Sunspots

[NightSister]

Bastion​

​

Somewhere buried in the maze of the streets of Bastion, a speeder pulled up by a restaurant. The establishment had an abundance of praise written across the HoloNet; not bad at all. The driver cursed her parking as she screeched to a halt (and she was quite sure she caught the drivers of speeders nearby doing the same thing) but Aria Vale appeared quite unruffled by the time she got to her feet.

For all her faults, the Sith was an expert in saving face.

Hair was pulled back, sleek to contrast her usual mane of wild curls. Heels click-tapped on the pavement as she reached the sliding doors of the restaurant (she still failed to appear tall, but one couldn't have everything).
Aria was clad in business attire, and unlike her as it was she was starting to grow used to the idea.

Truthfully, though, she still didn't like Bastion. But the Empire had made this world their capital, and surely she would survive a visit here at least while it had a purpose. Besides, she was confident she'd get some fun out of this trip. For one thing, the setting. Aria had taken the liberty of confirming that this place did indeed offer an agreeable menu.

For another, the company.

[member="Aver Brand"]​

 

[Aver Brand]

The company in question was sitting in the VIP section of the Jagged Crown sipping on water, of all things. No alcohol today. Not neck-deep in this sort of territory, and not on a serious business trip. Booze had its place. (In the liquor cabinet. Or under the bed. Whichever worked best.)

Blue eyes flicked up from the datapad on the table as a dark presence spilled into the restaurant. Given Bastion’s new overlords, this wasn’t at all surprising. Plenty dark presences had spilled into the restaurant in the past fifteen minutes.

This one was remarkable simply because Aver recognized it. Vaguely. Brushed up against it twice now – first time while wrecking Dominion ass on Serenno, second time while wrecking Sith ass at Sabacc on Maena. Good times.

The merc folded the datapad and slid it into the inner pocket of her armored suit. Her gaze settled on the doorway where she knew [member="Aria Vale"] would appear at any second. Mentally, she ran the menu through her head again. Plenty of interesting choices. She’d picked a few favorites while waiting.

Wouldn’t be long, now.

 

[NightSister]

Eyes slid across the interior of the Jagged Crown, sizing up the establishment briefly before she strode past the entrance and into the restaurant. Aria swapped words with the woman at the counter for a few moments until she led the Echani past tables and into the VIP section.

A quiet "thank you", and the other woman left Aria to find her own way to a table. It only took her the span of a few moments to spot her destination; only a few moments to pick Aver out of the array of faces and make a beeline for the right table. She'd encountered the woman before under very different circumstances. Shooting through Serenno as the Resurgent Empire had taken it from the Dominion with their dying breath. Alcohol and Sabacc and laughter under the Black Feather's roof. Now the Jagged Crown. How things changed.

"It's been a while," she greeted Violent Aver Brand as she slid into the booth. "How've you been?"

In a moment they would talk business. That was why Aria was here, after all.
But first, she hadn't seen the merc in ages.

[member="Aver Brand"]​

 

[Aver Brand]

“Hungry,” the merc replied simply, motioning to the waiter lingering in the shadows. “I’ll have the Fire and Sword menu,” she spoke as soon as the man entered hearing range. A scintillating feast for the palate, with a fine assortment of vegetables and salad – still, it was Taungsday. The marinated zakkeg ribeye had sold her.

Expectant blue eyes turned to the smaller woman. “They serve fantastic fish here.” The zabrak waiter nodded, producing a paper, of all things. It was heavy grain, with embossed, cursive aurebesh describing in salivating detail the dishes of the three-course menu.

It was only lunch, after all.

“Chef Aj’rou prepares the best Whalodon fin in the galaxy,” the man uttered with such conviction you could almost see the sparks of zealotry in his eyes. Must’ve been something about this place.

“And you?” Aver asked after the man eventually left to convey their orders.

[member="Aria Vale"]

 

[NightSister]

"Busy," she decided after a moment, half grinning.

Truthfully, she liked being busy. Aria grew restless rapidly when she had nothing to do. But between Vaylin, Kova, her various affairs within the Sith Empire, and numerous other things too small to make the shortlist, she was satisfied with matters at least in that aspect.

But she was getting off track.

"So." Aria looked back to the Firrereo. "You're hoping to provide armor and weapons for the Sith Empire?"

Rehearsed words. She had done meetings of this sort once, maybe twice before. A fish out of water, but she was getting used to it.

[member="Aver Brand"]​

 

[Aver Brand]

“I ain’t hoping shet. I’m selling, and if you lot have an interest in killing la bunch of people fast while staying alive long, you’ll be buying.” Aver took another sip from her glass, quite comfortable in this water.

Or, indeed, puddle, as it were.

She drummed her fingers on the table, blue eyes settling on the smaller woman. “You’ve had a first-hand demonstration already, so we can skip all the jaw-flapping and dick measuring and just jump in, yeah?” Into the puddle, presumably. Lucky for [member="Aria Vale"], those rarely came with a deep end.

“What kind of equipment are you looking for?”

 

[NightSister]

Buying, then. Aria half-grinned. "Sounds good to me."

She paused for an instant to find the words, then spoke. Leveled and cheerful, directed right at the merc.

"Stealth equipment, mostly. Melee weapons if you've got them." Not counting lightsabers, she wasn't the sort for either - all things considered, stealth was far from her forte - but as nice as it would be, for once Aria wasn't here buying for herself.

Instead-

"Give me a rundown of what you have that fits the bill?" The brunette tilted her head in interest, waiting evenly for a reply that would better tell her exactly what she was buying.

[member="Aver Brand"]​

 

[Aver Brand]

“Sure,” Aver acquiesced, leaning back to drape an arm over the backrest. With a lazy gesture, she motioned to a waiter, and the man immediately veered towards their table.

“Steak special for me.”

The tall zeltron gave a shallow nod, glancing over to [member="Aria Vale"] with a questioning smile. “What shall you be having, My Lady?” With the Sith now spread over the world of Bastion, the staff had to adapt to their towering hubris. Had a couple unfortunate cases of sudden asphyxiation over a bruised ego.

“For protection, there’s a few – armor you can hide under a suit, a suit that’s actually armor, and obviously a whole dedicated stealth piece for hardcore ops.” She regarded the woman for a moment, swirling the remaining liquid around her glass. “Far as melee goes? For sneaking ‘round, you’ve got a fancy garrotte. We sell RCFC pieces too, but that shet’s highly specialized. Melee weapons need to be tuned to the client’s needs…”

Aver quirked her lips, drowning the rest of her drink.

“So what are you looking for? Custom order’s no problem.”

 

[NightSister]

Eyes flickered from the merc over to the Zeltron, half amused at the offered My Lady. (Truthfully, Aria couldn't say she had ever been one for titles, but far be it from her to object).

"Hrm, Whalodon fin does sound good," she ordered absentmindedly, mentally running through the catalogue before glancing back to [member="Aver Brand"] and pressing on.

"Armor that doesn't look like armor is a yes. Throw in fancy garrottes too." They already had plenty of equipment for missions that involved less sneaking around and more the loud shenanigans often attributed to Sith, after all.

"As for specialized pieces - well, if Sith with the Empire could order custom items I imagine you'd have a good deal of business," Aria agreed.

 

[Aver Brand]

Something something owners get premium service. Not that [member="Aria Vale"] would be aware why their food arrived in such record time – merely that it did, warm and wafting with mouth-watering aroma.

Nothing like closing a deal over a fine meal.

If her grin was due to the rare steak on her plate or the prospect of egregious profits, Aver didn’t say. She merely gestured to the illegal dish in front of the Sith. “My thoughts exactly, Miss Vale.”

Fingers much more used to the grips of guns and the handles of sabers wrapped around a tumbler instead. “A toast, then – and please, enjoy the food.”

 

[NightSister]

The wait for their meals was pleasingly short, and they looked excellent. She supposed it was small wonder the Jagged Crown had such excellent reviews, although her focus for the time being was on this delightful exchange more than the food.

"Gladly." Aria glanced at the contents of her own glass and lifted it against [member="Aver Brand"]'s, grin tugging at her features as she clinked in a toast. "To credits and killing a bunch of people fast with fancy weapons."

After all, few things were as enjoyable as the rush of a good-old-fashioned battlefield fight with fancy weapons - although as it turned out, the food was quite high up on that list indeed.