[D1 EA] Phoenix Incoming

[Honorordeath]

Looking to those gathered the woman at the center spoke quickly and with a commanding tone, "Remain still."

Stepping forward she approached Lena first, looking the woman over from head to toe and appraising what it was she saw with a cold glare. Then, from where she stood, she did the same to Kai, to Sailee, and then finally the droid.

"Who do you each represent, and to which of you does the droid belong?" she asked, her voice holding a naturally stern tone.

[CLL-MT9]

“I do not belong to any of them,” said Clementine, responding unusually swiftly. “I am here for my self.” He articulated that last word as two, although probably that was just an oddity of his vocoder and not a philosophical statement. It seems like a pretty matter-of-fact statement, not loaded with any emotion (or droid equivalent), other than the speed with which Clementine produced it.

[Honorordeath]

The woman raised her right hand, extended her first two fingers and without pause two of the armored guards from either side of Clementine stepped forward and each stood right beside the droid. Turning and facing into the room they looked to the door that was yet closed behind the woman but their attention was on the droid. Their carrying out of the orders was swift and without nonsense.

"The droid represents itself, and so it will be held responsible for any violations that my endanger the safety of my charge. This truth will hold for the rest of you. Now, the others, I remind the question to answer is who you represent," she said, her tone even.

[Sailee]

Damned word games. Alright, whatever.

Sailee pulled out her comm, and transmitted her credentials. "I'm with the hunters' guild." Thankfully, she'd kept her license up-to-date, even if explicitly repping the guild wasn't how things were normally done.

All the while, she counts guards. This situation has the potential to get real bad, real fast.

[Lena Arcturus]

"We're from the Ivory Phoenix." Lena gestured at Kai. And slapped his butt. "Freelance ship."

[Honorordeath]

"We will verify your history," she said as she looked to Sailee, giving a wave of her hand toward one of the camera's in this opening room. Then her attention went to the pair from the Ivory Phoenix, her gaze uninterested with the display, "Freelancers. We will seek information about your ship and crew as well. You need not speak further."

Turning from them the woman walked to the door that would open toward the inner ship. From there she brought a hand to a console and leaned in slightly. Speaking something softly before turning back toward the group and lowering her head. Within a moment the blast door flew open and it revealed a woman, white of hair, dressed in a long white dress standing in the opening.

Stepping through this woman began, "My name is Catherine Maguire," she said, her voice was confident and resounded with the listener to attract their attention.

"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."

[Lena Arcturus]

Lena frowned slightly. "The Ivory Phoenix has a full crew, is space capable, and experienced in bounty hunting and all of its aspects. Information gathering and combat, among others." She straightened, and glanced towards Kai, waiting for him to add something.

Catherine Macguire... was that one familiar? She wasn't sure.

[Kai Wryssald]

Trouble, this ladies name was trouble. She leaked it out of her pours, like most people sweat, and honestly he felt like they should probably leave at this moment. His lips curled into a frown as well, matching Lena's for once, it wasn't a expression his face was terribly used to. "What we aren't though, is assassins." Kai added after a moment. "No offense intended, but the way you asked what we were capable of doing, made me feel the need to clarify."

[Honorordeath]

"Do you always insinuate what the job you are going to be offered is before you are given it?" she asked without missing a step. "Had I needed an assassin I would have hired one. No, instead I sent out a call for bounty hunters. Bounty hunters track down those with a price on their head and return them to the one who put out the request, no? Or have I completely mistaken what it is your profession is known for doing."

[Lena Arcturus]

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."

[Kai Wryssald]

"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.

[Honorordeath]

"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."

[CLL-MT9]

"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."

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 hunting 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 in detail, 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.

"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."

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?"

[Sailee]

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.

[Honorordeath]

"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."

[Sailee]

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.'

[Lena Arcturus]

Lena frowned, once again. "I assume" 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 asset."

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.

[Honorordeath]

"I do not believe I have ever had the displeasure of working with such haughty freelancers 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 you," 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.

[Kai Wryssald]

"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?"

[Sailee]

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 some people 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 also 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."