When Pantora's Box Was Closed (Pre-Invasion)

[Cassus Akovin]

She didn't want to admit it, but she was getting old.

Already her son was turning 10, and she couldn't help but think: has it really been a decade? She couldn't help but think of herself as that same foolhardy young woman raiding some poor bugs on a rock in the Roche Asteroid Field, hoping to score some Phrik. That was a long time ago though, before she became famous as the Relentless, or as a Merchant, or as a Mercenary, or a Bounty Hunter. Instinctively, she could feel every scar on her body, and briefly her body remembered her prosthetic wasn't her own arm, forcing her to remember just how old she was. Triam was a lot of things, and if she was being honest with herself, she never did take herself for someone who could be a mother.

Fate had other plans, she guessed. Retirement plans.

Which brings us to the planet of Pantora, a new world to her, which was visiting as part of a celebration for its recent convergence with the Coalition. She figured she could sell some stuff, and network with people, maybe get her son interested in the business while keeping him entertained by the festivities. She hoped he liked it, it was difficult sometimes getting him interested in anything other than fighting or looking like a Mandalorian. He was already upset with her for not taking him into a battle on his ninth birthday like a Mandalorian is supposed to. She's tried reminding him that he wasn't a Mando by heritage, but he would frequently remind her of Uncle [member="Preliat Mantis"], and she would quickly retort that technically they weren't family, just old friends. Then he would get nasty and say that all of her friends were old.

Boy, that last one hurt. It still hurt because it happened five minutes ago. Ouch.

Crol H'hurut chuckled a bit and said, "How's it feel Triam?" The old Zeltron jabbed at his boss, after years of being called old himself.

Shrugging it off, the trio walked through a bazaar that was still setting up for the full celebration to kick off.

Spoiler: Note

This is before the ongoing Invasion of Pantora begins, when the ORC is celebrating with Pantora on joining the Coalition.

 

[Peyton Steele]

Part of being the Underground meant she helped lead the Coalition. Well, not her, not really. She reported to people, people higher up i some of the States of the Coalition. The blonde was actually enjoying the trip to Pantora and the moon’s planet Orto Plutonia, within the Sujimis sector. She had arrived with [member="Deacon"] and [member="Servant"] in tow, and was curious as to where to go. A bit of a celebration, and seeing how well the system would integrate. But that also meant she wanted to share in the festivities, that as they were.

The bazaar was always a great place to see what a world was capable of. What their lower classes were doing, and what the merchants could provide for the world. She was not so much in spacer clothes as she was a bit more casually dressed. Leather pants, boots, easy top, jacket, hold out blaster. You know, casual. It wasn’t her formal blaster and her batons so, very casual.

Looking through the crowd, she was more interested in who was going to be seeming out of place. Who was not wanting to be here, and who was really too interested in everything. If she could spot an agent, maybe that would help, even better would be a representative of something on Pantora. She liked information, and whatever she could get would be useful for her people. And the world in question.

It would be a minute before her group crossed paths with [member="Triam Akovin"]

 

[Gray Venasir]

Ah, vacation. Finally!

Gray had come to Pantora for his long sought after vacation. In his line of work, one could rarely afford one if you wanted to make Money. Or if you had to run from either the Law enforcers, or an angry crime-boss you had pissed off. But neither Applied to Gray. He had just been busy working. It was never a shortcome of People who wanted or needed something smuggled to someplace, be it legal or illegal. And it always payed well.

But this last time, Gray had mostly been helping [member="Loreena Arenais"] as part of her crew on The Jaster's Sparrow. The jobs had payed good, it had been fun With the crew. But now, he really needed some time off. Especially since he now had enough Money to spend on the vacation, and for when he started working again. And since there wasn't anything big happening, he had informed Lori that he would be on leave for two weeks.

At that moment, he hadn't known it would be on Pantora. He had only taken his ship, and flown to a cantina. But the morning after, he had checked good Places to relax, or where Things were happening. Pantora had seemed like a good Place to og. There was apparantly going to be a celebration there, because they had recently joined the Coalition. Gray had actually been on Orto Plutonia when the negotiations were happening.

When he arrived on Pantora, he had checked in at a hotel, and went Down to the Bazaar, to check it out. There was laready forming a crowd there, even though the celebration hadn't fully started yet. At first, it was a bit too many People for Gray's taste, prefering the Company of few. But after a few drinks, Things seemed more okay. And hey, he was here to relax. Might as well be part of the happening.

 

[Cassus Akovin]

In contrast to [member="Peyton Steele"] who wore a far more normal and casual look, Triam couldn't help but look the part of a mercenary. The woman didn't leave without solid protection, as if she was always expecting a war to break out at any second. Despite this though, she did manage to limit her weaponry down to what was concealed in her Ultrachrome armor, and a specialized light foil at her hip. Although his armor was far more lowtech, Crol H'hurut also walked armored in durasteel, but her young son though appeared to be in some kind of silk cloak. His hood was down, revealing his short dirty blonde hair, and his stoic facial expressions.

"Put your hood up, Cassus." Triam said through a vocalizer in her helmet, with a voice that deeper and more graveled than her unaltered voice.

"No, I'm fine." The young boy said without looking to his mother.

"Cassus." She repeated his name.

"It's a marketplace, not a warzone." He said, his hands gesturing in front of him, and as if to prove a point he turned away from his adults to a stall selling fruit. Triam stood in the middle of the crowd looking in his direction, when Crol walked past her.

"Tha boy has a point, ya know." The old Zeltron uncharacteristically smiled on his way to the fruit stall. It would be at this time, that [member="Peyton Steele"]'s group would pass through where a frustrated Triam stood.

 

[Peyton Steele]

The moon and her world had come into the Coalition, and that was always good, but for now? It wasn’t the main concern on Peyton’s mind. Under the command of the Coalition life was going improve, the world was going to be pulled into a connection of worlds. And the celebration was lovely at the moment. The hold out was hidden under her jacket as she looked through the markets and sales.

Peyton had to look the part of not an intelligence agent. When they passed by [member="Triam Akovin"] the blonde quirked up an eyebrow. She couldn’t help but give a look over at the group, the woman with the armor and kid with an apparent hood problem. “You looking for a fight?” She asked Triam, more off the cuff and off to the side. Not that she was going to try to confront her.

Looking at fruit stand, she handled a few pieces, seeing what could be a good snack. The woman was waiting to see what was going to pop up in conversation, because that would definitely help understand where this world was going.

[member="Triam Akovin"] | [member="Gray Venasir"]