Zalis Krales

Zalis moved through the somewhat busy streets of the Malgan market on Iziz. People moved in and around different posts of all sorts of stands trying to sell different items. Her black backless dress was doing exactly what she wanted it to, and she was indeed getting a few more eyes to look her way as she walked through the middle of the square, pulling behind her a case that had wheels upon the bottom of it. From the corner of her eye, she spotted Yordel Vuxen, who was attempting to make a hard sell to a Twi’lek who seemed to want no part of it. With a smile, she knew her own entrance would help him make the sell. She walked herself up to him directly, almost pushing the Twi’lek out of the way. In the same motion, she dropped the case and put her finger delicately upon his brown skin with a soft movement over his chin and she leaned in and placed a small kiss upon his cheek. “Oh Yordel, those special items you sold did far more than what you said-I could have ended up paying at least twice as much as what you sold to me for… Oh, I’m sorry hon. I didn’t mean to interrupt your business transaction. I’ll wait until you’re done.” As she acknowledged the Twi’lek, she used her right hand to softly move her right hand against his left forearm with a wink as she stepped away. As she took her few steps away from the two and towards Remo, she could hear what sounded like a goofy low gitty laugh from Yordel. It made her roll her eyes in slight disgust. The eye roll would only have been seen by Remo, so she felt like it was okay at the moment to reveal to the droid her own feelings on the situation. However, upon getting to stand next to the droid, she could see within Remo’s dome that the Twi’lek was looking at her from the corner of his own eye, so she bent down to whisper to Remo, the stance alone would have revealed to both the Twi’lek and Yordel more than the crack in her buttock. “These poor idiots have no clue how badly I’m playing them…” She then stood up to hear the final exchange of the two, and the Twi’lek took his leave, but not without making a few constant look backs to get a full and final last image of Zalis. She made sure to move slowly and provocatively towards Yordel to give the Twi’lek his last request. As she approached Yordel again, he offered her up that stupid gitty chuckle again. “You know, if you stick around, you and me as a team could make thousands of credits within weeks tops.” Zalis now offered him a look of pity. “Oh Yordel… I’m so sorry that you think that a thousand is a lot…” The man’s face was clearly taken back as she finished. It clearly had never come to the man’s mind that she made so much more than him. But Zalis knew better then to let the man sit in a low place, so she picked up the case and had it drop on the man’s counter with a loud thud. “Twelve reinforced carbine blasters – as you requested. These bad boys have been deemed illegal by the big 3 political powers that be. Although, only two will actually do something about you having them.” As she finished, she opened up the case to reveal the contents to Yordel. As she finished opening the case, she took a step back and took a glance up at the palace, which seemed to not be a busy as she remembered it. Yordel must have noticed her looking and spoke up. “The Dark Lord and his fleet left the area not more than nine hours before your arrival. Rumor has it… To come your aid.” Her annoyed look returned. “So I’ve heard. Remo, is there a way for you to give me updates on that situation. I’d rather not hear about it from others.”

Zalis allowed for a single moment of clearing her mind as the ship touched down in Iziz at the starport. Her own mind was racing as she had received reports that Delta had taken the entire fleet to Dark Sun station, which somehow became a lightning rod for the Republic and Jedi fleet. Although, they were quick to lock down the area and sealed off transmissions, but not before Delta had requested backup. The fleet was about to be fully outgunned and the majority of the investors and corporations that banked at Dark Sun were likely to be beyond pissed at the damage that would surely happen. Letting a massive sigh out, she knew how to spin it in a way that would protect Black Sun and allow for her to keep those special corporations she had built contracts with intact. But it would come at a very high price. Namely Delta. She would need to spin things very creatively in order to maintain things, but luckily, she knew how to go about it. And the more time she spent on Onderon, the better her chances at weaving her web. She didn’t spend a good few months working over Shura Cohl and Amius Hulan just to have everything fall apart within a single battle. She knew what she needed to do. And for the moment, she needed to focus on what she could. Taking in a deep breath, she stood up and strained out her dress and gave both a head and hand motion to signal for Remo to follow her. On her way down the ramp, she could already see one of the port officials who seemed recognized her almost immediately. Even as she walked down the ramp, he offered her up a smile and began to talk to her. Why do they always insist on these petty conversations… “Oh Zalis, it’s been a while since we’ve had the pleasure of your presence here at Iziz. Word on the street is that Dark Sun bank is under fire at the moment, and words also tie your organization to the bank…” Zalis rolled her eyes very openly to the man. Even as she finished, she handed over her starport visa to the man, as security seemed to never die off since the old days here. As he looked it over for a second before handing it back to her, she offered up a half sarcastic smile. “The Black Sun fleet that arrived at Dark Sun Bank has done so without the sanction of me. I plan to make sure that all of the investors and clients who utilize the bank such as Incom Corporation, SyntheTech and HealthiDrive will have their assets protected.” She took her starport visa out of his hand and raised her left eyebrow as she walked past the man and into the main walkway towards the market.

Zalis felt slightly annoyed for a moment as she watched Remo play around with things from her personal drawer. If only the droid had known where the device had been, or rather, what it had fully been used for, he may not play around with it. But then again, did droids even think about such things in ways the sentient species did? It seemed somewhat irrelevant anyways, as the droid destroyed the one in this drawer. It meant that her other ones would need to be locked up tighter. Standing up from her desk, she moved to get herself dressed for the occasion. She knew that the Sith Empire held Onderon, and she wanted to make a deal. Black markets and close alliances always seemed to get forged stronger at formal settings. And from what she heard from the pipeline, this man was one who preferred the nicer things in life, unlike some of his former predecessors. So with hat information, she picked out the the perfect black dress that was backless and showed enough of her chest to draw eyes towards her. Upon looking at herself in the mirror, she looked at Remo and smiled. "If you're ready Remo, we can go and deliver some goods and make a few... lasting connections." With the last part of her words, she looked at the mirror and blew a kiss at herself. She knew she was bound to draw eyes and that should make things easier in getting what she wanted. So she then sent a page for a few others to deliver the reinforced carbine blasters for Yordel Vuxen. Hopefully this trip would prove much more rewarding than her last outing at Taris.

Zalis sat down at her desk and pulled up files rather quickly. She was scanning the most recent messages that came her way on the holonet, which seemed to be for the most part- super irrelevant. Each and every file message made her roll her eyes at the content of each message. "Oh Remo... These poor fools think it wise to ask for credits that they have never earned. Although... Vandor... plug that name in Remo." Zalis kept scanning for files here and there until she stopped at a message. Yordel Vuxen was the name, requesting twelve reinforced carbine blasters to be delivered to Onderon. Her mind raced with thoughts. "Forget Vandor Remo... Let's make a visit to Onderon..." Zalis allowed for a smile to come to her face. She remembered that Onderon held a healthy black market, and the carbines being requested were illegal on over half of the populated planets. Luckily for this Yordel, Ord Mantell was the headquarters of black market sales and productions. And of course, Black Sun was the one who pushed the iron machine that ran it. Although, she was certain that Black Castle only held 12 to begin with within their production facility beneath the surface floor. I'm going to need to have more supplies delivered here to keep up with a potential supply and demand... The thought was all she needed to know for her to begin to put things into motion for the future of her company.

Zalis was able to offer up a smile to Remo as she stood up and began to walk down the ramp. She once again offered the droid a soft touch as she walked past him. Upon reaching the ground, she allowed herself a moment to openly inhale the air of the planet. The smell that hit her nostrils were a mix of dirt, metal, alcohol and an overall scent of fumes from the spaceport. Letting out a heavy exhale, she looked off to her right to observe some of the dregs and scoundrels talking over their winnings at a local casino. It made her narrow her eyes as she half listened in before walking away and towards the entrance of Black Castle. "Remo, make a note for me. Lets look into a more higher profile planet that may attract... wealthier clients..." She didn't bother to make sure he was following her okay, as she was far more interested in just getting back into a normal routine. Plus the fact that she had much bigger problems recently. Her encounter with Celteo on Taris made her far more aware that there was a high need for her Vigos to be more involved within the galaxy. But it also produced another problem altogether. The power and reach of Black Sun was still small in some ways. That would be something that she would need to fix quickly. Using people like Celteo may prove an avenue that she never thought of before. Upon entering the building of Black Castle, the receptionist droid WP 12 became aware of her and leaned forward, paging one of her underlings, who upon getting signal came running out in a panic, quickly offering up his boss a slight bow before beginning with a shaky voice. "Ma'am, the Mandalorians have been within reports of destroying Coruscant, along with hostiles at Chandrilia. I have also been unable to reach Delta as you requested." Zalis turned and looked him in the eyes. His eyes seemed panicked and full of fear. "Who cares what the Mandalorians do. Those planets have already been polluted with politics. Let them burn. What we should be doing is selling arms to them. Reach out to their leader and see if they may be willing to setup a deal with us. And as far as Delta is concerned, he's free to roam wherever he wants. I'll reach out to him on my own time. I have never once asked for you to do that. Over step your boundaries again and I'll kill you where you stand. For now, contact the Mandalorains. I'll be in my office with Remo..." Zalis quickly walked past the man and towards her office. She needed some time to think through what her next steps would be.

Zalis sat within the private quarters that the Obsidian Phoenix held. She was sitting within a chair that was looking out a viewport of the starling that streaked slightly above her head. She had one hand upon her head as she rubbed away a headache, while the other held tightly to a glass full of Idlewil liquor. The sudden shaking of the ship allowed for her to realize that they had made it home. Or rather, what was slowly becoming home for her. Coruscant was always home. But somehow, even before the Mandalorians destroyed it, she understood that there would be no going back. She never wanted to see the place again, as credits always seemed to fall into a vacuum of sorts there. Out in Mid and Outer rims, credits were far more valuable for the moment. She would leave the Core to her other agents and Vigos who held a more interest in those parts. Standing up, she walked towards the cockpit with her glass in hand. Since getting back onboard the ship, she wore the laced white dress with her black boots, leaving her jacket for the colder weather that occupied the planet of Taris. She walked in and gave Remo a warm tap on the dome of his head as she sat down net to him. She left the majority fo the piloting to him, and he seemed to be very trusting for the most part. She slung back the remaining elements of her drink and kicked her feet up only slightly, but not enough to interfere with the piloting. "It feels good to be home Remo." She then turned and realized that officially he had never been to Ord Mantell before. "Sandorne Palace as it's called by the locals, but known by everyone else as Black Castle. It's the primary Black Sun headquarters. It's here that I will dispatch others to be Vigos for me and spread them across the galaxy... Very soon I will have a foothold everywhere..." It was then that she suddenly got sad as she thought about Delta. He was loyal to Black Sun and had done so much, even before he arrival and accession. Now.. it seemed like she had not seen the man since she first met Remo. Her own mind became occupied with thoughts of how to reward such loyalty, and in so doing, she allowed for her feet to return to the metal floor of the ship's hull as she now sat sunken within her seat.

Zalis offered up a smile that was curled up in a sly devilish manner. She looked upon her new found Vigo as anyone who had just broken a cur. She poured herself another drink of the Tarisian Scotch that Celteo had given to her earlier, and she of course downed it in the same fashion as she did before - quickly and with authority. Having the glass slammed upon the bar-but not hard enough to make a super loud sound or breaking the glass. Using her arm to wipe her mouth dry, so moved away from the bar. "I leave that to you Vigo." She went over to the couch and picked up her coat, and with a quick motion, put it back on as she stared at Celteo. "Expand as you wish. Black Sun HQ is now on Ord Mantell. I expect a report in person from you within a standard month's time." She began to make her way towards the exit, but stopped short and turned around, clearly remembering to tell him something that she forgot. "Also... Coruscant is... currently in turmoil. If the opportunity arises... offer the Mandalorians free resources from the Black Market. I'm sure that they will have no problems dealing with illegal goods..." Letting her last few words hang for a moment, Zalis then turned and walked out of the luxury palace and towards her ship. Now that she had somewhat done what she intended for Taris, she would need to report back in to Ord Mantell and keep the local casino owners in line. Hopefully, Remo would have the ship ready for her departure from this planet.

Zalis gave a slightly amused glance his way as Celteo expressed a desire for more. She walked up to the bar and picked up the glass, and with a rather quick movement, downed the drink offered to her. The very slight burn that echoed in her throat provided her time to put the glass down and leaned in towards the well dressed man to whisper into his ear. "Who said you can't move towards the core? Chandrila, Anaxes, even Carida sits within your means. A sector Vigo is just that. You have full control over your area, and that area is yours to choose. You can take whatever liberties you want and need to advance Black Sun within your area. The only thing you'd be bound to uphold is that when I make the call for you,... You come." She now took a step back away from him, allowing for him to regain his space. After a moment passed by, she lifted her hand towards him. "Do we have an agreement, Vigo Celteo?"

With a slight smile, Zalis turned herself around to walk slightly away from his face. As she moved, she walked slowly towards the large window that overlooked some of the only nicer parts that remained of the city that had rebuilt itself. Squinting her eyes slightly at a glare that came through, she turned her head back around to look at Celteo. She used the pauses to make it appear as if she was truly pondering the situation before she responded. “You don’t need to sign a deed over to me. Legally, since Shura Cohl’s death… the contract signed makes the company mine regardless. You only have leverage over the branch of Czerka out here. However, your position here does provide a very interesting leverage that intrigues me heavily…” She instinctively raised her hand expecting to have someone put a drink in it, only to realize quickly that Celteo did not have such a staff always on hand. With a sigh, she put her hand back down and turned to fully face him. “The proposition that I give you is this. You remain here as my sector Vigo. You help increase the black market, increase slave trading, and create a culture of those who will do well within the organization…” Zalis folded her arms in a way that allowed for Celteo to know that she was awaiting his response. She of course knew that he would have questions, along with a potential counter offer. Although she also knew that she wouldn’t accept anything less more than what she had offered up to him.

Zalis looked the man in the eyes after he finished for a good five seconds before she even flinched a muscle. She was a bit annoyed at the fact that the man even knew her purpose in coming, let alone that he would tell her that her time coming was a waste. But if what he said was true, it meant that she had far more work to do. But as she was beginning to think of what her next move should be, the man who introduced himself as Celteo O' Maoilsheachlainn spoke up about a proposition that he was half expecting from her. His posture informed her that he was serious and was now waiting for what she had to offer. It was amusing and brought her to a point of actual laughter. “Oh, son… I can tell you’re slightly new to this.” She now stood up off the couch and threw off her black coat and straitened her dress in one motion. She began to walk towards the desk that Celteo sat at in a very somewhat methodical and slow motion. “You see, if you wanted a deal that favored you, you would have allowed for me to offer up the idea of a proposition first. Because you brought it up first, it means you’ve hit a problem. Most people like you means either one of three things. First, you ran out of credit backing. Second, you’ve hit a limit in your reach. Or perhaps my personal favorite, you don’t have any reach to begin with and being seen next to someone like me would bring more attention that you want.” Her last word she emphasized with her raising both eyebrows before turning around to sit with her back towards him on the desk. She only now began to fully take in the room that Celteo brought her to. It was grand and fitting for someone who belonged at the top of the food chain within the criminal world. Looking at the two guards that he had, who looked a warped version of an animal’s backside, she squinted her eyes slightly. “Based from the look of your place I would say you fall into one of the first two categories.” Zalis now turned her head to look directly at the man. She had already decided to help him, as Taris would be good for business. But she couldn’t let him feel like he was superior to her in anyway, so she would play around with him for a bit. “What sort of arrangement crossed your mind that you think someone like me would be of a help for you? Clearly you have no interest in Czerka Corporation…”

Zalis smiled at the droid as it made its attempt to speak its name. She was able to pick up some of what it was trying to say, but her own follow up question was blocked by an incoming transmission from the planet. There was no chance for either to answer it, as it flooded to life on its own. Before Zalis was suddenly a man of red hair himself. His blue eyes pierced through sharply as he looked over the droid first, calling it by name; Remo. He then addressed her and spoke rather quickly of her own reputation and made an invite followed quickly by the transmission cutting off. Zalis suddenly sat back in the pilot’s chair and spoke out loud to Remo. “He’s quite an Kriffing gentleman isn’t he?...” Zalis looked over at Remo, but could tell that the droid seemed nervous. Clearly there was some sort of history there, but she decided it was best to not press him for the story. She would most likely get it later. For now, she would visit this man and find out who he was and if he was an ally, an asset, or a threat and deal with him appropriately. She couldn’t afford to waste too much time with him though, as she needed to get Czerka under her thumb quickly. As the ship landed, she was met and escorted by two men clad in armor of their own. Ugly armor to be sure, but still armor. She did take notice that neither of them was armed, which was a good sign. Zalis herself was armed, but only with her up close and personal assassination weapons of choice. She never let those weapons not be on her, as she never knew when she might need them. She herself was dressed in a white dress the was free flowing, but had a black coat like cape that covered up the majority of the white dress. Upon entering the main area where the guards escorted her, she immediately plopped herself down on a couch, crossing her legs and stretching her arms out over the top of the couch to make herself comfortable. It was just a part of who she was to make herself comfortable.

Zalis rubbed her temples as the Obsidian Phoenix shock itself somewhat violently out of hyperspace. For some reason, Raven pissed her off to the point that she had a lingering headache that she couldn't shake. Putting one hand down, she glanced out at the planet before her that had once been covered in city lights from space, now only had about half the planet in those lights. A green color seemed to overtake the rest of it. Looking towards the Droid, she raised an eyebrow as she kept one hand still rubbing her forehead. "Czerka has a few people here who might try to oppose the contract signed. The last thing that they want is to have a new flag be raised over their territory. This could become... Fun by Delta's standards." She finally lowered her hand as she leaned forward to really take the planet in. Feeling confident that Taris would be the first of many planets to have no choice but allow for the banner of Black Sun to be raised, she suddenly realized that she didn't officially know what the droid's number was. She turned slightly to look at the droid and gave it a look that may have suggested she felt bad. "If you're going to work closely with me, I'm going to need your name officially..."

Zalis walked into the main hold of Obsidian Phoenix where she was met by WP9, who quickly extended a case that held the upgrade she requested. With a smile, she took it from the droids hands. “Thank you WP9. Please go back to vault 4C and finish up for me. Initiate protocol seven with our guest, then clean up. Also, have agent Coltsoin up the security of the vaults until I return.” Almost as soon as she finished, the green R2 unit came rolling into the main hold. She walked up to the droid and leaned down to one knee and offered up a smile as she placed the case upon her knee and opened it to reveal th upgrade disc. “This is called Crystal Spark. It’s a program designed for trusted droids within Black Sun. I think I’d like for you to have it. It will allow for you to open any file within the Black Sun network, even remotely. It also upgrades your systems to know how to defend yourself. I won’t force it upon you… yet. But for now, we have a need to travel to Taris. It will be just you and me this time as we begin to establish the foothold on those worlds that are struggling.” Zalis didn’t say anything more. She simply laid the case next to the droid and then stood up and walked herself to the bridge. She had a need to get Czerka under her thumb quickly before anyone thought to move on them.

Zalis fell into her chair as she began to pour over some files that held the accounts of Czerka and their current state of headquarters, along with some high profile personnel files. She could tell that they had moved their main headquarters from Dreshdae to Coruscant some odd years ago, but still maintained a small presence. Since Black Sun took over Tatooine, they moved the majority of their products to the smaller port of Anchorhead alone to avoid competition. It seemed like from the recent files that the majority of the higher profiles have grouped themselves upon Taris, as it has been abandoned by all major warring factions. She quickly pulled such information and sent it to the mainframe of the Obsidian Phoenix. As she finished with that, she looked down at the security cameras, which now showed the little R2 unit doing exactly what Zalis had requested… Inflicting pain upon the Empress. It made her smile from ear to ear knowing that the droid was loyal to her. She didn’t understand why, but somehow was growing very attached to it. Letting her own mind think for a second, she reached for her commlink. “WP9, please bring me the upgrade software under code Crystal Spark. Authorization Nova-Seven-Two-Four.” Zalis then stood up and sent a signal to the droid to let it know to finish up and report back to the private hangar ASAP. She then made sure that she picked out what she would need for this fun adventure trip. By this point, anything that actually produces credits is worth my time. It was the most truthful thought that she held within her own mind. Taking on the Empress was some fun, but now that she was nothing but a wasted space, she wouldn't spend any more of her valuable time on the woman. She would devote her time to bringing in more credits. And she had a plan forming that would allow for her to grab the galaxy by the throat. She would soon have her agents deployed all over the galaxy to help her achieve this.

A message came in for Delta, no encryption at all. It was short, and Zalis didn't really address herself. She didn't feel like she had a need to. Delta knew who it was and who she was talking about.

Zalis kept her eyes locked upon the Empress for a long while. Deep down, she had wished that the woman before her wasn't so hard nosed in her politics and self righteous ways. There was a deal to be made here, but one Raven would much rather throw away into the wind. Feeling like her words were clearly lost upon the woman, Zalis stood up and looked down at Remo, who gave the Empress a small shock. Letting out a heavy sigh, she quickly spun upon her left heel and used her right heel to get as much force as she could muster to drive it into the other woman's chest. "Thank you for your time." Zalis said as she took a few breaths to recover from the fast and powerful kick. "I hope your self-righteousness is enough to keep you motivated through the pain." She now looked at the droid, Remo. "Her choice is made. Make her scream." Zalis didn't wait to hear a beg or plead. She didn't even bother to wait to see if the droid would fulfill the command given. She just simply turned and walked out the door. If the Empress wasn't going to be willing to work out a deal, she held no interest or value to the Queen of Vice. She had much bigger fish to fry. Besides for all of that, she doubted that Remo would do much more than singe some hair and force bruises upon the Empress. She would have someone contacted out to do this work while she plunged many of the worlds that held a strong underworld into the fists of Black Sun. As she entered the turbolift to go back to her office, she pulled out her comlink and sent a message to Delta. "I have the Imperial bitch leader at Dark Sun Station. Send whoever you like to have fun with her." After she sent the message, she went to work on setting up a formal visit to Czerka, so she could now openly replace Shura Cohl as the leader.

Zalis had her lips curl in a smile at the sounds of Raven calling her a pet of the Sith. It was amusing to say the least, but nothing that even came close to striking a nerve with her. Even when Raven spit at her, the action did nothing but cement within her mind that the galaxy was indeed ready to be plunged in the crime syndicate of Black Sun. She would let her nails sink deep into the neck of those who were so ignorant to what was happening within the underworld. They will be raped from within, and I will save no one. And while she slowly wiped the spit off her chest, the droid she had recently picked up seemed to be very angered by the action of having the Empress spit upon her. As it moved to defend her, Zalis reached out her arm and placed an hand softly upon it's dome head to calm it down. After she did so, she stood up and allowed for her own smile to grow before Raven. "Beautiful and ignorant is no way to go through life sweetheart. If you wish to believe that I am a pet, you know nothing of the underworld." Zalis began to walk around Raven slowly, allowing for each step to make a very loud thud to ring within Raven's ear. She offered up a smile to Remo. "Outside of those within this room, no one know's that you're alive. Outside of the droid and me, no on knows where you're at, even if they did find out that you were alive. You are here simply because I could use some fun before I plunge the galaxy deep into throat of Black Sun. We are primed to own over half the galaxy in our pocket book. The only thing that would stop me from doing so would be what you have called... a master? But since I am no one's pet, I answer to no one for my actions." She now stopped and leaned down and rested herself upon Remo to look into the eyes of Raven. "So... Do you have anything worth my time, or shall I plunge your precious world of Nar Shaddaa deep into the clutches of Black Sun?"

Zalis let her eyes look over Dark Sun Station as it came into view rather quickly after jumping out of hyperspace. She eyed the smaller cruisers landing and pulling away as they made their transactions with the bank front for Black Sun. It brought a pure smile to her face for a slightest of seconds before she realized that the droid was beginning to pilot them towards the main hangar of the station. “No, give clearance code ‘Sapphire-99.’ It allows for us to land at my personal hangar. I don’t want random eyes to look upon my bound guest.” Zalis then stood up and walked out of the cockpit and towards the still slightly unconscious Empress of the Imperial Remnant. To her, the idea of getting something of value out of the woman appealed to her. Although, even she had to admit that she knew nothing of true torture. But alas, that would not stop her from trying. She bent down and checked her vitals before sending a comm to her personal droids, LP7 & WP12 to come assist her to taking the Empress to a more secured room. Upon doing that, she turned towards the landing ramp, as she was sure that the little green droid had done what it was supposed to. It seemed like a very capable droid, one that she really wanted to have become an integral part of Black Sun. As she approached the ramp, she almost barked out at the astromech droid. “Greenie, follow me. I’m going to need your help.” As she said it, she opened the ramp to have the two droids she requested already at the bottom waiting for her. “Take the Empress to Holding Vault 4C.” She walked past the two and opened the door on the other side of the hangar, which lead straight into her office. She quickly took off her weapons and dropped them on the table and pulled up a few charts. She smirked widely as she read that Shura Cohl, the leader of Czerka, had died last night. The smirk was more due to the fact that within the contract the two of them signed, she would become the majority owner of the company upon his death. “Alrighty Greenie, I need for you to plug in and get yourself acquainted with Black Sun files. Mainly the ones under security code Diamond7star. When you’re done there, come to Vault4C.” Zalis threw off her jacket and walked out the main entrance of her office and took the turbolift down to where her droids had unloaded the Empress. Upon gaining access to the vault, all she could do was stare at the Empress for a moment. She was bound to a chair in the middle of the empty vault with some blood dripping down here and there from either her mouth or chin. She looked pitiful and not very powerful. “Oh, how fast do the mighty fall. I’d ask if you’re comfortable, but I really don’t care.” Zalis walked up to her in a very slow walk. It displayed no sense of power, nor was it menacing. It was just simply a slow walk to show the Empress that she had no reason to rush. Time was an ally for the moment of Zalis. Upon getting close enough to her, she bent down slightly and removed the gag from Raven. “Now tell me… I kept you alive because I believe you are worth sometime to me alive versus dead. I could just as easily hand you over to the Sith and let them have their way with you… What can you provide to me that makes you valuable?”

Zalis felt the thrill take over as she dragged the dead weight of the Empress across the floor to follow the green astromech droid through the hallways towards the hangar bay where it's ship was residing. She was very impressed with it's work in dispatching any opposition that they came across and yet very shocked. Little bastard is good in a firefight... Better then my XP droids... She quickly dragged the Empress upon the ship, and almost dropped her hard to the floor of the main hold so that she could help the droid in the cockpit of the ship. Making a fast jump into the pilots seat, as the droid was unable to sit there regardless. Although she did not need to do much piloting as the droid did most of the work for her, she was quick to call up the navigational charts to make their jump. She quickly sent a private message to Delta to inform him of where she was taking the Empress on her jump, and upon sending the message, pulled to levers to make the jump towards Dark Sun Station.

Zalis was putting her comlink away when a small droid began to make a lot of noise near her. She wasn’t exactly sure where it came from, or why it decided that she was worth it’s time to communicate to, yet here it was. The small droid looked like any other Astromech Droid, yet held a color of green along with the primary white that covered it. She was hesitant… It could be a trap, especially since she had just captured the Empress. But it seemed harmless enough, and from what she could understand of droids, it was trying to inform her of a ship. She simply raised her left eyebrow at its remarks. “You have a ship?... Ah, screw it. Lead the way Greenie. I’ll cover you.” Turning towards the ground, she used a string like material from her exploded XP droid to help her drag the Empress to the ship that the droid was claiming to have.

Zalis struck the ground in a loud thud. Pain began to sear in her ribs as she was hit by the return fire from the Empress and her guards. Her eyes closed tightly shut as she awaited to hear anything from the Empress or her guards. Upon letting a few seconds go by, the only sound that was in focus was some moans and groans from the targets she had pinned down. Deciding to open her eyes slowly, she looked around at the mess that had been created. There was a piece of her own droid's shrapnel stuck in her upper right arm from her landing and a ton of smoke from all of the blaster fire and grenade like weapons that were used in the fire fight. It was chaos, and a far better scene then what she thought she would see. Rolling over, she used the momentum to pick herself up to her feet, allowing some time to adjust to the pain that was in her ribs. She looked at the carbon scoring around the burning flesh that became nothing more than an irritant of sorts. Quickly putting away just her left handed firearm so that she could remove the droid shrapnel in her right arm as she walked closer to get a look at what damage she had fully done. Raven Zinthos lived. Struck down temporarily by her own blaster onslaught, along with her two remaining guards. One of which was fully dead, taking a blaster dead center of his helmet. She lifted her right arm blaster and fired into the back of the neck of the other, leaving Raven alone. Zalis stood over her, brooding as she contemplating what she should do with the Empress before her. Leaning down towards her, she used all of her might to strike her upon the back of the head with the butt of her own blaster pistol. She quickly searched the Imperial guards for cuffs to use to restrain the Empress and bind her hands behind her back. After she had done so, she pulled out her comlink and used an open channel to the rest fo the Axis forces. "This is Zalis Krales. I'm going to need a lift off the Shipyard for two. The Empress is mine."

Almost as soon as Zalis made her jump upwards and grabbed ahold of the parts of the ceiling that allowed for her to hold onto, an explosion type sound went off in the room she was in. It was either dumb luck or a good battle sense upon her own head that allowed for her to make the jump without getting stuck to the ground. However, this cryoban grenade found more of a mark outside of the bottom of her boots. Her ass was now freezing from the foaming liquid that exploded within the room. It was sticky and becoming quite troublesome as the seconds passed by. That bitch is really starting to rattle my nerves. Zalis used what momentum she had to swing her legs upwards to kick in the ventilation cover. She would stick to her plan, even if it meant taking a slower time to move due to having part of her body covered in the sticky foam from the cryoban grenade. Besides, she needed to use the sound of the grenade going off to help hide the noise of her kicking the vent off. Quickly, she slid herself in and had to keep herself low to the vent system, as there was little room for her to do anything other than to crawl army style. As she was able to begin her movements, the loud and blaring sounds of blaster fire being poured into the room where she was just at almost gave her a heart attack. Had she held any form of hesitation, she would have been laid to waste, of that much she was certain. She had to keep herself moving, which was slowly becoming a difficult task in of itself, due to the searing pain in her thigh from a prior blaster fire, along with the cold sticky adhesive garbage that was a result of the cryoban, which was also causing her joints to move much more slowly. Zalis moved as quietly as she could, slowly pausing for a moment to pull out her sonic detonator and with it armed, threw it back the way she came. Hopefully, it would cause enough damage to allow for her to gain the upper hand, as her hope was that their ears were now exposed from having to take their helmets off from her EMP. As she tossed the sonic detonator back towards the open vent, she split her legs wide to make a strong push off the wall of the vent shaft that she was in to slide head first at the vent plate about three feet from where she lay. If she could muster enough strength, she should be able to break through easily enough. As she heard the clang of the detonator hitting the side of the vent shaft and dropping down, she made her push. She had to force her legs to make the push in the same way she would use them during her assassination during intercourse. It allowed for her to make the push needed to break through the vent cover. As she braced her own head for the hit, she also lowered her hands towards her blasters to pull them out once she broke through. As she began to fall out of the vent, her head was ringing and vision slightly blurry. The clear sound of her own sonic detonator was clearly finishing up. Time slowed for her as she lifted her hands and began to pour random blaster fire at the troops and Raven who were now in front of her. Although, she wasn’t fully sure it was them. Her vision was blurry, so she just kept making shots at what she assumed were her targets. It would hurt when she landed, but she would still have momentum to move if needed. Hopefully they all head their helmets off, or would still be affected by the sonic detonator anyways. ((3))

Zalis grinned as someone stood in front of Raven, protecting her from the incoming blaster onslaught that she was reigning down in the hallway. Although, her own disappointment in not hitting her mark made her feel slightly frustrated. I must be getting rusty. The though was quickly lost as there was suddenly the remaining guards who rushed to take up cover and began to make an attempt to give cover fire down. As she moved to find her own cover on the nearby opposite wall, she had a searing pain strike her upper thigh as she dodged blaster fire. Someone, she was sure it was the Empress’ own fire that grazed her. “Fierfek!” It stung and left a burning sensation. It was something that she was sure she wouldn’t have to deal with the support fire. The XP model’s blast radius isn’t big enough. I need to fix that. Her own thoughts were interrupted by the clear as day cylinder of a grenade of some sorts fly in her direction. Even through the smoke, she could make it out and had to force herself to leap forward. As she rolled herself into a forward motion towards one of Raven’s guards, she pulled a vibro dagger out and rolled into a stab near the man… or woman’s neck. The screamed of panic seemed masculine, but who knew these days. Her feet were cold, as the bottom of her own boots were covered in frozen liquid from the grenade thrown in her direction. “What a bit-“ The thought was stopped as blaster fire shot near her as she was forced to move into the corner of the doorway, bringing her closer to the rest of the guards and her target. She quickly removed her electromagnetic pulse grenade, one out of her three grenades that she carried with her at all times and began to arm it. She was disappointed that one of her grenades would be utterly worthless in the small hallway where she was fighting, but decided that she should give at least this one a try. If anything, her hope would be that the nearest guards would be temporally rendered useless, evening out the fight. While more useful against droids, the mechanical equipment in the guards’ armor might short out and causing electrical burns, providing a decent distraction for her to move upwards- a move that she would use to get out of high security offices when she was but a simple assassin. From there, she would try to find a way to either get close to the Empress, or she would have to risk using her plasma grenade, which could also do damage to her as well. She already knew that using her sonic grenade was out of the question, as she was too close, and the hallway was too small to sue without it affecting her too. For now, it would be a closed fire fight. ((2))

Zalis pushed through the landing ramp with XP7. The hulking droid led the way, wrist blasters firing a pour of steady stream line fire into whatever moved. With a great annoyance in her voice, she lashed out vocally at the droid. "Don't waste your fire. Let those pawns take on those not in our path. We move through that door. It's the clearest way towards our objective." Zalis pushed on the back of the droid to get it to move, lifting one of her blasters to fire at some random tech guy who thought it was safe to stand up from behind his cover in the midst of the fire fight going on. She lowered herself to be smaller than the majority of stray blaster fire coming off the battle about forty of fifty feet away from her location. XP7 did it's best to keep up, but was clearly not designed to move quickly. That's a flaw I'm going to have to fix after all of this. They got through hangar and she quickly shut the door and locked it behind her by use of blaster shot. She needed to keep all high ranking officials pinned to this facility if she should fail her goal in ending their lives. She moved over to the nearby data port to see what she could find in regards to a map of the facility. It was then that XP7 chimed in. "Ma'am, incoming tranmission" "What the hel-" "Patching it through." "Why the hell would you do that?!" Her fighting the droid was pointless, he had already patched the comm in. “Greetings whoever is in charge up there. Hope the fight goes well, this is Lord Akheron, I arrived before the fleet its an nice thing finally see some friendly faces at last. I request immediate reinforcements at my current position, I located a Moff and am en-route to dispatch him to the beyond but need some assistance on the matter. His somehow blocking the force in part, and protected by a large contingent of troopers, I can only do so much...so help would be appreciated. In the meantime I'll try to clear a landing zone for you.” The words spoken made her almost raise an eyebrow out of sheer concern for the mental health of a man who transmitted something like that during the midst of a battle that was beginning to peak. To her surprise though, the movement he had made was already something worth noting. With a sharp turn of her wrist to return the comm back to the man named Lord Akheron. "Akheron, you should consider yourself a lucky man to have reached as far as you did without support troops. But since you have asked so nicely, I think I change the priority for some of our agents to land near your landing zone...-XP7 have all ground agents not already engaged to reroute to Akheron's landing zone. Make it a high priority for them to arrive at full speed. Akheron, don't waste my agents. Bring back a few momentums as a gift." As soon as she was done, she cut the transmission and glared at XP7 for even patching it through. The droid only turned and began to download the facility map, as he had already sent the priority override to all other agents as she requested. Zalis knew this, so she didn't need to bother him with checking to make sure he did. Still feeling annoyed she began to take a look around the room. It was a control room of sorts, having data from the shipyards, fuel movements, resources, and-BINGO! There were security cameras of the entire facility... Well, not the entire facility. It had an angle on most of the rooms and hallways that lead to those rooms that were carrying or storing valuable things. There was movement in some of the rooms as crews were trying to save what they could and load it up on ships. But it was movement on one camera that caught Zalis' eyes... The Empress herself... "XP-seal hallway four-A." The order came with a smirk. She watched from her position as the black armor clad Empress moved with something from fifteen to twenty-five guards through the narrow corridor hallway that was leading them towards the firefight in the hangar opposite of Zalis. She couldn't have planned a better outcome if she tried. She watched with a full blown smirk as the doors suddenly sealed behind and in front of the Empress. "Alright XP, now is the time for you to serve me faithfully to the end. Activate your contingency protocol and go through that door, and charge until the end." Zalis stood still for a moment, no longer looking at the screen, as she knew what would happen. The droid would appear, open fire until he was shot down. When his circuits finally shut off, he would explode as all of her XP droids were programed to do if they activated their contingency she installed in them. The droid's loud stomps of it's feet moving as it left the room, allowed for her a moment to pull her second blaster out of it's holster. Upon her doing so, the blaster fire she expected erupted in the hallway. She dared not move until she heard the clang of XP7 hitting the ground. And she would wait until the faithful boom. In her mind, she counted how long it would take the guards to drop the droid. Three, four, five, si- Then the clang went. It would take about three seconds for the explosion to happen. So she counted it down. Three... Two... One... BOOM. There it was. She then slowly walked out of the door and stared down Raven. Her eyes locked upon the wannabe Empress. It took her only a second before she decided to not waste her words. It was clear as day to Raven. Zalis had been in reports, she was the Queen of Vice, agent of death. She was here to take the Empress down. Zalis wasted no time, lifting both blasters and began to pour a steady stream of fire at the Empress. ((1))