She takes the card, and rises, inclining her head again. "Good day."

And she'll depart, HK-24 following in her wake.

"...She was a Force user. A trained one."

"I know."

"And you're still just going to hire her like she's some bounty hunter?"

"Keep your enemies where you can see them, my young apprentice. She obviously wants to see what's in that complex the same as we. Better we have her working for us rather than leave her the opportunity to stab us in the back after we exhaust ourselves."

"Hm."

"Come now, there's no need to look so glum. I dare say we have a sufficient force by now, let's go back and take another look at the defenses. I have a few hypotheses I'd like to test before tomorrow."

Their tail continues to tail them - after all, the more information she has on them the better - although she's under no illusions that they aren't aware of her.

Their conversation is much more difficult to pick up on now.

They circle the target, taking readings with various scientific-looking instruments.

Well, she didn't have any plans for tonight anyway, and even unable to pick up the conversation she can observe how they interact with one another, see if there's any potential friction she can leverage should she find herself in a position to need to do so.

They seem to have a fairly uncomplicated relationship.

There are slight hints that the apprentice is discontent when the master has moments of condescension or over-familiarity.

Not that different to some of the other Master-Apprentices relationships Ira has observed. Well. Are they going to do anything else visually interesting?

Only if you count the master patting her apprentice on the shoulder and then abruptly vanishing as interesting.

...That is, indeed interesting. Ira considers for a moment, and then breathes out, let's her eyes close, and sees whether she can keep track of the master through the Force.

Before she can properly try, a sourceless voice whisper in her mind.

I don't know who you are and I don't know why you are pretending to be a simple mercenary. But if you threaten my apprentice, I will kill you.

Her lips quirk in that uneven smile. Understood, she sends back, simple, bland.

And seeing as she is unlikely to garner anything else useful tonight, she'll depart, taking a circuitous route back to where she's staying. She keeps more than an eye out to make sure she isn't being tailed in turn.

She is untailed.

Then the next day she will be at the specified coordinates ahead of time, leaning against a wall, HK-24 just in front of her.

The room slowly fills with other mercenary types, of varying levels of professional- and scruffiness.

At the appointed time, the organizers of this get-together appear.

Ira definitely leans a little more towards the professional end, although her clothes are old and worn, everything is serviceable and well cared for - including her weapons.

She straightens a little when their employers appear, and tilts her head in their direction, blinking lazily. (Professional, but not threatened or concerned by the people around her.)

"Oh good, you all made it. Let's begin." Zash clicks on a holoprojector and an image of the complex appears, with defenses highlighted. "This is our target."

"That deathtrap down in the old refinery section?" asks one of the mercs. "Y'all crazy. I'm out." He turns to leave.