Hoth: Blood and Ice

[Jan Melmoar]

Jan slouches comfortably on a battered wooden chair in the cantina's corner as she sips something which apparently passed for booze on this planet. Her attention is trained on an Aqualish who is leaning across the low table at her and gesturing animatedly.

Jan smiles.
"Vishgra, you're funny, but if you ask me one more time I am going to shoot you in the head."
The Aqualish grunts loudly and protests, his meaty hands jostling the table.
"No, really, right in the forehead. Blood everywhere, burst you like a melon."
Her guests pulls back, muttering something.

"Yes yes I should be honoured, yadda yadda I'm reaching for my gun now."
He jumps to his feet and starts backing away.
"Wonderful, have a great day and oh, do give my regards to your wife."
She waves regally at the aqualish as he departs before rolling her eyes and draining her glass.

"Some peoples' children."
She raises her now empty glass to the nearest waiter.
"Another please dear."
While her eyes scan the cantina for anyone of actual interest.

[Omandri Rist]

Omandri wandered over with a bowl of something they said was food. He didn't ask too many questions and it was thankfully bland. The Czerka woman stood out in a place like this.

Omamdri had dressed to blend in, rough spun clothes in shades of brown, thick and sturdy for keeping out the cold. He approached Jan's table and spun a chair around and sat in it elbows resting on the front which was once the back "You seem to really have a way with people you know that?" He asks taking another bite of his lunch.

[Jan Melmoar]

"So I've been told darling, so I've been told."
Jan makes the signal for two to the server and points at Omandri and herself. The waitress rolls her eyes and goes to fetch a second glass while Jan leans across the table with an inquisitive look.

"You look familiar...and you're not covered in dirt. So you're from the base. But you're dressed like an actual person...so you're not a sith or a jedi?"
Jan's ankle length dress which appeared to shift colour, display advertisements and just rotate weapons models stood out considerably by contrast.

"Well, I suppose I should introduce myself first." She extends a long fingered hand. "I'm Jan, Jan Melmoar. I'm a director with the Czerka corporation."

[Omandri Rist]

He pointed at her with a spoon "You're a sharp one Jan." He said smiling "but I guess someone doesn't rise to the top of one of the biggest corporations in the galaxy without some Wits about you."

He extended a hand across the table "You can call me Omandri. I'm a doctor with the Alderaan delegation."

[Jan Melmoar]

"Smarter than some, maybe not as smart as most."
She takes his hand in a shake that starts delicate but ends in just the slightest squeeze.

"Well, Doctor Omandri, whatever are you doing here, hmmm?" Her tone is gently teasing. "You're not a humanitarian, are you?"
The two drinks arrive and Jan slides one across the table to Omandri as she wraps her fingers around the other.

[Omandri Rist]

He squeezes back with a gentle but firm grip "I am actually, heard this settlement had a doctor. Came to see if they are well stocked, ask if they need anything, that sort of stuff."

"What about you? Base life a little dull for you?" He asked matching her teasing tone

[Jan Melmoar]

"Oh dear, you really are a Republic doctor. Well, I'm sure that good karma will come around at some point."
She shrugs innocently at the question.

"I'm up to no good of course. Scheming, plotting, threatening to shoot people, that sort of thing. Or maybe I was just a bit bored of the base life? It can get a little stuffy some times."

She sips her drink, just as bad as last time.
"Junktown is quite the little hive of scum and villainy, wouldn't you agree?"

[Omandri Rist]

He looked about and shrugged "I've been in worse, Nar Shadda, now that was a place to go if you're looking for scum and villainy." He remarked taking a small sip, he wasn't rude but it was a bit early for him. "But for a planet like Hoth it's impressive in its own way." He finished the thought.

He shrugged though "suppose it doesn't much matter as long as you're not harming the expedition. Though I can't imagine much business to be done in a place like this."

[Jan Melmoar]

"Oh Nar Shadda is just bigger. Double this places size a couple hundred times and I'm sure you'd have sprawling spires of mercenaries and shady businessmen. But as you say, it makes sense for Hoth. What a...quaint little planet it is."

She sets down her glass with a soft 'thud'.

"And if I was harming the expedition, well, what would you do then?"
Holding a hand over her mouth in mock shock.
"Arrest me? I'd feel simply terrible."

[Omandri Rist]

He nodded "possibly, that or just go you know, tell people. No need to do it by myself." He said casually "it'd be shame to ruin this lovely lunch though, so I'm just going to hope that isn't the case." He said with another bit from the bowl.

"What's the CEO of Czerka doing on this kind of mission anyway? Shouldn't you be in a boardroom somewhere?"

[Jan Melmoar]

"Oh darling, I would never betray the expedition. I'm a part of the expedition, my friends are a part of the expedition, and I feel a very deep and very solemn connection to whatever it is the expedition is doing here. So fear not, your...rather terrifyingly bland looking stew is safe with me."

She chuckles heartily.

"Oh I'm not the CEO, but I am very flattered. I'm just one of the directors, we get to choose the CEO and...replace them if they're not up to snuff. No being a director is much better, and then there's all that stock."
Waggling her eyes at the boardroom question.

"Perhaps I should be. It would be a very comfortable boardroom too with plush seating and a wonderful view. But sometimes one has to be a part of the real galaxy. If you want something done right..."

[Omandri Rist]

He smirked at her "In my travels I've found places like this bland is better than foul." He took another drink "I never actually thought you were causing trouble, at least for us, just always feel it's good to put all the cards on the table."

He leaned back a little "Apologies on getting the titles wrong, I'll have fore or reassign whoever put your file together. But regardless my point stands odd for a business woman to be on a mission like this. What's Czerka's stake in all this? Has to be important if it warrants your, personal touch."

[Jan Melmoar]

"Well darling, consider who else is here. We have what...half the ranking leaders of the Empire? Most of them furiously scheming to work out what the other half is furiously scheming. And on the republic side there are princes, princesses, counts....nobles of all kinds. Really, I'm one of the lowest ranked people here. A simple commoner and businesswoman making her way in the galaxy."

She bats her eyes.
"But if you really must know, I'm here for personal reasons. It's nothing to do with Czerka at all. I just think someone needs to take these pirates down, honest truth."
She keeps her eyes big for a few more moments before sitting back with her drink.

"And why not me? But now I'm curious, you have file on me? Doctor Omandri, have you been looking at my medical history? I always did think it made for good reading."

[Omandri Rist]

"Known medical history is a component." He smirks a little holding the cup with his fingers around the rim "I have a file on most people of note around the galaxy. People are often more than just one thing Jan." His tone a little mischievous

"But a file only says so much, it's good to meet you in person. You're so far more or less what I expected. Not a reason not to be you if it's personal, but I'd figure a company like Czerka would have far more disposable but still skilled assets to send on a pirate clean up." He said with a shrug.

"But far be it from me to rob a lady of her secrets."

[Jan Melmoar]

"Really? Why, are you saying you could be more than a humble traveling Republic doctor?"
Jan laughs, a hand covering her mouth.

"Imagine that? I suppose it would get complicated remembering where all our different parts start and end. Although I confess, part me is rather wounded I'm just as expected. Clearly I've become predictable, perhaps I'll go found an orphanage or adopt a puppy just to throw you off a little?"

Resting chin on her hands.
"Perhaps I'll tell you my secrets if you tell me yours? I can't just go around giving away things for free, it's against Czerka policy."

[Omandri Rist]

"Founding an orphanage would land squarely in your profile Ms. Melmoar. They provide wonderful tax breaks." He quipped moving his drink around a bit.

"Secrets are valuable and I don't know you, personally, that well yet." He said with a chuckle "But I suppose I can give you information you don't have yet. I am more than a simple doctor, I am Duke Omandri Rist of Alderaan, head of the Rist household and Alderaanian Intelligence." He spoke with little fanfare "usually I enjoy my mystique but it only seems fair to put us on more equal footing."

[Jan Melmoar]

"Touché, touché."
Jan raises her glass in acknowledgement.

"Oh my, and there I was thinking you were a perfectly ordinary doctor. But Duke Rist himself? A little older than I'd have thought, but maybe more handsome too? At least, that's what I tell myself looking in the mirror each morning."
She winks.

"Well, if you are here to kill me then allow me to say, I respect the showmanship. Top tier stuff. And if not, might I say I'm a fan? I love your house's duties, I've been in a similar line of work all my life. Would you indulge me while I think of an equivalent secret to exchange? How many ways do you think you could incapacitate me without leaving the table? I'm very curious."

[Omandri Rist]

"Older? Im not even 35 yet." Omandri chuckled a little more "Well a number of them, probably......10, 23 if I was willing to use lethal force." He said stopping his cup for a moment and locking eyes with her a few moments would pass before he took a drink

"But you have nothing to worry about. The Rists are no longer in the mortality business. We mostly deal in secrets now. Though I will pass your compliments to my sister she might like having a fan."

[Jan Melmoar]

"23? Remarkable, I suppose lethal force reduces the audience who can appreciate all those options. Does it ever get burdensome, thinking about all the ways you could do it. How when I look away to order a drink that would give me half a second less to react? Or can you just turn it off?"
Jan appears genuinely curious.

"Mortality business? Ohooohohohoho. Oh, that's wonderful. Yes, yes indeed. Why, you almost sound like a Czerka agent. Mortality business, ha!"
Jan spends a few seconds chuckling to herself.
"But now you've cleaned things up, righted the ship, got everyone on the side of law and order. Good for you. You can be one of the first intelligence services that doesn't kill anyone...Or is there perhaps an equally kind euphemism for when you do, but it's just not for something as crass as money anymore? Something like a...oh, what would our marketing people say? 'Hostility Cessation'? Or a 'Planetary Security Operation?'"

She grins widely.
"But, I did promise you a secret for a secret. So let me see...no...no..no, that's personal..no, no, no I'd get voted off the board....ah, how about something immediate?"
Leaning forward to whisper.
"I'm here to steal quite a lot of money."
Then she leans back again and drapes herself back over her chair.

"I know that sounds rather mundane, but I assure you, it is a secret."

[Omandri Rist]

Omandri shrugged leaning back from the table a bit "I honestly don't think of it on most occasions, only applied my mind to the problem because you asked. I tend to deal with operations in a more hands off capacity. Logistics, code breaking, and the occasional doctoring to keep my skills sharp."

"I wouldn't say our agents don't kill people ever but it's never the objective. Any lethal use of force is also investigated to ensure it was warranted and the only option." He explained a little further.

Omamdri leaned forward to hear her whisper His eyes did widen a touch at her secret "Well that must mean a great deal coming from one such as yourself."

[Jan Melmoar]

"That's extremely responsible, maybe a little boring, but extremely responsible. Everyone always says Alderaan's government is so wonderful. Although. I suppose with half the planet's nobility here I can just see for myself."
Jan starts listing all the various high ranking nobles on her fingers and ends up needing two hands.

"They all seem perfectly pleasant, Prince Alde appears to even be capable of travel and self-protection, a remarkable feat in any prince I should say. And her wife seems...nice."
A slight shrug.

"It is rather a great deal of money, I don't get out of bed for anything less than six figures, and even then I'd probably just work from home. But us little people do need to earn our livings from time to time. As it is not related to our heroic expedition I am assuming your discretion on this matter."

[Omandri Rist]

"What can i say? A diplomatic mission to resolve an issue for the Republic. It was an easy sell for most of us."

Omandri gave her another shrug "It matters not to me if you wish to steal from some pirates. I'll wish you good luck with it even. Though I doubt you would actually think of yourself as a little person. "He said smiling.

Taking a drink he studied her a moment "So how does one go from decorated veteran to corporate executive?" He asked setting the cup down.

[Jan Melmoar]

"I do like reminding Luci I have some height on her, so maybe not that little."
Jan's eyes twinkle.

"Well, it was simple enough. I'm from a military family, good patriotic stock, service is everything, yadda yadda. So as soon as I finished school I volunteered at 18, tested into the sniper program, did pretty well if I do say so myself."
She finger guns Omandri.
"Did a couple tours, got the dark cross, was selected for special forces, ended up in Special Tactics Group 41."
Lips curling slightly in distaste.
"The bug squad. Did a few more tours there, order of merit, valorous conduct award, a couple stars for getting wounded and then....well. I realised I'd just spent over a decade of my life fighting some of the most heinous wars imaginable, and for what? Bad pay, worse benefits, minimal career prospects. Was I supposed to just take pleasure in the service of the empire? A group whose ethical position is 'survival of the fittest'?"

She rolls her eyes.
"We had a lot of links with Czerka because they were always having us field test their weapons. So I pulled on them, dressed up, talked the talk, did some things they wanted done and bang, I was the newest rep. Then Ziost happened, complete cluster that, see my earlier point on 'survival of the fittest' I closed some rather big deals and had collected just...a phenomenal amount of blackmail. So, I suggested to the board that I'd be a wonderful new director and the rest is history."

Pointing a long finger across the table at Omandri.
"What about you? Family business sort of thing?"

[Omandri Rist]

Omandri nodded "Makes sense after a fashion. You're either incredibly clever or incredibly lucky to climb that particular ladder. Most likely a bit of both." He said taking another sip "but I'll always have at least a grudging respect for a fellow veteran, even if they were in the other side." He finished straightening up.

"For me? Well I suppose you could call it family business in the end. There are a lot more twists and turns in the story. Left home after graduating at 15, finished most of medical school by 18 joined the military as an enlisted man, much ti my parents dismay. They had hoped I would at least be a doctor and an officer. I settled for field medic, helping more people make it home sounded better than patching up the ones who did. Did the military thing for about 6 years. Got tired of all the death and killing. Left traveled the galaxy going to poor neighborhoods and undeveloped worlds and administering Healthcare in exchange for food, a bed and just enough credits to keep the tank full."

He sat back a little more "about five years ago ended up back on Alderaan at my sister's insistence. Ended up helping to stop a coup that my sister helped plan, and just like that I was Duke of a house that had just rebelled. Had the unenviable task of picking up those pieces but five years later we are thriving and I am the humble doctor/spymaster/Duke you see before you."

[Jan Melmoar]

"Field medics are good people, almost universally the bravest and most suicidal soldiers in any squad."
She casually shoots Omandri a salute.
"The sort of folks I can respect, from a safe distance and behind cover."

She ponders the Alderaanian's story for a few moments.
"Didn't take you for a vet, and worse, an enlisted man. My my. To think, had our fates been slightly different you might have been trying to patch up the wounds from my shots."
Pause.
"Or, perhaps you would have been hauling me into a prisoner of war camp, who's to say? I wasn't as good a shot back then as I am now."

There's a slight look of disbelief when Omandri reaches the coup.
"Your sister? Well, that must have made family dinners awkward. Makes me rather glad I'm an only child."