Mos Eisley - Tatooine

[Malicious Intent]

Dehydrated, fatigued, and rather sun burnt, Atia rode into Mos Eisley on the back of a bantha, equally exhausted. The denizens watched as she strode through town, riding a bantha and carrying the weapons that mark a Tuskan. She asked where she could find someone who was willing to buy a bantha and was pointed to a merchant in the west part of the city. The man gave her a poor price, but she didn't have it in her to argue. With the credits she acquired she purchased a rather salty cup of water. She ordered a second, then a third, cutting herself off before she gorged herself.

 

Still sun burnt and tired, she probed the city for his familiar presence. It was difficult sifting through all the other people. A part of her thought about cutting down a few random people to make the task easier but she immediately dismissed the idiotic idea. Right now what she wanted the most was to sleep, to rest if even for a few minutes. But that wasn't possible. Not while he was still here.

 

She wandered her way to the cantina, the likeliest of places he would be if he was even here. She pulled her presence in the force in as tight as she could. She knew she'd still be know, but it would take him a moment longer to notice her. He was sitting at a booth along the side of the cantina. Not in the back, not in the front. A seemingly perfect spot for someone who was actually up to nothing. She walked over nonchalantly and sat down across from him, more annoyed than angry at him.

 

"Care to buy a lady a drink?"

[Bad karma]

Viktor glanced up at her dispassionately, chuckling at her appearance. She had definitely seen better days. He didn't even have to offer a seat before she took one, much to his concealed surprise. He had honestly expected her to show him a little more malice then what she was, but either way; he didn't care. He stayed quiet for a while, just eating the crisp food that he had ordered a while ago and occasionally looking up at her. Once the food was gone, though, he spoke up.

 

”œI'd buy a lady a drink, not a child. Did you enjoy your walk?”

[Malicious Intent]

Disappointed that she was left sober yet again, she sat back in the seat and gave a heavy sigh.

 

"Go to hell." There was more fatigue in the words than enmity. She ordered some food, realizing how hungry she was watching him. Catching the waiter by a loose part of his shirt, she changed the order to go. As soon as he was finished eating he wasn't going to wait around for her.

 

"What are the next orders? Assuming you've already comm'd Dominique about our, or probably your, success."

 

What she really wanted was her lightsaber back, but he either refused and another fight that she wouldn't win would break out, or he'd taunt her for a while. She decided to ask later, when she was back to herself and could challenge him should he resist.

[Bad karma]

Viktor continued eating, occasionally sipping at his drink as he eyed the young girl. In the dimly illuminated bar no one would really be able to tell that she wasn't human, sadly. He was curious if anyone in there would have made a point to call her out about her abnormalities. Chances were, no one would. At least not around these parts in a run down place such as the cantina they were in.

 

”œYou seem mildly upset. Have a drink.”

[Malicious Intent]

Atia eyed the drink setting in front of here. She had never even heard of an after burner, but she assumed from his smile it was far too potent for her. She could even smell it from her seat. A combination of a leaking power cell and ammonia. If she had tear ducts, they'd be leaking. Desperately wanting her lightsaber back, she lifted the glass for a chimed toast. Her shot glass clanged with his cup.

 

Shot glass suspended in mid air, she exhaled and tilted her head back as she brought the glass to her mouth. Her tongue fell back, catching the burning liquid before it fell down her throat. The muscles in her throat moved up, then back down as if she had swallowed the highly flammable substance. She brought her half full hip flask of water to her mouth and pretended to chase the shot. The flask fell back down, the backwash of water taking the liquor with it.

 

Making the face of taking a hard shot wasn't hard for her, as the burning taste was still in her mouth. She breathed in and out quickly, trying to get taste out of her mouth but to no avail. She cleared her throat and looked up at him.

 

"Drink up." She said in a slightly raspy voice. She licked her lips and shuddered, the taste still there.

[Bad karma]

Viktor watched her drink the shot, than chase it with whatever was in her hip flask. He was amused at how it had affected her. The man lifted his glass to his lips, pulling in some of the fluid as he motioned for the worker to bring over a few more of the shots.

 

”œGood to see you enjoyed it, now you can drink a few more.”

[Malicious Intent]

Atia cleared her throat. "Any more of those and I'm out. How about something less flammable, maybe with a good taste."

 

He wasn't going to give her anything else, and she seriously doubted he'd let it rest but the first drink would have leveled her. Her small size and lack of experience drinking made her a light weight. Three would probably send her comatose. Wishing to divert the discussion away from her probable incapacity, she ran her finger around the edge of her shot glass in posed boredom.

 

"So...what made you want to be an assassin?"

[Bad karma]

Viktor glanced up at her when she mentioned his selection of being an assassin for the Sith order. She wasn't very subtle, just out rating stating something like that in a place like this would have one of two effects. Either people would give you a wide berth, or they'd walk up to you like they had something to prove and start talking smack. In a place like this, on a back water planet like Tatooine it would be more likely that the second would occur.

 

”œNon-sense. You look just fine after your first, you can do the others”¦or are you too weak?”

[Malicious Intent]

"Warriors aren't stupid." she said, pissed at his insult and complete disregard of her question. He wasn't going to give her an inch. She had to take it.

 

"One of those would be enough to make just about anyone sick. If I'm the weak one, why don't you take two, I'll take the other. That'd be two each." She positioned a shot glass between her middle three fingers and pushed them closer to him. Close enough that he could now smell the liquor.

 

"Or are you so apt to put me to tests you yourself can't pass?" She instantly brought the sole shot glass in front of her to her mouth, pretending to swallow as before. This time, about half of the shot got past her tongue and slid down her throat, burning the whole way down. She went to wash out what was left, but the water tasted just as bad and left the burn in her mouth. Her face put forth a harsh grimace as she slammed the shot glass back on the table upside down.

[Bad karma]

A uncharacteristic laugh that attracted the attention of several of the bars patrons erupted from Viktor's moist lips as if Atia had just finished telling some great joke. In truth, she had told quite the joke whether she realized it or not. It was by far the most amusing thing he had heard out of her mouth since he had the displeasure of meeting the young wannabe Sith girl.

 

”œWarriors aren't stupid? Oh yeah, you just totally proved that statement false just by saying that! You've obviously got quite a bit to learn. If you want to know why I am not drinking and why I won't be drinking those”¦”

[Malicious Intent]

"Go frag yourself." A hasty flick of the wrist send the glasses against he wall, shattering them on impact, spreading the liquor over the wall and parts of the table. Patrons turned to examine the breaking glass, quickly returning their own conversations. She got up from the table and turned to leave.

 

"I'm not going to ordered around by you, and I'm not going to sit here and take threats." She headed for the exit, thoroughly pissed. If she stayed around much longer she'd try to fight him, which would bring in the patrons and possible other combatants she'd have to fight as well. Not a position she wanted to be in.

 

Warriors are not stupid, arrogant schutta.

[Bad karma]

Viktor licked his lips, spreading the exotic flavor of his juice over them as he watched her get up and move to leave the bar. She had carelessly tossed aside the drinks that he had so graciously supplied for her. She was ungrateful, arrogant, and deserving of being knocked down a step or two. He reached forward, picking up one of the empty, thick shot glasses and tossing it up twice to weigh it in his hand.

 

”œHey Atia!”

[Malicious Intent]

She turned to see what he wanted as the shot glass flew towards her. Her new sense tingled as she turned, perceiving the makeshift projectile at the last possible second. Tendrils of the force instinctively flew out and caught the shot glass in mid air, stopping a foot from her face. The shot glass revolved in air as the bar went silent. Aware of the silence she let the shot glass fall, shattering on the floor. The breaking glass seemed to echo through the room as the whole bar was now staring at her.

 

She noticed as a couple of patrons reached to draw their blasters from their holsters, keeping their movement slow and steady. She sighed and looked at Viktor.

 

"Nice" From her voice, she was clearly unamused. Her mind started to stretch out, looking for where the first shot would come from.

[Bad karma]

In a flash of motion, Viktor's lightsaber was ignited and turning a shot away from his body. It flew wide and shattered a glass of whiskey that was behind the bar on a shelf. Several more shots came his way, but rather then turn them away he dodged out of the way. He was in no mood to have his flesh cooked by a blaster.

 

He turned his attention to Atia just in time to see her duck, a blazing red bolt narrowly missing her as it shot across the bar and hit another patron. As she ducked, a trandoshan from the bar was up with stool in hand in a flash. He brought the stool down on her back, dropping her to the ground as it broke on her back. The stool itself wasn't sturdy enough to do any more damage then bruising, but the force behind it was still strong enough to make her kneel if only for a moment.

 

A flare of anger came from Viktor, akin to what an older brother would experience when someone was picking on his younger brother. His lip curled in a moment of jealous rage. He was the only one allowed to brutalize her! He was the only one allowed to insult her, put her down, and generally do anything bad to her! Not some over grown lizard!

 

He twisted around in a complete circle before extending his hand and slicing the head off of the reptile. His free hand grabbed her saber and tossed it to her”¦

[Malicious Intent]

Atia reeled from the blow for a moment, precious pain spreading through her back. She moved to attack the lizard when she noticed the thing was already dead, Viktor standing over it handing her back her lightsaber. For a moment, she thought she felt some sort of protective stance from Viktor. She dismissed the thought as another pang shot through her back, enjoying and hating it at the same time.

 

She stood, reflexively bringing the lightsaber around, lighting it up in time to deflect a blaster bolt. Her senses attuned to the battle, feeling the patrons ready themselves. She scowled and rolled her shoulders, releasing the tension build up from her "lunch" with Viktor. She leaped at the nearest patron, not taking the time to discern the difference between those shooting at her and those trying to just take cover. To her, they were all trying to kill her. To collect on some stupid bounty. Greedy little bastards. They all deserve death. The man had just pulled out his blaster, probably just to defend himself, when she met him. The lightsaber cut through the front three inches of his throat, leaving little more than his spine to hold his head up.

 

She felt the familiar prickle and turned to the bulk of the crowd. Two or three charged with what looked like crude stun sticks. She fought gravity for a moment and threw a table at the group. A couple more bolts flew her way and were redirected harmlessly to the wall. She desperately wished she could get the deflections right, but with a curved hilt it was harder to deflect projectiles.

[Bad karma]

Viktor lost sight of Atia, but allowed the force to keep him informed about her movements through the bar. He continued on his path of destruction, murdering indiscriminately. An innocent could just as quickly take up a weapon as someone who wanted them dead. It was no use granting anyone mercy if they'd just throw it back in your face. No one in the Galaxy knew how to take gifts and be content with them; they always had to go for more.

 

His eyes focused on a particular sound from five feet behind him; a pin being pulled and dropped to the ground. The man holding the fragmentation grenade tossed it towards him. Before he could react, he felt his muscles tense then go limp as he fell to the ground. A stun shot having hit him from behind .The grenade landed inches from his face.

[Malicious Intent]

Atia worked her way around the bar, slicing through patron after patron, feeding on the fear and pain emanating from her victims. She could feel every one of them, leaving her wanting more. The force constantly gave her aid to avoid blaster bolts or help her aim, delivering the most horrendous blows. She finished slicing through a rodian patron cringing under his table when she felt it. The pin being pulled, the grenade flying through air, and Viktor on the ground. Time slowed as she asked she thought for her next action.

 

I could move it, save him. Even kill a few more with the grenade. It wouldn't be hard.

 

The darker half of her spoke up. Ah, but why would you do that? You'd be saving a dangerous enemy. It'd save you a lot of trouble letting him die here. You could honestly tell Dominique it was no fault of yours. That, and saving him would avert your attention, if even just for a moment. It could mean your death.

 

She threw up a wall for the impending explosion and carried on her carnage, seeing the fear and desperation in the eyes of her next target as his hands shook holding a blaster. A bolt came her way, she strafed out of the way, bringing her lightsaber around to cut the man in half.

[Bad karma]

Being unconscious, there was nothing he could do to save himself. Atia had made her decision and it was obviously not in his favor at all. She was protected from the blast, as the force slowed the shrapnel as best it could. Viktor, on the other hand, was ripped to shreds in the ensuring explosion that also killed many of the patrons and took out the front door of the establishment

[Malicious Intent]

The sound of the explosion was bound to attract more attention than Atia could handle. She carved her way through the rest of the room, the patrons shaken by the explosion. With no one left to fight, her anger abated, now aware that she needed to get out. Stepping through the corpses, she came across Viktor. He was still clutching tightly on to his lightsaber. Tendrils of the force slithered out of her hand, easing his lifeless fingers off of the lightsaber and bringing it to her hand. The lightsaber was broken. Parts of the hilt scarred with shrapnel embedded. Black char marks made an outline of his hand. She didn't feel sorry. She didn't feel happy. She just felt as if it were okay.

 

The weak deserve their fate. She had to keep reminding herself. She closed the lids on his empty eyes, the spark of life no longer in the corpse. She clipped the lightsaber to her belt and left the bar. People were already outside, trying to figure out what was going on. She pushed through the crowd, making her way to the hanger. She jumped in his TIE fighter, no one opposing her taking a vehicle someone else come in on. She left the atmosphere and punched in the coordinates to Cardia. She sat back and meditated on what happened, asking herself why he had helped her.

[Ripper]

Night had fallen on this side of the planet, cold wrung over any body out in the open. Ripper knew that he needed to begin preperations for his next task. He landed the ship just outside of the Mos Eisley cantina.

 

Looking around, he saw that something violent had occured. We don't need any drama while we prepare for our next task. He walked back to his ship and set up to send a comm to Karnage. The message was short and sweet, and was accompanied by coordinates for a new meeting location.

--I should have preparation for this task done by time we meet up. Meet at these coordinates, and keep a low profile once you're there. Try not to be seen.--

 

With that Ripper closed the top of his ship and blasted southwards...

[Guest]

See Ca'tra Dar'manda's last post

 

"Raela Valarian," she murmured in introduction, offering a faint, pleasant smile. She looked around at her rowdy surroundings for a moment, her green eyes twinkling slightly. "In surroundings like these? Hardly." She chuckled a bit, however, sounding unafraid. "But I have dealt with quite a few rowdy upstatrs back home...fought off a few stray Tusken Raiders..." Though she was relatively inexperienced, she did not exhude an aire of fear or naivete about working in such a place.

[Moon Knight]

Moon Knight nodded and took the helm. "The coordinates are here," he confirmed, "but only in a coded form. I can't exactly tell which planet the Empire is centered on, but I can take us there." Of course, that will be enough for our purposes--we're just Imperial officers now....

 

For now, he'd do the flying and Vash would do the talking. He ably lifted the shuttle up off the ground, deploying its triangular wing formation, and headed for deep space.

 

A moment later, they were en route to Altyr 5 without knowing it.

[Terren Jethrow]

Terren collected his belongings and loaded them up on his ship, the Conflagration. After he was certain nothing was left behind, he booted up the systems and promptly took off, headed for deep space.

[Guest]

A new ship arrived and a young woman stepped off with nothing with her. No bags, nothing. She wore a black coat that seemed to have hidden items inside the pockets. She walked into the nearest bar and sat down at the counter and ordered a pretty hard drink for such a person as her.

 

Once the drink arrived she downed it in one gulp and ordered another. Out of the corner of her eye she scanned the people around her and around the room. She turned back to the bartender as they served another person. "Hey. I need to speak with you." she stated interrupting,but like she cared. She needed to get down to business.. Now..

[Avararda Dinn]

Wrong thread. Maaaaaaaaah bad.

[Terren Jethrow]

The Conflagration rocketed through the burning atmosphere of Tatooine, ultimately deciding on a landing spot near the cantina. Dust and sand was blown out from the ship's landing thrusters, creating a beautiful little picture.

 

The ship gently touched ground with it's landing struts and shortly after a boarding ramp was extended. An unarmored bounty hunter strutted down, clearly headed for the cantina.

 

Once inside, Terren immediately spotted his target: The young female sitting at the bar. He walked up behind her and gently laid his hand on her back and lowered his head near her ear.

 

"It's time we leave," he whispered.

[Guest]

Sydney hardly reacted when the man whispered in her ear. She set her alcoholic drink down on the counter and looked to the bartender.

 

"Next time answer me right away. Excuse me." She said in a huff and set down some money on the counter.

 

Her tall legs spun and she faced the person behind her. She didn't say a word and just let her eye's talk for her. She waited for his next move.

[Terren Jethrow]

He could only smile as Sydney gave the bartender some of her infamous attitude.

 

With only a slight nod of his head, Terren motioned for both of them to leave for his ship. He turned and walked out of the tavern, paying close attention to two things: Sydney, and the others paying close attention to Sydney.

[Guest]

Sydney didnt say a word as they left. She wondered what Terren had been up to since they last saw each other but now was not the time to ask and get into a conversation. She was a newcomer in this place and who knows what a newcomers welcome would behold.

 

She followed Terren out and to his ship. Her hands slipped into her coats pocket. Just in case she clutched her most prised possesion inside that pocket.

[Terren Jethrow]

After both people were on board, Terren closed his ship's boarding ramp and launched off for space.