Exiles Recruitment: The Shieldmaiden

[Blink]

A fuschia portal appeared in a small field in the corner of the Costa Del Sol main park. Because it was night time, the portal temporarily lit up the otherwise abandoned field. Blink stepped out of it first, followed by the tank-top-wearing Rufus shortly behind her. The last to step out of the gateway was a blond woman in braids, known to the duo as the Shieldmaiden. Her real name was Astrid Yver. Rufus moved to sit on a decent-sized rock as Blink turned to face Astrid. "It's good to see you again, Astrid," she greeted.

"You too, uh...Blink, right?" she asked, unsure, but smiled when Blink nodded her head. Back when they first met, Astrid had on a native american looking costume, but this time it was much more clear what she was going for. Her crimson armor was leather, covering her legs and hips but pressing to it tightly to show off her figure. The armor came to a stop around her bust, which might not have been practical but it certainly looked good. On her back was a small buckler and a short sword, so the handle of the blade stuck out behind her head. "You're probably the last person I expected to see in a pirate bar. Who's this?"

Blink put her hand up to point. "This is Rufus." Rufus nodded his head in greeting. "He's my, uh...partner. We're putting together a team and he was my first recruit."

"Lemme guess," Astrid said, stepping closer to him. "Judging by the size of those guns," he put a hand up to touch his heavily muscled arm. "You've gotta know some serious fighting skills, am I right? Boxer? Taekwondo?"

"I prefer these guns," Rufus pulled out one of the pistols hanging off his side. The over-the-shoulder holster stood out pretty strong over his white tank top, so Blink was sure Astrid was just looking for an excuse to compliment the man's muscles. "I can punch a guy in the face with the best of 'em, but I'm a pretty much shot in a fight with these." He spun it around in his finger and put the gun back into it's holster in a flash. Blink smirked. Show off.

Astrid giggled girlishly and then turned around to face Blink. "So what's the team for?"

"It's a detective agency," Blink explained. "The Exiles. We're funded by GruuTech to operate as a good-will program around the Omniverse. We have a place in Coruscant right now. You were one of the potential recruits based on some of your mercenary work, and well...since I knew you already, I thought you were a good place to start."

"Anything is better then that smelly bar," she frowned, as if thinking up memories.

"How does a spear-wielding viking lady end up working for fake pirates, anyway?" Rufus asked.

Astrid shrugged. "Pay was good. Free housing was good too. But I guess I got caught up a little bit in the false advertising." She sighed. "I was thinking we were going out on ships, on raids and stuff like that. That's the kind of stuff I used to do in my homeworld. But alas, I ended up just being eye candy in some rave club. I was already looking at new places to go when you two turned up."

"So, you're in, just like that?" Blink looked surprised. "I was expecting it to be a little tougher to convince you."

"Well, I'll give it a fair shot," she agreed. "I had planned to go further into the Vasty Deep to search for...something. But I can take a detour to see what you got planned. I always liked you," she winked at Blink. "So I'm in. For now."

Blink nodded and then grinned. "I feel like it's all coming together. Let's head to our hotel and look at the dossiers to see who we're recruiting next!"

It was starting to come together. Blink felt like she was finally forming a team. But this was the easy one, and she knew that. The next recruitment was bound to be a lot tougher. But now she had an extra body, and a renewed confidence that she had made the right call. It was time to find another Exile...and bring them in.