[i]- Unregistered waystation, Outer Rim[/i]

Very few things were consistent across the known galaxy, yet luckily for Solace cantinas were among them. She sat back in one of the corner booths, scanning her surroundings and taking stock of the other patrons. The dim light worked to the advantage of not just her, but several others in the cantina, bounty hunters and smugglers as well as other individuals of ill-repute. Places like this were comfortable to her, even more so after their run-in with the Empire a few years back. Here she could relax, have a drink and make occasional small-talk with the local scum and villainy. An unregistered station in the middle of nowhere just made it easier.

To either side of her were a pair of smugglers, regaling her with the same tales that every other one told, but she flashed her smile and played along anyways. The taller human was handsome enough, and the scar across his face hinted that he could actually back up his words. She thought for a moment if he had told her his name, admittedly tuning out most of what the two were talking about. Ah, it was Henrik. Solace didn't even have to check her datapad to know he was wanted across a dozen systems for contraband charges. The other one, a rather forward Duros who's name she didn't care about, he was a much smaller fish.

[color=00a99d]"... So I told him that if he wanted, I could go wake the Moff. For just that brief moment, the trooper's face matched his armor in color. He told me to just go about my business and not to make any more trouble, something I promptly ignored of course."[/color] Laughing softly, she adjusted herself in the booth to face Henrik a little more directly, her leather duster open to display not just the blaster pistol at her hip, but also the hex-patterned black bodysuit which clung tightly to her skin. It produced the desired effect immediately, drawing the man's attention right where she wanted. [color=a187be]"So Henrik…"[/color] Solace purred the words, leaning forward and pursing her lips as her cybernetic eyes focused on him. [color=a187be]"I think you offered to show me your ship, did you not?"[/color]

The Duros wisely chose that moment to give up his pursuits, seeing that there was nothing for him. Leaving Solace to her games and the privacy of the secluded booth, he began to leave the cantina for the hangar when he passed by someone with the same face and a lot more vibrant clothes. Doing a double-take, he confirmed that the woman heading to the bar looked exactly like Solace and decided for himself that he should sleep off whatever he just drank before taking the helm.

[hr]

Approaching the bar with a light hum, Requiem took a seat at the counter and scanned across the holodisplays on the wall. Still wearing the cloth across her eyes, it took a moment for the overweight Trandoshan to recognize that she wasn't blind and lost.

[color=00a99d]"Miraluka far from home."[/color] He spoke in crude basic instead of his native tongue, more accustomed to having to use it when serving drinks. [color=00a99d]"This one provide alcoholic reminder?"[/color] Requiem turned her attention to him, a wide smile spreading across her lips as she nodded, placing a few credits on the counter. [color=f6989d]"Wasn't old enough to drink when I left, but mother always said the Alpheridian Syrah tasted like a summer breeze through the prairie-land south of the capital."[/color]

Grunting in acknowledgement, he set about retrieving the bottle, part of him suspect on how she knew he had it and another relieved to potentially get rid of the contraband. A moment later the dark liquid sat in a glass in front of her, and she thanked him softly as he left to service another. Requiem put the glass to her lips, taking a drink of the wine and nodding slowly as she felt her mother had been correct. It felt like a lifetime ago when the most her and her sister had to worry about was getting home before dark, a much simpler time that she longed for. Solace had embraced the changes in the galaxy, but it had always been harder for her to do the same. She just couldn't reconcile with the fact that many of the people she had known during their time in the order were gone. While it was true that a good number had gone into hiding, many more had fallen.

A slight brush against the surface thoughts of her mind let her know her sister present, and for once it was her that was lifting spirits. Requiem glanced over and almost immediately regretted it, drawing a laugh from one and confused looks from the other as she witness the lewd glances the smuggler was putting on her sister. She heard the hushed tones of an explanation, and a rather swift declined request that she didn't hear. All very strange, but she thought most of what Solace chose to do in her spare time was, and the rest were just things she had no interest in.

Resigning herself to spending a little more time on this station, she was distracted from the approach of a stranger to the bar and a little startled when he ordered his own drink and started introducing himself.

[color=00a99d]"Hello there, name's Jervis. Are you also a free trader stopping to rest?"[/color] The man offered a charming smile and for a moment she was caught off guard by him. He stood out from most of the other patrons, and not just for his clean well-kept face and clothing, but the very mannerisms in which he spoke and acted. An obvious Corellian, it didn't take more than a cursory reading of him to discover he really was a free trader, though licensed by one of the guilds. Requiem composed herself, a light blush coloring her cheeks as she turned to face him and bowed her head slightly. [color=f6989d]"H-hi, sorry you kind of surprised me. I'm-"[/color] Wait! Something cut her off before she introduced herself to him, advice from Solace on talking to people she didn't know. She couldn't just give him her name, not even her Miralukan one. Quick… Something fake but not too obvious.

[color=f6989d]"Miranda."[/color] Requiem mumbled, playing shy as she put her glass to her lips with both hands cradling it. [color=f6989d]"Miranda Lawson."[/color] Something sparked in the man's aura, inquisitive and suspicious at the same time. It was gone almost as soon as she noticed though, leaving her confused if maybe she wasn't reading him correctly, but as she probed at his surface thoughts and feelings she couldn't catch anything other than his charming curiosity. She let it go as he started talking again, telling her about his current route and what he thought to be the boring nature of shipping starship parts. Of course, as interested as she was in the discussion of other worlds and their cultures, she had to hide it and pretend to be just as bored of the same stops. Pretending like this wasn't very fun normally, but something about him made her comfortable with it and wanting to keep his attention for just a bit longe-

[color=a187be]++Oh, he's a real looker sis. Good job.++[/color]

Her sister's telepathic encouragement cut across all her thoughts like a rancor in a coruscant high-rise. She nearly choked on the wine in her mouth, coughing and going a deep red as she turned to pout at Solace, who was staring directly at her with a look that she didn't even want to describe. It came at a cost though, as it also drew Jervis' attention to the very same booth and that strange spark came up again. [color=f6989d]"Th-that's just my sister, she threw something at me…"[/color] A poor lie, though all of hers always were. Jervis looked between the two, and slowly she saw something like recognition flare in his mind, like he had seen them before. Solace saw it before she did, the way he stood up to take a better look and how his blaster sat on his hip. [color=7bcdc8]"I know you…"[/color] His attention was now focused on her sister, who was reaching underneath the table to rest her hand on her own blaster.

The next fifteen seconds passed painfully slow, every movement and word drawn out like the calm before the storm. Requiem left her seat at the bar, distancing herself from the man drawing a pistol in front of her. Across the cantina a group of smugglers looked up from their pazaak game, one of them reaching for a knife. Her sister had the palm of her other hand underneath the table, already starting to flip it as two words left Jervis' mouth. Those two words ignited the tension in the cantina that always lingered in such fringe establishments, and especially when an individual such as he was present.

[color=00a99d]"Imperial Intelligence!"[/color]