Nar Shaddaa

Sylvain rolled over in the bed in Shai's apartment and sat up. He'd come home and crashed with her after the con. He walked to the refresher and looked at himself in the mirror. The costume from before was gone, and he stood there in his boxer-briefs in front of the mirror... but the eyeliner and make-up was still very much in place. Chuckling at the unusual sight he turned on the water and began washing his face when he heard the door to his room behind him open up.

Shaisha poked her head in to see if Sylvain was awake yet. "Oh hey, you're awake. Guess you needed that nap, huh? You were sleeping like a nexu kitten when I passed by earlier."

Or at least, she assumed he was awake since the bed was empty and the light in the refresher was on.

"Want some caff?"

Sylvain walked out of the refresher with a towel in hand, drying off his face. Lowering the towel he smiled groggily and nodded to Shai. "That'd be lovely."

"See you're not used to wearing makeup," she chuckled at the sight of him coming out of the refresher. "I'll get the caff ready, while you make yourself decent. Wouldn't want Kris to crush my hand for having seen you like this."

With that, she gave him some amount of privacy as she headed back downstairs. Damn the constant dim light of Nar Shaddaa messing up her sense of rythm.

Sylvain put on some comfortable undershirt and some leggings and followed Shai down to the dining area.

Pulling up a stool at the kitchen counter he smiled, "Fun afternoon eh? What'd you do after I zonked out?"

"A few things," she said with a mysterious smirk as she watched the caff-machine works its wonders. If only they had had something like this wonderful machine back on Korriban's Academy; all sorts of options for actually good coffee, compared to the paste and water they got served in the mess hall.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Well enough as one in my situation can... Eventually had to turn off the notifications from my base of operations..." He sighed.

"Things appear to be falling to shit... Baras must be pretty desperate to risk losing all this..."

"Hm," she nodded and served Sylvain his double-espresso. And then one for her as well.

"It is weird to think that he's pulling a stunt like this. Most Sith with two braincells will suspect its a ruse. The ones like Xevious might try to use it against the Republic somehow. But I do have to wonder what the end-game is that justifies that sort of tactics... blowing up an entire ship like that with lots of other people on board too..."

"He is nothing if not entirely self-involved and wasteful... Mother apparently has some asset of his which he'd be willing to sacrifice everything for... I wish I knew what it was, but whatever it is... it makes him act like this." Sylvain replied.

Her lips pursed as she waited for the espresso to cool.

"I might... have an inkling of it," she tilted her head slightly to the side. "Layne was sent to kill a Muun by the name of Timu Vosk, and retrieve a data chit he had. Well, both your mother and I beat her to the punch. As soon as I landed on Nar Shaddaa, I was over at his place to have breakfast... that's where I first met your mother, by the way... and I got the data chit my master wanted."

"Though, it seemed like the Muun made a copy, as I know your mother got her hands on the second one."

Sylvain looked to his sister, "And? What was on it?"

She shrugged. "I've no idea, but my master does. When Vowrawn says it's of personal importance to him, I know it's best not to pry too much... even he got his limits," Shaisha added with a brief chuckle.

"I should be thankful to whoever tried to blow up Layne's ship though. It bought me enough time to beat her to Vosk, I think. She of course missed some important clues when she raided his place... too busy looking for cash, the silly girl." Her lips form into a smirk. "Found a ledger there with some info on it too, though it required a lot more digging. To put it short like I got it: some trails leading to three apartments owned by a shell company called Ignition Inc, and although not owned directly by Lady Torsin thanks to Vosk, she holds all the majority shares in the company through some... yadda yadda yadda, she has the reigns.”

He nodded, "Have you had time to follow up at all? Or your associates help you with any more leads?"

"Frankly, if it has your mother involved, I'm trying to be wary of it," she dropped the smile. "No telling how she'd react to me, or my people, snooping around in her stuff... and I prefer to keep them at a distance from this mess."

"Had to shoot down one of them for suggesting to have you assassinated by Intelligence though."

Sylvain's ears perked up at that, "When did this person make that suggestion?"

Shaisha's fingers tapped against the counter as she tried to place the time. "... Almost 48 hours ago. Why?"

He ponders that for a moment, "Be cautious of that one... that's a ruse my men often employ... helps to check the limits of what someone is willing to do. Valuable information for anyone that may want to know the field before the match starts..."

There is a slight frown to her features.

"It is one of the newer ones too..." She did not look happy at all at the thought of an infiltrator in her ranks. Damnit, Paz. "Fixer 71, if that rings any bells? Well... knowing Intelligence, it's not nescessarily her actual designation."

"It might lead back to Baras..." he replied.

"Keep tabs on her, see if you can find her without her knowing. There's no way Baras doesn't have trusted agents in Vowrawn's immediate vicinity."

"And vice-versa," she chuckled and took a deep gulp of the espresso.

"They must be pretty swamped with the whole Baras-blowing-himself-up-news."

He nodded, "They are keeping me appraised constantly... difficult to know how it will all pan out at this juncture. I'm guessing tomorrow will be when some type of move is made. If Baras stays away for too long, it will be difficult to consolidate his base back together again."

"And what about Layne in all this?" she looked at Sylvain.

"Also gone dark... Not a coincidence, obviously... I spoke with her a bit... but it's safe to assume she won't be lining up to help us."

"Well, I never expected that, to be honest."

Shaisha shrugged.

"I'd sooner expect my sire to help out than Layne."

"Kris is emphatic that we bring Baras in alive."