A Plot in the Making

Players: Lincoln, Delphine, Sarna, Maccus, Siika,

Ward Bazaar -- Tier City: Valentine's World

Passing into the city itself one encounters the Ward Bazaar, the heart of trade within the walls of Tier. It is a warren of streets and alleys that shift through pathways and aisles made by free standing kiosks touting their goods. The smell of exotic foods and drinks fills the air, and the market, congested with curious customers and haggling vendors, never closes. Bright colors are the rule of the day here and help merchants compete for attention. Awnings and pendants flutter in the breeze while the laughter of Nahrahm children occasionally rises above the din of the city.

<OOC> Type +setting for additional information

Contents:

Lincoln

Delphine

Obvious exits:

<M>arshal's Office leads to Marshal's Office -- Tier City: Valentine's World.

<C>antina leads to Tipsy Trader -- Tier City: Valentine's World.

<S>outh leads to The Plaza -- Tier City: Valentine's World.

Departing from one of the vendors selling food, the cyber-woman known as Siika Gast now holds two chunks of meat skewered upon wooden sticks, peppered with purple flecks of local mushroom spores. The very prospect of food has her grinning, but in a reasonably half-hearted way. Usually leaning upon the vulgar and sassy or the bright and bubbly, today she is neither.

Finding a perch just out of reach from the crowds of people, the young woman hikes a boot up to press against a stone pillar, and props her shoulders against it in a casual manner.

At last, with the meat sticks held between the fingers of one hand, she lifts one and takes a gnawing bite. The effort brings a sparkle to her eye, but it is short lived as she watches the comings and goings, content to be where she is; not quite engaged in all of the celebrations.

The rugged human with ebon locks and light, form fitting clothing wanders from stall to stall. Letting his eyes wander over the various foods and sights from the vendors and celebration. Maccus Stormbound would occasionally stop, eying a particular piece of food here and there before continuing on to the next. His head would turn toward the direction of the Cantina before looking back at the various foods and the vendors themselves.

The door to the non-descript Marshal's Office slides open and Sarna steps out into the night, unable to contain her curiosity any longer. She's spent long hours trying to find means to entertain herself while laying low, but the throb of the music and the bright, colorful lights that add to the festive atmosphere finally lure her back outside. Much as Delphine did, she stretches out her senses cautiously, on the alert for someone in particular, and keen to dampen down her own presence in the event he has remained in Tier City.

She can't believe her luck when she spots the Marshal and the Acolyte Delphine conversing nearby. With a gasp, she starts toward them, pulling her cloak around herself. "Marshal! You found her!" she calls out as she draws near, bobbing hear head in time to the music playing nearby.

Lincoln looks up at Sarna as she approaches, trailing the path she took from the office to their location as he nods his head towards Delphine, "Miss Aurelia here was the one you were looking for?" He asks it in a surprsied tone and then manages a small shrug of his shoulders. Eyes go towards Delphine then and he motions towards Sarna, "She was looking for you, apparently." His attention goes back to Sarna and he again manages a small smile, "You eat yet today?" Perhaps the smell of Siika's food has reminded him as well of the need to eat, the glance he takes at some vendors pausing for a moment on Marcus and offering the man a nod of greeting.

Maccus gulps softly, feeling the Lawman's gaze find his for the moment before nodding silently in return. His clover gaze scans about, finally noticing the small group forming about Lincoln before turning his gaze back to the vendor selling something similar to what the cyber woman had purchased.

Delphine's attention immediately diverts from the Marshal to Sarna as she comes out of the lawman's nearby office. She looks around and briefly notes the rugged human man as he strolls among the other visitors. Her back is to where Siika has perched herself. She moves in closer to Sarna and Lincoln, smiling broadly with a flash of white teeth. "Well, here I am!" the Enclave representative says to the younger woman. "Glad to still find you here though...I'd hoped to see you on Vait next."

It doesn't take too terribly long for Siika to catch sight of not one, not two, but three familiar faces. Normally she'd have bounced right on over, ready to socialize and be all cool and stuff. Today, it seems, is a little different.

Another bite is taken, then another, before she finally pushes off from the pillar and begins making her way over toward the women gathered around the Constable. She is sure to approach in such a way as to not surprise anyone, and a smile comes to her face as soon as she's spotted. "Ladies," she says in a slightly demure manner to Delphine and Sarna, then turns her attention toward Lincoln. The tone becomes a little less silken, but only by a degree. "Constable."

The food in hand is lifted. "Nerf. Usually boring, but //not// when peppered by the local mycelial fruits."

.

"I, uh, ate something that was in the cooler, but it was kinda gross." Sarna gives the Marshal an apologetic look. "No offense." She pivots to present herself more formally to the Acolyte, her shoulders straight as she gives her a modest bow. "Lady Aurelia, there have been some events here in Tier City that I think you and your Enclave should know about." As she straightens back up, she glances over, noticing Maccus nearby acting a tad nervous around the lawman, and then the approach of Siika makes her face brighten again. "Mmm. I'll take nerf over space rations, any day," she comments, her stomach rumbling. "Hi, Siika! You're still here!"

"Nerf huh? I tend to sit away from the gamier cuts myself but that doesn't sound too terrible. Miss Aurelia, Sarna? Would you both like some?" Lincoln offers to the two ladies as he moves to start walking towards the Vendor to purchase some of the food for all. As he moves off to do so he brings his path not far from Maccus, speaking casually towards him while walking, "Worry not. The badge is mostly for show," the words come with a grin before he proceeds to speak with a vendor.

A few moments later he is returning towards the group of ladies, carrying a rather healthy stack of food wrapped up in some brown paper wrapping to keep it warm, opening it and offering it to them when he nears.

Maccus takes a moment to release a breath after noticing yet another set of eyes on him, even if briefly. His head would tilt just gently to the left at the use of titles and names, taking silent account for each of them before continuing on his shopping. its As Lincon speaks to him he murmurs a soft, "Just used to getting railroaded by the authorities here and there, sorry for the nerves". As he looks to the vendor Lincoln was just at seeming more interested in what the man had purchased

Delphine's white cloak billows in the light breeze, her garb practically glowing under the street light above where the group of acquaintences stands. Her expression sours when she hears of Sarna's recent dietary adventure. Seeing Siika the Acolyte looks surprised to see the droid tech and her blue eyes blink in shock. "Siika! If you're here...things must be better with our friend?" she asks hopefully. And when the Marshal returns with food for them all, her smile twinkles in his direction. She gingerly takes a portion and meets his eyes. "Aren't you just the sweetest!"

"I'm back," Siika lightly corrects Sarna, "following a trip to a horrible place for a job that damn near didn't happen." A certain smugness enters her face, one she does not verbally explain.

Her attention shifts toward Delphine next, and the smugness fades, replaced by a far more sober expression, of the type that Lincoln and Sarna have not yet witnessed from the young woman. "Somewhat," she offers. "I had to get out of that place. Awful people, awful smells, terrible aesthetic, and, to be honest?" Her eyebrows rise upon her head, and the next words come more quietly. "It wasn't safe there. For any of us."

Her eyes stray to watch the Marshall as he quests for food, spying the brief interaction between Lincoln and the unfamiliar Maccus, during which she takes another bite from the delicious food.

When Lincoln returns, she begins to smile again. "I don't know how, but they somehow managed to make it tender." She lifts her nearly consumed first meat stick indicatively. "Every time I try to prepare it? Let's just say 'gamey' is an understatement. More like gnawing on a hydraulic tube."

Maccus just looked at you!

Sarna's manners are not quite as dainty as Delphine's. She takes the food and lifts the wrapper to her face, tugging a bite of nerf off a stick with her teeth. "Thanks, Marshal!" she says enthusiastically around a mouthful, and then swallows. "He's been taking such good care of me," she adds in a teasing manner.

Delphine's comments to Siika dampen her mood. It sounds as if the two of them have been in some trouble, as well. "What happened? Where did you go?" she asks, taking a concerned step toward Siika and picking up on the bubbly cybernetic girl's atypical mood. The description of wherever they went makes her hazel green eyes go wide and she visibly shudders.

Maccus finally folds as he haggles softly with the vendor, offering several small coins before taking one of the skewers of 'Nerf'. He would look around, looking for a quieter, darker place to relax as he blows gently to his food. His feet would carry him before even thinks, posting his back to the wall of the Cantina and gently sniffing at the skewer.

Lincoln lets the others get their pick of the food first before he selects his own piece. A quick glance is given to Sarna and he speaks softly with a hint of humor, "You shouldn't tell folks that, I'll get a reputation for being too gentle." The joking tone vanishes as he listens however to Siika's story. "Where was it you ended up at?"

Delphine tosses her golden hair behind her shoulders with a shake of her head so that it stays back from her food which she nibbles at for a moment. "Orum's Bastion. It's...sort of a space station out past Vait," the Acolyte answers Sarna's query. "Lot's of trouble to be had." She gives Siika a nod. "I don't blame you. But that wretched hive does have it's purpose. I wasn't able to track either of the men past the hub..." she reports, disappointed in her lack of success. "But my Proctors wanted me to return here...for you!" To Lincoln she says, teasing warmly with a shrug, "Well...you did put that fella over there at ease, Marshal, so...."

Sarna receives a long look from the cybernetically augmented Siika, and her response does not come quickly. Her eyes cast from Sarna to Lincoln and back again; for a moment, it would seem she's close to refusing an answer.

That moment does pass, thanks mostly to Delphine offering an answer. "Went there for a job," she explains. "A good job. Then some poodoo went down." She shakes her head, unable to keep the frown from her face as she looks toward Delphine next.

"She's... stable," she explains, likely in a cryptic manner to those who weren't there. The young woman's lower lip is captured by upper teeth, worrying for a moment. "I'll fix her. I have to." It sounds like a promise, backed by some sort of primal fear that lingers beneath her skin.

Maccus has been staring at the 'Nerf' for far longer than normal, as if he's concentrating on it to see if theres anything truly unique with the food. His freehand would come up, pull a piece of it off and sniff it gingerly still, as if uncertain before taking a tenetive bite. With several dozen chews he finally swallows and frowns almost instantly before forcing himself to try yet another bite.

Though Sarna does give the Marshal a teasing wink when he cautions her description of him, her manner sobers and she seems less interested in her food as she listens to Siika and Delphine. Struggling to piece together their story, she frowns, not quite understanding but not wanting to press for more details. "I'm sorry. That sounds awful. A friend of yours was hurt?" She bites her lip and stops herself from prying, lest she upset the other girl even more. To Delphine, she gives a small nod of her head. "I'm considering your offer. I'm not yet sure of my decision, but I'm hoping we can have a chance to discuss things. I admit I'm awfully fond of Valentine's World... but it -is- the first world I landed on... I suppose there's a whole galaxy out there to see, huh?"

"There might be a whole galaxy out there..." Lincoln says towards Sarna with a small smile for her, "Good, and bad, both in abundance." His eyes then go to Delphine and Siira, "I've been out to Orum's Bastion a handful of times with my father, even experienced spacers walk gingerly there from what I saw. But work is work... that much I know." He then levels his focus more on Delphine, "If you wish to speak, privately with Miss Sarna, you're both welcome to use the office," Lincoln then indicates the Marshall's office. His focus of seriousness is broken some as he grins at Maccus, calling out to him. "It's an aquired taste."

Maccus wrinkles his nose again as he takes several more ginger bites before calling back to Lincoln, "At this point, I'd prefer to be eating straight rations again. I dont know how people do it." As he lets the kebab wave in the air infront of him before finally pushing off the wall and walking slowly toward the Marshall.

"It's no small place," Delphine admits to Sarna. "And Vait...where The Enclave is...has it's own charms. Not as lush as Valentine's. But there's a power and a...uh...majesty I guess." She takes a beat, considering how much of their troubles on the Bastion to reveal. "It's Trina. She was injured. Badly. But Siika here...well, if anyone can fix another cybernetically enhanced person, I have faith in this one." Her cool eyes regard Siika warmly before she raises her attention to Lincoln. "If that's what Sarna wants...thank you for your hospitality. Again."

Once again, Siika's eyebrows shoot upward upon her forehead. Then, she looks down toward her boots, a certain humility blended with a slighted hope borne of Delphine's admonishment. "Hope so," she remarks, before she looks up toward Lincoln.

"I don't like bad, ugly places," she admits. "But this galaxy doesn't seem to have too many, outside of here." She looks to Sarna and Delphine then, and a smile forms. "Vait sounds nice," she remarks, before looking back toward Lincoln. "What you're doing here?" An earnest smile forms. "It's important. I hope you know that, Constable."

Her eyes then move toward Maccus as he approaches, drawn toward the visible scars upon his face. She grimaces lightly, and offers, "Rough life out there, yeah?"

The rugged man shrugs hard in regards to the question before responding, "Life's a pain and yet somehow I haven't died yet" Before he lets his hands clasp behind his back, waiting to catch Lincoln's attention when possible.

After a momentary shock, Sarna reins in her emotions when she hears that Trina has been hurt. "Oh, no," she whispers. "That's terrible." Remembering the girl who had made the unexpectedly quick exit from their social gathering a few nights ago, Sarna breathes out a long sigh. "I'm sure Siika will have her as good as new," she agrees with Delphine reassuringly.

She gives the marshal a nod of agreement and a small smile of thanks, trying to convey more gratitude with a glance than she could with words. "I appreciate it, sir. It looks like you might have business here," she adds with a gesture to the waiting Maccus. "Lady Aurelia, do you want to talk inside? Siika, you're welcome, too. You'll both want to hear -this.-"

Lincoln nods towards the office and gestures for Sarna to lead the ladies there while he turns at looks at Maccus, tilting his head. "Is everything alright sir? Did you have a question or concern?" At this point the way the man has been moving close has certainly drawn the Marshall's attention.

Delphine just nods, feeling a bit of gravity from Sarna and Siika both, despite her light and airy smile, and with a grateful look over her shoulder to Lincoln, she follows Sarna inside the Marshal's place when she leads the way.

Maccus nods slowly, "I just wanted to ask a couple questions about the area. Just trying to get my bearings after all I've been through" Before finding a good spot to lean as he speaks with Lincoln.

You head into the Marshal's Office.

Marshal's Office -- Tier City: Valentine's World

The Marshal's office in Tier is located not terribly far from the commercial district, but far from being a centerpiece of the area. It is tucked among a few warehouses that are used for market storage and is rather non-descript, the only way to really identify it as any sort of official building is by asking the locals. The thick durasteel doors separate the interior and exterior, within which can be found what one might expect on a Rim planet. A pair of cells with appropriate restraints and security fields, a desk that is linked to a console for accessing news and report filing and a rather comfortable chair that looks like it may have seen better days. The ceilings are low due to a reinforcement layer found there and the walls are thick to the exterior turning the area into a pseudo bunker. A security door leads further into the offices, into an area that serves as the living space for the Marshal.

In the living area, a simple layout exists with three rooms none of which are large. The first leads into a living area where a sofa and chair exist for comfort sitting along with a vid screen. Cooking apparatus and storage is located in the corner. The next room is the sleeping area where a rather large bed and dressers that need straightening exist and the third serving as the personal area.

Obvious exits:

<O>ut leads to Ward Bazaar -- Tier City: Valentine's World.

Curiosity is apparent upon Siika's face as she bids a quiet farewell to Lincoln and Maccus both, before following Delphine and Sarna into the Marshall's office. Her eyes look around with a different form of curiosity, examining what she can see as if it were telling more about the Constable and also confirming her initial thoughts about him. Approval, it seems, is evident.

Finally feeling a sense of freedom, Siika reaches up to pull at a tie upon the back of her head, releasing the braids to fall down over her shoulders. "It's bad. Like, really bad," she says, speaking of Trina's injury. "I mean, the damage control is easy, but her tech? It's way more advanced than mine. But I've gotta find a way to fix it. I..." She pauses there, as if the words were choked back out of some sort of abject terror. "... I have to fix it."

Looking between the two, she goes silent then, wondering just what it was she is here to learn.

The office is cleaner than when she'd found it, at least, but Sarna takes a moment to pick up a few scattered cups and a datapad left blinking on the seat cushion of the worn but comfortable chair. As the two others come in behind her, she turns and gives Siika a sympathetic look. "Force help us. I wish I'd been there," she says softly, glancing to Delphine. "Maybe I could have helped."

It seems an awkward time to start her own story, and she shifts her weight from one booted foot to the other, looking uncertain. "That bounty hunter hired someone to sweet talk me into meeting with him, so I did," she starts in a soft voice. "I didn't know what he really wanted."

Delphine takes a slow turn around the room, undoing the clasp of her cloak and finding a couple of hooks on the wall, hangs it up. She stares at her gloves as she begins to take them off, a somber look on the woman's face. At Siika's self-admonishment, she looks up. "You will. She can't go back to the Regency Martial for repairs. It's just..." Turning to Sarna as she tucks her gloves away in her belt she adds quickly, "It happened so fast. None of us could've stopped it." She takes a deep breath of concern and lets it out again. Sensing trepidation in the girl, the Acolyte lowers her seaglass gaze at Sarna in alarm and asks simply but firmly, "What did he want?"

"Its... it's okay," Siika tells Sarna, before laughing bitterly. "Funny thing, I almost asked you to come with me." She looks between the two. "When I took the jog, I heard some ugly stuff might go down, but, like, fuel and parts aren't free."

Mention of the Regency seems to draw some of the color from Siika's face. She looks between the two, feeling caught up in something that is way over her ever fluctuating and relatively non-existent pay grade.

Anxiously, she lifts a hand to toy with the screws and droid parts that hang from her makeshift necklace, feet carrying herself in a slow circle as she paces about. There are so many unanswered questions, but deep down, she's not sure that she really wants any of them to be answered.

"Take a seat wherever you can find one," Sarna says, gesturing toward the chairs gathered around the single desk. "Yeah, things got very strange since we met last time." She sits in the chair and tucks one leg underneath herself, perched as lightly and delicately as a bird. "I'll give you the short and sweet version," she sighs. "He's crazy. A zealot of some type. Have you heard of these Telgossians? His 'offer' was that I can either join him in his quest to hunt down and destroy all other Force Users, or he would do the deed on me himself." Pursing her lips, she fixes Delphine with a pointed look. "He's dangerous, Lady Aurelia. I think the Enclave should know what they are dealing with."

Delphine's lips curl back in horror. "That...that's insane!" She paces but doesn't find a place to land just yet. "The Telgossians...they consider those attuned to the Force to be...anathema. They're exiled from Telgossian society. A few do leave. A very few have found refuge at The Enclave. Some become something dangerous, mostly to the general populace. But to hunt us?!" Delphine feels a shudder roll down her spine. "Is he still on world? You're not safe here, Sarna, if he is." There's nothing more dangerous than a zealot, with or without the Force. She looks between the other two women then looks up at the low ceiling. "This is bad. I didn't feel it when I met him though I suspected he was an exile. But just making his way as a hunter. Not a murderer!"

A seat. Yes. This is a good idea. Siika finds an empty seat and sits down, hunched over with her arms upon her knees. After a moment, she decidedly draws her knees upward and hugs them, boots perched upon the edge of the chair itself. Only then does she remember that she still has an uneaten nerf stick, clenched between tightly wound fingers.

The item is eyeballed, but sadly, her appetite is gone. The hand holding it drops down again, the delicacy now held in a loose dangle.

Looking up, she looks between the two. "You're talking about that man, the one in black, with the cane, right?" she asks of Sarna, then looks toward Delphine. With an exasperated sigh, her boots hit the ground and she leans back into her seat. "I don't even //need// the Force to tell you, he's a creep. A freaky, unsettling creep. You know, the kind who makes your blood drop, like, ten degrees." Fingers snap. "Like that." A pause. "And yes, I've read about the Force. It's all I do in my spare time. Reading. Intercepting holos. Learning. I don't know what it is, but I know it's... it's dangerous."

Brows drop, and she reaches a hand to grasp her cybernetic halo, frowning. "Does he have anything to do with what happened with Trina on that filthy excuse for a space station?"

"That's what I thought, that he was just a bounty hunter. Now I can't help but wonder if the target I helped him acquire was another Force-sensitive," Sarna adds, her voice low with regret. She pulls her knee up to her chest and hugs it close, adopting a similar posture to Siika's. Her gaze tracks the lovely blonde woman pacing the floor as she listens to her description of the Telgossians. "It sounds like he's an extreme member of an extreme people. In fact one of Malideus's henchmen had second thoughts and helped me escape. I tried to fake him out, so... hopefully he thinks I'm offworld. I wanted to tell you if you were still here, Lady Aurelia."

Siika's assessment of the man is a fair one, and a corner of her mouth curves upward. "Is it the bloody eyes, the mask, or the diseased skin that clued you in to the creepy factor? The man is only alive because of the Force... but he doesn't cure whatever it is that ails him." Impressed by the cybernetic girl's knowledge, remembering the things revealed and discussed that night in the cantina, she tucks her hair behind her ear and then shakes her head, glancing at Delphine. "I don't think he had anything to do with that. Do you?"

"No...no," Delphine assures both women, moving Siika's direction and crouching in front of her, reassuringly placing her hands on the cyber girl's knees. "That was...I'm not sure. The usual High Centre mucking about I imagine. Until I find Taferi Ravace or that rat Kalden..." The fear that Trina projected when she mentioned the other man who made a quick escape from the Bastion's cantina, her apparent handler, seared into Delphine an image as clear as the image of the Envoy Siika had pulled from the Ravace's droid of his master. Delphine hated what had been done to Trina and the price akin to slavery her life-saving miltech had cost her, even though she depended on Regency contracts as much as any other Enclave member. "But the politics of what went down on the space station is closer to High Centre than Telgosse."

Next it's Sarna's turn to receive Delphine's comfort as the adept closes her eyes and sends her presence as a warm glowing light throughout the room, calming the enemy called fear before the room gets out of hand. Although she herself is feeling shame at leaving Sarna to face Malideus alone. With an inward breath she seeks out anything she can divine from her encounter with the hunter and with her unsuccessful contact on Orum's Bastion. "Things are moving...High Centre is shifting somehow...the hunter is a complication..."

The reassurance is comforting in many respects, understanding that the two events are not linked. What isn't reassuring is how Siika has managed to find herself somehow caught up in intrigue on two fronts. She chews at her lower lip again, but after a few moments, the inexplicable warmth helps to calm her beating heart, and the hands that want to fidget instead lift a cooling chunk of mushroom-spattered meat to her lips.

Her eyes turn toward Sarna as she chews, and chews, the meat in her teeth much like the meat in her head as it grinds these unexpected discoveries about. "Maybe that's why he doesn't like me," she surmises, speaking of Malideus. "Because I made a choice to fix myself."

Breathing out a long breath, she closes her eyes for a moment and steadies herself, finding an unfamiliar ability to keep herself from entering full blown freak out mode. After a moment, she sits upright, a brightness coming to her eyes. "Wait. Wait." A hand rises, and she gestures between the two. "We have the droid. Ravace's droid. We //can// find him." She leans forward to offer an explanation. "There are directives in his memory core. Loyalty to his master. All we have to do is install a hyperwave tracking beacon, slave it to his audio reception circuits, and send him on his way. To find his master. We track it with the beacon, and we can even hear what he hears. So long as no one tries to hijack the signal and trace it back to the source. But if we piggyback the signal through an unsuspecting neutral party, then... if it //is// tracked, it leads to a dead end. Or at the very least, an obstacle. Something to buy us time."

She looks between the two, fully expecting all of that to make sense.

That glowing presence through the Force has Sarna's attention, her eyes wide and her expression softening as she senses Delphine's reassurance. So few times has she ever felt the presence of another like herself, and she's struck by how liberating it is to suddenly not feel so alone.

However, she has trouble following Delphine's breakdown and taps a finger against her lower lip. "I wish I wasn't so lost with the politics of this place," Sarna confesses. "I know ships and systems, but I don't know this High Regency or... Centre?" She scrambles the names, frowning to herself. "I just know how people react whenever it is mentioned."

Though lost in the intrigue, Sarna does perk up as Siika hits a streak, and she leans forward on her knees, her boots hitting the floor. She had grown up among droids; even if this is a new game to her, she's able to follow the line of reasoning. "Of course. Of course. I think that'll work, Siika!" The gears seem to be turning in her head, but then she hesitates and looks between the two other women. "It sounds like we've got a mission."

Rising up to stand as Siika lays out her idea to track Ravace's droid back to its master, Delphine's wave of comfort ebbs a bit with her own excitement. Admiration fills her fair features as she looks at the droid tech. "If you can do that?! That'd be brilliant!" she exclaims hugging the girl gently but exuberantly. "Oh Siika that's amazing!"

Turning back to Sarna she looks pulls one of her batons from her belt and moves to an unused and dusty table. "Alright. The freeheld worlds are where we are." She puts an 'X' on one side of the table. "Vait, Telgosse, and a lot of others are also in this area," she says adding more 'X' marks by the first. Then she draws a line at a diagonal across one corner. "This is the Silke asteroid belt...Orum's Bastion is between it and Vait...and then everything here..."

"Now Delphine makes a large circle in the remaining corner of the table. "Is the Regency. And High Centre is well...smack dab in the center!" She says making a final mark on her impromptu map. Sure she couldn've maybe used the terminal but she didn't want to break into the lawman's system. "The Regency's citizenry is ALL human. A few near-humans are let into society if they make their mark but all other xenotypes are basically servants...fourth class citizens behind the Regency's pets pretty much."

A flush rises to Siika's face, and she barely manages to stifle a giggle. "They're droids. You can do anything with them if you have the right tools, you know?" Trying to be modest, it would seem.

Sitting back, she munches down on the rest of her meat stick, looking on as Delphine draws up a makeshift map of the Cresh. She nods her head a couple of times, but her face makes a bitter look when that large circle is drawn.

"Now you know why I take any job I can get," she mutters in a begrudging manner. "I wouldn't go near that circle if I had a blaster to my head."

When Delphine turns into teacher mode, Sarna is an eager pupil. She stands and goes to the desk, watching intently. "All human," she repeats, the syllables dropping heavily as she looks into Delphine's luminous, dark eyes. "I see." She leans on the edge of the table, taking it all in. "I promise I'll try to get myself up to speed. Valentine's World is so peaceful, I think it lulled me into hoping the rest of the galaxy just might be the same." She leans one hip on the table and folds her arms, giving Siika a knowing look. "Sounds like Orum's Bastion might be just as dangerous, though. Maybe avoid going off to sketchy places generally without backup."

Delphine nods along with what Sarna says about backup. "Just add in a fee for security. Believe me, those thieves and pirates can afford it. But some cannot be trusted. But no matter what, I'll find time if you need me to help." Heading straight away to where her cloak is on the hook, Delphine is alight with purpose. "But I do need to warn The Enclave," she says swinging the diaphanous velvety cloak around her shoulders and looks at Sarna. "Come with me," she asks, seaglass eyes pleading and warning at the same time. "It's not safe for you here."

To Siika she says, "You and Trina should be okay here...the hunter isn't after you. I'll keep in touch about the droid."

Galvin couldn't have moved more silently if he were slipping out of a bedroom at night in a pair of slippers. Why, those leather-bottom boots barely even make a sound as he steps on inside the Marshal's Office. If it weren't for the hiss a thunk of the door, perhaps he'd have had a chance! Curse those trappings of modern society; heralding the entrance of the gentleman on into the thoroughly pedestrian trappings of the town's law enforcement agent. In spite of his surroundings, Galvin carries on in, his eyes dancing about energetically with little-to-no judgement as he looks about for... something.

"Yeah," Siika admits, fixing Sarna with almost as heavy a look as Sarna gave Delphine. "Been thinking about that, lately."

Standing, the young woman looks between the both of them with earnest. "Don't worry about us," she says, and while a smile forms on her face, it seems clear that her eyes are glistening. "We've got the Constable to watch our backs."

Sarna steps over to Siika and rests a hand lightly on the other woman's arm, giving it a warm squeeze. "You'll be all right here," she agrees with the Acolyte. "Tell the marshal what happened. He's a good man."

Turning toward Delphine, the conflict is clear in her expression, and her shoulders rise and fall in a heavy sigh. "I will come to Vait," she answers, "though I'm not certain yet of my path. But I can't go without saying goodbye." She holds up her hands, then blinks as the door to the office opens, letting in the commotion of the nighttime festivities outside as Galvin strolls inside. She can't help but chuckle, recognizing the fellow who shimmied down from a window. "Oh, it's the Gentleman of... Leisure, was it? Galvin?" Sarna maneuvers around the flamboyant young man and hits the door panel so it will remain open. "I'll go tell Lincoln the plan. He's gonna be glad to get off the couch, I'm sure." With that, the teen slips out in search of the constable.

Relief washes over Delphine's face as Sarna agrees to accompany her to Vait. Once underway, she'd send a subspace message to any other Enclave members in the sector to warn them of Malideus, the hunter of Force Adepts. She lets Sarna past her out the door first and does take notice of the entering bon vivant. Normally she'd be of a mind to flirt with anything in a cape, but now was not the time. With a last, grateful smile towards Siika, Delphine Aurelia moves out into the night with a flutter of her silky white cloak.

A bit of frustration shows on Galvin's features for a moment before the first voice hits his ears, melting it away in an instant. A familiar voice, even, which adds an extra sparkle to his gaze as it swivels and locks onto the group. A hand is tossed into the air in a flamboyant motion as he calls out, "\*Lady\* Sarna, as I live and breathe! Such a coincidence!" Eyebrows raise as she reaches an arm around him in such a forward manner, clearly mistaking it as some sort of attempt to be close to him. What else could it possibly be! Still, being the gentleman that he is, he takes a step back and allows her some space, looking on into the room again. And what timing as those baby blues land upon the other ladies and brighten even further. A hand sweeps on out toward the festivities as he touches a hand to his chest and bows to the lot of them. "A shame I've missed the Marshal, but I dare say it's a greater shame I arrived so late this evening and missed an opportunity to make your acquaintances..." The gentleman's lips part as his smile makes its own entrance, his head swiveling to watch the exits. "Another time, perhaps!"