[Dominion Mission] Diplomatic Relations

[Balla Vahla]

The Guineo were either really dumb or thought they were the best jokesters in the entire world.

V, dressed semi formally with no armor or any kind of visible weapons, was holding her datapad in her hands. Projected for her and her companion (@The Maelstrom ) to see was a... Well, it was suppose to be a map, but it looked like some kind of abstract art design. The person who had handed her this mission dossier had said it was a map on how to get the leader of the guineo people from the landing pad. Drawn by the leader himself.

So far, it had lead them to a ice cream shop that boasted it sold the best deathsticks, a half finished factory building that had giant rats living it, an alleyway that filled with nothing but droid arms, and now back to their ship. They were back to square one after spending hours of roaming around in this half finished city. V was angrily looking at the map, biting on her thumb as she grumbled. This was not what she had signed up for.

"This place is like a giant jigsaw puzzle..."

The guineo city was rather hard to get around, the roads were cluttered with objects and half finished projects. Hovercrafts flew around and landed at random, sometimes just crashing into buildings but none of the guineo that were around really seemed to care. They were durable, she had to give them that, but they were not intelligent in the slightest. She understood now why they quickly 'harvested' by slavers and other gangs that roamed the galaxy. While they roamed around trying to follow the map the guineo had given them she saw a whole flock of the banana people heft up a fallen hovercraft over their heads and then walk away with it as if the most normal thing in the world.

V pointed to a tiny spot on the map, "Does this look like... A cup? Or... A ball?" V was the artist, but she had no idea what she was looking at. It was all squiggles and lines and one big X through the center. She spun the map around, and viewed it from a different angle, frowning as she stared at ti.

 

[Korun]

Where Ms. Versai Almec was the epitome of semi formal style and hidden lethality he went for the full 'whatever im the bodyguard' treatment. It wasn't the most glamorous or dangerous mission by a longshot but she was still a diplomat to the Dominion and the Prime Minsters daughter. The latter of the two proving to be more concerning for a man who had barely even began to understand the importance of positions of power beyond who owned who. Here was someone who for all intents and purposes could stay at home and paint war propaganda and never have a real days work in her life, yet she was here on a foreign planet with even more foreign people working. They were both currently wandering without much effect, but he was enjoying the exploration. He had never seen an ice cream shop that sold deathsticks, or rats that large before, nor seen that many droid parts in a single place. It was all a rather interesting exploration mission. Seeing her worry at or annoyed.. he was still working on reading people emotions. He offered one of his single sentence quips as a way of helping her and doubling the amount of words he had spoken to her beyond their introductions in a single bound. Thankfully with his helmet on he could glance at her interesting emotional changes without her being able to tell too much. He wondered if she had ever chewed on the wrong finger before or if it even mattered.

"Think of it as recon."

He was certainly learning many things. Not that he was sure any of them would be particularly useful. Being called stupid himself he could see where someone else would label the guineo as such. More childlike would be his assessment. For him the chaos of the crashings and such was differently then it was on Mandalore it was just more background noise of chaos that he had gotten used to since being free. Once they decided to do something else they just up and did it. As she fiddled with the datapad he kept a sharp eye out from behind his visor. Despite what the mission said they were supposed to do his own personal priority was making sure the woman stayed out of harms way. At her question he took his helmet off. For whatever reason he found certain things to be sharper when he did and he wanted to feel the sun and the breeze on his head. He gave a long look at the map or the supposed map then back at her.

"This isn't a pyche test is it?"

Saying by simple inflection of tone he said two things. The first being that he had more then enough of those to last him a lifetime and wouldn't be pleased if this was a trick. The second was that he was not convinced it was a cup or a ball. An idea occurred to him as he once again made sure the coast was clear of threats. He was sure it was stupid as he was told many times in boot camp he was indeed not the most learned of individuals. After a moment he shrugged visibly.

"Where do non-guineo go when they land to trade? Maybe someone there would know the way."

He was assuming grandly that they hand landed someplace different then someone with trade goods would. If they.. or she found this place to be as much of a madhouse as it probably was then any non quineo would need a refuge to trade, hangout, and stay over. Maybe even a information terminal they could read and understand.

 

[Balla Vahla]

"The only people to come this backwash of a planet are the people looking to steal or take the guineo."

She sighed and waved the hologram away, it wasn't going to helping them here.

"The guineo are highly Unintelligent. I doubt they even have a leader... But they are strong and can easily be munipulated into harder tasks or even being soldiers. Without guidance, they do this!"

She motions around them wildly, the half finished buildings, the shops that advertised one thing but sold a vastly different thing. The guineo all walked around as if this was the most normal thing in the world, and when they were working they seemed to wander aimlessly till someone grabbed them and pulled them into their project. With enough of them working on one task she was sure they could build a freighter in record timing but otherwise... They were doomed to just follow whoever spoke the loudest or grabbed them.

Versae sighed, her companion did have a point though... If she was an off worlder where would she go if she didn't have a map? She tapped her foot impatiently before picking a direction and walking.

 

[Korun]

Korun replied without even thinking.
"Which one of those do we fall under?"
Oh well what was said could not be unsaid and if she didn't like it she could just make sure they never ended up on a mission together again. Still that hadn't been the only reason he had taken his helmet off they HAD been wandering for a few hours. So he took out a field bar and started munching on it before regarding his companion. Would she get mad if he offered her one? Some women were incredibly touchy about their weight. Of course some people didn't like the taste or texture but for a guy like him they tasted divine. Well only one way to find out and he grabbed a fresh sealed food bar and offered one to her.
"I have been told low blood sugar can make people irritable."
Cause he didn't understand the reasoning or science behind such a thing and noone had yet to disprove him of it either. He looked around again and gave a shrug.
"They know how to build. I would not know the first thing on making a building does that make me.. unintelligent?" wrestling slightly with the multi-syllable word
Well since he got her talking he might as well just keep on going he figured. "Can I ask you a personal question?" delivering the simple statement with his near monotone inflection. He took a sip of water from a canteen then offered her one from a different one before resuming his steady gaze over the people around them looking out for non-guineo as they walked. He would almost take a Hutt to ask directions from.. almost.

 

[Balla Vahla]

Versae laughed! Not even a fake laugh, it was more akin to a 'oh your so funny!' Laugh. Like he was actually cracking a joke.

"Oh, Korun. We are the unidentifiable third party. We are here to do either A or B to them. We want their loyalty, and if we can convince them that we are better then remaining unionless and prone to attack then we will have it."

It honestly should not be that hard. At least that was what she was telling herself, walking without true direction seemed pretty dangerous on a planet she knew little of, but that wasn't stopping her.

Versae was leading deeper into the city, towards the taller masses of buildings. Surely the leader would be in a tall building overlooking his subjects. More guineo roamed the streets now and didn't even look at Korun or V. Almost as if they were used to their presence on this city.

When offered a snack V stared at him and the bar. A mildly blank look on her face, almost as if she wasn't sure what to do with it. A small voice in her head warned her that people are suppose to accept gifts, no matter what.

So, she took the bar and tucked it into her pocket. "Thank you."

She was going to ignore that comment he had about low blood sugar or something. Versae would know more about her blood sugar then others surely. She sighed and kept walking before pointing to a rather tall building in the distance. Showing him that was there they were going, but not saying it. He had an idea now at least, of where they going. When he said he was going to ask a personal question every hair on her body stood on end. She had a feeling she knew what this was about.

"Sure." V muttered hesitantly, not sure if she was going to be able to answer.

 

[The Maelstrom]

The laugh struck him as so sudden he had to refrain from jumping. That was certainly a first for him and he looked at her like an extra arm had suddenly grown out of her head. An eyebrow of his even perked up in obvious confusion of what the heck was going on. Then he looked about just to be sure it wasn't some damn guineo doing something foolish that had sparked the laugh. A humor just one of those million things to being a real sentient of the universe he was wrangling to get a grasp on.

"That means they have to be aware of the concept of danger."

More to himself then to her. His eyes trailed the bar as it went into her pocket. Was she a robot? Did she not know food was for eating? Boy if he had heard the snack comment he would have had to politely remind her it was the pinnacle of military food rations. One could live off those things with water to go with them. As it was he could only shoot her another glance and nod as she pointed out their new destination. Currently sated he pulled his helmet back on and clicked it into place. Now he could be as dense as a neutron star but even the smoke signals she was sending up made him raise his eyebrow again. Onward and forward however.

"Your a highborn. Are you out here to help your clan, the Dominion, or yourself? I ask because I am trying to understand sentient ambition." to him he was just asking why the guineo or yellow or some such. Which begged the second question. "What did you think I was going to ask?" well technically that was two questions but she looked like someone had made her stick her finger in a charging socket or something. "Feel free to fire back with two of your own." that was fair right?

At least their destination was getting closer and so far no one looked like they had even noticed the two of them walking along. Which he figured would only make his job that much easier.

 

[Balla Vahla]

That was a loaded question and it actually made her hesitate as she walked, almost as if she skipped a beat. Her eyes twitched a little bit, not out of madness or frustration but because he was making her think about things she much rather not think about in this point in time. Why was she here?

"'Highborn' is a bit of a overstatement. My father earned his place as Prime Minister and I was born during that rise to power... And frankly, I don't think my father sees me as a mandalorian."Her father was the... Highmade? She was merely riding on his coat tails. Frankly she was okay with that, but in her eyes anyone who could stand tall and wear the armor without fear was a Mandalorian and those were the true heroes. The real highborn.

"I'm merely here. To help... Reclaim lost time, maybe? So perhaps I am a bit selfish. A word of advice, though. People do not often share their ambitions, most will play their cards close to their chest."

She sighed as they happened upon the building finally, she had not realized it when they were so far away but the building seemed to be made out of a lot of various scraps and it was leaning dangerously to the side. She crossed her arms and stared up at the building. Versae did not want to go in there.

"We can play 20 questions when this mission is over..." She was going to need a drink, she could just feel it. Her eyes scanned the area around them, stepping in the path of the nearest guineo. "Excuse me, what is this building?" She pointed her thumb at the leaning tower.

"Hello!" He responded, a grin coming over his face.

Versae waited, but he just grinned at her. As if he was waiting for her to say something.

"Hello... What building I-"

"Beautiful isn't it!" He suddenly whipped around and bent backwards to look up at the tall building, his hands in his hips as he peered up at the tall building. "By far our best work! This is the only way to appreciate it!"

Versae just stared at him, watching as he bent his body at that unnatural angle just to look up. Versae grit her teeth for a second, trying to quell any kind of rage that was building up.

"Yes... Its quite great... What happens in this building?"

He didn't move, didn't answer. He was just looking up at the marvel that this hunk of junk. Versae huffed out of her nose, unsure of where to go from here. She looked to Korun for some help.

 

[Korun]

"I see.. as for your father that sounds more like a problem of Mandolorian culture then your father not approving. Thank you."

Part of him didn't want to make the woman mad as he really didn't feel like making enemies with the daughter of the prime minister. He meant the thank you when he said it though he was looking forward to talking to her more about it. With her dismissive statement he kept quite the rest of the way to the leaning tower of scrap. The guineo's enthusiasm was infectious and even he took a moment to look straight up at the tower and then another to make note of how limber he seemed to be. He let the official diplomat do her thing and made sure the coast was clear even as he kept up with the exchange.

Then she did something he was completely unprepared for. Korun wasn't entirely sure what tipped him off. The burst of irritated air through her nose? Or was it the pointed look in his direction or was it something else entirely. His brain slapped into instant overdrive. The mission must succeed and he needed this sentient's cooperation. Somehow he identified the guineo as an inattentive guest of there presence. The banana man seemed uninterested aka bored. Right. Grab attention. Set the stage. He held up a gloved finger to V and pulled out his datapad and punched buttons on it and music started to play.
And then.. he started to sing..

"Look there at this wonder you've done. Look at it bask in the sun.~" he stepped up to the guineo and hugged it to him side by side without missing a beat and using his free hand to raise a hand towards the toward in an theatrical expressive gesture. "You took something bad and made it great. Something for all to appreciate.~ A proud guineo you must be. To make something your neighbors can see.~" At this point he had the full undivided attention of the man and several others whom were walking by and stopped to wonder what was going on. He physically turned the man so they were face to visor. "Now we must go. A present to show.~ To your leader away. Lets go today!~" with that he gave the man a push to get him moving to wherever they needed to go and Korun killed the music. He was sure he had just used up at least a month's worth of creativity right there and had probably sung it off key. Thankfully all he had to do was change the tune's words around. Thinking up solutions on the spot was not his strongest suit.

As the man started marching and humming the tune to the song he just sang he waited for V to follow so he could bring up the rear and just like that he was completely silent all over again. They walked a few buildings down and in big mismatching letters and colors the words "City Hall''

 

[Balla Vahla]

This was what she had resorted to. Being the baby sitter for a baby warrior and a banana man.

Didn't help that was he off key by like... three notes and it made the part of Versae's brain twitch with rage. She rubbed her temples and followed them along as they did their song and dance. She had to admit, it was a good idea... However, she never did her music as means to entertain others. She did it as a experssion of herself and her feelings. Sometimes, when she let other composers into the house it was merely because they requested her and offered an insane amount of money to do so.

However, it worked. Versae let a relieved sigh when she saw the building and clapped Korun on the back. "Good job."

Did she mean it? Did she really think he had done a good job? Yes. But it wasn't showing on her face. She wanted to get his over with already. They entered the building easily, the door was unlocked but was shocked to see there was no one there... Expect a guineo wearing a womens wig and the scraps of a red dress around his yellow suit. He, or was it she, looked quite out of place but this was also the guineo they had seen that wasn't just wearing the standard yellow hazzard suit they all wore... Granted she was still wearing the suit, but the dress and wig were on top.

She made an eep noise, which sounded strange to Versae because her voice was no different from the guineo they had just met outside. They all sounded the same, man or woman.

The red dress wearing guineo rushed over to the outsiders. "Hello! Hello... Hello!" She looked between the two of them, hard to tell what she was thinking with the goggles blocking their eyes. "You must be here to speak to the mayor!"

Versae put her on fake smile and nodded her head. "We are, I am Versae Almec from the Dominions Intergalatic Realtions Office and this is my protection, Korun." She gestured behind herself to Korun.

The guineo looked between them again, "Oh, well... I am Flip, the secretary. And the mayor is dead." She burst into a fit of giggles. "Well, we THINK he's dead. He got taken oooooh... A month or so ago."

Versae stared at the woman, trying to keep the smile on her face but added in a dosage of 'oh-I'm-so-sorry' into it. "I'm sorry to hear that... Is there a deputy mayor?"

"Also taken."

"Perhaps a Chief Adviser?"

"Died last week."

"Vice-Mayor?"

"Taken."

"Chief of Staff?"

"Pretty sure he quit."

"Why did he quit?"

"Because everyone in office was being taken."

"Is there anyone here?"

"We have a council!"

"Great, could we speak to them?"

"Half of them died, the other half are on vacation! To Ziost, I hear. Nice place!"

Versae frowned and looked Flip up and down, pausing her line of questioning. "And Flip, what do you do here?"

"Oh, I work the phones!" She pulled a clearly broken phone out of her dress and handed it to Versae. Versae took the phone and gripped it in her hands, it was a good idea giving her something to squeeze.

"Well... Flip... If everyone else is dead, gone, or taken... Doesn't that mean you are in charge?"

Flip opened her mouth, seeming to protest this, but no words came out of her mouth. She closed her mouth slowly as she considered this new information. She even tapped her chin and after a couple more long seconds of thought, reached up and tried to do a hair flip with the wig, but merely swatted at the fibers that made up the hair.

"I guess I am!"

 

[Korun]

If he was a religious man he would have offered up a prayer to any singers that overheard his near painful display of singalong song. Thankfuly duty allowed him to do what was required no matter how absurd others may think it a the time. He just hoped his companion was as understanding. Judging from her face and despite the 'good job' he didn't think he had the greatest of chances receiving an invitation to the Almec clan for anything short of cleaning their bathrooms. Oh well where one door closed another opened. "Thanks"

He eyed the inside of the building and found it as slap-dash and random as the rest save the attempt at a receptionist desk and a guineo whom felt had issues deciding what gender it was practicing that very moment. Nodding at his introduction to Flip and turning to survey the place once again. Hopefully his next trip would take him someplace more understandable to him.

The talk of disappearances snapped him rigid like a whip and the sobering thought of the naivety of the guineo people hit him like a splash of ice water in the face. He eyed the grip Versae had on the phone and half-expected the Mandalorian born woman to simply bash Flip's head in with it. He stepped closer to Flip after patting Versae once on the shoulder.

"Flip, you do realize that the ones taken to Ziost are dead or dying right? Probably flayed to an inch of their lives and worked to death. No more fun. No more building, or dresses, or wigs, or bloody be damned ice cream flavored deathsticks. Just dying and getting dead." he straightened himself a bit having leaned to force the 'woman' to stare at his visor in a bit of shock. At which part she was most concerned about he didn't rightly care. As long as something stuck.

"Now if you want to keep doing what ya like an' be all the better for it then listen to Miss Almec here. A trade to stop your people from going missing and make them much happier." with that he cleared his throat as if remembering himself "Apologies Miss Almec." well he wasn't to win any holovid awards for that performance, but it was convincing to the guineo at least. Flip looked to Versae still abit dazed.

"Miss?" Korun restrained a sigh of relief as they were finally getting somewhere.