Grant had been a forcer killer and had little in the way of empathy complexes. He'd basically be perfect for dirty jobs where they needed someone who knew how to kill the unkillable.

She flicked some more information to Nadi's datapad.

Some details of previous operations conducted by him. Stealthy, quiet, didn't make bones of his work and let the results speak for themselves.

"Anything else you need before you can get started?" That question was to both Arris as well as Nadi.

.

ERASE THE PAST

 

[Nadi]

She scanned the new files, again with a rapidity that might have been impressive to someone not in the know about her implants, and idly pulled up the table's holomenu as she did, selecting the option to have her remaining food boxed and closing out her tab with a hefty tip.

She could already feel the anticipation building. A tension in her muscles that might have simply been the effect of how nauseatingly loud and bright her current environment was, but she knew that wasn't it. This was coming from somewhere far more dangerous than that. Her mind flashed back to a moment not long ago when she'd allowed herself to push her limits again and feel the exhilarating thrill of cutting loose.

As much as it scared her, she had a hard time keeping a predatory smile off her face.

Kriff, she loved a good hunt.

<Calm down. This is dangerous thinking and you know it.>

Because everyone always listened when they told themselves things like that.

Once again, she laid the datapad down so Mercy could see the screen.

He seems competent. Good choice.

Then she slid it over toward Arris.

Are you leaving with me now or meeting there?

The meeting location with Mr. Navarro had been in the first set of files Mercy sent, and Nadi assumed Arris also had a copy.

Mercy | Arris Windrun | Lew Ardellian​

 

[Arris Windrun]

Mercy | Nadi | Lew Ardellian
​

Arris didn't seem to react much to Grant's passing mention. What she thought of the man - if anything - was kept to herself. Then again, that just may've been the cyborg's usual demeanor.

Her eyes flicked down to the datapad, reading the message directed at her. She looked up again, making eye contact with Nadi, absent a smile or a scowl - just a sort of blank expression with unsettlingly soft eyes.

"We can head out together. You got a ride or are we borrowing?"

She meant stealing.

The cigarette burned idly between her fingers as she looked to Mercy next.

"Oh, don't be overly concerned, Merce." She teased with the slightest sign of a grin. "I'm sure you have far more important matters to attend. Leave it to us, yeah?"

Arris tossed the cigarette on the floor, crushing it beneath her metal foot. At a glance, it appeared to be an armored boot, but no, she just didn't really like the whole 'toes' deal with some cybernetic legs.

 

[Mercy]

MERCY

EMPRESS | WARLORD | STAR-ARM

Location: BESPIN | Direct Tags: Nadi Arris Windrun Lew Ardellian​

.

"Oh, don't be overly concerned, Merce." She teased with the slightest sign of a grin. "I'm sure you have far more important matters to attend. Leave it to us, yeah?"

Mercy sighed.

"Yeah, I am going back upstairs, to calm both sides down." She got out of her seat and looked up to the ceiling again. As if she could practically see the figures fist-fighting over the agreement, while Arris and herself were here making light with a cigarette and a drink. Usually a fist-fight would make Mercy happy. An opportunity to drop an elbow down and start knocking heads. But in her current position that was just not an option. Sure, they were just people, but they were only the middle men.

After breaking their skulls, every contract from here to the Core would dry up, and something told her that Srina Talon wouldn't bail her out once she learned Mercy had caused it by breaking the nose of an important Tibanna executive.

"Feel free to have a few more drinks." Mercy put a chit down on the table as she glanced to the bar. "My treat, get to know each other."

She glanced to Arris and then to Nadi.

"If you manage this one, I will have more work for you. Lucrative shit. Good luck." She squeezed Windrun's shoulder and then left both cyborgs to get acquainted with one another.

On the way out she shot another salute towards Lew Ardellian 's table.

You had to respect that kind of generosity.

Mercy had no idea, of course, that the waitress had taken his chit without permission. That wouldn't make for a good story anyway. Then Mercy continued on her leave, back to the negotiation table, where somehow she had become the adult in the room.

Utterly disgusting.

.

ERASE THE PAST

 

[Nadi]

She watched the imposing woman as she stood, and nodded in acceptance of her well-wishes.

<Now that that's taken care of, time to get the kriff out of here.>

With her mission received and tab paid, there was nothing else keeping Nadi in the booth and she slid out and stood, idly confirming her initial judgement that Arris was indeed taller than her. Instead of a direct answer to her question, Nadi scrolled a single word across the datapad.

Outside.

Then she moved easily through the crowded room, managing to avoid bumping anyone or jostling any drinks, just glad that she was finally about to put this place behind her. It grated on the nerves.

Her relief was both palpable and visible as she stepped out of the cantina, shoulders dropping as a significant amount of tension eased now that she was out of the worst of the blinding lights and deafening noise. She raised the datapad and took another look at the job's details, then sighed and motioned to Arris to follow as she set off through the city.

<Indulging this is a dangerous proposition. But...>

Somehow she couldn't say no. She held the datapad up so Arris could see it.

Feel free to find us that ride.

Mercy | Arris Windrun | Lew Ardellian​

 

[Arris Windrun]

Mercy Nadi Lew Ardellian
​

Mercy's displeased departure was hardly surprising to the cyborg. She knew the Titan was anything but a fan of this side of the job, and she imagined it'd been some time since she had to get her hands dirty, so to speak, in the criminal underworld. Naturally, how was that life fit for the Empress of the Core? But sometimes if you wanted a job done right...

Arris followed the new contact with a lazy pace, weaving after her through the drunken crowd. Her head tilted as she read the final text on the datapad. She looked at Nadi, smirked, and nodded once.

Thankfully, if there was anything Cloud City wasn't short on, it was starships and airspeeders. They'd have little trouble finding something worth boosting.

She tossed a fifty-credit chit to the table with the pirates on the way out the door.

For their warchest.

"Yeah," Arris finally said. "Let's get that ride."