Operation ORCmass - Dominion of hex M-52

[Jorus Merrill]

SECONDARY COMMUNICATIONS JUNCTION
[member="Hylocereus"]

Jorus eyed the plant-surged tool dubiously, but it didn't strip in the socket. The iron vine's mild flexibility even let him apply a bit more torque than he could have otherwise. Mentally, he gave Hylo a downtick for toolbox familiarity but an uptick for improvisation.

"Depends on the culture. Traditional Corellian, like my folks a couple generations back, sure. Some spacer tribes too. Never really thought I'd get the question myself. Props to you for the effort, and the respect I guess."

He finalized some tweaks and slid out of the access hatch to look up at Hylo.

"If you need my permission to try and ask her, you've got it. You know as well as I do that what I say's got no bearing on what she's gonna say." He got a hand on a structural element and dragged himself upright. "She's gonna be here, y'know, later today. Said she would, anyway."

That was that: right now the station would be syncing more accurately and efficiently with networks of nav beacons throughout the sector. Jorus closed the hatch and picked up his toolbox.

 

[Micah tol Powl]

CAUPONA BAR
OPERATION "THE PARTY"

"Merry Fething Life Day!"

When it came to making entrances, that guy was... well, that guy. Turning from where he'd just spoken to [member="Sanya Val Swift"], the young stormtrooper was presented with...

...with...

...to be honest, he wasn't really sure. But it was a lot of whatever it was.

"Okay. That dude knows how to party," the teen opined flatly. Then tipped his beer in the stranger's direction.

Respect.

[member="Bryce Bantam"]​

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

It wasn't every day a former Grand Admiral of the First Order walked into an ORC Station.

Fiolette tugged at her black double-breasted overcoat, and looked at her black leggings and covered toe heels. She was checking to make sure they were still clean and they were, the place was crowded but it felt dirty. Either that or it'd been so long since she'd just been a sailor that she hadn't been used to such surroundings. The Galidraani stood there poised with every bit of elegance that she had been raised with. She had left her small craft at dock with Petrovsky and Korrado, the assistant and the medic the only two people she took with her from the First Order. Galeway and Montague were ordered to remain with their duties to the First Order, she refused to let them throw away their careers on her account.

​

You always such a priss?

She imagined her ex-husband Josef standing beside her, big meaty arms crossed as he glowered. Something about a man from Belsavis, she supposed the way he carried his words and practically spat them.

Go on, try to act like a civil person, princess.

The blonde wanted to huff but there'd be no one to huff too.

She relaxed herself and forced a smile, it'd been a long time since she had to do things on her own. It was different now, no grand ship, no subordinates - not that she couldn't live without them but as the station went about its business. Fiolette had to admit there was something that she enjoyed about being on her own, "Petrovsky, alert my contact that I've arrived."

Fiolette shut the line and knew the only reason she tolerated him was that he was Captain Walzer's cousin. She headed for a quiet corner of the station and prayed her contact would be there on time. She ran a hand through her blonde hair, heels clicked against the decking and the wash of recycled air hit her lungs something awful. Balance did she miss the high-quality filters of the First Order.

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Hylocereus]

Hylo was suddenly excited all of the flowers perking up nearly instantly as [member="Jorus Merrill"] gave him permission to ask Mara to marry him. This was the greatest news he's heard. "Thank you so much," he said shaking Jorus's hand vigorously. "I promise that I won't let you down." he thumbed the ring in his pocket with a sigh. "I need to go prune myself, so I look proper dashing!" Taking a deep breath he then added, "I just want you to know... that I love your daughter. I need her in my life... like I need water!"

Excited Hylo bopped away to go the water closet where started to cut the flowers out of his hair and get himself presentable. He took a deep breath as he gathered his thoughts. This had to be perfect. Utterly perfect. He looked at himself in the mirror and thought... I'm not good enough for her....

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Fiolette Yvarro"] [member="Hylocereus"]

With the Scar of Ilum stuck in escrow, Mara found herself stuck in a far plainer transport sans her usual crew.

"Docking control, this is freighter KX-9 out of Ceto requesting permission to land."

"Acknowledged, KX-9. Transmit crew and cargo manifest."

Mara tapped the requisite command keys. "Captain Mara Merrill flying solo with a cargo of sentry drones."

"You're expected, Captain Merrill," said the impersonal voice. "Cleared for bay two."

"Much appreciated."

The light freighter handled awkwardly, nothing compared to the Scar's fine-tuned precision. Mara eased the KX-9 toward the docking bay as carefully as she could manage with Hylo's unexpected presence ringing in her head.

The comm futzed again. "Captain Merrill, this is docking control again. Your father is aboard the station, but we're having trouble reaching him. Can you relay an urgent message?"

The KX-9 settled onto the deck. "No problem."

"Please let him know that former Grand Admiral Yvarro of the First Order has been spotted aboard the station. We're dispatching a quartermaster droid to see to her comfort and intentions, but we'd prefer a senior Judge do the heavy lifting."

When Mara reached out through the Force, empathic skills and Theran Listener training let her pass on the message verbatim. She handled it as quickly as she could, then headed to find Hylo.

 

[Hylocereus]

Hylo was still in the bathroom when he felt Mara arrive. They had a nascent force bond which allowed him to know where she nearly everywhere, or at the very least feel if she was in a particularly emotional state. There had been times where Hylo had wanted to run away and embrace her... this was actually such time, though not because of any state Mara was in.

Taking a few deep breaths and looking in the mirror Hylo sighed. His analogue for hair wasn't being very cooperative after his pruning with a few stubborn hairs not going down as much as he'd like. Licking his fingers he pressed it hard and sighed. His hand went instinctively to his pocket feeling the little box with the ring in it.

Confident now, having received Jorus's permission Hylo marched out to the party waiting at the door as Mara entered. He paused for a second before approaching her and wrapping his arms around her, his lips reaching out for hers filling her view with vibrant green flushed cheeks as all the chlorophyll in his body rushed to make him blush. Feth,]/i] Hylo thought as he leaned in, I'm the girl in this relationship. And he didn't care.

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

Maybe ten seconds later, Mara came up for air. "Gorrammit, Hylo, boundaries." She slugged his shoulder and broke away with her first genuine smile all year. And it had been a genuinely terrible year. Tortured and impaled by Anaya Fen, caught in a vendetta death spiral against the Mandalorians, broke enough to sell her beloved ship, a string of disappointing alien trysts - and, of course, the Dark Side.

To her empathic senses, Hylo felt more on edge than he had since that landlord negotiation back on Coruscant. She decided to blunt his anxiety, whatever caused it. He'd generally been a calming presence for her, and she could use some of that reassurance.

"What brings you out here? What are the odds, eh? I've just been running sentry drones, fortify the sector..." She trailed off. "What's wrong, Hylo?"

 

[Vaudin Miir]

Vaudin watched the party really get going as he sipped his cola. He wiped out a glass and put it beneath the bar before he saw the lovely Ms. Perl. He tossed a bottle in the air and made a good strong drink and ambled it over to sent it on over to his current pretty pink crush.

He didn't much know how to handle the whole being sober at a party thing but so far he could say he was going to remember more than usual. It was funny, all the years spent in space alone and drunker than most of these folks were getting and he was finding the scene of other drunk people more humerous than he had being drunk himself.

He walked over to the cook and ordered some nuna wings before he walked back to his pop and took another sip. The orders kept coming and he kept serving. Still another thirty minutes until his voluntary shift was over.


[member="Fiolette Yvarro"] [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Sanya Val Swift"] [member="Janick Beauchamp"] [member="Jorus Merrill"] [member="Joza Perl"] [member="Bryce Bantam"] [member="3X744"] [member="Hylocereus"]

 

[Vaudin Miir]

He winked and smiled also.

 

[Hylocereus]

"Mara," Hylo began looking at her. Suddenly a flower began to grow on his head, but he managed to keep it at bay with his power of will, leaving it just under his hairline. "You're the most beautiful person I've seen since the first day." Mara never liked flattery like this. At all. "I have been thinking about you and me. And I came here to see you. Well to see your father then I was going to track you down. Edgar said I needed to talk to your dad first...." Stay focused. "I'm doing well, the farm is great, and we're feeding more people than ever. In addition I have stock in a few companies which can keep me comfortable far into the future."

"[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]," From his pocket he proffered the tiny box as his excitement got ahead of him a flower sprouting on his head and pheromones releasing across the room. "I never really knew love in my life, until I met you. You were always strong, confident, and I thought I wanted to be like you, but the truth was...." he gulped hard, "I wanted to be with you." Then Hylo knelt down in front of Mara and opened the box revealing a ring with golden vines over small finely cut sun crystals. "Will you marry me at some point to be determined in the future?"

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

Listen to the wind blow, watch the sunrise​

Run in the shadows, damn your love, damn your lies​

Somewhere in the back of the station, in a quiet hovel of the most upscale place, she could find Fiolette walked in and felt all eyes draw on her. A face that launched a thousand ships, what can I say? Sorry? There was no disguising the air of arrogance she still carried with her. Maybe it was because of her upbringing, after all, you'd be hard-pressed to find a Galidraani who wasn't arrogant. Maybe it was her years of naval training, and time served as part of the brass. What naval commander wasn't arrogant in their own right? Or just maybe it was a combination of the two. Still, she carried herself forward shoulders back and head held high. It was good to know that word of her separation from the First Order hadn't reached all sectors of the galaxy, yet.

And if, you don't love me now​

You will never love me again
I can still hear you saying
You would never break the chain (Never break the chain)​

​

The whirring motions of a droid could be heard not too far from her. When she took her seat he asked what she wanted, "your finest Rum and a bit of nog." Fiolette ordered with a polite enough smile as she checked her seat. She then set her datapad on the table and began to scroll through it and in the moment you could not distinguish the blonde from the crowd a mix of humans and a few aliens in the mix. The blonde had tucked herself into the corner of the little cantina, bar or whatever it was where the lights were just a glimmer above dim with a dark maroon hue that bordered on the verge of indigo. Her contact would be none other than [member="Jorus Merrill"] and she thought for a moment just how did we get here. And it wouldn't take much to recall that ah yes Kuragin.

And if, you don't love me now​

You will never love me again
I can still hear you saying
You would never break the chain (Never break the chain)​

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Fiolette Yvarro"] looked much like the stills in her dossier. If Jorus could have pinned down one difference, it might have been in the set of her shoulders. She still had the pride, but she carried less weight. He'd seen the same in the mirror after retiring from ODF.

“Not sure what I should call you in public,” he said without preamble. “Jorus or Captain Merrill suits me fine.” The battered leather creaked under him as he slid into the booth. They wouldn't need to keep their voices down: the station's Life Day party was in full swing. He blinked once at Bryce Bantam's outfit and turned his whole attention to the presumably-former Grand Admiral.

“Looks like you're heeled for a drink. Anything else we can get you?”

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

Listen to the wind blow down comes the night
Running in the shadows damn your love, damn your lies​

Break the silence, damn the dark, damn the light​

​

Are you gonna demand he call you Mrs. Fiolette Yvarro? Once more she imagined her ex-husband only now he bore this mocked politeness. You're in a bar for Nexu sake, so unless you're in some fancy dinner or business meeting . "Fiolette or Miss Yvarro will do fine," after all it had been Dren Var Nabba who started the Miss Yvarro bit. Might as well keep up appearances. Settling back into the booth she poured just a bit of the rum into her nog. The Life Day festivities drowned everything away even her thoughts if she were to be honest. "I know it to be rather odd to find me here," a beat, "but here I am and I'm sure there are questions you've been wanting to ask."

Fiolette nursed the drink as she brought the glass to her lips. "And no, but you're welcomed to join me for a drink Jorus." She chose to use his name rather than the Captain bit considering her surroundings and wondered how odd it would be to still carry a rank after her service. Without a proper uniform, she did feel it odd but left it there. The drink was not near the quality she was used to affording herself but then it did have a rather good kick.

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

Realization kicked in a heartbeat after the speech started. His mental state had shifted just then as nervousness clung to structure. Rehearsed, probably. For her part, Mara could have used similar help, because she found herself going totally blank. People nearby were noticing, and feth, he had a ring and was kneeling under mistletoe. And it was a really nice ring.

They'd been a good fit not too long ago, separated more by circumstance than by differences. They'd been good for each other, challenged each other. Did things about him frustrate or annoy her? Sure, and the opposite was probably true too.

What was Mom's old line? Don't hold out hope for a perfect person. Even if you find one, they sure as feth won't be interested in you.

Feth.

She needed to say something, didn't she. Make a decision, even.

"I'm not... as good as I used to be, Hylo. I want you to be sure you know who you're talking to."

 

[Hylocereus]

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

Hylo smiled and a wave of relief passed over him. She hadn't said yes, but she hadn't said no. That was the important thing. Taking stock of her response he blurted, "It doesn't matter," before he had any time whatsoever to think. "You're as good as you've ever been which is more than I deserve." Smiling he looked at her and steadied himself on his knee. It was harder than it looked really, especially because he was on his toes with excitement. Well one toe and a knee and a toe. Also the floors hurt. He should have done this on carpet.

"I know who I'm talking to. I'm talking to Mara. The girl I fell in love with. There is anything you could do to make feel differently, nothing to make it so I wouldn't love you." It was a big decision, and he had sprung it on her, he knew she'd have to think about it. Then again she hadn't said no. A cocky little half smile formed on his face as he looked up at her. "I believe in you, what more is there to say?" Truth was lots. Where would they live? How would they live? How many adventures per year? Do they want kids? Hylo knew he could have children with humans but medical part of it would be... something else. Still there was time for that later. "We're still young, we'll have our whole lives together."

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Fiolette Yvarro"]

"Questions? Yeah, I could think of one or two."

He'd drunk his fill of virgin lum before fixing the sector beacon relay. His hand felt empty, but that was a very old habit that he didn't feel like indulging.

"What's your status with the First Order these days, exactly? What's brought you to our turf? And, feth." He thought of a couple of pushier questions and put them aside. "What're you working on these days? I've gone up against a couple of ships with your stamp on'em. Nice work and then some."

As a rule, he didn't compliment other shipwrights without cause. Too much pretension running around.

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

Fiolette by this point had sipped and nursed a quarter of the way through rum and nog.

Her azure gaze fell square on the man opposite of her like a target-locked missile. She studied him it was her nature to do so and paid no mind to his hand at the moment. As he spoke, she let the question or two run into the back of her mind. She swallowed with ease as she took yet another polite sip of her drink. A hand ran through her blonde hair, her back relaxed into the booth and legs crossed beneath the table. Rewashed air of the station hit her nostrils once more and by now she was getting a little used to it. "Resigned, passing through and thank you." The curvature of her lips turned upward at the compliment, "I appreciate it. Not often one shipwright receives a compliment from another."

"Passing through," she reversed back to her previous answer, "is a bit of an extension. You're on the way back home as it were."

The long way around, she could've easily taken a more direct route home but given that she was in no hurry to do so that and finding a new residence in First Order space was becoming harder and harder to do these days she found. You had to be an admiral to live on admiralty hill for starters and she supposed living on Primero Del Sol wasn't all that bad it was after all the Resort Paradise of the Nation. Kwenn Station had been in the mid rim and swinging all the way around through the Outback? Hardly a 'shortcut' but a necessary one she felt to garner business from those who needed ships. Customized ships to be certain, limited production or less. She wasn't in the business of mass production anymore, not unless the First Order would knock on her door with contract in hand.

And if, you don't love me now​

You will never love me again
I can still hear you saying
You would never break the chain (Never break the chain)​

​

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

Saying no didn't feel right. Delay didn't feel right. Saying yes counted as a solid maybe, or at least it wouldn't resolve into a strong sense of what she should do. But maybe that just made it a genuine choice.

"Stand up," she said. "Come on, up." She took the ring box from his hand and looked into the crystals.

"This looks like a heartfelt ring. Lot of thought went into it. Force, it's gorgeous, Hylo." Was this what it felt like to thaw? "Yeah, I'll..." Mara swallowed and looked around. A decent chunk of the party was looking now. "You were always good for me. I think I might need that now more than, uh, more than I used to." She ran her fingers through her hair. "I...yeah, let's do it. Let's make something new."

 

[Vaudin Miir]

The sounds of myriad voices melted together into a dull roar as he stood watching the people doing what people did, be weird mostly. He thought about that for a moment. What had he looked like to these people when he had been on the otherside of the bar? It seemed there was a good reason he had never had a crew for long and definitely a good reason he hadn't done a whole helluva lot with himself in a good long time.

He shook his head. Maybe it was time to just go home and retire from the rambling ways of his poorly spent youth...he popped the top off a beer and poured another from the tap before he went to his wings and passed the bar towel to his relief.

"Happy life day, kiddo." He said to his relief before he picked up a bottle and headed off to find a table near the AC vent.

If didn't take him long really. Most folks had decided to clog the dance floor and mill around the still open bar. So, he sat down and began slowly picking at his wings and gave a shrug as he pulled the cap off a nice single malt. It was a party after all, one drink wouldn't hurt.


[member="Fiolette Yvarro"] [member="Sanya Val Swift"] [member="Janick Beauchamp"] [member="Jorus Merrill"] [member="Joza Perl"] [member="Bryce Bantam"] [member="3X744"] [member="Hylocereus"]

 

[Jak Skirata]

He really didn't feel like being here. His first Lifeday without a home to return to and with no family to speak of. The exiled Mandalorian gave a drunken sigh and leaned over the bar past Vaudin and put his helmet under the tap. With a waggle of his fingers he pulled back the lever with the Force that let the translucent bronze liquid flow into the helmet.

When it came to a satisfactory level he waggled his fingers again shutting off the tap with the Force and hoisted his buy'ce up and over the bar and drank from it. The tech inside was probably friend. He could smell ozone. But it was his third buy'ce gal and even if this drink wasn't as strong as a Mandalorian ale, three helmets worth of booze was enough to leave him wavering back and forth.

He slurped and felt some of the drink drizzle down his chin into his beard.

Happy Lifeday or whatever...right?