Particular Set of Skills [Itaska Relens]

[Natasi Fortan]

Natasi stood at the window of an apartment across the plaza from the ruined Magister's building on Skye. Her dark eyes peered from the window across the square to the Magister's building, where First Order forensics teams were investigating what was now a murder scene. Imogen was dead; early estimates suggested that she had been so close to the bomb when it went that she had been vaporized. From the damage in the room, forensics thought the bomb had been in the desk -- possibly some sort of dead man's switch.

Turning from the window and leaning heavily on a cane, she hobbled over to the desk and depressed her intercom key. "Is he here?" The intercom crackled as Sioux Chambers answered from the foyer -- repurposed into an outer office: "Not yet, ma'am. It's early. Ma'am, it's 0930, it's time for your pills." Natasi rolled her eyes. "Thank you, Sioux." She sat at the desk and got her pills out from her desk.

When [member="Itaska Relens"] arrived to the meet the summons, he would be greeted by Sioux, the overprotective principal private secretary to Governor Fortan, and informed that "The Governor's time is like an Ewok in a tiara: small and precious" before being shown into the office.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Natasi Fortan"]

"You are going where?"

"Don't remember the name- Ferton or something."

"Woah, there, boss man. Natasi Fortan?"

"Sounds about right, you know her?"

"Know her? Chief. She is the fethforsak-" Sully saw that Relens wasn't exactly paying attention. He sighed heavily, before shaking his head and then shrugging it all away. Ain't his meeting, ain't his problem. "Forget about it... just try and be less... you? We could use her on our good side, mebbe avoid another budget cut. Sal already has issues outfitting us properly."

Itaska looked up from his boots, shooting him half a grin. Razor-sharp teeth flashed briefly before disappearing again. "Relax, Sal. I got my way around women."

A loud snort was all that he got in reply to that.

***​

Nine thirty-two was about the time that a bald head with goggles hanging lazily around his neck wandered into the apartment. He was almost immediately caught in his stride by a shortish woman, brown hair, bronzed skin and eyes that were already criticizing his choice of attire - Sully's attempts to convince him to wear something less... battle-ready had fallen on deaf ears. Only a fool left his armor behind when walking into an unknown location, as far as Itaska was concerned.

"The Governor's time is like an Ewok in a tiara: small and precious." came her words finally after one more baleful look.

Itaska blinked slowly. ...What did an Ewok have to do with any of this? Maybe the assistant was on medication, severely dehydrated or maybe it was some kind of psychological mind game.

"...Thanks?" the Ren was guided into office room for his appointment, before he stepped into the room he send Chambers a trusting look. "Try to drink more, lass. I hear that solves all manner of problems."

Without waiting for a reply Itaska entered the room, leaving Chambers outside.

"I was requested for a meeting, ma'am?"

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Natasi looked up from the document she was revising and, looking beyond Relens for a moment, acknowledged Sioux Chambers' apologetic look before the dutiful assistant shut the door, leaving Natasi and @Itaka Relens alone. "Yes," Natasi acknowledged his report. "I'm aware of that. No doubt you are aware of the reason we're meeting in this squalid little flat instead of a proper government building. The fools in the Resistance thought blowing up one building, killing one Governor, would give the First Order pause. That kind of weakness, stupidity, and short-sightedness is why they're going to lose this war." Leaning heavily on her cane, she stood up and gestured for Relens to sit. "Have a seat if you like."

She hobbled over to the sideboard to collect a few supplies before returning to her desk. "At any rate -- my cousin was killed in that blast, which makes this personal for me. As much as I trust the forensics teams, I also want to work this case from another angle. I need someone who can be flexible and not too sidetracked with bureaucratic red tape. I need someone to take charge of the investigation and report directly to me."

[member="Itaska Relens"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Natasi Fortan"]

Itaska, in fact, didn't know about the reason they were here instead of in a proper government building. The trickle-down effect of information was surprisingly meager when you were a Ren and the lowest among them. Some terrorist attack was above, beneath, but especially beyond his notice - especially considering the man had joined this little congregation of imperial elements after the conquering of Skye. With that being said... the Ren wasn't about to cut in and explain all of that to her, there was no reason for that, so instead he simply listened and provided proof of his attention by nodding every so often at the appropriate intervals.

"I see." He'd reply while standing, instead of taking a seat. A sitting warrior in foreign territory was a dead warrior, and Relens quite liked his living state. She wanted this off the books then, otherwise she would have pulled in some heavier assets - like the leader of the Rens, but considering this message had come specifically to him?

Told him all he needed to know.

"What kind of timetable are we working with?" that would influence what kind of action he would take. Torture was a crude method, often inaccurate, but by far the quickest way to results when you were short on time. It wouldn't be his first choice. But this wasn't up to him at this point.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

"I don't care a fig about timing, provided you get the job done right." Natasi fumed inwardly, her dark eyes closing for a moment as she felt a pang of pain as her blood pressure spiked. She forced herself to remain calm and inclined her head, opening her eyes again. "Look. I don't know you and I'm sure you've no reason to know me. I sent for a Ren because I want someone with the gifts that I lack -- the Force," she waved a hand as if the Force were a mere trifle. "But I don't want to put any more internal attention on this matter until I have a clearer picture about what happened, and why, and most importantly who did it." Natasi stood and massaged her hip anxiously. "My family has already suffered some reputational damage due to some... unfair scrutiny. I won't see it happening again, when there is so much important work to be done."

She turned and paced to the window, again watching the efforts being done at the still-smoking wreckage of the Magister's office. "You'll have clearance to access any of the forensic's teams findings. You'll have my personal commlink frequency. You'll have access to a ship and a pilot that I trust. He's not bad in a scrap and is fairly intelligent, so feel free to make use of him however you like. But we'll get to that. Are you willing to undertake this task for me?"

[member="Itaska Relens"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Natasi Fortan"]

"I wouldn't be here if I had anything better to do, miss." took Relens just the right amount of self-control not to address her with 'doll' or 'honey' or alternatively 'girl', but in the end he got a grip on his sass - at least for the moment. Their relationship hadn't progressed enough for him to sass it out yet. Didn't make himself indispensable yet either, maybe after he managed to get some results for her he'd ease his formality a little bit.

"Who is the pilot and how important is his well-being for you?"

Relens wasn't exactly the go-to-guy when it came to babysitting someone. If it came to it he'd rather complete the mission, instead of trying to save someone's ass.

Unless said pilot was also playing as as VIP.

Which would change things and make Itaska just slightly annoyed.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Being addressed as miss was one of Natasi Fortan's top pet peeves, and it caused her back to tense up stiffly when he did it. She bit back on her response and instead only forced a polite smile. "Very good, then," she murmured. "I forgot to mention credits. You'll have whatever you need from my personal account -- but do try to show some discretion." She pushed an envelope holding her credit chit and an upgraded identification card for him, which would grant him the appropriate access. "You'll report to me directly -- any findings must be delivered in person, not over the 'net or the communicator, hence why you must take care not to harm the pilot."

She paused and activated a small holoprojector. The image of her cousin, [member="Pierce Fortan III"], from his personnel file appeared ."This is Lieutenant Fortan. He's a good pilot and will get you where you need to go. He can also assist with whatever investigation you require. He is my cousin, and I trust him, and more than that he is an asset to the First Order, and therefore his well-being is extremely important. I expect both of you to return in one piece."

[member="Itaska Relens"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Natasi Fortan"]

Ah... touching a nerve, I see.

Itaska Relens had that annoying property that most firrareo had. Ultraviolet vision - which didn't really mean much, but some men weren't happy with the things mother nature granted them. Some needed more than that and when ya spend as much time as Relens traveling the Galaxy... you figure out a few ways here and there to enhance yourself.

For example the man could make out the faintest shifts in a person's body temperature. And that could tell ya a whole manner of things if you knew how to read the shifts properly.

Which was also why Relens was the right choice for the job. Torture was usually a messy affair that didn't produce a lot of valuable information, but a man who could simply read the temperature and see if someone was lying? Well... valuable thing, that.

"Very well then. I will make sure to keep him relatively unharmed, miss." Itaska looked passed her towards the burning wreckage. "That all? Probably a good idea to start the hunt."

 

[Natasi Fortan]

At this point, the Governor felt that she was rather being toyed with, and she didn't like it a bit. Among equals this kind of thing was acceptable -- perhaps even encouraged. But under these circumstances, Natasi felt it only smacked of bad taste. She wondered idly if she had chosen the wrong Ren for this job, but by now it was too late. She sighed quietly and sipped from her glass of water. She set the glass down and scrawled a number on a sticky note, then stuck it to the envelope. "Lieutenant Fortan's communicator number," she said, tapping the yellow paper.

Natasi nodded. "That's all," she replied. "Don't forget the envelope. It will get you started." She picked up the envelope and held it out to the [member="Itaska Relens"]. "Lieutenant Pierce will meet you at Docking Bay 2187 if you don't call him to make other arrangements. So unless you have other questions..." She gestured at the door and then tapped her intercom button. "Sioux, what's next?"