OOC:

This is a dinner party at Jaenna's and Havock's LUXURY CONDO. It will  be awesome. All of RAIDERS and all of Iron Horse is invited. Actually, Iron Horse must attend. Or Jae will eat you.

"Yeah. My place. Mhm. An hour. Why so long? I gotta finishing cooking the uh... Food. No there's no poison in it. Mhm. Yeah. Okay. Make sure all of them come." She killed the connection with Lucky and set her DataPad/Cellular down on the desk again. The woman took a deep breath, her chest rising slowly as her eyes shut. A few long moments passed by before he finally relaxed, exhaling, allowing her chest to deflate once more as she opened her eyes to glare at her computer screen. Why glaring? Simple. She had been trying to look up good recipes for something she had tried to other night, but she just couldn't seem to find any on the HoloNet. With a grumble she stood and moved back to the living room area. Maybe she could find something on a cooking channel or two about what she wanted to make.

But as she moved further into the living room, now standing just in front of the couch, that gaze stuck on the coffee table and the remote resting on it, she felt like she shouldn't be here. It was a foreign feeling. Strange. She hadn't been back in her Condo in so long. No... not her Condo. Hers and Havock's. Their relationship had been on the rocks ever since Havock had fallen into that dammed coma and Jaenna had disappeared to go face her 'demons' back home. But since then... Jaenna had not only come back, joined RAIDERS again, but had also been transferred out of RAIDERS soon after coming back and placed as the Squad Leader of Iron Horse.

So much has happened...

Her thoughts were running rampant and she couldn't help but just  flop down onto the couch and lean her head back, staring up at the ceiling. Sure, Havock had just agreed to a mini dinner party, but would she stay here after everybody left to go back to their own places? Jaenna moved a hand to pat the right pocket of her 'dress' cargo pants. The lump was still there. Thank god... She thought as she patted the lump again, only to reassure herself that she hadn't in fact lost it some how.

The woman stayed there, just sitting back, for a few more long moments. Only once she was able to breath normally, and had quieted down her thoughts at least a little bit, was she able to lena forward, pick up the remote and turn on the TV.

Hopefully, Havock got the message she had sent to her DataPad and would be showing up soon to help straighten up a bit before the guests started rolling in.

OOC:

Okay so. Jae just got off the phone with Lucky after telling her that dinner will start in about an hour. If some of the Horsies wanna show up before then, go ahead. If RAIDERS wanna show up before then, go ahead. This is supposed to be a fun/interesting story full of some nice juicy C/D

OOC:

Considering this story will mainly be C/D, I am not looking for novel posts. I am, however, looking for quality.

As far as the RAIDERS who decide to show up/post/whatever, I won't be critiquing you. But Horsies, I will be critiquing you. Also, if you wanna critique me, do that. I love critique. Especially considering I've been out of practice due to sucky internets.

The park was empty for some reason this afternoon. Havock had taken this route many times when she and Jaenna lived together in their condo, but that was so long ago. When she got the message earlier in the week about the party she had to read it three times just to make sure she wasn't seeing things. She didn't even know that Jaenna had gone to the condo, much less decided to throw a party there.

It was just luck that both RAIDERS and Iron Horse were on leave right now, it was a very rare occurrence, and was a good chance for everyone to get a break.

But the condo...with Jaenna there...Havock stopped for the fifth time since she left the barracks and almost turned around. Things had been rocky between the two of them since Havock's injuries and Jae's experiences on Coruscant. She couldn't really blame her, the small bits and pieces Ayme had managed to get about that time were all horrifying. And two women having non-stop nightmares was not fun for anyone.

The wind picked up and Ayme pulled her black military style jacket around her tighter as she resumed her slow pace towards the condo.

The place was still quiet, which meant not many people had arrived yet. Which made sense, Havock was supposed to show up thirty standard minutes earlier so she could help set up. If she hadn't kept on second guessing her decision to agree to this dinner party in the first place she would have already been there.

Ayme stood in front of the door willing herself to open it. She knew it was unlocked, given the circumstances of the evening it had no reason not to be. With one final nervous hand raking her fingers through her blond hair, she tapped the button and walked inside.

The familiar smell of the condo was enough to knock her down the second the door opened, but the feelings quickly dissipated when she saw Jaenna and another man on the couch. It wasn't that she was jealous, it was the fact that the woman she cared about looked like someone just told her that her favorite pet died.

"Jae, what's wrong?"

Greenish-blue eyes shot up to meet hers, then  a smirk formed on her lips. "You're late, thats what." She jumped up and hesitated slightly before she hugged Ayme then quickly pulled back and punched her fellow squad leader in the shoulder. "And thats for not helping me set up."

Havock smiled and rubbed her arm. "Ouch, you know I bruise easily." She forced herself to look past Jae to the now confused man on the couch. "Hi, I'm Havock. You must be in Iron Horse, my condolences for your squad leader."

"Heeeeeey."

Havock winked and walked over to the couch to shake the man's name. "Kraytirous, nice to meet you." He still seemed a bit unsure of how to respond to the two women, which was far from unusual.

"Well now that we are all acquainted, I guess I should help setting the table?"

Jaenna had an evil yet playful glare directed at her as she nodded slowly. "Right, I'll get right on that then, just let me know what else you need okay Jae?"

Havock almost tripped when Jae's expression flickered for a moment and she flinched visibly. As per typical Jae though she quickly recovered and moved back to the couch to ask Kraytirous something. She would have to find out what that was all about, but later for now there were dishes to set out. The duties of a squad leader are truly boundless, she thought sarcastically to herself.

"We have to do WHAT?!" 


A voice could be heard outside the door to the ASL's office. Passerby's  hurried off so not to be caught in the crossfire when the door opened. Inside, sat Lucky who tried her best not to laugh at the stance the other women now stood in.  Saphira looked like a gundark was standing on her head juggling with the news she had just been given.

"It's only a dinner party Saph. You're reacting like it's a trip to the morgue." Lucky mused.

"You know i HATE parties. Gatherings always cause trouble." She snapped. Standing straight, she rolled her shoulders and felt a few well deserved pops.

"You're not SL anymore, so you don't have to stop anything." Lucky reminded her.  "Besides, who said trouble would be caused?"

Saphira grinned. "You know I can't answer that. Perhaps I'll pack a few smoke bombs and drop them to sneak out."

"You wouldn't..."

"I would. Like you said.. I'm not SL anymore. Perhaps you need to go back over my file back when Doc was my SL." The Twi'lek grinned. "If I have to attend this function and be a regular trooper I might as well cause havoc and have some fun if I want."


Lucky gave  her a placid look and didn't know if she was joking or serious. she wouldn't dare.... At least the party was deemed casual wear. Else she might had taken the Twi'leks threat more seriously. God knows the women hated dressing up even more. 

"Whatever you say Saphira. Just be there in an hour. By the way. If you see Madman or any of the others, tell them to behave and get moving." Lucky glanced away as her fingers tapped away on a data pad.  "I sent them all the invite, but you know how well that goes." 

Rolling her eyes as Saph tapped her right foot on the floor she nodded. "Long as I don't have to be you're run along boy for long."  Giving a quick grin as the door slid open before Lucky could give a quick retort, Saph left the room and  hurried down the hall.

Stupid invite. I don't see why we have to go. Saph fumed as she rounded a corner and pivoted on her heel to avoid the small cleaning droid that zipped around mindlessly. reaching her room, she  changed into a set of civilian clothing. A Shirt and pant that were half black and half a dark grey, brown leather belt with her standard E-11 blaster and various small items on the side. Feeling better she left her room with the snap hiss of the door and went out to the bay to catch a ride over towards the destination.

Bright walked into her house with a sigh and dropped her travel gear and bags on the floor just inside the door. A week of listening to bickering corporate bureaucrats had at the time seemed like the worst thing she'd had to deal with when she went back to Bakura. She let her door close behind her as she made her way around to sit carefully on her couch. Her ribs still throbbed terribly and she'd yet to make her way to the Corps' Medical Infirmary.

She grimaced when she thought about how she would explain to Havock why she was a week late getting back from her leave. She would then have to reveal the events of the five assassination attempts and the two attempted hostile take overs. She took as deep a breath as she dared and winced again. She would have to re-tape her ribs till she could see a real doctor or find some time for a bacta tank.

"No time like the present." She whispered. She looked down at her other injuries. The bandages on her right biological arm were red, suggesting that she was bleeding from the deep laceration that she had received only a day before. "That one is going to be hard to explain." She muttered.

The knock at her door surprised her making her gasp and sending her heart racing. She stood up too fast and she felt her three broken ribs protest violently. Her head swam for a moment before she gained her bearings.

She walked slowly to the door. "Who is it?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"RK." Came a familiar male voice.

Bright opened her door and indeed there was RK. She grinned at the look of shock on his face. "I'm feeling particularly flirtatious right now, but you are certainly a sight for sore eyes."

"Bright, I swear everytime you come home from leave you look like death decided to eat you and then spit you back out." RK pushed his way passed Bright and helped her over to her couch again. "Think you can do a dinner party in that condition?"

Bright gave him a quizzical look.

=======

Leaning against the wall next to the door to Havock and Jaenna's condo as RK knocked, Bright tried to come up with an acceptable explanation for her blackened and slightly swollen left eye, the new bandaging on her right forearm, and the way she was holding her ribs with her left arm.

When the door opened to reveal an almost laughing Havock, her mind went blank. Of course Hav would have to answer the door and not Jae.

For a moment Bright thought she might get away without having to explain anything. But her hopes were shattered when she saw the smile immediately vanish from Havock's features. The platter that was in her hands shattered on the floor, and her face turned an angry shade of red.

"Karash! Get your supplies looks like you were right." She turned to look at Bright. For a moment Bright thought she might explode. "Rain, what the hell happened?" She asked as she took the red head firmly, but with remarkable gentleness given her mood, by the upper arm and half dragged half walked Bright inside and to an empty couch.

Bright tried humor. "Hell, Ayme, you should see the other guys."

"Plural?" Bright heard someone say to her right. Karash with his supplies and a look of resignation. "You said 'the other guys.'" He said as he knelt and began to examine her eye.

Bright just bit her lip and nodded as saying anything right that moment was difficult. Havock had chosen that moment to examine her arm.

Saph wasn't the only one who utterly detested these social engagements, 'twas not long ago when he felt the heat and anxiety from the last Stormtrooper get together that Iron-Horse had attended. This time, however, it was not only mandatory but it was also...well, okay, that was pretty much it. HE could hear cussing, someone familiar strolling on by with heavy, unhappy, angry, footsteps. Oh how he could relate as he stood at a desk and stared at his curiously sculpted piece of work, a helmet vastly different from the standard issue helmet. But it was his own personal prize he'd earned from survivign a number of missions, okay some more or less dangerous than the next.

Didn't make the danger non-existent as some might try to point out. Weapons locker was locked up tight, his armor remained disassembled and he was forced into wearing fashionable clothes. OR well, perhaps fashionable compared to the white pod armor he preferred to wear a majority of the time. Punching in a number on the keypad as his hand opposite ran well-enough trimmed nails over his toned back, digging into the flesh in search of the anxious agitation that crawled over his skin before his arms reached forth, his body bare save for a pair of plain informal-wear which he'd wear underneath it all. Tugging up a strange robe-like attire, the color was a dark, ruddy, sand color, a pair of belts crossing down from the shoulders and up from around the bottom of the ribs to connect to a centerpiece, each clicking into place as they fastened into place. It was a sort of leathery material, which he'd wear as a sort of lengthy coat over a pair of rugged trousers which tucked into a pair of lengthy boots as he'd slip on a pair of gloves which were just fair enough to be considered a grade above common work gloves.

Maybe some day he would grow used to showing his face about, however before he took his steps forth from his room, he would spare a parting glance with his helmet with afixed mask and visor before the doors would hiss and part wide as he'd step from the gaping maw of the darkness only outlined by the occasional blue glow of various light fixtures running at a mild setting.

"Rain, you will be telling me what the hell happened before you leave this condo, got it Sergeant?"

Bright sighed with a wince then rolled her eyes. She breathed heavily and still in pain. She answered Karash's questions as he continued to examine her.

"Bright, what happened between you and Havock?" RK asked as he help Karash to re-bandage her newly stitched arm. "I've honestly never known anyone to ever call you by your given name, not so long as I have known you. I don't think that even Doc called you by your given name."

"No he never did. I never told him my given name. Hell my adoptive parents rarely even used that name. I've always been Brightstar, or Bright." She sat back and glared at Karash as he shifted to examine her ribcage. She did allow him to check the binding to be sure that it was tight enough but little more than that.

"That still doesn't answer my question, or for that matter Jae's." RK said leaning forward interested.

Bright smiled and closed her eyes for a moment, perhaps asking for patience. "That mission to Nivek, you remember?" She asked. He nodded and she continued, "I don't know what happened. All I know is that I didn't see any reason why I should deck her for saying my name. And I didn't. Having a friend like Havock to turn too is something I've never had before." She sighed and looked up at RK.

"I mean I have had friends here in the VE, yes, but RK I've never been able to bring myself to trust anyone with my past. My life yes, but not my past or my hopes or fears." She shook her head slightly. "Maybe its because Hav doesn't remember much of her own past to trust anyone with. But I am glad I have a friend in her."

RK remained silent as he looked off into the middle distance. Bright couldn't be sure if he was remembering or simply adding more notes to the mental file on the anomaly that was Brightstar. She looked over at Karash who had been particularly slow in putting his supplies away. He too looked as though he was thinking about something in particular.

Finally RK spoke. "You mean you never told anyone about any of your past?" He asked a look of amusement and and something akin to amazement in his eyes.

Bright smiled and shook her head. "Nope. And before you ask, Doc never asked so I didn't tell and I didn't ask about his either. You were the last person I was going to tell anything. Come to think of it I don't think that Riq, or I, will ever forgive you for that number you did on the Davk." With that said she stood carefully and took a deep breath.

"I never have thanked you for what you've done for me since." Bright smiled again and walked away to find Havock and to somewhat put Jae at ease. After all that was all the thanks that the former bounty hunter was ever going to get.

RK grinned and muttered quietly, "Thats the Bright I know."

=======

It had taken Bright a few moments to mingle her way through the others. She and Lucky had shared a laugh over Bright's uncanny gall at showing up in her condition.

"Hey, at least I can still make a black eye look good." Bright had said. Lucky had laughed at that and patted her shoulder before moving on to talk to another IH member that Bright didn't recognize.

But finally she did manage to find Havock and Jaenna in the kitchen. The two women were leaning against the counters and talking in hushed tones. The red head vehemently hoped that she hadn't caused any undo tension between the two. It was bad enough that Jae was no longer in Raiders, Havock wouldn't be able to bear a separation.

Bright leaned against a wall out of earshot so as not to interrupt the two squad leaders. She was all out of humor now. Havock had wanted her to explain what had happened and that was something Bright had wanted to avoid. But she held too much respect for the other woman to deny her.

Finally Jae looked up and gave Bright an icy stare. The senior sergeant bit her lip and stood where she was. Havock looked up as well and raised her brows. "You had best be standing there with a believable explanation, D'Jonoc." Two sets of blue eyes locked with Bright's violet ones.

"Are you going to make me stand to give it?" Bright asked breaking the eye contact. It wasn't that she wasn't prepared to stare the two women down, it was more that she didn't have the fight in her to do so at that moment. "Or am I permitted to sit?"

"You'd best allow her to sit, Ayme. The last thing we need is a half dead RAIDER on our kitchen floor." Jae said sardonically.

Bright rolled her eyes and sighed. When the three had sat Bright launched into her story of the last two standard weeks. She gave full details concerning the near take overs of her parent's estates. She hesitated for a moment before continuing her tale with the five assassination attempts including the one that had involved the stowaway that had nearly killed her the previous night. The one she had ejected out of an airlock before making her last jump back to Tadath.

Jae sat in virtual silence as she and Havock listened to Brightstar talk. Havock's congenial mood seemed to fade with every detail that Bright explained. Finally Bright just stopped talking, and sat waiting for a response.

He never did get to hear what the woman had whispered to him. As soon as she started talking, a heavy rap on the door sparked an entire inflow of party guests. Standing up, Kraytirous decided to let the subject drop. He was probably unwelcome in the woman's personal life. Story of my life. He thought to himself soberly as he walked over to the table of refreshments. It was going to be a long night.

Kraytirous was a relatively young recruit, on the underside of the drinking age spectrum by a year, but he knew no one would care if he drank or not. Scooping up a plastic cup filled with punch, he took a sip and smiled appreciatively. He could feel the head running down his throat that could only be the result of a hint of alcohol. Nowhere near enough to get anyone drunk, but enough to give a pleasant buzz.

He turned around and started to walk through the crowd, trying to awkwardly find anyone that he could talk to. But it seemed that everyone had found someone else to talk to or was busy doing something or other. Then came the bloodied and beaten woman through the doorway, the exclamations of surprise and the fuss eventually went back down.

Confusion was creasing the boy's forehead. Once more, deciding it was better to leave it be rather then investigate, he turned away from the scene and went into the kitchen. With no idea what to do nor anyone to talk with, he had nothing to do but try his best to help prepare the food. He was no top class chef, but he was competent. Having to live with the world's busiest uncle left him to scrounge for himself more often then not. He started by heating the meat rolls he'd brought himself.