Returning Home:

It was a trip he had avoided taking for years.  In fact, it had been well over fifteen years.  But now, he was going fuelled by a desire for renewal and some very direct orders.  The direct orders had come from the admiral himself.  Apparently, during their last meeting, Arturus had seemed particularly tired from the long hours he spent running every last bit of his ship.  He had always obsessed over the little details and was a tireless worker.  It was beginning to take its toll though.  In the last two weeks, his paperwork had not been quite as meticulous as usual and his staff complained to him about how his attitude and general pose, namely one of stress and fatigue had begun to wear on the men as well.  As a result, the admiral had ordered him to take his first leave in&he couldn't remember how long.  He had a number of options.  Various resorts on planets had looked tempting and ordinarily he would have gone to a nice hotel, spent a couple days at the casino or exploring the wilderness, studying history, and engaging in some leisurely activities.  This time, however, he had decided upon something that was likely only to his stress and fatigue.

Over fifteen years ago, he had left his home on the tiny, temperate planet of Vipsalia.  Left made it sound as if it was a voluntary decision.  At the time, he was twenty-one and still studying at the planetary Academy where he had begun at the age of 15, some three years before the normal age of enrollment.  Throughout the six years, he was very studious but his parents began to grow frustrated by the amount of time he had been spending there.  They had expected that after the normal three years, he would have moved on to a position in local governance.  Vipsalia was a tightly controlled monarchy with some imperial military support.  The military support helped ensure that there was never an insurrection against the monarchy and the aristocracy of which Arturus' family were members.  They had a significant estate and owned a number of export businesses as was standard of the rich and power on the planet.  The empire and Vipsalia had a profitable and mutually beneficial commercial and trading relationship.

After one particular evening in which his parents, in an irate state, had demanded, in rage rather than seriously, that he stop living off of their income, leave the Academy, and do something useful with his life, Arturus decided to leave to study elsewhere and learn about life outside of the closed aristocracy.  He had never returned since despite repeated messages, at least in the early years, from his parents to return.  After experiencing a number of things while studying and becoming a smuggler, he had decided to join the empire with the ambition of becoming a ship captain.  His studies had given an extensive knowledge and understanding of naval tactics which he was eager to apply should he ever be granted the chance.  He attended the Imperial Academy for less than a year before graduating as a pilot.  It was not the career path he had in mind but it was what was needed and it did involve him in the navy.  From there, the rest was history in terms of his career with the empire.

But now, after fifteen years, he was returning.  The decision was not entirely spontaneous.  For a while, he had been considering a return in order to reconcile with his parents and rebuild an element of his life that had been missing.  He also wanted to ensure that all was well financially; perhaps it was self-centred but he wanted to ensure the estate he was to inherit, land, businesses, and money, was intact and in sound financial help.  Finally, he had recently received a surprise letter from his mother, whom he had not heard from in years and was surprised she even know how and where to contact him, that his father was ailing and that he wanted to see Arturus again.  Lawrence S. Hargraves III had always been a rather stubborn man and a shrewd businessman.  He also had good political and street sense which had allowed him to make strong connections over the years which he wanted to pass down to his children.  Arturus being the only child, for better or worse, Lawrence wanted to ensure that his son was introduced to his network before he passed on.  Whether or not he was seriously ill did not seem to matter; the tone of his mother's note seemed insistent and when considered with the forced relaxation and desire for reconciliation, now seemed the time to finally embark on this journey.

"Captain, your ship has arrived and is docking now."  Petty officer second class Rosens said over the commlink.  Rosens had been his personal assistant since Arturus had taken command.  He was reliable and fairly meticulous which had impressed Arturus.  In fact, Rosens was one of the few enlisted personnel Arturus felt was destined for a commission one day.

"Very well, send Lieutenant Amason to my quarters."  Arturus replied.

"Aye Captain."

Due to the lack of hanger space on the ship and the sheer size of Arturus' personal yacht, he had it stored at a planetary landing commercial docking area.  It was not cheap but it was a necessity of the times.  His droid had piloted the ship to rendezvous with the Doashim.  Arturus quickly checked to ensure that all of his bags were together, all two of them plus suit carrier, and then ordered another droid to bring them to his ship.  A few moments later, there was a knock on the door.

"Enter."  Arturus commanded sternly as he was flipping through some last minute paper work.

"You wanted to see me Captain?"  Amason asked as he entered Arturus' quarters.

"Yes Lieutenant.  I am departing now for my forced leave as planned.  Obviously you will be in command of the ship but I wanted to make a couple of things clear.  I will be in touch via commlink and computer at all times so if there are any problems I want to be notified ASAP.  In addition, try to keep the ship out of any combat as much as possible so work can continue.  I wouldn't think that the admiral would order much for this ship while its captain is gone but emergencies do happen.  Again, if that is the case, contact me at once.  I also want a report every other day on the status of the ship, a complete log of all of its activities, and the final sectional reports sent to me as soon as they are completed."  Arturus rambled on, his head slightly raised with his hand scratching his hair as he tried to think of anything he missed.

"Captain, I thought the admiral had ordered you to be on full leave.  His instructions said you were not to be bothered."  Amason chimed in with the intent to be helpful while also stern in fulfillment of the orders given to the ship.

"Lieutenant, consider this a compromise.  I don't want this leave, but I am taking it on the condition that I know what is occurring on my ship.  I value this ship, the personnel, and this job quite a bit and I will not risk any of it being torn to pieces.  I also will not allow discipline to slide in my absence so constant contact will be a warning to all to stay in line.  Insubordination will not be acceptable at all."  Arturus said firmly and almost angrily.

"As you wish captain."  Amason said reluctantly giving into Arturus' demanding nature.

"Very well, dismissed." Arturus ordered.  As Amason was almost out the door he called "and enjoy your turn at command Lieutenant.  I know I loved every second when I took temporary command once.  Maintain order, keep it efficient, but be your own leader.  This is a test for a new career for you."  Arturus said with a smile.  He was stern but he was also kind, especially to those few whom he trusted to be almost friends.  Amason was one of them despite the fact that they were often two very different people in terms of approach.  Arturus was stricter, less charismatic with his men, though he could be very charismatic under other situations and ruthlessly efficient while Amason was more laid back and had a more amicable relationship with the crew and the officers.  Perhaps this was because of past experience or maybe just his overall character.  Either way, the contrasts complimented each other in a strange sort of way when it came to running the ship.

Arturus locked his quarters and made his way to the ship.  He was in his officer's uniform and would be acting as though he were on imperial business while on the planet.  Given that he was unsure of the reception he would receive from his family and the fact that he wanted to relax a bit from them as well during that time, he had made a reservation at a resort hotel.  Vipsalia had a number of them and Arturus knew from his time there that they were of good quality.  By travelling in uniform and acting on official business, he could get the best at a cheaper rate.  The Vipsalians were appreciative of the support the empire provided them militarily and economically and they showed it with preferential treatment.  It proved yet again that the establishment of mutually beneficial relationships was a far better approach compared to the alternative which was conquest.

Once onboard the shuttle, Arturus took his time checking the systems carefully.  The ship had been out of sight for a long time and it had not been flown in an equally long time.  He had ordered his droid to run a full system check on the ship to ensure that nothing had been tampered with and that no maintenance was required.  Nevertheless, he wanted to check everything for himself.  Droids could make mistakes, despite the fact that the vocal ones would take "offense" to that.  In addition, they, and systems could be tampered with.  The droid had remained onboard the ship in shutdown mode, to be activated by Arturus when he required his ship or something done to the ship.  As a result, the droid could have suffered reprogramming by someone with malicious intent.  Given the fact that Arturus had a slight sense of paranoia, which was a hallmark trait of his character, it only made sense that he would do all of the checks himself and manually wherever possible.
Having at last satisfied himself about the safety of his own ship, Arturus pressed the release and his yacht drifted away from the strike cruiser.  With that, he was off.  While it would have been cliché to say that there was no turning back now, for Arturus knew that he always could and protest the orders of the admiral by declaring unforeseen military necessity, and because he hated clichés in general, Arturus knew that now he had chosen his path for the next two weeks.  Long had he avoided this but no longer, it was time to finally return and make amends.

The hyperspace trip wasn't terrible long.  During the time, however, Arturus had time to unwind in the study area of the yacht while two droids busied themselves cleaning the ship.  The dust had piled up a bit and most of the ship just needed a good overall cleaning.  Arturus was particular about those kinds of details.  Eight hours later, after fixing a meal for himself, enjoying half a bottle of good wine and a fascinating book on tactics, the hyperspace warning sounded indicating that the ship would be in the zone in five minutes.  Arturus stood up, stretched, fully buttoned his officer's tunic, and made his way into the cockpit to prepare for arrival.  The five minutes flew past and within no time he was racing towards the planet of his childhood.

 
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SCAP, WADJ/1LT Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/STCR Doashim/VE/VEN/(=A=)(=SA=)(=*MA*=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[MC:1](x2)[SV][BRC][VC:B][CBV][LSM][LoC][BWC][SWC][GWC]

The descent through the atmosphere of Vipsalia went smoothly enough.  As he travelled, Arturus could see the sweeping forests below, interrupted methodically by the presence of the large homes to switch the estates were attached.  Things had changed.  The cities looked larger, the forests smaller, and the number of estates seemed to have grown, suggesting that some of the aristocracy had sold old part of their holdings.  Nevertheless, there was a quiet feeling to the planet.  Despite the apparent expansion, it did not appear to be the kind of bustling system Arturus was accustomed to.  This was not to suggest that it was a small, dreary, planet with nothing to offer.  The main traffic to and from the planet was commercial trading and vacationers.  Vipsalia had a number of good resorts and casinos that helped maintain the economy.  In a sense, Vipsalia was very cosmopolitan at the upper echelons of society.  There was still a strong class divide amongst the people although from what Arturus had read, that was beginning to change.  He felt that such a change was a good thing.  The problem with the current system was that too many inferior people inherited large sums of money and used it for absolutely nothing.  Given that the average person on Vipsalia was already earning a decent income, the strong economy had eliminated poverty decades earlier, it was not a stretch to try to break down class barriers and the overall effects were highly desireble.  In time, Arturus hoped that the planet would change to an aristocracy of merit rather than one of mere wealth.

As he came closer to the planet's surface, he could begin to pick out the private landing pads that many estate owners had.  His parents had such a landing pad, or at least did while he lived there.  He could have decided to land there and get the meeting over with as soon as possible.  However, given that this was also supposed to be recreation, admittedly forced recreation but recreation none the less, Arturus decided to spend the first couple of days enjoying the good life before heading into the country.

While Arturus called these places cities out of habit, Vipsalia only truly had one area that could resemble a city and that was the "city" of Visalius, the capital and centre of government.  Vipsalia had not undergone the transformation to groups of mega cities as many planets had.  Part of this was due to the small population and lack of immigration to the planet.  It was too expensive for many to lieve in Vipsalia and, admittedly, the local population had not been particularly friendly to newcomers in the past.  If they wanted to stay at a resort, spend and gamble their money, and generally have a good time, then the local population welcomed them with open arms.  Spending money made you welcome.  Coming to live here did not despite the inheritly flawed logic in that position.  People who come to live at Vipsalia would naturally be spending a substantial amount of income annually while contributing to economic activity and the tax base.  Nevertheless, there was a certain close-mindedness amongst the population but that too had apparently begun to change.  For Arturus, the sooner that changed, the better.  He didn't want to see the planet turned into megacities, but the ideologically problematic outlooks of the people had to and were changing.

Arturus was heading to the town of Lysanka, to the south of the capital.  In addition to being the closest major centre to his parent's home, it also was one of the best resort spots on the planet.  Situated next to elegant highlands, partially surrounded by water, elegant beaches, and well groomed landscapes and forests, the scenery and view from any hotel room was stunning.  The water surrounding it made the area feel like a little island in the middle of one of Vipsalia's largest lakes.  This lake, Lake Rosterata, covered nearly five percent of the planet and its waters were a perfect pure blue.  The government poured billions into lake and landscape maintainance annually because of its importance to the economy.  As a result, the lake was not particularly natural in its composition anymore and did not have the number and types of lifeforms that it should.  Arturus felt that the planet's government went a little over the top with its methods but now, it was too late.  Permanent damage had be done so now all that could be done was to admire the long-term reality which was a pristine blue lake in a beautiful part of the planet.

At last Arturus was on final course to the town of Lysanka.  Upon receiving landing clearance at the commercial landing bay, he guided his yacht down and it it in spots 251 and 252.  Like all commercial landing areas, this one had a number of spots closer together to accommodate larger ships.  Arturus' yacht, while not enormous, did take up more than one spot so he was assigned a double.  The down side was that it would cost double the prize but the discount he expected due to him being an imperial officer on business would help against that expense.  It wasn't likely it particularly mattered anyhow.  Arturus certainly had the money to cover any expense, but he did try to be thrifty where possible.  In his childhood, he had seen far too many of Vipsalia's rich and powerful blow large inheritances on trivial expenses.  After a while, those seemingly trivial expenses added up and there was no money left to pay the bills, let alone afford the cost of most goods on the planet which were higher in price than many other systems.

The ship touched down smoothly and hissed as the repulsorlifts disengaged.  Arturus left the system shut down to his droid and had his protocol and general assistance droid accompany him to the main terminal.  Having not been to the planet in years, he was unsure of how the security procedures worked.  He brought his bags over to one of the customs lines and waited to be cleared through, searched, and papers verified.  He was in line for only a few seconds before one of the security personnel at the terminal raced over and asked Arturus to accompany him to an express line used for prominent citizens of the planet, military officers, and VIPs.  Arturus was only the third person in line and within two minutes he was at the front.  He placed his bags down to be scanned and passed over his identification and firearms permit but the security officer immediately shook his head and told him that only his military identification was required.  A quick swipe of the card brought up Arturus' profile and he was whisked through security.  He looked at his watch.  Twelve seconds.  Wearing the uniform clearly was the right choice.  He glanced over at the standard civilian line and saw that only one person had gone through during the entire time he was in the express line.  Security was taken very seriously at Vipsalia due to the number of wealthy people who came to the planet.

The security was even more obvious as he was leaving the terminal.  The outside was well guarded with personnel and all taxis and limosines appeared to be stopped at the gate for a couple of minutes while they were being verified.  It was clear that the government did not want to risk the chance of a taki or limosine driver taking a new arrival from the terminal and bringing them immediately to some criminal element where they could be ransomed back.  Such an action would be deeply embarassing for the government and certainly would not be the best way to attract new, wealthy visitors to the planet.  Overhead, as he had seen earlier when he entered the atmosphere, fighters whizzed by on patrol.  Any ship that was deemed to be even the slightest bit suspicious was escorted to a secure area of the commercial landing zone where the ship would be met by security personnel and examined.

It wasn't a long wait for a taxi despite the delays at the gate.  There was an ample number of them in the area and Arturus was soon whisked away towards the resort town, some fifteen minutes away from the landing area.  Once they had left the secured confines of the commercial landing zone, one would never know that the government had a security presence.  The taxi raced through the hills of elegant, old forests.  It was the end of the hot season and the refreshing, but not too cold, breeze ruffled the leaves and pines ever so slightly giving a very calming effect to the rather mysterious looking forests.  Adventures had found a number of buildings in the forests and some had been excavated.  For the most part, the government frowned upon such excavations, even for historical purposes.  Part of this was the fact that the government did not want to damage the view and the forests which were so important for attracting people.  The other part was what appeared to be a bit of concern in the government about what might be found and how this might impact the political situation.  Anything that might stir controversy was to be avoided.  It was, in essence, government policy to avoid conflict of any kind.  As long as there was peace, tranquility, and the free flow of tourists and commerce, then the government was satisfied.

The fifteen minutes seemed to fly by.  During that time, Arturus was deep in thought as he looked out into the forests.  Just hidden from view along the road were security checkpoints so that personnel could respond if anyone tried to intercept people on their way to and from the landing zone.  This went for both people and trucks of good destined to the resort town.  The government was seemingly as concerned about the fact that a shipment of some exotic wine might be intercepted as it was about some wealthy person, or worse yet their child, being ransomed.  A study of government priorities on Vipsalia was fascinating if nothing else.
Suddenly ahead, they began to descend and within a minute, the forests and thinned and they were passing through an elegant stone gateway into the town.  Arturus had been here once before a long time ago and it was just as elegant, if not more so, than it was then.  The streets were absolutely immaculate he noticed as they passed the old, expensive shops and street stands.  The street vendors sold handcrafted jewellery, exotic imports, and other high class goods.  There was nothing low class in this town that was designed specifically to entertain some of the galaxy's wealthy and powerful.  In a way, Arturus was thankful that he was not currently attached to anyone.  Taking a wife or girlfriend here would be a definite pain on the wallet.  In fact, it would probably sending his credit cards screaming in agony from the pain of the heat caused by swiping them so many times here.  No matter, he was unattached and had no intention of spending lavishly at the fine shoppes in the town.  There was one thing he was looking for though; a new watch.  He believed, and was probably right, that he could find a very nice new watch here though admittedly for a very expensive price.  Alas, it was true when they say no things in life are free.

The taxi cruised slowly through the town as it wound its way along the river that flowed gracefully through the middle of the town with the road on either side and bridges, decorated with beautiful flowers, every fifty meters.  Each bridge was themed so that a person's river crossing experience was always unique.  Arturus blinked at the thought, he was sounding like a bloody travel agent for a moment.  Frightening.  Such a sentence was so ridiculous and over top, as most sales pitches are, that it offending his intelligence.  He put the thoughts out of his mind and relaxed in order to enjoy the final couple of minutes as they proceeded to the hotel.

 
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SCAP, WADJ/1LT Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/STCR Doashim/VE/VEN/(=A=)(=SA=)(=*MA*=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[MC:1](x2)[SV][BRC][VC:B][CBV][LSM][LoC][BWC][SWC][GWC][LoC-DD][CM-PL]

Tally tally tally!
 
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SCAP, WADJ/1LT Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/STCR Doashim/VE/VEN/(=A=)(=SA=)(=*MA*=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[MC:1](x2)[SV][BRC][VC:B][CBV][LSM][LoC][BWC][SWC][GWC][LoC-DD][CM-PL]

Can you say....TALLY?
 
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SCAP, WADJ/1LT Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/STCR Doashim/VE/VEN/(=A=)(=SA=)(=*MA*=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[MC:1](x2)[SV][BRC][VC:B][CBV][LSM][LoC][BWC][SWC][GWC][LoC-DD][CM-PL]

Tally!
 
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SCAP, WADJ/1LT Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/STCR Doashim/VE/VEN/(=A=)(=SA=)(=*MA*=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[MC:1](x2)[SV][BRC][VC:B][CBV][LSM][LoC][BWC][SWC][GWC][LoC-DD][CM-PL]

Un autre tally!
 
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SCAP, WADJ/1LT Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/STCR Doashim/1Flt/VE/VEN/(=A=)(=SA=)(=*MA*=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[MC:1](x2)[SV][BRC][VC:B][CBV][LSM][LoR][BWC][SWC][GWC][LoC-DD][CM-PL]

Arturus thought for a moment.  How to handle this decision.  "Well the tournament did interest me but I must say that this here means more to me than a few hours of gambling.  In fact, the two aren't even comparable; they are on opposite sides of the galaxy figuratively speaking."  He replied to her comment about the tournament.

"Oh come now Corran, I know perfectly well that you were interested in playing.  I think that you should, it'd be fun."  Sabrina replied.  Why was she doing?  Who begs someone to enter a poker tournament while they are on a first date?  It was very strange he thought to himself.

"I must say" he began slowly, "that I am rather perplexed.  Forgive me for saying so.  It is just that this seems to be a rather bizarre situation."  He stated.  He really didn't know what to say at this point.  It was time to lay his cards on the tabling.  Now that was a fitting analogy given the situation.  She looked at him for a moment.  Clearly she was contemplating whether or not she should follow suit and lay it all out on the table or keep her cards close for a while still.  As she began speaking, it seems she chose the latter of the two options.

"You have given me so much tonight.  A wonderful meal, champagne, caviar, excellent entertainment, and the warmest and most pleasurable company I've had in years.  It has been a very special night for me and it was very gracious of you to do this.  Now I want to do this for you."  She said.  As Arturus thought of a reply, Sabrina took her small evening purse that matched her gown and opened it.  She pulled out a card and passed it to him along the side of the table facing the stage, away from the other patrons.  Now that was rather odd.  Arturus took it and kept it low, out of sight.  He gave it a brief glance as he made it disappear in his hands.  "There is the stake to get into the tournament.  One hundred thousand credits for the buy in, fifty thousand for the re buy if you need it, and twenty-five thousand for the house as the entrance fee.  One hundred seventy-five thousand in total as the tournament advertises."  She said.  Where did she have all this money?  He had guessed quite rightly that she had money but most people don't discreetly give someone over nearly two hundred thousand credits and tell them to potentially lose it all gambling.

"I&I don't understand."  He said, his face mystified.  Part of that was an act, he was beginning to put some pieces together and he did not like the picture that his mind was putting together based upon his observations of her and the evening.

"Please, I want to do something for you.  Clearly you enjoy these tournaments or else you would not have shown so much interest in a higher stakes game.  You also have the money and the desire which shows you have done this before and perhaps been successful enough to give it another try.  Corran, you've been wonderful to me; let me repay the favour."  She said.  Her face screamed her desperation for him to accept her explanation and not to ask any more questions.  He did have questions though.  In fact, he had many.  But now clearly did not seem to be the time.  His instincts took over on that one or else he would have pressed harder.

"I didn't do it as a favour, I did it first to be gracious and secondly because the more we spoke and were together, the more my feelings demanded that I do so.  You're a special person with whom it is wonderful to spend an evening.  Thus I did it for you with no strings attached.  However, clearly this is important to you and I accept with a reluctance fuelled by what I have just stated."  Her face showed nothing but relief and thanks.  He looked down at this watch; quarter to eleven.  He had less than fifteen minutes to register for the first phase of the tournament.  Tonight was the qualifying round.  Ten tables, ten players at each, table winners went on to the finals the next night.  There was one re buy option for the tournament which could be used either in the qualifying round or the finals where the chips were reset to one million with the fifty thousand buy in having an equivalence of half a million.  The final pot would contain the total of the rebuyins used in the tournament so in the end, the maximum pot was the advertised fifteen million.  The casino would take in four million from entry fees.  All in all, it was a very profitable tournament for the casino and for the person lucky enough, or skilled enough, to win it all.

Arturus summoned the waiter over.  The waiter brought an electronic payment device.  Arturus swiped a cash card and authorized the transfer, leaving the waiter a tip above the average expected.

"Thank you sir."  The waiter said as took the small machine back.  He bowed slightly and left.  Arturus and Sabrina stood and Sabrina took her purse and wrap.  It was a short walk out of the dining room to the main casino area.  At the entrance that separated the large room with the machines from the smaller tables room there were a number of casino staff beside a registration booth.  There was also a mobile coat check, two servant droids, and another metal detector with security staff.  Great&  This time he may have to surrender his weapon.  Arturus walked up to the desk.

"Good evening sir, madam."  The man standing behind the high desk, a large podium with terminal was probably a better description, said as the two approached.  "If you haven't registered yet you are just in time.  There are still a couple of table positions remaining."  He continued.  "Are you registered?"  He asked.

"I am not."  Arturus replied.

"Very well sir.  Are you registered or wish to register madam?"  The man asked turning to Sabrina.

"I am not registered; I am just here with my husband."  She replied.  What the hell was she up to?  Arturus tried not to react to the statement.  This was going too far.  He wanted answers now but knew he wouldn't get them if he tried.  It was not the right time.  Come to think of it, he wanted right out of this situation which was quickly moving out of his control.  It had gone from romance to manipulation and he did not enjoy being the pawn.  "I trust that I may observe from one of the tables at the bar inside."  She continued.  The man confirmed that this was in fact the case.

"Very well then sir, your name?"  He asked Arturus.  Real name or fake?  Arturus very briefly considered turning the tables back on Sabrina by throwing in a little twist of his own.  He decided against it though for a number of reasons including practical ones.  For now, he would go along as requested but after the evening was over, they needed to have a very serious chat.

"Corran Hargraves."  Arturus replied.  The man typed the name into the computer which presumably both registered Arturus and fed his name into the table position randomizer.

"Welcome Mr. Hargraves.  As you know, there is an entrance fee of twenty-five thousand credits plus the initial one hundred thousand credit buy in.  Throughout the course of the tournament, you have the option to re buy in for a price of fifty thousand.  In the qualifying round, this will buy you fifty thousand credits or half your entrance value.  In the final round, should you make it to that stage, it will buy you five hundred thousand credits or half the starting total of all players once the chip levels are reset."  The man explained to Arturus.  He then took out a small machine identical to the one the waiter had used.  "This sir is for the twenty-five thousand credit entry fee.  If you would be so kind as to make the payment now sir."  Arturus took the machine the man handed him and pulled out the card from his pocket.  It looked to be a standard cash card though with a scanning strip that seemed far more complex than the average card.  It also had a rather odd insignia on it unlike one he had ever seen before.  Perhaps it was the emblem of the company Sabrina worked for though Arturus believed that this was probably unlikely.  For all he knew at this point, she was not a galactic trade consultant.  Just before he swiped it he realized he did not know the authorization code.  Arturus reached back into the same pocket praying that the small optional chip that could be used for those who could not memorize their authorization code would be in his pocket.

"You placed it in your other pocket when we left the dining room honey."  Sabrina said as he reached in.  Arturus muttered that she was right and reached into his other pocket.  Sure enough, there was the chip that could be inserted.  How had she gotten it in there?  Then again, had it been her at all?  Then Arturus remembered; it was obvious.  She had slipped it into his pocket while they were dancing.  No wonder she wanted him close.  So much for thinking that it was all just pure romance.  Why couldn't anything be slightly simple for once?

"Thank you honey."  Arturus said as he pulled the chip out.  He slipped the chip into the slot built into the machine and then swiped the card.  It asked him to confirm the amount of twenty-five thousand.  Arturus confirmed and the authorized message popped up a second later along with the balance that always flashed once for the user before it was returned to the staff member.  It flashed only once so that only the user and not the staff member could see.  Arturus tried not to blink or react when he saw the balance.  The account had far more than one hundred seventy-five thousand credits in it.  The balance he saw showed over twenty-five million credits.  What the hell was she up to?  He was becoming more confused and suspicious and it was becoming difficult to keep his body from showing surprise at each new twist in the affair.

"Thank you sir."  The man said taking back the machine.  The authorization had also appeared on his terminal.  He quickly typed into a second machine and passed it to Arturus.  He recognized this one instantly as the standard stakes holding machine that were used at casino for these events.  Arturus repeated the process, this time authorizing the transfer of one hundred thousand, before handing the machine back.  "And thank you again."  The man replied as he took the machine back.  He was in his thirties, maybe even the same age as Arturus.  He had black hair, brown eyes, and a frame that wore his suit very well.  The name tag stated that his name was Andrew.  "You have been entered into the tournament.  Table draws will be beginning in five minutes after which time the game will begin.  The tournament director inside will provide further information about how the night will proceed.  All you must do now is pass through the security station.  Good luck sir."  Andrew instructed.

"Thank you."  Arturus said in a friendly tone.  He could at least act like he was about to have a good time.  He would need to.  The last thing he needed was distractions and yet his mind was completely distracted with the situation that he now found himself in.  One new question that had arisen was how had Sabrina acquired, or acquired access to, twenty-five million credits and what was the emblem on the card he had just used to pay the entrance fee and stakes.  More questions, no answers.  Not a very good streak so far.

 
-----------------------
SCAP, WADJ/1LT Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/STCR Doashim/1Flt/VE/VEN/(=A=)(=SA=)(=*MA*=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[MC:1](x2)[SV][BRC][VC:B][CBV][LSM][LoR][BWC][SWC][GWC][LoC-DD][CM-PL]

TALLY!!!!!!!!!
 
-----------------------
SCAP, WADJ/1LT Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/STCR Doashim/1Flt/VE/VEN/(=A=)(=SA=)(=*MA*=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[MC:1](x2)[SV][BRC][VC:B][CBV][LSM][LoR][BWC][SWC][GWC][LoC-DD][CM-PL]

TALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
-----------------------
SCAP, WADJ/1LT Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/STCR Doashim/1Flt/VE/VEN/(=A=)(=SA=)(=*MA*=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[MC:1](x2)[SV][BRC][VC:B][CBV][LSM][LoR][BWC][SWC][GWC][LoC-DD][CM-PL]