Private A Hunt for Strange and Unnatural Things

[Lirka Ka]

The strife of the Sith had subsided, while their senseless conflicts were like a great feast for the Dark to gorge itself on; they had proven a potent distraction to Lirka’s goals. And now, in this time of relative peace she could begin to dig her foul claws into the Empire and drag out what she needed.

For the beast was hunting, searching, in the back of her mind visions of a dark, cruel, place, clawed at her. Pushing her forward, a place so alien that its existence is anathema to all things. The readings she could find, so few and far between, called it Otherspace. The knowledge had started to gnaw away at her mind, and her search for the opening to this dark place had become her one prerogative.

Not like the Sith needed to know that, nay, that they could ever know it: not yet.

All she wished was to walk in the shadows for now, her motives masked in layers upon layers of falsehoods. And these schemes now took her to beseech a Sithling for aid, one Aliris Tremiru who seemed to style herself a fledgling archeologist of sorts. A child. Lirka may not have been Sith, and while the Kainate may have been the hated foe not long ago, her name still had some semblance of clout behind it. And now, waiting in a drab office of bare durasteel aboard her dungeon ship hovering above Jutrand she called for an audience with this Acolyte.

Time to see just how much this curiosity for relics went.

 

[Aliris Tremiru]

She didn't know many people in the Sith. Just rumors from here time with the Ashlans, and the few she'd actually met in person. Names, titles, she was curious about them. To be called by another was a curious thing to happen to the young Sith, so Aliris did her research. It didn't turn up much, but this Lirka wasn't someone to take lightly. She arrived in the typical Sith attire of old, dagger on her hip. Eyes forward, head high.

"You.. Called for me?"

Lirka Ka

 

[Lirka Ka]

Lirka sat as a silent sentinel, a beastly thing of humming servos and glistening durasteel. For a time as Aliris Tremiru entered she did not move. Though eventually seemed to slowly come to life, each move she made deliberate and precise.

“I did, Sithling.”

Lirka rose from her seat, deeming it more pertinent to stand: she towered high, freakishly huge.

“I apologize for the lack of decor, I do not usually take in…willing…visitors.”

 

[Aliris Tremiru]

To her credit, the young Sith didn't flinch as the figure rose. Aliris stared, blinked, even had the briefest bit of fear in her eyes before her expression stilled. Willing visitors, huh? She cleared her throat, glancing around the room as she did so. Taking note of exits. Others.

Threats.

"And.. What is it you need from me?"

Lirka Ka

 

[Lirka Ka]

“Straight to the point. An admirable trait.”

Lirka clasped her clawed gauntlets behind her back, beginning to pace: the glowing lenses of her helmet never once leaving Aliris Tremiru . Stalking like a predator before prey.

“I am to understand you are an enjoyer of artifacts, young Tremiru?”

She took her time, as she always did. A prodding deck of cards meant to understand just what to say, Lirka always sought to stay a step ahead. Even in conversation as “innocent” as this.

 

[Aliris Tremiru]

"Life is short. Even as young as I am, I get that."

She again cleared her throat, stiffened her stance a little. She did her best to look like she wasn't ready to run, but she certainly was ready to. What little she did find out about this Lirka certainly didn't leave her feeling safe.

"Not so much an enjoyer as a hunter. There are certain ones I need."

Lirka Ka

 

[Lirka Ka]

Life is short. When Lirka was younger she had wished for such a thing, humans and their pitiful little lives, already she had lived nearly 2 of their lifetimes.

“And yet, for some of us life is so painfully long. I can admire you being realistic about the shortcomings of your species though.”

Lirka studied Aliris Tremiru and her squirming. It was an amusing thing, Lirka relished the opportunity to leverage her intimidation.

“A hunter and an enjoyer are so often the same thing. I am not in a dissimilar place, Sithling. That is why I have summoned you to this place.”

And now the time neared to finally reveal her hand.

 

[Aliris Tremiru]

"An enjoyer does it for fun. A hunter does it because they must. They are not the same, but someone can be both."

Her fists tightened a little. She frowned. It was plenty obvious she wasn't comfortable here, but she wouldn't be told what she was.

"Explain more, or I'll leave though. You keep dancing around it."

Lirka Ka

 

[Lirka Ka]

“The life of a hunter who does not enjoy their craft is a miserable one.”

She spoke from experience, vestiges of an older, long dead, Lirka: one troubled by such trivial things as morality.

“I will assume you are unfamiliar with the Charon. And that you are untainted by the foolish devotions that plague old relics like me.”

If it was some attempt at the joke, it came out as dry as ever from her helmet distortion.

“The Charon are an all but extinct race that specialized in Biomechanical creation, they are outworlders from beyond the Galaxy. The initial arrivals were a peaceful group of scientists, though records indicated marauding elements followed suit: unfortunately little exists beyond that, that is not just conjecture. These marauding elements were destructive to the extreme and possessed potent tools of destruction, so say the meager handful of accounts I could recover.”

Lirka turned to face Aliris Tremiru now, glowing lenses boring down at the girl’s eyes.

“So I have come to beseech, o’ hunter of artifacts. To find a remnant of these people all but lost to the annals of galactic history, the scraps of what they created. I too need to hunt, for the Charon will be the path to great power for this fledgling Empire. Secrets of biomechanics unlocked in ways we could only have dreamed of…”

Noticing herself beginning to trail off, Lirka quickly snapped back into business. Obviously, she kept her true plans close to her chest for now.

“Of course, I am no Sith Lord, nay, Sith at all. I can not command you to be my little errand girl like some would. I offer to you an exchange instead, you represent valuable skills to my hunt. And I will offer you my assistance in yours, while I may not be Sith the Once-Emperor-Carnifex has given me a long leash, and I possess a great many Kainate assets at my beck and call.”

She spread her arms, beckoning to the ship around them.

“Far beyond a meager dungeon ship and it’s inhabitants.”

And there was the gambit, Lirka didn’t have the chance to gleam just how desperate the girl was in her hunt. But sometimes she just had to take the gamble in the end.