Private When No One's Watching

[Astra Sadow]

Humbarine. Things had not gone according to plan on Humbarine. Where had those obtuse Mandalorians come from? Why did she pay so many criminal outfits and information brokers if they couldn't be arsed to tell her a bunch of self-righteous, beskar-wearing thugs were going to show up on the planet she was on and attempt to conquer it? Astra hated when she was forced to reveal even the scarcest of knowledge about the Force. No one needed to know that. It was leverage for when someone had to Gungan-fool idea to try killing her instead of giving her what she wanted. And when that happened there weren't survivors for it to matter.

Could have been worse. Could have gotten pulled into that maelstrom of telepathic and elemental fervor they called a 'Storm.' Dangerous game that. Your mind jacked into a collective. Who knew what dark secret might get caught in someone else's mind. Or thought.

Astra snorted at the humor of remembering her time on Humbarine. The Empress Srina Talon herself had tried making full use of that meeting of the minds. Thought to plant a mind worm in their heads. Woman hadn't gotten to her station in life letting a good opportunity pass her by. No harm, no foul. Astra would have done the same if she'd wanted to deal with the headaches that came having the spotlight blistering your skin wherever you went. As Empress what did Srina have to worry about whether anyone noticed or cared?

Red jacket hung up, Astra leaned back against the bar with a drink in one hand. A smile curled the corners of her lips upward. Red glareshades kept the writhing bodies from noticing the way her eyes watched their every move. The way the dancers undulated and swayed. The way lovers touched one another's hands and faces. Rival took turning glowering at one another across the room. And the assassin in the corner booth that'd begun to extract themselves from the scene of a crime; one of the wait staff would eventually notice their 'sleepy' customer wasn't ever going to wake.

The music was loud enough to shatter a person's soul and that was just the way Astra liked it. When she finished her drink, she might slip into the crowd in search of someone to pass the time with. A little company went a long way swallowed by the night.

Mercy​

 

[Mercy]

MERCY

EMPRESS | WARLORD | STAR-ARM

Location: NIGHTCLUB SCENE | Tags: Astra Sadow​

.

She had realized once she recovered from Humbarine she hadn't gone for a drink and cut loose in a while.

The last time was... way too long ago.

The plan had been to go for drinks and get shit faced with Arris Windrun . Somehow that had turned into Arris disappearing, Srina Talon appearing and breaking her nose, Quinn Varanin showing up with a date (good for her) and it ended with Mercy escorting Srina out after her blood had affected her badly.

So in truth Mercy hadn't had a proper stiff drink to get sloshed without worries in far too long.

It took a while to get her feet back into her, but eventually she managed it. She wore one of her favorite jackets (another one fixed up by Eurydice , what a sweetheart) with her infamous shades on her nose. Mercy didn't quite look like the Empress of the Core.

Because she didn't want the baggage of the Empress of the Core following her into this nightclub slash dive bar.

She dropped herself on one of the stools (it groaned) next to Astra and flagged the barkeep for a drink. It was hard to avoid or ignore a mountain of a woman that towered over everyone even while sitting down.

"Corellia Sunshine, sweetheart, and keep them coming." Mercy drawled while dropping a credit chit on the table.

Mercy was planning to get absolutely shit-faced tonight.

.

ERASE THE PAST

 

[Astra Sadow]

"No Jutrand Bombs or Korriban Crush?" Astra quipped with a large smirk plastered across her lips. She hadn't turned her head to look over at Mercy just yet. Maybe the Mountain wanted to fly solo. Then again, the question was whether Astra was in the mood to care what someone else wanted.

She reached back to retrieve her own glass without turning around. "Sacorrian Whiskey." A careful roll of her wrist had the deep, golden liquid remain still even as its vessel was in motion. "Agri-worlds are good for more than just food." Sometimes it helped to not burn down an entire world or annihilate its ecosystem. Appealing to the value of keeping servants alive wouldn't mean much, but someone had to grow, harvest, and process organic material into drink.

"Crowd's lively tonight. Private dancers don't disappoint." What did a woman like Mercy do in a place like this? Astra didn't want to make any assumptions about the woman based on how she acted on the battlefield. When blood was being poured freely on the ground people often behaved differently.

 

[Mercy]

Astra Sadow

"No Jutrand Bombs or Korriban Crush?" Astra quipped with a large smirk plastered across her lips. She hadn't turned her head to look over at @Mercy just yet. Maybe the Mountain wanted to fly solo. Then again, the question was whether Astra was in the mood to care what someone else wanted.

"The Sith are good at a whole lotta things..." Mercy drawled as she accepted her glass and shifted slightly to catch the shape of Astra in the corner of her eye.

"But they will never be able to trump Corellia's whiskey distilleries." Maybe that was the reason she wasn't pushing hard to invade the world. Even though something told her that Arris Windrun was chomping at the bit. And it was right around the corner too.

"Sacorrian Whiskey."

Eyes flicked down to Astra's glass and then she shrugged. Without further comment her hand moved to pluck the glass out of the woman's hand, so she could take a sipping taste herself. Her eyes holding Astra's while doing the tasting. Only after swallowing did Mercy smile and offer the glass back to her again.

"Tasty. But I prefer my Sunshine."

It seemed that Sadow knew her and wasn't afraid, since her heart beat didn't race out of her chest at the approach or proximity.

"Crowd's lively tonight. Private dancers don't disappoint."

"You talk to me like you know me." Mercy drawled finally, taking note of the final comment. "So you got me at an advantage. Should I know you in turn, sweetheart?"

 

[Astra Sadow]

Astra's brow didn't draw down or the woman's lips sour as Mercy shameless stole the drink from a stranger to sample it. If anything, the woman simply watched the woman savor it. A soft chuckle followed as she took the glass back and had a taste for herself now. Woman liked her Corellian whiskey. Good to know. Obviously, Astra would need to acquire some of the finest in case of a special occasion or to assuage any ire raised -- deservedly or otherwise.

"We're here to have fun. To indulge in things we can't seize everywhere else we go. To excess," Astra lifted her glass as if in a toast. Mercy wasn't there to kill people. Plenty of people out there to kill. Not so many places to drink, dance, watch sensual bodies move, and perhaps find something more intimate to help pass the time. Success in their fields of expertise was all well and good, but the mind needed a change of pace now and then to keep it engaged.

"And what dredges of society lacks the intelligence to recognize someone as formidable and inescapable as yourself? I'd pity them, if I cared about such forgettable insects." Astra chuckled to herself. "I'm Astra. Chairwoman of an interstellar enterprise invested in fulfilling your every desire. Ships. People. Corellian whiskey." A brief pause allowed a smile. "Anything and everything. No sales pitch. Just facts. Here," she gestured to the crowd of people with the glass in her hand, "we're just two women looking to have a good time." They could talk numbers another time, assuming Mercy had the patience for it. If anything, hearing what Mercy wanted or desired would be tantamount to an order on its own. That was the job of a good Corpo was it not? Anticipating what the customer wanted and having it in stock when they needed it most.

Mercy​

 

[Mercy]

Astra Sadow

Mercy chuckled when Astra laid it down thick, but it was not unappreciative in the slightest. She was a rare one. Someone who knew when her ego was being stroked, absolutely adored it, but never let it get to her head enough to influence her. The reason for this was simple, of course. She already had an ego the size of a Galaxy or two.

You couldn't over-inflate something that had already collapsed into a black hole and created a new beginning through its annihilation.

"Oh, sweetheart, you are bold." Mercy drawled finally with a lazy smirk. "Lucky for you I enjoy a gorgeous woman who grasps." She took another sip from her own glass with a warm mm.

Letting her eyes drift to the crowd, following Astra's gesture.

"You are right... after the absolute shit show of Humbarine, I realized I was in need of a stiff drink... to start with." But Astra's words then drew Mercy back in again. Which was exactly their purpose. Sadow, at her heart, was a showwoman. Someone who was selling, even when she was on a night out, because she didn't need a sales pitch.

All Sadow needed was herself.

What sort of soul did you need to be to come face-to-face with a nightmare and immediately decide to try and coax it into your corner?

Mercy respected that kind of brass.

"Well met, Astra with the Interstellar Enterprise." Teasing her lightly as her eyes flicked her up and down. "I have always made sure my business is my pleasure. You know what they say, make sure you love your job and you won't work a day in your life, hm?"

She left aside the fact that she hated being the Empress.

That little nugget wouldn't be helpful to anyone tonight.

 

[Astra Sadow]

Yes, Humbarine. Quite the show everyone put on. Destruction for everyone. And while on one hand it meant Humbarine required more Corporate services in order to recover there was such a thing as throwing good money after bad, or not recouping your expenses when it came to reconstruction. Fortunately, Humbarine managed to hang in there by virtue of it being a much more prosperous world than the battered central district.

Perhaps, under different circumstances, Astra might make a humble suggestion... to not invite memory-hungry giant reptiles to literally trample half a metropolis. If it weren't for the Undercity there might have been few Imperials and criminals left for her to exploit.

"I couldn't agree more." Being a Corporate Overlord wasn't so bad. She had countless aides, assistants, secretaries, and managers to see to all the toil needed to keep things operational. "Delegate affairs to able minded bodies. If necessary, remind them of the importance of their job by making examples of those lacking commitment." Astra didn't kill everyone that failed her. Though she did kill those that failed her so completely as to sicken her at their sight. "And," Astra leaned in Mercy's direction with a smile, "reward those that embrace it."

"You reward yourself for putting up with the rest of the galaxy, don't you? What comes after a stiff drink?" The title of Empress could turn someone into a husk as quickly as any curse. Everyone could come to expect you to fix all woes. Same could be said of a CEO, really, if you let your direct reports flounder about and dump every issue in your lap. What did a woman like Mercy need to recover from all those hungry and ravenous eyes turned up toward her? Something just for herself.

Mercy​