Shortly before the events of "Spirit of Adoption"...
It was a dark and stormy night, like all evenings on Dromund Kaas. Rain pelted the windows of Tower Vandiir, droplets gathering together and running in rivulets down the glass. Artificial lighting kept the twilight at bay without giving the atmosphere of the interior so much as a vague sense of warmth.
The lift chimed as its doors opened in the lobby, a lone figure stepping out. Pale, ageless, and dressed to the nines, it was difficult to categorize who or what it was. The figure headed for the exit, only to stop when it heard someone say, “Doppelganger.”
It turned toward the waiting area. Reclining on a plush sofa was a woman, her long blonde hair suffused with the orangey glow of the datapad she clutched in her lap.
“Somebody call my name?” the Doppelganger purred, crossing the room.
“I need to talk to you,” the woman replied. “Do you have time?”
“Only a little. Better make it a short conversation.”
She leaned back. “My name is Thetis Suzerain. I want you to do me a favor.”
“What sort of favor?”
“Prospero is sending you to Lao-mon to take out a target and recover stolen data. There’s a Shi’ido who goes by the name Errik Nimdok headed there as we speak. I believe he’ll be going to the same location.” She clasped her hands. “My request is simple. While you’re there, kill two birds with one stone.”
The Doppelganger raised an eyebrow. “What’s in it for me?”
“Prospero wants Nimdok dead too. He’s just not a top-priority target. I imagine knowing that you got rid of two of his... problems in one trip would please him greatly.”
“Somehow I doubt Darth Prospero cares about your enemies.” The Doppelganger’s eyes narrowed, a cruel smirk tugging at the corners of his too-wide mouth. “I’m going to need more than that to convince me.”
She felt a faint buzzing in her mind as the Doppelganger read her thoughts. When she resisted the violation, the buzzing became more like the pounding of a jackhammer against her skull. Memories were yanked from the recesses of her mind to be fondled, all of them tainted by the shame of having fallen for such a simple trick.
The Doppelganger grinned ghoulishly. “You screwed up big time. Your master’s just about had it with you. If you can’t take care of this little mistake of yours soon—”
“We both have something in common,” she hissed between her teeth, retaliating against the intrusion by launching a mental probe of her own. “The difference is, I can control myself. An insect like you is only useful to your master as a blunt instrument. He's sending you to a backwater world on the edge of the galaxy because he thinks you're unworthy of anything better.”
The Doppelganger quickly retreated from her mind, building fortress walls around his own. “I may be a blunt instrument, but at least I get the job done.” It flexed a claw. “I don’t care about you, of course, but any opportunity to please my lord and indulge myself is one I can’t refuse. So thanks for the tip.”
Without so much as a by-your-leave, the Doppelganger strode out of the lobby and into the rainy night.
***
It was a dark and stormy night, like all evenings on Dromund Kaas. Rain pelted the windows of Tower Vandiir, droplets gathering together and running in rivulets down the glass. Artificial lighting kept the twilight at bay without giving the atmosphere of the interior so much as a vague sense of warmth.
The lift chimed as its doors opened in the lobby, a lone figure stepping out. Pale, ageless, and dressed to the nines, it was difficult to categorize who or what it was. The figure headed for the exit, only to stop when it heard someone say, “Doppelganger.”
It turned toward the waiting area. Reclining on a plush sofa was a woman, her long blonde hair suffused with the orangey glow of the datapad she clutched in her lap.
“Somebody call my name?” the Doppelganger purred, crossing the room.
“I need to talk to you,” the woman replied. “Do you have time?”
“Only a little. Better make it a short conversation.”
She leaned back. “My name is Thetis Suzerain. I want you to do me a favor.”
“What sort of favor?”
“Prospero is sending you to Lao-mon to take out a target and recover stolen data. There’s a Shi’ido who goes by the name Errik Nimdok headed there as we speak. I believe he’ll be going to the same location.” She clasped her hands. “My request is simple. While you’re there, kill two birds with one stone.”
The Doppelganger raised an eyebrow. “What’s in it for me?”
“Prospero wants Nimdok dead too. He’s just not a top-priority target. I imagine knowing that you got rid of two of his... problems in one trip would please him greatly.”
“Somehow I doubt Darth Prospero cares about your enemies.” The Doppelganger’s eyes narrowed, a cruel smirk tugging at the corners of his too-wide mouth. “I’m going to need more than that to convince me.”
She felt a faint buzzing in her mind as the Doppelganger read her thoughts. When she resisted the violation, the buzzing became more like the pounding of a jackhammer against her skull. Memories were yanked from the recesses of her mind to be fondled, all of them tainted by the shame of having fallen for such a simple trick.
The Doppelganger grinned ghoulishly. “You screwed up big time. Your master’s just about had it with you. If you can’t take care of this little mistake of yours soon—”
“We both have something in common,” she hissed between her teeth, retaliating against the intrusion by launching a mental probe of her own. “The difference is, I can control myself. An insect like you is only useful to your master as a blunt instrument. He's sending you to a backwater world on the edge of the galaxy because he thinks you're unworthy of anything better.”
The Doppelganger quickly retreated from her mind, building fortress walls around his own. “I may be a blunt instrument, but at least I get the job done.” It flexed a claw. “I don’t care about you, of course, but any opportunity to please my lord and indulge myself is one I can’t refuse. So thanks for the tip.”
Without so much as a by-your-leave, the Doppelganger strode out of the lobby and into the rainy night.
