Silent takeover

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Rylan paced through the hangar, waiting for this "Lioness" he'd heard so much about. From what he had heard, she was a damn good slicer, and had no problem proving it. Hopefully, that was the case... See, he wanted a company to start building vehicles in his downtime, since he seemed to have a lot of it these days. However, he didn't want to go through the trouble of starting one up himself, and having to go through all of that paperwork. Instead, he figured he'd take one over. It had come to his knowledge that one such company, known as Gaslight Cyberdrive, had stationed itself on Kro Var, but had put only one model in production before going cold. Perhaps the project had been abandoned, or maybe the owner had gone underground. Either way, Rylan wanted it. And to get it, he needed help. This help came in the form of the Lioness, in which she would help him get in, so he could properly seize the company as his own. If only she would show up...

[member="Leoria Beviin"]

 

[Leoria Beviin]

Leoria was a good slicer. She had her family to thank for that, she supposed; the girl had been slapping at keys since before she could walk. She grew up surrounded by technology, and with a knowledge of and respect for it ingrained deep within her. Her father's reputation, and his training, had secured her a specialized slicer training when she reached the appropriate age, forgoing the typical combat and weapon training. Yes, she was a good slicer, a damn good slicer, and she knew as much.

What she was not good at, admittedly, was about everything else. Among that lengthy list was meeting with potential clients. A more experienced woman, a more cautious woman, would have scoped out the meeting location beforehand. She would have run a lengthy background check on this Rylan person, and she would have followed him to ensure he was no threat to her. Instead, Leo had concocted a story about an off-planet slicing conference to feed her parents. She had run twenty minutes behind schedule, not wishing to blow her cover by showing too much panic - the "conference" was not until the following morning, after all. And she had nearly forgotten to don her trademark hood before striding toward the pacing man. Fortunately, she did, and it was Lioness who finally approached him.

"Rylan?" she asked calmly, slipping into the Lioness persona as easily as she might change her clothes.

[member="Rylan Thatcher"]

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

As he was approached by a hooded woman, Rylan searched her mentally for a moment, to be sure she was who she said she was. It was indeed the person he had contacted, though he was amused to find that even though she was not too much younger than him, she was a bit anxious, nervous even. He himself had been through quite a lot in the last ten years of his life, though perhaps she was somewhat new at her business.Keeping his thoughts to himself, he nodded and offered a charming smile to the woman. "Rylan it is. It's good to meet you, Lioness. I hear your skills at slicing are very impressive. I used to be pretty good at it, though even then it was more of a side experiment than anything else." It was strange, he thought. Where once he was a bumbling teenager who got out of scraps by fighting, he found himself more often recently averting to his skill in wordplay. A lot of times now he was able to calm people by just a few words, or using the same method to anger them beyond reason. His mind slipped for a moment to remember a legendary Jedi branded 'The Negotiator'. Maybe he could use that title for himself at some point. Bringing himself back to reality, he motioned his hand to his ship. "Here, let's step inside, and I'll tell you what I know."

[member="Leoria Beviin"]

 

[Leoria Beviin]

The blonde littered his short introduction with shallow nods, signifying she was listening, but not displaying too much interest. So he had been a casual slicer. The galaxy was filled with casual slicers, who dabbled a bit in the hours after their day jobs. They sliced when they had the time, or the motivation. There was curiosity, and a superficial interest. What there was not was discipline, and in most cases, true skill. She had encountered so many "expert slicers" who had accomplished nothing but hacking into their spouse's encrypted files. In many cases, she had even cleaned up after them, when a job had gone south. At least this man acknowledged his limitations. For that alone, she liked him more than most of her clients.

Despite her initial fondness, hesitation hummed in the pit of her stomach when he ushered her into his ship. In the back of her mind, she wondered if the setup was all a trap. It certainly was not unheard of - a young adventurer being whisked away to her death, wrapped up in a lie she was too naive to identify. Leo had no combat abilities to speak of, and the blaster that hung at her hip was for show. If he meant to kidnap her, she would be easy pray. Do good work, she reminded herself, and he'll have no reason to kill you. A thin, hard smile painted her lips. "Of course," she answered easily, slipping past him, and onto the ship.

[member="Rylan Thatcher"]

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Once the two of them were on te ship, Rylan could sense the uneasy feeling from the young woman almost double, and he grimaced. Maybe calling upon her was not the best idea... Or perhaps he could help to calm her nerves a little. Walking over to a cooling unit, he pulled out two sodas, offering one to her with a small smile. "Here. You look like you could use a drink." He tried not to hint too much that he could identify her reservations. After all, he too was hiding who he was, and he knew just what it felt like. From what he gathered, she was simply a young girl trying to use her skill to make a living in the galaxy. It was certainly more noble than his own reason for hiding his true self. He just wanted to run away from his past for enough time to clear his head. Hopefully, by this time, the name Gherron Vael was starting to fade from peoples minds, though he knew he would never fade from those that knew him personally. Sitting down in a chair against the wall, he took a few sips of his drink before setting it down and getting back up to turn on the holo. In seconds, a 3-D layout of a building came up, rotating slowly. "Here's the building. It's located near the warmer parts of Kro Var." Of course, when he said warm, he was being nice. It was pretty damn hot, as a matter of fact. But that wouldn't matter too much, as long as they could actually get on the surface.

[member="Leoria Beviin"]

 

[Leoria Beviin]

The offer for a drink was one that Leoria was accustomed to. It was not unusual for a client to make such a move, occasionally out of genuine politeness, more often to butter her up. The last time she had met a man inside his own ship, he had poured a few fingers of amber liquid into a fragile glass tumbler. She expected something similar, and when Rylan rounded on her with two sodas, her emerald eyes flashed with surprise. Forgetting herself for a moment, she mirrored his small smile. "Thank you," she answered simply, the cool of the drink in her palm like a shock to her system. The strong taste and rush of caffeine had the same effect, once she had expertly popped the top and taken a small swig. By that time, the man had called up a 3-D model, and was eyeing it silently. It was not until she moved up beside him that he finally spoke.

"Kro Var," the woman echoed softly, letting the unfamiliar name roll from her tongue. It ignited traces of an old memory, in a way that an old song or scent might, and she wondered if she had researched the planet at one time. If she had, it was far too long ago to remember. So she merely nodded at his mention of the heat. "That's fine," she commented softly. "The heat is no problem." She stole another sip of the soda, before sending a quizzical expression Rylan's way. "What else will I need to know?"

[member="Rylan Thatcher"]

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

If Rylan noticed the young girl's surprise, he didn't show it in his own. He'd figured that in her line of business that she had downed her share of alcohol in the past, but personally he preferred other drinks when it came to putting his mind to something. He himself was a heavy drinker sometimes, but he knew when the proper time was to get a buzz, and this was not one. Setting his can down after a few swigs, he answered matter-of-factly, "Other than a basic floor plan of the place, there's no record I could find of anything else. Any security the building may have will be a surprise. We'll be going in blind." That wouldn't be a new concept for him; he'd gone on several missions and adventures where he knew nothing of where he was going. Looking at the girl for a moment, he tried to judge her expression. "You up for that?" He'd also failed to mention that he was pretty sure that the owner of the company was a powerful shaper from Kro Var himself. Perhaps he had figured the best place to set up operations would be his home, a sentiment Rylan respected, even if he had no home to speak of. However, when word eventually reached the shaper of the raid, he would take full responsibility, and make sure this Lioness would remain unheard of. It wouldn't do for her to be shot down over something like this.

[member="Leoria Beviin"]