A Hardened Heart [Open]

[Sinead DeBeynac]

"I'll let your date know you've arrived when they do, Miss..." Sinead glared at the waiter. "Won't be needed. I'm taking me, myself and I out to a date tonight. Such a crowd, right?" She snarled and the waiter just retreated, looking a little afraid. She knew she shouldn't have been snappy like this, but she didn't give a damn. Hell, even coming to this restaurant on her own was kinda stupid, but she loved their food and if she waited for the day she'd be seeing someone again, she might die before.

It had been a few bad days and nights. Over the past year or so, she had made her peace with her break up with Spark and her disappearance, but sometimes the pain still came back to life. And it hurt, a frelling lot.

"Bring me a Magnum of Coruscanti Champagne, please." She asked as the waiter returned with the menu. She caught the look of horror. "Won't even make me tipsy sadly enough. Shoo, fetch it for me, thanks a lot." She said with a sad smile, her tone having softened contrary to when she had first arrived.

Looking at the large amount of choices made Sinead suddenly think how she'd have thought about taking a certain imperial here a couple of months ago. When she had worked with Praji, she had found her interesting. It had been the first time since she had become single again. Forgetting Spark was probably impossible but what she had liked about the imperial agent was how different she was from the woman she had hoped to marry. There was beauty and danger about Praji. She had hoped to get the opportunity to see her again, but it had been a few months now. She didn't know whether the Empire would ever wish to pair them up again.

Sinead hadn't tried to contact her again. She hadn't wanted to come across as desperate or too flirty. She hadn't known whether she was ready. She still remember that moment when she had just wanted to throw Praji against the nearest wall and unleash passion, but she hadn't acted on this.

She had had a few opportunities for easy hook ups in the past year, but she hadn't really cared at all. She wasn't a prude but she didn't see the point of engaging in anything personal with someone she didn't really want.

[Charon Black]

Charon considered the fine dining that currently sat on his table. Charon didn't know what anything on the menu actually was, and so asked for the waiter's recommendation. What came out to him was food that looked like it was fit for a Hutt...

"Ah. I suppose that makes sense then." Charon says, waving the waiter over to him, impatiently.

"Do you carry Tionese Rum?" Charon asks.

"Uhhh, no." The waiter says in a deprecating fashion.

"Well then, ya' bloody servant. Per'aps you should be gettin' me a rum of some kind, before I make it a point to leave you marooned on the nearest asteroid." Charon says, his anger causing his Tionese accent to come out of him, his gravelly voice causing the desired reaction from the waiter.

Charon shook his head. For the money he paid for this dinner, he could've paid for an entire round of drinks at Aya's Cantina. He was quite disappointed.

Charon looks around and sees a woman being served an entire bottle of champagne. He could tell that she was in similar spirits as he, but probably for different reasons.

"Aye lass." He calls to her. "If you're feeling anything like me right now, Rum'll do you better than that bubbly stuff." Charon says, taking a pipe from his jacket. He packs it with tabac leaves and lights it aflame. Fancier patrons began moving away from him, which was fine. Charon didn't care a lot about appearances, save that his was fearsome towards his targets.

[Sinead DeBeynac]

Sinead's attention was briefly caught by a man getting peeved at a waiter. She wondered what the hell he was doing here, though maybe she was in a very bad position to even think that. Some crackers and assorted little things to munch on were brought to her table along with the magnum bottle of champagne she had ordered.

When the man called to her, she wrinkled her nose at the smell of tabac, never having liked it. "I think this is a no smoking area, man." She replied. If she had wanted to be in a tobacco crowded area, she'd have gone to the cantina or other areas of Drifter's.

"Thanks for the suggestion, but a bottle of rum or one of champagne won't have a different effect on me. Booze does nothing to me. Shame, uh?" She replied with a smirk. She was going to make up for this with the dessert menu, but she wasn't going to say this.

[Charon Black]

"I thought it might be. I was sort of hoping to get thrown out of the establishment, but it looks like smell of my leaf has created enough of a shield to prevent any of these high-society types from getting to me. I'll have to remember that the next time I take one of your ships." Charon says to the assorted couples around him, who gasp audibly and do their best to try and ignore the pirate.

"Just throw me the bottle! I wouldn't want you to get smoke on your jacket." Charon calls out to the waiter holding a corked rum bottle in his hands. The waiter tosses it at Charon, intending to hit him with it. Charon catches it easily.

"Good throw, lad!" Charon says, holding the rum bottle up at him in a salute.

Charon pauses and looks at the woman.

"Tell me you didn't say what I think you just said. It does nothing to you? Please tell me you didn't do that to yourself, lass. I've heard of people getting modified before, but never to prevent the effects of alcohol. I don't know about you, but in my line of work a spot of rum tends to help with my on the job performance." Charon says with a smile, his teeth surprisingly white.

[Sinead DeBeynac]

"If you don't stop smoking, I'm the one who'll throw you out of this establishment." Sinead said very coldly. "I've done this before, to a Trandoshan." She explained curtly. The establishment crew could confirm that. Vaago's Lieutenant Mercenary wasn't one to be triffled with, even though she rarely pulled rank.

She just wasn't in the mood to smell smoke when she was enjoying her dinner in this setting and if she had to clean the place herself, even if it meant getting smoke and ashes on her evening dress, so be it. In her line of work, she'd gone through drastically worse ordeals!

"Booze never did anything to me. Some of us are like this. I'm going to drink that bloody magnum of champagne because it goes well with my dinner and if I want to down a bottle of whiskey afterwards, I'll still be able to break the exact bones I want to in someone." She smirked and downed half the first glass.

[Charon Black]

"Why didn't you say so before, lass? I meant no offense. To you." Charon says, snuffing out the flames of his pipe.

"A trandoshan, you say? Second only to wookiees in their ability to tear off arms. Color me impressed, lass." Charon says.

"Let's hope your liver can keep up with your drinking. Losing your body's natural ability to tell you when you need to stop could lead to an early retirement." Charon says in jest.

"My manners have escaped me. My name is Charon Black. Would you be averse to me joining you? Who knows, perhaps my manners will improve when faced with the potential of a trouncing." Charon says to her.

[Sinead DeBeynac]

"Thank you." Sinead replied in a polite tone when the man stopped smoking. "Yup a Trandoshan. Ah, Wookies. These, I've rescued in the past, not faced in combat." She remarked, her mind suddenly returning to a mission. She quenched the trip down memory lane before it could start.

"My liver's mighty fine. I have some unique perks." She observed with a grin, knowing that her Zelosian attributes made for some interesting qualities.

When he introduced himself and offered her to join him, she eventually nodded. Getting to her feet, she grabbed the large bottle and her half empty glass before taking the seat opposite him. She extended her hand. "Name's Sinead DeBeynac. And beating someone tends to make me feel better. So beware." She chuckled.

[Charon Black]

"I'll stay on my guard then. A broken spine isn't conducive to privateering." Charon says, shaking her hand.

Charon's spirits were improving. Anything to distract him from the slimy thing that may or may not be alive on his plate was good enough for Charon. Sinead seemed enough like a scoundrel for them to carry on a conversation. Charon had trouble talking to high society types. Those conversations nearly always ended in a fist fight.

"You say you've rescued wookiees? What sort of work are you involved in, lass? It's usually not the rescue of wookiees that people that frequent Drifter's often get tasked with doing. Perhaps it's just my line of work. I don't have much experience doing jobs that don't involve terrorizing the space lanes." Charon says to her, taking a pull from his bottle of rum.

[Sinead DeBeynac]

"No kidding." Sinead chuckled, somewhat appreciating the distraction. Decent banter was a goood thing. The waiter returned and she placed her order, with some large fancy meat piece with tons of fried vegetables.

She leaned forward afterwards, having seen what was in Black's plate. "You should avoid the page of the menu that's entitled 'Selection for Our Hutt Friends' next time. Just saying." She chuckled and downed her champagne before refilling.

"I'm a mercenary. One of Vaago's Lieutenants to be precise." She explained. "Terrorizing space lanes? Let me guess, you specialize in the pirate life."

[Charon Black]

"I KNEW I saw Vaago eating something like that when I went into the Audience Chamber the other day. O' course it was very dark and the protocol droid's glowing eyes made it difficult to concentrate, but I coulda' swore he was eating some wriggling thing" Charon says.

He turns to look at the waiter who served it to him, talking to Sinead while he did so.

"If you know what that guy drives, I'd be much obliged." He says with a sneer.

He turns back to the table.

"A mercenary, eh? Should i call you lieutenant, then?" Charon begins. " I'm a pirate under the employ of Vaago. He loaned me some droids to serve as my crew. They're b1s and an R2, but they're good enough for what I need them for."

Vaago takes a sip of his rum from the bottle.

"I was in the Tionese Navy for a small bit, but got a little discouraged after my first few paychecks weren't enough to pay the rent. So I cobbled together an ugly out of some old TIE and X-Wing parts. I used that to steal a small corvette, and eventually came into possession of my Thanium Star-Glaive. She's an old fussock, but when you're a working man taking some cargo from point A to Point B, the last thing you expect to see is a ship from thousands of years ago pull up in front of you, knock out your systems, and see it's captain standing on the nose staring you dead in the eye, resistance seems to melt away." Charon says.

"You make people think you're the Devil incarnate, they tend to give up real quick like. If not, I've got blasters." Charon continues.

"What about you? Did you have prior military service before working for Vaago?"

[Sinead DeBeynac]

Sinead smirked at what Black explained. "It takes some time to getting used to Vaago's audience chambers. They're redoing the lights though. Can't get any darker." She remarked with a shrug. It'd been a few years since she'd been working for him. She hadn't expected to gain such a position among its favorite and most deadly employees but she liked it.

"Yes, a mercenary. Sinead will do just fine." She nodded when he explained his pirate experience and how he came to work with the Hutt running Drifter's. "Taking others by surprise and not looking the part can be very practical. Pulling the innocent card has helped me more often than not in the past."

When asked about her experience, she shook her head at the question about military past. "I left home when a teenager, became a damn good thief. I eventually decided to expand and make more bucks and joined Vaago's merry band. A few years later, I've hit the top. Good incentive to stay on top of the game."

[Charon Black]

"Indeed it is, lass. To work your way up to the top mercenary position in the galaxy from such humble beginnings is no small feat. Coupled with the fact that you've proven yourself a viable combatant throws a kink into the boast that the Republic and the Empire give about their armies. Maybe all their trainin' i'nt much good if you don't have the heart to back it up." Charon says.

"So is this the extent of Vaago's enterprise? Something tells me he's a little more than a vendor of jobs for people like us. The Hutts tend to have a thirst for expansion of their influence. Vaago would be an outlier, if he wasn't in charge of a kajidic of his own..." Charon says, a smile on his face.

[Sinead DeBeynac]

"Loving what you do is definitely a huge thing. I ain't spitting on the juicy credits I make, but I dig being a merc and anytime I get to go rob someone, I'm giddy as a child on Life's Day." Sinead replied with a smug grin. Remaining independent also was a good way of making money and having some freedom in this galaxy. Vaago had ties to all big name factions, as she was the living proof of it, having accepted to be used for some special missions, but in the end, he was his own puppet master.

"Drifter's a fancy window for what Vaago does and a decent business, but it's mostly a hub. Vaago's a talent recruiter and keeper. If he was just about posting jobs for us, we wouldn't be working for him. By hiring the best in his cartel, he makes sure he - and thus us - get better pain, greater influence in the underworld and beyond."

She chuckled and took a gulp of champagne. "Ain't no fancy line I was asked to learn by the way!" She smirked. "I was far from sure I'd stick around when I first started here. If I hadn't liked it or the results, I'd have gone off on my own again."

[Charon Black]

Charon listened with great interest. There was profit to be made if you were to get in good with a powerful Hutt. Since Jabba's death, Vaago has been known galaxy-wide as a powerful crime lord. Probably the most powerful.

"Vaago gave me droids to help crew my ship, just because I asked for them. Part of the reason is that B1s and some R2 units are pretty cheap to come by, but most businessmen wouldn't take such a chance on a relative unknown like me. I owe the hutt a few dozen hauls of loot just for that act." Charon says with a smile.

"I believe you, lass. You don't seem the type to spew out corporate bantha waste. I think I'll enjoy my time here. Working with Vaago is sure to be more profitable and a lot more stable than if I were to tackle pirating alone. Privateers tend to live longer than run-of-the-mill pirates. And I plan on living to see my retirement.” Charon says.

“Should you ever need some sort of air support or passage, there’s always room on my ship.” Charon says, raising his rum bottle to her in a toasting fashion.

“To coin, and the hell we raise to attain it.”

[Sinead DeBeynac]

"I'm not surprised Vaago did that. He knows when someone's worthy of his time and interest. And if you prove you're not anymore, he makes sure he won't see you again." Sinead mused as the waiter brought her dish. She dug into it at once, appreciating the food. She hadn't realized how starving she had been.

"If you're as good at your job as you say you are and get things done how the contracts say they should be... You're going to make a solid name for yourself in the Cartel. No doubt about that." She had seen quite a few people rise quick and steady in the ranks, when they proved their value.

"Thanks for the offer. I'll keep that in mind. If you ever need an item stolen, feel free to contact me as well."

When he raised his rum bottle for a toast, she refilled her glass and raised it. "Cheers to that." She replied with a grin.