Ballgames and Bloodsuckers

[Vera Mina]

Gerul woke in a warehouse, blank and dusty, the windows covered in dirt and mildew, but intact. He had been treated. Healed. Revenge instantly came to mind, even though it was exactly what that serpent had wanted. As it promised, his things were waiting for him. His armor was on display in a transparent display case, traditional in design, but colored black mostly, with white gauntlets and boots however, and a large skull motif painted across the chest. (Penny and Dime: 90 XP)

Gerul ripped out the I.V. and lept from the bed when he saw the photo of Vera Mina and [member="Karlie Lynn Destat"] together in the park attached to the case itself. He bore nothing against either of them, but they were his route to the beast that had created the monster he had slain on Eshan.

(Gratuitous Suit-Up montage ensues)

Gerul was loaded for killing wookies by the time he had finished putting on his strange armor. He bore his Mandalorian Assault Carbine, with an undermount grenade launcher, two mandalorian slugthrowers, various mini rockets, a flamethrower gauntlet, and a box cutting knife (because even Gerul was not a man without whimsy.)

His jetpack had enough fuel for fifty minutes flight, and whoever that serpent was, it had given him a map and basic supplies, spare ammo, and a more than adequate base of operations...

Gerul picked up the datapad containing their information, including Karlie's last known location. There was an update from a live holonet connection. She had been in a vehicular accident, but had survived, seemingly uninjured.

Now was the best chance to acquire her, while everybody's guard was down.

Gerul looked at the coordinates, he could make it in fifteen minutes if he hurried.

Gerul wasn't stupid. He knew he was being used and did not like it. He would have his revenge on Nine for Site 40, but he would figure out just what That Serpent wanted from her also in the process.

Gerul made final checks on his equipment and then, with a blood oath, exited the old warehouse in the textile district and activated his jetpack, taking off into the sky...

Nine Lives would bleed for what she had done.

Meanwhile...


Vera looked at Karlie's skeleton with X-Rays. Two broken ribs. Nothing punctured. Karlie, being a doctor, knew what to check for. Vera could not quite access her programming on medical treatment, but her torture database was still active and she was familiar with breaking those bones.

Vera did not smile, trying to look worried so Karlie would not catch on just how much Vera had enjoyed Karlie making disasters.

"Whatever happened?" Vera asked gently, onowing full well what Karlie had done. She wanted to hear her lies. Her sweet sweet lies that she would say to keep her, not realizing the homicidal android was just that: a homicidal android. One who enjoyed chaos. Spontaneity. Both of which Karlie was.

The woman was a walking miasma of it. Riots, reprogramming viruses, vehicle crashes, spilling brandy on her carpet, snuggling with her in a catsuit. And now she was in her arms yet again, needing her, telling her she should let her hair go untamed like that more often. Vera could only smile.

"Hmmm untamed hair is your vice eh?" Vera asked, trying to distract her from the pain as her torture database advised. "You should see me when I really let my hair down...you'd like it, I think..." Vera teased.

(Epic cutaway of Vera as Rom-Jin butchering Mandalorians at Eshan during the Site 40 Massacre.)

Vera's breath caught in her throat as Karlie felt Vera's exposed 'skin' for bruises.

"Oh, Karlie...you work me into such a state over you..." Vera spoke softly, processors overclocking as they imagined kissing her. It would have been the perfect moment for a first kiss too. But alas, the damnable block her mother, Darth Rigor had put in.

An ambulance wailed in the distance along with the whines of Police Speeders. Vera knew they had to get their story straight quickly.

"Karlie, the authorities will be here soon. We need to decide what we are going to tell them. The other drivers are alive but I am not sure what happened on my end. Can you tell me? Did you see what made your driver careen out of--"

Vera stopped, her enhanced bio-audio sensors picking up the whine of a military grade jetpack out of all the other sounds of the city, at a range no normal human could hear.

"--control..." Vera finished absently, her strategy databases sending out all kinds of red flags. Vera flinched as she heard the whine of a mini-rocket fired at the ambulance just as it arrived, killing both medical personnel aboard, and a second rocket took out the police speeder just behind it. Vera flinched as she felt the intense heat from the blasts, even here, but it was still low enough not to set her on fire.

Vera slowly picked Karlie up and backed away as the Mandalorian in black and white armor hovered over them a moment and landed, leveling a carbine at them.

"Lemme guess...someone was really pissed at how good I am as a lawyer." Vera theorized.

The Mandalorian shrugged. "Maybe..." he grunted in his black helmet, visor reflecting Karlie and Vera's figures in the flames around them.

"But whoever said I wanted you?" (Unnecessary yet creatively worked in X-Men 1 reference: 4 XP.)

Vera's intrigued stare turned into an open death glare at the Mandalorian when she realized he meant Karlie.

"What the hell do you want with her?" Vera demanded, still holding Karlie in her arms without effort.

"I don't want her. I want what hurting her will give me. What I want is very simple. The access codes to Castle Morpheus. Maybe if you just hand them over..."

"Drop dead." Vera snapped at him.

"What are you gonna fight me with? Lacy undergarments?" The Mandalorian mocked, pointing to Vera's lack of dress due to it tearing earlier.

"No. Me..." came a simple reply from behind.

The Mandalorian barely had time to turn as a beautiful, athletic woman with bronze skin in a yellow and black combat leotard wirh thigh high yellow boots rushed out of the flames of the vehicle wreck. He blasted her, and she dropped dead, leaking glowing red blood.

He turned back to them. "So, anyway--"

The woman he had just ripped open the torso of with blaster fire tackled him from behind, punching him as hard as she could, screaming at Vera to run. Vera, not knowing who the hell either of them were, took her up on the advice, carrying Karlie as she began to sprint away, her new sister buying them both as much time as she could...

 

[Karlie Lynn Destat]

'......you ladies, Ok?

...we should get some ambulatory response soon, from the emergency auto crash signal....

No.

No, whatever was currently buzzing about, like one of the drivers around them, Karlie weren't attuned to it. Hell, she could have been in a similar ditch on a war torn system, with blaster fire and percussion grenades going off around them, and she wouldn't have missed a moment of looking into those black tar pitched orbs that had drawn her in like a sink hole in space...er, black hole rather.
Black?!
Karlie had to blink hard as she had thought they were blue...or had been blue... right?
Suddenly when she opened her eyes again, they were... still.
"Teh he... ou..." Yea, easy there with the chuckle....broken ribs, remember?

"Oh yea?..." she replied.
"I really never seen you with your hair like that..." Oh wow..the woman couldn't have looked more dazzling than Karlie could have imagined in her waking dreams. It made the woman seem....more approachable...more within reach. Oh sure, Vera was stunning in anything she wore. But at this moment with torn dress, tousled hair-
Was that what she would wake up to, if there were truly a God in heaven and she had Vera?

"It's...pant..pant....a good look for you."
And no, the blonde hadn't been at all concerned what the local authorities would think caused the accident...it were why it was called an accident. She hadn't meant for them to crash, just ...OK, crash. But to get both vehicles to stop. It hadn't been to cause an accident, no.
Anywho, she were reaching over, feeling for any injuries on her Vera...mostly where the woman's clothes had given out. Yea, seemed they both tumbled about pretty good in those rolls... But no, last thing on her mind was her concern about the authorities.

wee woo....wee woo....

Nope..she were too high having Vera leaning over her to even hear the sirens, nor the driver who were informing them..... hang on ladies... help has arrived.

Hell they could have been playing...wrestling...rolling one over the other in the grass...it were that out of breath exhausted look about Vera that were the true catalyst in Karlie's heart beat.
Then again, she were still on that wonderful stimuli (adrenaline) that were coursing through her veins. her elevated heart beat, shallow breaths. Oh what a feeling it were, especially since adrenaline took to compound her arousal, despite her injuries. Which of course is one side affect of producing adrenaline...less pain, more euphoria.
Damn, if she could avoid breaking ribs or anything else like her arm/leg to get this rush more often, she'd be an addict by now.

"Huh huh..." She took to replying on cue as to whatever Vera was instructing her about. But Karlie weren't really comprehending her meaning, just Vera's soft and gentle words...like a mother's lullaby. Oh nothing could spoil this minute.

Zwish---sh->--sh>----sh>----sh>------sh>---------------SH---->KABOOM!!!

"Gasp!" Ok, yea that she heard.

Her peripheral caught the fireball before she fully turned her head to look. The percussion shock shook her up a bit, but both she and Vera were outside the envelope to be anything more than a loud boom.
Unfortunately...
Sigh, both their drivers unfortunately were a bit too close to ground zero.

Instinctively Karlie reached over to wrap her arm around Vera who were picking her up. It was then that Karlie realized what exploded were not one of their two limos.
It were a police speeder, as she could well read the words POLICE even when they were upside down, as the hunk of twisted burning durasteel frame came crashing down on the median a second later.

She didn't know what to make of it, other than she knew that no way THAT (the exploding police speeder) could have been her fault!

It didn't take but a crackle and a few pops emitting from the burning police vehicle till out of the blue...literally OUT of the blue, for it were after all a sunny clear day; that the Mando set down his boots before them. Even the smoke from the police speeder were trailing away to their right and behind the Mando, giving the scene quite a dramatic look from their vantage point.

Karlie of course was still trying to reboot from the police car that had been blown over from 25 meters away, to take this guy seriously. Obviously she hadn't put Mando, missile and Boom Boom together yet. One could surmise perhaps that it were the possible result of shock, for the girl were just in a speeder accident. Although the flaming police vehicle were kinda difficult to justify at the moment. Coincidence maybe... were Karlie's first guess.
But no.
It weren't because she were blonde that she didn't quickly get the jiff of what was taking place, no. She was after all in her Vera's arms and in semi shock, unknowingly. But after a few short exchange of dialogue between Vera and the Mando, it suddenly hit her.

"Huh? Who, m...me?" She were about to mumble, thinking... 'Oh shiet..what have I gone and done now?!' (Gary Oldman in the Professional)...when the Mando, obviously a bounty hunter (like, what Mando wasn't when he weren't on Mandalore...right?) wanted her and not Vera at all.
Not needing to ask as to why, for he soon revealed as to why. Karlie were about to inform him that she were already hurting!.. Couldn't he see that?
Of course her heroine Vera, who was still holding Karlie firmly in her arms weren't going to have it. Or rather, wasn't going to let a Mando have Karlie. It were at this time that the blonde snuggled tighter to her Vera, despite her broken ribs. Nah nah, she weren't going with him, no way.

But apparently Karlie were lagging a bit behind on the script, for she never got a chance to tell the Mando that she was already in pain; when out of the smoking police cruiser, a woman jumped into the scene.
A police woman? Why of Course! What else could she be, coming out of a wrecked twisted pile of durasteel engulfed in flames?...and she had survived the explosion no less!
Yay for the police!
Finally for once they showed up just in the nick of time.

Wrong.

Speechless.
Karlie's only reaction was a dumbfound drop jaw.
Well it happened so fast!
Karlie didn't even get out an 'Eek' nor a 'Gasp' before that woman got cut short her jump with a blaster bolt to her chest The freakin Mando shot the cop!!

Well, now what?
Damn it though; if she were to die, she were at least going to die in her Vera's arms. But the thing was, Karlie didn't want to die...she were not a big fan of dying really.

Before she knew it, Karlie found herself being whisked through brush and thickets. Vera was running, carrying her through the underbrush of the forest...deeper and deeper, darker and darker into the deep woods they were going. At first, it were godsend. They had escaped the Mando, and with their lives no less. No no... Vera had saved Her life again. Oh how Karlie held on fast the minute she realized they were escaping that crazed Mando through the woods.
And they were DEEP in the woods in no time, weaving left, left, right, left...

But Vera was also running very fast, too fast still, and Karlie were in pain...LOTS of pain by now. Her ribs. Karlie tried bearing the bouncing, the jumping, and the weaving as best and as long as she could, but the blonde and pain just never had a good understanding...ever.
GOD she couldn't stand the pain any longer...not the way Vera was running and holding her so tight...


"Gah!.... V... Vera... ack!..." She started to cry out.

"Vera....stop!" Karlie couldn't pain.
"Please..."Her adrenaline were spent and she had used up her allotment of endorphins her body could produce. She were in pain now...real hurting pain.

"Stop...stop...stop..." She were screaming out before finding herself immersed in and surrounded by crunchy leaves. They had dropped down somewhere on the forest floor.
Karlie were out of breath, panting and dealing with her midrif...her ribs. "GOD it hurt so b-" she were about to continue on, before Vera's hand pressed on her lips.
It took but a moment before Karlie, with tears running down her checks, to "m m" nod her head. She knew what Vera was doing...hiding them...camouflaging, covering both with the leaves.

"Pant pant..... I... I'm sorry.
I just can't go any farther...not until I can catch some wind. " She whispered, as quiet as she could, not at anyone time realizing her Vera wasn's so much as sweating, never mind not being out of breath.

Karlie were feeling that Vera would have likely carried her off all the way to Castagne if she could. She knew that now.
And she knew too that the only reason they were hiding at the moment were because of her...she weren't as strong a woman as Vera...not hurt as she were. Vera was risking herself by allowing Karlie to catch her breath...hidden.
The sounds of soft rustling leaves Vera was sweeping over them evoked memories of the gentle sea washing over her and her mom when Karlie were a little girl.

She did her best in bearing the pain in silence as a veil of multi color hues, almost like stain glass in cathedrals started to block out the daylight.
It were Ok... Vera was still holding her as she were holding on to Vera.
In no time, there were both completely under the leaves and in total darkness.
Karlie never felt so safe.

 

[Vera Mina]

It wasn't long, fighting the woman with seemingly impossible speed and reflexes, his armor the only thing keeping him from being ripped to shreds that Gerul realized with growing horror he was fighting another biot.

Nothing he had was working. He had emptied the carbine into her and had barely hit anything with how fast she moved. With what what he did hit, only seemed to stagger her momentarily before she continued attacking.

He had tried stabbing it, but this did not seem to do anything but slow it down, She just kept fighting and then he had resorted to the flamethrower. The woman did not outright burn but let out an earpiercing shriek that was metallic and chilled him to the bone, fleeing the inferno of the wreckage he had left behind. A cop and two emts. Death by Lethal Injection if he was caught. He had been so obsessed with revenge he didn't care if Non-Mandalorians got hurt. This would cost him. Dearly. But not yet.

He checked himself, reloading his carbine. Scratches from the swords her arms had turned into during the fight were everywhere. But she had held him off long enough to allow [member="Karlie Lynn Destat"] and Vera to escape. He began to try and faintly follow the blood trail left behind with his helmet's vision functions. He moved quickly as he could down the streets, hearing the alarms on police speeders getting closer.

It was as if some form of molasses poured on to him as he passed under a pipe in an alley as he ran. He stopped, checking to see if it was sewage but it wasn't...

It was tissue. Biot muscle tissue, and it smothered him. He was struggling, forced to use a knuckle mounted vibrodagger to cut his way free, drenching himself in glowing red blood as he burst from the mass of translucent flesh whose organs he could see as he struggled, flattened and squirming inbetween membranes that flexed over his armor. He screamed as he saw an eye form to stare at him as he cut.

Thoroughly (and justifiably) freaked the hell out, he scrambled away, screaming bloody murder at what he had just experienced, still covered in bright, ruby red blood. He didn't even bother shooting it. He hit it with the cryo spray and the mass of tissue, ever moving, ever shifting, shrieked in pain flowing into a gutter. He then continued looking for Vera and Karlie.

Meanwhile...

Stopping had turned out to be necessary. More necessary than Karlie knew. Vera's X-ray scans indicated running any further put Karlie at risk of internal bleeding, and they did not want that, happening out here. Camouflage and hope the Mando's scanners would not pick them up was their only option. Vera was nearly naked, dirty, and thoroughly unarmed.

On the other hand...free snuggles!

Vera held Karlie in her arms under the leaves, smiling a little. (Not TOO much however...Vera tried to give the impression of a strained smile, so Karlie would think she was, deep down, sincerely afraid. She was not.)

"This is certainly an interesting way to spend time together..." Vera joked, her fingers gliding over one of Karlie's cheekbones. Her databases and evolving mind meant Karlie's beauty had taken a special quality for Vera. She was trying to memorize every line on that youthful face. She could tell Karlie felt safe. Well, as safe as a hunted woman hiding under leaves could be.

"He could still find us, just so you know. This under-the-leaves tactic works, but not always..." Vera told her. "I don't know what he wants with you, but he's not getting you without a battle. I won't let him..."

Vera meant it. If necessary she would hard-boot into her Command Form (Karlie's "Blueberry") and battle him with what little she could bring. She hoped it would not come to that. But she waa prepared to compromise her civilian identity with Destat to save Destat.

"Karlie...if we live through this...I want you to know...you are incredible. I have never felt that way about anyone. So I look at us being trapped under these leaves as a small gift, because I'm trapped under them with you."

Vera yearned to kiss her, and hated her mother Rigor. Darth Rigor, Lady of Buzzkills.

When or if she ever got her hands on Rigor, she would wring that Sith's neck until she got the secret of how to undo the mental block in Karlie. Then would come the task of actually arranging a date with her...

The roar of a jetpack alerted Vera, who held a finger to her own lips as she heard the Mandalorian land. He strolled around, pointing his carbine at anything that was suspicious looking. But Vera's camouflage job was holding. For now. But he was getting closer. Ever closer.

Dangerously close. She heard his boots breaking twigs as he got closer.

Something that was slick and mollases-like slithered quietly under Vera's bare feet. It moved very slowly, not disturbing the leaves it was underneath as it crept up on the Mandalorian. It had a surprise for him...

It circled around him, a tendril of itself, red and translucent, formed a blade...

Gerul Megalo screamed as it went through the armor weave, puncturing a lung.

He collapsed, the underlay's in his suit already starting to try and fix the damage. But these were not fast models. He needed time to recover. That is, if he could escape first. His carbine emptied into the ground in front of him, partly hitting it but doing no real damage as he desperately backed away, activating his jetpack. He needed to book it before he lost consciousness.

His lung filling with blood, he flew off to the sky.

The mass of tissue reformed into the same bronze skinned, athletic woman who appeared to be wearing black and yellow gear who had given them the chance to run previously.

"You can come out now. Its safe." The woman called out in a voice with a Coruscant inflection.

Vera, knowing it knew where they were, decided to break the cover of the leaves.

"He will resort to more desperate measures to try and acquire you next time, no doubt..." The woman warned them, walking over to them both.

"Who are you?" Vera demanded before she saw the purple glint at the center of brown eyes. The near impossible beauty, the almost unnaturally liquid manner in how she walked and shifted in position...

Mother had made a new daughter...but when? Vera had seen no hint of such a creation like this aboard the Morpheus, and she thought she had seen all of Mother's research.

Great...yet another insufferable Sister...and she could tell Mother had fethed it on the empathy programming, because the machine practically bled concern for both of them by the look of worry on her face.

I brought medical supplies. Sorry, but I'm afraid I'm not a doctor the woman said.

"Got a name?" Vera asked, still wondering what the hell kind of biot her new sister was. From her X-Ray scans, Vera could tell Mother had put especially considerable work into this one...If Vera had not known better, Vera would have thought those were all fully human organs.

"Not important at the moment. I am simply a concerned citizen..." The Biot answered.

"My ass. You work for Nine."

The biot shrugged. "Okay, I admit it. But can I not also be a concerned citizen?" She asked, sprinting inhumanly fast to a far off tree, running back with that same inhuman speed back to Vera and Karlie, carrying a black, scorched medical bag.

"They'll be hunting that man all over Azterri. It was fortunate I was able to get the policeman and the ambulance pilot out before he burned to death. Couldn't do anything for the EMT's though...I hope they didn't suffer..." the biot remarked with an earnestness that nauseated Vera.

"We need to find cover. We can't get far and he knows it. Whoever you are, I suppose I have no choice but to accept your help." Vera noted. She meant it to...finding a suitable excuse to disappear for a while would be next to impossible.

"Nine commands it. She is currently devoting her time to trying to learn more about the Mandalorian who attacked you."

"Why not just get a shuttle down here to lift us?" Vera asked, taking the medical bag and inspecting the contents. They were undamaged...for the most part. Bacta injectors were intact, at least.

"Because apparently someone paid off the local Azterri transit authority to revoke Nine's landing rights not soon after I got here. We are on our own for now. Doctor Destat, are you able to walk?" The biot asked her. "My mission is to protect you." (Judgment Day: 90XP)

 

[Karlie Lynn Destat]

NEWS FLASH - Accident on I-95 turns deadly when two limos collide...

He just about had that sliver of breakfast steak to his mouth when his ears perked up hearing the newsflash.
In no way no how could the blonde be involved in that, his sensibilities were urging him to block it out and enjoy the first bite of his breakfast. yes, he had met the blonde not an hour before just a few blocks from where he had walked to clear his mind of her. That Destat could certainly ruin one's breakfast and that was exactly what she had done. He had walked out on her...laid his credits down and walked out of that dinner. She was too much, even for him to take, and he could take a LOT.

Sade had left Karlie not an hour before, electing to leave his breakfast and her and take a breather. And walked he did, till he calmed down enough to realize he was still hungry, stopping in at the first convenient restaurant opened for breakfast.
Steak, home fries and eggs...staple, filling and served hot.

"Berkana!..." He sighed, loosing once more his appetite, dropping fork and steak down back on the plate.

NEWS FLASH....eyewitness reports two women-
Wait, no...three women and what appears to be an individual wearing Mandalorean battle armor of having some kind of altercation. Not clear if this follows the result of the accident or the cause...

"Is there a problem with your order sir?" The waitress asked when Sade rose up from the table, dropping his napkin on the dish, irate. He knew he shouldn't have turned his back on that- that- that crazy coltish- Gah, there were no words for Karlie...no words at all.

NEWS FLASH... no, no official word from the police at the scene, but it appears that an emergency vehicle and police cruiser were targeted. This could be another act of terrorism...

"No, I'm sure it was great....just not in the cards today for me to sit and enjoy it." He had already taken out his card, before reaching for her holopad. In surprise, as no one least of all a patron, ever reached for her pad, the waitress didn't resist.
"Double the gratuity." He then said swiping the cortosis card, and handing back her data-pad.

NEWS FLASH... conflicting eyewitness reports indicate a rocket of some kind was used...

"Sir.
Sir?....I can box it all up for you... to go-"

But no, Sade was already out the door, seemingly having to run on empty again after Karlie.

~ ~ ~​

Karlie were in pain. As much as Vera was seemingly doing her best in comforting her, she were in pain. With her adrenaline spent she were now feeling the aftermath of being tossed and tumbled about like a rag doll... in a dryer no less.
The blonde had closed her eyes, trying to think of a a happy place. Karlie had little if at all any tolerance for pain, especially when it were hers.
The few moments submerged under the tranquil sea of leaves were Godsend, with Vera's voice comforting her.

To Karlie's recollection, Vera had for some very good reasons whisked her away from that crazy Mando who for some reason or other had some gripe against her. Karlie had no clue as to what she had done to the man, if at all it were a man under that horrid iron mask and suit, that was considered armor. Only a Mando could wear such outdated attire, she sneered thinking of him. Well, despite it were considered one of the best armor, it had remained unchanged since like forever. "Give it a rest!" she were often heard remarking about it.
Maybe keep the the battle hardened materials, but change the style...

Speaking of rest, she had thought she could at least take a breather and catch her breath...if only Vera stopped moving about!
Karlie took hold of her forearm to keep her still, but apparently they were not out of the woods...of course not, not burrowed under leaves they weren't. But it were Karlie's only means of survival.. it were to hide. Hide and bed down like a wounded deer. She were hurt..hurt so badly and the longer she rested the more she seemed to not want to move.
So OK, as it may with a hunted/wounded deer, it sadly were the last stupid thing the poor hove creature did,was to lie down and try to catch second wind. Never happened.
Unfortunately, the blonde was seemingly repeating the same scenario; she were hurt, in pain, and now hiding trying to catch her second wind.
But her savior Vera who were obliging to her needs at the moment, suddenly started to stir, to move about under their cover.

Karlie were about to plead for Vera to lay still with her when-
"Oh poo-doo, what now?" She sighed.
Karlie thought she had heard it too...someone rustling about. Was it the Mando?... had that freakin maniac tracked them?!
Frak!... her thoughts cried out. The damn lunatic had somehow followed her scent maybe?...like a dog? Only that she didn't curse the Mando dude, but her own vanity.
Karlie may have overdone it with her own perfume. She had put it on just for Vera. Only that Vera hadn't noticed how nice and sweet she smelled.
Wait, she were in mega pain, had some nut case after her and she were wondering as to why Vera hadn't noticed how sweet she smelled? Were she really thinking about this now? They were in some kind of mortal danger and all she could think about was as to why Vera didn't say anything about her perfume.
well maybe she herself should say how wonderful Vera smelled too. Yea, Vera's sweet smell, along with the foilage around them..were she getting aroused?..here? NOW?!!

Whoa whoa hold on a second...Karlie were getting sidetracked here. Had there been a point in this, before her mind had wandered off?
Oh yes, the scent.
Maybe the Mando had tracked them by smell? Karlie wasn't at all thinking straight, what with her being in pain and all, so it were what crazy thoughts bounced about in her head. Whatever...

Wha-
WTF?!...Karlie then felt something about where she were laying...something like muck or slime flowing underneath her. Pain or no pain, she thrust her pelvic up to get her butt off the muck, as it seemed to have puddled a moment around her tush.
Eeew...what the frak were she laying in now? Karlie prayed it were not sewage, as it would have been a toss up between that and whatever that guy in the Mando suit wanted of her. And neither were pleasant. Although she figured the Mando dude was the worst of the two. Sewage then. Frak, just this one time she'd put up laying in it if she had to, as at least it weren't painful...

But as quickly as whatever it was that had swept under her butt, it seemingly passed on... kept on going. Karlie were just grateful to get her butt settled back down upon the dry ground again. Arching her butt up like that had sent a few sharp spasms through her rib cage again. But as a trooper, she barely let out but a small whimper.
Vera in the meanwhile were adamantly gesturing with index to lips for Karlie to suck it up for a moment. It were because of Vera that the blonde bared her discomfort and pain momentarily as whatever were flowing under her passed...strangely, not leaving her soaked or whatnot, as it certainly had felt to be liquid.

Sure enough, it were that Mando guy. Only for some reason or other it were he whom seemed to be getting the worse of it. Karlie of course had her eyes closed tightly, passing the pain away as best she could...for Vera. Hell, she couldn't let Vera think she were a girly girl all the time. Ok, most of the time when she were with her, but not all of the time. Karlie gritted her teeth and bared it, remaining as still and as quiet as she could under cover...for Vera.
Her hand although were tightly gripping Vera's arm, transmitting the intensity of the pain she were experiencing. In other words; Karlie spasm'd, her grip got tighter..kind of like when one is in labor, gripping another 's hand tighter and tighter as the spasms of pain surged and what-not.

Time..
Time and pain somehow alter the passing of events. For some, it is experienced in what seems like an eternity passing. For others, such as this blonde-

The sound of thrusters suddenly igniting and then fading in the distance kinda sealed it that all which transpired between the Mando guy and whomever, had passed at a blink of an eye. or in Karlie's case, between her pain spasms. Before she knew it, Vera got up.

It were difficult to comprehend what Vera and apparently the same woman were talking about. But one thing which caught Karlie's eye were the med pack the woman seemed to have brought with her. Karlie's hungry eyes knew what it most likely contained; pain suppressors.
"Here..." She tried breaking in on what the two were babbling about.

"Hello?... still freakin hurt'n down here..." Of course, she hadn't pieced the dialogue together to put 2 and 7 together as her concentration were on the meds in that kit.

"Berkana...you toss'n that med kit over or just gona frak'n play with it!?" She then said a bit more audible before Westerna finally landed it next to Karlie who were now half exposed out of the leaves Her hands trembling as she reached for the pack, desperately fumbling to unzip it...
"W-...What the frak?!"
It took a few tries before she realized it were velcro.
"..oh Berkana.."

Training...
She had trained with Castan Marines for the IBI. Knowing how to use a med kit and quickly dispense with the pain suppressors were vital in a marine's life in the battlefield. This, she almost flawlessly accomplished...it were pain she were dealing with here..no time to fuss around.
"Ahh.....oh!
...oh yea......" Karlie slumped back on the soft bedspread of autumn leaves.
".....ooooh...yea...."

Lord Lady of Heaven and earth... how the alleviation of pain could feel so...so good...

Karlie lay there, still. A calmness, euphoria came over her before she opened her eyes to the rays of sunlight filtering through the tall trees. The smell of the forest now were like something she remembered a long time ago...almost forgotten.

~ ~ ~​

She were laughing, giggling as the fall of summer leaves which had suddenly turned to all the colors of the rainbow floated down upon them.

"Winter summer fall...it will never have any dominion over you, Karlie" Her mother's voice were like that of songbirds which were now circling above the turning leaves.
It were like the birds themselves were coloring the green summer leaves autumn, before they took flight themselves and floated down in a tapestry of colors upon mother and daughter.
It were a magical.
Her mom were the center of the universe...

~ ~ ~​

"Huh?...say what?" The child had grown the dream were gone (ya, the Wall). Karlie's eyes came to focus again on her reality.
Doctor..was she a doctor? Shoot...maybe, yea...she guessed so. She had after all a doctorate degree in bio-something-or-other...hell if she could think of it at this time.

"Wow, you're pretty." No, she weren't looking at Westerna. Not until her eyes nearly relieved of the rest of Vera's torn clothing off. And who to her surprise ruined a perfectly good oggle? Yea, another woman. Berkana, if she didn't have her mother blocking her, there was always someone else!

Come to think of it, who was this woman and why were she standing next to Vera? A glint of jealousy sparkled in her eye...or were it pollen that had irritated her eye to form a tear. She were after all still sporting a fall accent dress with colorful leaves.

Could she walk?
Oh hell yes, she would. She weren't going to let the other woman think her a weakling...ouch..frak'n poo-doo... she could still feel the injuries, however dulled the meds masked them. But were she able to get up?
Karlie extended her hand up.

But not to the other woman.





[member="Vera Mina"]

 

[Vera Mina]

Vera smirked at Westenra, taking the offered hand by [member="Karlie Lynn Destat"] and gently pulled her up to avoid hurting her. Westenra raised an eyebrow. Usually her pheremones put someone at ease a little. Perhaps the pain and adrenaline were interfering from them taking full effect. But she had been given a quick run-down by her mother as to what was going on with Karlie...how her blood was a throwback to a time before Force Sensitivity manifested in humans. Perhaps that too, explained it.

"We should go farther into the woods then. If someone in the authorities revoked Nine's landing rights who else knows what got 'revoked'." Vera suggested, keeping Karlie close to her in a protective manner. She wondered just how long it would be before Karlie would see how unnaturally precise Vera's movement pattern really was, how it would have been nearly impossible for a true organic to replicate with any real consistency. But Westenra could tell Karlie was completely taken with Vera. It might be a very long time. She could see how Vera stared in open lust for a split second as she pulled Karlie up. Vera was actually pining for the blond scientist. Not that Westenra could blame her...she wondered if the reason Karlie was so...cute...to her was because of the coding.

Nonetheless Westenra nodded to Vera's suggestion. It then occured to her that Vera might need clothes. But Vera would no doubt nix that. Too dangerous to get seperated now. But there ran the risk of Karlie discovering what Vera was by accident. Lots of sharp rocks and twigs. All it would take is a slice and Karlie would see white blood.

But the newly released biot kept her peace, still collating data on how to best keep them all alive. She decided to scout ahead.

Vera meanwhile, clasped Karlie's hands in hers as they walked, entwinging her fingers with Karlie's. Strangely, she felt the overheat incidents growing less and less, like her processors were slowly adapting to the new sensations she felt for Karlie, better able to process it. She let Karlie lean on her for support as they moved.

"Karlie, do you think anyone on your end could reach us?" Vera asked, heroically keeping the raw, boiling lust for the scientist out of her voice. She had to act like she was in danger while also breaking out into a corny love song at the same time. She wanted to dance. She wanted the victory of picking The Mandalorian's neck out of her teeth. But mostly, she was happy just to hold her.

But the long term question remained: How would Karlie react when she inevitably found out Vera was a killing machine? No way Karlie would not put it all together. As her processors slowly worked through the possible consequences, she realized she might have to heavily censor a good deal of her more brutal acts from Karlie's perview--she didn't stop suddenly being a sadistic killer just because Karlie, bless her, had stolen her evil little heart. And she had stolen it.

But first to get Karlie to some kind of safety.

Westenra spotted a large, hollowed out tree, close to a small stream. She signalled Vera and the android led Karlie to it.

"It's me he is actually after. Perhaps I should simply turn myself over to him." Vera mused. She could no doubt kill him easily after hard booting to one of her other forms.

Westenra wasn't having it.

"But someone set him on your trail. Mandalorians don't have any pull on Azterri..."

To no surprise, Vera disagreed.

"That's why I should let him take me and wait for Nine to arrange a rescue. He wants the Morpheus codes after all..."

"He won't tolerate you stalling him for long." Westenra warned. "But its too dangerous. We would have no way of tracking you."

"He's going to hunt us until he gets what he wants. Karlie cannot exactly defend herself with her injuries..." Vera argued. "I will not place Karlie in any more danger than I already have."

Maybe we won't need to resort to that. There were a few other of Nine's operatives on the ground, but they had other tasks. I tried using my own comlink but I'm getting no response." Westenra replied, pacing about, keeping away from the water lest she oversaturate her own tissues with it, which would look both disgusting and horrific.

Vera gently led Karlie close to it and pointed out a few areas where she could be at least somewhat comfortable. But she knew they would run out of meds. Karlie would become sick and in pain but Vera was not sure how to alleviate her suffering.

"Is there anything more I can do?" Vera asked with all sincerity.

 

[Karlie Lynn Destat]

Under normal circumstances and given Karlie's feisty personality, she'd butt in and point out that 'she' whom they were talking about, was right there in their presence.

But her vivaciousness had been knocked off her shoulder the moment their limos went topsy-turvy. She came out of it hurt, and by all means winded. Perhaps it were the near concussion or the fact that she, Vera and this whoever it was, as Westenra's name didn't quite stick. Not with all of the desperation in their flight caused. And again...that near concussion.

The only plus side to all of this was that Vera, aside from ripping her clothes was for the most part unscathed. Well, that weren't the case with Karlie. She were all soft flesh, and although it were said that such girls were made of sugar and spice, it were not at all true.
"Oh Damn it..." Karlie uttered, making out a bruise to her forearm after managing to lay herself down... if that weren't her only injury.
"No. Not right now.
Just...just need to catch my breath's all..."

Her side hurt. And it hurt really bad. The minute that Westenra stopped by the stream, a kind of rigor-mortis started to set in. In reality, Karlie were spent of adrenaline, and like a deer which had been wounded by a hunter (the stupid Mando) that takes to rest-
Yes, she found herself unable to do much else but lay there on her back looking up at the glittering sunlight filtering through the leaves, dealing with her pain.
She just needed a moment to catch her breath...close her eyes...rest...

Karlie could have sworn she just closed her eyes for but a moment. It were Vera's voice that at first seemed to be a distance away, drawing closer and louder that urged her to awaken. It were upon that moment of consciousness that Karlie realized she were no longer floating in the warm calm waters of the lagoon. Reality brought her quickly back. Had she dozed off a minute and slipped into a dream?
No.
She hadn't dozed off for a minute. The blonde had inadvertently checked out for a few hours.
The entire ordeal, the injuries, the chase... too much for a mere mortal to sustain operational while running on empty. She were no machine.

Karlie's eyes flickered as she let out a sigh. She had preferred they remained on the island she were dreaming about. But reality abound and it were dark now.
What had been sunlight filtering through the leaves from the trees above her last she recalled, was now-
"Uh?.."
Karlie had to blink several times to comprehend that the stars appearing in swatches were from the holes in the ceiling. It was nightfall. Had she been out that long...since morning?
Karlie knew she were inside somewhere...inside an old structure, a ruined building. With her eyes quickly acclimating, Karlie soon realized she were in an old abandoned factory or warehouse of sort.
Were she even on Azterri still, she wondered?

"Ugh..." Her side hurt as she tried to sit up, forgetting her injuries a moment.
But sit up she managed, feeling the tight bandage wraps under her shirt. It was tight...uncomfortably tight, but she were still able to breathe, and-
Karlie felt the hardness of the wrap that appeared to be over her broken ribs. She dared give it a knock.
It was hard...solid, under her shirt.
Tight, yes. She knew it had been applied to secure and set her broken ribs.
She looked around, still disoriented, but knew enough to know that somehow someone had dressed her with a cast-
...Vera?
Karlie recalled being in the thick woods with Vera. Vera scooting her away from the wreck, away from the man in Mandalorean armor.
Had Vera fashioned her a cast from rummaged plaster from these old walL? Karlie had been trained with Castan Marines on makeshift field dressings etc. But how did Vera know this too?

And then Karlie remembered Westenra.

Wait.
How did she know that woman's name?
Karlie's ears then became attuned to voices. Women's voices, resonating some distance in the same building, somewhere.
Wait.
Yes, it were Vera's voice. karlie definitely could make it out. She were arguing with another woman.
Was it the other woman, Westenra? Yes, somehow Karlie had picked up her name...in a dream?

"V...Vera?" Karlie dared call out in the dark. It were nearly pitch black, say for the starlight patches up in the open holes of the ceiling.
In calling out so, the voices suddenly stopped.
The sound of debris, of plaster and ruble crunching underfoot drawing closer, caused her to retreat, scoot her butt across the floor to the nearest wall.

 

[Vera Mina]

Vera, watching Karlie Lynn Destat pass out, Vera knew more medical attention was required.

How she thirsted to have a moment's peace with the scientist. To spend a day at the beach with her, drinking the blood of their enemies.

She began to wonder whether or not it was truly a good idea to tell her the truth. She understood enough of Karlie's psyche profile to know Karlie absolutely hated to hurt people.

Vera on the other hand loved to hurt people...

But she was starting to get the barest hint of the fact that, as much as she loved causing pain and suffering to people she didn't know, she did not love that as much as she loved Karlie...

As Vera picked her up, scent of Karlie catching in her nose, making the murderous android's processors heat with lust and hunger and barely-comprehensible love, she reminded herself that the truth coming out was inevitable. She had bought time on the Morpheus, after her spontaneous mutation due to tasting Karlie's utterly divine midi-free blood had forced her Mother to consume the memory of Vera's freakout from Karlie's mind. She remembered the taste. No true vampire could ever forget the taste of such blood. It was burned into her database. She still got shudders of ecstacy sometimes when she recalled it spilling into her mouth, mixing with her artificial digestive system and spreading euphoria...her memory blanked out after that, and when she regained self awareness, the first sight that greeted her was a traumatized Karlie's face, protected by Morpheus Knights, while Mother herself had restrained her.

Vera had broken down, for the first time ever. She begged, an action she would have previously thought beneath her, begged her mother to remove the awful experience from Karlie's mind. She was beside herself in that moment, unable to bear the idea of losing her forever, all because she had seen the truth.

Cold fear, real fear, for a spilt second, gripped the Biot. What if Karlie should reject her utterly again.

Would even Vera's shriveled, evil little heart break?

But she wanted to love Karlie utterly, and for Karlie to love her back just as completely...but a part of her still loved slaughter, and was built for it.

Could Karlie bring herself to truly love something that was, for all its gorgeousness in appearance, in truth completely her opposite in almost every way except perhaps a form of Royalty and a domineering mother?

Vera half considered trying to corrupt her psychologically, but shot it down. She loved Karlie as she was. Changing her to a darker way would rob her of her qualities.

But the problem of breaking the truth to Karlie slowly began to reveal to her the monumental potential for failure and rejection.

She shut it out for now...one thing at a time. First, get Karlie more medical attention. Second, the Mandalorian, who would die in torment for putting Karlie in danger.

Vera had a trauma kit at her apartment, in case she had to keep someone alive through torture.

"Sister, make yourself useful and go to my apartment. There is a trauma kit there. And while you are at it, get my gear and steal us a speeder."

"What if the Mandalorian is waiting?"

"I dunno, slit his fething throat and save me the trouble..." Vera answered with a haughty snideness.

"You're welcome, by the way!" Westenra muttered.

"Didn't need you, but thanks. There, feel better now?" Vera hissed, savoring every moment she got to hold the scientist, even as she was already getting annoyed with Mother's newest creation.

She had a haunt picked out for where she could take prey to feed on in private...or play with. Abandoned warehouse. It would do nicely.

"Meet me on the east end..." Westenra called out as she departed.

Vera didn't acknowledge her.

Two hours later...

Vera had waited at the edge of the woods in the east, staring at the unconscious Karlie, whose kiss she desired more than blood. Damn Darth Rigor!

Vera, having never had a situation like this, of wanting who or what she wanted so tantalizingly, mouthwateringly close...yet being held back. It actually began to hurt in a small way, her desire for the scientist. Vera was unfamiliar with this sort of emotional sensation: pining.

For a second, she considered, truly considered, having her design and programming altered, to make her able to more naturally experience emotion on more than a feral level like this. But she wasn't sure she wanted to stop being bloodthirsty.

She also hated to see Karlie injured or in pain. Hated it murderously. She salivated at how she would slowly strip the flesh off The Mandalorian for hurting her.

No other would be permitted to kill him. No other. Not even Mother would be permitted unless she gave a direct order to let her kill him instead of Vera.

Westenra found her after a while, kneeling over her unconscious frame. The pining making her processors heat caused the flesh on her face to occasionally wriggle.

She was tossed both her silenced nine milimeter pistol, an all white vibro tanto and her Spy Gear. The revealing white outfit was desceptively useful, but her current guise was not fully suited to the situation. She was also tossed a white dress with long sleeves that went down to the ankled and her stilettos.

Vera lifted up Karlie and got her into the speeder, throwing the dead drug dealer in the back seat out with a pleased look of surprise.

"Why, Sister! You have a preferred victim type!" Vera sneered at Westenra with a wicked grin.

Westenra merely glowered at her as she helped Karlie in. Westenra piloted while Vera gave directions to the derelict building selected.

Westenra had to pilot carefully. She learned but there was still a curve.

Four hours later...

It was near night time by the time they reached the warehouse, due to taking multiple routes to throw off any potential tails.

Due to her torture protocols, she was more than familiar with how to keep a subject alive. Karlie had not suffered anything Vera had not already inflicted on others, so it was relatively easy to treat, scavenging plaster for the drywalls and what was left of the medical kit.

Vera then gently laid Karlie on an old table. Westenra said nothing as Vera smiled at the unconscious woman, masquer glitching, rendering it transluscent for a split second on her face to reveal the white muscled skull beneath.

Vera then changed her current garments for the spy gear, putting the white dress over it.

"So whats the plan?" Westenra asked.

"The Plan is I check with transit authority and figure out who revoked the Morpheus Personnels landing permissions." Vera answered. "Interrogating is simply too risky. It'll be obvious who sent the interrogator. If possible, I will try and strong arm them the legal way first. He knows I will never cooperate unless he has Karlie as leverage. Your job will be to protect her, as you said to her yourself..." Vera answered, headiing into another room, which contained the reflec coated duffle bag full of her weapons that Westenra had taken out of her apartment.

"Perhaps I should go instead..." Westenra offered. "I could probably find out where a payment exchanged hands if I ask nicely enough."

"Tempting, but restoring access to the Castle should be our primary concern. Our secondary one is to figure out how our transmissions are getting jammed."

"Mandalorians are excellent trackers." Westenra pointed out as she followed her in.

"It'll still take him a while to find this place. Besides, we need legal might, in this instance, not physical." Vera replied curtly examining the serrated vibro blades and razors.

"I'm surprised by your restraint." Westenra admitted. "I had figured you more...savage in your approach..."

"You 'must' be fresh off the operating table, Sister." Vera sneered. "I am a savage. Not a mindless one however."

"That remains to be seen..." Westenra replied with an acid tone.

"Just what exactly can you do, again."

"Specialized Stealth and Melee combat model laced with pheremone production glands. Highly regenerative."

"That will have to do..." Vera said dismissively.

Suddenly she heard Karlie call out to her.

Vera threw her new sister a glare. "If she asks, those are your weapons on the table."

Westenra nodded, as Vera had senior command authority.

Vera stepped forward first, out of the darkness of the passage. Westenra followed a second later, arms folded.

"Shhh...its alright..." Vera whispered gently. "For the moment you are safe. But we have a problem. I have to go to the local transit authority to restore landing rights to and from The Castle. The Mandalorian that attacked us is still out there. I can't risk your safety by bringing you out into the open with me. I won't..." Vera said, putting her hand on Karlie's shoulder. "I'm going to leave you temporarily with Westenra for a few hours. Now, in the interest of disclosure, Westenra is not human. She's an experimental combat android sent by my employer, Nine."

There was a reason to disclose this. Four, actually. One: All of Nine's androids possessed superhuman attributes that would have been impossible to hide when it came to fighting. Karlie would have been too smart not to eventually realize it. Two: To ease Karlie into the idea of being around a deadly android protecting her. Three: To ignite Her scientific curiosity about Nine's technology. Four: Last but not least, to keep suspicion that something was not quite right about Vera herself off of Karlie's thoughts for a little while longer.

"I know it is not an ideal situation, but Westenra is highly capable as a fighter. Not as good as Rom-Jin--"

Westenra rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"--but good." Vera explained.

She hugged Karlie gently, careful not to hug too tightly lest she hurt her.

"We just can't seem to have a moment's peace, today...but we will. Soon. I promise."

Then Vera whispered in her ear lustfully.

"I have another catsuit to show you when that moment arrives...and you can snuggle next to me with cocoa all. You. Like."

 

[Karlie Lynn Destat]

"Goddamn it..." she sighed, when Vera took to inform her of their current situation.

"...of all the luck." Karlie were feeling like she were some kind of magnet that seemed to attract one mishap after another which in her mind were all seemingly leading to some kind of grand disaster in the wait.
Now Vera too had somehow again got caught up, embroiled in her mix of catastrophes. And for what? For Vera's employer Nine Lives helping her?
Someone had it in for her,. Had it for all of them now.

That freak, the Mandolorian attested to her theory. He had come specifically for her and to kidnap her AGAIN!!f But why?
Karlie couldn't wrap her head clearly around it. The frenzy paranoia floating around about her long dead mother coming back from the dead were something not physically possible, right?
Sure, maybe someone had found some genetic material and could clone her mother. But that were not the same. They could clone her body, but couldn't put that demonic soul...Oh how she once adored her mother, Karlie could just hate her so... into a body. or could they?
No.
No, she had made certain of that herself with the Sebrix ( project. Her mother's spirit were far removed from her that much she were certain.
No they couldn't resurrect her mother, no. Karlie resisted that notion. She had too.
Besides, the only thing connecting everything to her mother was fear...paranoia.
Karlie were stronger minded than that.

Karlie felt around her torso while Vera explained their current situation and plan. For the moment Karlie just nodded, taking in what Vera explained had passed so far.
Hours.
Had she been out cold that long? Apparently.

Westenra. The name of the other woman then came up. So that was her name, then.... Westenra.
How did Karlie somehow know that, if she had been out cold since they had escaped into the woods.? And where exactly were they now really? The building were too old, too dilapidated for them to be back in city center.

Well that too Vera touched upon., explaining their exodus departure from the woods with her unconscious. The Mando for the most part hadn't been counted out of the picture, and had to be assumed he were trying to track her, all of them still. It were what Mando's loved to do, besides bask in their armor.
Ok, Karlie were getting that so far...she took to understand their situation better. Why they were holed up in an old warehouse...full of roof holes and crumbling walls. Ah right... her cast.
So it were Vera who set her ribs and wrapped her in a semi-exoskeleton... hard cast around her set ribs. It... it seemed to lessen her pain.
Yes. Yes, it did, as she couldn't move and disturb them.
Of course, Karlie were evaluating herself as Vera explained. Naturally, as it was typical of the blonde, she missed a few details here..there. This would become apparent and surface quite soon.

Er, wait.
What was that again? What did Vera just say?
Karlie's eyes darted over to the other woman... an android? This woman was an artificial being? Berkana, she could have fooled Karlie...hell, the bot still did. For a moment she thought maybe Vera was just kidding, making light of their desperation...testing her to see if she were paying attention to what she were explaining.
Uhmm...no.
Despite it's appearance which Karlie found difficult to get past, Westenra was a combat android, almost as good as Rom Jin.
Could anyone really be more efficient and better than what she seen of Rom, Karlie were thinking...gauging Westenra.
Maybe....
Maybe, being that this girl bot was a machine, an unnatural creation. Karlie seemed to somehow have a thing with unnatural things that were animated.
Flashback to Karlie animating her clay creations when a little girl by the river bank with her mother...
Ok, so Karlie were not one to judge.
Sigh...

Hmm...
Still, somehow or other Karlie vividly recalled explicit standing sanctions against systems and factions using such technologies. It were one of a few Galactic Convention Agreements that were in existence. It made no sense to her as to why these laws/bylaws and regulations even existed and were heavily enforced, seeing that there were far worse weapons of war and destruction that ran rampant and in use across the entire galaxy...in one form or another.
Still, within the Confederacy and under the current sanctions imposed even by their Vicelord, Nine Lives took to posses one....experimental or not.
Karlie smiled silently and inside at Nine Lives' pizzaz. So Nine was a rebel like Karlie...maybe.

Karlie averted her eyes realizing she were staring again and looked away from Westenra. It started to make sense now as to their escape. Especially from that crazed Mando.
"T...thanks." Were all she could muster to say as she momentarily met Westenra's eyes again, by which Karlie included a somewhat small timid thank you smile.

Karlie had come upon studies of AI in both domestic and combat configurations. Each incidentally had their own unique trigger mechanisms that initiated reaction/interactions, besides their protocols. Karlie weren't too certain as to what they could be concerning this prototype model. Karlie's interest were peaked. A lot of questions were forming in her mind. But at the moment, pain, discomfort and lack of an early evening shower seemed to be the forerunner of her current stasis.

Still, Nine had sent this one. Nine Lives had sent this creation to watch over who?... her?... Vera?.. both?
Her peripheral (Karlie were trying not to stare too much) were picking up anything but Westenra being a droid, android, or whatever.
Westenra in fact not only looked, but moved, acted and yes...smelled human.
Ok, so Karlie couldn't really smell her per say, but if she could, it would no doubt smell like a girl. Damn it..that could mean it didn't sweat and needed to bathe.
Well anyway, the way it had been created did give Westenra a sense of being a living, breathing thing... most certainly in human form. Shoot... maybe she had been made too perfect in terms of looking like a female.
Crap, the bot was too perfect, as Karlie took to observe peripherally. Great, that's what Karlie needed now, with her looking like she crawled out of a ditch (which by the way she had) in comparison to Miss Perfect Runway Model...damn mannequin!
"Sure, combat droid my arse", she cussed to herself.

Subconsciously, Karlie involuntarily went on to fix her shirt, even hand brushing her hair a bit due to some natural underlying competitiveness she suddenly were feeling. Westenra was too perfect...too pretty. Realizing this subconscious and involuntary reflex in herself, Karlie's eyes almost rolled. Really? Who was programmed here, woman (Karlie) or bot?
Were she feeling competitiveness now, from an android?
Sigh...
"Ok, stop it Karlie" She had to check herself. So the bot had perfect skin, perfect hair, perfect fitting attire. She on the other hand; in a cast, broken ribs, bruises, fat lip maybe and lets not mention her hair...horrid compared to the bot.

But all that were out the window when Vera hugged her.
No wait, had she missed something again? Was Vera saying she were leaving her with Westenra? Crap, her mind had wandered off again thinking about the stupid looking pretty robot and had somehow missed that part.

"Uhm... with her?..here?" No that didn't come out too gratefully, but definitely of one seeking desperately another option...like; 'send the frakin droid instead, and you stay with me' type of tone.

But Vera's hug, her reassurance, her sweet promise of return and reward. Karlie had to catch her breath as Vera made her heart race and..and it were difficult to breathe like that with the cast and all. Still, Karlie conceded, finally nodding before letting go. returning a hug while in a cast was uncomfortable to say the least. Besides, Vera had been set on going and the bot even agreed, standing a mere arms length away.
"I...I understand..." Karlie nodded, to Vera's plan of action. "I can stay with Westenra." Karlie's own training in similar situations such as this indicated vera's plan was the best option at the moment. With landing permits and passes revoked, Vera was their best option in legally getting these squared away. Then once the skies were open...freedom.

"I...
I just want you back s'all." She took to whisper back. "Just come back safe."
Did she want to see Vera in a cat suit? If Karlie could 'Meow' she would have. Only that what escaped out of her were a murmur, a human equivalent of a purrr....

Karlie had to let her go. Or in essence, had to let go of Vera. Meaning actually letting go of her hold on the woman. It took some coaxing from Vera indicating that she would return for Karlie to finally let her grip slip away. In doing so, somehow or other the blonde had wound up back on her feet, she had hung on Vera that determined.
Still, it were the best and only plan at the moment, given that the landing rights and such had been revoked. If anyone could legally reinstste those rights, it were Vera. Karlie understood this and eventually let go.
The blonde sucked it up finally, standing her ground, looking on as Vera vanished into the night.
A cold shiver ran down Karlie's side, but she remained standing there still.


2 minutes following Vera's departure...

Karlie were still standing there looking into the emptiness, the void that the darkness of night afforded them, shivering.
Westenra was there somewhere, maybe behind her. Only that Karlie still wished for a warm human Vera she could cuddle next to for warmth. A fire in their situation were definitely out of the question. She knew that.

Well, she couldn't stand there forever. At least she weren't alone. But what was there to talk about? She had never met, let alone interacted with such an artificial looking human before, and especially in the form they gave her.
Besides...her...her head hurt so for Karlie to make mundane conversation.

Sigh...

Karlie turned to the biot.
"Hi." Her tone were genuine...friendly, like she were seeking to make a friend.
And she were actually, as she had little of friends growing up as she had. Her biggest hurdle was getting free of her mother's spirit and that had been accomplished not too long ago. Before that, she only had staff members, schooling, studies and the Academy to fill in what she were lacking in social interactions... but never had the opportunity to have a like friend..or any friend for that matter as she grew up and matured.
Karlie were brilliant and her father Tarssin spared no subject that she could not absorb. And she did absorb knowledge as it came across her like it were water to a sponge.
But social skills? That was an entirely new territory.

"Westenra...right?" Yea, that was what Vera said her name was. Hey, it were a start.

"I guess you know a lot more about me than I do you." She took a step closer so as to see her better, even if it were by just starlight.
Starlight...
Karlie's eyes went up to the heavens a moment. What she could see of the stars through one of the larger openings told her it were a clear moonless night.

"You know.... we came from stars....all of us" She were meaning their similarities, the elements, compounds and energy that made all living and inanimate things exist...stardust. Everyone, everything had derived from stardust.

"I think it is what really binds everything really together....you know?" Suddenly she were not feeling so isolated, not feeling so alone anymore.
"I don't know, not been able to put my finger on it...but I think the force cannot exist if there is no stardust around.
Stardust is in light, in the darkest corners of open space. In theory, space is not really such a void as so many believe. ...you know?" Karlie turned to Westenra again.

She wondered if the female like creation could think as abstract as humans...or were it simply random access memory recall?
"Silly scientist huh?"

 

[Vera Mina]

Westenra could tell that leaving Karlie hurt her older sister. Westenra hoped that was a sign of good omen...from what little chance she had to study Vera's design, she was amazed the biot was attempting any sort of emotional attachment at all.

Westenra kept her distance at first, not wanting to spook Karlie any more than she likely was. It was only when Karlie Lynn Destat acknowledged her that Westenra felt comfortable talking herself. She nodded in acknowledging Karlie.

"Oh, I have only the basic details on you. I'm kind of fresh off the assembly..."

Westenra's breath went still as Karlie approached her in the starlight. Wow. Even in the low light, even with her injuries, Karlie was a beauty. No wonder Vera had become smitten over time.

Westenra's eyes trailed upward.

"My...Creator often spoke of the night time stars on Atrisia when she was creating me. I started out as a brain in a jar, receiving imput only through her. They are beautiful, I do admit..." Westenra replied contemplatively, though her own databases were taking note of Karlie's beauty, memorizing them.

Karlie then spoke of the material stars are made of. About how the Force could not exist without star matter.

"I know only what Nine told me about the Force. And after hearing her thoughts on it, I am strangely...glad you might say...that I cannot feel it...it seems like more trouble than it is worth, to be honest..."

Westenra folded her hands behind her back, "But it does put it in perspective, that despite how different my origin is from yours, I am in the end, bound to return to stardust as you will be someday. And no, I don't think you are silly. You are the first woman I have ever interacted with outside of family. I am designed to be as close to organic as possible. All my internals mimic that of a human's precisely...only the best scanners could tell the difference, and then only by scanning at the cellular level. But for all that, I am not truly human. I could not even tell you the specifics of the science that allows me to function. For all I know, you might be very well correct." The biot replied, finding Karlie's awkwardness charming.

Westenra looked at the stars through the whole ceiling. Faint light and shadows rested on the contours of an athletic, yet curvy figure.

"They are quite beautiful..." the biot whispered. "Even more lovely than my creator described them."

Westenra touched her own arm experimentally.

"Under normal circumstances, I can't feel pain. That was the first thing I learned to envy about true organics. But the thing I really envy about organics is that they can eat food. My creator described the sensation of a full belly once. There is this deep sense of satisfaction. Of calm. Something I can never experience. I'm not sure what I would be willing to give up just to enjoy a bowl of cornflakes...but I suspect I would be willing to pay a lot..." Westenra said earnestly. "Did you ever have that problem...something you want so badly, something you would pay a heavy price for--"

The biot was interrupted when she heard the sound of a vehicle. With ghostly swiftness she was at the nearest window, spotting a repulsor-truck filled with what appeared to be men with blasters carrying a wounded man.

"Stay here..." Westenra told Karlie. "I'll handle this..."

Westenra turned the inhumanly precise walk of hers giving away how she was artificial as she broke into a silent sprint to the lower floor.

The men kicked open the door dragging in one of their wounded, who moaned from the wound in his gut. They were bankrobbers, having taken advantage of the Riot Karlie had accidentally started earlier to hit the national bank. It had nearly gone off without a hitch, but one security guard had managed to shoot one during the escape. They were all wearing cheap plastic Palpatine and Darth Maul masks, as if the twilight-zone esque situation they were unknowingly getting themselves into had to be more bizarre somehow.

They grew alarmed when the noticed signs of habitation and as soon as they set their wounded friend down the leader immediately sent out two men to search the building. But before they could even get started, they noticed the curvy, bronze skinned woman in the yellow and black leotard and long yellow gloves and boots calmly descend the staircase.

"I'm afraid this building is currently occupied. May I ask what is going on? What happened to your friend?" Westenra asked, her hyper powerful pheremones already in the air, saturating her skin.

(Sinister Latin Chanting)

The ones closest to her swooned, none of them having the environmental suits with toxic seals that would have been necessary to resist the pheremones.

"He...he got hurt...who...who are you?"

"A gritty licensed superhero reference." The Biot answered, flashing them all a seductive smile. She took a step closer, even as some of them hesitantly raised their weapons.

"Hey chitheads, did you forget about me?" the wounded man on the ground whined.

"Your man is wounded. I'll let you treat him here, but you must leave afterward..." Westenra said plainly. "There is a way for all of us to get what we want, provided we cooperate."

"You're in no position to make demands..." the leader in the Palpatine mask growled, pointing a pistol hesitantly at her.

"You don't want this fight." Westenra replied flatly. "I'm being nice as I can, given the circumstances. Neither of us gain from a shootout."

"Yeah, well last I looked there's a lot of us and only one of you. And you don't have blasters."

"I don't need them, trust me."

Westenra then slinked to him. "Please, must we really resort to violence? I would so hate to have to hurt any of you." It was the truth. Nine had slipped on the empathy programming.

(Sinister Latin Chanting)

The man's aim at her wavered. Westenra smiled warmly, her hand moving the arm holding his pistol aside.

Blasterfire hit her right in the stomach, spilling bright, glowing red blood, the man wounded on the floor had shot her, in too much pain to be affected by her pheremones, much like Karlie.

Instead of dropping, as everyone expected, Westenra stood, the glowing blood and scorched flesh, which even her outfit seemed to be a part of, slowly sealing up.

"And now I have to fight you..." Westenra sighed regretfully.

The kicks came faster then their eyelids could blink, Westenra's arms morphing into blades as she leapt and twirled out of the way of fire, blades slicing into their weapons, followed by elbows to their faces knocking them out, moving almost too fast to observe, the reflexes of the criminals laughably inferior. She did, however, sustain eight more blaster wounds as she methodically moved about with a non lethal solution, even as she sustained more and more horrific wounds, yet refusing to kill. It was always disable the weapon, followed by non-lethal neutralization. She had half her face and one limb blasted away by the time she succeeded in completely incapacitating them, her chest riddled with burned, bleeding wounds. The man that shot her had nearly bled out in the melee, and she was forced to perform emergency cauterization of his wounds via the heated barrels of one of the weapons to save his life.

The muscles and skin, mimicking wearing a yellow outfit, began to quickly repair itself as she headed upstairs. These criminals, whoever they were, likely robbers from the looks of it, had upended the plan of staying here. No way the cops were not tracking these thieves.

"Karlie?" Westenra called out, heading to her 'room'. "Some random, unexpected visitors have just totally fethed the original plan. We have to move you. No way anyone outside did not hear that."

Meanwhile...

"This is rediculous! My employer signed all relevant documents one week before even entering the system!" Vera snapped at the transit authority official, resisting the urge to tear the bothersome old woman's throat out. "We even received the confirmation letter for permission to orbit!"

"I'm sorry ma'am but your documents have not been found in the system. We recently upgraded our computers, so perhaps some of the data got lost." The woman suggested in a suspiciously half hearted manner, straightening papers in front of her.

"We'll search again, but it will take time..."

"How much, exactly?" Vera asked snidely.

"Three standard business days."

"Not that. I mean, how much are they paying you to lose those documents?" Vera snapped. "I find even one whiff of corruption I'll have this place swallowing fines like a spring break alcohol binge!" Vera warned.

The old lady's response was stiff and formal, and made Vera want to murder the old woman and everyone she loved.

"I don't appreciate the insinuation, Miss Mina. Now if you want landing rights restored, it will take three business days..."

Vera was already out of the chair and heading out of the transit authorities building. As soon as she was behind a tall enough barrier, she stripped off her dress, the white, sparse spy gear hugging her figure as she decides to take a risk and force a "Hard Boot".

Her processors kicked into overdrive, instantly warping her flesh and hair, changing her appearance to her stealth configuration, that of a thin but muscular woman with pale skin an orange hair that flopped to her sides.

She activated the camouflage function and then went back into the building. First, she was going to cut that old woman's throat, then she was going to look for those files. THEN she was gonna sue the transit authority into oblivion!

Vera snickered at that last part as she approached the old woman's office, white vibrotanto drawn...

 

[Karlie Lynn Destat]

Iansade

Back out in the city street...

Flagging a cab was out of the question, in lieu of Sade's intent and purpose. Besides, how long could he work undercover if he had to depend on a local driver take him to and fro? Sade's gig would be up real soon, and no amount of hush credits could guarantee a cabby's tight lips. No, he'd have to eventually flash burn both cab and driver at some point or another.

Exiting the dinner, his eye immediately caught the black speeder sedan. No doubt it had been carefully parked there away from the others by a meticulous owner, which clearly meant that it's drives and buffers, like its high polished exterior, were in prime working order. It begged to be taken.


~ ~ ~
Alzteri's Holonews Network couldn't be said to be lacking. If only their police and intelligence agencies were as finesse. But in many ways, it were to Sade's advantage that the system police here was a bit antiquated, otherwise he'd have them up to his neck already.
He were an agent of Castagne. More to the point, a foreign agent, even to the CIS itself as he and his bureau only served Castagne. This made his on goings and actions here on another CIS system illegal in so many ways. He was certainly out of his jurisdiction, being off Castagne and on another CIS independent world.

And then there was the IBI agent running amok to consider...Karlie Lyn Destat.
Sade had pieced together as to the riot that had transpired in these very street the day of the HutBall game...yesterday. A few establishments were still recovering, waiting on new glaze for their storefronts. There had been a lot of smashing of storefronts and what not for no apparent reason other than to protest unfair serving rules...something with little significant to the whole of the local economy, which by the way seemed well established. Still, whatever had triggered the city's riot the day before, Sade had narrowed it down to Karlie.
That girl was raw plutonium.
Strike that.
That fireplug was refined weapon's grade plutonium....enriched for the greater part.

"Gah!...what the hell did you do now, Karlie?" He said to self, shaking his head as he pulled the borrowed speeder over on the opposite side of the speedway.
The median, scorched trees... the speeders, the police cruisers ...limos?...all charred. But he could guess by the models that they were from two distinct hotels services. There was evidence even from his angle of view that it were not just an accident which had taken place here earlier.
His eyes scanned the scene, despite the wreckage being in the process of being hover towed. It were evident that the police investigation were still concentrated on the wreckage and not at all on the scorched burned marks which his keen eyesight immediately picked up on the outcrop of trees fronting the woods.

"Come on, move it along you...nothing to see here." An officer helping direct traffic on his side of the speedway had come over to his stopped vehicle.

"Oh, I'm sorry officer... Jake Stratos-..." Sade started exiting his speeder, as he introduced his self.

"Sir, please get back inside your-" the officer's tone became irate, before Sade cut him off.

" ...-of the Environmental Protection Agency." he then said, pulling out what seemed to be his credentials.
In the same instant, he started to point, direct the officer's attention to the scene of the transpired accident/terrorist strike as it was still being seen as.
"I was called here to assist, by the Water and Parks commissioner. " he had flashed the credentials just long enough for the officer to assume it were what Sade said he was.

"There's a freshwater stream running alongside the ditch here, where the two limos-" Sade was certain that the two main vehicles were what they appeared to be, however damaged they were.
"-collided. There's concern that such a multi-vehicle accident, with the reported possibility of a terrorist strike against the administration (police) resulting in the two civil service vehicles burning were a result of a ruptured tritium core breech...." Sure, some older model of speeders were known to use such power cores, before the induction of greener energy sources. Sade was gambling that the officer, whom had a low level civil government position was not up on all the new tech, but would recollect the old tritium cores protocols that had been made obsolete.
Sure enough, the officer bought it, as it were a bit too over his head, remembering the tritium concerns and mandates.

"Uhm... Ok, sure. But the vehicles are being moved right now. Shouldn't they remain-" The officer started to say.

"No." Sade flat out replied, removing his shades before replacing them in his breast pocket, and making a beeline for the limo closest to the tree line.

"The tritium is ejected. " He continued, with the officer briskly keeping pace. Sade was for the most part, acting the part of an EPA official. Someone who at this point which involved an environmental threat had as much jurisdiction as the police did at this site.
"If the core had ruptured and caught ablaze along with the vehicles, it would have leveled this entire area where we stand."

The trooper mindlessly took a step back, before realizing it were a futile attempt on his part in avoiding the said disaster. It was hypothetical and unlikely to happen now that the vehicles were extinguished.

Sade were walking over to the place where the incidents seemed to have taken a turn...where the occupants seemed to have exited the scene.
Of course, the officer couldn't read the minute tell-tale imprints on the ground. Sade was after all a tracker. It kind of came with the territory...you know; agent...spy... assassin, ahem.

What the ICI agent (Sade) initially determined was that there were three. ...then four... finally five distinct impressions that were unfolding a story before him.
Three were female... boots one, stilettos the other, then Karlie! he knew her mark...knew it in his sleep.

Stilettos then became bare, as Sade picked up the minute impressions off the grass. That and the discarded stiletto he eyed a few meters away.
This certainly accounted for three women. Bare foot female impressions then became more pronounced... like the woman were carrying extra weight. Karlie?
Why was Karlie being carried off? Was this an elaborate botched kidnapping?
Sade continued to read out the scene....

The other stylish boot mark (third woman) was all over everywhere, as it seemed to be in a kind of hop-scotch dance with what were distinctively Mando boots marks.
A fight?
YES, a fight incurred between the two boots, one Mando, the other female. The three females then fled....from the Mando!...into THE WOODS!
Sade's jaw tightened, as he gritted his teeth

Of course the EMS and police boot marks had composed their own concerto number on the grass too. But those had been cut from the scene before the females took off. Their fate took a different path. Sade weren't interested in the police and EMS, but the females and that frak'n Mando, who ever he was.

Like, really? WTF!!..he thought to his self.
How could this blonde find and cause so much havoc everywhere she went, Sade were thinking.

"Uhm...Mr. Strato, sir?... " The officer was still about, observing Sade's interest in the trampled grass.
"Is there something you see that I should include in my report?"

Sade stood back up, reaching for his shades and putting them back on. he were looking away, opposite the woods he so desperately wanted to enter. But he had to shake the police off him. He couldn't very well dispatch this poor fella, not with all the other police and investigators buzzing about the site.

"No, nothing outside of what you already have on file, officer. Whomever had hit the police cruiser seems to me to have targeted the limos first to attract, set a trap for the officer in the cruiser. That person seems to have long vacated the scene....then again, such speculations are out of my scope and more fall on your own expertise.
Anyway, I'll have to find that core of tritium on my own. It doesn't appear that it's casing has been compromised, so there doesn't seem anything at this present time to be too concerned about. Still, hate to leave it lying about somewhere. Eventually the casing could leak through time and then there'll be other issues to deal with, being close to a fresh water source. " Sade went on to explain, now intent on loosing the officer for good.

"I'll scout some more around, see if I can't spot the casing before I call for equipment back up. You are free to continue the accident investigation, I'll wrap up this end of the incident." And so he was able to send the officer back to his colleagues that were still piecing together the accident and the report of a terrorist in a Mando outfit.


~ ~ ~
The tracks led to an secluded area by the greater waterway. It were there upon following the bare feet of the heavy laden female that he then came upon Karlie's foot prints and...and Karlie's butt impression by the banks. Yes, Karlie had been carried up this far into the woods and had been set down while conscious by the looks of the impressions. There were no indication of any struggle or resistance on Karlie's part...no kick marks as he had come to know Karlie often did while resisting. But the bare foot woman's impressions were lighter, shallower as barefooted woman was no longer as heavy.
Sade wondered as to why the barefoot female carried Karlie and not the booted one. It made little sense to him, this.

It definitely appeared the party stayed awhile... the booted female was certainly with them... again, no signs of any struggle. The trail then once more continued on, showing Karlie was off her feet again.

It weren't till the dead of night that Sade came upon what looked like an outcrop of factory buildings...old...abandoned... perfectly secluded. They were there for sure.
He stood in the thickets a moment, listening, scoping the premises trying to pick up any nuances which would tell him if anyone was there inside somewhere and if they had any idea that they had been tracked and found.
Then came the speeders. Sade retracted deeper into the darkness that the thickets provided.

This group of people were unlike what he suspected he'd be up against. They were all male. None that he could make out as refined agents but more or less brawlers, grunts...a gang of sort and of the wounded chap?..the Mando maybe?
No. He were no Mando by his whining...no.
It soon became quite evident as whom they were. Criminals.
Sade followed them in like a cat on the prowl, keeping enough distance so as not to be spotted. Hell, he could have been right next to one in the cover of shadows and they wouldn't have had a clue. But he would be risking exposure nevertheless getting too close. It weren't necessary as he had for the most part keen eyesight and hearing. They were on the lamb, a robbery of sort and were not at all connected with the ones who were with Karlie.
He were here to find Karlie.

These clowns were here by coincidence, Sade came to conclude. Unfortunately, these yahoos realized they were not the first to arrive here. They were now complicating the situation, the minute they all got jittery and started to scope out the building for others. No doubt they'd find the group with Karlie. Whether they would complicate matters or not, Sade wasn't sure, as he withdrew his blaster.
Someone was coming down the dilapidated stairs.

Okay...So that was the booted female then, he observed... his one brow lifted as he took notice of her form and function...prime breeding female, his subconscious nudged him.
Sade followed the female's catlike waltz toward the group of men, whom some took to surrounding the woman. He at first found himself pitting her and were feling the need to maybe stop the girl before she got herself way over her head. She was most certainly a dish...oh yea...

"Shiet"... he cussed to his self.
Sade suddenly found his self aroused as he were eyeing the candy. He knew what the girl had deployed for distraction, as he had momentarily fallen into the haze himself. The female had to have released an aerosol discharge in the air, prior to her appearance. Sade was familiar with such tactical use of various gas grenades. It were mostly used for distraction. this one aimed at virile males...humans, like himself. Damn shiet worked...too well sometimes.

Interesting he then thought... the girl may just be the distraction he needed to- uhm...
To?... to what again?
Oh yes, find Karlie. Right.
"Shiet"... again he cussed to himself, being drawn again into the same trap those goons were in.
Oh how wickedly cunning this little number was, he thought. These suckers had no clue they were following their primal instinct. But what were she to gain by that, and with the odds against her?
Stupid girl.
Stupid men.
Neither, he thought had a clue as to what could transpire from this game play. Sade started to head around the party and get to the upper floor. It was where the babe had come down from...it were where the other two women were. Sade had not spotted Vera leave, so assumed the barefoot woman was with Karlie upstairs.

Shame waste of a good looking girl though... he were still thinking of that sexy creature about to inadvertently get pounded.
Stupid...stupid girl. But he remained on track despite his urge to-
To what? Help a stupid girl that had little clue as to what she were getting herself entangled with? Shiet, he thought, that very same girl could have kidnapped Karlie. Maybe she did deserve what she were selling/asking those goons. Someone should have explained better to the girl what exactly she deployed.

Well, neither did the goons nor Sade know what was going to go down that very minute following.
A blaster fire rang out of nowhere, prompting Sade to dart for the stairs. Whatever was taking place behind him, afforded him that distraction he were looking for. Sade darted up the stairs, blaster shoulder high and straight ahead of him.
First room...second room...third room clear. Forth room, VIOLA!
Karlie!
YES!!!

Naturally he startled the blonde, but Sade were intent on neutralizing the other woman, the bare foot woman, and kept his offensive up and ready to fire at any other queen that popped her/his/its head out.
But it were just Karlie in the room.
Like, where the frak was that other queen?! He spun around, still brandishing his firearm in a ready fire, finger on the hair pin trigger, but no other woman.

Karlie of course was besides herself and rightly hobbled on over to him.
"Whoa..whoa..get down!" He urged karlie with his hand, stopping her from jumping on him, if that were her intention.

Karlie asked 'who?' when Sade asked her as to where the other barefoot woman was.
"Who?...the other woman, who!" Sade gritted his teeth in frustration. Who else could he be asking about, for Palpatine's sake!
Again the 'who was he taking about?' she asked, quite confused loosing her temper now, as she were not in the best of moods right now.
Yes, both asked those very same stupid questions back and forth, one following the other. Neither understood as to what the other were referring to at first. Sade thought little time were allotted them and this blonde was giving his lip?

"Berkana! Two women besides you!...the one getting gang banged downstairs..." He were literally speaking.
"...and the one that carried you here. So where the frak is that barefoot queen?!" Sade demanded, moving around Karlie to check her for any trip mechanisms or what not that kidnappers usually tag their victims with. None other than a plaster cast.

'Vera?... Vera was barefoot and Westenra had just gone downstairs-' Karlie took to explain, now that she understood whom Sade were asking about, before realizing that she were not there alongside Sade.
'Wait, where's Westenra?' Karlie then went on asking, seeing only Sade had come back. As far as Karlie knew, the speeder and people she heard downstairs were with Sade, her rescue party.

Sade didn't know who Westenra was, never heard of her before. If that was the Westenra that was being passed around downstairs, then no doubt in his mind, she were spent.

"Westenra's dead. Lets's go!" He took hold of Karlie in one hand and lead the blaster in the other.
This was a factory, or had been one, some time ago...there were other stairwells about.
he were set on getting both out of there ASAP before those goons came looking for more pie.
"Come on!...what are you doing?
Stop your yapping and get moving!" He couldn't believe Karlie were fighting him... The queen had gone loco, like the stupid girl and the pheromone grenade she had certainly deployed in the midst of horny dogs.
So what that the girl Westenra was getting what she asked for. It weren't his, nor Karlie's concern. Still, it did play on his mind the unfortunate fate the girl had gotten herself into.
She was by all accounts...attractive.
Sade had to shake those flashbacks of the girl slinking her way down those stairs like that. He were not immune to the pheromones himself. he just had to keep his focus elsewhere, that's all...keep it on Karlie.
Interesting though... aside from Karlie looking like she went through a ringer, the blonde looked rather-
"Shiet!" He cussed, realizing how the effects of the pheromones were ever creeping into his center core. Maybe he should plant her a kiss, no?
NO!!!
He had to consciously shake that notion out of his brain. What was he doing?

Then... no more ruckus.
Oh great, the party downstairs had concluded, he then thought. The woman trashing and screams echoing about downstairs had ceased. The girl Westenra was either dead by now or unconscious. There was no doubt in his mind that with the pheromones still lingering in the air, that the goons were certainly going to come check upstairs now for more party favorites.
There was no time to argue with Karlie. She had to be in some kind of shock or had been drugged to be acting concerned about the stupid girl.

He wasn't going to fight Karlie on leaving. They had to leave one way or another, as he were picking up footsteps coming up the stairs. The hard up goons weren't getting to Karlie, no way no how.

"Karlie...
I'm sorry, but we're leaving now."
Sade had no choice but to punch her lights out.

* POW * *
* * *

 

[Karlie Lynn Destat]

Replaying an old memory ~ ~ ~ ~

His eyes had but just once grazed her as he passed over the group. She knew him!
Karlie's mind searched her memories...she had excellent recall by the way...and there he was in white armor looking down on her. Karlie were only six then and was on the ground with a bruised knee.
Bo, his name was. Bo, whom she had know like, forever. Well Ok, Boriskno was under the service of her father at the time, before he were asigned back to the corps, as she had understood it back then.
Now here he was, her drill instructor of all things. Coincidence?
As Karlie had known Bo as a child, he were part of her world back then. Boriskno Fel Set , a Major at the time, was Tarssin's and for the most part the Destat's key security head. He resided within the Destat Estates, often finding his self interacting with the young Destat. Unknown to Karlie, he had taken to her, like a faithful watchdog.

Here she now stood eyes fixed on the Colonel..the Castan marine Colonel. Karlie were what the corp considered a boot, a maggot begotten from fonder that had vision of grander to become a Castan Marine. It was her first day at Boot Camp.

Her lips parted to call him by name as Bo continued to inspect the recruits he were somehow unfortunately and according to him, cursed with such pathetic looking bunch of wetbacks. Well, she figured he's remember her surely and maybe not sneer at her so much like had done to all of them.
But before she could utter the first syllable, and Bo by the way had already passed her and was about 5 recruits down already when suddenly he spun around and in three steps got his face right within skin distance of her's, stopping her dead cold.
Yes, he barked at her, startling the young Karlie taking her off balance, nearly blowing her over like a carnivorous wolf.

No, it didn't go too well that day and the weeks following. Seemed Bo, her trusty and faithful friend, confidant as a little girl no longer knew her, no longer brought a smile on her features each and every time she saw him. Now he only brought about tears...pain...humiliation...and countless punishing reps. She were always face down in the dirt, often her face on his boot as she did reps, perfect reps otherwise they didn't register with him.
oh how she hated him. Hated Bo not for what he were doing, but for him not caring like he did when he were looking after her. Now all he did was ride her all the time...more than the others. there was little she did that were satisfactory to him. In her mind, she figured Bo must have hated babysitting her back then as a child. Now it was payback time for all the headaches she put him through.

All those first weeks Karlie only knew pain, was sore all the time and Bo just kept on pushing, demanding more and more day after day after day...

Graduation came and Karlie came forth upon the podium to speak. She had made first spot, lieutenant leader, at the Castan Academy. Bo stood proud alongside her as were the other military instructors. Karlie, now 18 stood erect, confident, proud and by GOD, buffed! She had transformed from a bookworm into a Castan Marine leader. Her induction into the IBI executive branch had been secured.
Her graduation speech were unanimously applauded by her graduating peers that had made the cut as Castan Marines.

Bo then pinned the achievement award on her lapel. His features were stern, motion were perfectly executed...
Karlie caught the glimmer of tears in his eyes. Bo held them back as Karlie's orbs entered his. She understood. She knew she wouldn't have gotten through training, let alone boot camp if he hadn't pushed her beyond what she thought were her limits. She felt his hand tap her medal once he pinned it on her. She herself were unmoving other than going through the perfect militarized ceremonial motions. But deep inside she were besides herself. Bo, her once protector, confidant and family when she were a little girl, was still Bo.

Karlie's father were among the spectators, the VIP up on the right of the podium on the tarmac of the airfield. He were just as proud as Bo. Somehow she could feel them in her center, her soul. And unknown to her at the time, Iansade was among the VIP next to her father Tarssin.

~ ~ ~ ~

"Gasp!" Karlie's eyes shot open wide.
Sade? Sade had been there? How had she not noticed him or remembered him from the ceremony? Karlie had met Sade two yeas later when she was assigned on coordinated mission between the IBI and ICI. It had been an Infernal Journey these two.
"Sade?..." she blurted out before recalling 'Lights Out'.

"SADE!!"
Sade had hit her!
Like, WTF?!! Karlie sat up, instinctively feeling her jaw. It barely registered the blow. Seemed the jerk knew how to knock her out without leaving too much a tell-tale sign.
Then again, her abdomen sent a sharp reminder to her nervous system of her broken ribs and injuries. That's right, it all came back to her as to her present crisis...last she recalled.
Wait...she was in a speeder now...back seat-
She turned to meet up with Vera's questioning eyes. What about Sade? Vera knew of him. Had met him on Castle Morpheus and had been the one to block her from seeing Karlie the other day.

"Sade." Karlie repeated, confused as to how Vera didn't know whom she were talking about..
Ok, so she could like kill the jerk for punching her for sure. But where was he now?
Karlie then realized Westenra was up front operating the speeder. Still where was that jerk Sade? Karlie had a mind to slug-
No, she were so infuriated that he could hit her, that she were Hell bent on slugging/kicking him where the sun didn't shine. The nerve of him. It didn't matter what reason he had. he had no cause....ever! Of course she didn't know that Sade had on several unique circumstances had done just that very same neutralizing her, quite a few instances.

"Sade." Karlie repeated again. Were everyone on drugs? How could Vera be acting like she hadn't seen Sade when-
oh wait, that's right, Vera wasn't there when Sade showed up to rescue her.
"Yes, Sade. He was the moron who punched me, Vera...where did he go?" Karlie went on to ask.
It was then that Westenra abruptly turned her head to look back on Karlie, disregarding piloting the speeder.

"OMG...
Westenra!...what did you do with Sade?!"

 

[Vera Mina]

Westenra hadn't known it was Ian Sade when she spotted him knocking out Karlie Lynn Destat . Understandably, the biot was very protective of her older Sister's crush and as this was her Stealth form, the creature sprinted silently with freakish speed, her arms turning into transclucent, whip like tentacles that put him in a sleeper hold as quickly and painlessly as she could, her legs turning to tentacles as she restricted his attempts to move, tumbling to the ground with him, keeping a lock until he was out cold. Strong fellow. He had almost broken it.

Almost.

The Biot rose once he was out cold, admiring his nineties heart throb looks for a second before realizing she had choked out Colonel Sade and let out her first ever string of curses, one for knocking out an ally by accident, (She would pray to the Atrisian Gods for forgiveness later) two because she would have to wait to get his number. Because Nineties. Heart. Throb.

Her enhanced hearing detected something. Footsteps. Soft ones.

Not wanting to take chances Westenra reached into Vera's duffle bag, pulled out two of those Katanas that Mother was going to market for sale. She leapt down just as the new combatant kicked open the doors.

Westenra raised an eyebrow as the petite, near impossibly beautiful woman entered, clad in a flesh colored catsuit, armed with a double bladed lightsaber emitting purple beams. Her hair was black, her eyes purple.

The Amalgam looked around at the unconscious criminals.

"Getting our vigilante on, were we?" The Witch asked playfully.

"You are one of the Sith?" Westenra asked innocently.

"I work for them. Am I a Sith, personally? No. I'm farrrrr too much of a free spirit, dear." The Amalgam sneered angling her double saber at The Biot.

"What do you want?" Westenra asked firmly, backing away.

"Oh, a little song, a little dance, Karlie's soul, on a lance..." The Witch answered. "Be a good little droid and maybe I won't consume your life. Give me the scientist."

Westenra angled her own blades at the witch.

"I'm afraid I'll have to kill you if you are so insistent..."

"Wow, that movie reference flew completely over your head, didn't it?" The Amalgam asked.

"I've never watched a movie." Westenra admitted.

The Amalgam gave a tsk-tsk sound.

"I'd reccomend cheesy action horror, but you'll be dead shortly." The Shi'ido sneered.

The Witch sprang forward, and Westenra was caught off guard. She thought 'she' was fast. The Amalgam was faster. Westenra had gone from being in control of the situation to using every ounce of her predictive combat algorithms to survive the barrage of saber strikes with her blades via spinning, ducking, and parrying, even though the Amalgam actually was faster. The Amalgam's frustration grew as she slashed and stabbed at her, before giving a snarl of surprise as Westenra managed to cut one end of her saber in half, leaving the other blade active.

The Witch snarled and discharged thick, accurate barrages of purple lightning. Westenra blocked with the katanas, special models of vibrosword weapons developed in The Castle Labs to grind lightning. The biot pressed forward, and The Amalgam tried to grip her with the Darkness, only to feel surprise that she was nearly impossible to grip for her, the biots flesh merely shuddering around the area of the throat.

Homicidal fury gripped the Witch as she surged the Dark Side through her, the muscles in her body bulging as she swung her remaining purple blade with a roar, driving the biot to her knees as she defended against the attacks mimicking Shien's Falling Avalanche technique. But The Biot being the most advanced of Nine's creations was not considered such for nothing.

As The Amalgam raised her blade, shrieking in fury, Westenra let her form collapse into a translucent mass that pounced on her. The Witch cried out in surprise as she was covered in the amoeba like substance, which, since it coud fit through spaces nearly as thin as a pencil in this state, proceeded to give The Amalgam one if the single most painful, horrific deaths the body-hopping abomination had ever suffered.

She went in through the Amalgam's nostril, pouring down her esophagus as the witch spasmed in pain on the ground, as her body bulged with the increased mass, the biot's tissue turning to spikes that stabbed from within, erupting through the Amalgam's suit, but always, always making sure to push and tear at vital organs until two spikes finally went through her brain. Let's just say Ryan Reynolds got off easy in that one scene in Life.

(WESTENRA WINS)

(FLAWLESS VICTORY)

(FATALITY)

The Amalgam's body broke down into rotting flesh and spoiled fat as her screaming, humiliated spirit, still in mental pain from an extraordinarily traumatic death raced back to her ship as a trail of purple light to inhabit a back up body and prevent being hurled into chaos, her suit partly burned out as Westenra's amoeba like mass slid out of the suit, reforming her body quickly, covered in spoiled yellow blood that seemed to quickly slide off of her as she knealt down to examine the part of the saber she had sliced off. The emitter and crystal chamber was still intact. Westenra salvaged it, having analyzed The Amalgam's fighting style for replication.

Not knowing who she had just momentarily defeated, Westenra proceeded to extract Karlie and Sade into the speeder they had first come in, putting Ian in the trunk. It would be difficult enough to explain one unconscious person in the vehicle. Two visibly unconscious people was just the start of a joke.

"Gods you are cute..." She remarked out loud as she shoved the unconscious man in a trunk. "I'd let you pilot a stealth vehicle ANY day."

Meanwhile.

Vera, in her own stealth form, her revealing spy gear showing pale skin on a thin but athletic frame finished smashing the old woman's skull in on her own desk, but not before forcing her to uncancel the landing permissions, then wiping the logs of the change. She then hoisted her body up and proceeded to drink blood out of her victim's cracked open head, her flesh shuddering as it took in the nourishment, amazingly not getting any on her. She then tossed the corpse aside, slinked out the office, having gotten the information she wanted. The Security feeds in the building had been disabled by her.

She had worked quickly, as since she had hard booted to this form, she would have to wait for her processors to cool down for a long, long while before she could shape shift. She could feel the warmth of them in her own brain. She did not have long before reverting to her civilian guise.

She barely cleared the building in time, slipping on her white dress as her flesh wriggled and warped back into Vera's appearance, and she then got out a com-link only to find Westenra's speeder pulling up with her darling blonde unconscious in the back. Vera's fury swelled as her android eyes detected the mild bruise Ian had left.

The biot huffed as she got in the car with her sister.

"I found out where the signal is being jammed." Vera said. "Transmission tower on the other side of the city. We take it out, we restore comms to the Morpheus."

"That's great!" Westenra said as she piloted.

"What happened to Karlie?" Vera asked.

Karlie answered Vera's question a second later as she shot awake, yelling Sade's name.

"Sade?! Karlie, what about the Colonel?" Vera asked, confused.

"I...kinda knocked him the feth out when he tried to take Karlie. I think he was tracking us. I didn't realize who he was. He is fething cute though--"

"Karlie is cuter." Vera insisted offhandedly.

"He's in the trunk, unconscious. I only choked him out, didn't hurt him...oh by the gods he's so gorgeous--!"

"Westenra..." Vera said dryly.

"Oh, right, the task." The Android replied, taking directions to the tower.

Vera turned to Karlie. "I'm so sorry I had to leave you. Does it still hurt?"

 

[Ian Sade]

Click went the lock, and PEW, a blaster bolt shot out from the trunk of the speeder.

At the first glimpse of Westenra, who by the way was the one not only opening up the trunk, but also had been the one who had not disarmed the Colonel once realizing he were an ally. He were simply placed in the trunk as he was...still armed.

Unfortunately Ian had never met Nine's new Biot daughter. Being that he had come upon Karlie all disheveled upstairs in the abandoned factory warehouse, after getting past the good'ol gang banging party downstairs, and last but not least, getting bested by what just opened the trunk on him. He were aiming for her head, Westenra's head whom he had caught a glimpse of before she morphed into--well, it hadn't been human what took out his lights.

Sade were about to pull off a second shot, as the Biot was momentarily taken by surprise, however did manage to react fast enough to avoid the searing plasma bolt to her head, but unfortunately her shoulder got the full discharge of Sade's weapon. the percussion jerked her enough for Sade to bear down for a good clear shot to her head. Only his hair-pin trigger stayed. Stayed because of the scream.
No, not from the Biot, no.
It were from Karlie. It were a panic driven sound off of her NOOOO! which stayed his trigger finger from firing round two.

Sade was half way out the speeder with one hand pushing the trunk up while the other fired off his weapon.
He had been focused, ready and intent on dispatching the Biot and whom ever else were with it. Lucky for him, his reaction to stay were at a level above normal meat puppets. He was after all, well trained...or should we point out...self trained.

Of course, it still took a second for his brain to process all of the rest...Vera, Karlie screaming You Idiot!! and of Westenra, the one with the smoking shoulder wound who by the way looked surprised. It took but a second to process it all before he raised his weapon up and away from the Biot. There were no doubt in his mind now that it were one of Nine's new toy operatives. Sade still had no idea of the full aspect of what Nine Lives potential was capable of creating, much less destroy. But he knew enough that Nine and her so called children, as he often heard Nine refer to her Biot creations, were Castagne's only real allies.
Still, why did that Nine have to make these hardware look so-....so real?


Minutes earlier....

Sade came to in total darkness, having blinked several times to realize he were in some kind of sealed container... a transport container maybe? He could feel the carrier or whatever he were in was in motion and certainly speeding.
Feeling around, he not only discovered he were in a trunk of a speeder, but that he still possessed his blaster. Of course it were a shoulder holster type, concealed under his jacket, but still...what moron had not searched him over before stuffing him in a speeder trunk?
Ahhh....a moron who had assumed he were dead, that's who, Sade deduced. Good. Good then...he's have a surprise for when and if they stopped and opened the trunk.
Of course there was that possibility of them stopping and dumping the speeder along with what they though contained his carcass into a river or body of water...hmm.
Sade felt around for the lock. It were un-shielded, which should enable him to shoot it out without too much ricochet. He was quite cramped and would have to risk firing dead blank so close to himself. maybe twist?..angle his self so that worse case scenario his arm would take the-

His thoughts suddenly reverted back to his first option; taking out whomever it were that opened the trunk, as the speeder finally did come to a stop. Sade couldn't hear whom it were outside as the trunk were sound proof. But he could certainly hear the click of the solenoid lock before the trunk got opened... PEW!



Back to the present...
...quite a few minutes past the first scene really. Lots of finger pointing condensed between Sade and the blonde. So, minutes later for sure.

Westenra was the new Biot's name, he learned. It had come up a few times between him and Karlie.
in short, the condensed version of what followed the shot.
"You were told-
No, you were ordered to jump back to Castagne, Karlie! Not go on one of your escapades, chasing skirt." Ooh..that outburst could well have set of an atomic detonator if not a thermal one.
At her best, the blonde would have gone nuclear. But Karlie were not at her best and she had quickly discovered that shouting and stammering about was in fact very painful. Broken ribs, if one recalls.

"Yea, you heard me. You think I don't know what's eating you lately? It's a machine..." he gestured at the very ideology of a perfect woman; Vera.
" it's not real but a facsimile ." Nope, the man had no filter. He were ICI and this was his ward at the moment; Karlie.
"They are no different than the droids you recovered."
Fingers continued pointing back and forth and occasionally Sade getting the middle finger when Karlie couldn't retort back for lack of supporting evidence at what she were cussing Sade about.

"Jelous?
Jelous... who, Me?!
You're out of your freakin mind!" Yes, it spun around the finger go round to Karlie going for a low kick.
But for what transpired verbally and such, it eventually wound down, as both were human after all and couldn't go on at these elevated levels of emotions for too long a time.

Eventually, a long..long minute of silence followed when all were said and done. They had gone about in circles a few times and it had gotten them pretty much nowhere. Besides, they were out in the open and on a speedway. Lucky for them it were way past the end of happy hour and all of the drunk speeder operators were already passed out comfortably at home..on the couch or dog house depending on their debauchery.
It was time for them to get going again. Vera had indicated the travel restrictions had been lifted and they were clear to leave this system.



The seating arrangement...

"Pain receptors huh?" He asked the speeder operator; Westenra. She was back at the pilot seat....piloting them toward their destination. Sade was up front in the passenger seat next to her. The other two were in the back. Karlie had refused to sit next to Sad..., obviously.
That awkward silence up front that followed once underway was broken by Sade.

"I noticed the look...your reaction to the shot " he then said, looking over to Westenra. Her features, her profile in the light of the full moon was perfection. Nine could certainly construct a woman, that was a given. "I know when someone feels pain." So human like these two were in so many ways and aspects. Sade were slowly figuring out these past months of Nine's so called daughters. yes, he had picked up on that a while ago....

"I figure you have emotional processors that came along with that." He was just guessing, but half correct as the new Biot was learning, developing that part on her own. It was what he was figuring. Then again, they proved to be loyal, if not to him, then to Karlie his ward. They were all seemingly playing on the same team.

"It got a bit heated back there with..." he forego the name, but gestured with his head toward the back.
It was then that his peripheral caught Karlie's head snuggled against the Biot Vera. The blonde had fallen asleep. Well this reaffirmed the bond, the connection and trust between these bots and organics..Karlie namely.

"We say a lot of things in the heat of the moment..." wait, was he....apologizing? It was so unlike him...generally.

"I didn't mean anything pertinent concerning your characteristics. I don't know if an apology could reset any damage I may have generated." he paused a moment, looking forward as they approached the metropolitan area again.

"I admit I have a lot to learn about you...you both, actually..."

 

[Vera Mina]

"Y'know...I feel bad leaving him in the trunk like that..." Westenra spoke as she piloted to the transmission tower in the distance. She was given pause in amazement as it came into view.

It stretched into the sky, a fine, silvery needle srrounded at its base by statues of ancient Azterri explorers. It was full on nighttime at this point, where the point for a gritty reboot was best.

"Whoa..." Vera remarked, momentarily caught off guard by its majesty.

Westenra got off the road...it was thankfully empty due to the rioting and the fact the city was celebrating joining the CIS by getting massively drunk. Westenra waited, looking for passers by before getting out of the vehicle.

"Westenra, you did disarm Colonel Sade?" Vera thought to ask in alarm though tragically two seconds too late before she was also out of the vehicle having heard the blaster fire.

For Westenra, she saw the glint of the barrel and that was what caused her to move, though not fast enough to avoid it entirely and her shoulder caught the brunt of it, knocking her down.

She stared at her wound, stared at one of her wounds for the first time and saw it knitting together.

She saw the glint of the barrel and was about to twitch-dodge, Neo-style, when the scream of Karlie Lynn Destat stopped him from pulling the trigger.

Vera could only watch in delight as Ian and Karlie almost completely forgot about them and started arguing. This was good for it allowed Vera to observe Karlie when she was mad at someone, her databases recording the knowledge as reference for how angry she might become were she to discover the truth.

Then Ian, likely because he was not a fool blurted it out. Vera panicked, as Ian had pulled some Adam West scale chit off at that instant.

It was the Morpheus. It had to have been the Morpheus Incident. The mutation in her quarters. Ian must have been much more suspicious than he let on. Perhaps it had been relatively easy for him given how Nine followed basic spy novel supervillain rules: If you already encountered one beautiful but deadly android warrior in the supervillain lair that took you to said lair to begin with, and you saw an escaped experiment, and you just finished getting choked the feth out by another beautiful but deadly android warrior and shooting it, it would only be natural to assume Vera was one also.

Fortunately, Vera had to force herself not to smile as Ian experienced denile from Karlie, who started yelling he was jealous. This idea amused Vera as she watched Ian become flustered: Ian was Nineties Heart Throb but Karlie was Cute Blond Angel With Perfect Skin And Divine Blood. She stirred Vera in a way Ian never could. Westenra however seemed charmed by him. She was semi grinning as she stood up while they argued, her wounds having vanished in seconds. Her clothing--actually part of her skin--fully repaired also.

"Busted..." Westenra whispered to Vera as she joined her side.

"If you had remembered to fething strip him instead of fawning over his looks you would not have been shot." Vera whispered back.

Ian and Karlie finally seemed to get their argument under control. Without comment, Westenra opened the doors to the speeder and they all got in. Vera eagerly joined Karlie in the back, both to listen to her concerns and then feel once more eventually the joy of her falling asleep on her shoulder. Vera's face betrayed only slightly the severe enjoyment she was experiencing at that while Westenra got the pleasure of sitting next to Ian during the ride to the Comms Tower, explained that they had to restore communication to the Morpheus, as something was jamming their frequency.

Ian made the comment about her pain receptors and Westenra turned her head as she piloted.

"I feel physical pain, but only in specific circumstances...I don't feel conventional damage like that...I...had simply never paid attention to one of my own wounds before. I was feeling...surprise at how unnatural it was to me, healing that quickly...but you are right, in a sense..."

She snuck a glance at his Nineties Heart Throb looks and hid a small smile.

"I don't have processors Ian." she giggled a bit. "I have a custom brain that experiences emotion like you. There's nothing electronic about me. You won't find one wire. One circuit...unless we're talking about Vera..."

"Westenra." Vera said flatly.

"Too late Vera. He knows. And Karlie will know eventually. Just a matter of when and how at this point." Westenra replied casually as she piloted.

Vera sighed. Even she could not ignore the basic data on the inevitable reveal. She said nothing in response.

"No need for apologies, Ian...but I appreciate it all the same. You didn't do any permanent damage." Westenra assured him. "My design was made to recover from such damage extremely quickly."

When Ian said he had a lot to learn about them, Westenra smiled.

"I'm fascinated by gardening, for starters..."

"Gardening?" Vera said incredulously.

"Well what are 'you' fascinated by, Sister?"

"Checkers."

This caused more incredulity in Westenra and she turned to Ian with a look of clear disbelief.

"What?" Vera asked softly, intent on not waking her beloved Karlie.

"You-you're trolling me, right? Please tell me that was an attempt at trolling me." Westenra whispered to Vera.

"No."

"Why checkers? Why not something more sophisticated?"

"Checkers isn't sophisticated?" Vera questioned.

"Hell no." Westenra answered.

"Could have fooled me. Its the one game I can't beat Mother at."

Westenra snickered a little but covered it as a cough.

"You're an android, Sister. You don't cough." Vera noted, only mildly bemused.

"Checkers..." Westenra giggled a bit.

"Its like, really complicated!" Vera protested quietly to not stir Karlie. "Too many triangles..."

Fifteen minutes later...

They finally arrived at the tower, and Westenra grew alarmed as she saw no one at the security booth near the massive gate checkpoint.

Vera gently stirred Karlie awake as Westenra got out of the speeder to check the booth, getting out one of her Katanas and using her enhanced vision to spot the wiped away blood.

She gestured to Ian to follow her out.

"We have company...someone has already hit this place..." Westenra said to him.

Vera got in the piloting seat.

"I'll go ahead. The more defenders Karlie has the safer her chances of recovery are." Westenra said to Ian. "The signs of attack you no doubt came across earlier were from a Mandalorian. I drove him off but I think he should be just about done recovering from the wounds he got. Someone else also came for Karlie. A witch with purple eyes.

Westenra produced a piece of the Amalgam's severed emitter. Vera's eyes narrowed.

"That saber emitter. I've seen it before." Vera said, going deathly pale with rage as she spotted the damaged device. "That's the Amalgam's."

"Who?" Westenra asked.

"An extremely dangerous and homicidal shapeshifter."

"I killed it. We don't have to worry about her anymore." Westenra asserted.

"No you didn't." Vera promised her. "Trust me...she'll be back..."

(Original Terminator Theme Plays)

Westenra, though by no means insane, was juuuusst unnatural enough to catch the OOC music for a split second, flicking her head about in confusion for a few seconds to try and locate the source before ignoring it.

"Here..." she said, handing Ian one of her other katanas. "Might come in handy."

 

[Ian Sade]

Mother knows best.



Weeks earlier on the Morpheus...

Sade approached her. Karlie were for the most part washed, cleansed and gowned up...basically in the flesh under the hospital gown.
His eyes met those of his host a moment. They were locked on to one another for the few steps it took him to reach Karlie. He then observed the blonde's eyes...confusion. A little anxiety, but nothing close to panic, terror or fear...just confused as to her whereabouts.

"You Ok?" he asked, before meeting Nine's eyes again for a moment.

Karlie thought herself fine, just didn't know as to why she were in a hospital gown and in the health center, the infirmary.

"So, you ....don't remember?" He were speaking to Karlie, but his eyes were on Nine.

No, the blonde didn't remember. The meeting..the headache and leaving the meeting...

"You fainted." Ian then said, still fixed on Nine, before turning his full attention back to Karlie.
His hand went up to feel her forehead...cool to the touch.
"Thought you may have hit your head...fell forward you know. Couldn't reach you in time...just heard a thud."

He were making a fuss over nothing then, the way Karlie were seeing it, and was asked to stop. Of course by this time the blonde realized her gown were a bit... how can one describe it, but thin...sheer. Her modesty caused her to cross her legs and fold her arms over. It were apparent she felt a bit uncomfortable. Ian was after all a man.
"Alright, alright...going. " Ian then said moving away from the bed meeting up again upon Nine's orbs.
Yes, they had to talk....

From leaving Karlie, to the hallway, back to the conference room they talked. A few things previously not mentioned were...disclosed. Ian was all for hearing it.
Was he to write himself and his men off, he had asked.... for surely this was the part where there was only one way to check out of Hotel Gothic.
Absolutely not had been the answer his host returned him. So the two then continued to converse in private...in the conference room of course.
Ian learned that all of Nine's creations were considered her daughters. It were a concept hard to swallow with Ian, but he'd wrestle with that at a later time.
What he came to understand was that Nine was in similar circumstances as Castagne was. They both had deep rooted secrets and dark beginnings. What appeared on the surface was only a skin deep, like the crust on Castagne. What lay below both were like living magma, hot fires of hell... both currently being contained.

It was her daughter Vera. The deranged biot had been Vera, Karlie's counselor.
Nine opened up to Ian. For both parties to ally, then true intentions and trust had to start with truths.
It were a good exchange, the first conversation void of lies between Ian and Nine. Both understood as to why they should align.
One must note at this point and it is important; that Vera were not told by her mother of what she had disclosed to Ian following Karlie's memory wipe. For all intent and purpose since Ian had been there at tye scene, the biot would have assumed that her mother wiped Ian's memory too, for surely the meat puppet had not mentioned anything about it since he had left Castle Morpheous.

As their conversation went, Karlie's blood no doubt had properties one never expected to encounter. Nine had taken to analyse it. Sade had expected that whomever had Karlie, would likely have done so. More likely than not if they had any sense of biochemistry they would have figured out that the blonde had indeed reverted back to what humans once were...
So it went...
Sade reminded his host of what he had said about the blonde...the purity of it going back to primordial human existence, before recorded or lost history.

Castagne's anthropologists, including Castagne's religion (including Karlie)...believed that man and his kind had not originated in this galaxy, but had either been brought here or had migrated themselves from another. Either way, this galaxy had been void of man and his kind for many cycles of evolution among every non human life form that incurred in Skyriver.
Humans, had once been free of midis. It were in this galaxy that mitochondria were replaced by midicloreans. It had been a viral attack on human kind that would have wiped them all out, if their own cells had not adapted and established a symbiotic relationship with the midicloreans that now existed in every cell structure of human kind.

Karlie were the first human being since their induction into this galaxy that was once again free of midicloreans. Her cells had reverted back to the genetic blueprints for the mitochondria to once more regulate cell life. A research project spearheaded by Karlie herself code named Sebrix-9 had enabled Karlie to somehow or other revert back to original human design. An immune system had developed, perhaps it had been dormant in the wings of all humans all along, that now fought off the midicloreans from once again infect/infest the host. Perhaps humans naturally would have developed it, if they hadn't lost to the viral attack in the beginning. But perhaps since the entire galaxy was midi dominant now, the original virus that had brought about this change no longer existed as it had fully dominated the galaxy.

In the end, before Ian left Castle Morpheus with Karlie, there was an understanding between him and Nine Lives. It had all the workings of a new found relationship. Both seemed to have found their ally.


Present moment...

Sade had slipped up. It were easy to do sometimes especially when live wire Karlie pushed him. Berkana, how the blond could work him. She were the only one that did somehow.
But no, Sade knew that whatever the biot Vera in her many forms, had in some way attached herself to his ward, Karlie. As Sade had begun to see it, the biot was like some watchdog, never tiring, never sleeping, always on guard.... and it had self directed on it's own to protect Karlie. Of course this was how Ian could understand it as the idea or concept that a biot could be attracted to a living being in a manner other than a servant was still hard to grasp.
Watch dog...or more politically correct, sentry. A biot sentry with a program that focused to preserve the welfare of a living creature. In this case, the daughter of the Viceroy, Tarssin Destat.

Well, Ian's current understanding of what he had perceived as basic directives seemed to be more advanced than he initially had wanted to surmise. The truth of the matter was that whether or not the biot had a deeper emotional attachment to a living being...which by the way was still difficult for the man to swallow... the freakin blonde, Karlie was attached to it. A pet, he could only hope. Nope.
The blonde had an emotional attachment to the thing. Ian shook his head, looking back over Karlie sleeping there. She were resting her head on the biot's so called bosom like the thing were an actual living breathing warm blooded woman.

His eyes brushing over his sleeping ward, naturally came to meet Vera's. He looked into them, wondering what the biot was recording and analyzing of him. No doubt it had the full spectrum of both visual and invisible wavelengths... a walking MRI machine.
Yet...
Yet he no doubt would have been fooled had he met her on a social level.

Wait-
W...what was happening? He had experienced this over in the warehouse. He turned back around in his seat and looked over to Westenra. Yep... what were they? a blend of Estratetraenol.... Copulins? Just not only that, but it acted, interacted, like that of a real female.
Ian wasn't sure as what he could do about it. It was becoming a conscious effort the more he were around these two to keep thinking them of just tools, machines. Ok, well Westenra wasn't all machine. Still- Come on, she weren't human either.

Ian had kept his mouth shut for the duration of them two battering, till their speeder came to a stop. They had reached their destination the transmitter tower. Ian performed his weapon check. It were still for the most part fully charged.
Then out of the blue Miss Hottie handed him a sword. No, this wasn't going to work. Not if he didn't do something about it.

He gave a quick glance over to see where Karlie and Vera were, before his hand went to accept it. Yes, the two were out of range. Ian didn't take hold of the lacquered scabbard, instead he wrapped his hand around her wrist.
"Please don't do that." He got her attention. Oh how well she played the part of making like she didn't know what he were talking about. Too well...all too humanly well she were playing it.

"The pheromones.... " he then said looking into eyes. So convincing they were, like the touch of her wrist. Damn, she weren't cold at all and he could feel her pulse too.
Good Lord... if his mind couldn't rationalize the reality, he'd be in deep fodder by now.
"It's not fun at all for the one getting teased." Yes, he were speaking first hand experience at the moment.

He then let go her wrist, taking the sheathed katana. Yes, he had training with such blades...sufficient enough training and practice for his purpose. Just that he had come to know months ago, that it were no where proficient as Nine and certainly not of her creations either.

"If I can remain focused, I'd appreciate that..." He knew it's effect were diluted if he were producing adrenaline, like before and during a confrontation... like in a fight.. Just that at this moment -
Wait.
His heart rate had increased. He could definitely hear it in his head.
Ok, fighting adrenaline rather. That would cancel out the one brought into production by her pheromones.

"...Westenra."

 

[Westenra Mina]

(SELECT DIFFICULTY)

I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE

HURT ME PLENTY!

ULTRA-VIOLENCE!

NIGHTMARE!

ULTRA-NIGHTMARE!

YOU SELECTED: ULTRA-NIGHTMARE!



"Hmmm?" Westenra asked as Ian Sade took her wrist, with him saying not to do that. Westenra, Too distracted by feeling Ian's fingers on her pulse. It was firm, but not crushing. She actually felt it slacken a little in surprise at how real her skin felt. It wasn't unpleasant.

"Whatever do you-"

It took a few moments for it to register. The Pheremones. Ah.

"Oh." She said, somewhat embarrassed when he outright stated it. "Sorry about that."

Westenra concentrated, shutting down pheremone production. She needed Ian functional, not befuddled. "There. No more Pheremones."

He had an especially handsome contrast in the moonlight. It was possible to catch the faint purple glint at the very center of her pupils, her pink irises flickering about for a split second before blinking as he finally took the sword.

"But for future reference, Colonel...they work on skin contact also..." The biot added quietly, in an effort to be truthful.

Westenra grabbed her own Katana heading off into the tower, smiling as her back turned from him to break off into the tower.

"Ian, if I might be able to barrow your pistol?" Vera inquired politely. "I assure you...I'm a much better shot with it."

Meanwhile...

Westenra had little trouble using her Psychic Katana to cut through the door to the main tower lobby where there should have been two security officers on duty. This was one of the largest transmission towers on the planet: Westenra wouldn't have blinked at the presence of at least fully armed security droids.

She spotted tell tale signs of struggle. A scuffle mark here, a speck of blood there. But no bodies.

The biot moved around cautiously, sword undrawn. It didn't bother with the turbolifts. Those were likely booby trapped. She cut through the gates then immediately sheathed her katana and headed upstairs, not making a sound as she moved fluidly up the steps, heading up to the second level. She almost didn't notice the laser beam until her ankle was on the verge of crossing it.

Westenra stopped, spotting the det charge hidden behind a trash bin. She didn't try to tamper with it, as it likely had anti-handling features. Besides, she had no EOD programming. She looked for other devices, but, spotting none, carefully stepped over the device in question and continued into what looked like a small room for emergency power generation, the medium sized cylindrical generators glowing.

A hole was blasted directly into her heart and she dropped to her knees momentarily stunned, the heart already regenerating, just as she had picked up the sound of footsteps behind her.

She heard a click and moved out of the way on instinct, her right hand being blasted away.

The heart was repaired. The hole was not. The biot wheeled to face her attacker, a man in a grey suit and tie with a duster thrown over it, face covered in bandages, holding a slugthrower pistol. Her sword whipped in front of her to deflect the next bullet, spinning it and herself to parry the next 007 shots from gun.

A wrist mounted flame thrower shot out, bathing her in concentrated napalm. She took the full blast...and just stood there, burning. But her skin only turned black very very slowly.

"Only animals fear fire." Westenra said to him.

A wrist mounted cryo sprayer shot out, covering her in icy gas. It put out the flame...but the cryo chemicals only made her skin bubble slightly, turning a frosty white for a few seconds everywhere before returning to her previous colors.

"You'd have to bathe me in cryo chemicals for over a half hour before I would even start to feel it..." Westenra remarked stoically before smiling.

Westenra resumed her pheremone production since she was out of Ian's vicinity.

(Character Theme Song Power Up)

(Theme: "Simply Irresistible" by Robert Palmer)

The Man had drawn a vibrosword, but the biot had already backed away.

"Must we resort to violence?" Westenra flirted playfully as her pheremones laced the air. Unless he was wearing top of the line biotoxic seals he would already be feeling the effects of the airborn chemicals.

The soldier in disguise, shook his head, slowly becoming more and more entranced by her beauty.

"You look like such a chiseled specimen, after all. It'd be such an absolute shame to hurt you..." The Android cooed, backing against the wall, beckoning with a finger.

The soldier shook his head a little more.

"Take off those bandages, handsome." She whispered, blinking pink eyes at him.

He hesitantly took a few steps forward.

"That's it..." she giggled, biting her lower lip.

"You...wow...I've never met someone so...so...what was I saying?" The soldier trailed.

"You were saying..." she trailed, staring at him lustfully, figuring out how best to take him down while causing as little pain as possible. "How gorgeous I am..."

"Yes, that..." the soldier trailed hesitantly.

"You're still not in my arms big boy. Scared?" She flirted. "I don't bite...not too hard anyway."

The man's attraction to her was overpowering. He had resisted mind attacks but those pheremones were so powerful even Force Adepts were vulnerable to them. She kept encouraging him closer and closer.

"Such a trusting, open heart. Why don't you get that weapon out of your hand?" She asked, finally taking a step closer to him. She slinked close, and he almost raised it, before a hand clasped his, drawing his sword out of his hand.

"Do you like me?" She asked, fingers brushing his bandaged face.

"Yes..." he droned, utterly entranced by her

"Do you like me enough to take a dive?"

"Yes..."

"Good...now who do you serve?"

"I serve The Headmistress as a Soldier of The Moon..."

"Headmistress. You mean The Amalgam?" She cooed gently, wrapping her arms around him, staring into his eyes.

"Yes..."

"Why has she ordered you to seize this place?"

"She wants to keep the Morpheus blind as to what's going on the surface while she sics her Mandalorian on you. But she wouldn't go to all this trouble just for Karlie Lynn Destat ." The soldier answered.

Her hand slid into his duster. "Such an honest, helpful man...would you like a kiss?" She asked.

"Yes..." he trailed, completely entranced.

"Then take the bandages off, silly!" She whispered lustfully.

The Soldier complied, unwrapping the bandages around his skull, still shaking his head from the effects of her pheremones. She chuckled. He was handsome. Not Nineties Heart Throb like Ian was, but handsome.

Her hands clasped his head, pheremones saturating her flesh as he got a more concentrated, direct dose from skin contact. He was perfectly fit, healthy, well armed, and unrestrained in any way, and he was completely helpless before her as she drew him close.

The fangs slid out, black like volcanic glass and pierced his neck. She was careful not to hit a vein. He tried to struggle but went slack as the psychic energy was drained out. She took his stun

She rested him gently on the ground and went back to the staircase to ascend, keeping her eyes peeled for threats...


Meanwhile...

Gerul Megalo had spent the last few hours using the underlay in his armor to repair the wounds he had received in battle against Westenra.

He had received intel on their location. Karlie had friends now, apparently...

Gerul put his helmet back on, skull image on his black chest plate gleaming in the lights of his warehouse hideout. He had been caught off guard by that...thing...never again.

He had chosen more lethal weapons. Disruptors and Thermal Detonators. Acidic wrist launchers. Vibroknives. He even had a sharp stick.

Gerul would get vengeance on Nine for creating that monstrosity, no matter what...

The Mandalorian stepped outside, activating his jetpack and started to fly towards the tower...

 

[Ian Sade]

Stay in your lane.

His reaction?
He gave her a long stare....the one you'd give someone asking a silly question, blinking trice before he snapped the katana back fully in it's scabbard.
He had drawn enough of the blade out to examine the steel. Immediately as soon as Westenra had let go of it, he felt the difference. It were no ordinary alloy blade. It were something else. Unlike a light-saber this blade could likely cut through cortosis armor, was Ian's best guess.
Hey come on now, he had to get his mind off the girl. The air was still laden with her potions and the notions in his head. The blade certainly did the trick as he had seen enough cutlery to know this one wasn't your everyday standard issue. Nevertheless, the attention on the blade did take from the very fantasy forming in his loins over Westenra. Oh, how wicked the games this one biot took in playing...

It were Vera he were eyeballing, when westenra took off.
His weapon, Vera asked of it. Ian looked her over.
"Seriously?" he more mocked than actually asked.
Now why would he hand over his primary weapon for a biot designed to engage in close combat? He was certainly trained for close combat too, sure. But that was when he'd be out of ammo.

"You may be a better shot with it, dear Mina...." No he wasn't about to hand over his best line of offensive/defensive weapon. Sure, the biot no doubt had an automated targeting program that could likely fire his weapon using only her toes if all else had been compromised. But that was exactly his reasoning as to not handing his firearm over to it. He were human. His most efficient means of operation were not at close quarters. He could not regenerate and the more distance he had from his opponents the better. Getting close and personal, even with a katana meant he had err, he had gotten the enemy too close to him.
"...but I'm more proficient with a blaster than a blade."
Of course he was. As a matter of fact he was even more proficient with a sniper rifle, and so on and so on up the line to commanding a Star Destroyer. A knife...a katana in this case was at the bottom of the heap in the weapon's locker in his line of work.
"..so....NO." Clear and blunt.
Ok, well the shig-wire he had stashed to sever heads from behind, was the closest contact means he possessed, but that was the point; get close to the kill when all other means were exhausted.

The only way you're getting my blaster, you mechanical doll, is to pry it from my cold dead hands...
No, he didn't actually outright say that, but somewhere in Ian's subconscious that phrase was lurking about.
Sade sealed that momentary exchange with a sly quick smirk, most certainly reinforcing that absolute 'nein' he gave her concerning his primary weapon at hand, his blaster.

That conversation took like maybe less than a minute. But that minute was all it took to realize he weren't sweating the other biot anymore. And why was that?
Because it or she had already taken off into the structure. Ian gave Vera another stare. Was this planned?..a distraction? Damn these biots, it worked if that had been their intention.
"Gah!" He had no time for games.
"STAY with her!" he fingered over to Karlie as he took off in the direction Westenra had apparently gone.

It wasn't difficult to spot as to where she had entered the structure being that the iron doors or whatever they were, were still sealed shut, say for the narrow new cat doors cut into it.
It took some good exhaling to squeeze through, but manage he did nevertheless.
With his primary drawn at the ready in front of his person, he cleared one room after another following the trail of fallen sentry droids.
"Shiet..." he muttered, unbelieving the biot could be that efficient, nearly flawless in it's kill path-

PEW......PEW..... two heavy blaster rounds echoed throughout the structure. It were difficult to home in on it's source as the rooms or chambers were resonating the blaster-fire. Odd he had not heard it before with all the droids laying about in various-...various blaster shots.
Wait-
Westenra didn't have a blaster. Ian's eyes widened as his teeth gritted. These kills were someone elses.

Ian hurried through toward where he believed Westenra to have gotten to. Like him, she were most likely following the trail of broken drones, all the way to the control room.
The only thing slowing him from a full run was not being stupid and assuming the rooms and corridor he were rushing through were already cleared. Which by the way, they were, up to where he then came upon the biot. She had her back to him, seemingly engaged in some cat and mouse-
Youzers, the girl had nice hips, a firm but round little number tapering down to some fine long stems-

"Damn it.." He knew what it was. He was doused, saturated...drenched in it. Wait...wait, that was his own sweat. Still, he were caught up in it again, the sweet turnover of arousal.

Well, that little climb suddenly took to slip and slide down and over the cliff.
What-
What was she doing?..bloodsucking the guy? Goddammit she was! Ian was entranced by it and at the same time something else slipped off the edge of a steep cliff and took a dive. Incidentally, it hit the colonel like he just took a cold dip in a frigid lake.
Apparently it was some form of extraction?...like from blood? Ok, sure why not? The blood had been to the brain, the nerve and info center of the man. maybe it not only carried away spent oxygen but remnants of the man's...memory?
Still, it was kind of an unorthodox method of information retrieval.
Yea... hmm...something he'd have to inquire.... maybe at a later time. Just now...totally not a turn on.
Mood interrupted, bathed in pheromones or not.... it weren't happening.

"Ok, now that was freaking gross!" There, he said it getting her attention. "Of all the means to drop a man..." He had observed her handiwork in the overcast of the stairwell.

"Now now..." he had his blaster up in her direction. Didn't he just shoot her not 20 minutes ago? It had not left a mark minutes following. Still, it had hurt her...it could feel the percussion, the pain. How much could that buy him?..2-3 meters head start?
"...If you weren't informed by mommy dearest, we're on the same side." No, he himself weren't sure what this one knew. His understanding was that she were, what...born not a few days ago as far as biots went? He was certain Nine had filled her in. Reason why he weren't laid out like the poor chap who most likely had it coming... or unfortunately saw too much. Both were acceptable casualties in his scope of work.

Interesting... were it in the process of repairing a hit on her breast? Damn if she were...
Ian lowered his blaster. No doubt he had come to conclude that the slug thrower near the man had done little damage to this model. His blaster would more or less just tickle her silly.

"Not your handiwork down there..." He were referring to the sentry droids scattered about below. They hadn't been decimated by any blade, but by blaster-fire and explosives.
"...was it the corpse?" Of course he'd think the guy had been drained a few liters. This was after all a vampire's daughter...robot or no robot, they all seemed to have a knack for fresh blood. Still, whatever info she extracted from him, Ian had to know.

 

[Westenra Mina]

Westenra glanced up at Ian Sade , smiled, shut down the pheremones once more as he pointed the pistol at her.

"Girl's gotta eat, Ian." She replied to his statement about how gross it was.

"But he's not dead. I don't drink blood. I consume psychic energy. He'll wake up with a few hours memory loss, at worst. But he is working for the Amalgam. I'm hearing multiple heartbeat signatures above us, at the top of this tower. They are trying to keep the Morpheus blind as to what's happening on the surface. If we disable them, we can haul them aboard later for interrogation. But he indicated the Amalgam is after much more than just the Morpheus being unable to land."

"I'm going up there to ambush them. I have a plan. Follow me.

She walked to the second staircase, used for emergencies, and kept scanning for more threats.

"Watch yourself. They've set mines..." The Android remarked as she moved upward, spotting a directional mine with a camouflage function thanks to her thermal vision. It had been placed on steps going upward. She lay down her katana. "Step back, please." She said to Ian politely.

Her entire form broke down into an ever shifting puddle of tissue, slowly flowing towards the mine, spread thin on the floor, flowing under and past it, reforming directly behind it and switching it off, one of her fingers turning into a razor sharp black knife that cut open one panel effortlessly to examine the chemical compounds within the device, the purple glint at the center of her eyes getting brighter for a second as she scanned it.

"Hmmm...nothing fancy. Thermite and steel bearings with simple laser tripwires."

Her nose allowed her to analyze all relevant particles, while her X-Ray mode then caused her to spot three hostiles behind a door, dressed in the same Hush-Expy get-up as her first take down. She pointed at the door, giving the universal military hand signals to get behind whatever cover he could find.

"Hmmm..." she remarked, closing her eyes. This would take some creative hacking of her own design, but she introduced temporary glitches in her brain that altered the chemicals in her blood, as she noiselessly approached the side of the door, cutting her palm open and smearing her altered blood onto the door, the wound resealed in seconds, the skin reabsorbing whatever blood had not gotten on the door.

The chemicals soon went back to normal. But out there, in the open air...

The already bright red, glowing blood turned even redder, smouldering on the door until it went off, blasting the doors inward.

The Android sprinted at superhuman speed into the chamber full of civilian computer stations. The bodies of slain late night office workers were everywhere, making the Android genuinely angry.


Growing three black claws on each hand, which protruded out between the knuckles. Westenra bared them as flashlights fell on her body.

Multiple laser sights fell on her body as she stepped through the smoke over the three dead men.

"I would prefer not to kill. That does not mean I am incapable of it." She warned them. "Throw down your weapons."

"Whoever you are, surrender, or we will show you no mercy." The head of the heavily armed group, armed with Vibroswords and Mandalorian Assault Blasters, warned her.

"I'm sure all these innocent people surrendered also." Westenra replied curtly.

Slugs and blaster bolts ripped into her body as she sprang forward, claws cutting through weapons due to simply being that sharp, then going for disabling as opposed to lethal wounds, claws going into knees and arms as opposed to chest and heads, even as part of her head was taken off by a shotgun blast she kept fighting, though the attack did stagger her, allowing another shot to blast her chest completely open on one side. She didn't stop moving, until she had methodically, painfully-but non-lethally-disabled every last one of them. They all lay on the ground, moaning and bleeding from impalement at the knees and elbows.

The wounded, torn open biot rapidly healed itself, until it was as immaculate as before from a span of three minutes.

She began restraining them, relieved they had brought their own wrist ties, and soon dumped them all in a pile for Ian to interrogate.

"They must have sought control of this room for a reason..." she trailed, accessing a computer they had hacked.

"They are attempting to listen in on nearly all communication in the city...but why? They seemed to be focused on the street cameras.

Westenra typed commands to access the cameras, saw to her alarm soldiers were on empty, cleared streets, drawing magic wards in the middle of them...

"Ian...what the hell is this witch up to?" She whispered.

 

[Ian Sade]

"Psychic...
Yea, it's what I have grown to like about your clan." It were a sarcastic remark of course, as he took up the rear, following Westenra. He stepped over the man, noting his chest slowly rising and falling. Yep, it were still breathing this scum.

"Meh..."Personally, he'd have put a bolt through the scumbag's head if it had been his call. Why give quarter to the wounded when they could recover to once again fill the ranks? Nine's operatives, just didn't make sense sometimes to him. Then again, he had never met the likes of Nine, nor what she considered her daughters.
He were so tempted in pulling that trigger as he stepped over the man. Only it were Westenra's mark and she had given him quarter. "Mental note; gotta have a talk with her about leaving the enemy wounded breathing..."


To have or have not...

His eyes looked up at the ceiling following her cue. No, he could not see, nor hear what the girl had picked up from upstairs. He simply nodded as to her plan of action. It made the most sense. they had to completely clear the station of un-friendlies. Her neutralization of the enemy were too soft in his opinion. But hey, she certainly could clear the table, that much he were certain to give her credit for.
"Sure...knock yourself out..", he thought to self, nodding to her before eyeing the slug thrower on the floor .
Ian put away his side arm and picked up the heavy weapon. It were a decisive weapon, a good choice for urban combat. As Westenra headed for the stairs, he kick felt the scum on the floor. Ahh yes, the extra mag rounds were on his belt.

In no time at all, he caught up with her hips..er, Westenra. He was point aiming the weapon before him in a tactical manner. Even knowing that most likely anything the woman might have encountered had been neutralized, he still was in combat mode and rechecking his perimeter and every corner up to the stairwell.
Mines, booby traps...he would have been disappointed if they hadn't been any. He knew the drill, both offensive and defensive.

"Care...fu..ll..." He managed to say before his very eyes saw the shapely figure of Westenra literally melt into a glob of...
He swallowed hard, disbelieving that what looked like a woman was something close to play putty. It were his best first description of seeing exactly the full scope of this..this thing...this weapon of Nine's design; Westenra.

"Okaaaay...."He uttered as he watched it with one eye and the other up at the landing above. Of course he didn't have independent eyes like a chameleon, no. He had good peripheral. His main focus being on the organic mass that had just a minute ago been one hot little number.

"Mental note 2; remember this well my boy, it's quite a nasty looking thing under that skin...." He urged his self to remember this organic creation was by no means human, despite his primal urges when in her female form....with or without the teasing pheromones. For a moment he didn't know if he were disappointed or relieved about what he just witnessed.
Verdict; disappointed, as he were taking to her.

"Huh, what?" His mind momentarily lagged for a second. Damn it, he couldn't drift like that! She were talking of the trip mines...
"Right...thermite" He continued to cover the shape-shifting mass as it disarmed all the charges as they got up to the landing. He started to wonder whether this thing which went by Westenra was something far worse to worry about than simple chemical explosives.

After Westenra had disarmed the mines, he acknowledged her a hand signal once they came up to the first door. Ian signaled that he'd take the corridor to their left. Seemed there was a way for him to maybe get around to another side of the control room. maybe flank them and they'd be able to hit the control room from two sides.
Of course in doing so, Ian missed the entire blood from palm exploding door technique.

It was a tactical decision to find a second entry point into the room to efficiently neutralize whomever was in there. Ian continued to point aim the slug-thrower ahead of him as he rounded one corner and another, looking for that entryway.

Then out of the stillness of the blue- KABOOM!!...
The gush of air and dust came from behind him, from around the corner he just cleared.

"Frak!"He stopped for just a slit second to pick up the ensuing engagement from where he had just come from. Westenra had been at that location!
Ian quickly doubled back and came upon the blown doorway...
His brain quickly registered it had been blown in, not out. Westenra was inside .
Ian quickly checked in and point aimed inside, one corner to the next. All that were standing was Westenra....and... a load of moaning dropped bodies.
WTF...how'd she dispatch the entire-?

The room was most definitely cleared. Ian lowered his weapon, which of course was pointed at the only standing body, Westenra.
"Uhm...you, Ok?" Sure she was Ok, he wasn't blind. With the smoke and dust clearing he could see her body/suit thing whatever it was, reforming what should have been mortal wounds close back back up to pristine condition.

Going back a smidgen of that minute, and before he lowered the slug-thrower; a little sadistic thought had run through his mind seeing how this version of a biot was regenerating; he had been tempted to see for himself how a weapon like he were holding would fare against this biot. Sure he had seen what his side arm had done...very little. But a more concentrated power-
Wait. She had received a few slugs from it. only it were from the other scumbag down stairs.
Jealousy?.. a split second of jealousy were coming over him that another guy had pumped her up with the slug?

Fast forward to;
"Uhm...you, Ok?" Yes, that's what followed after he rebooted his thoughts back to where they should've been in the first place. Not wondering how she'd do taking a slug.

"Yea, well...
I was figuring on finding another avenue in flanking...
...them....
-sigh-
Oh Berkana...never mind." And he got to working on one of the terminals. They were here for a reason and that was to sever the blocking signal to their people. namely to the castle, as he had come to know the Morpheus. Ian was operating alone from Castagne. His best bet was to aid his allies...Nine's people and by proxy that plutonium blonde that somehow or other seemed to always be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Mental note 3; remember note 2" Ian had to remind his self when Westenra fully regenerated to virgin beauty.
"Damn, you're right. The jamming signal isn't being generated from this station. They were just tapping...everything from here..." he were perplexed. What was that whore witch up to?

"Frak me!
They've been trying to track us down all along. " He fisted the console then picked up the slug-thrower.
BOOM..BOOM..BOOM>>etc...etc...
Ian put a few slugs through the floor.
Of course, the moaning wounded happened to be between his slug-thrower and the floor. Even the one whom had managed to crawl a meter from where he had been dropped got a good sized hole punched through and through. Basically, he OFF'd all the wounded.
"We've got to get back to Karlie before company arrives." He said ejecting the heavy mag and loading up a new round.
It was obvious they didn't have the luxury of hauling prisoners with them to interrogate later. This was a flight and fight your way off this mother-frakin-system.

"We need to move outside, NOW!!"

 

[Westenra Mina]

Westenra knew better than to argue with Ian Sade , and grew as alarmed as he did when she realized how perilously close the enemy was to tracking them all down. The Android was immediately moving, going ahead of him, when she heard more heartbeats and glanced down. More of the strangely garbed soldiers. They were trying to cut them off from the bottom.

Westenra refused to allow this, not just because her family's life was at stake but she also wanted to impress Ian in her own creepy as hell way.

The Wolverine-Expy Claws grew out between her knuckles as she signalled for Ian to get behind her silently, using military hand signals to indicate the number of enemy, position and estimated time of contact (Twelve Hostiles, Rapid Encroachment from Staircase passage armed with scatter blasters and repeating blasters. Engagement in forty seconds.)

She signalled for him to hide while she went to the side of the door to wait. Attack after she did, she signalled.

She let 007 enter, her turning the pigment and texture of her skin to match the office surroundings.

With a war cry she set out to horror-film the miserable feths. Her claws viciously slashed into the first victim, catching them all by surprise as her claws splashed blood everywhere ripping open entrails and cutting heads to pieces, spinning and flipping to evade their attacks, claws slicing into the throat of one as she landed, growing claws from her feet, launching into a series of punches and kicks, occasionally growing a spike on her knees or elbows, or even her head for surprise attack as more poured in, letting the ones furthest from her, desperately trying to escape the friendly but nigh unstoppable monstrosity tearing into them, even as they shot, stabbed and even froze and set her on fire. But her claws would inevitably find their way through armor joints or gaps, and at one point even turned her whole arm into a sword to bisect a man in half, then impaled another through the chest, slashing and ripping with all limbs, soon, none of them were left standing. All of them were dead, whether by her hand or Ian's.

Westenra had been torn up pretty badly during the fight, little more than a skeleton with meat that sealed itself up in minutes.

The Android knealt down, searching them for weaponry that could be used. She quickly spotted a Sith Assassin Pistol and tossed it to Ian, knowing a specialist like him would be all too familiar with how such a weapon worked. They were notoriously deadly. Almost useless against her of course, but in his hands...

The Android then listened for others as she picked up what looked to be a Vibro Double Sword. Sure enough, more were heading up the steps and she signalled Ian silently to follow her down the steps she had cleared the way for initially.

She had been lethal with her own body. But given an actual sword, and not only was she parrying the attacks of the next soldiers that fired on her and Ian, her reflexes were Jedi like, catching and deflecting some of the shots, even with the narrow confines of a stairwell and her double sword, which she wielded effortlessly in close quarters, spinning it around her body as she flipped and jumped and leaped around, over, and under her attackers, turning them into sushi with every attack spin as she moved down the staircase, clearing the way for her and Ian with sheer raw speed and efficiency, leaving a gallery of blood in her wake. But it clearly hurt her to half to kill them at all, the distress visible on her face with every life ended.

She was very quiet as she finished killing her way to the bottom, bolstered on only by the sound of a pistol firing outside, silencing the hearts of soldiers. Vera. Vera. That had to be Vera.

Westenra rushed outside to try and help her sister and Karlie Lynn Destat .


Meanwhile...

Vera had moved the speeder into the shadows of a nearby tree turning off the lights and sound devices while Ian and Westenra went to do the busy work. And there she waited, silently for a bit, with Karlie, looking for enemies.

"How is your ribcage?" Vera asked in a whisper after a few minutes. "You took a bad hit. I did what I could, but do you feel any better at all? We might need to run again at some point."

Vera was cut off by the sound of distant heartbeats. Her nightvision went active, spotting the men in the busines suit and duster and bandaged faces heading very close to them.

"Chit. Hide Karlie. I'll handle this..." Vera said quietly as she opened the speeder door as silently as possible, taking off her heels to move through the parking lot quietly, making sure to stay behind the first soldier she spotted, getting too close to the vehicle Karlie was hidden in. They would spot it soon anyway. Time to act.

When she was close enough, her hand simply shot out with mechanical precision, ripped the pistol from the surprised soldiers holster and shot him in the face.

This alerted the other soldiers immediately and they turned but she had already targeted them, hitting five in the head just ast they were raising their rifles. She began running, aggroing the others into shooting at her instead of Karlie as she got behind a building containing an emergency generator, only popping from cover to shoot one in the head occasionally. The volume of fire that started to be poured on her was immense, but if it kept their attention from Karlie all the better.

An animal snarl from a distance alerted Vera to Westenra's fast approach spotting her already drawing some of the fire on her and back on Westenra and Ian, allowing Vera to properly cover Ian and Karlie better as Westenra began to dice into them...