Private Beneath the Iron Shadow

[Nevira]

“Wh- Again?! How do you know? Y- You some kind of freak or somethin’?” A low voice erupted from one of the many busy side streets within the bustling underworld. Neon signs painted their glow across the grey duracreet cityscape, providing most of the light within this shadow world. Amid the bustling markets and thoroughfares were thousands of sentients of all shapes and sizes hurriedly making their way in every direction. It was incredibly easy to get lost in a place like this. Even easier to disappear.

“Lady Fate hasn’t smiled yet, but you still have more cybernetic limbs. Perhaps she’ll be entertained if you attempt again.” A black veiled figure said with an unnerving smile, sitting cross-legged atop a stack of old crates on the side of the street. In front of her was a rather tall Besalisk and two of his buddies, a young, nervous human man and a Sullustan. “L- Look boss maybe we should just keep moving. We’ve wasted enough time with the cracked-out soothsayer.” The sullustan noted with an irritated sigh, prompting the veiled woman to tilt her head slightly in his direction. He instantly tensed up. “I never claimed to know her designs, but I can make educated guesses.” She went on to say. “Win the next round and get all your implants back and more.” She continued, looking back toward the besalisk. Two of his four arms were missing, having been cybernetic in nature but recently removed. They were sitting in a small pile next to the “soothsayer” along with several other black market implants. Out of frustration, the tall alien ignored his friends and quickly detached his third cybernetic arm and placed it on a crate next to them. The veiled figure’s smile widened.

The cards were shuffled, picked, and placed, but no matter how many times he tried, the man couldn't get the winning hand he was looking for! “You cheatin’ son of a hutt! I know you’re shifty someh-” The man’s rage overflowed, now having lost all but one of his limbs to this street game. His voice was interrupted, however, when the figure lifted her head slightly and flashed her yellow eyes. Despite the underworld being pretty far removed from the events of the surface, news still travelled quickly about the recent Sith conquest. The small group didn’t want to risk pushing this woman any further, and with a frustrated sigh, they stomped away, leaving the veiled figure alone with her small pile of illicit implants. “I suppose she wasn’t entertained after all.” The woman would mutter to herself, watching the one-armed alien and his friends walk away.

Nevira hadn’t been on Coruscant long, but already she had gravitated toward the darker side of the planet. Literally and figuratively. The underworld was absolutely teeming with despair and madness. The perfect breeding ground for unorthodox weaponry. In her particular interest: Black market cybernetics. She had been running a small game using old tarot cards, betting some of her own tech against the implants of those who showed interest. Thanks to her use of the force, she had no problem “improving” her odds. Now she had amassed a modest collection of smaller implants, and she was preparing to call it a day when the corrupted pantoran noticed a different presence in the force. It was subtle, like a cold wind drifting past her shoulder, but it was enough to cause Nevira to turn. There she saw a woman with extensive cybernetics of her own, though they looked far too advanced to be any normal black market scrap. Curiosity welled up inside the woman.

“Would the bright-haired woman with a heart and body of metal care for a friendly game to pass the time?” Nevira would say just loud enough for the mystery woman to hear, still keeping most of her face hidden beneath the black veil, save for her smile. “The stakes can be iron, or friendly knowledge if you prefer.” She said with genuine curiosity.

Arris Windrun

 

[Arris Windrun]

Nevira

Arris was watching from the back, leaning against a wall, cigarette betwixt metal digits. She took another drag and exhaled. Watched the stranger run circles around suckers. Such were the familiar sights of any underworld.

“Would the bright-haired woman with a heart and body of metal care for a friendly game to pass the time?” Nevira would say just loud enough for the mystery woman to hear, still keeping most of her face hidden beneath the black veil, save for her smile. “The stakes can be iron, or friendly knowledge if you prefer.” She said with genuine curiosity.

The blonde cyborg stretched a feline, then bent over, dousing her smoke on the bottom of a cybernetic foot, forged to act like a boot. She straightened up and placed her hands on her hips. They pulled back her jacket just enough to better reveal a pair of holsters laden with heavy guns.

"Oh - I dunno that'd I wanna test my luck against a winner like you," she drawled.

Still, Arris walked over to the woman and her small hoard. Grey cyber eyes probed the collection as if out to market.

"'Sides, what could I possibly wager that interests you?"

She gestured facetiously at herself. Upon close inspection, there was nothing organic in sight - synthflesh over metal with visible seams where it all came together. Anyone but a true connaisseur, or someone who knew her, could tell the difference between Arris Windrun and an HRD.

 

[Nevira]

The mystery lady didn’t appear to be overly enthusiastic at first, but she didn’t immediately dismiss Nevira’s request either, which appeared to be a good sign. Yellow eyes scanned every inch of the sentient’s body beneath the veil, taking note of the pair of heavy blasters on her hips. Nevira chuckled somewhat. Given the extensive amount of cybernetics this woman had, Nevira had a suspicion that the guns were more misdirection than anything. Nevira hadn’t come across a being who was quite as cybernetic as the one currently before her, but even the more “subtle” cyborgs often made use of a variety of hidden weapons with their implants. Any extra weapons they had on their person were usually just a distraction from their real capabilities.

“Luck is a funny thing.” Nevira would begin to say, her hands beginning to shuffle the small deck of cards while keeping her veiled eyes on Arris. “Because it always appears when you least expect it.” She would muse somewhat cryptically.

The woman would go on to ask Nevira what she could wager, since her metal body wasn’t the same kind of implants the corrupted pantoran had been collecting. While Nevira would have loved the chance to study this woman’s tech in more detail, she figured the cyborg may not be so receptive to such an idea. “Most carry far more with them than they realize.” Nevira would begin, the cards now subtly floating in the air with the force and getting into place. Four were laid across the crate face down in front of Nevira, while another four slowly levitated toward Arris. “Shall we find out together what you carry?” Nevira asked. The cards floating in front of Arris seemed somewhat ancient in nature, and whether it was an illusion or simply a trick of the light, neither side of the cards had anything on them aside from old mystery symbols and a black void at its center, as if a picture was supposed to be there yet remained missing.

“If fate pulls your interest, simply pick one of these four cards before you and place it against my own. She will handle the rest.” It was quite evident that Nevira was playing for something entirely different now. No longer was her focus on crude cybernetics and black market implants; she was after something far more valuable. Insight. Nevira didn’t know the reason, but the shift in the force she had felt earlier couldn’t be a coincidence. This little “card game” would tell her why.

With the same smile she hadn't dropped since the start of their interaction, Nevira moved her hand forward and slid one of her cards ahead of the others. Something about this deck would seem... off. They were certainly not normal tarot cards, if the blankness on their surfaces wasn't evidence enough of that fact. The veiled woman waited expectantly for the cyborg's reaction.

Arris Windrun

 

[Arris Windrun]

Nevira

Luck is a funny thing.” Nevira would begin to say, her hands beginning to shuffle the small deck of cards while keeping her veiled eyes on Arris. “Because it always appears when you least expect it.” She would muse somewhat cryptically.

That earned a quirked brow. Arris was listening.

Her eyes followed the cards as they gently floated into place. So she was a Force user? Coruscant was a big place, so it really shouldn't have been a surprise, but it had been a while since she ran into one who wasn't her enemy, or otherwise belonged to the Covenant.

“Shall we find out together what you carry?” Nevira asked.

"So - I am one of those who carry more than they realize?" Arris mused with a subtle smirk.

She looked down at the cards. They weren't from any sabacc deck she'd ever seen, and surprisingly plain. The woman's explanation didn't clarify things for her either. She spoke of fate... not unlike something straight out of a confidence trick. Was this stranger trying to swindle her? The thought amused her.

A metal hand stretched out, waving across the cards. The first, the second, and then - with a single finger - she pointed at the third.

"This one."

Her eyes flicked expectantly back to the stranger. Curious to see what happened next.