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Post by demikara on Nov 6, 2019 11:57:43 GMT -6
"There's not a lot I can do. Anything I do publicly, they'll see as a foreign government sticking its nose in." Hope shrugged. "I could possible raid where she's being held and sneak her out, but again. Foreign government. I could sneak someone in and sneak her out, but that would require Drulovic to cooperate which she may not. So I'd need to coordinate with her which frankly may lead to discovery and then again. Foreign government." Hope shrugged and almost fell over again. she held onto the bar to keep that from happening. "If I could coordinate with her, then I might be able to do something. Best case would be I can get someone in the prison, convince her they're with me, and then convince her to go along with it all. There's low likelihood of me managed to do all of that."
Arianne Drulovic was stubborn as it got. Unless she was willing to play along, then breaking her free was more trouble than it was worth. "I'm not dragging my people into war over this. I like Terra. My vacation home is here." It wouldn't survive a war intact. She wasn't going to do that to Terra. Seeking war over one person was a fool's choice. Hope knew that all too well.
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Meetings
Nov 6, 2019 12:06:40 GMT -6
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Post by Ylanne on Nov 6, 2019 12:06:40 GMT -6
"You might not like Terra for much longer, given the way it's fucking going over here," Titon glared back at Hope. "Have fun with your fucking vacations when you don't have friends and allies anymore because, I don't know, they're all either fucking dead or in fucking prison." She looked over at the bartender, but he was busy tending the the group of Aschen soldiers, who appeared to have lost interest in the fight that had started only to fizzle into nothing. An apt metaphor for most of the interpersonal dynamics threatening combat and intrigue, that Titon did her level best to avoid coming even vaguely close to. Oh well. She could drink to her heart's content, later, even if it was indisputably a terrible idea. "Don't you think Drulović would do the same for you, appearance of foreign interference be damned? Some help you are."
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Post by demikara on Nov 6, 2019 12:10:39 GMT -6
"Look, I'm going to out live all of it. So? I'm not really bothered by the changes. Maybe I'll like them. I don't expect friends and allies on Terra forever." She had been surprised she had them as long as she did. Hope sighed. "I'll do what I can for her. But I can't force her to do anything. Or rather, I won't force her." Hope had some sense of morals in her and believed very firmly in freedom of choice. She didn't know what to say to make it better, didn't know what she could do to help Drulovic.
"How aren't you in prison by the way? Like the rest of the indicted." That was a bit of curiousity. "Or have they just not managed to arrest you yet."
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Meetings
Nov 6, 2019 13:27:39 GMT -6
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Post by Ylanne on Nov 6, 2019 13:27:39 GMT -6
Titon propped her feet up on the little ledge on her barstool, tossing her hair over her shoulders again and tilting her head to the side. "Don't know, really," she admitted. "Maybe the NPA was scared to come get me, and probably they should be. Or maybe they just didn't give a fuck. I just found out about it the other day, anyway." She glanced at the bartender again, but now he was busy sweeping remnants of a broken glass from the middle of the room. "Most people don't even know who the fuck I am. And I like it that way. So maybe it's because no one knows who I am, so no one cares whether or not it looks like I'm being punished." And then there was the fact that what Titon did was nearly impossible to replicate without an implant like the one Hope had or with similar technologies. She, on her own, was an indispensable part of Terra's intelligence and defense work. At least, that's what each of the last several defense ministers had said.
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Post by demikara on Nov 6, 2019 13:44:45 GMT -6
"Mm. Well if you end up needing to disappear get a message to me. You I can do something about." Given she wasn't currently in a prison or a hospital bed. Though the hospital may have been doable with the right preparations. "I'll set you up on a nice little paradise planet. Give you enough to get you started in a new life." Even if she was a bitch. Though Hope would need to demand some sort of price for the service. The question was what was Titon willing to pay and was that worth the new start.
Wasn't that always the question though?
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Meetings
Nov 6, 2019 13:52:59 GMT -6
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Post by Ylanne on Nov 6, 2019 13:52:59 GMT -6
"Ha. What's the price, though?" Titon fixed her bright green eyes on Hope. Straight to the point as always. She swung her legs a bit, her shoulders free of the tension they'd carried only minutes before. She would look better in a gritty punk rock music video or something than pretending to hold a professional job with actual responsibilities. Like her colleague Ahmad, Titon was rarely dressed for the job she had, but rather unlike him, she was loud and openly misanthropic, openly despising many of her colleagues and proclaiming utter uninterest in the rest of them. She never belonged in those fancy government buildings. She didn't even belong in the high-class tech world either. Titon was an anomaly, an interruption, currently perched on a stool in Gambit's looking as home as the denizens raring for a fight in the other corner.
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Post by demikara on Nov 6, 2019 13:59:57 GMT -6
"What are you willing to pay?" It had been some time since Hope got to recruit someone, hadn't it? At least Titon seemed to be willing to play the game. "I can't imagine the assistant deputy director of cyberintelligence not having plenty to offer." She was confident in it too. Titon didn't seem too attached to Terra right now, so it shouldn't even be that difficult. Not something she expected to do while drunk, but hey, it seemed to be working out so far. The prospect of life behind bars probably wasn't appealing to the other after all, and it would look almost certain.
Hope had been briefed on the evidence had, on the certainty of it sticking. The justice department had done their work and done it well. There would be no slipping out of the majority of the charges for any of the indictees.
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Meetings
Nov 6, 2019 14:05:24 GMT -6
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Post by Ylanne on Nov 6, 2019 14:05:24 GMT -6
Titon shrugged. "I could go to prison for a long fucking time just for having this conversation," she said. "Treason. Kind of a slippery one." Not to mention something the old woman would never forgive her for. Good thing Drulović wasn't hear to hear it then. She finally caught the bartender's eye and signaled for another scotch. When he slid the glass to her, condensation beading on its surface, she swirled it slowly. This one, unlike the shots, she wouldn't rush. Not now that she was good and buzzed and wanted to stay that way. Blackout drunk wasn't a good look on anyone she knew, and much as she hated people, she knew a lot of them. The scotch was smooth and strong as she swallowed a small bit of it, keeping her gaze trained partway between Hope and the door, where a few other stragglers wandered in.
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Post by demikara on Nov 6, 2019 14:10:35 GMT -6
"It's not like I'm going to tell. I have a vacation home to think of." It was small and quiet and no more than a bungalow in a semi-decent neighborhood in Wing City. "Besides, you could go to prison for a long fucking time for what you're being indicted for. I've seen the charges after all." It had been an extensive list. They hadn't been kind to anyone involved. There were some cases where Hope would have made the exact same call they had though. She couldn't exactly pretend her hands were free of blood either.
Hope ordered a water and sipped at it, deciding to try and sober up some before her meeting. Or at least stave off the worst of the hangover. "You don't have to decide now. I can give you time."
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Meetings
Nov 6, 2019 14:39:27 GMT -6
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Post by Ylanne on Nov 6, 2019 14:39:27 GMT -6
"Eh. I mean, fifteen years versus life in prison," said Titon. Not that fifteen years was short by any measure. But it was survivable. It was also escapable, with or without foreign or other outside help. She sipped more at her scotch. "Gambit's might be kind of lawless but you know there are eyes and ears fucking everywhere." The two of them were both part of that. Networks of spies and double agents, everywhere. "Me, I'm easy. I just want to be left alone." Which was growing increasingly harder these days. And sure, the ministry had seized her passport, but she could work on that easily enough on her own if she wanted to. "And, you know, maybe not end up totally fucked over for just doing the job I'm paid to do."
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Post by demikara on Nov 6, 2019 15:28:41 GMT -6
Hope pulled a card out of her goggles and placed it on the bar next to Titon's scotch. "If you change your mind. They'll be able to get in contact with me." Discreetly even, though that went without saying in their business. "Hey isn't that the...bouncer's hat?" He nodded to the red beret. "That one who'll point a rail gun at idiots. She's been here forever." Hope looked around and didn't see her, but she hadn't seen her without the hat off either. She had been a regular here at one point, even living above the bar for a period of time during the rebellion until her ex and Frost got too chickenfoot to stay here.
Sure it was dangerous, but her entire life had been dangerous. Why would that stop now.
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Meetings
Nov 6, 2019 16:21:57 GMT -6
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Post by Ylanne on Nov 6, 2019 16:21:57 GMT -6
Titon shrugged. The motion came naturally to her, almost as much as breathing. "Yeah. Her husband is technically my boss. He's a weird fucker too. Doesn't really belong in the world of espionage." She grinned again at Hope. Mirthless. "You and I, though... We live in a world of mercenary loyalty. And don't get me wrong, Hope of House Anona. I don't plan to spend decades of my life in prison. And I'm not waiting around for someone to fucking save me, either." Her phone buzzed. She glanced at the screen, shook her head, and drank more of the scotch. It tasted like comfort. "Aerilyn, the bouncer, she got shot. Some fucking bounty hunter, just like that intrepid motherfucker in here looking for me. Except she got caught in the middle. Moral of the story - the people you really want around are always the ones who get fucked the most. Like Drulović too."
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Post by demikara on Nov 6, 2019 16:40:28 GMT -6
"Don't know what you're talking about Titon. Everyone knows Hope of House Anona is bubbly, cheerful, and a bit dense. She's a Hero of the Empire and as sweet as sugar." It was a strange persona, but it worked very well. "She'd never be described as mercenary." And she was not her. Hope was completely different than Hope of House Anona. Significantly more jaded, significantly more serious and with significantly heavier duties. It was a front and it worked well. Only those higher up in intelligence knew and believed that Hope was the spymaster. Everyone else considered her the sweet Hero of the Empire, a light among lights.
And wasn't she just adorable?
The pink hair did wonders in convincing people. She was also ready to smile at any moment. She had no clue how anybody actually believed that persona had led a rebellion. They seemed content in believing her twin had done the heavy lifting despite said twin being Johnny-come-lately to the entire event. People were gullible fools.
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Meetings
Nov 6, 2019 16:57:13 GMT -6
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Post by Ylanne on Nov 6, 2019 16:57:13 GMT -6
"Sure," said Titon, jerking her head to the side. "But I'm not 'everyone.' We know better. One day, others will too. Drulović's facade of the sweet old lady, with her gardens and her tea, well, that's fucking gone. Illusions can't ever last forever. Neither can secrets." Titon hiccuped, then drank another sip from her scotch. Titon was a repository for secrets. She and Drulović together knew enough secrets to bury kings and emperors and titans in fortresses and palaces and battleships spanning the galaxy. They'd spent their lifetimes collecting and hoarding those secrets. It was their job but it was also a vocation. And sometimes boring as fuck, but sometimes, thrilling like nothing else. "I think your cab drove off without you." Her eyes moved upward and over for a moment, toward the front door, where only the back end of a cab could be seen driving away at speed. "Figures."
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Post by demikara on Nov 6, 2019 18:36:42 GMT -6
"Forgot about it." Hope admitted cheerfully. "And sure they will. And when they do, I'll slip into the skin of Leoni Khan, a good belkan girl. Same empire now, after all." And she already had the identity set up. "And if that doesn't work, well, I've always liked Terra too. A shorter life, but long enough for people to forget Hope Anona." She stood and stretched, stumbling and giggling. "It's the advantage of being erutin. a simple thought, and I no longer look it."
She changed her appearance then, her hair going blond, her marks fading away. She changed how she held herself, curling her shoulders in and changing her height just slightly. "See?"
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