(Gilded Veil)- Founder / C.E.O.
The message ended.
Sommer stared at the empty screen for a moment longer, lips parting softly.
Sommer stared at the empty screen for a moment longer, lips parting softly.
Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos
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Private The Lights That Weren’t On (BIRTHDAY BASH!!!!)
- Thread starter Sommer Dai
- Start date
Andrew Lonek
(L.T.I President)
Andrew's voice broke the silence.
"You alright?"
"You alright?"
(Gilded Veil)- Founder / C.E.O.
She didn't answer right away. Then — softly — "Yeah."
She turned, eyes bright behind her lenses.
"Let's go spend irresponsibly."
The boutique was nestled along a cliffside boardwalk — a row of artisan shops built like seashells, each decorated with woven banners and blowing salt-silk flags. Sommer tried on three dresses before settling on a custom asymmetrical number dyed in shifting ocean hues. She also bought earrings carved from petrified drift coral and a bottle of seafoam-scented skin oil.
Andrew didn't complain. He enjoyed the show.
They ended up at an oceanside cantina, barefoot at a private table just above the tide. Grilled squid pearls, marinated firefruit, and liquor served in frozen melon halves. Sommer dipped her toes in the water as she drank, lounging like a creature made of desire and sunlight.
As the second sun dipped low and painted her skin gold, she glanced at Andrew with a smile too soft to perform.
"Thank you for bringing me here."
She turned, eyes bright behind her lenses.
"Let's go spend irresponsibly."
The boutique was nestled along a cliffside boardwalk — a row of artisan shops built like seashells, each decorated with woven banners and blowing salt-silk flags. Sommer tried on three dresses before settling on a custom asymmetrical number dyed in shifting ocean hues. She also bought earrings carved from petrified drift coral and a bottle of seafoam-scented skin oil.
Andrew didn't complain. He enjoyed the show.
They ended up at an oceanside cantina, barefoot at a private table just above the tide. Grilled squid pearls, marinated firefruit, and liquor served in frozen melon halves. Sommer dipped her toes in the water as she drank, lounging like a creature made of desire and sunlight.
As the second sun dipped low and painted her skin gold, she glanced at Andrew with a smile too soft to perform.
"Thank you for bringing me here."
Andrew Lonek
(L.T.I President)
He raised his drink.
"Thank you for needing to be brought."
"Thank you for needing to be brought."
(Gilded Veil)- Founder / C.E.O.
a few hours later...
The cantina's laughter echoed down the rocks. The wine was perfect. The tide whispered sweetly against the platform's beams, and the suns kissed the horizon like old lovers.
Sommer sat with her chin resting in her palm, smiling across the table at Andrew, her bare legs tangled with his beneath the carved stone. A second bottle was nearly gone, and the fruit plate had been reduced to rinds and peels.
"I'm going to paint this night on my bones," she said lazily, her voice syrupy from drink and peace.
"So even if the whole damn galaxy burns down—I'll still remember this."
The cantina's laughter echoed down the rocks. The wine was perfect. The tide whispered sweetly against the platform's beams, and the suns kissed the horizon like old lovers.
Sommer sat with her chin resting in her palm, smiling across the table at Andrew, her bare legs tangled with his beneath the carved stone. A second bottle was nearly gone, and the fruit plate had been reduced to rinds and peels.
"I'm going to paint this night on my bones," she said lazily, her voice syrupy from drink and peace.
"So even if the whole damn galaxy burns down—I'll still remember this."
Andrew Lonek
(L.T.I President)
Andrew gave her a look—one of those quiet ones that said he'd been remembering her this whole time.
They clinked glasses. Her laughter spilled into the air like a note on a breeze.
They clinked glasses. Her laughter spilled into the air like a note on a breeze.
(Gilded Veil)- Founder / C.E.O.
That's when she noticed it.
A sound. Too subtle to be sound.
The briefest flicker in the air.
A stillness between waves.
Like a skipped frame in a holovid.
Sommer blinked.
Behind Andrew—on the rocky shoreline, just beyond the lights of the cantina—a shimmer.
Only for a moment. A flicker of movement where no one should be. A shape too tall, too thin, gone before it was real.
A reflection in the water—there, not there.
She then sat up a little straighter.
A sound. Too subtle to be sound.
The briefest flicker in the air.
A stillness between waves.
Like a skipped frame in a holovid.
Sommer blinked.
Behind Andrew—on the rocky shoreline, just beyond the lights of the cantina—a shimmer.
Only for a moment. A flicker of movement where no one should be. A shape too tall, too thin, gone before it was real.
A reflection in the water—there, not there.
She then sat up a little straighter.
Andrew Lonek
(L.T.I President)
Andrew noticed. "What is it?"
(Gilded Veil)- Founder / C.E.O.
She shook her head, brushing it off. "Thought I saw something. Trick of the tide."
Andrew Lonek
(L.T.I President)
He didn't press—just reached across and brushed his fingers over hers.
But she didn't let it go.
Not fully.
Because when the wind shifted, and the scent of citrus and grilled spices gave way to the ocean once more—there was something else beneath it.
Not rot. Not blood.
But familiar.
Something from the past. Something… watching.
But she didn't let it go.
Not fully.
Because when the wind shifted, and the scent of citrus and grilled spices gave way to the ocean once more—there was something else beneath it.
Not rot. Not blood.
But familiar.
Something from the past. Something… watching.
(Gilded Veil)- Founder / C.E.O.
Back in the suite, candles flickered along the bath's edge, and the sea moaned below. Sommer excused herself to slip into a new silk wrap, brushing a hand over the earrings she'd bought earlier. They felt warmer than they should've.
She paused at the mirror, tilting her head.
Nothing there.
Except…
The water in the glass-bottomed tub rippled, though no one had touched it. Just a single disturbance—like something had brushed the hull from beneath.
She paused at the mirror, tilting her head.
Nothing there.
Except…
The water in the glass-bottomed tub rippled, though no one had touched it. Just a single disturbance—like something had brushed the hull from beneath.
Andrew Lonek
(L.T.I President)
Andrew's voice called from the bed, playful, "Don't keep me waiting, my Queen."
(Gilded Veil)- Founder / C.E.O.
Sommer tore her gaze from the mirror and forced her smile back on.
But something remained coiled beneath her ribs.
Not fear. Not yet.
But the certainty of something arriving.
Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow.
But… soon.
And it would not be quiet.
But something remained coiled beneath her ribs.
Not fear. Not yet.
But the certainty of something arriving.
Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow.
But… soon.
And it would not be quiet.
(Gilded Veil)- Founder / C.E.O.
Morning at the Cliffside Retreat
Sommer awoke late — sun-kissed and silk-draped in sheets that still smelled faintly of the ocean and whatever decadent oil she'd worn the night before. Andrew had left a note on her pillow: "Gone to acquire coffee and sin. You were asleep and perfect."
She smiled to herself, rolled over, and stretched toward the sea-drenched light filtering through the drapes.
A gentle chime at the suite's entrance.
No knock. Just the chime. Polite. Precise.
Sommer rose, wrapping herself in a sheer linen robe that left little to the imagination. As she crossed the room barefoot, she cast a glance toward the glass-bottomed tub — empty. Still. She blinked.
Then opened the door.
No one was there.
Only a box.
It was a matte-black hexagonal container with no markings, save for a tiny embedded crystal on the clasp. A security seal, she realized — biological, not digital. The box had weight. Balanced, deliberate.
Sommer brought it inside, placed it on the table, and waved her fingers over the seal.
It opened like a whisper.
Inside:
- A bottle of rich obsidian perfume, unmarked — scent unknown.
- A folded parchment, not flimsiplast. Real paper. Expensive.
- A small brushed metal insignia: two overlapping stars over a wave-cut line. A military emblem — but not one she recognized.
Sommer sat back, one brow arched, lips pressed together in thought.
She didn't recognize the signature. The alias. The emblem.
But whoever they were… they'd done their homework. And the invitation was not an idle one.
She lifted the perfume bottle and uncapped it.
A single drop landed on her wrist.
The scent rose — warm metal, old jasmine, faint leather, and something almost… ozonic.
It smelled like memory and war. Like lust in a locked bunker.
And it lingered.
(Gilded Veil)- Founder / C.E.O.
Sommer stepped onto the balcony, wind tangling through her hair, sunlight draping her bare collarbones.
She raised the note again.
A research facility. A name that sounded like a sigil. And the perfume… a signature in its own right.
She didn't like being watched.
But she did enjoy being wanted.
"Signa-Ki," she murmured aloud, watching the waves crash far below.
"Let's see what ghosts built you."
Behind her, the insignia on the table glowed briefly, detecting the rising temperature in the room.
She raised the note again.
A research facility. A name that sounded like a sigil. And the perfume… a signature in its own right.
She didn't like being watched.
But she did enjoy being wanted.
"Signa-Ki," she murmured aloud, watching the waves crash far below.
"Let's see what ghosts built you."
Behind her, the insignia on the table glowed briefly, detecting the rising temperature in the room.
General of Signa-Ki RND
And many miles away, across dust-choked mountains and beneath the banners of a facility cloaked in false neutrality, General Linn Dobson watched a blinking indicator go live.
"She opened it," Linn muttered, steel-blue eyes narrowing with interest.
And the game began.
"She opened it," Linn muttered, steel-blue eyes narrowing with interest.
And the game began.
(Gilded Veil)- Founder / C.E.O.
Sommer found Andrew where she expected — on the upper deck of the suite, reclined shirtless in a gravity-lounge chair, datapad in one hand, caf in the other. The sea glinted behind him, the air spiced with roasted fruit from the outdoor kitchen below.
He looked up as she stepped barefoot across the terrace, still in her robe, hair loose, skin kissed by salt and light. But there was a creased paper in her hand — and something colder in her eyes.
"Got something weird," she said, dropping the parchment beside him. "Didn't come with a return address, but they knew how to find me. And how to get through the suite's security ring."
He looked up as she stepped barefoot across the terrace, still in her robe, hair loose, skin kissed by salt and light. But there was a creased paper in her hand — and something colder in her eyes.
"Got something weird," she said, dropping the parchment beside him. "Didn't come with a return address, but they knew how to find me. And how to get through the suite's security ring."
Andrew Lonek
(L.T.I President)
Andrew's relaxed posture tensed almost imperceptibly.
He picked up the letter, scanning it once. Then again slower.
"Signa-Ki." He spoke the name like he was testing its weight. Then:
"That's not a public-access facility. It's classified under at least three restricted sectors last I checked. Black-barred clearance."
He picked up the letter, scanning it once. Then again slower.
"Signa-Ki." He spoke the name like he was testing its weight. Then:
"That's not a public-access facility. It's classified under at least three restricted sectors last I checked. Black-barred clearance."
(Gilded Veil)- Founder / C.E.O.
Sommer's brow arched. "And you checked, huh?"
Andrew Lonek
(L.T.I President)
He didn't answer that part.
Instead, he tapped the insignia still sitting nearby on the table.
"Military." He squinted. "But not one I wore."
A pause.
"The name Dobson…" He rolled it on his tongue. "Sounds Elysian. There were a couple Dobsons back in the ranks when I served under the Elysium Empire. But I never heard of a Linn Dobson. Which is strange, because people like her — high command, ex-militia, rich ghosts who build things in the dark — they don't just show up out of nowhere."
Instead, he tapped the insignia still sitting nearby on the table.
"Military." He squinted. "But not one I wore."
A pause.
"The name Dobson…" He rolled it on his tongue. "Sounds Elysian. There were a couple Dobsons back in the ranks when I served under the Elysium Empire. But I never heard of a Linn Dobson. Which is strange, because people like her — high command, ex-militia, rich ghosts who build things in the dark — they don't just show up out of nowhere."