Times Like These | The Collective

[Evoros]

ARKANIA​

The bar wasn't crowded, and Yvonne liked that.

Loud and overflowing with people was the kind of setting that made for a good hiding place, a good cover to blend in behind. Perfect for when you were undercover, for lurking in the shadows ready to strike, for when you needed to not be noticed at all. Loud and overflowing with people was good for missions. And for once, she was not here on a mission.

She was here for two reasons.
The first; she'd gotten a rain check on drinks, and there was finally opportunity to cash it in.
The second; after Shaddaa, she fething needed it.

The bar was reasonably lively without being riotous, and music sounded through the walls like a heartbeat. Collective agents were scattering through its interior as they arrived, one by one. Evoros - surprising nobody - had been the first to find a suitable watering hole, but everyone had followed happily. After all, they'd only just managed to settle into Arkania. The change of scenery had been trying in every sense of the word. There had been loose ends to tie up, new footholds to create, losses to compensate for.

But say one thing about the Collective - they would always survive. They would always adapt. And they would always progress.
They had survived, and here they were.

"I think this is the first time so far that we've not had a crime boss on our case," Evoros quipped, looking to Mara with half a smile at her lips. "Drinks on me to celebrate?"

Spoiler

[member="Antherion"] | [member="Ashana"] | [member="Ashen Soul Reynauld"] | [member="Atlas Nova"] | [member="Delilah Keyes"] | [member=Dyxra'a] | [member="Faceless"] | [member="Hazel Zanteres"] | [member="Itash Mecetti"] | [member="Janeth Farr"] | [member="Jaya Tandris"] | [member="Jest de Rous"] | [member="Kalak the Raykkan"] | [member="Koda Fett"] | [member="Lassiter"] | [member="Magnus Deshra"] | [member="Malen"] | [member="Mara Kellarov"] | [member="Mheralis"] | [member="Moira Skaldi"] | [member="Null"] | [member="Primus"] | [member="Rika Anor"] | [member="Sanguinaria"] | [member="Sola Tymon"] | [member=Tek'alor] | [member="The Slave"] | [member="Vila Sayne"] | [member="Vilaz Munin"] | [member="Wes Rykker"] | [member="Xyloxan"]

 

[Mara Kellarov]

When they had initially brought up the topic of drinks, it had been right before everything went down on Nar Shaddaa - and that ended up exploding out beyond originally thought and the offer had to be postponed until a later date.

Lots of moving pieces had to be shifted around, the Collective had to uproot and find somewhere else to settle down. Arkania became that place, much to Mara's annoyance as she was still not use to the colder temperatures, and likely wouldn't for a while longer.

But even beyond that, Mara had found herself heading to the ice planet just ahead of the group itself. Order from The Board themselves had directed the agent to follow up on a lead - on someone who had fallen into the Collective's radar during an earlier operation. One that Evoros had regaled her about once before.

Which had brought a rather amusing conclusion to her interactions with the man in question.

Now though, Mara was happily out of the cold and sat comfortably at a bar. The club was one of the first things both her and Evoros had sought out once the Collective had finally got themselves settled on the planet.

And both fully intended on cashing in one those talked about drinks.

"Seems to be so, thankfully. Although I swear, if you end up jinxing us Evoros..." Mara chuckled as she looked over at the other agent. "And certainly, I was just about to suggest the same thing."

To the celebration with drinks, or Evoros paying? She didn't specific, but the little smirk probably gave it away.

[member="Evoros"]​

 

[H3xle]

ARKANIA​

​

Bounties went up all around the galaxy, and practically every world had a Guild outpost where you could at least verify a target acquisition. Not every world had an outpost that would be able to do payouts, though, and the payout is what brought Vila to Arkania. A combination of said payout and utter relief to have the scum she'd bagged out of her presence brought her to the nearest watering hole to the Bounty Hunter Guild outpost. As Arkania boasted an outpost bigger than small, she had been able to get lodging there for a discounted price, and had been able to store her armor and most of her weapons there, so she didn't walk into a local bar with an arsenal strapped to her. Instead, she was in worn "Spacer Leathers" and wore only a pistol and beskad on her belt.

Her eyes alighted on most of the people in the establishment as she made her way from the door to the bar, only stopping for a moment before moving on. She was still feeling tense from her recent bounty, and a second scalding shower hadn't erased the scummy feeling the guy had left her feeling even through her armor, so her movements likely looked a bit more paranoid than an establishment on Arkania warranted.

'Cool it girl...' She mentally chastised herself as she noticed a few locals eyeing her for her peculiar stares. She mentally shook herself, then slipped into a seat at the bar and flagged a bartender. "Got any Midvinter mead?"

"Hm?" The pale Arkanian looked as though he had just woken up when he heard her question, then he nodded. "Oh, yeah. Not much left, shipments out of Silver space are getting fewer and farther apart nowadays." He replied, moving back to a refrigerator and pulling a tall bottle out of it and setting it down in front of her. "Sixteen credits...gotta make the supply last, ya know."

Vila's eyebrow quirked as she paused for a moment, but her payout had been sizable, and she needed the familiarity and the alcohol to help clear her mind.

"Yeah, okay." Slipping her thumb onto a pad the bartender held out, making sure the payment was what he'd said. Then she took the bottle, popped the top off, and turned in her seat to do some people watching while she drank to forget the scum she handled.

[member="Mara Kellarov"] | [member="Evoros"]

 

[Lok Xiangu]

He wore his Mandalorian armor as his attire to this little get together with the Collective.

Yes, he was not a trusted mercenary in the eyes of his colleagues, but his combat merits were useful as well as his father and his clan. He was a wild card. Lok typically didn't gave a kark about almost anything except what benefited him and his family. So his stunt at Gorba's was something he really didn't gave a single damn about. Heck, he'd do it again if he had the men and assets to do it. Men and personnel he didn't had access to, but his father did had plans for the Hutt and his criminal enterprise so there was a chance that Lok would be paying a visit at Gorba's another time again.

Now he was going to enjoy a drink and smoke at this bar as he made his way towards the bar.

"Hit me with something sweet," the Mandalorian said to the bartender. Moments later he was given a drink and the bill was paid in full.

He was two one seat away from [member="Vila Sayne"] in which there was an empty void in between them. He removed his helmet to drink the alcohol and to smoke a blunt of spice.

[member="Mara Kellarov"] @Evoros

 

[Evoros]

"Look," the agent grinned, "I don't look for trouble. Trouble just finds me."

And she supposed that if you looked past her career as a spy for a shadow organization, Evoros really wasn't the sort to go looking for trouble. The fact that it turned up almost on the daily in her line of work, of course, was entirely beyond her control.

"But until it catches up with us..." it was their first time there, but the bartender had been plenty attentive to the pair of women, and he was at their table within moments of being called over, "drinks for me and my friend here, please. Surprise us, it's a special occasion." He smiled sagely, an I-know-just-what-you-need sort of grin, and hurried off to prepare their toast.

Yvonne shifted forward, elbows on her knees, and fixed her attention on her new drinking partner. "So how's the change of scenery been for you? Besides it being freezing cold everywhere now, of course."

Her focus was on Mara, but dark eyes skimmed the background all the same. They might have evaded trouble for the night, but it would take a good many drinks to ease the paranoia of something's going to happen that came with dangerous occupations. It didn't have to mean anything, and she was sure it didn't, but intuition told her keep an eye on that table in the corner.

Just in case.

| [member="Mara Kellarov"] |​

| [member="Lok Munin"] | [member="Vila Sayne"] |​

 

[Mara Kellarov]

"Ain't that the truth for us all." Mara let out a snort of amusement, well versed in the art of having trouble come to her doorstep. She reckoned it was payback for the years spent as an agent and nosing around in others' business.

Even now as part of the Collective, intentionally kept in the shadows to remain out of the public eye. Somehow trouble ended up finding them. Mara wasn't particularly complaining, always looking for some excitement in her life that kept her away from falling on thoughts that would send her down a slippery slope.

Then again, she certainly complained about Nar Shaddaa enough.

Her eyes lingered over to the bartender as he quickly approached their table upon Evoros call. Mara smirked, flashing the man a flirtatious smile when his gaze wandered her way. His immediate response to was immediately look to Evoros, with a slight red tinge to his cheeks.

Mara chuckled quietly as she watched him dart off again.

"Other than the freezing cold temperature? It's been fine." Although with that tone of voice, it was clear Mara was still not use to being on Arkania. "How about you? The cold bother you too much?"

She had noted Evoros' gaze wander away, a normal habit for agents like them. Always keep an eye on the surroundings in case something happened, which could be at any time, in any direction.

| [member="Evoros"] |​

| [member="Lok Munin"] | [member="Vila Sayne"] |​

 

[Evoros]

Evoros would admit to having preferred Shaddaa to Arkania by several magnitudes.

City planets had so much to offer. Brighter lights, busier streets. They were good for blending in, going unnoticed (extremely useful when you were paid to go unnoticed). And a place as rotten and crime-ridden as Nar Shaddaa made for lovely camouflage. Nothing you couldn't get your hands on for the right price. Arkania was rich in materials and technology, but it just wasn't the same.

That, and it was fething cold.

"Not as nice here as on Shaddaa - or as warm," the agent smirked, "but at least it's quieter. And business ain't doing so bad, either." She was a mercenary at heart, after all. The eternal what's in it for me tended to form a good deal of her opinion on matters.

Drinks arrived, a colourful mishmash of this and that inside tall crystalline glasses. Delightful.

"Thank you - put it on my tab," she told the bartender, shaping her smirk into something overly suggestive (of course) before she turned back to the brunette opposite, lifting her glass to clink against Mara's. "To no turf wars and- oh no."

_______________​

​

The doors opened to a group of maybe seven or eight tall hulking figures, who entered in a cluster, seemingly keen on never straying within inches of the pack. They were crowded together and the lighting was dim, but it wasn't hard to make out that they were all armed.

One man, evidently the one in charge, went to the bar counter. The others stayed close behind, still hesitant to separate. But the newcomers' focus was on the group at the other end of the bar - and the group at the other end of the bar had their focus on the newcomers. Everything she could pick up from the air was good-natured. Nothing was happening at all, really. But there was a definite undercurrent of something. Evoros was wiling to bet the something was hostile.

She downed the first half of her drink a little too quickly.

| [member="Mara Kellarov"] |​

| [member="Lok Munin"] | [member="Vila Sayne"] |​

 

[H3xle]

Vila glanced over at Lok with a quirked eyebrow. Her eyes assessed him with a professional air, and her assessment was that he was dangerous, and enjoyed people knowing that. When he lit up the blunt of spice, she couldn't help but chuckle and turn away.

This looked to be the kind of guy her father had called Built Mando Tough. Sure, she was a MandaMerc, and enjoyed bravado when it suited the situation.

She stopped her thought process mid way, and shook herself mentally. She had no reason to bad mouth, or bad thought, another person. She really needed to get that scum she just cashed in on out of her mind. Turn to something positive.

She was about to turn to the Mandalorian and say something, when the hulking figures walked in. Vila's sense of the situation wasn't as clear, she could feel the electricity in the air, the way the room seemed to quiet down a notch or two, and the new group and an older group eyed each other. It made Vila want to reach for her pistols.

Instead, she crossed her right leg over her left, leaned back against the bar where she sat, and took a long draw of her mead. It tasted sweet, with a hint of cinnamon and clove on the tail end. She closed her eyes to enjoy it, letting her sense of the room tell her what was happening.

She felt the air close in as the new group followed their leader to the bar, and without thought, Vila's right hand slid down to rest on her stomach, mere inches away from her blaster, but very much looking like a simply satisfied way to sit. Her eyes opened slowly, not focusing on anything, but taking the room in again as she waited.

[member="Evoros"] | [member="Mara Kellarov"] | [member="Lok Munin"]

 

[Darth Imperia]

Lone Digger

--

As a general rule, it was a bad idea for a smuggler to work for a single organization – it tied you down, limited your list of potential clients, and just made your career less profitable overall. Angélique knew all of this, and was, understandably, skeptical about the Collective’s offer of a “Long term contract,” especially considering the shady (even by smuggler standards) work she’d already done for them. It was probably best to decline the offer, and that was what she had planned to do.


But then one of them invited her to a party. And, well…she was a Zeltron. And it was a party. And she was a Zeltron, for Feth’s sake, so of course she was going to attend. It wasn’t as if she’d actually agreed to the employment or anything – she’d go have her fun, flirt with a few cute boys (or girls; Angel wasn’t picky in that regard), and then leave Arkania, preferably for a planet where snow was outlawed – Angel had a total of zero outfits suitable for cold weather, but she did have plenty that were ideal for clubbing.


--

In Angel’s experience, two things always happened when she walked into a room.

The first was that no matter how inconspicuous she tried to be, no matter how little of a fuss she made about her arrival, people always noticed her. She would’ve loved to blame it on her stunning good looks, or the natural confidence with which she carried herself, but honestly, it was probably the pheromones. The second was that she got really, really stupid. She let her guard down, she relaxed, and she lost herself in the swirling storm of emotion that any party bred. That wasn’t really her fault, though; it was something most Zeltrons were susceptible to. It was a high like no other, a thrill more exciting than any daring adventure. It was almost impossible for her to resist, and anyway, why would she want to? She was having fun, not on a smuggling run. And it wasn’t like anything shady every happened in a bar.

At least, not on Zeltros.

--

[member="Vila Sayne"] | [member="Evoros"] | [member="Mara Kellarov"] | [member="Lok Munin"]

 

[Fiore]

Bars were a place to hunt, they were a place to find jobs and for Fiore they were never a place to have fun. Though, tonight she would try that. She would try to fully understand the concept of fun. Looking around there were so many people, some were force users others were untouched by it. The elf girl shook her head, she wasn't here to hunt. Hunting wasn't always fun, not anymore that is. After meeting her hunting had changed. It wasn't about her revenge anymore, now it was about hiding and losing herself.

A palm smacked her forehead, “Don't think, have fun.” The Assassin scolded herself and stood near the doorway of the party. A few patrons looked over at her, giving her an odd look. Now she was embarrassed, of there was any chance of her meeting someone, anyone was probably crushed under her awkwardness. The tips of her ears drooped and were rosey from her blush.

Wandering the crowds she glided through them with a grace only someone who had trained endlessly would have. She flowed like the air between the moving crowd. No one noticed her and she slipped into the line crowding around the bar. Fiore had discovered the amber liquid when she had been with her, the thought caused a dagger to pierce her heart.

Time was supposed to make this pain fade, but it seemed that being alone, abandoned again by the person she had opened up to would never fade. It was finally her turn, her drooped ears suddenly perked up and a smile spread across her face. “whiskey!” The bartender stared and shrugged. Fiore was given a glass with a couple of cubes of ice and whiskey. Happily the Eldorai girl left the bar and stood just outside the thicker grouping of the crowd and watched. She was just a void in the Force and in life. Yet, she craved to belong somewhere.

[member="Angelique Lelièvre"]@Evoros@Mara Kellarov[member="Lok Munin"][member="Vila Sayne"]

 

[Atasihd Zi]

Healing took far too long, without the aid of a Force-gifted healer - or so he had learned. Months and months out of commission wasn't acceptable, but it was what it was, though it left him directionless, after what had happened to put him in this situation in the first place. He'd look at his guns, his knives, his yards of gear, a lot of which needed care after the kark-up that was Yavin IV, and felt nothing but apprehension. After stewing about in his ship for days on end, Atasihd Zi brought up a holomap, and blind-picked a destination. Whether he considered it a continuation of poor luck that he was sending himself to somewhere so cold as Arkania, or not, didn't register in his concerns. Nigh-inhospitable environments were meant to be endured, and endure them he had, far more often than could be considered normal over the past many years since leaving Shili behind.

Coming out of the spaceport, a bar was the easiest place, the most habitual place for a... hunter on hiatus. What else was he? What was he, without that? One thing was for certain: he was Togrutan, and it was true to his beliefs to feel the ground with the soles of his feet, feel the air on his skin... to walk across the frigid landscape, and enter a bar shirtless and shoe-less. Local customs could kark themselves tonight, and leave him to connect on some level with the core of his being.

Drink would help, without a doubt. Sid padded over to the nearest bar counter and effected a lean, showing the barkeep all of his nice, pointed teeth. "I'll have..." He paused, catching the wary set of the man's visage, whom was like to consider him a devil of some kind; not the first time he gave that impression, "...a whisky." A decision based in its entirety on the female who'd ordered just ahead of him ([member="Fiore de Noir"]), whose movements his eyes followed because his gut could not. It was unsettling, which had its own appeal, for fears and misgivings were meant to be conquered. To be victorious over, as against an adversary, in war. The barkeep came back to him with a glass of amber, and he took it with gracious thanks, then turned around, propped himself up against the bar, and cased the crowd with fire-touched eyes.

The girl? She was given another surreptitious, yet curious glance.

 

[Mara Kellarov]

There were certainly pros and cons to Nar Shaddaa and Arkania when you compared the two. The most glaring ones being the shitshow on the Smuggler's Moon, and the blasted cold that was consistent with the latter.

And honestly, Mara would much rather brave the freezing temperatures than deal with what they had left behind.

"True, and I could certainly think of other ways to keep warm." Her eyes flickered over to Evoros, staying on the fellow Agent as a small grin began to form. "But you're right, it's certainly quieter and we've already got a healthly bit of business going on."

She had of course regaled Evoros with the story of her first little adventure on Arkania, running into one of her 'thorns' in the form of Itash. It had been fairly amusing tale to speak of, and got just equally as amusing reactions.

Mara's attention slid away as she took in the new arrivals; two women and a man. None of them arrived in the same moment, the first being a Zeltron then an Eldorai. The man had was a Togruta, the head tails gave it away immediately. All of them seemed to be vague intriguing from their appearances alone.

Her attention returned when she caught sight of the bartender as he returned to their table. Mara gave him a small smile and nod of the head, fingers immediately curling around one of the glasses and taking it. She turned to Evoros and grinned, clinking her glass against the other woman's.

"To a distinct lack of headache-inducing sit-"

Mara quickly looked in the direction Evoros was currently staring at, seeing just what exactly had made the woman mutter those last words.
"Ah chit..." Was Mara's response, eyes shifting back to Evoros as the group of men moved to the bar. "Looks like this isn't going to be as peaceful for long."

| [member="Evoros"] | [member="Lok Munin"] | [member="Vila Sayne"] | [member="Angelique Lelièvre"] | [member="Fiore de Noir"] | [member="Atasihd Zi"] |​

 

[Evoros]

“I swear, this job chases you everywhere.”

She liked to think she did a good job outrunning it, though. Keeping work separate from all the rest was an idea she firmly believed in, and as much as the Collective liked to keep agents...well, close at hand, Evoros knew they weren’t a step closer to catching up than they had been at the start of her employment.

In a way, she supposed it was lonely. But isolation wasn’t a detriment to her mind; if anything it was an advantage. In the general sense, at least. But that was a story for another time.

“When this goes south,” Yvonne said quietly as she watched the front of the bar carefully, “I say we steal a bottle or two and get out of here.” After all, one glass did not constitute drinks, and she didn’t plan on ending the night without seeing this through.

Even if she was growing more and more certain they’d be seeing it through elsewhere.

But for a few minutes, things were peaceful. Tense quiet, like it was stretched over the bar a moment from breaking, but relative quiet. Yvonne put her readiness to scarper to the side for the moment, and she and Mara talked.

Until:

Chairs scraped backwards, uncomfortably loud, and two groups of menacing figures stood one by one facing the other side. They spoke low, but Evoros caught the tail end of hostility (]you sure that’s a good idea?I would think twice about threatening us, if I were you.) Words grew louder. The packs grew closer. Until the To’gruta closed what distance remained and grabbed the other group’s frontman by the throat.

—

Evoros sighed.
“Well, chit.

| [member="Mara Kellarov"] | [member="Vila Sayne"] | [member="Vilaz Munin"] | [member="Fiore de Noir"] |
[member="Atasihd Zi"] | [member="Angelique Lelièvre"]