1588/Meeting the Metalbender

Meeting the Metalbender
Date of Scene:	16 February 2015
Location:	Bar and Grill at the Edge of the Multiverse
Synopsis:	Juno Eclipse, undercover as 'Blackout,' meets with Toph to demonstrate the wonders of durasteel, and meets with Alexis Maaka to discuss a business deal.
Cast of Characters:	20, 428, 571

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Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Welcome to the Bar and Grill at the Edge of the Multiverse, where you can find just about anything to eat or drink. It also happens to be convenient neutral ground, where members of both factions and many different groups can meet peacefully.

Today finds one mercenary pilot, 'Blackout,' kicked back in a table near the middle of the room. She's a blonde, blue-eyed woman whose pale complexion suggests she probably doesn't get a whole lot of sun, although she doesn't look unhealthy; and her rugged clothing suggests that her chosen vocation is either mercenary, smuggler, or both. With a low collared white, tunic-like shirt and a reinforced leather jacket over that, along with reinforced belts, reinforced leggings, and sturdy leather boots; a holster at each hip, and some sort of miniaturised datapad buckled to her left wrist. Her hair's drawn back into a plain horsetail,

She's got an assortment of metal bits on the table in front of her, some of them corroded, some of them tarnished, and some of them charred beyond recognition. She's also got a bowl of noodles billowing steam close at hand, though all of those go ignored – right now she's poking through some kind of holographic data readout on her wrist-mounted datapad, with lines of tiny text too small for anybody else to see very well. Every so often she pauses for a bite of those noodles. They must be hot-hot-HOT, because every time she does, her face flushes scarlet and her eyes almost water.

Just waiting for folks to arrive, looks like.

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
The door opens just for Alexis Maaka to have her entrance. Instead of combat gear, she's got a white hoodie and bluejeans going with some red sneakers. Her sidearm is a compact Glock on a belt, but it's nothing too big and intimidating for the sake of concealment. The gun is left at the doorman when she's screened for weapons, as are spare magazines for good measure.

On her belt is some sort of high-tech gadget, the teleporter link to her vessel, and the cyborg also holds a tablet that contains specs from her new vessel.

As the cyborg makes a stop by the bar, she orders up a guiness ale, taking a swig from it as she approaches the admittedly pretty blonde. "Lemme guess, 'Blackout'?" She asks the incognito pilot, setting the tablet and drink down on the table before she offers a hand to shake. Only polite when professionals are meeting, right?

She orders up a beef stew with slices of French bread, steaming hot and peppered with veggies and chunks of pork.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
The young girl doesn't even try to hide her arrival in the Bar and Grill, walking in as if she owns the place. With her manner of dress she does stand out, and she doesn't turn her head to look around. Instead she walks over to the bar to order herself some food, which includes a chicken wrap as well as a large iced tea. It doesn't take long to get the food in question, and Toph picks up her plate and glass, walking along the tables until she blinks and notices some things through her finely honed senses.

For one, Maaka. Also, there's somebody who has scrap metal on the table.

An impish grin speads across the girl's youthful face as she sets her direction to the table and offers a nod to the other Unionite. "Heya Maaka," she says and places her own food and drink down on the table. No handshaking, it appears. "And you're Blackout, huh? Didn't you fight in the WMAT last year?" Toph inquires curiously. "Didn't get to see your match, but your voice sounds familiar." And the blind girl never forgets a voice.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Juno looks up from her hot noodles, her scrap durasteel, and her datapad, and she slowly arches a brow at the cyborg. "An entire room full of multiversals, and you come straight to me? Either you've seen me before, which I find unlikely, or you have good instincts. Am I really that obvious?" The statement seems more rhetorical than anything else, and she sets aside the datapad, turning it off with a sideways swipe of the itty bitty screen.

A well-placed kick of those reinforced boots pushes out a chair for Maaka, even as she leans forward to shake that hand. Her grip is strong, fingers slightly callused here and there, in the manner of someone who's not afraid to get them dirty. She's done mechanical work, that's for sure, and it shows in the tiny scars and roughness. Apparently she does have gloves, sleek leather things that stop before the end of the wrist, but they're laid aside for now.

The hot noodles seem to be enough for the pilot; she doesn't bother ordering anything else, just yet.

Her eyes do flick to the door, though, regarding the girl walking in. That's got to be Toph. Her voice wasn't particularly old, and wasn't blindness mentioned? Toph's eyes certainly look sightless, though she seems to find her way with uncommon confidence. Is she using some kind of Force-sensitivity? No, Juno corrects herself, squinting a little. Not the Force. These people aren't from her world... but she must be using something rather like it. A tidy solution.

"Uh huh." Juno's involvement in the WMAT was what was publically attributed to a clerical error, at least within the Confederacy; the real fault lay with Inquisitor Starkiller, who probably did it for the amusement value. Punching him for that was incredibly satisfying. "It was somewhat spur-of-the-moment. I'm no soldier or commando. Have a seat. I've got the durasteel, but we'll have to go somewhere else if you want to see anything bigger than that."

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
"You got pretty eyes." Alexis says with a lazy smile, a good natured joke in response to settle the mood. As the two shake hands, Maaka's own grip is tight not unlike a vise, yet at the same time delicate enough. She's got some rough fingers, like she's handled a shitload of machinery over the years in the field and other places, most of it dedicated either to espionage or assassination. Her eyes are also very noticably like cybernetic optics, the biggest hint that she's some sort of augment to the pilot.

As the chair is offered up to her, Maaka accepts with a nod. "Thanks for the invite by the by, I've been wanting an excuse to get some real food in me that ain't either pizza or MREs for ages now. They got some damned good brews here too." She says, raising her glass to both Juno and Toph when the earthbender arrives. "Hey Toph. You want anything? My treat if you're hungry." She grins a little in Toph's direction, then knocks back a sip.

Deftly, Alexis turns the tablet on and fiddles through the menus until it projects a holographic readout of her new ship. "She doesn't have a name yet, but I've been trying to put her through her paces. Nothing fancy yet, but she handles decently. Didn't have much trouble getting a repair bay set up either. The repair tank's designed for my mods, and also intended to be portable. Plug and use, like a fridge." Siiiip.

The glass is set down, and Alexis stirs her stew a little until taking a spoonful to gulp down. It's considerably hot, but she seems to take it with just a grunt. Those eyes of hers have no tear ducts, even if they do fog up a bit before clearing off seconds later with a blink. "Alexis Maaka, Syndicate operative for hire. I'm something of a specialist for security and military concerns in the field, you could say."

If Juno's SpaceBritish, then Maaka is recognizably Australian by accent, despite her appearance more akin to someone who's spent their life in Japan. It's an incredibly odd juxtoposition, giving her an exotic but rough edge to her that's made clear by some of the reactions of other patrons as they almost doubletake for a moment, before going back to their drinks in a moment of incredible wisdom.

Her hand removes the gadget at her belt, before placing it in reach of Juno. "This little bit is some sort of beacon for my ship's teleporter device, according to the on-board AI that is." Juno will notice that the ship itself is very...artistically designed, harkening to its Hylotl design scheme. It's functional, but at the same time elegant in nature. Some modifications on the inside are a bit haphazard, but serviceable enough. A view on the interior will reveal some sort of pod, like a bacta tank in appearance.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
The offer from Maaka does make the girl grin even wider. "I still haven't tried the banana split here," she muses. Why not? Screw modesty, if people want to buy her snacks she isn't going to say no. "But I gotta finish some food first I think." Juno's reply and dismissal of the WMAT does make her arch one eyebrow slightly. "Nothing wrong with fighting in the WMAT for fun, lady," Toph says with a shrug. She herself always enjoys it, though she hopes she will get further in the C bracket this year around.

The blind earthbender does take a seat though, getting comfortable as she picks up her glass and has a sip of iced tea.

So that is the durasteel, huh? Toph shakes her head as she reaches out with her free hand, taking one of the pieces of scrap metal all while there is a highly curious look on her face. "This is enough." And it's immediately interesting, at least it seems like Toph's attention shifts from her food to the piece of scrap metal. Hmmm. Her left hand sets down her glass and picks up the wrap, and Toph takes a big bite out of the roll, chewing as she runs her fingers over the metal and listens to Maaka and Juno talk. "Wait... you got a ship now, Maaka?" she asks.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're flirting with me." The airy statement isn't quite disapproving, but it comes close. She squints at Maaka's eyes, even as they let go of their handshake. "And I'd say your eyes look like they belong in a droid. That's some good work, there. Whoever did that to you definitely knew what they were doing. Optics are tough."

She would know, having had one of hers burnt out by a shinki. The damage was repaired organically, but it was incredibly painful and also extremely unpleasant, and not an experience she ever wants to go through again. Medusa did good work, herself. There's baerly any scarring, except for a slightly paler patch over one of her eyes, where the skin was seared; but the damaged eye looks almost the same as the other. The colour is only slightly more grey – but it's so subtle it could be missed, not nearly as jarring as, say, blue and green.

"You know, you can come to this place any time. Concentrate hard enough, and it tends to make itself available. You hardly need an invitation from me to do that." Juno waves a hand dismissively, kicking back in her chair again, leaning it so it rests at a slight angle on one of its supports. She doesn't put her boots up on the table, at least, but she's obviously relaxed, and obviously trusts the enforced neutrality of this place.

Her eyes fall on the tablet, one brow raising as Maaka fishes up the holographic display. Squinting a bit, she leaves off her lazy posture, straightening to look the ship over with the eye of a professional – there's no mistaking the razor-sharp focus in her gaze.

"Decent size. How long is she, stem to stern? I'd say you've got room enough for a hyperdrive, if that isn't one already... decent plating, looks as though you'll have good manouevring... hmm. Not a bad start. I can think of worse." She started on TIE Fighters which, while agile, are basically expensive government-issue coffins. She got lucky and developed a knack for piloting them; most people didn't. "Bit on the small side for something warp-capable, all told, and there's not much room for cargo or additional fuel, but I think I can work with that."

The offered device is taken and turned over in her hands, that laser-like focus in her eyes once more. There's no excitement for an engineer quite like the prospect of looking over New Stuff.

"Where did you get this?" she asks, voice distracted. "I've never seen anything like this before, and I've seen a lot of technology..."

Juno shrugs, at the mention of the WMAT. "Oh, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it. It's just not my particular style. Actually, I'm to understand there was some kind of clerical error. I wasn't actually supposed to be entered into the lists in the first place. I like to watch. I even like to bet on the others." She grins. "Easy credits, sometimes. But me? I'm not really a fighter."

The durasteel chunks are nudged towards Toph with a gesture. Juno folds her arms and leans back in her chair again, watching with veiled interest as Toph focuses her attention on the pieces of scrap. This is going to be interesting to watch. There's first times for everything, and that includes watching somebody bend the strongest known alloy into pretzels with their brain!

For the moment, though, the pilot settles for another bite of those eye-wateringly hot noodles, content to listen to Alexis and Toph go back and forth.

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
Alexis pauses for a moment. It's clear that Juno doesn't swing that way now that Alexis has gotten a better look at her, and she shrugs a shoulder. "Just breaking the ice, I suppose." THe comment of her own eyes gets a raised, crimson brow from the cyborg. "You're not wrong. That's what corporate funds will get you when you wanna bring someone back from the brink of death, like my creators did with me." She says mildly, noting some slight miscoloration with Juno's features.

"I suppose, but I appreciate an excuse in any case." Shrug. The cyborg takes another slurp of soup before she makes a mental note for that banana slip for Toph, just to be sure.

Toph gets a nod again, and she glances to Juno again as the pilot looks over the schems. "I got it from an Apex compound the other day. The site was overrun by something called hollows that went berserk, by the looks of it. It was a nasty little affair, but everyone got ships out of the hangar which is nice."

She takes a sip of her drink next. "The apex are a group of ape people who do some horrific scientific experiements for the sake of it, make alterations to brain chemistry of its citizens to condition them into serving their leader and his government, that kinda thing. Not the kind I'm too fond of myself."

"I was accompanying a flotilla of space travelers I met some weeks back. George, Moonfin, ALbert, Biteblade, Seft, and Pavo." She lists the names off before giving facial IDs that seem to be logged from missions undertaken alongside them. "They're a ragtag bunch, but they're good at what they do. As for a ship itself, I'm not gonna act like it's anything but a glorified camper van for the moment. Hopefully though I'll figure something out with upgrading this thing..." She rubs her chin. "At the least, thing handles decently for a civvie craft at least."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
Let the two talk about spaceships or whatever. It's not like Toph knows anything about that topic nor does she have any interest in it. That time can be spent stuffing her mouth full of delicious chicken wrap and enjoying the sweet taste. "The Bar and Grill is a pretty sweet place indeed," she states when they are on the topic. Pretty handy that it's so easy to get here indeed. Toph too trusts the neutrality of this place, and she herself is tempted to place her feet up on the table. But not now, not when she is eating and also concentrating on the metal at hand. This is indeed curious, new metal is always a challenge. Luckily she has gotten the concept of metalbending down, now she just needs to study the metal to figure out its composition closer.

What she does have an interest in however is the WMAT. "Betting, huh? Bet on me, I am planning on winning the C bracket." Yes, the ego in her is bigger than the girl herself. "And people always seem to enjoy watching me fight, it's what I have done since I was 9 years old after all."

As Maaka describes the flotilla of people she fought in Brockton Bay a while the blind girl frowns a bit. Sure, they aren't horrible, but still, she won't forget fighting them, especially the plant member of their team that did a number on her shoulder and even talked about eating hearts. It kinda creeps her out even now, even if the thing apologized and seems less creepy on the channels now. For now Toph stuffs the remainder of her food into her mouth, chewing intently as she places her other hand on the metal as well, her small fingers running over the edges and the surface of the metal. Why, she even closes her eyes, a look of concentration on her face. "This is different from most metals I have studied before..." she muses. But the blind earthbender takes a deep breath... and an earpiercing shriek of protest leaves the durasteel as Toph digs her fingers into it and twists the stubborn metal. It's not like regular steel, still unfamiliar to the girl. But it is still metal, and an alloy at that. Which makes it somewhat easier to bend when she has different metals to work with.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Maaka's comment of corporate funding draws a more thoughtful sound from the mercenary pilot, and she seems to close off at that.

Certainly, she's seen the results of top-notch funding and resources. There were times she could have sworn that Starkiller should have been crippled, permanently, or even killed from the severity of his wounds. He didn't necessarily get away from all of his missions unscathed. No matter how bad things seemed, though, he was always patched up and sent off for more.

She rubs a hand along her lower jaw, thoughtful as she considers that. In certain scenarios, work like that does make sense. Sometimes it's a matter of life and death, and the conversion of organic to machine is necessary. It's just not something that she had ever wanted for herself.

It does make her wonder, though... how much of Starkiller is still original, with the damage and abuse he's been put through? Even a Force-enhanced human has their natural limits and threshold for such things...

Pushing her thoughts aside, her eyes focus again as she listens to Maaka's tale. None of those terms are familiar, but she's imaginative enough to fill in the blanks. As to the Apex, sounds like something the Galactic Empire might like the idea of. Fortunately, nobody's gone to those lengths, at least not yet, although technologies like cloning aren't wholly unheard of.

"Hunh." A thoughtful sound, to imply she's still listening, eyes flicking to the portraits of the Starbound Flotilla. Nobody she recognises, either by name or by face, although she would certainly recognise their voices. The comment on camper vans is glossed over, mostly because such things aren't really a parallel in her world. "Well, if you need a hand with the upgrades, I'd be happy to help." Pause. "For a price."

What? Her cover is as a mercenary, after all, and she's not above earning herself a little extra pocket change. Who wouldn't?

Leaning back, she rests her chin in a hand, elbow on the table as she glances back to Toph. "Yeah. Weren't you in the last competition, too? I don't think we'd met, but I seem to remember seeing some holovids on your fight. Highlights, maybe. I wasn't paying much attention at the time; I'd had a few projects in my lap already..."

"Could be. A lot of people haven't heard of some of the ores involved in durasteel, seems like." Juno hoods her eyes, still keeping her chin in her hand, posture relaxed as she watches Toph. She almost looks bored, but there's no mistaking the veiled interest in those blue eyes – she's watching to see what—

She nearly kicks her chair as she sits straight up and stares at the twisted chunk of debris. In fact, she stares for a good ten seconds, silent, blue eyes wide.

"I think," Juno declares, with a grin, "that I might have a few jobs for you. What do you say?"

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
Starkiller's not the only one who's taken some nasty hits in the past. Alexis has seen her share of injuries, and spent a long time being repaired for the sake of going back into the fray once more to take out targets. It's almost a shock when the cyborg manages to get out of a mission unscathed, but that's mostly dumb luck or just insufficient weapons and training on the enemy's part.

Some scarring can be spotted along Alexis's neck and jaw, as well as on what can be revealed on her midriff, albiet faintly.

Alexis' head turns towards Toph as the girl begins to do her thing. She's seen Toph making her Earthbending tricks every so often in the field, with predictably impressive results each time. The girl clearly has been doing this a long time, and it's paid off amazingly in the Earthbender's case. While Toph hasn't made any structures to the cyborg's knowledge, like Murasame brought up over the broadband, but the girl's getting there. Maybe when she's older and wiser, and refined her craft. Toph's a sharp girl, she'll think of something, Alexis is sure.

Blackout meanwhile seems a professional enough sort herself. She's no ground pounder, but she's good with tools and obviously a pilot of experience that outweights Maaka in many ways. But obviously, there aren't any spaceships in her world that are workable, they're still trying to figure out how to make star travel work beyond just sending rockets to mine from other planets in the solar system, and meteors close enough for a trip by unmanned drones.

Her offer is considered, and Alexis nods. "Oh, absolutely, you'll be compensated for your efforts. I've got a nest egg about, and I do okay payment wise for my own ops." She says, smiling a little before munching a slice of bread after she dips it into her stew.

This happens just as Toph bends the metal Juno offered up to show, and her jaw drops almost mid-bite as it shrieks and groans just before giving in and twisting like extremely soft plastic after a date with a blowdryer.

"Holy shit." mutters the cyborg, before she takes another bite. "Almost killed my ears there..."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
"I have been in the WMAT for two years, I was in the B bracket the first year, then I moved up to the C bracket after I learned this trick here," Toph grins as she tosses the bended durasteel up a bit from her palm. The declaration that she might have a few jobs for her does make Toph arch an eyebrow however. "You aren't in the Union. So there are limits to what kind of jobs I can do for you, lady. I'm not saying anything until you go into more detail, simple as that." Still, she isn't about to shoot down an opportunity if it's something that can be useful one way or another as long as it doesn't go against her morals or her obligations to the Union. Toph might be young, but she's not stupid.

Maaka earns a slight punch in the arm. "If that almost killed your ears imagine what it did to mine. The composition of this metal is interesting though, I think I could make some fun stuff with this... you mind if I keep this since it's scrap metal? It would go well with my collection!" Toph turns her attention back to Juno, grinning brightly. Oh yes, the earthbender loves getting her hands on new metals and eartly compositions, to study them and improve her craft.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Fortunately, Juno herself isn't often in the crosshairs. It's really quite simple. Starkiller is the meatshield in most given operations. Her purpose is to stay away from enemy contact and remain mobile. Put like that, there's a lot to like about her current duties... it means not being a Stormtrooper. Or, you know, having the approximate life expectancy of a Stormtrooper.

Sucks to be those guys.

Damn straight the pilot is professional. These people have no idea how deep that professionality runs. She may have basic training as a soldier, but flying is her first love, followed a close second by engineering. There's not much that can compare to the thrill of solving mechanical mysteries, or the accomplishment of turning a rusty hulk into a working, smooth-running machine.

"Heh. Then we've got an understanding." Juno leans back in her seat, folding her arms over her chest. "Oh, don't worry about that. I'm not going to bleed you dry. I'm not going to work for free, though, either. I don't do charity work, as a general rule."

Her eyes stay locked on the durasteel, though, even as she reaches a few times for the cup of noodles and nearly misses it. Her eyes stay locked on the durasteel even as she takes a bite, wide and round, and her eyes stay locked on the thing even as her eyes water at the spices in those noodles.

"I can see why," she states, to the mention of the WMAT. Anybody with a neat trick like that probably knows how to play some dirty tricks on the opposition. There aren't very many worlds of advanced technology that don't have some kind of metallic-based equipment. Armour, weapons, auxiliary items... most places just haven't got an alternative that's better in terms of durability and resilience. "That must be a nasty little surprise for the competition."

"Oh, don't worry." Juno waves a hand dismissively. "I'm not going to ask you to take out Union operations or anything like that." Her hands then wave in a pacifying gesture. "I'm just a small-time mercenary; I don't want any trouble from either side of the fence. Just some mechanical repair for a few side projects, really. Are you familiar with podracing? I have a few husks that I'd like to get up and running again, though like hell I'm going to sit myself down in the chariot. Think of them like... hmmmm... like..." She pauses, tapping out a few things in her wrist-mounted datapad, flicking through a few sheets of holographic data. Some kind of general-purpose multiversal database. "Like 'race cars.'"

No, the idea of driving a death machine at speeds in excess of six hundred kilometers per hour with ordinary human reflexes is not her idea of a fun time.

Juno regards the scrap, shrugging one shoulder. "I can give you more, if you want it. I've got plenty of useless junk sitting around in my storage just like this. The structural integrity's too compromised to use it for much of anything except smelting, but if you want to experiment with it, I have no reason to keep it. It's all yours."

"In fact," she muses, "I might have a few pieces with different composition. Podracers will use just about anything if it strips down the weight. Most of them cannibalise scraps off the track, too, so you never know what one's going to be made of unless it was commissioned new." Her grin is just a little sinister. "And they never stay new for long."

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
"Fair enough. I'd be confused if you insisted on working for free anyways." Alexis muses, leaning forwards as she continues to eat her stew. She herself has enough metal inside of her that fighting Toph Beifong openly would be a very, very bad proposition, not that Alexis has an interest in such a thing. She playfully nudges the kid back after that punch in the arm, before she knocks back a sip.

"About that split..." She orders Toph up a banana split as promised, complete with chocolate sauce and sprinkles as well as a pair of spoons. A pair? Don't worry, Maaka ordered one up for herself immediately after, perhaps three if Juno's interested as well. "Desert's on me, no worries."

She shovels up a spoonful before she levels it into her mouth, listening to Juno explain the podracing thing. "Some kinda sport I guess? They don't have wheels in your world don't they? Odd." Either that, or Juno's world in the Galaxy Far, Far Away just advanced so far above wheeled transport that they pretty much went with whatever replaced it. Ships seem to be the most popular thing, given spacetravel. Hyperspace is some sort of FTL system, Alexis can gather that much alright.

She's only had spacetrips only a few times, once aboard the USS Voyager, and her adventures with the Flotilla. "Speaking of. Those guys I mentioned. If you want, I can send you over a frequency to contact them on if you're interested. We're always looking for new members to help with whatever we need. We're mostly just mercenaries and scavengers for hire, nothing that puts us on either side of the Union or Fed too badly." Splitnom. "You'd fit in well with 'em, somewhat. Al, Fin, and Seft at least. The other three are a bit weird, just warning you."

It's only good practice to warn one ahead of time when a group they're being offered membership of includes a crazy plant-person, a space pirate, and...George.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
No, Toph hasn't even heard of podracing before. Her expression should reflect that easily enough. "Racing, huh?" Cars she knows well enough about, considering her adoptive father keeps a fair amount of them in the garage and works on fixing them on a near daily basis. And while Tony does like high speeds, he luckily doesn't drive his cars at that speed. The Iron Man suit is a fair bit faster though.

But all in all, Toph decides that fixing race cars might not be too bad. "Eh, why not?" It might be good training for her metalbending after all. And that is always something she considers. As the inventor of metalbending it's her duty to explore the field further before she passes it on to worthy students.

Though Toph does point at Juno's wrist. "If you are doing something with that thing, I can't see it, by the way."

The offer of more scrap metal seems tempting, and why not? "Different types of alloys would be useful. I hardly need a lot of the same material unless I plan on building something."

Oh sweet, dessert is coming up! No, it doesn't look like Toph has any intention of bending the metal inside of Maaka anytime soon. And when it arrives Toph sets the metal side and picks up her spoon, not slow to partake of the cold sweets. Though she does have a comment about the Flotilla. "Biteblade is a bit creepy," she warns Juno. "Stabbed me in the shoulder once. Weird weed..."

It doesn't seem like she is about to dwell on the matter, instead she shoves some more ice cream and banana into her mouth, getting some chocolate sauce smeared around her mouth as she does so.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Despite her streaming eyes, the pilot seems content to skip dessert, mostly because she hasn't finished those screamin' hot noodles just yet. One can almost imagine fumes rising from the cup, or maybe heat waves. Pashi noodles aren't for the faint of heart. Or the faint of innards.

"Hmmmmm. 'Course we have wheels," Juno mumbles, around a mouthful of eye-wateringly hot noodles. She at least takes a second to swallow before she continues, waving her fork around to underscore her point. "There are plenty of protocol droids that have wheels. It's just easier to get around with repulsorcraft, especially if you're in a hurry. Podracers are just stripped-down repulsorcraft."

In other words, they're basically a chariot cockpit yoked to two enormous, high-output turbines, although one isn't unheard of – but why stop at one when you can have twice the speed?

Stirring her noodles, Juno cocks a slightly bloodshot eye toward Maaka. "Sure. I'm not about to turn my nose up at another job. And 'weird' tends to be the unspoken footnote in my job description on any given day, so there's no need to concern yourself with that."

Well, when your boss is Darth Vader...

"That's right." This, to Toph, and Juno glances back to the world's greatest earthbender. Blind earthbender, Juno corrects herself mentally. How can she actually demonstrate something like that to somebody who can't see? "Eh?" But apparently she's perceptive. "Oh. It's a datapad. Multiversal encyclopedia," she adds. "I was just looking something up for my own reference. We don't have 'race cars,' so I was trying to find some kind of comparison that a broader audience might understand."

Her, though, she's all about betting on the zoom-zoom go-fast death traps. Forget driving them, but she can maintain them, build them... and she's pretty good at knowing which ones are worth betting on, too.

"Hm. I haven't met any of them, so I suppose I'll find out for myself what they're like. I'm always happy to take another contract, though, if they need the help... but like I said, I don't do charity work. They'd better be prepared to back it up with something worth my time. Credits usually do nicely."

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
"It's a deal. We get to pick and choose where we go anyways. Credits will probably be a given, either provided through bounties or just anything found worth a lot to someone. The Syndicate can help with fencing this stuff no problem." Alexis nods. She raises a brow as Juno mentions hovercraft and droids. Even in her world hover-lift stuff is something of a difficult proposition, mostly because of costs. There were rumblings of some prototypes that Alexis knows bits of, at least since the last time she was home and scrounging blackbook tech projects.

"I tend to ask upfront myself for payments too, easier to handle when I can buy the stuff I need personally, or negotiate for supplies needed." She cyborg says mildly, before she fiddles with the tablet. Contact info is provided for Juno to download up within seconds to get in touch with the flotilla after a pause, as Alexis seems to be in concentration elsewhere.

Right now, she's radioing up Moonfin with the offer, and after a pause she grins. "Payment's gaurenteed. I look forward to working alongside you in the future, not to mention working together with my new ship."

Munchmunch. She gives a nod to Toph, "Yeah, weird bloke, creative as hell when it counts though...not that I'd wanna turn my back to him."

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
"I think I can live with that," Juno muses, resting her chin back into her hand, elbow on the table. Those blue eyes hood, but she seems more thoughtful than sleepy. "I'll never turn my nose up at the prospect of credits."

It doesn't hurt to make the mercenary front more believable. A smuggler would be even more believable, populous as they seem in the Outer Rim, but it wouldn't do to be too forward. Just a dash of mystique to keep the mystery alive.

"It'll be a pleasure, I'm sure." She sifts over the information on the tablet, quickly tapping the information into her wrist-mounted datapad in turn. Once she's in the relative comfort and safety of the Rogue Shadow, she can see about pursuing that lead.

Something glints in those blue eyes. Actually, the Rogue Shadow or the Executor would be a safer bet. Doing her homework is almost a given, in this case, and access to better tools means she can do her homework more efficiently and thoroughly. "Right. Well, it's been a pleasure. I've got to go." She pauses, reaching for a napkin, eyes roving the table for a moment before she retrieves a pen from the next table over. Jotting down a frequency, she leaves the napkin for Alexis. "You can reach me via that frequency. I'll let you leave that for Toph."

And with that, she turns, striding off, though not before placing a pile of credits on the table to cover her own fare.

It's time to do some work.