Gacen sat in the cockpit looking at his datapad intently, the blue hum of hyperspace was the only sound as he tried to calm his nerves. He had to pitch the idea of helping Dubrillion to the Alliance, at first he thought it'd be easy but they were gearing up for a war he doubted they'd give their full support. Nonetheless they had contacted Lana and set up the meeting with the Voidhound with little detail about what it was just calling it a proposition, Gacen was glad they had met before otherwise this would've been a lot harder he didn't know quite what Lana thought of him but clearly it wasn't awful.
Risha came through in his ear "you got the pitch ready Gacen?" Gacen didn't normally practice for things he was more someone who'd wing it but for this and for her he'd made sure to practice vigilantly
Gacen nodded "yep I got it all written down in a datapad I'm gonna blow them away I promise Rish" he sounded a lot more confident than he actually was, he took a swig of his flask to calm his nerves
Risha responded "thanks Gacen I know this is a big ask" Gacen smiled he never minded at least it was something to do, Risha had helped with his directionless feeling but he still felt as guilty as ever. He doubted that would ever change though there was nothing he could do about that except move forward and also the obligatory booze.
Gacen leant back "hey anything for you Rish you know I'm all in" Risha chuckled clearly a little embarrassed by the kind sentiment
Risha smiled "I know but still it means a lot after I trusted you with your past" Gacen felt a knot in his stomach knowing that trust is what had separated them for years "Besides I think it'll be good for you to visit Odessen" Gacen frowned she was pretty adamant of that
He sat up "you keep saying that, what's so special about Odessen?" he couldn't tell if Risha was just messing with him or not
He heard Risha stifle a laugh "nothing much I just think you'll prefer it to the republic and the empire, management is more your speed" Gacen nodded he guessed that made sense
Soon the ship dropped out of hyperspace and the lush green planet of Odessen came into view, it was surrounded by all manner of ships; this place surely looked like the heart of an organization capable of taking down the Eternal Empire. In a way he'd been glad to miss out on a lot of the danger of the Eternal Empire but the prison and separation from everyone he cared about rather overruled that sentiment.
After receiving a clearance to land he piloted the ship down and the Alliance base came into view, he smiled it certainly was impressive, it kinda reminded him of Gabredor and Risha's base but if she'd had an army behind her. He had no idea where to park and just found the first place in a clearing near some form of Hanger, it looked like there had been a ship on it for a while with the grass marks where it once was.
Once the ship was parked he strolled out of it and breathed in "wow Rish you were right this place is wild, it's certainly nicer than Coruscant or Dromund Kass" he walked towards a bridge looking at the script on his datapad
Risha laughed "yes well it was built during the Eternal war so had to be discrete and hidden while also being close to Zakuul" Gacen had never been to Zakuul from what he heard after the fall of the Eternal Empire it was just full of snobs but that may just be rumours.
Gacen smiled strolling towards the entrance "well whoever designed it has style that's all I can say" some style he was being polite it could be better, he made his way into the hanger and after a bit he saw a figure walking up to him.
As she got closer Gacen recognised the blonde hair in a bun and set of armour "Elara! Is that you?" Elara walked up to him seemingly unfazed by his surprise
She nodded "yes it is Gacen I believe you're here to meet with Miss Beniko right?" Gacen was very surprised to see her here wait til Ash gets a load of this
Gacen smiled "still as monotone as ever I see Elara come on give me a hug" he outstretched his arms but Elara just gave him a look
She turned around leading him to the elevator "I see you haven't changed much, Miss Beniko is a little busy right now but she should be able to fit you in" Gacen followed her into the elevator
He had a million questions "wait so what are you doing here" Elara turned to him clearly surprised he was asking
Elara answered "I was recruited by the Basen'thor after some business on Iokath she rather impressed me with her resolve" Gacen nodded that did add up Kavaraa had always been very convincing
Gacen cocked his head at her "aren't you gonna ask me how I'm doing" Elara shook her head "really not even how Ash is doing?" her eyes went wide and she turned to him suddenly much more interested
Her stoney expression broke a little "you've seen Commander Ash?" Gacen nodded as the elevator stopped and they began walking through another hanger
Gacen answered her "yeah I mean we've lived together for two years, she's on a mission right now for me" he may be sharing a bit much but he knew he could trust Elara
Elara nodded "I see I always assumed she'd come back to the republic if freed" Gacen realised that may be a little awkward
He reassured her "I think after everything that went down with the republic she wasn't very enthused to go back, but she was enthused with the possibility of working with the Alliance I'll tell you that" Elara's expression brightened a little
She continued walking through the corridors "I suppose that makes sense that's why I joined despite the cons it does house, well if your meeting works out I look forward to seeing her" Gacen smiled those two had always been close, the whole of Havoc had he wondered who else was here.
They arrived in what Gacen could only assume was the war room and his eyes widened, it was full of people coordinating things, displays and monitors he didn't understand and in the middle Lana Beniko stood talking to a Voss woman.
Elara led Gacen to her "Gacen Zandar meet Lana Beniko advisor to the Commander" she moved back leaving them to talk
Lana didn't turn around for a second finishing her conversation with the Voss, but soon she turned to face him looking tired "wow you've certainly got a lot on your plate Beniko" Lana rubbed her forehead looking at him
She gave a half smile "you don't know the half of it but someones gotta keep this ship running" Gacen nodded looking around weren't there supposed to be more leaders? "Most of our advisors and the Commander have found themselves busy with personal matters so the work has fallen to me and Theron Shan, although mostly to me" Gacen winced he could barely manage himself let alone an alliance
He gritted his teeth "yeesh my condolences to your spare time" Lana let out a half laugh rolling her eyes
She folded her arms "so what did you want Voidhound some kind of proposition, and please don't waste my time" Gacen did his best to consult the script he wrote
Gacen held his neck "uh well I'm afraid we're gonna have to speak about it in private some of these details need to be kept secret" Lana frowned at him her eyes narrowing
She walked up to him "if so I'm gonna need some kind of insurance policy to make sure this isn't some kind of trap" Gacen's eyes widened why would he do anything like that?
He gasped shocked "Lana come on you know me why would I do that" she raised her eyebrow "ok fair enough but here I'll give you my blaster as insurance that's plenty" he went to get his blaster but found his holster empty "ah shit I left it on the ship" he hadn't been in a fight in while now he thought about it, he had no idea where it was.
Lana pinched the bridge of her nose and smiled "alright that proves to me I'm in no danger even if you are trying something come with me" Lana led him out of the war room to an empty chamber she pressed a button and a number of blast doors and soundproofing tiles came down from the ceiling "I had this installed after our last spy incident we should be fine to talk in here not even a Jedi could get through those walls" Gacen had a feeling he'd walked into a nest of paranoia
He laughed nervously "wow this is quite the setup" Lana tapped her foot impatiently "right yes well my proposition; as the Alliance I imagine you want capital and land with no allegiance to the republic or empire due to the coming war" he was reciting the script the best he could which was making him sound like a bad holonet salesman "but that's pretty uncommon giving both their long histories but don't worry I have such a planet for you with just a little investment on your part" Lana didn't look impressed so far
Lana cut him off "Gacen I swear if you're suggesting stealing a planet I'm going to throw you out of my base" Gacen was shocked he obviously wasn't being clear, although that wasn't a bad idea.
He shook his head "no no no don't worry I'm getting there, the planet of Dubrillion is ruled by a paranoid King who's making his whole planet contribute nothing to the galaxy at large annnd you see that's not all, I have a rightful heir and replacement for that ruler" Lana nodded her expression changing from complete disinterest
Lana questioned him "I assume that this heir is your wife Risha?" Gacen gasped he hadn't said anything about her how had she known, Lana read what he was thinking "Gacen she's the only noble person you know who else would it be?" Gacen nodded that was fair admittedly
Gacen continued "well yes it is she's got a legit claim to the throne and more importantly the King is actually subjugating his people and being a huge tool, if we were to take control we would not only contribute Dubrillions sizeable industry and military to your cause officially joining your alliance but also stop the subjugation of innocents, all you have to do is give us some backup during our planned revolution" Lana seemed to be interested but she still looked skeptical
Lana held her chin "admittedly that could be very helpful but I have to know this is legitimate and you haven't just come here with an idea" Gacen nodded that was absolutely fair
Gacen grinned "well that's good then as Ash'shen'tor former Havoc Squad leader is currently on Dubrillion on a mission and Master Sumalee is on board to help us, I promise this is a legit operation Risha has been planning it for 5 years this isn't an idea I came up with on a whim" Lana nodded she seemed to be coming around
She paced around the chamber "that does sound promising I have to admit but we're stretched pretty thin at the moment I'm going to need some time to think over what we could supply and discuss with other advisors" she looked at him and smiled "how about you stay here until the end of the day and I'll give you an answer then" Gacen nodded that was fair although he didn't like waiting
Gacen shrugged "that makes sense I really hope you can supply us with some good help just from looking around it's clear you have a great operatio-" Lana stopped him with a frown
She tutted "flattery will not get me to change my mind in fact it'll do the opposite" Gacen nodded and rightfully shut up as Lana lowered the security
Gacen stammered "uh what should I do in the meantime" he didn't like the idea of waiting around in his ship
Lana gave him a map "there's a bar that I think should suffice your needs" Gacen smiled and chuckled
He took the map "this place is the best you have a bar in your secret base!" Lana grinned nodding as she walked back to the war room and Gacen made his way to the lift
Suddenly his comm cut back in "Gacen are you there is everything ok?!" Risha said seeming rather panicked
Gacen realised what had happened "Oh yeah right we were speaking in private so I guess it cut the signal don't worry I'm ok" he heard a sigh of relief on the other end
Risha shot back "tell me next time ok Dumbass" Gacen walked to the elevator and headed up
Gacen defended himself "I didn't know trust me I would have otherwise" that seemed to calm her down "hey do we have a bar in our secret base?" if not those droids had a new job
Risha nodded "yeah we like three, cocktail, regular and wine why do you want a new one?" Gacen cursed himself for not having seen them yet
He shook his head "no the Alliance just had one and I didn't realise we had them, we have to go to them when I get back" Risha seemed very into that idea
The elevator arrived and he walked out "ok but just don't order that weird spicy cocktail you always get" Gacen gasped that was his favourite he knew everyone else hated it he had a very unique palette
Gacen pouted "that drink is delicious and you know what I'm gonna order it just to spite you" Risha gave a over the top gasp
Gacen walked into the bar and sat down it seemed like a nice place "you wouldn't dare you monster" Risha teased as he looked around
Gacen chuckled flirting back "oh just watch me Rish, one Spiced Rancor's Toothpick please" the bartender nodded seemingly a little bemused by the zabrak talking to himself
Risha laughed "wow you betrayed me how could you" Gacen chuckled even though they had been back together for a bit now he still had missed it so much
The bartender passed him his drink and he sipped it the twinge of spice making him smile "sorry Risha you know you married a bad boy" there was a very condescending laugh in response
Risha then gasped "wait what are we talking about tell me how it went stop talking about drinks" Gacen's eyes widened oh yeah he hadn't told her
Gacen rubbed his forehead "oh yeah sorry I got caught up in the flirting, Lana seemed enthused by the pitch but they're 'stretched thin right now' so she's gonna discuss it with people before she makes a decision on the degree of help we'll get" Risha took in the information quietly
She sighed "well I suppose that's better than nothing but being patient is a pain" see this girl just got him "was the Commander there? are they going to discuss it with Lana?" Gacen doubted the Commander would deal with this sort of business whoever she was
Gacen shrugged and sipped his drink "I dunno she's not here right now 'off on some personal mission' or something like that" I doubt she'd concern herself with Dubrillion though, what with the war and such" he really had to educate himself on the Alliance a bit more if they'd be working together he hadn't even known Elara was here.
He guessed that was the penalty of being drunk or in prison through the majority of their creation and rise, Risha tutted "don't be so sure I think she would, either way let's hope they agree to give us proper help this is going to take some doing" Gacen nodded as he sipped his drink he wondered who else was here that he'd met, Dzûsa and Lana had a thing right?
Gacen smiled "well I don't mind waiting this place is quite nice" he certainly liked the bar it was pretty his speed
He was glad he hadn't messed up the pitch "if you have the time then we should probably tell Sumalee" Gacen groaned he felt like he wouldn't be able to drink while explaining it to her
He sighed "alright but afterwards I'm going right back to my drink" he walked out to the balcony to give Sumalee the sorta good news, she was about to ask a million questions he'd have to be careful weren't overheard...