Keel nodded slowly, conquering the swell of violence rising within him at this woman's change in attitude. He had her completely figured out now. In spite of how clever she might think she is, she was still just one of those millions of 'don't call me a chick' chicks who used their sex when it suited them. If this were another situation he'd have been tempted to rid her of her hypocrisy and teach this freaky b*tch not to play with fire. But for now...

“It's your show, Aleena” he offered a pleasant smile along with his presumption. “If your petition is successful and I am 'allowed' to tag along to show my usefulness, I'll prove my worth. I assume this will be a standard pay single job contract with a view to extension to permanency following assessment?”
Damn right I'm a businessman, he thought. And she can 'respect' the hell out of how businessman never offers his services for free. He'd at least recoup the cost of that outrageous drink. B*tch.

“You have my details. I look forward to receiving the details of our arrangement.”

He considered standing up and leaving her there but reigned himself in. In spite of how he might personally feel right now about this woman, getting his foot in the door of this Agency still all depended on her. Verbal sparring aside, he couldn't afford to risk seeming overly rude. Best leave it to her to decide if they were done, or if she wanted to linger; the illusion of control seemed very important to this one.

((just so i don' have to search through pages again to reffer (if this is a bother i'll remove the quote)))

Sureshot wrote:

"So i hear you are the head of E.P.O,C,H... so i gotta ask, how and when do i join?"... The woman's abrupt question took the Falleen by surprise. Someone had been talking too freely about his position in the agency and considering his current situation this gave cause for concern. "My dear...." He took the woman to one side and placed them out of earshot from the surrounding crowd. "...is it wise to lower your voice." Placing his hand on the shoulder of Renia he moved in closely, his words but a whisper. "And if I was this so called 'Head of E.P.O.C.H' may I ask what you are offering exactly?" The overwhelming desire for credits was always at the forefront of his mind and this woman if not slightly too bold intrigued him. One quality he prided himself on was his sharp judgement and something deep inside told him that this was no mere Hyperion punter.

"Well first of all, i don't like being handled" She said in a deepish tone, removing his hand off of her shoulder. "...What do i offer eh? I offer my... talents" Her face shows a big grin. "...And i could always throw in a payment of somekind in there aswell." She moved her hair with a sway... trying an old seduction technique as she pulled a large credit balance from her belt pocket. "Also if you want a job done... i don't hesitate, no matter the mission. But that would only be if you were the person i'm looking for."

The Hapan woman leaned back on her chair and seemed to relax.

"Excellent. Well I'd say that was the formality of business out of the way, wouldn't you?" She motioned to one of the serving droids to come to their table and placed the two empty glasses upon the tray which was actually part of its arms.

"Another round, please." She said to the droid as she looked in Eamonn's direction. "I will have the same and bring Mr Keel here whatever he wants. Charge it to my tab."

Crossing her legs and stretching her arms upon the table she took up a much more relaxed, informal pose and seemed considerably more at ease than Eamonn had seen her since they first met.

"So, tell me about yourself, Eamonn." She began, but suddenly chipped back in when she saw him considering his response.

"Not what is in your record, I know all that. I ran a background check on you before we met. Tell me about the real you. The man I will hopefully be working with. All I really know is that you're well-mannered considering your profession, and that you have a very....specific view of women; something which I suspect put me in your bad books before I even opened my mouth. Am I correct?"

She smiled as she said this, the droid still standing by patiently waiting for Keel to make his choice.

"Despite what you might think, I mean no offence by that. I like a man who knows what he wants and goes into the Galaxy to get it. I.....that is 'we' need more people with that attitude." She said with a sly wink.

Eamonn was getting the distinct impression that there were three people involved in this conversation. There was obviously something wrong with her, you could tell that much just by looking at her. He was beginning to wonder if her physical appearance hinted at a corresponding mental aberation. It must be the black magic, Keel decided. It's done something to her brain. Whatever the cause, he much preferred talking with this woman over the b*tch who broke unannounced into their conversation a moment ago. He recognised the danger inherent in such unstable individuals but hell, who didn't have demons screaming in their heads? At least he could look this one in the eye. And she wasn't dull, he'd give her that.

“Same again here” He addressed the droid and watched it make it's short trip back to the bar before turning back to Aleena. He took his time before answering her her question. She'd could think again if she expected him to be grateful for her latest sudden U-turn in attitude; he wasn't some dog that would roll over and wag it's tail in delight when it's owner decided to rub it's belly instead of delivering the usual kick to the ribs. Maybe she was trying one of those mind-tricks that he'd heard these wizards used. He smiled inwardly. If she was trying that sh*t on him, it clearly wasn't working.

He ignored her observation about his attitude to women; he couldn't give a damn about whatever pop-psychology she wanted to apply to him. It didn't matter to him in the slightest what she thought she knew about him. Preconceptions worked in his favour. Anyway... On with the show.

He leaned back in his chair and shrugged, theatrically shaking his head in false modesty. He delivered his cliched line with understated aplomb. “There's really not much to tell...” He rolled his eyes and grinned at his joking pastiche. “Well of course there is, but much of it is very dull and most of it I think you probably already know”

The service droid returned with the two drinks and placed them on the table before trundling off once more. “I grew up in the slums on Taris. I think I must have been about ten or eleven years old when I finally found the wrong crowd to fall in with and made a deal that got me off that rock. One of those 'wrong sorts' was a fellow who recognised that young boy's smarts and potential and it was he who set me on the path to riches and glory” Keel's mouth twisted into smile half way between pride and irony.

He paused in his monologue to light a cigarra. ”On Hutta you learn to become strong or to become a victim and that's where the boy found his feet” Keel gave a snort of laughter. “And his fists! On that planet there's no place for childhood. Not that you'd find a carefree child anywhere on Taris. But Hutta proved a practical place for an ex-Bounty Hunter to resume his old trade and turn a boy into a serviceable partner over the years”

Keel had begun to speak of himself in the third person. Whether this was simply an oratorical style he had adopted for the telling of his tale, or a subconscious process suggesting a need to divorce himself from his memories was open to interpretation.

He looked at Aleena through the drift of blue smoke rising from his cigarra. She appeared interested, so he chose to add a few small details to his story. ”Probably one of the smartest things Bhaskar ever did was recognising the lad was quite a bit more intelligent than he was. So one year out of the blue, he packed the teenager up and shipped him off to a colleague in the Kaikielius System like some fosterling. A year or more of exposure to, well what must have seemed like high society, along with enough regular beatings for a smart mouth, would instil some measure of civilised behaviour in the most unruly urchin. What Bhasker received back was a young man with manners enough to open many doors which had remained closed all those years, I guess for reasons of his own lack of polish.”

Keel laughed then. ”I'm still surprised the old b*stard had such a good idea in the first place! But one learns never to underestimate people – they might just surprise you” In that comment Keel showed a rare recognition of his companion's standing.

After Stepping into the Hyperion, Tando instantly regretted the decision to take the time off work. not only could he not afford it, Tando was hardly know for his social skills either. But Tueex had said "Not only are the girls pretty you might find some real work there". It had been the words "Real Work" that had been the real reason Tando had come, He was fed up of the mind numbing search jobs that he had been doing since he and Tueex had liberated themselves from prison. Heading up stairs Tando found himself a stool by the bar, "What can I get you" asked the barman "got any Corellian whiskey?" as the barman turned his back to fix his drink Tando had a look round.

The Hyperion was bigger inside more then what Tando had imagined when he had first seen the building from the outside, looking around Tando could see members of the security team watching patrons as they went about their business. "that'll be 4 credits please or I can start a tab for you?" snapping Tando from his thoughs he turned to see the barman with his drink and a thumb scanner "sure a tab sounds good" replied Tando. Placing his thumb on the scanner Tando knew that setting up a tab wasn't the only thing the scanner would do. looking around, Tando wondered how to go about looking for work?.

[[ Removed to dissatisfaction of author. The previous introduction of 36809 has been cancelled and he will be introduced in the future in a different way. Plans have been made for a short story concerning his introduction but writing has yet to commence. If any information is desired PM me (36809) ]]

She watched him as he spoke, seemingly listening sincerely to his odd little story - for whatever purpose it might represent - but all the while studying him closely; his exaggerated gestures, his timed pauses. While it became clear that the man was more than just an average merc, Aleena didn't want to give him the benefit of the doubt too quickly.

"Yes I've been to Nal Hutta, filthy cesspool that it is. Still, like everything it has its uses and I can relate to your upbringing, I spent most of my childhood years in the slums of Bin Prime on the planet of Balmorra, although I am originally from Hapan...as I have said."

His indifference seemed as practiced as ever, but the Dark Jedi saw an untapped potential in him and decided to take a chance. Placing her glass upon the table and leaning back luxuriously in her chair she let out a sigh and smiled slightly.

"I know," she said with a wry smile. "Lets both skip the formalities and see what we can offer one another.."

With an unexpected line laced with innuendoes she saw that she caught Eamonn's attention but didn't want him to think he could treat her like the Twi'lekan trash he had on his arm whan he entered the club.

"There is an operation pending approval from our employer being put together by one of our most promising Agents. A simple recon mission but with the possibility of hostile contact. Nothing you can't handle I'm sure, mister....." The mistake was obvious and more of a show than an error. "...Eamonn. You want to prove your worth to our organisation and we want to know why we should pay you the astronimical fees we pay all our Agents. What say you come along and show us what your made of?"*

Picking up the glass she moved it within reach of his as she leaned forward and caught his eye. The glass was withinin toasting-range should he agree.

"I suspect this would be an excellent time to prove your worth."

*(( and yes, the "operation" is Path to Stone, I deliberately kept the timing vague for continuity reasons))

Tell me about yourself, she had asked. Obviously he wasn't telling her what she wanted to hear because half way through his tale the Hapan woman changed the topic of conversation. Once again Aleena had become all business (less formal and more falsely playful, Keel gave her that) and reset the subject to what it was before he'd begun, cutting to the chase – or skipping it entirely in this case. Guess I'm boring her, he thought with faint disappointment. She wasn't living up to her reputation, proving herself as far less of a challenge and more of a chore. Shame, he looked again over her form with appreciation but the greed that was formerly present had left his eyes. For now.

The mention of 'astronomical fees' served to douse the slow burning anger building in him since it seemed she had decided flirting was once again acceptable between them. And then something within Keel clicked. She was acting like a teenager, he realised. She was actually quite clumsy with her sexual power, treating it like an on-off switch; full throttle or dead stop. Emotional immaturity. Keel briefly wondered what had happened to the girl Aleena to land him with this developmentally arrested mess of a woman. Still, it all added to her charm.

“That sounds delightful” he said and clinked his drink against hers in a toast.

"That's him over there"
Jylan looked over to were Skursir had nodded, trying to hide the smile as he fumbled with his drink, he observed the Fallen for a few seconds, he'd seen them before mostly low ranking members of criminal organisations but they all seemed to have the same deadly elegance about them, just as the Falleen did....

Jylan felt an invisible force pull him off the chair and he fell badly on his back, his head whipping back and slamming his horns onto the floor.
“Do watch out”, a handsome blue Twe'lik was looking directly down at him dressed in a black regal looking suit, “I think you've had enough if you collapsing off your chair” he smiled polity, Jylan's mind was a blank mess still concussed from the fall, he groaned as he grabbed the outstretched hand of the Twe'lik and was pulled up.
“Well I see your finished” he smiled and another much less attractive Twe'lik swept in and took his seat, “Well I think its time you went home maybe your friend could take you, it doesn't seem like his kind of scene anyway.”

He turned his back on Jylan and took a seat next to his newly seated accomplice and began to laugh, Jylan stood in the crowd for a second wondering what had just happened, was he really that drunk...
He waved his hand in front of his face and stepped on one leg for a few seconds, then he looked at the two Twe'lik's who had just usurped him.....

The Twe'lik held a bright red drink to his lips contrasting his skin colour he managed to utter a cheers to his partner when his lekku were jerked firmly pulling him from the seat.....

Jonah Thaxton felt his side and remembered that his blaster had been taken of him at the entrance, a fact that he wasn't comfortable with. While barbrawls wasn't something he hadn't experienced before being without the blaster which had saved his life so many times gave him a feeling of unsecurity, nothing alcohol wouldn't be able to deal with he mused. Sitting at the bar Jonah had scoured the Hyperion for roughly thirty minutes without luck and he finally decided that a halt in business wouldn't kill him but he would still keep an eye open for potential customers. He gulped down the rest of whatever had been in his glass and turned to his left to see if any new people had come for a drink.

Noting that nobody new had come he eyed the part of the bar counter to his right, he noticed the woman was still sitting there and he couldn't help but feel at least a slight bit of intrigue as to who and what she was doing here. She had first gotten his eye when she had entered and he had noted that he wasn't the only one staring. While Jonah wasn't the man to get involved with a lady he never said no to a piece of eye-candy. Jonah's face melded into a smile as he remembered the last time he had complimented a woman, he'd ended up with a broken elbow and a blaster in his face. He noticed that the woman was looking at him and it struck him that he was staring. Jonah wasn't one to run away from a confrontation of any kind and so he kept looking thinking that the worst scenario that could happen would only build on his reputation as a scoundrel of which he was very proud. Jonah stood up and walked over to the woman, trying to fabricate something to say before he got there. Stalling the now uninevitable conversation he called a serving droid over not really paying much attention to what he told it to bring him, he'd be happy as long as it'd make him slurr his words. Jonah was in the mood for having fun and he decided to try something that he hadn't done for a very long time.

Reaching the woman he placed himself on a barstool adjacent to hers. He plastered his most convincing facial expression on and turned for her. "Hey beautiful, do you have a holographic schematic of this quadrant? Because I keep getting lost in your eyes" he said while trying to keep a straight face, almost bursting into laughter at the obvious transparency of the pick-up line. He didn't know if the woman was adept at reading facial expressions but it would be pretty obvious that he wasn't absolutely sincere.

{{ Directed at Viking's character Fray Doreel whom is sitting by the bar if I'm not completely out of it }}

"Hey beautiful, do you have a holographic schematic of this quadrant? Because I keep getting lost in your eyes"

Fray almost choked on her Fofo hearing the cheesy line, and studied the man with a amused expression. She had noticed him staring at her for a while, seemingly undecided whether he should come over to her or not. Apparently he had decided to take a shot at it. While she had no interest in his no doubt plausible objective, she was interested in finding out more about the characters in this place. She still didn't know which ones that were a part of the Agency and not, so she wanted information, but she still preferred to act carefully. Then again, she was quite bored drinking alone, and none of the other drooling males had dared to approach her, so she decided to go with his flow for a while. She smiled at the man.

"Oh my, you're flattering me. That is quite the silver tongue you've got there." She finished her Fofo and tapped the glass with her finger. "At least it can let you buy me a drink." Her eyes glinted.

As Jonah had walked over he had set his mind on immediate rejection and the reply of the woman. It didn't matter if the woman was authentically curious or not, she was leading the conversation forward which was all the Jonah had hoped for. "What do you drink?" he asked, leaning backwards with his elbow on the bar counter, scanning for a serving droid.

As if called for a serving droid buzzed over to Jonah and he remebered that he had previously ordered a drink. It was carrying a tall glass with something that looked notoriously toxic. He took the glass of the tray attached to the droid and placed it on the bar counter and asked the droid to remain. It stood whirring, inquiry in its eye. If the woman had answered his first question he hadn't heard it and he decided to carry the conversation further.

"I'll pay for the drink, but... aside from the credits the drink has a less traditional price that only you can pay" Jonah said, attempting to look intriguing. "A woman like you must have a heavenly name to match those beautiful eyes"

"Tell me your name, and I'll buy you all the drinks you want" he said, first now realizing that maybe he wasn't entirely sober which would probably explain the tall colourfull glass of toxic looking liquor on the counter.

"What do you drink? I'll pay for the drink, but... aside from the credits the drink has a less traditional price that only you can pay. A woman like you must have a heavenly name to match those beautiful eyes"

Fray gave a clear laugh. "Well, as the gentleman you are, I'll let you choose the drink for me. I like surprises." She gave him a dazzling smile. "My name? Haha, I don't know if it is worth that much, but if you insist you can call me Fray." she said and leaned towards the counter, crossing her legs. The mans eyes seemed a bit dim, meaning that he might be a bit drunk already, and looking at the drink he had chose for himself, she wondered how long he would last.

She decided to move the conversation forward a bit, in case he would pass out in a not too distance off a future. "Do you come here often, Mr...?" she asked, silently inquiring for his name. "Since this is my first time here, I'm not aware of the regular faces. Maybe you could show me around?" She didn't know what information she would get by staying in the mans presence, but for the moment she decided that it was better than drawing unwanted attention towards herself by asking around.

Jonah smiled back at the woman, rather stupidly in fact but he didn't seem to notice it. He picked up his drink and swallowed half of it in a big gulp. He wasn't drunk, tipsy would be the word he'd choose but then again, when you're intoxicated it's pretty hard to know how much you've really had. Jonah was not new to drinking, but that didn't mean he didn't show if he'd had a few.

"Jonah Thaxton, but you can call me nancy for all I care." he said, following the sentence with a bit of a smile, relaying how little he actually cared for his own name. "So, Fray.." he began, letting the name role of his tongue as if he was tasting it. "New here. I haven't been here for years but I can say I'm a regular, the staff here see so much people everyday and so many species they won't remember a face but some of the people around here I do know" he continued to explain.

"You see, Fray..." he again let the name roll out, showing an expression of thoughtfullness really trying to reflect upon the name. "I'm a pilot, amongst other things, and I usually come here to look for customers. That bloke over there" he said, poining to his right. "There, the ugly bastard" he continued, identifying the alien sitting by the counter. "I piloted him and his cargo to Alderaan, no questions asked, payed quite well actually. He's not a talker though..." he elaborated. "There are probably around ten people I've piloted somewhere around this bar and well, if you'd really like to know them all I can introduce them to you' he said, swallowing the rest of his drink.

"Oh right!" he exclaimed. "I owe you a drink" he said and waved a serving droid over, tasking it to bring him a set of strong liquor drinks.

((Here is the introduction. Any problem(s)/comment(s)/question(s), please let me know I (probably) I won't bite. I just hope my English's not getting too rusty to be understandable ))

Drazzak was on a good mood for tonight. That was an ubese good mood not the silly gungan version. She was not bouncing around, tipping money to the beggars or helping disabled people to cross the road... No ! No ! The only thing to prove it was that she was actually humming a strange tone. It actually sounded like a droid in a blender but it was indeed a tone reserved for glorious days. That was the ubese version of good mood and cheerful songs…

So she was casually going down the street looking for the place she’s been told to go. The farther of her low-life area she was going, the more people were looking at her with disdain. The guy in the last turbolift ended up puking.

‘Poor lil’ thing those turbolift surely went up too fast for him.’ Did she thought.

And Drazzak went out, being absolutely and completely oblivious to the smell that was following her and the gaze of the many locals…

That’s how Drazzak (and her horrible smell) ended up in the Hyperion. The place was heavily crowded almost too much for the Sewer Stalker. First thing first, the ubese went straight to the bar to politely order “a double Rush in a large glass with two nitrogen cubes”. The voice modulator of her helmet made the politeness of her demand disappear but well… who would have recognize an ubese as polite anyway? Another ubese maybe but as Drazzak was looking around she saw none.

Suddenly, she began to ponder why the so many people crowded in the bar were keeping their distance and frowning at her. Anti-ubese resentment… exactly what she’d been told in her youth. Drazzak turned back to the polite attention-seeking bartender probably waiting to be paid…