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 Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2011 7:12 pm
[ En Route to Anaxes ]
Rikka draws back a little, shaking her head and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand in a futile attempt to stem the flow. "For... for..." she glances to the side, unable or unwilling to look Roku in the eyes. "For everything," she clarifies as non-specifically as possible. For essentially kidnapping Roku and dragging him to Anaxes, for doing her best to sow dissent between the Republic and the Jedi, for the years before that cheerfully specializing in something almost every other being in the universe could scarcely stomach thinking about... Rikka has a lot to be sorry for.
Straightening, she jerks her arm away from Roku almost like she's afraid of genuine intimacy and stands, drawing a few shuddering breaths. "I - nevermind," she tries to say curtly, chin raised but with a voice that wavers. Fists clench, lips press tight; rounding on her heel without another word Rikka leaves the cockpit for a secondary - empty - room, her imitation Jedi robes swirling around her ankles as she leaves in turmoil.
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2011 7:38 pm
Point Nadir, Zietta's Palace
Kal had planned on killing this woman if she refused again. He was ready to pilfer her body for whatever access mechanism she had and move on. When she spoke so naively, though-- with such a thick head-- Kal only grew frustrated. Couldn't she see the bigger picture here? Why was she making this difficult for Kal?
"Go away, then," Kal said, dropping the barrier with disgust. "This isn't a game. I can't believe you're standing here, arguing with me about this. The best chance to eliminate Zietta Anjiliac in half a millennium, a known criminal, and sponsor of criminal activity, and you want to walk away from that? What... Does your Jedi code dictate that you can't take down a bad guy, if it requires cooperating with a Sith of some kind?"
Kal may have dropped his barrier, but he did not lower his active blastsword. He gestured at the blonde woman, looking at her as though she were mentally challenged.
"What is your malfunction? How can you not see the reward and opportunity here?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2011 8:38 pm
Point Nadir, Zietta's Palace
Malo was unphased by the sharp edge in the silver-haired man's voice and harsh words. She wasn't a stranger to the cruel nature of people in the galaxy, not anymore.
"Do you have any idea how often I've heard this song before," She raised her hands before her, feigning appeal, " 'This'll be the heist of the century, this time we're going to be as big as the Viggos, this hit will mean we'll never have to work again!' That part's old news."
She paused as if to consider what he'd said then shrugged. "It doesn't take a Jedi to have reasons not to join in. Maybe you didn't ask nicely enough, or at all, maybe the incentive isn't high enough for me, or maybe I'm just not in the mood. The way you talk to people I couldn't ever see a girl getting into the mood around you, anyways." Malo zipped up her coat. "Fact is, I never asked you the reasons on why you'd kill Zietta so don't expect me to give you mine. Good luck killing her and, in the event that you succeed, congratulations, really."
This would definitely be worth mentioning to Eden, she thought as she waved casually at Kal and turned back towards the cantina.
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2011 8:48 pm
En Route to Anaxes
"For everything,"
Everything? She convinced me to escape from prison with her, but that's all. Maybe she's upset about something else. I wouldn't even believe any of this were real, but it seems so genuine. It's nothing like she was before. Could she have multiple personalities, or is she just that skilled at lying?"
Roku just sat there, trying to figure it all out in his head. He wanted to simply push her off of him, and let her sob on her own, but he couldn't. For whatever reason, it was as if he couldn't bring himself to do it. As she stood up, clearly still upset, she spoke again and left for a room off to the side.
I don't get this woman, at all. On the off chance that this is legit, and not an act, then I should see if I can't find our anything about my past from her. Who knows when she'll be like this again, and if it is real, I'd have missed out on my one opportunity. I guess it's worth a shot.
Roku sits in his chair for a short while, but later gives a small sigh and begins to walk towards the room Rikka had entered. Standing close to the entrance, with his back against the wall, his gaze shifted to the wall across from him as he spoke. It was time he bent the truth, a little.
"If it's any consolation, I'm sorry, too. You did help me get out of jail, whatever your reasons were. Well... Current circumstances aside, of course. I never thanked you for that."
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Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 8:08 am
Point Nadir, Zietta's Palace
Kal tentatively lowered his blastsword as the woman turned to walk away. Something was off about this.
"You've got the wrong idea about me," Kal said, as she turned to walk away. "Despite my past nature, I'm not in this for the power. What's your name?"
Kal really wanted to turn this woman. If he could get her on his side before she walked out, then he'd have a much easier time of getting upstairs. Otherwise, he could risk leaving a trail that could expose his intentions.
"Are you here on Zietta's pay?" Kal asked, probing for possible motivations she might have.
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Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 6:41 pm
Point Nadir, Zietta's Palace
Malo stopped to listen, though she wasn't quite sure the reason. Because you were sent here to listen. His tone seemed to soften, if only slightly. It was almost laughable that he was... what? Changing tactics, playing coy, or maybe just his own brand of curious. Only it wasn't laughable. If he couldn't take no for an answer then she wasn't going to be safe around him here, in Zietta's apartments, or after, assuming she'd outlive her usefulness.
"My name's Malo." She said, instead of walking away. "Zietta's not paying me. I'm her guest, nothing more... so I won't help you to kill her," Killing anyone wasn't something Malo was willing to do, but that was, apparently, considered a handicap in a spacer's life. She could pass it off as honoring the slug's hospitality, though. "but I won't stop you, either. That's not who I am anymore."
She glanced back at him once over her shoulder as she spoke, eyes slightly haunted as she recalled easily that she would have fought -- and died -- even for a creature like Zietta, then dismissed the memories.
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Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 7:02 pm
Nar Shaddaa, Black Sun Territories
"...with the new laws passed in that sector it will be even more difficult than before to continue smuggling our spices into the moon bases. Let the miners work sober, for a change."
"If we were interested in keeping people sober we'd be out of business." Eden replied, glaring apathetically at the shadowed holographic projection before her. This was an argument she was growing increasingly tired of hearing from her lieutenants on the Outer Rim. All of them wanted easy pay and no work, fancying themselves rulers of their own sectors, but when it came time for them to show their own initiative they needed far too much prodding.
Why can't all my people be as self-motivated as the Childkiller, Eden wondered, considering the man concealed before her as she shuffled two smooth, hollow spheres in her palm. It was standard procedure to holorecord all Black Sun meetings, big or small, but that was no reason to betray identification. Both ends of the signal were being corrupted to ruin any visual identification... that is, without the proper reconstruction codes. "Find a way to get the spice to the moon or I'll find someone who will." She finished, ending the transmission as another blinked into view. Unscrambled, the image of the very woman she'd been thinking about rose before her.
"What can't you do for me, Mae?" Eden counters, addressing the Bimm with familiarity. The Nautolan eased herself into a comfortable lounge seat before continuing. She doesn't smile as she faces the bounty hunter, to do so would be as awkward and uncomfortable as a Gammorean in a Hapian noble's dress, but she does nod a curt greeting to the woman she's known since before her own rise to Vigo.
"There's an interest I have on the Hutt controlled asteroid, Point Nadir." She continues, as uninterested in having Maedris guess her intentions as Maedris would be to guess. "I'll pay you to be interested too, unless you have something better to be doing with your time." The clink-clink of the spheres rotating in her hands was beginning to irritate her so she dropped them, discarding them without a care for one of the droids to clean up.
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Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 9:16 pm
Point Nadir, Zietta's Palace
Malo, the blonde Jedi, an unpaid guest of Zietta the Hutt who will neither put a stop to nor aid Kal in Zietta's demise. Kal couldn't let her go. He'd incapacitate and drag her body along with him if he had to. He'd rather seize the moment, instead, though.
"How much do you want?" Kal asked, beckoning with his free hand. "I have a lot of credits behind me."
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 11:12 am
[ En Route to Anaxes ]
In the second, empty cargo room Rikka leans against the wall and slides to a seat, pulling her knees close and tucking in her head. She doesn't look up when she hears Roku follow her, and doesn't give any indication of hearing him when he stands at the door and begins to speak.
When he begins to try to thank her, Rikka jerks as if slapped, pressing herself tighter against the wall. Her head snaps up and she shakes it, words and expression both vehement. "Don't," she warns him. "Don't you dare thank me."
Her motives, after all, had been entirely self-serving and not only that, but in the service of people who Rikka knows do not want the best for Roku. They are Sith, after all, Sith through and through and cannot be trusted to know what's best for themselves, let alone anyone else. "You don't want to thank me."
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 11:19 am
[ space ]
Maedris bares her teeth in a grin but doesn't answer Eden's question -- it's rhetorical, after all. Mae can do just about anything. Within some sort of reason; it's not like she's some ******** Sith after all, but she's is pretty much the next best thing. Maybe even preferable in some areas. She doesn't have idiot Jedi hunting her down and she can be very, very inconspicuous when it counts.
"You know I love getting tangled up in your s**t," Mae tells Whitesun fondly. "Send me the data, or is this something you'd prefer to say to my beautiful face?" She smiles sharply again, legs curling up beneath her as she settles more comfortably into her pilot's seat. Point Nadir isn't too far from where she is, but she's preparing herself for the short trip and whatever lays beyond it.
Hopefully some idiots she can knock the heads of. Or something that'll require some nice explosives... Darth Neiva and the transport gig has left Maedris feeling edgy and itching for something exciting.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:51 pm
Nar Shaddaa, Black Sun Territories
Though she doesn't partake, Eden is always comforted by Maedris' cavalier confidence. Unlike more pious institutes, the Black Sun never got in the way of a particular agent who shined more brightly than the others... because as far as the Black Sun was concerned, whether that pride was well or ill founded it always served a purpose.
That the Childkiller already knows the coords of Point Nadir goes unsaid and unquestioned... as does the reasoning behind sending someone like Mae. Something was happening in the Hutt worlds, Eden could feel it in her bones. Every time she had time to spare for a swim or a spice run she was thinking about the territory that the space slugs held and, despite all the suppressants on the black market, her Force sense was still strong enough to tell her that it was more than a gut feeling.
But, without knowing what was happening, she was unwilling to commit to acting on a feeling. So far sending Malo in to listen and learn had yielded little so, with Maedris, she could perhaps flush the rats out with fire.
"I have an agreement with the Hutt in power on Point Nadir. Something of hers is in my possession and she wants it back... but so long as I hold it she's willing to play the perfect host." She said finally, her own matter-of-fact nature a contrast to Maedris' charm. "Take advantage of it. I want you to get to know the rock and the slug that's hiding under it, and I want you to be there should anything interesting happen. Of course," She added, "I leave your methods of doing so to your own discretion."
Eden paused and remained silent then. She could tell Maedris about Sunrider, but she preferred not to at this point. How could she explain the tenuous agreement between Vigo and Jedi, or even the reasoning Eden had to honor said agreement. No, it was better to have them working independently. Against one another the results would be more illuminating than if they worked together.
"I'll have the funds forwarded to your account in advance in case you should require any additional firearms or toys for your stay." She finished, ending the transmission as well. Maedris would know what those funds were for.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:05 pm
Point Nadir, Zietta's Palace
Malo squinted at the man's open palm, head shaking slightly at his words. What did she want? She already had everything she wanted and could ever ask for. Her own ship, enough credits to keep it well equipped and stocked, and extra for her tinkering on the droids. Freedom to go anywhere she wanted at any time in exchange for the occasional jobs for Eden... jobs that required her to do nothing she wasn't willing to do and an arrangement that benefited both of them.
"You don't have anything I'd want." She said, voice hoarse with regret. Anything else she could have wanted had long since been taken away or barred far out of her reach. Malo swallowed, focusing her eyes back to his. "I'm not going to help you." She insisted there, falling back to a familiar stubbornness. "Why would I?" The girl continued with a scowl, her stubbornness rising to irritation. "I don't know you, I don't know why you're doing any of this, and I sure as spit can't trust a man to offer me anything after he was more than willing to try to force me against my will and then threaten me. Do yourself a favor and take 'no' for an answer before I get angry!"
She blurted the words without thinking about them but knew almost instantly that she shouldn't have said them. Her own threats were even more empty than his and, after all this time, she doubted any of her abilities against his own. He'd already shown a quiet confidence in his by using them as comfortably as his body used his lungs... but it didn't change the fact that she was confident he didn't want to botch anything up by drawing attention down the hall. Feeling childish, but convincing herself all the same, Malo raised her chin stubbornly.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:45 pm
Point Nadir, Zietta's Palace
Kal shook his head, sadly.
"You know... I try to put these things behind me..."
Kal deactivated his blastsword and dematerialized it from his hand. He then lifted that formerly occupied hand up and splayed his fingers out, so that an open palm was displayed to Malo. What normally followed after that, in Kal's experience, was a mighty Force Push, or a shower of lightning. Kal was trying to show some restraint, though. He focused on Malo's mind, not attacking her thoughts or motor functions, but her sense of equilibrium.
In moments, Kal would have the woman swaying on her feet, hardly able to resist his Malacia, let alone try to counteract it.
"You're lucky I'm not amoral as opposed to immoral," Kal continued, beginning to make his way over to her. "I used to be quite the handful. I always managed to ruffle up the Grand Admiral's feathers, anyway."
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 8:13 pm
Imperial Armada, Harrin System
The Harrin system was hardly significant. It was at one end of a trade corridor (for which it was so named), and held the sector capital for the Harrin sector. Other than that, it was no more than a series of coordinates, another populated world in a long series of populated worlds that were colonized along the Corellian Trade Spine. The Empire wasn't even here to offer a member ship to the Harrins. It's sole objective in this system was to vitrify it, like Kinyen.
Like a band of thugs roaming the streets and breaking storefront windows, the armada on its way to Anaxes was committing acts of vandalism, only on a more cosmic scale. Harrin was just inside the Harrin system's habitable zone.
"Start scanning the planet," Sephis ordered the bridge crew of the Predator.
He'd come to find out just a day ago, the XO's exact rank. Just shy of Captain, Sephis outranked by a slim margin. Whenever Admiral Talon (Morbella) wasn't around, Sephis in charge. And Sephis was, of course, only far too happy to kindly take over the role of command whenever she was away.
"Engage all sensors," Sephis continued. "Make the sweep through. The last thing we need to do is miss a settlement down there, and let any of the Harrin people escape!"
Predator fell into orbit around Harrin, the planet inhabited solely by humans. Just off to their starboard side the rest of the Imperial fleet took up positions around the planet. Sephis' lower lip twitched. One of the star destroyers had come come in too close. Such aggressive piloting could result in a collision.
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Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 2:00 am
En Route to Anaxes
"Don't you dare thank me. You don't want to thank me."
Roku turned the corner, entering the empty room, as his eyes found Rikka seated against the wall, with her face buried in between her knees. He stood there, for a brief moment, surprised about her current condition. At that moment, Roku decided to trust her now, if only for a moment. It seemed so genuine to him, that he didn't want to believe that someone could change so dramatically, and it all be a ruse or an act. If this turned out to be a trap, to force him to lower his guard, Roku was certain that it would be near impossible to ever trust anyone else again.
"Then maybe you can tell me what you know. About me, about where this ship is heading. Why wouldn't I want to thank you?" She didn't respond. Rikka simply sat there, as if she were trying to ignore him. He knelt down next to her, only a few feet away, and spoke again.
"What do you know about me? Just a few moments ago, you acted as if you knew who I was. As if, we had met somewhere before. Aside from your name, what else are you hiding from me?"
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