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| - Ships come and go from the Angry Rancor, over Ord Mantell, with some measure of frequency. As is usual, anyone approaching and wishing to land as a guest is granted clearance. The ship's own shuttle makes an hourly trip down to New Alderaan, bringing up new guests and returning others when they are ready to leave. A small group of beings and droids is clustered around the cargo lift in one corner of the hangar, but otherwise everything here is running like a well oiled machine. When given permission to land, Rasi maneuvers his vessel to land at the spot designated by the cruise ship's flight control. The vessel in question is a rather average one, one of those Imperial light cruisers that make up many a wealthy individual's personal fleet or found in the posession of system forces. The only thing remarkable about it being the odd dark colour of the hull, one that might make it hard to visually detect against the almost pitch-black of deep space. To go with the civilian vessel, Rasi wears a rather sharp business outfit and he might pass for anything from the middle management type to an executive from the CSA, well perhaps not the latter. After descending the ramp that extends from his ship, the man looks around the bay for any of the vessel's personnel or even something as simple as an elevator. A silver-skinned protocol droid totters over toward the newly arrived ship, once it has finished settling into a berth. It manages to be just stepping up as Rasi steps out, and offers its programmed greeting in a polite alto. "Welcome aboard the Angry Rancor Cruiseliner, we have many fine amenities for your enjoyment. The Lucky Krayt Casino, Wampa Lounge, Dianoga Hotel and Grinning Nexu Bar and Grille can all be found on the passenger deck, accessed from the lifts over there," and it points the way. "Or if I can be of any assistance, please don't hesitate to ask." However, even as the droid goes through its monologue, one of the humans by the turbolift looks over to see who the latest arrival is. Inanna says a last word to the rest of the crew of beings at work there, and makes her way over, coming up beside the droid just as it is offering further assistance. "Rasi, welcome aboard," she greets with a warm smile. It is with barely concealed distaste that he addresses the droid, "Where are the Jordains, I wish to...", he is spared from talking to the silver hunk of junk by the timely arrival of Inanna. Clearly he's one of those folks who are prejudiced against droids, nothing wrong with that especially given the droids' own actions. "Hello, please meet Flight Cadet Pellegar. Cadet, this is Miss Jordain the Junior. Inanna Jordain to be more precise.", as good a way as any from distinguishing her from her sister, "Miss Jordain. May we speak in a more private setting and can I ask that you place a security guard around my vessel? I would be leaving soon after our meeting, unfortunately, and I would not like to have it tampered with." Tarin gives a slight bow to Inanna. "Pleasure to meet you, Ms Jordain," he says to her, with a warm smile on his face. He glances around the place, checking for any dangers. He's not quite sure what he's here for, but he moves into a stance a little behind Rasi, like a bodyguard, waiting for them to move on. Inanna quirks an eyebrow, looking a bit amused as Rasi introduces her. "The junior? I happen to be six years /older/ than my sister. But no matter... Inanna will suit just fine." She turns her warm smile to the flight cadet and says "good to meet you too." She takes in Rasi's requests, and nods, instructing the droid to tell security to keep a close eye on the ship. Off it plods to deliver the message. "If you'll come with me," she invites, then leads the way to the lift, down to the passenger deck... and in through the aforementioned Grinning Nexu Bar & Grille, where she gives a signal to the bartender as we cross the room, and finally into a small, private back room. There are several comfortable chairs arranged around a table here, and Inanna again offers an inviting gesture. "Make yourselves comfortable. Now, what can I do for you gentlemen?" "Miss Jordain the Senior it will be then.", most women would have thought of that as a compliment, however random fluke-ish of one it might have really been. Rasi is silent during the short trip, a look of his biding the Cadet to follow his example in this. "Well then, Miss Jordain, I would like to get straight to the point. I have been informed by some members of the Second Fleet who have been here in the past, like the cadet here I believe?,", an inquiring look is directed towards the man for a moment before he turns back to their host. "that you host members of the Imperial Military on this vessel, do you not?" Tarin keeps his mouth shut for the entire walk, following in lockstep behind the senior officer. When they reach their destination he takes a seat, but keeps his back straight, not really relaxing. When Rasi glances at him, though, he shakes his head slightly. "I haven't had the pleasure, no." Inanna settles into a seat herself, glancing over to Tarin to take in her answer. She offers a slight nod of understanding to that, and then looks back toward Rasi. Her earlier friendliness has been replaced by a thoughful seriousness, brought out by the gravity with which he has spoken, and of the question he has put forward. She begins choosing her words carefully. "We do welcome citizens of the Empire, and indeed members of its military, on board the Rancor... just as we do citizens of the New Republic and /its/ military. You are not mistaken..." she says, leaving off there to see where this is going to go next. "I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that.", perhaps he detected some emphasis somewhere that required that he interupt Inanna long enough to offer that. When he next speaks, the soldier's words are meant first for his colleague. "Ah, then you shall have to come here most often, the Jordains are quite the experts at entertainment, there is even a casino if you wish to gamble your stipend away. Though I would not recommend it. As for you, Miss Jordain, I was wondering if the name Task Force Inquisitor was familiar to you? Or if you had the...let's say pleasure to host any of the Imperial military's highest-ranked officers. Commodores, Fleet Commanders, Generals, so on and so forth." "Perhaps I will, sir," Tarin replies, smiling slightly, then he turns back to look at Inanna again. "It is quite a nice ship. You've done quite a good job with it." He gives another slight bow of his head to the woman, then settles back into the chair a little more. Inanna watches Rasi closely as he speaks, and continues to look thoughtful about things - not exactly on the defensive, but at least careful. "Yes, Task Force Inquisitor is familiar to me," she answers, with a touch of hesitation. "We have counted their members among our guests. I believe the highest ranking officer we've had was the Marshal of the Task Force." She glances between the two men, smiling a bit at Tarin's coments. "Thank you, we've put a lot of work into her," she says to those, then goes back to her inquisitive look. "What is it you're hoping I can tell you?" she asks, again directed at Rasi, though she's now looking at both men to try and read the situation. Rasi nearly whistless, so impressed is he that the commanding officer of the Task Force itself would come aboard this vessel. "Have you heard of Marshal Inrokana before, Cadet? I've had the pleasure to talk to him, though it was at the tail end of an engagement over near the border and it was only through a comm conversation. Every bit the competent officer and soldier, as no doubt Miss Jordain will confirm." With that, he turns back to her, observing in silence for a few seconds before he goes on. "I am hoping that you can tell us what it is you picked up if anything following those visits. Anything of particular interest, especially to a member of the Republic's military? I know that is asking a lot of you, but..." Tarin raises an eyebrow. "No, never heard of the man. Sounds like an interesting fellow, though." He glances between the two others. "Sir. Is there some kind of movement we're expecting or something?" Tarin asks Rasi, then turns towards Inanna and waits for her to reply. Inanna affirms Rasi's statements about the Marshal with a nod, stating, "I don't really know how to judge those things, but he certainly did seem the capable commander." At the inquiry about things of interest, she goes back into thought, pursing her lips slightly. Looking at Tarin again, she weighs his question in along with everything else, though she doesn't seem to try to answer it or even ask for an answer by her expression. She just sits there for a long moment, processing things as quickly as she can. "It /is/ quite a bit to ask," she says. "And I'm not sure if I have anything that would be of interest to you anyway... the main visit from the Task Force, including that of the Marshal, was quite a few months back now." A keen observer would see a twitch in her eyes as she continues to think about all of this... she's definitely got a lot to process, though. "More than usual, yes, Cadet. As you are aware of, there have been several light engagements at Nak Shimor and other strategic spots along the border, and we are not entirely uncertain that this is nothing more than the usual tactics of the Empire. It might be the beginning to something larger for all that I know." Never the very perceptive one, he nearly misses the slight change in Inanna, however brief it is. "There is something else you wish to say, perhaps, Inanna?" "Well, we could do with some action," Tarin says with a shrug. "Be nice to blast some Imps out of the sky." He glances at Inanna. "Meaning no disrespect to your guests, of course. But, you know the way it is." He looks back to Rasi. "We're expecting a reaction now that the Quarrens have swore allegiance to them?" Of course Rasi still had to catch that change in her look, didn't he. Inanna continues to struggle a little with her thoughts, drawing a breath as if to speak, then letting some of it out again as she shakes her head lightly. "Nothing important, really. I picked up that they were planning to offer assistance the people on Dac. But they've broadcast the same intention rather widely by now, so I don't see how that helps you." She goes quiet again, grey eyes looking back and forth as the men discuss matters of skirmishes and the Quarren allegiance. Tarin's comment abotu not direspecting the Imperial guests brings a smirk and an understranding nod. "Yes, you're making me curious too... you think there's going to be something new happening?" she inquires. "When was this that they were thinking of offering assistance to Dac before the...crisis developed, or after it was widely known and whatnot? And yes. I mean, we are always worrying that there might be something big planned always, but as you can see with all that is going on in Dac, it does seem just the right time to pull something of the sort, would you not say?" The answer meant for the both of his companions around the table. "It's certainly enough to wager quite a bit on.", and he is always one to take a bet when it's in his favour. "And yes, we would...after all, they did have an ISB person with them at that broadcast, yes?" "The Imps are always 'thinking' about giving people 'help'," Tarin replies with a snort. "What that means is they're trying to decide if they've got the guts to invade." He glances at Inanna again. "Of course, no disrespect. But it seems the only way to know if they're going to invade," he continues, looking back at Rasi, "is to wait and see." The wheels are still spinning in Inanna's mind, and as she prepares to answer Rasi's question she takes in Tarin's comment, smirking drily. "Yes, well... it was right around the time the first news about the crisis was reaching the Galaxy. We were at Coruscant, I believe... I remember seeing the IGN reports about it, and then hearing some discussion that they - the Task Force and whoever else - might respond..." the smirk returns and she adds, directed at Tarin, "wouldn't it just be better to assume they /will/ invade, and only bother with the question of /when/? Though your commander's got a good point... it's sounding pretty likely about now." "Indeed, and I supposed if we were allowed to step in early and deal with this on our own, the military I mean, this might not have been quite as bad a situation as it is now. But, then we would not have been acting the right way." And acting like the good guys, comparatively, is very important to this man however much it is rumoured otherwise about Rasi. "You heard very clearly 'the Task Force might respond', those are as close to the actual words as possible, and where was this, in what occasion Miss Jordain? We should assume so, but as the Cadet knows, we're stretched as it is, strengthening Mon Calamari might create a hole elsewhere, and this might just be a feint." Well, yes. Such assumptions are usually correct, but like he says," Tarin nods to Rasi, "There're limited resources." He shrugs. "Here's a concept, though. We could always attack them first. Divert /their/ resources to other planets instead of sitting and waiting." "I'll leave the actual planning and execution of anything military to you in the military," Inanna says, backing away from the tactical discussion again. Then she shifts uncomfortably in her seat, under the very pointed questions about exactly what she heard and where it was. She takes a long minute again to think and pick her words carefully. "It was over Corellia, I believe. And I did have a definite impression that the Task Force was preparing a possible response... to offer assistance to the people of Dac. That's the closest I can remember it. What they planned exactly, and whether or not they carried it out, then or since, I don't know." Is that enough to get her off the hook here? She hopes so. He falls silent then, does Rasi, looking for some time from Inanna to Tarin and back and forth in that manner. "Very well then, we should be on our way. I thank you very much, Miss Jordain, this is more than we could have hoped for.", and at least he will not have wasted the Durasteel Dreams' precious fuel supplies on a hope. "Is there anything that I can do in return to show my gratitude for this? I will even treat the cadet here to a week on the Rancor when his next vacation time comes along. And I will pass that plan along to the admiralty, Cadet, though I am not sure that it will be accepted in the short run." "Thank you sir, I appreciate it." Tarin nods to Rasi. "And I don't expect it to be accepted--it's a common idea, I know, but it seems like the right one to me. It's their turn to be attacked, after all." He shrugs, and stands. "Thank you for your hospitality, Ms Jordain." Inanna offers a soft, rather relieved smile. "Oh... nothing is needed in return," she says quickly. "As I said, I don't know if I even knew anything useful at all. And I certainly hope the Empire isn't planning something big here." She doesn't sound like she quite believes this... but one can hope, can't they? Another soft, pleasant smile flashes toward Tarin and she says "you and all your compatriots are welcome here any time." And she gets up to show the men back to their ship.
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