A Thief's End

[Darth Abyss]

Nar Shaddaa, Bar above the Slums.

It had been unlikely that there would've been another auction hosted by Darth Abyss, considering that his last had ended with a droid invasion and a wrecked space station, followed by a whole lot of lost time and credits. Yet money needed to flow despite the happenings of the past, and there were few ventures so lucrative as the sale of ancient, rare and sometimes even powerful relics.

The city lights barley reached down to the bar the Sith Lord, within the underworld known only as the Prophet, had chosen for today's business. Tables and chairs had been removed to make room for multiple showcases, each of the filled with a collection of trinkets taken from Abyss personal collection. While most of those were simply guarded by an electronic and mechanical lock, one was different. Outfitted with an high voltage energy cell, the case would release a deadly blast of electricity for anyone trying to touch it that wasn't the Prophet himself.

"I mean no disrespect Prophet, but some of my customers intend to use the objects I sell them. For a price like this a demonstration should be the least of things."

It was easy to tell that the thin man in his slightly oversized suit was scared of the monstrosity that stood besides him. The Prophet already had a reputation, but his appearance alone would've been enough to create one. A hollow suit of armor, rusted and deformed metal shrouded in black, with an unmoving face that always showed a grin of deranged mockery. Wordlessly the creature reached into the showcase to show the Amulet of Decay to the interested merchant. Moments later two slaves were brought into the room, and the Mindeater began his demonstration.

Using Famine's Taint, a symbol so rare and powerful that Abyss would never offer it at any auction no matter the price, he showed the effects of the amulet by cutting into the skin of the two slaves, once without any preparation, and afterwards with the effect of amulet aimed at the dagger. The merchant showed a hint of satisfaction when the second slave showed no sign of damage besides the cut itself, other than the first one that had grown pale and sickly after the dagger touched his blood.

"Impressive. I have to make a few calls to see if any of my regulars has such an amount of money to spare on short notice."

As the merchant made his way, Abyss returned the amulet back into the save storage of the showcase and made of to meet the other possible buyers that had gathered. The dagger on the other hand simply rested on top of it, waiting for the cold metal hands of the Mindeater to reclaim it.

[member="Myles Velum"]

 

[Myles Velum]

"Devin?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, let's get going."

Of course, his name wasn't really Devin. But why would Myles tell that to some two-bit thief that he was just going to use as bait anyway? That way, if he got ratted out, Devin would be the one taking the blame. The two of them had planned things beforehand, communicating through other means before actually meeting face-to-face. They both knew their job, and they both knew what to do. Of course Myl- Devin was the only one who really knew what was going on.

The two of them entered the bar, at separate times. First it was "Calvin", the professional idiot hired by Devin. Obviously, Calvin wasn't even his real name. So Devin felt justified lying about his as well. He entered a short moment after, being greeted by the somewhat dimly lit atmosphere of the auction. Yes, the auction- that was why there were here today. It was an auction being held by a powerful crimelord. Of course, Devin knew of him as the 'Prophet'. The Prophet was rumored to be some sort of Sith lord, but something like that wasn't too uncommon in the criminal underground.

Normally, stealing a valuable artifact from the Prophet himself was a stupid move. Hell, stealing any artifact from anybody was still incredibly stupid. But in this case, Devin had a cover- someone to take the fall for him. Even with careful planning, however, there wasn't any idea of what exactly to steal. They had entered the auction blind, without any information on what was actually there. Then, he saw it.

An ancient-looking, oddly shaped dagger sat unattended by its lonesome. It didn't appear to be on display, so they must have either forgotten it or were in the middle of moving it someplace else. Either way, he had to act fast. He reached up to his left ear, pressing a button on his earpiece.

"Now."

Suddenly, an extravagant commotion erupted toward the center of the room. Calvin had snatched one of the items on display. As he made a run for it, Devin swiftly took the dagger in hand and stuffed it in his inner coat pocket while nobody was looking. Now, all that was left was to... to...

In an instant, Devin felt a wave of nausea hit him as he started to walk away. It was difficult, but he managed to hold back his lunch. Then, he felt a strong fatigue. Beads of sweat began to form under his hairline as each step he took became more laboured. His chest began to heave as his breathes wheezed. While Calvin was busy being chased after (and would likely get caught anytime soon), Devin remained unnoticed yet feeling drained. Was it the dagger? Perhaps so... But he'd rather try to live with its effects than get caught, so he regained his composure and trenched onward toward the exit.

[member="Darth Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

The thief barley made it a few steps away from the showcase before his rush came to a stop. At first his feet only slowed down a little, then he began to scream in fear and pain, dropping to his knees and waving his hand around, his mind forced to believe that hundreds, of dark, twisted tendrils had rise from the ground to consume him. His prize, a few rings and amulets not even truly worth Abyss precious time, followed suit, littering the floor around the broken man.

Right behind the caught thief stood Darth Abyss, the metal husk shrouded in an aura that send shivers down the spines of all those around. His left claw was lifted, lazily pointing at the thug, while his defromed lags carried him towards the thief without a single sound. If it weren't for the massive suit of armor that made up his body, the Prophet could have been nothning more than ghost or specter haunting those around him.

"Some would call it bold to rob me, other would call it foolish. I would call it a distraction."

The sith lord was certainly surprised that someone so willingly risked his life to steal from him in such an open fashion, but he was no idiot. Whatever the plan had been, no one that survived a single day on a lower level of Nar Shaddaa could be stupid enough to believe that this had any chance of success. It was clear to him that there was something more to this, he only had to ask what exactly.

"If you enjoy being alive, I would advise you to answer my questions. Else..."

The words sounded as hollow as his body, a distorted echo that seemed to not really be there at all. As he allowed his voice to fade, leaving enough room for the thug to imagine his fate should his lips remain sealed. At the same time he stretched out his right hand, trying to pull his dagger into it.

When the blue steel didn't meet his talons moments later, the figure simply stood motionless for a second, his mind trying to cope with the rare feeling of disbelieve. Then it clicked, and the echo grew into a violent storm that was unleashed into the room, causing more than a few of the merchants to tremble in supernatural fear.

"Where is it?"

[member="Myles Velum"]

 

[Myles Velum]

"NO! AaAAAaAaaAahhHh!!!"

The thief fell to his knees, clenching the sides of his head in agony. The crowd suddenly quieted, surrounding the man as his horrific screams echoed throughout the room. His mind was filled with terror, being consumed with darkness; dominated. He couldn't even hear the Sith lord speaking to him as he collapsed onto the ground, quivering as his own fright rang in his ears.

Meanwhile, Devin positioned himself near the exit. He kept to the rear of the crowd and tried his best to blend in. It would be suspicious if he had just left during all the commotion, especially since the Prophet had mentioned 'distractions'. He coughed quietly to the side and wiped the sweat from his brow as he watched the situation unfold.

"P- Please!! No... G- Get away from me!!!"

The victim squirmed on the ground with the stolen jewelry littered around his body. A crooked hand stretched slightly to reach for the blaster holstered at his side, but to no avail. The Prophet reached out his hand expectantly, but after a minute was met with nothingness. A slight shiver trembled down Devin's spine. He knew what was about to come. Suddenly, the Sith's voice seemingly shook the room.

Uh oh. Devin tried to keep his cool- blending in with the crowd and acting as if he had nothing to do with anything. He couldn't just leave now, because it be obvious that he was guilty of, well, something. He had to think fast. Perhaps he could quickly stash the knife in someone else's pocket, or just hold on for a little bit longer. Making a run for it was the stupid option, but it was still an option in case he had nowhere to turn. Devin decided to bide his time just a little bit longer...

[member="Darth Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

Now the sounds of the husk left a sound behind, as anger amplified the power put in every of them. Each time the deformed feet meet the ground a loud, clinging noise shook the room, until the husk reached the broken remains of the thief. His right claw that had tried to call the dagger wrapped around the man's throat, lifting the worthless little insect into the air with ease. Moving his head every so slightly, the sith lord brought his deranged grin right in front of the thief's face, his jaw unmoving as he spoke once more.

"If your mouth is unwilling to speak, then your mind will have to do."

While Abyss own men remained quite and calm, knowing full well what was about to come, many of the merchants turned away from the scene. They all had heard the rumors of the wicked powers he commanded, and that many of his enemies referred to him not as the Prophet but as the Mindeater. In most cases their curiosity couldn't beat the feeling of fear that grew within them, as the mind of the hollow entity opened like an all consuming void, threatening to devour anything in its path.

The eyes of the thief rolled upwards until there was only white left to see, and his body trembled and spasmed as his mind was forcefully ripped out of his head. In a hurry Abyss began to sort through the uninteresting bits of the man's life, every passing moment bringing him closer to the last few weeks. All he had to do was to find a memory that held the faces of the man's allies within it.

Despite the fact that there was still a pumping heart the body of the thief still seemed lifeless when the Prophet dropped it to the ground. No muscle twitched, and the eyes remained open but unmoved, not even blinking as the dirt and dust from the ground reached them. Inside the worthless memories of another devoured nobody he had found a face and a name, but he was still searching for it within the equally meaningless visages of the gathered merchants.

"Would a certain Devin have the courtesy to step forward. Otherwise I would have to kill all of you, and I really had not planned to make such a mess today."

[member="Myles Velum"]