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Post by kharivestra on May 25, 2011 14:41:15 GMT -5
Still too astounded for words, Khari managed to prop Rhy up on the plush couch with Banner's help, but far be it from the man to remain unconscious forever, something that perhaps Banner was going to wish he had done, he was already waking. Well, at least he wasn't dead, that would have been a catastrophe none of them needed.
Stepping into his field of vision, she carefully waved a hand before his eyes, though not too close, she didn't want him taking a surprised swipe at her. The medical droid would take care of the rest, it was shuffling in as they spoke.
"Apologies, Rhy, my new Cheif of security is taking his recently acquired role very seriously in the wake of all these attacks, you wavered quite a bit of protocol back there." She said, furnishing a few little facts he'd need to take to mind before foisting out some accusations there. Oh she was annoyed, on many different levels, but before this could worsten into a situation neither she, nor Klask, nor even Rhy could handle, some damage limitation needed to be carried out.
She wasn't a diplomat, so why was she even attempting this? That inner groan found eagress from her mouth when she noticed him looking around for the misplaced hat, and went and recovered it, herself. Placing it down on the couch beside Rhy, what had he been thinking barging in here like that? Normally would have been bad enough, while on world and many places on the array, he answered to few, here of all places he should have showed at least some restraint. But then again, just to look at him you could see restraint wasn't his thing, he had been, at one point, one of her mother's playthings - and I can't imagine why that never worked; Khari thought inwardly with a chuckle.
"That 'boy' would be him, Rhy." She councilled, letting the droid do what it had to. "Do as the droid says, I would rather find out what it was you wanted to see me about now, not later. Water withstanding."
Spinning sharply on her heel, she faced Banner and dismissed him with little more than a quick nod and a glance, this had really caught her on the fly, she would need to have words about this, but from her point of view, she could see where he might have been taken by surprise. She certainly was!
This had put the kybosh on her talk with Klask though, even if she had managed to get out the majority of what she had wanted to explain to him, they had been in the final moments of ironing out the small details. Khari merely wanted to know if they were on the same page.
"Actually, Colonel, all I really needed to know was, are we in complete agreement?" She asked, raising one slender eyebrow in question, if he had any questions, he could always contact her, though this was a rather shoddy way of doing things, the Knylenn's intrusion had thrown her completely off guard.
"That you understand everything we discussed and will await the instruction when it arrives?" She was placing an awful lot of trust in him here, but he had appeared to invest much in her ability to handle this, along with his loyalty - that wasn't something to be sniffed at. Nor would she squander it. However bad the act of treason had been, his ingenuity had saved them most of the spaceport. She had to look at the bigger picture, this was one small favour for the rest of his twilight years, surely he'd see the good in that?
Tiredly, for she didn't know if she was quite ready for this prior to the meeting of the Ten, she turned back to face Rhy Knylenn, the droid having since moved away - he looked shaken, but nonetheless alive. Always preferrable when dealing with the ten...any of them.
"Care to tell me what all this is in honour of? I wasn't expecting to see you, along with the rest of your family, until tomorrow."
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Post by tress on May 25, 2011 16:44:15 GMT -5
"Stop that !" he tells her as he sees whats shes doing. Her hand waving in front of his eyes were making things worse for him. Dizziness was his first concern, vomiting was the other.
Breathing through the worst of it, he looks over at her again. "Is that what you call attacking a member of the TEN? Wavering on protocol? That was a blatant attack on my person, not even a warning, but a savage attack from behind." It wasn't as if his face and others of the TEN we rent seen everywhere. As the elite aristocracy they each sat in council and ran things for the greater profit of all TEN families. Though some backstabbery and profitable alliances between families wasn't unheard of, his had been close to the Vestra's for some time now.
Shrewdly he looked over the other two, and wondered for which family they worked for. This wouldn't stand with him, he would have to bring it up in the next Council meeting.
He swings back his gaze on khari. "What do you plan on doing to this savage? Excuse him for his wavering in protocol. Are the TEN barred from your office now with your dogs set to attack at will?" oh, he was fuming now close relationship or not with her.
When the old fool spoke it was ignored, he was to beneath him to waste his time on. His placating sarcastic tones only pushing him to go on. "Excuse me if i interrupted something important, my eagerness to see you not withstanding I have to go get some treatment and see about calling Kadnessi, see what they think about this affront." he stood and waved the medical droid forward intending to follow him out. An example was going to be made of this Banner he would see him stripped of his rank and fired. "This matter will be brought before the council meeting." with that he tried to walk out head held high and made it as far as Banner when suddenly he spewed vomit on the man covering him from chest to foot.
As bad as his head was feeling he still smirked as he wiped his mouth with his handkerchief before walking out leaving them all to their meeting.
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Post by Heg'zi A Klask on May 25, 2011 22:16:04 GMT -5
Banner having his cue from Khari that the man was cleared to remain, he took his leave without a further word.
Klask listens to her carefully, his face now more the usual Kuati impassive mask. "Yes, I do believe we are in complete agreement on the security upgrades to the section, I will have the full protocols written up and submit them to you. You know where to reach me, if you need me before tomorrows meeting." He bows a formal nod of respect to Khari, "Have a good evening Lady Vestra... Lord Knylenn. and a lesser one to Rhy before taking his leave.
The younger generations of the Ten were becoming problematic... maybe it was all the inbreeding over the years, whatever the cause however, it was quite likely things would change on the morrow. In fact he was certain of it.
After leacing the corporate headquarters and offices of the KDY he and Banner headed to one of the deep sections of the station. Down here were mainly the forgotten industrial zones, far from the bustling centers of urban activity. Entering into one of the old smelting factories, he is greeted by a pair of armed guards, two that were well-known to him.
"Sergeant Hosyl is back Colonel, he is waiting in the ready room."
Klask nods and heads into the other room, smiling as he sees the other man kicked back and relaxing in an old decrepit chair. The man looks up, and seeing Klask's smile just nods.
"Everything is in place for tomorrow Colonel, and yes... it is operational. I never knew you had a majority share in one of they hyperdrive companies..."
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Post by kharivestra on May 26, 2011 13:58:21 GMT -5
Exasperated, Khari knew reasoning with Rhy wasn't going to work, the Knylenn's were highly strung at the best of times, but the younger members of the household were much of a muchness, he would be fast approaching the age where it would be considered wise to curb his wild tendancies and adopt more of an interest in the general jist of things on world and off. But while the credits kept rolling in and the stream of extravagance was flowing, there wouldn't be much chance of that. This Khari knew, because it was how she had spent the majority of her late teens and early to mid twenties. The men of the household, which was no surprise to any Kuati woman, took a little longer to realize it seemed. Though she knew had she been in his position, she would have been issuing the same kinds of threats and that made her cringe.
"He didn't know who you were, I apologize on his behalf but as you may not be aware my personal quarters were broken into barely half a standard week ago, I have felt the need to appoint someone to ensure my own security. That does not excuse the mistake, but that is what it is, Rhy..." And what had she just thought? That was right, reasoning wouldn't work...and it didn't.
Regretfully, Khari afforded the Colonel a nod, she would have liked to have furnished a few more details before he took his leave, but the choice really was his now. His agreement hadn't been in the exact words, but if she was taking his subltey at face value, it was enough for now. Later she could send on a few details by means of messenger if he had any further questions. That and she was going to be constantly contactable...Rhy not withstanding.
"Thank you for your time." She said to Klask with a brief incline of her head.
And now onto the matter at hand - she thought tiredly. Barely 4 hours after she had split with Tress, she was now here, dealing with this mess, if he'd only known. And thank goodness he didn't.
She was clenching and unclenching her fists rythmically in time with the silent counting in her head. The ability to keep a cool temper was often the advantage when dealing with the irate - to most it would rectify the situation with little problem, to others? It could just make the situation worse. Khari really hoped that he wasn't the latter.
"You picked an expediently bad time..."
While she wasn't on particularly close terms with Rhy's family as a whole, he had become a familiar face around her family's estate when Anara Vestra had latched onto him, or more appropriately, sunk her claws in to him. Khari had little choice but to grow accustomed to having the man, a mere two years older than herself, around the place. A small shudder of repressed memory coursed through her body at that moment in time, rather she forgot those times all together than had to remember the sickening sight of him hanging off her mother's every word. She had rather hoped he had seen sense.
"Of course they are not, but I would like some notice. Would you prefer it if I simply barged into your offices unannounced and threw my weight around? I think not. Rest assured this will be dealt with, but you must leave that with me. By all means bring this trivial matter to the attention of the council if you must, but do you not think there are more important matters to discuss? Your very livelihood is at stake here." Dusting off that hat of his, she handed it to him careful not to scrunch up any of the fabric along the way.
"You are just going to have to trust me."
It had gone far past the point of exasperation now, and Rhy was becoming more agitated, apparently that bump to the back of the head had done more harm than good. She was almost tempted to take the Zann approach to things and shoot him where he sat just to give herself a moment's peace to think. But she could almost certainly see how that one would pan out. Much the same way it had with herself and Tress...not good.
"Rhy, if you will just listen-" He wasn't going to give her a word edgeways, so why did she even try? And before she knew it, he was on his feet and storming back out the way he came, a highly strung mess this time...which ended up on the unsuspecting Captain as he passed by.
Khari stood there, completely dumbstruck at what she'd just seen. Unmoving, unblinking and at a loss for sounds, much less words.
It didn't matter much in the case of the furnishings, Mina was already making a call to the cleaning droids, she was good like that. But the dark haired woman on the other hand, simply stared for a moment longer. Then her senses finally got ahold of her.
"Rhy....wait."
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Post by tress on May 27, 2011 15:49:28 GMT -5
He was about to leave, when she spoke to him. Not wishing to be ruder than he had already. He wanted as she dismissed the others.
He hears her out and nods, yes it had been foolish to go see her. But he heard she had been promoted as it was, and of the recent attacks. Is why he came back to Kuat. That and to see her mother. "Bad time or not, cause i was worried." he makes it sounds geuniune. He had to keep up good pretenses with the two families, but he hoped word would reach Anara that he had hurried home.
"Barge into my offices anytime, it would have been important if you had. My men, unlike yours are well trained and would never attack one of the families." He still was raging over that point. Later he would get ask his men to secure him the holofootage of the attack to show at the council meeting. Things like this wouldnt and shouldnt be tolerated. If it happened to him ir could happen to them. "Trivial? You make it sound as if it was nothing important. You get attacked and the galaxy knows about it. Your wants and self are more important is that it?"
To him having to trust her he waved off, "I dont understand you. Your excusing this is if it were nothing. Nothing would have been him seeing me as non threatening, stopping me with word or a hand on the shoulder. Hitting an unarmed man over the head....." then he stops and glares. "Tell me did he seem to enjoy it? Was he proud of what he'd done?" the look on her face said all he needed to hear. He was done talking about it now, he turned and started to leave again.
"I dont know why i waited a moments worry over you, when i can see i am not wanted here. " he was walking out, talking to the driod now. "You droid lead the way." and he followed the droid out to the med bay.
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Post by kharivestra on May 27, 2011 16:42:40 GMT -5
Pinching the bridge of her nose, fingertips pressed into her eyesockets to relieve the pressure, she really wasn't in the mood for any of this drama. But when a Knylenn got a spark bee in their pants about anything, drama would ensue, and if she didn't do something to rectify the issue, ie proving she had dealt with Banner in some fashion, he was going to kick off all over again...and potentially bring the other families into it too. Bad timing, it was all expotentially bad timing.
"My wants? Myself? That is preposterous! Your family were among those to elect me, did you not then place your trust in me to see that the best thing could be done for all of us? Look at the bigger picture, Rhy. I said I would deal with it and I shall."
Khari retorted hastily, a harshness clinging to her voice that betrayed the strain she was really starting to feel. She couldn't pander to everyone, and yet everyone kept knocking at her door.
"All I was saying was, that there are other things on my mind. That does not mean I will not deal with this as best I should. My priorities lay with what I wish to present you all tomorrow. When you hear of it, I believe you will agree it was the correct choice." But this was him she was talking about. Flamboyantly dramatical him.
Perhaps he wouldn't see the benefit in what she was going to bring to the table, she needed a good hand in that case.
It all made sense, yes, he had and yes again, the man had flashed a rather smug smile at her when he had done so. Rhy just hadn't known what he was walking into, Banner on the other hand, may have had an inkling...neither prospect filled her with much joy. Either way she was caught, though there was one sure fire way to deal with it, she just didn't like it, it was too messy and unsavoury to consider at present.
Khari considered Rhy's words instead, "Present your evidence, then. There is little I can do to stop you." She said, clasping both hands together in front of her in a plaintive, inert stance. Accepting in her demeanour, she added, "Of course damaging my name, also damages your own by extension, you could simply leave this with me and be done with it. A punishment to fit the crime." Let him deal with that one of his own volition then, she couldn't tell him what to do, but she could advise, and what she had said was true to fact. He would be tainted by association, she wouldn't need to lift a finger, it would just be so.
Now Khari had cause to smile...
"I do." She said simply, no hint of malice nor disdain in her voice, she even seemed to have dropped the fatigue that had assailed her a second or two ago. "You came because you wanted to know about her. Though yes, I do have to ask the same question, why did you waste your time? You know how fickle she is." And by 'her' Khari meant Anara. While there was little of a bond between mother and daughter there, they tollerated eachother for very different reasons...somehow, that equalled a somewhat peaceful coexistance.
"But yes, please do visit the medbay...just avoid the food, they are having something of a reform there at present."
She watched him go, the suite's doors opening and then hissing softly shut again, his rambling still extending to the coridoor beyond. Then she pulled out her personal comlink, keying in a quick frequency.
"Senator Vestra..." Came the answer on the other end, and Khari didn't let her go into the rest of the spiel that usually came with her title.
"Ah good, you're coherrant. I was hoping to catch you thus." She interrupted, and let the smallest inkling of a smirk tease the corners of her mouth when there was a small, curt pause.
"Khari, darling, what a pleasant surprise, I assumed you would be preparing or entertaining that...interesting, new charge of yours." And there it was, the return serve, how lovely, how very...her.
"If you are referring to Senator Odak-Zann, no...we won't be seeing much of him anymore." Khari replied flatly, "Now, tell me, how charitable are you feeling? I was wondering if you could do me one small favour...I will even make it worth your while."
Another small silence ensued, in which Khari could almost feel the smile blossoming on the other end of the transmission. Someone was going to end up paying for this, and she'd be damned if it was herself.
"Alright...do tell."
And Khari did, in great detail.
Moments, and a good stiff drink, later, saw Anara Vestra heading to the districts medcenter, a head full of questions and suspicions, but at least she had gained a few social assets in the process. Now to do something she never did, and that was look twice at one of her cast off's.
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Post by tress on May 27, 2011 17:57:33 GMT -5
He was still in rather worked up mood as he made his way after the droid. It was slow going with using his walking cane, small bits of Khari's conversation playing in his head as he walked.
He hadn't done anything wrong, well aside from walking in unannounced, but did that deserve a blatant out right attack? What would she really do about it? What would show the others the consequences of doing likewise. No, he had to tell the Council, there was no point in letting something like this slip. Better him than someone apposed to her leadership, He can at least steer the talks to what was done by a commoner rather than the others using it as a means to stria at Khari.
He had alot to think about as he reached the medbay, immediately they run their tests on him and have him wait reclining on the bed. He had his shirt off and leads attached to his chest running some of the machinery. Waste of time but they were the professionals.
As he waited he was thinking of the attack on Khari, the culprits behind it from what little gossip the rest of his family told him. He really wanted to hear from someone in the know, to get the full picture. Whatever the case was, there had to be a reason behind the attacks. If he could get the some more info.... whatever he doing was lost as he saw something making his sit up straighter and smile. "Well, Senator Vestra." he looked her up and down. "Let me guess? Khari called you?"
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Post by kharivestra on May 27, 2011 19:12:30 GMT -5
Standing the the doorway to his private room...or cell as Anara considered it when she looked around her, the older Kuati didn't let Rhy's blatantly surprised but disapproving tone bother her any, nor the sly smile he afforded her when she had entered. No, she smiled thinly, afforded him the exact same up and down look with an appraising eye - he certainly wasn't unpleasing on the eye to her - and then made her way over to his bed side.
In one hand, she held a few datachips, all of which she dropped gently down upon his unsheilded, bare stomach, letting them slip carelessly from her fingertips before passing him the reader.
"Hello Rhy, it's been a while." She said pleasantly, appropriating a chair and pulling it up to his bedside thereafter. "I would say you looked well, but under the circumstances, I would think that is very bad taste."
When she noticed he hadn't yet touched the items she had left scattered about him, she waved at them with one hand encompassingly, "Well, go on...aren't you going to take a look at them?" Anara asked, tucking a single lock of silvery-brown hair back into her elaborate headwrap.
What was contained on each of them was the surveilance feed for her daughter's offices, taken at the precise time that his alleged assault had occurred. To look at him, he wasn't making it up, but he was being a typical male and making quite a lot of fuss about something that had left very little of a mark. Still, they thrived on sympathy...was she actually capable of that? Perhaps feigned.
If one were to view the data on those chips, however, they would see Klask enter the office suite and then a few seconds later, everything on that feed would fizzle out in a haze of static. Likewise, the other feeds for the reception and adjoining corridor's would do the same at the exact same time code as the one from the meeting room it's self.
But that wasn't the real icing on the cake. That, was just designed to show him how little he had to go on in way of proof. What she also had with her, might brighten his day a little.
Now she graced his question with a response. "Khari believed you might find them of interest, they are the security feed for her offices, taken mere hours ago. And yes, she did ask that I bring them to your attention, but I didn't have to accept, did I?" Tilting her head slightly, she cast a critical eye over the welt he seemed to be nursing at the back of his head, she could just about see it from here, nothing to call severe damage, but it would have hurt, no doubt about it.
Tutting as she winced at the nasty lump, she drew back shaking her head. " Poor thing, Khari assured me she was going to follow that up as per your request, She also said you were looking for me...well, here I am." Absent mindedly, she reached out as if to pluck one of the datachips from where it rested against his chest, fingertips lightly brushing his skin, maintaining contact just as she held his gaze with her own, finally finding putchase on the item she had been 'aiming' for. Holding the chip up to the light, she examined it, then placed it aside uncaringly.
"You'll find all of them contain the same, are utterly useless. However....what is on this one." At this point, she held up yet another, this time in the hand she had kept concealed from his view, this one was a different colour to the rest, still unmarked, but she put a lot of emphasis on it, keeping it just out of his reach. "...You might find very useful."
Palming the datachip again, she took a look around the room, nose wrinkling with abject disappointment, how bland, how utterly boring. Well he was neither and she didn't consider herself to be either, so that was a start.
"Is this the best they could do at short notice? Might have to see if we can liven that up a bit for you my dear. But forgive me, you must have a splitting headache...I can come back later."
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Post by tress on May 28, 2011 15:27:34 GMT -5
There she was at his doorway, while he layed back enjoying the view. It wasnt his best showing, since he was in the med bay, but she was here now. Their short precize Comm messages while on his trip had been almost unemotional, more for keeping on the line if anythign else. He had no used to her, other than what his family could do for her. His vote on things helped sway counts if nothing more, but he was looking to pick up where they left off. Wonder how she would take that.
She walked closer and slowly dumped a handful of datachips on to his chest. Frowning he looks up from where they landed up to her again. "And what are these for?" he asks wanting to know. Picking one up he looked it over.
"No you didnt have to accept. So why did you unless you wanted to see me." he was curious to what she was there really, she didnt do anything without reason. So it was best to root out the cause now rather than later.
"They are useless because she had it done after the fact to disway me or some other reason?" he asked Anara. Seeing that he didnt tell her why he was looking for her, he guessed she would run. Play her game so it came to no surprise she said it.
"If you go....only go as far as the door to close it before coming back....."
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Post by kharivestra on May 28, 2011 17:54:17 GMT -5
He was all presumptions of course, she had expected that, he was easily as arrogant as any member of the ten, as her, should she care to admit it, so naturally he would jump to conclusions. She had come here for a reason, and chances were he knew she had, they hadn't spent all that time together and gleaned nothing from the other.
"To show you the other, but my my, aren't we expectant?" Anara mused alloud, taking some sort of perverse delight in watching him squirm under that scrutiny, "This, unlike the other datachips I provided you with there, has something very interesting on it. Now I understand your family have had a little trouble with...uhh relations applying to most of the ten for some time now. Chief among them your family's qualms with the Kuhlvult clan?"
He would know what it was, though Rhy himself would perhaps be too young to remember the exact cause of all that, he would have been a child of possibly only ten years of age when all that had occurred, still in the care of his telbun. The whole series of events that had caused his family to be disgraced.
"Khari assures me everything you'll see on there is genuine, it would be evidence enough to prove that the Kuhlvults have been doing much to ensure their squeaky clean image stays that way, to the detriment of all who get in their way."
"They are useless because the meeting you interrupted? Was classified, therefore the use of a frequency scrambler was required, all the surveilance for that entire module was lost. It is your word against her's were she willing not to back you up. And she insists she is." Anara explained, and that was the truth, her daughter had given no protest when she asked if she would be following up the assault, for that was what she saw it as. The Captain may have had his reasons, but the explaination was what it was, a foolish move on the part of all concerned.
Slowly, she stood, pausing only to rearrange the fall of her skirt, then turned, without word to face the door. Anara wasn't sure what made her stop as she added what would have been her parting words, had he not spoken after.
"Enjoy the content of this one, use it wisely..." She tossed the chip onto the bed where he lay, then made to leave.
Anara did go as far as the door, hand resting precatiously over the activation button, when a rueful frown creased her immaculate brow.
"That is a little presumptuous is it not?" She muttered, not yet sparing him a glance, though she could feel the heat of his gaze boring into her back.
She did close the door, however, turning sharply to look at him reclining there as if he were king of his own little empire here.
"Now she didn't ask me to do that either, so let's get a few things straight, shall we? If this happens, it's because I say so, that goes for everything, when, where, how....because I say so. I don't jump when you tell me, Rhy, you should know that by now."
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Post by tress on May 28, 2011 19:23:44 GMT -5
So that was her game, bribery to take down one of his families enemies. The Kuhlvults where partly responsible in his houses disgrace and if this datachip had anything useful against them. A bash on the head was payment enough for that.
"So for this info, I am to keep quiet about the attack on my person?" he studied her, he would forget what happened if there was really something of import he could use agaisnt them. Anyone would for that matter, but he would keep it to himself...add it to the many other strikes against them. "Very well i shall look through it and see if its bribery enough. If not i am sure you and I can come to an agreement of sorts." there was that slow forming grin, as she caught on to his meaning. Yes, he was asking for a romp int he sheets, a secret affair between to old ex lovers. Though he had other plans while here on Kuat.
After the break up, between him and the Senator, he had found himself on Corulag meeting a newly appointed Senator. They had fun together chasing the woman and drinking. A standard week later he reveals himself as a Zann, Tress Odak-Zann of Anaxes to be exact. That he had heard about the Knylenn's troubles and would like to help him and Rhys families fortunes. After the initial shock of what Tress suggested past, they had spoken in great lengths of the injustices some of the other TEN families had done and formed a plan to gain what was lost. KDY was at the time being run by Kholis and elder Kuati of some respect, but then leadership had changed hands. That is where the true plan they devised came into play. They separated and each worked on their share of things. Tress went to Obroa Skai to meet Khari and Rhys ....well, what he did was secret and would come to be revealed in time.
He looked at her, still in bed shirtless with his tall hat on acting as if he was thinking it over. He was fine with the terms if she was. "Presumptuous or not, I speak the truth...don't I?" he had her right were he wanted her.
"Agreed, now come over here and stop wasting what little time we do have, Anara."
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Post by kharivestra on May 29, 2011 12:42:30 GMT -5
Anara inclined her head affirmatively, face impassive, to smile would have been smug and she was not smug about anything, particularly not what he followed that up with - agreements of that kind were not part of the bargain.
"It would be unwise of you to attempt pushing for such an arrangement. I agreed to deliver the information to you because I believe there are bigger issues at hand that will need full attention at the gathering of ruling households, not for any sordid agreements with you. Never forget, Rhy, just as I have offered you a means to get out of that pitiful little hole your family has been in for so long, I could just as soon as take it away, my daughter's wishes or not." Anara's eyes narrowed to sharp slits of forbidding, she didn't appreciate attempted manipulation in return, never had and never would, he was a man, he needed to remember his place, self importance or not.
Regardless of whether or not she had decided to stay, her reasons were her own, that was her choice and as such she would exercise the right to use it. If Rhy chose to believe that was him holding power over her in some fashion, he was sorely mistaken. Anything he had she could get at the click of her slender fingers, their shared past mattered little and had never gone beyond both of them getting what they wanted from the other. Like most of her playthings, she had dropped him at the first opportunity, swept him aside with the rest and moved on. It was a trait she would have wished Khari had developed more acutely, her daughter's shameful favour of attachment would be all to her detriment - so even she had been surprised, and delighted, to hear that that Senator Zann wouldn't be returning anytime soon. Proud even. Perhaps they weren't so different after all, she owed her telbun an apology. Naturally, he would never hear it, there was always something else to blame him for.
Now she was chuckling, in that self assured way that said she knew plenty that he didn't, but that may not be the case. Affront or not, she did bide her time if simply to make him wonder, standing where she was, one hand resting elegantly on her hip with a self confident jaunt.
"That remains to be seen, doesn't it? I am a woman after all, you know how we love to change our minds." She commented cooly, knowing fine well she wasn't going to be leaving, but she was unable to keep her attention off the fact that throughout the entire exchange, despite the problems it must have caused the medics to work around, he was still wearing that extravagant hat.
"By the way, I like your hat. Very nice, very...fitting." if he wanted her to elaborate, she wouldn't. It didn't take a genius to work out what she was getting at, the inevitable truth or sarcasm both.
At the latter of his comments, though, she reached back, and locked the door with one deft swipe of her palm over the pressure pad on the frame, then crossed her arms infront of her impatiently tapping her foot as if she were waiting for a late shuttle to show up. When enough time had passed that the silence between them was verging on awkward, she canted her head slightly to one side, and spared him little more than an irritated look out of the corner of one eye.
"No, Rhy. I am over here, and that means you should be over here too. Unless the injuries to your elaborately styled head are preventing you from standing - or indeed comprehending what I said earlier, in which case, a pity for you, because I am not moving from this spot." Pretending to keep her eyes on the chrono set into the opposite wall, she idly debated filing a nail or some other cliched waiting, disinterested mannerism, when all she really wanted to do was smirk.
"Tick tock..."
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Post by tress on May 29, 2011 23:40:03 GMT -5
He waves it off as unimportant, he was warring with telling her the truth of what would be going down. There were things she could do more easily then he could, and in the end she would have more power in her hands. That was a big if though, to trust her or not.
"So tell me of these bigger issues then." he was still eying her appreciating what he was seeing. Short hair, beautiful eyes, styley dressed.....rich and powerful. Even then he tried to push his agenda with her. She had his vote already, but why not get something out of this arrangement she had going.
"Funny you should mention that. I got a way out of that....what was it you said?" he smirks her way. " Pitiful little hole my family is in. Was that it?" he chuckled letting her in on a little secret of his own. "Its best I keep things secret, but soon I shall have my honor back and much, much more." let her draw her own conclusions from that. Either she took the bait he left dangling or she didn't. He would wait and see.
Play along. Get closer. Offer them your support. Gain their trust. Its what he planned on doing with Anara. It was her or nothing, Khari was off limits he was told, that was someone elses target. He was already known to them, and him seeking a way back into Anara's graces and bed, wouldn't been seen as suspicious. He was going to take his enjoyment to the bitter end.
Oh, he knew the woman's mind somewhat and how they changed their minds. Was extremely ready for that this time though. She would be his plaything, in the end she would feel like he did when she left him. A lesson in its way, she might be to thick headed to see it, but it was what it was. He would test the waters and bring her in or she might be the catalyst the plan needed.
He grinned looking up with a grin. "I am amazed you would think so...." she was referring to it almost being like a telbun's no doubt. That or the length of it which male kuati used to signify their importance. Either way he knew it was meant to rile him up. "Incidentally its the exact size as other things. Thoguth you would appreciate that in the wider aspect of things." he wanted her to play by his tune, but she had other ideas. Some of which played out to his exact hopes.
He swung his legs over the side of the bed and grinned, "Come half way...be fair and I will make it worth the trouble." he tried to coax. He knew it wouldn't work, so he stood up, fixing his hat as he did. Then walked up to her, slow and easy while his eyes looked at hers. When he reached her he got so close she would be forced to back up against the door she just closed. "Your move now, remember....tick tock as you said."
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Post by kharivestra on May 30, 2011 6:52:43 GMT -5
He was being forward, but then he always had been and the revelation that he had a trick or twelve up his sleeve didn't surprise Anara in the slightest. The Knylenn's always had been inventive with their elaborate plots, each one more labyrinthine than the last. He could forgive her then, for not looking as though she had been caught off guard.
"The issues will all be addressed at the gathering, though I suppose a heads up wouldn't be out of the question." She said and gestured vaguely towards the viewport, "Look out there, around you, the damage wrought on your own livlihood, do you really think that Khari would let that go unchecked? The ones responsible should pay the price, we simply need to decide just how high a price that really is." Shrugging, she looked back up at him, he was a tall, lithe figure, a good hand or two taller than she, petite as she was, yet somehow Anara managed to ensure her unrelenting tenacity and manner made up for the loss in height. Small person, huge personality the saying went, she would like to have thought that was the case.
"But forgive me for interrupting, you said you had a plan of your own, I trust this one doesn't involve reanimating the corpses of your elders to sway oathes again?" A mild mannered chuckle left her lips, "That ended rather badly for your relation, Khoss, I recall." And she had been present to witness just how bad, the trial was a swift one, almost a non-trial in essence, with the evidence being so overwhelmingly condemning, that there had been no question as to what they should do with regards to punishment and retribution. No, on Kuat even blood was not thicker than water.
Amazed or not, she stood her ground well, giving him a cursory glance up and down when he'd said the latter half of his boasting. Her comment hadn't been to rile though he had clearly taken it that way, so either she was in denial over her own sarcasm, or she had grown so accustomed to being high, mighty and sarcastic to others that she had forgotten when she was actually doing it. It mattered little whichever way.
"The wider aspect of things? There you go again, presuming. I will let you know what I appreciate in my own little way. Though you are at least truthful on one aspect, I have a holographic memory to prove it." Her smile was predatorial, cutting but genuine enough to imbue her statement with the right ammounts of inflection. He hadn't won her over yet, nor would he if he thought she was going anywhere near that bed, she'd made her declaration and she was sticking to it.
Rhy was right, she wasn't going to cross the distance, no matter what he said. So there Anara remained, unphased by the prospect of his offer, as well she should be. Tempted she could have been but to act on it was to give him the upper hand and she could never, ever do that.
"Nothing I couldn't have you doing if you simply did as I asked." Anara said self confidently, brushing back a near invisible lock of hair back into her styled headwrap, it was almost as fetching as that hat he kept adjusting each time he saw his reflection. "Life isn't fair, you know how it goes."
To no surprise of her own, he did close the distance, but instead of stopping a sociable distance away, he walked right up to her, and by right it was as close as someone could get without touching. For a moment, barely a heartbeat, she thought he would walk right into her, so to compensate backed up until her heels touched the door's metal surface with a soft tap, and her shoulders were pressed hard to the unforgiving material that exuded a coldness, stealing the heat from her skin so quickly she actually found it difficult to surpress a shiver.
Head held as high and proud as she could make it, Anara glared back at him suspiciously, what was he doing? Trying to make a point? There were better ways to make it than that...especially by turning her words back on her. No, that wouldn't do, she wouldn't stand for that.
"Hmm, yes, it is isn't it?" The kuati woman said quietly, contemplatively, expression softening just a tad - he'd have to do better than that if he wanted to intimidate her. In fact, she might just be able to go one better herself. Affording him her most alluring smile, she let her words lull him into a false sense of security.
"We had better make the most of it then." She said, this time having drawn him close, lips brushing his as she spoke, voice a seductive whisper.
A loud clang on the other side of the door had Anara starting inwardly, thankfully nothing that transferred to her physical self. Then someone had tried to activate the doors opening function, only to discover it was locked.
"Lord Knylenn, I have been instructed to inform you of your test results. Are you alright?" The reassuringly soft, mechanized tones of a med-droid asked from the other side of the door, resulting in Anara smirking back at Rhy knowingly, almost as if she had known, to the exact nanosecond that they would be interrupted.
"Time's up..." She said, unlocking the door without breaking his gaze, then pressing her palm flat against the open pressure pad. The door slid aside with a sweeping swoosh, revealing the droid standing out in the hallway, and indeed the pair of them to any prying eyes, not that it mattered to Anara, who was still smiling smugly at his predicament. "...I'll see you on world tomorrow, Rhy, be a good boy and try and stay out of trouble until then, hm?" She then spun about face, forcing the med droid to back up a pace so as to give her a means of exit. But before Anara passed it, she turned to the droid with a slight pause and added,
"Take good care of this one, I don't like my possessions scratched."
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Post by kharivestra on May 30, 2011 13:37:41 GMT -5
Having long since retreated to the sanctity of her offices, Khari had begun to compile a few things that would help get her point across at the impending gathering, footage, security reports, the usual accompliaments that would no doubt rile members of the Ten enough to agree that the course of action she was proposing, really was the way to go. It would be asking too much for them to agree blindly, they'd need to see much of the evidence for themselves.
Absent mindedly she turned on the vidscreen on the side wall, the holonet news reports filling the office with the sounds of reporters talking about the latest current affairs - she liked noise while she worked, some background sign that she wasn't all that alone after all. The quietness just seemed to accentuate the irritational pain she was feeling, couple that with the near ridiculously flamboyant arrival of Rhy Knylenn, and it didn't make for a good mix. By now Anara would have spoken to him, she had expected to hear back about that. Well, the woman would get back to her when she was able, it had crossed Khari's mind that perhaps she'd stayed for more than just their little chat.
What a hideous thought, it had been bad enough the first time around, without thinking of her going back for seconds. Shuddering, she turned her attentions back to the report she had been poring over, when into one ear filtered the words...'Also known under her telbun posessive title as Kuhlvult Kaurtel, believed to be involved in the debacle that held the Kuat system in lockdown for almost two days...'
Her head snapped up in disbelief, and there, for all to see as it filled the vidscreen, was indeed a picture of Arri. A recent one too by the looks of it, it had been taken here on the array, Khari recognized the background straight away. Gaping in confusion and disbelief, she leaned a little closer, eyes narrowed to focus on where the report said this was being transmitted from....a relay from a network run by the hutt's judging by the language used. She had told no one of her suspicions that Arri was still alive, she wanted to give the investigation time to gather pace, let the girl think she had gotten away with it and possibly become careless enough to break cover. The only people who knew she suspected were her own security staff and -
"I'll kill him...I'll kriffing kill him!"
Palming on the intercom, the Kuati tried to pull her thoughts together - it couldn't be their potential information leak, unless Banner, Klask or the Pathologist performing the autopsy were the source. That left herself, and Tress.
"Mina, get me a line to Senator Zann of Anaxes please, oh and while you're there, see if you can't get the current GNN report pulled as a threat to an impending investigation. You know the means."
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Post by tress on May 30, 2011 14:05:37 GMT -5
"I saw it all on the way in. So from me what do you need?" his vote was theirs, just not sure what was at stake. Would they take legal action? Worse? He needed to know before hand to way the options open to him. He already decided he would go along with it, it bore no direct threat to what he had planned with the Zann's. "My vote added to yours?"
He had done so in the past, well ever since he'd taken up with Anara. Others new the reasons and aimmed to hurt him by sabotaging him financially. Could have been the reason Anara broke it off with him, was partly why he'd left, too. He had a full proof plan now, judging by the business section of the holonews things were going better then expected. Speaking of which he had to make a run to the KDY R&D division to get some copies of some schematics for someone.
He looked up and grinned, "Sorry, it can wait. Best not ruin things before they are set in stone." he'd been caught thinking of his own plan there when she asked him. Close call that, "Ah, yes Khoss. Dont worry your pretty little head, my sweet. Such matters will soon be forgotten and erased, but i will tell you one thing. The Vestras will be well looked after when all is said and done." he promises, after all with their ruination they would turn to him. He would be gracious and helpful if things were done his way.
Things progressed from there, each comment from both meant to push, rile or force an issue. His hat was her opening salvo. Hit its mark and pushed aside. He was picking his battles, that one would serve no one in winning besides her. He had one goal and that was her. Everything was leading that prize for him, with her fighting things every step of the way.
That was it, she wouldn't give him any power to gasp. This was going to be her game, one he was going to let her have. It didn't matter right now, it was a trifle matter in any case. Later he would change the rules to suit himself. "I know full well its never fair, unless you stack the odds in your favor. In this case you win, i am yours.....for as long as you want me." it was an acceptance of her game.
Their lips moving gently against each others sent a tingle of promise from what was to come. There trapped between him and the cold hard door, he held her close, lips moving teasingly. Seeking to coax a response from her, he deepened the kiss slightly not wishing to go to fast. The knock caused a frown, "Do go away, I'm busy ." he whispered more so he wouldn't have to stop kissing her. She had other ideas, ones he wasn't to happy about.
The glare he sent her way was of promise, he would get her for this next time they met. He should have been raging of her use of words, but he understood what they meant. She had agreed to continuing where they had left off before, just a matter of when and where....which were her call. "Until later, Senator."
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Post by kharivestra on May 30, 2011 15:57:11 GMT -5
Khari sat stiffly in her high backed chair, drumming her fingertips firmly on the desktop while she waited. It wasn't Mina's doing that this was taking so long, Tress was either busy or he was keeping her waiting on purpose, she was inclined to think the latter, he must have known this would be forthcoming when he leaked that information. Her conscience suggested that he was just trying to help, but there was that part of her that was fuming he hadn't asked her first. What did he think he was playing at? This was a liberty taken without due care and attention, that she wouldn't let slide.
Prematurely, he was patched through to her and she caught the tail end of a conversation he was having with someone.
"Don't ask what, exactly?" Khari responded curtly, abrupt in every manner, even if he couldn't see half the ire in her expression, he would certainly hear it.
"Is there something you wanted to tell me, something you perhaps neglected to mention on your way out of the hanger?"
Her eyes were still fixed permenantly on the vidscreen, and the scrolling details for contacting someone in the event they happened to spot Arri whilst out in the wilds of the galaxy. A hutt network as a middle man, what was he thinking? The hutts would probably keep the girl for themselves and she'd spent the rest of her days working as a dancing girl for some corpulent crime lord - which, Khari reflected, was no less than she actually deserved after her betrayal, but she wanted answers first, a great many answers in fact.
"What was going through your mind at the moment you decided to inform a third party of our potentially missing suspect? Now every bounty hunter in the galaxy is going to be demanding outrageous prices to simply hand her over, and what do you think they will ask when they find out just why we want her?" For a moment, she simply wanted to bury her face in her hands, hope that the array would suddenly fall apart and she'd be left floating, freezing, out there in the dark abyss. They were never going to find the woman now...or maybe they would. "Do you think she doesn't watch the holonet? How do you know that Arri won't see this and visit the nearest cosmetic surgeon...don't you know how much went missing from Kaur's personal accounts?!" Come to think of it, he didn't, she had never shared that much with him. "Enough to buy a small moon and a sizable habitat to place upon it, Zann, that's how much!"
Realizing how irate she was becoming, and knowing that had more to do with how they had left things, the pressure of the past few days, than the actual situation, she had to take a mental step back, breathing in deep, then exhaled in a long breath.
"Where are you anyway, it sounds like a smashball match out there." smalltalk was hardly the universal peacemaker, but it wasn't her intention to make peace, she just hoped the tangent would help ground her a little.
It didn't...she should have painted his entire citadel pink.
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Post by tress on May 30, 2011 17:18:09 GMT -5
"Oh, this and that." he answers quickly back, a tad bit embarrassed she had heard him say that. "So what do i deserve this call late at night for?" What was she going on about? "Forget to mention something? Such as what Khari?" she sounded in a tiff over something, but what was it over. Why give her more things to be angry over. Best she told him what was on her mind.
Ah, so thats what had her up in arms. Well, that was something interesting. He made that announcement on Nal Huttas very own news agency, reviewed by smugglers, bounty hunters and other unsavory types. They would be the ones everywhere, most were the eyes and ears of the Underworld. What was she doing looking at it? "No one knows shes a suspect, first off. Second, I asked for information on her whereabouts. Not a bounty on her head dead or alive. " he tried to be reasonable with her, "Would you get a grip....since when does my business matter to you anyway. If i get her first, shes mine...."
"What business is that of yours?" he asked a little rudely back. "I was kicked out of your life, your bed, your heart...." he tried to cover as much of the noise around him by turning away. Hopefully she didn't hear Cian speak to him. "But if you must know, I am on Coruscant living it up..."
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Post by kharivestra on May 30, 2011 18:55:46 GMT -5
Oh the cheek of it, just listening to him say that stirred her blood to boiling point. Who did he think he was laying claim to things, to people like that? And then she realized the irony of what she was saying, then thought better of voicing that particular aspect of her thoughts.
"It matters when it interferes with my own. It matters because like it or not, she is a suspect in a very serious crime. Don't play the ignorance card with me, it won't work." Khari hissed disapprovingly, he was trying to play her for a fool. "And since you asked, Alive would be preferrable, dead people can't talk."
It was hard to think she was still talking about the same person, one of the few she had actually trusted, confided in often. Some might have thought that foolish, but that girl she had known far longer than others would care to realize, she was something of a childhood friend. This betrayal had cut deeper than Tress actually knew. Yet he had to have wondered himself, considering how he had come to know Arri.
"Arri isn't yours, she isn't mine...she is a fugitive, one I want answers from and I am sure you do too, considering it was you one of her possible counterparts decided to shoot in the shoulder."
Yet again her eyes wandered around the room balefully, settling on the vidscreen...and what she saw couldn't have torn at her core more if an invisible hand had reached out and ripped her soul to shreds. There, on the entertainment report, stood a reporter in the heart of coruscant's recreational district, reporting on some commotion outside the outlander club that had little to do with what was actually going on in the background so much as it was geared towards someone that had already wandered in. Khari's attention was all on the background.
There, arms wrapped tightly round a woman she had never seen before, wouldn't have recognized if she had passed her in the halls, stood Tress, boldly waving to the camera right before he set about kissing said woman in full and plain view. Judging by the way that blonde was responding, and Tress with her, that wasn't something that could be passed off as a simple friendly, or drunken mistake.
If he hadn't been dead meat before, he was now
"How is that shoulder by the way, can't be doing you too bad since I see you are on the news...the outlander club....seriously Tress? I thought you had more class than that...judging by the cheap and tacky accessory hanging off your lips I really shouldn't be surprised. And there you stand trying to take the moral high ground like I wronged you somehow.....how dare you." Somewhere in the background of the connection, she heard a woman curse in abject exclaimation...good, thought Khari, because she'd meant every word and if she thought that wasn't scathing enough she had a whole horde of comments reserved for her. But she wouldn't speak them, she'd lost enough dignity just by witnessing that. Khari didn't know whether to be angry, hurt, vexed, or all of them at once, and yet she was anyway. He had a point though, she did need to get a grip, because this was happening.
"I want any information regarding Arri's whereabouts referred directly to me. Understood? Oh and I hope she was worth it, Tress, because it's cost you more than you'll ever know."
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Post by kharivestra on May 31, 2011 12:27:46 GMT -5
Khari sat for several, seething moments just staring at the comm, perhaps somehow wishing she could project the full force of her ire over that now cut connection and strike that perfidious, underhanded man where he stood. No she couldn't let this slide, she couldn't sit back and let him get away with sticking his nose into her business and making a mockery of her with each and every action he took. He'd picked the wrong person to get into an argument with and after what she'd seen on the holonet, she had more than enough fuel.
The temptation to make public that little piece of propaganda she still held in her possession, openly ruin him in one swift broadcast, was immense. So why didn't she do it? Why shouldn't she?
Rage continued to burn inside her mind, filling the cracks and empty spaces her feelings for him had once been rooted, searing those memories with anger.
She knew why she couldn't, and she hated herself for it too.
"Til we meet again, then." the Kuati murmured with a tired sigh, turning away from the desk and getting up out of her chair, there were some matters that wouldn't wait and she needed a clear head for those. The gathering of the ruling households was tomorrow and her shuttle would be here shortly, she could spend the night in her own bed for once...not some hotel replacement that goodness knows how many people had used before her. It was the little things in life that made all the difference, Khari reflected.
And yet again she felt a pang of pain when she contemplated that in more depth - time, as they said, was the best healer, so she would give it that time.
Her arrangement had been that Anara would have gone ahead of her, she had more to do on world anyway and after her talk with Rhy Knylenn, it would be interesting to see where that had gotten her. Aside from the obvious of course, that she did not wish to know. That, at least drew out a small laugh in her, they made a ridiculously good pair when it came to personality, each just as self serving as the other and so wrapped up in themselves their vanity bordered on the obscene. Why they had parted ways months ago was simple and no doubt down to her mother's fickle nature, she grew bored easily and had probably seen someone else that had taken her fancy...how did these men become enraptured by her anyway? Surely they knew they would be yesterday's news the second she felt like it?
Not caring to give it another thought, Khari headed out, finally she would get some solid ground beneath her feet - and not a moment too soon.
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