Ship Log: Disturbing Data

Lou's Bar, recording started
Date: May 6th, year 115
Pilots present: Zsaryna Adrelana, Sepherim
 
Sepherim is seated in one of the booths at the far end of the bar, drinking alone while looking tranquil; some soft moans can be heard from the booth by his side, but he doesn't seem to notice
Sepherim checks his datapad from time to time, and doesn't wear his usual pilot clotes but common plain ones, propper of the working classes
Zsaryna Adrelana wanders into the bar. She's dressed in dark simple dark grey trousers and a red star shirt, along with a black bomber jacket. She's carrying a pistol on her hip and her eyes scan the bar nervously for movement before she wanders over to Sepherim.
Sepherim > Honey, long time no see!
Sepherim greets her with a warm smile
Sepherim > got your treat here
Zsaryna Adrelana sits down opposite him, bowing her head politely "Ave" she says softly, tapping an order for some food onto a datapad "Indeed, it has been too long" she says with a small nervous smile
Sepherim's tone lowers as she sits down as he watches Lou start preparing Zsaryna's food
Sepherim > hope you haven't had problems finding the place, captain Adrelana?
Zsaryna Adrelana shakes her head "it was easy enough... clearing Imperial customs was... interesting but I managed it" Zsaryna smirks guiltily "do you come here often?" She asks, deciding to make small talk, if only to put her nerves at ease
Sepherim > from time to time, yes, to meet with old acquaintances or keep some of the old contacts still available
Sepherim > but not as often as I used to
Sepherim > you would surprised to know the amount of information on the Bleak Lands that can be found in places like this
Sepherim watches as Lou silently walks up to them, puts down the plates, and leaves
Zsaryna Adrelana chuckles "fair enough" she replies "I have similar bars, both back home and in my old station, for meeting people" she grins as a steaming plate of bright pink steak and chips arrives "this looks good... you can't beat steak and chips after a long journey... places like this are good, they're quiet and anonymous... you're sure you weren't followed?" Zsaryna asks quietlySepherim > yes, I'm sure, some things you just never forget
Sepherim > I take it you weren't either? Both of us meeting could place us in certain... unconfortable positions for both of us
Zsaryna Adrelana shrugs "I'm alright... none of my current work associates would give a shit about me meeting you and most of my former work colleagues... well they're either dead or irrelevant, and I have people watching the place, belive me we're good"
Sepherim nods
Sepherim > then we can proceed
Sepherim takes a sip of his drink, which looks like whiskey on the rocks
Sepherim > tell me, what have you found out?
Zsaryna Adrelana's smirk becomes faintly predatory as she pulls out a datapad "Here we go..." she says, tapping a key into the aerogel screen with one hand, impaling one chip upon a fork with the other. "you've got money here from various slavers to turn a blind eye to thier operations in the war zone... our General would take money from the slavers, in return they'd take merchandize direct from the warzone rather than restricting thier operations to the rear areas... when thier personel started getting shot up, we were sent in to make a point"
Sepherim checks on the data Zsaryna is showing him as she speaks
Sepherim > can I copy those charts?
Zsaryna Adrelana nods "Sure, go ahead" she replies as she stabs another chip with particular vehemence
Sepherim starts the data transfer from one datapad to another
Sepherim > so, we have a case of corruption, and abuse of power, within the Imperial Navy...
Sepherim > just the kind of thing that... ah, doesn't matter, better not get that ball rolling
Sepherim > I'll need the names, if I am to look into it
Sepherim > after speaking to you the other day, I started asking some questions on your squadron, but most intel seems to be tightly closed beyond my access
Zsaryna Adrelana looks up at him "You sound surprised about that" Zsaryna says, raising an eyebrow before she takes the chips to her mouth "I'm not surprised about that by the way" she licks her lips slightly "Names... General Mye, Commander Azmeyah, and a few
Sepherim > and I'll need the origins if I'm going to get a hacker to look into it, the Navy databases are just too big to just go looking
Sepherim > surprised? no, tired mostly
Sepherim > it's the kind of shit that turns the Navy into a problem, when it shouldn't be such
Zsaryna Adrelana > other people here and there... and the origin is... here" she scrolls down onto the datapad and points something out "Unfortunately it's always been a problem, especially within my unit, as special forces"
Sepherim > General Mye, Commander Azmeyah, noted. Looks at the data she points to in the datapad
Sepherim > yes, specially when it goes all the way up to a corrupt General
Zsaryna Adrelana sighs quietly "Until about six to eight months ago, I wouldn't have told you this... but since then a few rather nasty things happened to me that caused me to rethink my loyalty to my Empire"
Sepherim leans back, checking the data, as he listens
Sepherim > things?
Sepherim starts choosing options, following the money trail that Zsaryna pointed to, until he meets dead ends and blocked pathsSepherim > care to explain on those things?
Zsaryna Adrelana turns around, so her back is to him, then she pulls up the back of her shirt to show him the white scars criss crossing her back of six month old whip scars "someone else found this shit out... and general mye pinned this stuff on me"
Sepherim raises his eyes from the datapads to the scars and nods, returning his look to the numbers
Sepherim > I see
Sepherim > you took the fall, your name disgraced, and you turned into the scapegoat?
Zsaryna Adrelana nods "I was already with Stillwater by that time, so it was my word against the word of a still-serving general" Zsaryna replies
Zsaryna Adrelana > "I haven't quite been stripped of my decorations yet"
Sepherim nods
Sepherim > doesn't look good indeed, our words both matter little in the Imperial Navy now
Zsaryna Adrelana nods "I'm a pirate, even if I'm a war hero" Zsaryna grimaces quietly
Sepherim nods
Sepherim > very well, I'll run this through some of my contacts, see what I can dig up
Sepherim > I'll get back to you in a few days
Zsaryna Adrelana > "What about you... I would have thought you're a golden boy within the Imperial Navy at the moment"
Sepherim grins
Sepherim > I was, for a time, then I botched up, saw things, drank too much, became a danger to my own men
Sepherim > in time, I was invited to leave
Sepherim > and you don't say no to such invitations
Sepherim > specially when they're right
Sepherim > so no, far from being a golden boy anymore, just trying to make up for my past mistakes
Zsaryna Adrelana nods quietly "my apologies Sepherim" she bows her head respectfully "And I understand, truly... we all have our share of ghosts after all" she taps an order for a glass of whiskey onto the pad "those offers... they suck but... well I guess we just have to deal with it"
Sepherim > you don't have to be sorry, my mistakes are part of who I am as much as my successes
Sepherim > learn from them, grow, become stronger... or die
Sepherim shrugs, placing his datapad into his jacket and returning to his drink
Sepherim > question is, why did your orders make you doubt the institution, the Empire... and not the man?
Zsaryna Adrelana shrugs "Because it wouldn't surprise me that the Empire would order such things done" Zsaryna replies "even before I came under his command I was doing questionable things... also part of my officer training involved writing a paper on the use of force upon civilian targets, part of that meant going through the archives of prior black ops missions"
Sepherim nods
Sepherim > you looked into the abyss, and couldn't hold him staring back
Sepherim > something I can understand indeed
Zsaryna Adrelana shrugs "it is what it is" Zsaryna replies as her whiskey arrives, she promptly knocks it back and kills it in one "But then we're here now I guess, none of us are dead for now"

Recording stopped.