Noventa - A Star Wars Story

"Should you require my attention or confirmation further I will be allowing you access to my ship. Make yourselves known to my guards and they shall escort you to my chambers. I expect to see you once more when you have confirmed who you will be working with so that I might brief you in full," she said, crossing her palms and holding them together.

Sailee nearly laughed at the droid's fond farewell, but contained herself and kept her attention on her employer. "Understood. I'll keep you updated on the investigation." Plenty of unanswered questions, but wasn't that always the way?

"If it is that you have partners you may wish to involve, ones who will aid you in tracking down the whereabouts of your quarry by all means do so," she responded to the droid, not missing a step. Though she looked then to Sailee and gestured with an open palm in her direction, "All I require is for this woman to remain in contact. Seeing as Freelancers in these parts tend to the side of being ornery I would prefer to ensure my time is not wasted upon further trivialities and would like to remain in contact with an individual who understands the delicate affairs we each find ourselves in."

Probably fortunately for all concerned, Clementine was a little too dim to pick up on [i]subtle[/i] disrespect. He had stayed silent through the argument that led to the departure of the Ivory Pheonix contingent. It wasn't his business whether they stayed or went, he wasn't very clear on what was regularly done on these jobs -- and, again, he was a little too dim to pick up on something as low-key as [i]haughtiness.[/i] He would probably spend a lot more mad if he could tell [i]every[/i] time he was condescended to. He did offer them a quiet (for him) aside of "Bye, Kai! Bye, Lena! It was nice to meet you," as they went. No hard feelings, right?

Listening further, he was not totally sure he followed what Maguire said, but Sailee's simpler words, and context, mostly helped him figure it out.

"Excuse me, mist-tress Maguire, are you saying we need to find someone who is good at talking to people? Because I know a guy." He gives a whole-body nod, his single-piece torso chassis bending forward while his knees bend down in a bob at the same time. "Kaneesa Gee is one of the best talkers-to in the business, yes he is, mist-tress Maguire, yes he is."

[Up to GM -- want to set up a D2 thread with all 3, infodump here IC, infodump OOC...]

"As one might imagine," she said and though she spoke to Sailee the woman's attention drifted to that of the droid in their presence. Had she considered it an entity she might have waited for its input. Yet, as it were, there was now one person standing before her that required her attention and dealings. Clementine's assertion of self called for a constant reimposing.

"Specialists in our employ are not of the garden variety. This man has certainly done what he must in order to ensure that we cannot trace him. So it is that I look to those who are accustomed to such work, to ask the right questions to the right people and find the trail that my people are not adept at discovering. Should one such individual that might assist in this matter become aware to us we would be certain to make this connection so that this task may be done expediently. However, as the situation stands further recruitment may be necessary. Of course, should you wish to find a partner for yourself you know what we are offering. Should you choose to limit your crew to increase individual gains does not carry import with myself so long as the job is seen to being done."

"Until such a time as this, perhaps we might convene today's meeting and await such a time that I might brief you upon your task in full. I do, after all, hate to repeat myself if it is not necessary. What say you?"

Sailee slapped her forehead at the childish display. [i]Amateurs.[/i]

"Well, Ms. Maguire. When it comes to ambush tactics, B&E, nonlethal combat and recovery? I have you covered. But what I'm not is a tracker. So unless your intel's great or it's in the big guy's specs, we're one body short of a crew for this job."

Guards were a unsteadied by the flagrant disregard, the woman in black flexed her hands imperceptibly at the flagrant disrespect. Though the cold gaze followed the crew of the Ivory Phoenix followed them out the woman's raised hand gave pause and allowed them to depart of their own accord. They would learn to work with their employers or they would not, there were plenty of other bounty hunters in the galaxy who could be offered the same job for much less.

Sailee's comment was ignored. It was obvious the cat was more into the ladies tits then her job, and Kai didnt have time for anyone who couldnt see how much their potential employer was hiding.

Miss Macquire wanted cloak and dagger, and while she was paying well, she wasnt paying that well. Until the woman could dress like a business woman and not a harlot, he wasnt interested.

/exit unless stopped.

Lena shrugged. "Snooty snarky remarks are not professional. This might be enough faith for you, but not enough for me." She glanced back. "If groveling is the desired trait here, well. Thanks but no thanks." She typed a few things on her datapad. "My contact details in case you want a professional and experienced crew. I'd say nice meeting you, but you know. The bit about groveling."

She joined Kai as he was leaving. While she'd prefer the credits, Jarhead was right. They all took enough flak in their lifetimes. No more.

Sailee shook her head. She hated doing this, but...

"Sit down, kid," she said, voice brooking no argument. She never liked using her mom voice, but it certainly had its uses.

"I've been in this field since before [i]some people[/i] in this conversation were born. This is standard asset recovery. You two have already negotiated double the take of the rest of us combined," she gestures between herself and Clementine, "without us even seeing this crew of yours. Ain't nobody batting an eye. That's called faith. I [i]also[/i] have faith that we'll get the doss' on the mark once we take the job, 'cuz only an idiot would hand that over to someone who ain't taken the bounty yet. You have all the answers you need and then some. This is as straightforward as you can ask in this field. So just sit down and drop the posturing. You ain't impressing anyone."

"Well." Kai replied with a shack of his head. "I believe our business here is done."

"Was distinctly interesting to chat with you." With that, he turned and began to make his exit. "Coming Lena?"

"I do not believe I have ever had the [i]displeasure[/i] of working with such haughty [i]freelancers[/i] before, certainly if this is the attitude to which you bring to all of your negotiations I am not surprised you came running at the first sign of work. Certainly work for you is not so easy to come by. Should you wish you reassess your position and remember that in this instance I am to be your employer perhaps we might continue."

"Until such a time I will not be rushed by the likes of [i]you[/i]," she said sternly. "It is not I that is unfamiliar with your trade."

"I am certain, should you not correct this behavior, there are others willing to take upon the work in your stead," she looked to Sailee for this point. One who, at the very least, had proper credentials prepared that she and her people might peruse through. Something which the crew of the Phoenix did not nor the name great enough to carry the weight the woman perceived them to be throwing around as if it would get them somewhere.

Lena frowned, once again. "I [i]assume[/i]" she stressed the word "we will get exact details of this emplyee of yours for identification, past habits, haunts, known affiliations, as well as necessary information to identify the [i]asset[/i]."

She turned towards the catwoman. "We're a group of four. If we work together, that would be a split of 6." She glanced towards the robot. More muscle can't hurt.

The cathar nodded, then looked to the Ivory Phoenix pair. "Y'all are repping a crew. Begs the question. If we're gonna work together, how many cuts're y'all calling?" Hopefully, those two wouldn't be childish enough to say, 'if.'

"This man will not be easy to find, nor will he be easy to take in as he is a trained fighter. I am prepared to offer a sum of 13,000 credits for his return," she looks to Sailee, "this will be regardless of guild affiliations. However, should you prove to be competent in your task then I shall remember you should other work arise. You stand to make a powerful friend and a fair sum of credits. Do not turn it away."

Now there was a head turner. This Catherine was quite the sight, and Sailee was happy enough to sit back and listen while these Ivory Phoenix folks stumbled over their words. A chance to learn a thing or two about who she was dealing with, without the risk. And darling Clementine raised a good question, too.

[quote="Honorordeath"]"You have been summoned here today because there is business upon this planet that I need to be tended to. I would hear, in detail, what you each find yourselves capable of doing and.." she looked then to Sailee, "determining based on your past what I might be able to trust you to do. I will not claim this will be a simple process but trust me when I say that working for me will prove the most fruitful endeavor you can certainly find upon this planet."[/quote]

Clementine, somewhere deep in his processors, began to wonder if perhaps he's in the wrong place, especially as the talk started to emphasize the [i]hunting[/i] part of the advertisement, and things got tense between the potential employer and his fellow fortune-seekers. Literal-minded but self-conscious, Clementine spent most of the exchange muttering his specifications [i]in detail,[/i] which involves a lot of technical jargon about various lifting metrics and stress tolerances. Long story short, Clementine is very strong, can clobber people real good, can lift lots of stuff, and take a beating.

[quote]"The task I offer is simple, hunt down this man and retrieve him for me. Bring him back, alive, and you will be more than adequately compensated for your effort and time."[/quote]

Revealing some of the well-buried canniness that decades of rubbing shoulders with the criminal element had given him, Clementine spoke up with a very important question: "Pardon me, please, miss-tress Maguire, but ah how many credits is that, exactly?"

"I told you to trust that the reward would be better than anything you might get from this planet, certainly you need no greater details than spending but a moment upon it to offer that level of trust. We digress, however, and the task at hand is to find a man that once went by the name of Claxxon. A former associate and employee of mine that has made clear his severance is a permanent one by removing from my possession a considerable asset without so much as a word. All in the middle of a job that they had been sent on that because of their failure to complete cost me severely."

"The task I offer is simple, hunt down this man and retrieve him for me. Bring him back, alive, and you will be more than adequately compensated for your effort and time."

"Only when someone says trust me without giving us any details." Kai offered with a shake of his head. "As I said though, I didn't mean to offend, I just felt the need to be clear, I find it important in these kind of dealings. You have my apologies if I offended you Lady Macguire." It was likely better if he hadn't spoken, but it was too late to turn back now.

Lena sighed inwardly. "We like clarity. We like being thorough." She glanced back at Kai. "It would be helpful if you told us what the job is exactly though."