Mandala

[Miss Blonde]

Laying in the back of her personal star yacht, in a rather large queen sized bed, Patricia stared up at the ceiling as she lay her hands over her pregnant stomach. A blank and almost apathetic stare stretched across her pretty face, one that conveyed almost a deep sadness behind the facade of an uncaring demeanor. Her empire was gone. All those years of building and struggling, death and destruction, murder and mayhem, it was all just willingly let go of. Part of her would always long for it, because no matter what she would say to her self that "this is for my family." Or "I want my kids to live a good life." Deep down Patricia knew she enjoyed it, she was the best crime lord in the Galaxy and now look at her. Reduced to a part time errand-girl for the Outer Rim Coalition.

Now if that wasn't irony then Patricia didn't know what was. She was now working for the very same people who might of at one time had a vested interest in seeing her dead or in prison. It was always funny how life seemed to work. Either way this was the life she chose and now she had to live with it, it wasn't like she had the capacity to stay home every day of the week and tend to her family. That was how you got soft and weak or went insane, at least here on the fringes of the Galaxy she could keep herself steady and sharp.

"Ten minutes." A crackly voice on the ship's intercom interrupted her flow of thought and soon the woman's head lifted to stare up at the doorway.

With a sigh she ran her hands against her tired face and sat up on the edge of her bed. Hunching over slightly, Patricia kept her face buried in her hands. In all honesty she wanted to scream, but rather than that the ex crime lord decided to just stand up and get ready. With a steady walk to her closet, the woman opened it to reveal two outfits dangling rather loosely in the otherwise bare closet. One of which she didn't know why was there, why she insisted on keeping it around.

Miss Blonde's gas mask and suit. The soulless black visors of a wanted killer haunted her, called to her, wanted her to feel that familiar cruel embrace, and she wanted to feel it once more. But that life was over, she needed to stay strong and be the person she wanted to be. So pushing it to the side, Patricia grabbed the second outfit of a formal long flowing red dress and soon adorned it with a bit of makeup. Once she was set the woman stared into the mirror once more trying to see herself in it, and yet all that continued to stare back were those blackened visors of another life.

"Just go away." She said to herself before stepping out of the way of the way of the vanity mirror.

Coming into the main hall of the ship, Patricia eventually made her way to a rather lavish lounge area where she sat down on a nearby sofa and awaited the arrival of her employer, a one [member="John Shepherd"] from the ORC.

The mission was a simple one. Go to Utapou, sit down for dinner with a up and coming Sith Lord, and find an ancient sith tome. Secure the book was the number one priority and capture or death of said sith was secondary. Perhaps for the first time in years, Patricia would once again feel what it was like to do the right thing.

 

[John Shepherd]

He took a long shaky breath as he got out of the bed that morning, he had heard that he was going to do this mission, but he didn't believe it. When the day had rolled around he knew he had to be ready, but he didn't think he could ever be ready for a mission such as this. She had a way with words, a way with everything, and that was all by only talking to her quickly before they were to start the mission, he tried to clear his head with a shower that morning but it didn't change a thing. He was worried, about everything that he could mess up in that mission. He was in the shower for a long time before he finally decided to get out and move on with the day.

He dried himself off, every inch of body was dry by the time he was done and he looked back at himself in the mirror. His dirty blonde hair sticking up like a porcupine after he had dried off his hair. He took a comb and did nothing special with it, just something to make him more present-able to the person he was set to meet. He then took a razor and did a quick fix of hiss beard trimming it down to look a little more formal then scraggy and wild as he usually wore it. As he padded his way back to the room he thought about what could happen today, he had to keep a cool mind about it though.

"Ten Minutes." He heard the sound come over the speakers as he made his way to his room.

Finally making it to his room in the ship he closed and locked the door and did a quick look around again, didn't want anything to look out of place, he liked to be cautious even in such a setting as he was in. He took a deep sigh when everything was fine and he walked to the closet and looked in to find just his one set of clothes and nodded. It was all he needed really, a blue t-shirt over his armor, pants boots, and a chest holster for his two pistols. He smiled softly as his eyes glanced over his clothes and armor.

He would slowly slip on some underwear before getting his armor on. Letting it fit close to his body it allowed him to put clothes over it, a little more casual he thought. He slipped on his pants and then put his plain blue tee on and looked at the mirror as he fixed a few things up. Then he went and found his boots before slowly slipping them on his feet and walking around making sure they were going to be comfortable. He finally looked back at the mirror and stared at himself, mentally preparing himself for this. He still couldn't believe he was on [member="Miss Blonde"]'s ship for a mission.

"No time like now." He said softly to himself to reassure himself mostly.

Making his way to the main hall he had seen that the lovely lady that he would be working with had already beat him. He just nodded to her slightly before taking a seat and staring at her, a little over zealous but even being pregnant she looked good.

 

[Miss Blonde]

Spoiler

[media] https://youtu.be/M05dpNBFTE0 [/media]

Slowly turning the page of a magazine entitled "Works of Art", the magazine covered Patricia's face as John came into the room. Rather than being greeted by a bright smile or an affirming nod, the colorful image of a coarse sandy picture plastered on the cover of the paperback magazine had the distinction of doing that. Though the silence between the two didn't last for very long despite how intently focused the woman seemed to be on her magazine, she always had time to pick apart the general stupidity of people who wanted to get them killed.

"Does the thought of being hit by a few million volts of electricity get you off or something?" Patricia said in a very casual and non confrontational tone as she flipped a page of the magazine.

"Because where I'm sitting, I've come to the conclusion that you're either a masochist, or you have a general death wish. Not that I'm judging you or anything." Another lick of her finger and turn of a page and the distant voice of the woman continued to tell the man exactly what he was doing wrong.

"I however am not either of those things. So when I get invited to a terrifying dinner party with Sith Lord, I generally dress for the occasion. Which means I don't wear armor, and I certainly don't wear it under my clothes as if I'm trying to potentially seal deadly weapons. But then again that's just me." Patricia who may of been channeling her inner crime lord a little too much then lowered the magazine so the top of her head and eyes were visible.

A skeptical eye traced over John and an eyebrow was raised afterwards. Both of which were not good signs coming from the woman who had mastered the art of betrayal, underhanded tactics, and general dubious behavior over the course of twenty years of practically running the underworld. Not that John needed to know any of that or how she even set this dinner up in the first place. Things like that were best left unsaid.

"There's a proper suit waiting for you in a dress bag on the far right of your closet. Go put it on, and please don't wrinkle it. It was my ex-husband's." The magazine then went back up to cover her deep blue eyes which of course was followed by another turn of a page.

Pushing back into the cold cosmos of space, Patricia's star yacht shot out of hyperspace and was now fast approaching the planet of Utapao. A world where General Grevious of the Clone Wars met his end causing one of the final blows of the war to be dealt to the confederacy. Events that held some significance to why they were here today.

So when the ship eventually breached the atmosphere over the rocky planet, the yacht flew over the sunken cities following the coordinates given to them. Hopefully by the time they arrived, the good captain could find himself changed into a proper set of clothing for dinner, and a formal one at that.

[member="John Shepherd"]

 

[John Shepherd]

Spoiler

They sat there for a while, a turn of the page from her, a short sigh from him. He was staring a little just sitting there but h didn't have much else to do while they waited. He looked around the room a little looking at the decor, he didn't see much he would have actually put but it still looked nice and fit the room well. He looked at the cover for a while examining it and reading a few things that said on it but didn't really understand what it was talking about, he guessed that he was behind on actual life around the galaxy, going on a personal quest does that to a person.

As she talked he perked his ears up looking at her a little confused what she was talking about, a death wish? He was more then confused as he looked at himself, he thought he had dressed decent enough but apparently she had another idea. She knew a little more then she was letting on apparently because she knew that this wasn't what he should be wearing, whether he liked that opinion or not. He just raised a brow until he gave him the answer, he would be wearing a tux. He sighed softly and looked down, Great.

He would stand up and go to the room and close the door before slowly taking the clothes off and opening the bag and looking it to see the tux. Slowly getting the pants on he didn't button it as he put on the white shirt and tucked it in and then buttoned it and put on a belt. After that he slipped the tie around his neck and did a quick bowtie. He quickly got on the coat before he finished up and looked in the mirror before heading back to meet her.

He would slowly make his way into the room looking down at her and sighing before giving her a minute to look him over before taking a seat again and fixing his hair real quick. He hated wearing a suit but apparently he didn't have a choice, she must have wanted to torture him with having to wear the stupid thing. He just sighed and sucked it up and looked at her.

"Happy now? Or do I have to get a tie, or a white suit that is magically there now? It doesn't matter, let's just run down the plan again, or do you just want to wing this?"

He looked at her with a raised brow as he sat there his feet instinctively tapping uncontrollably at a pretty decent beat and speed. He looked down at the dress shoes he had thrown on and sighed, they hurt so much to walk around in, why couldn't he just wear normal clothes and a nice pair of boots.

His eyes seemed to emanate his hatred of this as he frowned and sat there in the lounge of her ship as she just seemed to be having a great time sitting and reading the magazine in her hands. He looked at his watch and checked the time with a sigh, sooner then he would like.

[member="Miss Blonde"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

The magazine lowered for only the briefest of moments to allow a angelic blue eye to scan John's appearance up and down. Finding it to be pleasing in more than one way, the woman raised the magazine back up then turned another page. What exactly the former crime lord was reading was a mystery, but she was just glad to to be able to catch up in her readings. Running the criminal underworld was a time consuming job, and now that she spent most of her time at home, she was able to tend to her children and consume whatever media or literature came her way. Though right now that wasn't important, right now she had to inform John what exactly the plan was to get what they came here for. Which was of course something that was generally not something that should be shared with the public at large, this operation was black listed all the way and as a part time outside contractor for the ORC, she had a way of finding items of interest.

"That depends." Patricia said as her eyes scanned over her page.

"Are you going to keep moping around and complaining about looking presentable and in character?" There was a bit of coldness to her words, but that was because she was a professional. Years of doing this had made her into a cold yet effective woman on the job.

"Because if so, then no I can't say I am due to me being stuck babysitting someone who can't seem to wear a tie and look nice." Patricia spoke and then went to turn her page, though half way through she paused.

"Though if you think about it, is anyone really truly happy? I mean from cosmic perspective here." She then finished turning the page and had her eyes scan the next article.

For the next few moments she didn't say anything. A sort of uncomfortable silence brought on by her being sucked into an article that she found rather drawing and wanting. After having a good eyeful of it, the voice on the loudspeaker once more rang off with its distorted intercom of a tone.

"Two minutes." the voice said crackling afterwards as it faded out.

With that the woman sighed and closed the magazine to reveal her face to the young commander. She was young, or at least appeared that way. On her resumé when applying to the ORC she was listed as being around forty years of age, though the woman sitting in front of John didn't appear to be a day over twenty three. Then again you could never be sure with the amount of long lived species in the Galaxy today. These things were often a mystery.

Setting the magazine on the rather expensive looking coffee table, Patricia then looked over to John with rather apathetic eyes.

"Well Mister Shepherd, the plan is simple. We go into the Sith Lord's domain under the false pretenses of wanting to contribute towards his rise to power on Utapao by marketing ourselves as crooked businessmen of Chernobog Inc, a falsified company that specializes in construction and development as a front with smuggling ties underlying it. We compliment his decor, get him talking about sith artifacts, get him to show us his collection of artifacts and items." Standing up she dusted her dress off a bit then kept her head pointed at John.

"Then when his head is turned I put two in the back of his skull and burn the place to the ground after securing the artifact. That is of course you'd rather just take him into custody?" Personally Patricia preferred the version of the plan where said Sith Lord took a dirt nap instead.

Either or they were rapidily approaching the target and were but a few short seconds away. It was up to John as the official member of the ORC to decide how this all went down.

[member="John Shepherd"]

 

[John Shepherd]

He glanced up at her as she lowed the angelic eyes and got lost in her blue eyes for a while, a little too long to be exact. When she finally lowered her magazine back to cover her eyes he snapped back to and just sat there tapping his foot a little on the floor as he sat there in a awkward bit of silence as he took a quick sigh. What was with her and reading magazines at a time like this? He thought to himself as he looked at her, She should be getting ready or just making sure that everything was okay, but she seems way to relaxed. His thoughts would trail off until he roped himself back in and focused on the task at hand. He would look at her again a little close then before not looking at her beauty but at her strengths and weaknesses for what they were going to do. She obviously had a way with her looks that was obvious but he felt that her being pregnant would not be so desirable... unless the sith lord was into that kind of thing.

"I've just been out of a suit for a long time, and I never liked it in the first place." He said looking at her with a eyebrow raised.

"Hey I look nice, I don't have to look like one of those super models I just have to look nice and presentable okay." He said frowning at her a little as he looked at her.

"Truly I don't think that everyone is happy, or most people to be perfectly honest, I mean there's a lot of bad things in the galaxy we live in." He said looking down at his hands for a second.

He would just glance at her as it turned to a little awkward silence and he would sigh and stand up and fix his suit and stretching before sitting back down and looking at her, glancing at her hands and her fingers examining them.

"Two minutes." the voice said crackling afterwards as it faded out.

He finally got a full look at her face as she put her magazine a while and he sat there with his mouth slightly agape for a moment before pulling himself together and coughing for a second and glancing around before looking at her again. He had been told that she was 40 years old but she couldn't be any older then 25, he just shrugged it off and took it as is.

He listened to her nodding as she talked about the plan and taking some mental notes as she talked about what he should expect and what he should be looking out for. He looked at her as she stood up and he rose to meet her looking at her still. "Is it a artifact in particular or is it any of the ones he has?" He asked folding his arms and looking at her with an eyebrow slightly raised as he stood there, it sounded like there was one in particular they were looking for, and he had no clue what it looked like.

"I'd rather not let anyone of his nature be allowed to live and cause more trouble in the future." He stroked his bead as he made his decision looking off in the distance at the wall until he focused back in.

They were coming close to the target and he had to hope that the mission would go as smoothly as it normally did and nothing went to out of wack.

[member="Miss Blonde"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

"I mean there's a lot of bad things in the Galaxy we live in." And Miss Blonde was one of them. From a purely statistical standpoint she had killed more people, caused more destruction, and ruined more lives than most Sith Lords in the Galaxy today. A woman of pure ruthless efficiency when it came to getting what she wanted. Cities and planets burned to the ground with women and children with them. It wasn't something Patricia was very proud about, nor something she wanted to revisit. But that didn't matter right now. What mattered was securing the package and keeping John alive during the encounter. She imagined that this was a new experience for the man, and that he might be a bit nervous or even afraid about staring down the barrel of Sith Lord. Thankfully for Patricia this was just Tuesday for her.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it, Mister Shepherd. All you need to know is that when you see it, you'll know what it is." Patricia didn't want to share that info with him due to a few reasons.

If their Sith Lord friend decided to take a peek into his mind and snuck around the warding she was silently placing around it, well he'd figure out that they were there for a few rather nefarious deeds that involved theft and murder. Generally things that were not welcomed within a Sith Lord's domain.

"Cold blooded murder it is then." Patricia said as she stood up and walked over to a nearby cabinet.

Grabbing what looked to be a arm brace of some kind, she then tossed it over at John and turned around to walk towards the exit of the ship.

"Slip it on under the sleeve of your jacket. You're going to need it." This was it, it was about time to disembark.

The ship itself had stopped moving all together. Now at a dead calm, when Patricia made her way to the exit there was a man standing by the door. He had smooth slicked back orange hair, a black suit and tie, and a look about him that said he probably wasn't someone who had the most honorable of pasts. In fact his entire demeanor screamed former criminal and paid killer, though that was probably nothing to really look into.

"Did you have to bring the boy wonder along?" The man said as he rolled his eyes down the hallway to get a look at John who was probably still in the lounge.

"He has his perks. Besides, Tim, we're legitimate people now. 401K, health insurance, dental, &@$#ing dental. What's one righteous do gooder when you've got dental?" Patricia chuckled softly and her smooth laugh could be heard from the lounge as a faint echo.

"So what you're saying is I don't shoot him in the back once we have the artifact? I'm just saying it's an option." Tim proposed and then flashed his rather compact handgun to his boss.

"What is that your sister's gun? No we don't shoot him. I.... well... I don't hate my new job, and I enjoy being retired. @&#%ing Jarven Jr is starting school this year and I promised him I'd take him to school every day. Do you want to piss off a five year old boy? Because I don't think you know what that entails." From beyond the halls the two of them would be having their little conversation and should John decide to arrive, he'd probably be joining in around a subject that involved child welfare and cooking pancakes for them in the morning.

[member="John Shepherd"]

 

[John Shepherd]

She looked at him like he was fresh meat, some kid who didn't know what he was doing, and it made him a little mad. He had been through a lot more then she would ever know, she might've gone through a lot in her life, but it didn't give her the right to judge him. He looked at her, looking her over one last time figuring out what strengths she had some more, but a nagging thought kept returning, She has more up her sleeve then I know and he knew it was true, he demeanor, the way she talked showed a air of familiarity. He shook the thought as he listened to the words she was saying to him, focusing in and feelings something off about himself as they were talking but thought nothing of it as he stood there. He nodded, she was holding it back from him, but why? He hoped it was for a good reason.

His brow slightly raised at her comment as she told him not to worry about it, the question still floated around in his head, Why not tell him? It seemed vital to the mission that he knew, but she thought differently, and it worried him.

Remembering his time fighting a whole army with only a drop-ship of men in the deserts on a faraway planet, he didn't remember the name of it, just the blaster fire and lightsabers of his men as they fought there way through the advancing forces.

He heard her mention about cold blooded murder but was to lost in thought to reply, or care much of it.

Catching the arm brace he raised a brow at her before he nodded and slipped it on, What does this thing do? The thought would pop in his head.

Looking at her as she made her way off the ship and he stood there for a moment as he looked at the arm brace before giving up on what it did.

He looked in a nearby mirror quick and fixed his suit and his appearance fast before he made his way to the exit and overheard the two talking about breakfast and child welfare. Shaking his head at the weird topic he made his way over to them and put on a serious face as he stood by her and looked at the other man, he also seemed to have a off appearance about him, but his more obvious then his companion for the mission.

"I remember when we didn't have those, when we weren't as organized and less of a government and more of an organization. But that died long before I returned...." His voice seemed to trail off as he looked past them and at the wall.

Coming back he glanced at the two of them not wanting them to ask, which he didn't think they would, but he still wanted to not bring up what he had been doing before he had recently returned to the world of the ORC.

He looked at the ginger and furrowed his brow slightly, the more he looked at the man the more he thought that he should be a criminal or someone in that type of business, not accompanying someone like the pregnant lady he was standing next to.

Looking at his feet for a quick second he fixed his bowtie and then looked up and cleared his throat, he hoped that the mission would go.... as smoothly as possible, but he had a deep gut feeling that there was a lot more going on that he wasn't understanding, and was going to be kept away from as long as she had anything to say about it. He knew just from the way they talked that she held all the authority, even if they talked casually in conversation, the way she talked and the way he did to her, where quite giving on their relationship, no matter how slightly it was.

[member="Miss Blonde"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

Patricia didn't dignify John with a response to his trailing flashback of yesteryear. In all honesty she didn't particularly care about the details surrounding his life or past. John just needed to be a good little soldier and follow orders. This was brought on by a few reasons, this wasn't John's world. This was her's, and one missed step and everything came to a crashing and screeching halt. And with that, the doors opened.

"Let's go Mister Shepherd." Patricia said as she walked down the ramp.

When making her exit, before John could follow her out a hand was placed on his shoulder. The hand of the orange haired man who had a rather sharp look in his eye. Though despite its rather intense appearance, it didn't read as hostile or threatening. It simply played as needing to convey a message of great importance if he was going to survive.

"I see that look on your face, boy. I've had it myself a very long time ago." Taking his hand off him as to not draw an air of hostility, the man known as Tim continued his little warning.

"When she's around, boy. Everything real turns fake, everything right is now wrong, and all you know is that you know nothing and she knows everything. The sooner you accept that, the easier your job is. She's a woman with very particular sets of skills, trust her and don't cross her." Backing away, Tim reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a cigarette and light it as he slowly walked back into the recesses of the ship.

Outside in the darkened hole of the sunken cities of Utapao, levels of darkness saturated Patricia and her form was barely visible under the low light of torches a few feet from her. A warm orange glow shadowed not only herself from farsighted individuals but her rather sinister and deadly intentions that were kept hidden under the facade of a young pregnant mother. What monstrosities and destructive tactics that she was truly capable of had yet to be seen, and hopefully they wouldn't need to if John simply did what he was told.

"Welcome to Utapao. You'll find it very dull outside of these circumstances." Patricia said as she kept her back to him and approved what appeared to be a rather massive home built into the cliff face.

With the torches burning low in front of them, Patricia walked into the glow of the light and was promptly met with a welcoming committee. A few men dressed in cult like robes holding assault rifles and between them was a Twi'lek slave girl in a collar that has clearly been there a while due to the ring of marked and burned skin from electric shocks most likely brought on by defiance.

"Lord Faux is awaiting you in the dining hall. Please, right this way." The woman said with a bow.

Patricia would return a friendly smile and wait for John to catch up to her. They wanted to appear that they were a united front.

[member="John Shepherd"]

 

[John Shepherd]

He would look at her as he nodded waiting for the doors to open. In his mind his thoughts ran through quickly everything that he had learned and tried to put pieces together that were simply missing pieces, pieces that she held, and that she wouldn't give to him, not then or ever. He would look off in the distance trying to figure out the puzzle that was simply never going to be filled there.

Watching the ramp go down and he followed Patricia down into the world of Utapao.

He would almost swing as he felt the hand on his shoulder but he looked back and saw the orange haired man. He was a little more then confused at why he would be talking to him in the first place. His face didn't show what he expected to have seen from the man, it was neither sad, or angry, it was a simple face of importance.

While he listened to the man he raised a brow slightly a little confused at what the other man was talking about nothing clicking in his head, A face? he thought to himself.

Then when the man continued his sentence he realized what he was talking about. His world turned a little and a lens was put onto his clouded vision, he realized what the man was saying and he gave him a solemn nod and patted his shoulder and gave the other man a look of thanks, his warning would mean his life, or his death.

Walking into the streets if Utapao he looked around and saw how bad the world seemed, but it wasn't the worst place he had ever been to. The orange light illuminating them did little to help anything at all just barely allowing them to see compared to the lights if the Space Yacht they had been on previous. He felt a air of quietness, almost to quiet for his liking but he just took it as it was and stood with his partner for the mission and kept a solemn face.

Nodding at the woman he raised a brow as he took a quick glance around and gave a slight nod, it really didn't look like much, but to him he knew there was much more to this world then she would ever care to notice.

He followed Patricia as she made her way to the welcoming committee and he looked at the strange men before his eyes landed on the girl. He almost broke, wanting to kill those men for having a slave with all his heart but he had to think of more people then just her, no matter how much he hated seeing anyone like that, he had to stay with the mission.

Simply nodding to the slave girl but averted his glance his muscles tightening hard as he forced himself back.

He would follow her as she gave him a light smile and he only returned a slight nod and a serious face. His mood was too dark for a smile.

[member="Miss Blonde"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

[media] https://youtu.be/4oDkvnsNHUw [/media]​

The levels of low torch light didn't seem to let up when the two were formally ushered inside. The orange light cast a shadow on the two of them as they paced down old stone halls adorned with expensive rugs and artwork. The entire ambiance of the cliffside home seemed to have a almost medieval decor about it, a throwback to the Sith ways of old. All of it signaled that whoever this man was, he had a taste for the finer things in life, and he had either the coin to buy it or the muscle to steal it.

And speaking of muscle, during their little walk there were more guards that lined the hall. So far Patricia had counted a solid six including the ones that were so graciously escorting them. While Patricia was sure and confident that she could handle a few underlings, that wasn't the problem. It was keeping John alive, and sure he was a battle tested soldier, but in this world things got weird. And sometimes; sometimes soldiers couldn't handle weird.

So rather than letting John sit and have his blood boil in righteous indignation, the woman slowly pushed her way towards him until they were side by side. The short five foot tall woman then slipped her arm into his in a formal escorting position as if they were off to a ball or gala of some sort. From this position she could talk to him silently, let him know what he needed to do.

"This guy is a bit old fashioned. A real a mans gotta do what a mans gotta do type nerf herder. So when you see him, I need you to do the introductions. You may feel a little uncomfortable, but he wants you off your game. Stay strong, and stay sharp." Whispering softly to him under her breath, Patricia then looked up to see they were approaching the final set of doors into the dining hall.

"Just relax." She gave one last note of encouragement to the man and for the first time he'd see her look up at him with an honest smile on her face that looked sweeter than honey.

At that final threshold between rooms, that's when everything changed. When the doors opened what was supposed to be a private dinner was not what they found waiting. Rather what was there was a group of robbed figures sitting around a dinner table. Upwards to perhaps ten to twelve men just sitting there, and at the head of the table was their target Lord Faux. An older man who had a snake oil smile about him and it was aimed right at Shepherd.

"Welcome Mister Trenton, Misses Haier, I apologize. My disciples decided to invite themselves over. Don't mind them, please sit down." His voice rang with a deadly undertone to it, something that made even Patricia worry slightly.

Now they had to adjust for the additional bodies in the room. The operation was now hanging by a thread.

[member="John Shepherd"]

 

[John Shepherd]

When they finally entered the compound her kept his formal military style and looked forward and looked at all the decor through his peripheral vision. He saw that the man had a taste in the older things and had a very old Sith style to things. He continued to walk with his arms behind his back as he stared forward at a calm pace as the group continued their march further into the mountainside fortress. It seemed very repetitive but it had a fine style about it, which he didn't particularly like but he could see the interest.

He could sense the guards moving behind him, very silent, and very deadly. He saw the other guards posted along the wall as they continued to move further and further into the compound taking right turns and left, a maze almost, which was going to make it harder to escape, but he had a feeling he'd remember when the time came to get out of there.

Feeling the short woman make her way towards the 6 foot tall man he moved his arm so she could throw her long in the loop that it created and he helped her come almost hip to hip with him. He keep his forward glance but kept an ear open so when she decided to talk he would be paying attention and not miss a beat.

Listening to her explain the situation he just continued to walk and nod slightly so she could tell that he was listening. He thought of what he would do and what he would say, Why Trenton? The thought crossed his mind as he thought of the false name they had given him for the mission but just shook the thought out of his head.

He would finally glance down at her as she told him to relax and he saw her encouraging smile, he remembered what Tim had told him and didn't know if it was genuine or fake, but he did give her a polite smile in return with a slight nod.

He looked straight ahead before they finally entered the room and his mind went a little shocked as he saw all the guards and extra people invited to the dinner. He managed to keep his blank appearance though as they continued the way into the room. He eyed the other ranking men in the room and saw one in particular giving him a little to much eye contact and a little two much yellow from his teeth.

"Ah Lord Faux it is so nice to finally meet you in person, I have only heard, wonderful things about you. Oh, your disciples? It's nothing a friend of yours is a friend of mine, no?" He would say with a soft smile and helped her take a seat.

As he did so he gave her a soft reassuring kiss on the cheek before he came to her ear and whisper, "Good thing you dressed up for all his friends."

[member="Miss Blonde"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

Ignoring the fact that John had snuck a kiss on the cheek, Patricia put that to the side in order to focus on the mission. This wasn't good at all, upwards to sixteen hostiles that she had counted were in this manor. That meant that the odds of survival had gone down significantly for not only John, but for herself as well. There was no doubt that if she weren't pregnant she could take all these people, but she was far from a hundred percent right now. That meant this needed to be played with the utmost caution towards their situation. So while keeping a cool head, the blonde haired woman took a seat next to John and did her best to put on a pretty face for the group of killers and Sith at the table.

"It's so nice to meet you and all of your disciples, Lord Faux. Truly you are a sight to behold. Thank you for having us tonight." She said with as much genuine kindness as she could muster up.

"I was just talking to Mister Trenton, and he had told me that meeting with the rising star of the Sith had been a businessman's dream come true. Isn't that right Mister Trenton?" Maybe next time don't sneak a kiss with Miss Blonde, otherwise she'll have you blow a Sith Lord's already inflamed ego.

Faux after hearing that let out a little chuckle and looked over to John. With a wicked little smile on his face and his disciples laughing a bit as well, the man lifted up a finger and suddenly everything went quiet. Like a trained pack of dogs, the disciples shut their mouths when the master spoke. This was going to prove to be a challenge for not only Patricia but for Shepard as well. And for one simple reason at that.

"Is that so, Mister Trenton? I assume you've heard of my most recent exploits. Are you aware what the good people of Utapao refer to me as?" And that one simple reason was this.

Control.

"I want to hear you say it." He had nearly complete control in this situation.

In order to get him to reveal the artifact, to agree to go with them alone, or to do just about anything. First thing was first was wrestling conversational control back to their side, and then shortly there after tilt the shifting of power to them as well. They needed to know that without their fake little company he would be nothing but a low ranked and easily forgotten Sith Lord.

"I'm sure Mister Trenton has no interest in such titles. We rarely make our way out to Utap-" Being cut off in the middle of her sentence, a disciple butted in with his brass balls daring to interrupt or defy her.

"Lord Faux wants to hear him say it! So let him say it!" The Sith underling blurted out, to which Patricia's normal reaction would of been snapping his neck halfway through their sentence.

"Garret be calm. I'm sure if Mister Trenton doesn't want to answer it, he doesn't have to." Something about that suggestion read like John didn't have much of a choice despite saying otherwise.

The King in Red. A voice modulated and almost robotically distorted rang through John's head to pop the thought in there. Patricia who just patiently sat there looking towards Lord Faux simply awaited for their food to arrive. The ball was in John's court right now.

[member="John Shepherd"]

 

[John Shepherd]

Sitting down casually he gave a nice smile to his companion before he looked at Lord Faux, he sat in his chair upright and glanced around at all the disciples, the statistics were running through his head, he didn't like the odds, but he knew that if his new companion was as good as they had said that he was missing a few statistics that were raising his chance of survival, but her being pregnant didn't give him much hope. He looked at the guards around him as well, examining their guns quickly with his eyes, not the best, but not the worst, they would be reliable, if he had to take one from one of their dead corps.

"I thank you all so much for having me and my lovely companion to talk business with you today, I've heard so much about you." He said with a smile as he listened to her talk.

He saw what she was trying to do, whether he liked it or not, was a different story all together. But he stuck it up and figured out what he could say to butter the Sith lord up, and he thought he found a pretty convincing statement to help with that. Glancing at the disciples around the room he took a deep breathe and gave a slight smile while he folded his hands.

"Ah yes I have, business has been, such a bore lately, and working with a Sith Lord, I can only figure that It should be a great benefit to me, despite the slight risk I feel the rewards outweigh them heavily." He said this with a very forced smile again.

He heard his question ring through, what the people of Utapao called him? He had studied up on this but apparently they thought he was a fool, he had done much more research then she knew.

Looking towards his companion trying to stick up for him, more like protect him from failure, he could see right through her, and knew she had no trust or hope that he was going to be an asset, he was more like a forced liaison for her mission, and Tim's words rang through his mind, he had to suck it up and just follow her lead.

"Darling these men have so kind to invite us into their fortress and ask me to tell them a title of respect, why am I to refuse?" He said with a soft smile towards her, his eyes shining a different note though.

He looked back towards the table at Lord Faux, his disciples becoming pawns in the background of their chess game, he gave him a slight smile, a knowing smile.

"Oh Lord Faux apparently you have got me all wrong, I liked to be well versed on my business associates and the prestigious honors they've held, so I know that the people call you the King in Red, a fitting name I'd say."

He smiled at the man as he heard a voice in his head tell him the same thing, this confirmed his suspicions that she didn't trust him to know anything about this mission or the details, he knew that they were going to meet this man, but that's as much as they told him, so he had a lot of time to study.

[member="Miss Blonde"]