OOC:

21 Hearts


Assume we're at the front and there's a large patio type area connected to a indoor dance hall there.

Snipes slowly docked Queen Tetra's Revenge to his recent acquisition, the overbearing casino ship 21 Hearts. There was no going back now, there was a party to attend to. Snipes pulled himself out of the pilots seat, not especially thrilled about letting whatever mongoloid child Visha pawned off on him take his place. He pulled his long blue coat off the back of the chair, slipping his arms through it.

The great weight of it finally settled on him, it almost touched the floor, ending at the last minute around his ankles. He'd had it specially made for this event, it was comfortable, made to fit him, and he thought it was brilliant looking, the cuffs turned back and sewed in place with wonderful gold embroidery around the brass buttons, both on the cuffs and the front. It fit like a glove. The gray vest he wasn't so enthused about, but Visha had been rather insistent he wore the colors of the Corellian Hound's crew. Which of course meant gray pants too; he'd refused to budge on the black sash however.

"Ey, Boss'an, time'a git red-ay," It was Kelevra, he was wearing a tuxedo that made him look like a rather scruffy butler. The monocle didn't help.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm ready." Snipes said, pulling a cigarette out of his jacket and lighting it, closing the zippo with a flourish.

"Well, le's git a move on, eh?"

Snipes answer by striding forward, through his ship towards the airlock. He was joined by the ruffian with red and black hair. Snipes almost introduced his face to his palm. The whelp had torn the sleeves off his tuxedo. The sleeves were gone! Snipes was less the pleased, but far too exasperated to say anything. His ears had rows of piercings as well, not to mention the sunglasses made him look delinquent enough. Then again, he was a delinquent.

"Grea', da shi'ead iss commin' ta," Kelevra grumbled to himself.

"What's up?" Moelik Hond asked; likely pretending he wasn't the source of irritation.

"No class, no class whatsoever." Snipes said, shaking his head.

Before anyone could speak he motioned for them to follow him and lead the way into the larger ship. It was a nice ship, and it had taken awhile to get all the bloodstains out of it. He walked through the halls, winding this way and that, once again lost on his own ship. Finally, with some help from Gregory Kelevra, they found the hall. Snipes had actually been enjoying being lost; he was a little apprehensive of the Ball. Just a little. He also didn't know the ship anywhere near well enough, it was a pretty ship. The halls were all wood and brass, the floor was carpeted, he really was growing fond of the overly luxurious behemoth.

So he stood in front of the great, large door for a few seconds. Then the guy manning the door waved his hand infront of Snipes face; forcing him to grumble an affirmative. Wonderful.

Snipes irritation melted away as he stepped into the hall. It was, for lack of a better word, brilliant. A high ceiling, row after row of chandeliers, an arched roof and columns, a beautiful wooden dance floor, set two steps lower than the floor where all the tables sat around the room, on the other sides of the columns. The other end of the hall held the buffet table and the bar. The floor was filled with well dressed couples dancing, swirling about quite well, the DJ was currently playing a rather slow song of some sort. He recognized more than a few faces, in uniforms and out. A grin was wide across his face.

He turned to Kelevra, his gray speckled hair slicked back, the silly monocle stuck in his eye and the tuxedo, he really did look like some old butler, the thick cigarra should of ruined it, but for some reason only added to the impression. Snipes turned his eyes to his other side. Moelik had an unfiltered cigarette hanging out of his mouth, but he still managed to look rather happy. Snipes decided he wasn't going to bother the kid tonight. Snipes was forced to rationalize the reason he tore the arms off his tuxedo, he wanted all the pretty girls to ask about the dark purple, almost black, tribal tattoos winding around both his upper arms. Boys will be boys. He'd at least washed himself first, Snipes would have liked to see him without the sunglasses too; but that he could understand. It mystified him still why the boy had decided to color the tips of his hair red though, one would think he hated the color the way he covered his eyes all the time.

"Well, chaps, I shall see you in a bit, I have guests to attend to; Moelik, try and stay out of trouble." Snipes winked and stepped down into the dance hall and began to make himself fade away into the crowd. Kelevra, of course, would have none of it and followed Snipes; having appointed himself Snipes bodyguard. Snipes dealt with it.

He wound away, making his way through the crowd, any fool could guess where he was going. Straight to the bar. They, as usual, had a pretty bartender there. Also the obligatory line. Snipes stared into her big blue eyes as he made his order, she was quick and professional, so he tipped well and left. She'd have her fill of drunk servicemen hitting on her all night anyway and Snipes couldn't really be called a service member anymore.

He mingled a little, but most of the guests he cared about hadn't arrived yet, as such he decided to get some air. There wasn't a single Imperial Ball he'd been involved in that didn't leave some way for people to catch some air, the Casino Ship was no different. At the end opposite the one they'd come in there was a large door that lead outside. Snipes went through it and into the open air, he took himself to the bow of the vessel, across the large patio, if that was the right term, to the railing there and leaned on it. He stared out into the endless ocean, the sun only a little above the horizon, it would be bidding them farewell soon. The salt breeze whip across Snipes from the right and he breathed deeply in, he enjoyed the salt air and even at the top of the enormous ship he could taste it. He's always enjoyed oceans, something about them felt revitalizing and strengthening.

He looked over his shoulder, Kelevra was standing a few paces back, staring into the pool set into the middle of the outdoor area. Snipes chuckled, the man likely couldn't figure out why there was a pool up here when a vast ocean was just below them. Snipes had to admit, something about it bothered him too. He pulled out another cigarette and lit it; once he had finished it he'd go back inside and see if he could find Aeos, no doubt hiding out somewhere.

Tinker had seen a few of these huge ships before, but never actually had the opportunity to be on one. She could see from where she was at the bar, the entire dance floor and beyond to the outdoor patio area. Should check that out later, bet the view is outstanding.

From the bar she glanced back at Rutian who seemed to be somewhat fidgety near the dance floor, but overall extremely happy not to have to be in physical contact with Cadie for the moment. She just shook her head and took another long drag off her cigar, she had brought three just in case the night passed slowly. She also had a very small blaster hidden on her, somewhere, just in case.

Cadie had to look everywhere to find a dress for this little shindig. She settled on a green number that matched her eyes, straight, with a very high slit. The part that Cadie found the most amusing was that her 'date' couldn't care less. He just seemed to hate women, with more of a passion than she could have imagined. Wonder why? Shrugging the thought she snapped back to the present and her mistake at the bar.

Looking next to her at the rather large barabel she had mistaken for a wall just a minute ago, Tink smirked. “So Alater, huh?” She waited for him to turn towards her before continuing. “What exactly do you do on security detail at one of these...functions?”

Taking his cigar out of his mouth he seemed to shrug. “Just make sure everyone behaves themselves. You just let me know if your blue friend over there gives you any problems.”

“Rutian? Oh I'm sure I can handle myself, big fella'. But thanks for the offer.” She smiled a second before turning to the bar and ordering a corellian whiskey. She glanced back over at her 'date', before turning back to the bartender. “Wait, make that a double.”

Cadie turned around to be face to face with a sour looking Rutian. “Do you females always get drunk when a bar is present?”

Cadie looked up at him and blinked with the glass to her lips, she shrugged as she down the glass in a large gulp.

“Ah, we get drunker when we don't have to pay for ourselves. But don't worry Rutian, us 'females' are even better dancers when we're drunk than sober. Don't believe me? Just wait, I'll show you.”

She leaned back on the bar and put her cigar back in her mouth. “Just let me spend some more time here with my new friend 'the bartender', I should be a dancing fool in a few more rounds.” She spoke muffled, with the cigar in her mouth.

Alater just looked amused by the whole situation. Rutian on the other hand looked horrified and walked off muttering something about humans and females, and some words Cadie didn't recognize.

She shrugged and looked over at Alater. “Was it something I said?”

“Wow, that is one big ship.” Havock was looking out of the viewport of Jaenna's ship at the 21 Hearts from the co-pilots chair. The other RAIDERS were going to meet the two of them at the Imperial Ball and Jae insisted on flying in her ship, and piloting it herself. “You know I'm really good at docking ships.”

Hav looked over at Jae, who was smirking and glaring at her with a very evil stare at the same time. “Your not flying my ship, Hav.”

“Bah, your no fun.” Havock swatted at the air in Jae's direction, she had a huge smile on her face. She loved the playful banter her and Jae shared. And she was just plain in a good mood for once, this was a night of fun and Hav could use some fun.

They docked the ship and walked through the beautifully decorated hallways until they reached the main Ballroom. The room was amazing, at least to Havock. She had never seen anything quite like it, which wasn't a surprise considering her upbringing. First the orphanage then living with a gang on Corellia, they didn't exactly have any functions like this.

Jae looked to be in awe of the scene before them as well, but she was much better at hiding it then Hav was. “Do you see anyone from RAIDERS, yet?” She had started to stand on her tip-toes to look over the multitude of bodies in the room for anyone from their squad.

Hav scanned the crowd, but couldn't see anyone they were looking for just yet. “Nope, come on lets head towards the bar. I'm sure we will find them soon.”

Just then she caught sight of the outdoor patio area beyond the main ballroom. “Oh no.” Jae stopped and looked at Hav with a puzzled look. “What?”

Smirking, Hav pointed. “Open access to water, we're going to have to keep an eye on Grahim tonight.” She managed to look genuinely worried for about two seconds before they both busted out laughing.

Sitting at the bar the two of them had a surprisingly good view of the entire ballroom. The majority of the people who had arrived were dancing, there were a few others sitting at the bar. A red head and a barabel were sitting near them smoking cigars. Yuck, cigars? Havock shook her head, there were things she would smoke in this galaxy but never cigars.

Just then she heard Jae squeal, which literally made her jump it was so unexpected. Jae shot off running towards an unsuspecting Ron who had just arrived. Havock grabbed her unfinished drink and headed over to greet their SL.

She suddenly found her self lost in though staring at the two of them for some reason. So lost in thought she ran smack into a Mon Calamari in a pilots uniform, if her drink had been any fuller it would have spilled. Hav looked sheepishly at the man and muttered, “sorry”, to which he only made a 'humph' sound. Chewing on her lip she made her way over to Ron and Jae, trying not to cause any more collisions on the way.

Hunter smirked slightly as he looked around the ballroom. He saw quite a few people he knew personally and quite a few of the recruits that had passed through the Naval Academy recently. He wasn’t aware that he was standing still until he heard someone from behind him clear their throat. Turning quickly, he apologized and stepped out of the doorway.

Well. I think it’s about time for me to join the party.

Smoothing out some ruffles in his shirt, he walked down the steps. It had taken him a little while to figure out what he was going to wear; stuck between a tuxedo, which he hated, and his casual suit. In the end, he opted for the suit, mainly because it was really comfortable, but still looked nice and expensive. Looking up, he studied the others in front of him. Most wore suits that were similar to his, drawing a breath of relief from Hunter. Stepping over to the side, he leaned against the wall for a moment and tried to figure out what he was going to do next.

I could always go outside, but that’s all the way on the other end of the room. Or I could strike up a conversation with someone I know. The question is, where do I find someone I know. The ones I saw earlier have already moved on and it'd be a hassle to track them down.

Mentally shrugging, Hunter walked over to the bar to order something.

“Surprise me. I really don’t care what you give me.” Hunter said, ordering his drink.

Turning in his seat, he leaned back and started looking around for someone he knew. After a few moments, he received a tap on the back that signaled that his drink was ready. Grabbing it, he downed it in one gulp.

“That should be enough for the moment.” he murmured to himself.

Stepping away from the bar, he started making his was towards the other end of the room, which was opened up fully. Even from here, he could smell the salty sting of the seawater. Quickening his pace, he weaved in and out of the dancing partners on the dance floor in an effort to get outside sooner. Emerging from the crowd, he walked out the room and onto the deck that overlooked the moonlit sea.

It is beautiful.

He was appreciative of most of the thing nature had to offer and this was one of the best. He grinned as a particularly large wave crashed against the ship and a spray of seawater blasted over the edge of the ship, wetting the group of people standing on the deck. Most yelped and ran back inside, obviously to go and try to get a bit drier while a few, like Hunter, actually seemed to enjoy it. He wasn’t really that wet, just a little damp. It was refreshing actually, in his opinion. Leaning against the rail, he looked out across the dark waters.

Sighing to himself, Kanderin did up his bowtie for what felt like the five hundredth time. He hated the fact that he had to wear a suit, but he inevitably had no choice. It was that or his uniform, and the latter wasn't in it's best shape after his last few assignments. He still hadn't cleaned the sick off of it, for one.

Finally happy that it was straight, he took a step away from the mirror and patted down his shirt and trousers. In his opinion he looked stupid, the belt supporting his lower half a different colour to the rest of him and the jacket about a size too big.

"To hell with it" He sighed, taking his jacket off and throwing it over his shoulder. The ball would be boring anyway, they always were.

With that he began his walk through the ship's hallways back to the hanger, eager to change back into clothes he was more comfortable in.

"Sir, the ball is the other direction"

Glancing around, he just caught glimpse of the giant man with his hand on his shoulder before it forcibly spun him around and back in the direction he came.

"Im aware" He responded, somewhat agitated at the treatment. "I'm going back to my ship, I've changed my mind"

"I'm sorry sir, but you wont be able to return for several hours. Just have a drink or two, we'll come and get you when you can come through here"

Kanderin leaned to one side, attempting to look around the bulky man and whatever he was hiding. There was a single doorway with a lot of activity inside it, but before he could distinguish anything another two men came out and blocked his path, just as large as the first.

"What the hell are you guys doing in there?"

Three pairs of hands reached out this time, all shoving him back towards the ball. "Just enjoy yourself sir"

Deciding that attempting to barge them would be futile, he did what they asked and walked back around the corner. Pausing out of their sight, he took the opportunity to flip them the bird before sprinting the rest of the route giggling to himself.

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The two large door's to the main room were open already, two waiters holding each with their backs and offering wine glasses to the people coming in. Kanderin sighed to himself, before throwing his jacket back on and taking the glass from the closest waiter as if it contained poison.
Too formal.


Inside, he had to admit, thing's got better. The chandeliers caught his attention, the light from the dance floor making them twinkle against the room. The dance floor, unusual considering the time of the night, was already full, couples embraced in dance as if they were glued together.

That was when he noticed Helena, surrounded by several other member's of the platoon.

The group started to form around her, almost suffocating her with questions of where she’d disappeared off to and what she had been up to. All Helena did was shoo them away, she definitely wasn’t in the mood for talking, not at this point in the evening anyway. All she wanted was a quiet drink until she saw Kanderin. As soon as the crowd moved away so her eyes could dart around the room, she spotted Kand just entering the through the entrance. A quick wave sent him walking over briskly. He was truly looking dashing in his suit, it wasn’t often she saw him in one and at the last ball she hardly saw him at all what with all the alcohol she consumed.

“Kand! It’s so lovely to see you” she smiled, getting up and walking into his open arms.

“It’s lovely to see you Kid” he smiled, embracing her in his arms slightly.

“Careful, my stomach still hurts a tad. Silly virus” she giggled as he ruffled her hair.

Without any more words said, she took him by the hand and took him over to the dance floor, hoping he would dance with her. Not that he had the chance of course. The music seemed to vary in tempo, starting off soft and slow and then moving to upped beat type of sound. Helena laughed as Kanderin was trying to find his bearings on the dance moves. The room looked amazing as Helena twirled around Kand’s finger. The decorations Snipes had put up were to taste, she had to give him a complement about that when they next met.

“Everything been alright in Wraith then?” She smiled, twirling once more.

“From what I know none of them have died in your absence Hel, I made sure of that”

Kand’s face was a picture, tongue poking out from his lips as a sign of concentration and his eyes narrowed on his feet as if he was hoping they’d move the way he wanted them to.

“Come here and just follow my lead. Can’t go wrong there” she giggled.

She placed one of his arms on her hip and then one held in her hand elegantly. Helena moved in a small circle, causing Kand to be a bit dizzy by the end of the dance bit it did look as if he was enjoying himself.

Despite standing just inside the docking hatch of the Casino-ship 21 Hearts, Ibram still wasn’t sure if he actually wanted to be there.

Having returned warn out and exhausted from a particularly gruelling briefing session with the Wing Commander, Ibram had found the promotional invitation waiting for him in his personal holomail-box. Without properly thinking about it, he changed into the smartest clothes he owned short of formal dress wear, and rushed out of the door to catch the next specially chartered shuttle for the special event.

Half an hour later, he was having second thoughts. Since returning from the hectic events during Operation Indigo, the entire squadron had been allowed a week’s leave to rest and recuperate. Ibram however had kept himself busy, despite pleas to the contrary from his friends.

He had made the usual excuses of course, trappings of command, important errands, holding the fort... but everyone knew he was just saying these things to hide the real reason, even if they were too polite to mention it.

Mira...

He didn’t expect to be over her this soon. After all, it had taken him months to get over Marisa, and the circumstances weren’t too dissimilar. Barely 24 hours after returning home to the Atrus, Ibram had  woken up to find Mira & her things gone. All that was left was a message and an official retirement notice. There was even the paperwork from administration, proof that she had been planning this for a while.

I can’t stay here any longer. I’m sorry. It’s not you.

Mira

At least he hadn’t cried this time, although it wasn’t like she had actually died. He just probably wasn’t going to see her ever again...

Shaking himself out of his revere, he followed the steady stream of guests in the main hall of the Hearts. He had never been on a ship like this before. The economy on Yaga Minor couldn’t really support one, and none of the wealthier denizens bothered to privately own one. He had to admit, he was quietly impressed. The main hall possessed a high ceiling with arched roof and columns, there was a dance floor, and a big set of doors leading to an outside patio. The other end of the hall held the buffet table and the bar.

He took a few moments to take in the scenery around him. From the snippets of conversation he had picked up on the ride over, the 21 Hearts had recently come under new management. Some ex-army Seargent turned businessmen/rogue known as ‘Snipes’ had picked up the place and turned into a public venue for VE personal. Ibram didn’t know the man, although he had heard of him. He didn’t want to speculate how exactly the ship was acquired. He could have sworn he saw a blood stain on the way in...

I need a drink, he thought to himself.

He made his way slowly to the bar. Recognising and, where appropriate, nodding to people he know. He saw Hunter and Slasher from Nazgul squadron, stopping briefly to engage the former in some small talk. Despite trying their best to remain inconspicuous, you could tell Slasher was being accompanied by a couple of bodyguards, so Ibram settled for giving the Nazgul officer a nod.

He noticed Tinker and “Flyboy” Korant having a dance out on the floor, and was quietly relieved to see some fellow squadmates at the place. Although they had never met their CO in an informal setting before, so it would be intereseting to see how that played out.

I wonder if Phin or Anden are going to show up...

“What can I do for you?” The bar man asked him as he reached the counter.

“You don’t happen to have any Yavvitiri ale do you?”

“We imported everything for the opening event.”

I bet you did, Ibram thought. He didn’t want to imagine how much that cost the privateer.

Beverage in hand, Ibram sat back and relaxed as the night unfolded before him...

“You know,” Phineus began with a smirk on his face, “you look like a man who can use an easy vacation, but just doesn’t want to be here.”

Phineus patted Ibram on the shoulder as he plopped down in a seat to the right of him. Dressed in a long sleeve, off-white shirt with three buttons, the first two unbuttoned, down from his neck to his chest, with a black Imperial Navy t-shirt beneath; complimented by gray, loose fitting sweats, Phineus surely thought he pulled off the too-lazy-to-properly-dress look well. Phineus hadn’t planned on attending the Imperial Ball, but he just couldn’t resist all the free alcohol and food that had been imported from more planets than Phin could possibly imagine traveling to. Each planet had its own twenty-foot table that featured its popular spread of cuisine, each complimented by overly-specific types of ale or wine or even juices that were individually tagged with pictures of food that they went best with. Most of these tables featured waiters from that planet, all of whom had an extensive and near perfect knowledge on the variety of meals that were offered. It was quite possibly the most luxurious event Phineus had ever and most likely will ever attend.

The air surrounding the ball had been one of drunken laughter; full of political debates, talks of Navy versus Stormtroopers, talks about nothing relevant at all, which was perfectly relevant at the moment, and every possible topic that had been bottled up inside the mind of the party goers. Phineus was happily surprised to see how well everyone was getting along. Troopers weren’t roughing up the pilots too badly, and the pilots weren’t overly-bragging about what they do and how they do it, or complaining about it for that matter. Everyone seemed to be at ease, which put Phineus at ease. However, if one sore thumb stuck out in a crowd, then this one belonged to Ibram Tyrol, the man whom Phin was an Executive Officer to. Phineus fancied himself on being able to read people from miles off, but Ibram was always a tough tell. However, it was clear as the planetary beverage indicators that something was off, that something had been off, for quite awhile now.

Ibram, without acknowledging Phin’s attempt at a joke, craned his head up and to his right, and followed Phineus as he sat.

“You have to admit,” Phin continued, “this is one beautiful sight.”

Ibram nodded in his mind, without wasting any physical energy to do such in real life, as he turned his head out to sea and focused his attention on the crisp, golden blue waters that had a steady current passing through them. The sun had been setting across the horizon, giving the waters a particularly star-like twinkle, reminding pilots of the space that they had flown in one too many times; and yet, not enough times.

Phineus’ smirk washed away from his face like a receding tide after a fresh crash of a wave on some sandy shore in the middle of a peaceful planet. His face bore an expression of concerned understanding, and his eyes slowly retreated downward into the glass of wine he was holding with his mechanical hand, hidden by the bantha leather glove.

“I’m sorry about Mira,” Phineus said between breaths, quiet as to not disturb the easy-going attitude of the ship.

Ibram’s eyes moved not, staying perfectly focused on the splashing waters. His brow narrowed a bit, as if he had spotted something far off in the distance, yet there was nothing to be found.

“I know how much she meant to you,” Phineus resumed, “and I know what it’s like to lose someone. I know more than any man should.”

Still, Ibram appeared as though he had been keying in on something in the middle of the ocean, something he knew was there, although something he could not spot.

“Her and I,” Phineus said after taking a tiny sip of the wine, “we never really had any chemistry between us. That one mission, heh, remember when she stickered my entire TIE fighter? We used that mission as an excuse to better get to know one another. We used that excuse as an excuse for her to make you jealous, for one reason or another.”

Ibram’s eyes began to glitter in the moonlight as did the ocean, glimmering delicately as they held back the tears which slowly began to collect. Phineus wasn’t sure where he was going with his story, he never was good at thinking before he spoke, or thinking at all for that matter, but he continued on in hopes of lightening Ibram’s mood.

“I could tell she had strong feelings for you, at least when I was around to witness them. I can’t imagine what it was like when I was gone. Love is one hell of a connection; rare yet popular, easy to dream up but difficult to attain. I know what it can do to a guy. The most difficult feeling to deal with is losing someone. Having something in your life for so long, you get used to it, take it for granted. But when it’s gone, just like that, in an instant, you realize just how much you depended on that person and the feelings they gave. And then, you’re overcome with the fact that it’s gone forever, and that you have absolutely no way of contacting that person. You’re lost, scared, and alone. I’m sure she meant it when she said it wasn’t you.”

Ibram, for what seemed like the first time since Phineus had sat down, blinked. Two tears escaped from his left eye, they crawled down his cheek without pity or remorse, although those two tears alone carried the emotions of a lifetime.

“How did you know she said that?” Ibram sharply replied beneath a tattered voice of uncertainty, nearly breathless enunciation.

Phineus had wondered if that was the wrong thing to say, if Ibram would take too much offense from Phin’s knowledge of Mira’s retirement, if he would be demoted and sent back to a petty Flight Member as soon as this ball had ended. But alas, Phineus took a chance. Over his entire short career he had a deep desire to make Ibram proud, for reasons he was unsure about. He had often contemplated if it was born from his desperate attempts at finding a brother or a father figure in his life, something he had never experience before. Anden Beliam had always been there for Phineus, but they had always been equals. Phin had this want, this longing to show off for someone who was above him, some superior who he could still connect with. Or maybe, Phineus was just looking to help out a fellow friend, he couldn’t tell; nor did he wish to over analyze the situation any more than he already had.

“Perks of being XO, sir,” Phin admitted, “I too get immediate word of pending retirements and their reasons for going that route. Her retirement data file she left you was also in my inbox. My guess is that Navy brass sent it to me so that you didn’t have to tell me yourself; but I also have other suspicions. There was no sender address, just her data file; no telling who it came from.”

Ibram sat still, peering out across the waters. It appeared to Phineus now that Ibram had given up his optical search for whatever he was trying to find, and had settled on the fact that nothing was to be found at all. This seemed as though it depressed Ibram even more, but his expression hadn’t changed.

“Look, sir,” Phineus began, “you and I… we haven’t necessarily had the best friendship in the galaxy. I’ve done some things to perturb you in the past, which I hope I’ve made up for. But I just want you to know that I’m here for you. Whether you want to talk about it, or if you just want to avoid it completely; either way I’m right here.”

“Thanks,” Ibram managed to say as his throat swelled from the battle of holding back a current of rushing tears that would sabotage the entire night if he allowed them out.

Phineus nodded slowly, “I’m your executive officer, it’s what I’m here for.”

Ibram Tyrol and Phineus Gage sat, gazing out at the deep blue ocean. Both men dressed in their ideas of smart clothing, without being too smart. Both men allowing silence to fill the rest of their conversation; for enough words had been spoken. Whether it was Phin’s rambling or Ibrams short and to the point speech, it had been all that was needed. Both men sat side by side, two completely different individuals who had been through the same problems, whether they knew it or not. They were different, but their pain connected them. The background was painted with steady laughter and dancing and eating and drinking; the foreground showed off nature’s purest beauty. In between, sat both men, in the silence that was only enjoyed by them. Phineus was waiting for Ibram to speak, or not to speak, Phineus was waiting for anything, if at least nothing. Phineus had nowhere else he would rather be.

“You really call that an outfit?” Ibram finally said aloud.

Phineus smiled widely, took the final three sips of wine in one altogether gulp, and swallowed.

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Words- 1,572

Lucky: I had wrote this prior to you posting, so I missed the part where you sat with Ibram. Let's say my post takes place after you and Alan get up to leave after speaking with Brammy.

Alan stood in front of the mirror and smiled.  He was dressed in a sharp black suit with a white shirt.  Glancing down he spotted his shoes which shined.  He had spent quite some time shining them and now he realised that it had been worth it.  Lucky was still in the bathroom making herself look beautiful, although Alan knew she already looked stunning without needing any extra work.  Now for the final touch thought Alan as he grabbed his bowtie.

It had been some time since Alan had put on a bowtie but he figured how hard could it be.  He started to understand the difficulty after the fifth time.  Every time he put it on it either fell off or went on at an angle.  Alan cursed under his breath and wondered how much longer he had before Lucky was ready.  He was starting to think maybe a tie would be easier when his droid, Betty, sauntered in.

"I could hear you voicing some concerns and assumed you required assistance" stated Betty.

"You mean you heard me saying what a pile of" started Alan.

"Exactly" replied Betty, cutting him off before Alan could start cursing once more, "allow me".

"You can do up a bowtie, this I have to see" said Alan.

Betty moved in front of Alan.  The angle that she was at prevented Alan from seeing what exactly she was doing.  He was certain he could hear her voice grumbling about how easy this was but Alan wasn't going to pull her up on it.  In a matter of minutes she moved away.  Alan looked at himself in the mirror and smiled.  Not a bad job thought Alan as he realised just how good the bowtie looked.

"Will that do?" queried Betty.

"It'll do" replied Alan.

"Ready to go, hun?" called out Lucky.

Alan glanced back in the mirror and realised that he was all good to go.

"Sure am" he replied.

Exiting the room he came over to Lucky and looked her up and down.  She looked simply stunning even if she did look a little serious.  Alan was slightly disappointed that she had not chosen her dress but as long as she was comfortable then he was happy enough with that.

Lucky headed out the door and started to make her way through to the hangar bay.  They had decided earlier in the day that they would take one of her ships for a change and Alan was looking forward to seeing the ship.  He took one last look in the mirror and locked up the condo and made his own way to the hangar.

Entering the hangar he could hear the engines start to whine to life and he glanced over and took in the sight of the Jadthu-class craft.  Entering the ship he took in the view and marvelled at its design.  Moving into the cockpit he heard the ramp being raised.  He settled into the seat beside Lucky and relaxed as she took the controls and lifted the ship off the deck and out through the hangar bay doors.

It was quite a short journey to the 21 Hearts and on their approach Alan took a good look through the viewport at the ship.  He whistled in appreciation at its design.  He wasn't expecting it to be such a fancy looking craft and he appreciated the sheer design of it.

Lucky landed the ship smoothly and Alan thought back to all of the missions they had been on and wished Zeshaun could land as smoothly as that.  Lowering the ramp they exited the craft and entered the double doors.

Alan gazed around the large room and was amazed at just how luxurious the place was.  It seemed that every ball just got better and more grandiose.  Lucky was already at the bar and chatting away to Ibram.

Alan smiled, it wasn't often that Lucky beat him to the bar and he quickly followed ordering up a tall glass of corellian ale.  Pulling up a stool alongside them they chatted for a while, seeing how the navy was getting on these days and Ibram querying how Paladin was doing.

Finishing off his ale, Alan set down his glass and heard gentle music playing harmoniously through the hall.  He glanced over at Lucky and held out his hand.

"Care to dance hun?" asked Alan.

Lucky flashed him a broad smile and replied "I'd love to".

She wrapped her hand in his and they bid their farewells to Ibram and headed out onto the dance floor.  Alan wrapped his arms around Lucky and together they swayed to the music.  Despite being uncomfortable in his attire, Alan realised why he enjoyed going to the Imperial Balls.

Alan glanced over and noticed that someone else had joined Ibram and he was glad that he had some more company as he had felt slightly bad for leaving him alone at the bar.

Snipes smiled around his cigarette as he made his way outside, his blue coat trailed behind him in the ocean breeze. The blessed ocean breeze. Snipes led the others to the bow, dismissing a pair of lovebirds. Snipes wanted the bow. He leaned back on the railing and tipped his glass back, taking in what was left of the contents. He studied the pair over the glass, he'd known Aeos for a rather long time at this point, although as with anyone Snipes knew, contact had been scarce for awhile. Jegora "Two-Fists" Fal Snipes also knew, although their last meeting had been while Snipes was investigating an issue with Jester Squad. When he'd parted them he hadn't been on the best of terms with the squad; apparently the vicious murder of a defensless key suspect was frowned upon. Who knew? In fact, he didn't remember parting on particularly good terms with either.

"Well, we cerainly do seem to have attracted a strange bunch." Snipes said absently, "Kelevra, could you grab me another drink; and see if you can't round up the child."

"Grea', I getta play kid wrangla'" The monocled man grumbled, wandering off.

Snipes pulled a flask from one of his pockets, opened it, took a drink, "Well, now that we're all alone; I suppose you want to talk business. Wonderful, successful, boring business. Ah well, it can't be helped.

No, the reason I invited you out here," He glanced from one to the other, they were likewise glancing at each other, "I've gotten wind of your little. . .enterprise and wanted to offer my assistance; as you can see The Osk Company is doing quite well."

"And what is it you do?" Jegora asked.

"Hrm, how do I say it? We are individuals of enterprise."

"They're pirates Jegora." Aeos said bluntly, clearly not satisfied with Snipes explanation. Snipes to admit to himself, he was being rather convoluted on purpose.

"As I understand it you want connections into my world, the underworld; where bounty hunters become little more than glorified assassins and thugs. I live deeply in this world and I know more than a few people who aren't above using such methods. I, myself, prefer to deal with my enemies face to face, as I'm sure you're well aware. There are, of course, several such people here tonight. Think of this party as The Osk Company showing off."

"Alright, Snipes, what is it you want in exchange," Aeos was being cautious, probably a good idea when taking a step into this world.

"Ah, what I want," Snipes smiled, "What I want is neither here nor there; it's what I need that's important.

"You see, The Company, me and my employees have a habit of getting on peoples worst sides; you could say it's our hobby. What I need is to make certain that contracts, or at least non-government, against my people are not posted, paid or otherwise endorsed. I also want information; as much of it whenever I need it. In addition I have come to discover that you, Aeos, have a few contacts that would be of interest to me; I can get you a list, or you can determine it for yourself, but I would like meetings setup."

"That's a bit much, First Sergeant."

Snipes cast his eyes to Jegora, "I did not come here as the assistant to the Executive of the Stormtrooper Corps; I came here as the Pirate Lord Snipes; either way, I see no problem with this offer, but it is just that, an offer."

"Snipes," The pirate's attention switched to Aeos, "That's a bad deal. If you want that much you're going to need to offer more; like, say, information. Information on contracts, people behind them, information that will help find the bounties, things like that."

"Things like that? Horribly vague. I like it though; I'll even throw in a few contacts I have. I know a few guys that might be able to help in providing information on locations and known associates, atleast on Corellia, Tatooine, Nar Shadaa and possibly other locals. I'll see what I can dig up. There is, of course, no urgent need to settle things now."

Snipes stopped a little short of his original planned speech, noticing Gregory Kelevra coming up from behind the two, a glass in hand. He nodded to Snipes, with the biggest grin on his face, cigarra clamped in his teeth, monocle somehow still in place. He had the distinct swagger of someone who was very proud of themselves.

Snipes cocked his head back slightly, so that he was looking over the two in front of him, "Oi! Kelevra, what ya got there to be grinnin' about?"

"Hah! Nothin' much Boss, seems dat DarNamell guy you was talkin' 'bout showed up though wif some smoke whiskey, so's I bringin' ya some."

"Good man, good man."

"Dinna' know ya had guests though; they canna get they own." He said gruffly handing the drink off to Snipes, who took a long drink from it.

"Ah, introductions," Snipes said to their confused faces, "This is one of my officers and leader of the Hound's most interesting boarding crew, Gregory Kelevra. Kelevra, this is Aeos and 'Two-Fists'.

"Anyway; once we finish here I would recommend going inside and introducing yourselves to a few people. Actually, scratch that, I'll introduce you. Might even drag Fury along for the hell of it."

Snipes realized he'd been dominating conversation so far; part of it was excitement, part of it was alcohol, and he grudgingly had to admit part of it was spite. Still, he was ready for them to lead the rest of evening. Not so much out of generosity as laziness.

OOC:

I expect Kelevra would introduce himself proper later, he might be a psychopath, but he does have manners.

Finally, he got up from the table, bottle mostly empty. He'd been pestering the poor waitress so much that he finally slid her a thousand credit chit and had one of the smoke whiskey bottles brought to him. He'd managed to have some lovely lass write "MINE" on it in bright red lipstick so he could keep other people's mitts off of it.

The competition had been average tonight. A certain Sen Hound had been a better than decent competitor but full time pilots and troopers could not compete with the skill one learned doing deals in gambling parlors. He wasn't good, he was experienced.

So Hound was out, but he'd given him a lighter for his efforts. Hopefully that took some of the sting away from taking his last paycheck.

He'd seen Snipes enter the ballroom with his ever-growing entourage and decided this was a good time to get either more or less involved in the goings on. Tipping the dealer handsomely, he got up with more credits than he came in with and bid a good night to the other players.

Lugging his bottle and smoking a cigarra lit by candlelight, he made his way out onto the open veranda. Personally he saw such a concept as completely insane on a spacefaring vessel, but it made a damn good impression at sea level. He took a swig and then a drag of his smoke and watched some kind of fish jumping aside the vessel. He couldn't tell if this relaxed him or made him hungry.

Then he felt someone coming too close to him.

Turning around it was Kuin, who someone managed an invite, as he usually did to things with open bars. He had a drink in one hand and a datapad in the other.

They exchanged some small talk as Fury caught up on some company matters and some intel.

"Really? What the hell does this mean?" he finally asked.

"Which part? There's a lot there."

"Oh, the part where our newly esteemed co-partners are quickly getting established with most parties that matter in their line of work."

"Ah, that.  Beyond being smart, it looks like they are looking long term and making some smart bets early. Don't tell me you didn't try the same thing with the store?"

"No, true. Part of the reason I stole you away was to get some inroads with the 'less credible' business types in the Outer Rim."

Kuin smiled, "And that's worked out pretty well for all of us, hasn't it? I just thought you might want some inkling of what this party may or may not be about. Actually, given our Pirate Lord's trajectory, he might just end up telling you himself before the night is out."

Fury turned and saw the pirate posse heading his way. "Or at least as much as he wants to tell me. None of that makes total sense to me yet, but thanks for the update. Stick around for some grub though. No use missing a great party."

Kuin nodded and went back in to the ballroom. Fury lit up another cigarra and sighed. It was business after all. Ah well.

“Well that was fun, but if you'll excuse me, there is a Pazak table with my name on it" said Cadie.

Before Korant could say anything further Cadie was gone.  Korant couldn't believe anyone could move so quickly.  He had been looking forward to getting Cadie onto the dance floor but somehow he had figured it would last a bit longer than that.  He felt they had built up a connection and he was looking forward to getting to know her better, maybe that’s where he fell down.

He sighed and headed over to the bar.  Grabbing a bar stool he sat down and waved the bartender over.

"Get me a corellian whiskey, no, make it a double" said Korant.

"Want to talk about it?" asked the bartender as he poured Korant a generous amount of whiskey into a glass.

"Guess I'm not very good with the ladies" replied Korant.

Glancing over he could see Cadie already seated at a Pazak table and thoroughly engrossed in her game.  Korant hoped that she would win.  Looking over at the dance floor he watched as people danced along to the music.

He set the glass down on the bar and pointed at it.  The bartender didn't need any further prompting as he poured Korant another double whiskey into the glass.

"You know, this stuff never solved anything" said the bartender.

"You may be right" replied Korant, "but it may make me feel better".

"I doubt it" replied the bartender.

The bartender was starting to get on Korant's nerves with all of his so-called useful advice.

"You know what, just leave the bottle" said Korant.

"You got it" replied the bartender.

He knew when he wasn't wanted so he set the bottle down next to Korant and sauntered off to another customer.  Korant downed another shot of whiskey and poured a fresh measure into his now empty glass.

Havock adjusted the strap on her black dress. She absolutely, positivity, hated to wear a dress. But it was the Ball after all, and Jae told her she had to. Ron had excused himself  from the group of RADIERS after being...welcomed by Jae upon arrival.

Hav, Jae and Karash exchanged small talk for a few minutes before Havock herself decided she wanted to explore a bit. Grahim still had not shown up, Havock couldn't help but think about how much he would have loved the pool. As she made her way out to the patio area, as everyone was calling it, she passed a few soldiers she did not recognize. She was struck by how few people she actually knew outside of her little bubble of the RAIDERS. Hav had never been the 'life of the party' kind of girl, so she was okay not being popular.

Leaning on the railing she looked out over the ocean. She had always been a city girl, she'd seen oceans, sure. But that was far away from her everyday life growing up. It was amazing and relaxing to watch the waves and look at the reflections in the water. Sighing she turned and leaned against the railing looking back towards the party.

She could see Jae and Karash and even Ron in the distance talking at the bar. She looked over the crowd on the dance floor, swaying to some song she had never heard. Looking up at the sky she didn't even notice when Karash walked up to her.

“Havock, I would think that a girl like you would be more interested in the ship rather than the stars you could see from anywhere.” Havock's head was still tilted upwards but she could see Karash standing in front of her with his hands clasped behind his back.

“Well that's not entirely true Karash. The stars are different on every planet. Or at least from our perspective they are.”

“Pfft.”

That made Havock blink and look directly at Kar. “Pfft? What's that supposed to mean?”

Karash took his hands from behind his back and looked genuinely rattled. Almost as if he was fighting with himself over what to say. “Its just, Hav, what could you possibly know about...ugh...I'm sorry.”

Some people she would have punched, but this was Karash so Havock just laughed. “No its okay. The answer to your question is Tate. I know about astronomy because of Tate.” Poor Karash looked so confused, it was almost cute. “Tate was this old, and I do mean old, friend of Jed's back home. He was a soldier too for a while, but before that he was an astronomer. Now I don't remember the whole story but something happened in the army and he was too close to an explosion, lost his eyesight. So he used to take me up to the roof and have me describe the stars to him. Then he'd twap me with his walking stick every time I got any wrong or didn't use the right terminology. Funny guy, really. Pretty amazing memory.”

Karash just stared at Havock. He looked like he really wanted to say something but he couldn't put the words in the right order. Havock shook her head and patted Kar on the shoulder. “Come on, your right about one thing. This ship is way to beautiful to waste another second of it. Lets go to the bar, I'll buy you a round.”

Lukas walked in with a pair of black dress shoes, a pair of Crimson dress pants and a Crimson tuxedo top on into the vast expanse of the ships outer main deck. He looked around and saw quite a few faces that he knew and some that he didn't, which was to be expected at a party of this size. The wind blew past his face as the ship glided smoothly across the water and the stars in the dark blue sky slowly danced. Lukas hadn't been on an actual planet in what seemed like ages to him, for one that hadn't been a battlefield at least, it was actually kind of eerie not hearing the sounds of guns going off and people dying left and right. That didn't stop him from bringing a little back up though.

The door slid open as Lukas walked over the threshold into the main ball room where the music was loud and the people chattered amongst themselves. Strolling over to the bar, Lukas chatted with a few of his former squadmates like Ron and a few other familiar faces. Lukas wasn't much of a drinker but he did like a glass of wine every now and then so he ordered a white wine from the 1930's which was very hard to find, he was actually suprised to see that they had it and took the glass from the bartender.

After drinking the fine glass of wine, Lukas nodded to the bartender and walked across the dance floor, weaving in and out of dancing couples. His eyes darted about looking from one person to the next, he never let his guard down, some of the people looked shady...but then again who didn't, he grinned to himself. Continuing on his way to the forward part of the ship he ran into a few more people he knew and chatted a few minutes each with them, seeing on how they were doing.

A few minutes later he was at the forward part of the ship, a large number of people where out here. He looked around again to observe his surroundings and went up another deck so he could get a better look below even though this was probably an area for officers he really didn't care. Lukas made eye contact with a man he had known and served with a really long time, he could only help but grin at him. It looked like he had his hands full at the moment so Lukas decided to just walk around the bow a bit more before heading back inside.

Lukas watched Snipes return to his entourage and shaked his head while grinning. "Somethings never change about some people...", he thought to himself as he walked back inside. It was good to see an old friend after such a long time. Many of the troopers and friends he had served withe either left or just died off over the years. Lukas walked over to a nearby table seated next to a clear window where he could see the stars. Many people walked by him and looked at him as he sat by himself, which he did most of the time, isolating himself from others he didn't know.

Glancing around the room some more, he noticed that many of the soldiers and their crushes where hanging out at this formal event. Lukas laughed quietly to himself thinking, one should never burden one's self with love because it would get in the way on the battlefield. One thing many people didn't know about Lukas's personality was that he didn't have much emotion. For reasons unknown even to himself, he was taught not to love. Most would find this very foolish but it was just who he was.

A random women dressed in black with a slender figure walked past Lukas with an intoxicating perfume that smelled of Roses and open field wind. Following her with his eyes, Lukas studied her body and realized that she too looked like a loner/outsider herself. He decided to get up and follow her over to the bar.

"Excuse me...", Lukas said to her as she turned to face him.

The women looked Lukas up and down and smiled devilishly, "Let me guess...you want to buy me a drink".

"Only if you would like one, as I am sure most of the other men here have been staring you down the instant you stepped on this ship", Lukas said in a coy remark.

She smirked at this remark and said in reply, "You don't seem like the other men on this boat...."

Lukas looked into her saphire blue eyes, an unusual color, and said, "Would you like to dance?..."

The moment after he said that, Lukas turned and walked away from her before she could reply. He walked out of the ballroom to an area where he couldn't hear any of the ballroom music or the loud conversations between crimelords, thugs, and thieves amongst soldiers as well.

Toying with people and taunting them was something Lukas had always had on his side, along with other various things. It would be her turn to make the next move, whatever that was. Lukas looked up at the stars and then down at the water, wondering what would happen aboard this vast ship known as the 21 Hearts.