It's a Secret to Everyone

[Tribunal Power]

Nal Hutta
Aboard the Indulgence

---

It had been years.

Despite the time that had passed, Lorelei had never forgotten about Yuri. She still recalled fondly the day they spoke, connected even, no Nar Shaddaa some eleven years earlier. Times had changed, and things were different now-- but when Lorelei found someone she could relate to, she never forgot. And so when a matter came up that required hard, efficient, decisive action-- but with a subtle, discreet, and delicate approach, she thought of Yuri.

She knew where he was, who he was. After all, they both took the same paths when the veil dropped over the face of the Retrade. For years, Lorelei had to disappear; not everyone was as accepting of the raw truth as Yuri. There were people out there, powerful people, that took grave offense to the Retrade's true initiative to bring rise to the Hutts. Over the years, the Retrade had made friends with some of the Hutts' enemies. And so when word began to spread that the Retrade was only a Cartel puppet, and Lorelei was its perpetrator, the threats and attempts on her life were fast and often. It was necessary to die to the galaxy.

But she never truly died, no-- quite the opposite. Lorelei ascended to a position in the heart of the Cartel, a captain of the galactic empire of the Hutts, as a reward for her deeds. It was a title that she was pleased to hear she shared with two of her cohorts, Mr. Tamblyn and of course dear Mr. Sharp.

And while usually matters such as there were delegated to her many enforcers, this particular issue was... Sensitive. Too sensitive.

Sitting quietly in the lounge of her yacht, she awaited the arrival of her companion. At a glance, Yuri might not even recognize her; in truth she looked much the same, but she was dressed in a manner few had ever seen. She wore a suit of ESA Ascendant light armor, a sleek coal black outfit with steel grey plates, with long black hair spilling over her shoulders and the crimson shemagh wrapped around her slender neck. Her compact blaster pistol was holstered on her hip, the same one that was usually conealed on her person, this tmie exposed and carried openly.

Yuri would arrive soon, she hoped, and so she straighened her armor a bit and relaxed on the couch.

 

[Gaja]

Underneath the armor that would shield him, on his wide back, a tattoo could be seen. The 'mark' if you will of the Hutt Cartel and Vero the Hutt. The symbol of the Cartel, all in black stretched across the Captain's back and showed him as the 'son' of Vero. With a stoic look on his face the man walked through a long hall on Lorelei's yacht, while one of her many assisstants showed him the way. It had been more than a decade since the two of them first met and since that time a relationship was formed.

The two of them, along with several other individuals, grew the Ona'bak Retrade. A crime syndicate that was in no small part responsible for the fall of the Galactic Alliance. Of course created and funded by the Hutts who sought to branch out in to the galaxy and see if their methods worked... And boy did they work, but it was more than just strategy. It was the people who executed. Three individuals in particular stood out in all of that, and the two that were about to meet were two of those three. Yuri Sharp and Lorelei Melrava.

Both of them had at one point in time been Prime Executives, thereby leaders of the Retrade as the title of Guildmaster was only a lie. A deception created and put in place to test people and shield the Prime Executives from enemies. Of course when Yuri flirted with Lorelei he had no idea about it... But truth be told even if he knew he probably would have done it exactly like he did. He simply found Lorelei beautiful and that was the end of it.

She was still beautiful of course but now things were different. How couldn't they be after a decade... Now Yuri had a daughter, and Tsu. He was successful in his endeavors and now found himself with more money than he could really spend, so he had some smart people invest it. Suffice to say that Yuri was now involved in pharmaceuticals as well.

But running everything wasn't left to him. Hiring smart and capable people Yuri could dedicate to things he enjoyed, and because of his particular skill-set he had been called by Lorelei to once again lend a hand. His outfit was much different than the last one Lorelei saw him in, as the last time they met was at Borga's party. Now however Yuri was feeling much more at home. An immaculate high-end armor protected him while a rifle was attached to his back.

A knife and a pistol were also there to complete his gear and as the doors in front of him opened Yuri found out that his old friend had switched the dress for a suit of armor as well. It was quite sexy to see really, as in Yuri's humble opinion black really looked good on a woman.

"Thank you." Thanking the assistant the female twi'lek bowed and made a few steps backwards as Yuri continued on inside. His eyes were on the dark haired beauty in front of him. Still hardly believing that she donned the armor Yuri couldn't help but comment on it as a friendly smile spread over his face. "Can't say I expected to see you suit up."

 

[Tribunal Power]

Dark eyes illuminated when he entered, and Lorelei nodded her head to the twi'lek. "Thank you, Ada," she said obligingly as the twi'lek bowed and departed. She turned her attention to her old friend, with bulky armor that retained the shape of his sculpted body, and gave him a sharp smile. "Desperate times and desperate measures, I'm afraid," she stated as she closed the space between them in long, confident strides.

Her armor clacked against his as she wrapped her arms around him for an embrace, which may have seemed uncharacteristic for the Lorelei that Yuri once knew. But they were both quite different now, as were their circumstances, and so she was free to relax a bit more. After all, they were equals now-- and friends indeed. "It is so good to see you, Yuri. I apologize that I was unable to speak with you much at Borga's social-- I was rather indisposed at the time." Thoughts of the man in the white jacket drifted into her head, but in the interest of retaining focus, she forced them away.

Turning her back to him, she folded her hands behind her and let out a sigh. "You're wondering why I've asked you here, I'm sure-- why I'm dressed so, and why I asked you here alone."

 

[Gaja]

Embracing the woman Yuri had to admit that he was indeed rather curious as to why she called him over to her ship. It must have been urgent, otherwise she wouldn't ask him to come geared up and ready to go. The purpose, the target, the reason behind it all however he had yet to learn about. What made him smile though was when Lorelei brought up Borga's party where they didn't really get to talk that much, except for seeing each other in passing and saying hello at the most.

"Yes well the party got crazy and things happened... You were there." It was all that needed saying. After all when a few people almost got eaten by mistake, by some animals might I add, things got rather hectic and the two didn't really get to talk all that much, so it ended up that Yuri got called over to help out with something. Either way as he walked further in to the lounge the man looked around. The place looked the same, spotless of course, but quite similar to how it looked all those years ago.

"Do we have time to catch up or will we have to wait until this matter is settled?" It was an honest question. He wondered how urgent this whole thing really was? And what was it about?