Brave New World (Open)

[Deleted]

The night was alive with the pulsing of music. A thin yellow smoke crept along the skyway, rubbing its back upon the windowpanes of the buildings that it passed. However, each time the bass thundered, the yellow fog seemed to make a sudden leap away from the brilliant strobing lights of Marjolane's Den. A throng of humanity bounced and swayed both inside of the night-club and on the waiting platform outside.

Inside, the maze of dance-floors, catwalks, and bars was full to capacity. The rich came here for their more scandalous exploits. Dancing girls, gambling tables...anything and everything appealing to their wretched ways of being, and Marjolane had used all of these things cleverly against the masses, just to keep their eyes from seeing past the lives they were living, past the moment they were in, or the death stick they were smoking. It was here, at one of these bars, that Ambellina Early could be found.

Clad in a not-quite-knee-length blue dress with cut-off shoulders and a plunging neck-line, she didn't so much sit on one of the lavish chairs at the bar as perch. She sipped a drink, colored a deep red, and her engaging blue eyes casually took in the scenes. This was her leisure; a form of fishing, almost. There was many an Empire Officer on leave tonight, and there were many dirty little secrets to be had.

[Gamov]

The pulsating rhythms of the night club belted out an irritating beat in DuGalle's head. He had never considered himself one for the nightlife, especially not on Coruscant. As an aging man and a career military officer, he could recall grander times when the planet seemed more vibrant than what it was now. Even if it was a thin veneer of opulence overlaying a greater darkness, Coruscant was a wonderful planet to visit. Or at least it was before the Sith took control.

Maybe his age was finally catching up to him as he toyed with the memories of his youth, or perhaps he had finally grown to become the type of cynical and callous officer he had vowed never to become, but Gerard found himself hard pressed to find even the slightest hint of enjoyment in his current surroundings.

"You should really loosen up, sir." Lieutenant Holt cut in through the deafening beat of the bass, his staggering posture supported only by the railing upon which he propped himself on. Taking another drink from the glass in his hand, the Lieutenant shot a cursory glance over the crowds beneath them. "Plenty of good looking ladies here tonight," he added sloppily, his words slurring momentarily.

Gerard turned his gaze to the junior officer, a glint of disgust in his steely, hazel colored eyes. "Get a hold of yourself, Lieutenant. You're an officer of the Empire. Now act like it."

Holt furrowed his brow and turned lazily to face the Admiral, "woah.... So sorry, sir." He said with a halfhearted salute. "I thought we were on leave tonight."

"We are. But that does not give you the right to drink yourself into a stupor." DuGalle sternly replied. The Lieutenant hiccuped at the remark, his posture wavering. The Admiral let out a contemptuous huff at the man and brushed past him, "I am returning to the ship. I hope for your sake that you gain some sense in the next few moments before you do something foolish."

Holt gave DuGalle a passing glance again as he moved past him and out into the alleys behind the club. "Pfff.... Buzz kill," he mused to no one in particular before finishing his drink in one swallow and leaning over the rails on the catwalk to observe the other patrons below.

[Deleted]

The staggering motions above her caught Ambellina's eye. To hear what was being said would have been impossible, even with exceptional senses like her own, but the young woman easily deduced what had happened. Already the younger officer was getting sloppy and drunk, and the career-man was having none of it. As was always the case, the boys were left to play.

Biting her lip curiously, Ambellina made a gesture that would have been considered scandalous on Orlais, but worked exceedingly well here. She winked. Hoping that she had caught Holt's attention, she beckoned softly to him and patted the seat next to her before turning away from him and towards the bar.

[Darth Hades]

Jas Razane sat quietly drinking some high class liquor he never heard of. The music blurred with the sounds of laughter among other unrecognizable noises. He sighed watching the varies people around. Ever since the Sith controlled Corusant he noticed fewer aliens on the planet. The world was mostly inhabited byhumans. Making things worse most of the humans were soldiers of the Empire.

Jas sipped the drink down slowly. He was a mercenary and the only reason he was even in this place was because of all the officers on leave tonight. He wanted to be in the shadows especially with the encounter with the Mandalorians recently. He got away on some freighter which happened to arrive on Coruscant. He sneaked out of the ship and found himself in the alley behind Marjolane's Den and decided to crash noticing all the officers coming in.So he was, scoping the place out looking for interesting.

[Gamov]

In a crowded room, to a perception as skewed as Holt's, everyone seemed to look the same from the catwalks. A sea of moving color moving with the tempo of the music seemed to blur together for the inebriated Lieutenant. That was until he caught sight of an exceptionally beatufilu woman sitting alone at the bar.

For a second he thought she had winked at him. Surely he was mistaken in his drunken stupor. But he was forced to reevaluate his initial assessment when she gently patted the seat next to her. Taking a second to scan the area around himself to make sure he wasn't walking into making a fool of himself, Holt glanced back down at the woman before making his way back to the main floor.

Weaving through the crowd, he soon found himself at her side, sitting at the bar with her. Sliding his empty glass at the barkeep, he ordered a round for himself, "and what would the lady like tonight?" He asked, rather impressed with himself that he had manged to retain enough composure to sound at least vaguely civil.

[Deleted]

"Oh, the lady is looking to get into a bit of everything tonight..."

Ambellina's tone was deliberately vague and teasing as she subtly motioned to the bartender that she was fine with the drink that she had. Taking of sip, she turned her full attention to Holt.

"Why? Does the strapping soldier have anything more...specific...in mind?"

Blue eyes flashing at how easy things were outside of the gilded benches of her home-world, Ambellina crossed one leg over the other, exposing just a tantalizing bit more of her thighs and leaning forward as to appear more engaged. Normally she would play quite hard to get, but it seemed that she already had Holt right where she wanted him.

[Gamov]

With a fresh glass of liquor returned to his hand, Holt felt that everything was right with the world. Here he was, the most unlikely suspect in the whole galaxy he wagered, speaking with what essentially amounted to the woman of his dreams. With a drink from his glass, he wondered briefly why he could never land a decent girl before he joined the military. It had to be the uniforms. Probably a sense of danger, mystery and intrigue combined to lure women in to men in clean, pressed uniforms. Or maybe his mind, addled with alcohol, was beginning to drift again. Either way, he would count this night as one of his best.... Provided he could remember it the next day.

Taking another drink, Holt let a thin smile cross his lips as Ambellina leaned in towards him. A slight flutter in his pulse was hastily controlled while he suppressed the urge to appear overly eager. But with his better judgment impaired by the drinks, restraint was a tough commodity to muster at the moment. But he would attempt to manage with a few more moments of conversation.

"Well, I certainly have nothing specific in mind for tonight. Just a soldier enjoying some time away from the hustle and bustle of a career. Such that it is." He said, taking another swig from his drink. "And just what would bring a pretty lady like yourself to these parts tonight?"

[Deleted]

To most the smell of liquor on a man's breath was repulsive, but to Ambellina it simply meant that all of the right wheels were turning. At Holt's question, she let out a girlish giggle and daintily placed one finger on one of the buttons on the man's chest.

"Why, the soldiers of course...and being, hehe...'just a soldier'...would you happen to have a name?"

Giving her most winning smile, Ambellina pushed her glass aside deftly, making sure that the hem of her dress stayed just low enough to hide the blaster strapped to the inside of her thigh. Her matching high-heel casually brushed against the Lieutenant's leg and she giggled again, reaching out to straighten his tie as he answered her.

[Gamov]

Holt chocked down another drink as Ambellina placed a finger on the button of his uniform, a giddy, playful demeanor accompanying her girlish laughter. Of course he knew his own name, but even that topic was difficult for his bewildered mind to focus on with an attractive young woman teasing him.

Her fingers slipped around the tie on his neck, adjusting it as he felt the distinct sensation of her foot gracefully brushed at his leg. Clearing his throat, he answered her inquiry. "Of course, the name is Arnem Holt. Lieutenant Arnem Holt, to be exact." He added his rank as a bit of lure. A Lieutenant wasn't exactly the most awe inspiring rank to boast in the military, but it could work from time to time given the right situation.

"And might I have the pleasure of knowing your name?" He countered, enjoying the direction in which their banter was beginning to move.

[Deleted]

"My name's Leena...oh, a Lieutenant..."

At this point Ambellina was lying through her pretty little teeth. She never gave a mark her actual name, and she had deduced from his various insignia and his actions that he was a Lieutenant of some sort.

"Is that really high up, or do you still..."

Ambellina's voice fell a bit lower but did not lose its playful timbre. Even the drunkest man on the planet would not have missed her ennuendo.

"...salute?"

She bit her lip, smoothing down the shoulders of his jacket and feigning anticipation.

[MikDaTv]

Danny walked into the Marjolane's Den in his disguise. Really nothing more than a suit of civilian clothes he had bought from a Tramlaw Department Store It was a brown nerf hyde jacket over a white shirt and a pair of simple trousers. He rounded out the 'disguise' with some stubble on his face and some blond highlights.

His loose hanging jacket helped conceal the bulge in his shirt where a HSB-200 blaster pistol had been duct taped to his abdomen. Runt had wanted him to go with something smaller but Danny liked the added firepower and the optional stun setting.

An easy 200 credits had gotten him past the bouncer without a scan. Danny liked the easy way. For a mission like this, he loved night-clubs. Loud music, lots of people, dim lights, a general state of inebriation. It all added up to a mass of confusion that Danny could get lost in easily if the poop started to fly.

He reached up stretching out his arms and then brought his hands around the back of his neck as if to rub out a kink. Really he was double tapping the sub-dermal implant in his throat with his thumb. The throat mic broke squelch twice and that was the signal to his team outside that he had gotten in.

"Good work boss." Came the sound of Runt's voice in his ear through his cochlear implant. The sniper was on a neighboring rooftop keeping an eye on the buildings rear entrance while the Hefty and Tank were out in front, a few blocks down in a hover van they had jacked that morning, ready to back him up.

He surveyed the night-club. He'd never been to a real one before, but they simulated it countless times via hologram during his black ops training on Kamino. Night-clubs, bars, restaurants and other public places, though never the same one twice, and always with holographic people. This was a new experience for him. He steeled himself and started forward into the club.

If the Lone Gunmen were right, there was many an Imperial Officer on leave tonight, and there were many dirty little secrets to be had. They only needed one.

[Darth Hades]

Jas asked for another drink while he flirted with the waitress into giving him a second one free. As the waitress left he couldn't help but easedrop on the conversation of the people sitting behind him. A drunken officer easily lured by what sounded like a beautiful woman. Jas grinned as he wondered if the woman thought the drunken officer was loaded with credits. Or was it something else?

"...the name is Arnem Holt. Lieutenant Arnem Holt, to be exact."

Jas heard the drunken soldier call himself.

"Is that really high up, or do you still...salute?" said the beautiful girl.

The woman's voice gave her away. She was pretending to be stupid with Lieutenant Holt. But why? Did she wanted to sleep with the soldier, maybe steal his credits when he wasn't looking? Jas having nothing better to do at the moment decided to intervene in the conversation. Worse case scencio is that they will ask him to leave.

Jas turned and face Lieutenant Holt and the beautiful women finally seeing how they look. Jas put on a surprised face and said "The Lieutenant Holt!" Jas took a seat on the oppisite side of the them. "I'm sorry to intrude but I've heard of you Lieutenant." He lied, Jas had no idea who the Lieutenant was. "But tell me Lieutenant Holt. What are you during here and not on Taris?"

[Gamov]

"Well, Leena, let me tell you a thing or two about being a Lieutenant." Holt paused long enough to take another drink as Ambellina smoothed the shoulders and sleeves of his uniform. Setting the empty glass back on the counter, he looked into her eyes and gave his answer.

"I was trained to be an officer. But so far, all I do is repeat the phrase "yes, sir" and salute. Captains and Admirals, now those are the guys that don't need to salute. Years of training at the academy to get what? Lieutenant grade?" Holt seemed to resent his career at first, but he secretly enjoyed his post. Leaning in a bit closer, propping himself up on the bar with an elbow, he elaborated a bit further. Why, he was uncertain, or perhaps he really didn't know and simply enjoyed the company.

"But the way I see it is, those Captains and Admirals, those guys are in command. So that puts them up there next to the Sith who run this whole deal.... Better them than me. If even half of the stories I hear about the Sith are true, I don't even want to be on the same planet as one of them, let alone in the same room." Leaning back in his seat, Holt relaxed a bit before another voice piped into the conversation from the seat directly behind him.

"The Lieutenant Holt! I'm sorry to intrude but I've heard of you Lieutenant. But tell me Lieutenant Holt. What are you during here and not on Taris?"

Holt shifted in his seat to face the man, a sense of confusion in him. He had no idea why this man would know who he was, but for the sake of this evening, Holt was willing to let the charade play. Maybe it would pan out in his favor in the end.

"Well, its always nice to meet an admirer," he said, playing into the game with a big grin. "To answer your question, I have no idea. You'd have to ask the Admiral about that one." Holt shifted his attention back to Ambellina, flashing her a charming smile, or as charming a smile as a drunken officer could manage, "but, given my current company, I am rather glad we weren't ordered to Taris."

[Deleted]

Ambellina shot a sweet smile at Arnem before turning to Jas. She took him in for a moment before turning back to Holt. Though it seemed to be just a passing glance, and though she never lost her air-headed facade, myriad situations were going through Ambellina's mind all at once. She decided to turn back to Jas and introduce herself. Extending her hand daintily to shake, she surreptitiously sized him up.

"I don't believe I've had the pleasure. I'm Leena...I suppose you already know Lieutenant Holt."

Ambellina's smile was so bright and well manufactured that it could cure cancer. She batted her eyelashes at the newcomer, angling her body so that Holt could clearly see the flirtatious gesture. In this way, she hoped to sow the seeds of discord.

[MikDaTv]

Danny shook his head slightly to himself as he looked down into his Ebla Beer bottle. The whole conversation had gone into the ridiculous. Sitting on the other side of the curved bar, Danny had been reading their lips as much as he could while trying to avoid outright staring. She was out to get something, and he was too drunk to realize. This new guy was either gay and trying to pick the guy up, or he wanted something too. Whoever this lieutenant was, Danny was glad he wasn't on his side. He was the winner of the easiest mark ever awards. The man was barely staying in uniform.

Danny sipped his beer and looked away, making sure to keep an eye on his surroundings. After a quick survey of the room he looked down to check his chrono. In another 5 minutes the MP patrol would take a cruise down the street. Runt had taken the time to follow and memorize the patrol pattern for the local MP force and if anything, they were like clockwork.

Holt probably wasn't worth much, just a Lieutenant in a sea of other Lieutenants in the Imperial Military here on Coruscant. Danny kept his eyes open for anyone else but right now though, he was the best mark in the club and everyone seemed to know it.

"Patrol outside just went by Senior. That's 15 minutes until their at optimum distance. No other activity." Came the voice of Hefty through his implant. Danny reached up to "rub" his neck again, pressing on the sub-dermal twice and then taking another swig of his beer.