Faction Big Karking Cosmic Mysteries (Darkwire et al)

[Jerec Asyr]

Echo EK0 Aaran Tafo Daiya Landon

"Uhh...lemme change the metaphor." Jerec scribbled furiously on a napkin, trying to take down the unfamiliar names from Echo's manifesto of a list. "Let's call the Force more like booze. Habit forming, behavior altering, lets you see the world in a whole new way. Some need rehab, other folks social drink and never have a problem."

He took a moment to swipe Landon's cash back to him and cover the charge for the good stuff. Seemed the least he could do.

Now imagine only some people could drink, and two big gangs controlled the supply, and had real strict rules about how to drink. But maybe I like a couple cans on my own after a hard day, and I don't feel like joining a booze gang.

"If you really gotta kick the habit, I'll tell you what you do. Hit up a planet called Wayland. The Force isn't a thing there. Just plain, bam, doesn't exist. It's because of lizards."

 

[Echo EK0]

"Does that mean if you use too much Force you'll need to relieve yourself of the excess?" It wasn't Echo's fault Jerec used a metaphor involving liquid interactions with organic bodily functions.

A short while later, the Ithorian said something else unexpected. "Lizards? Do you need some lizards? My container is capable of supporting life functions for an extended period of time, you know." A beat. "Though I might need to charge extra for a sanitizing cleaning afterward." A humanoid Echo could trust not to do anything... lewd. Animals? Yeah, no, Echo knew better. It was young, but not that young. Best not to ask.

Wayland. Even if no one here wanted a lizard, Echo made note of the place in case it came up later. You never knew when an opportunity would present itself. These days there was so much Forcer-against-Forcer and Anti-Forcer sentiment Echo couldn't help but think there'd be good credits involved. Eventually some Forcer would probably try to wipe all those lizards out too! Maybe Echo could set up some kind of nature preserve...

Tag: Jerec Asyr | Aaran Tafo | Daiya | Landon

 

[Cato Fett]

OUTSIDE

<Gra’tua,> Cato answered quietly. Vengeance. A CorpSec speeder rushed overhead, headlamps briefly alighting them. He turned and led them into the lee of a small Chadra-Fan deli. Evening city sounds overlapped, as chilly dew slowly formed and pattered from a far streetlight. Multi-hued neon bursts glowed at times in Griss’ visor-glass and he had to wonder if she wasn’t needling for an interview. The liquor was still warm in his veins; natural caution, inhibition, was somewhat relaxed. Still, he rested his wrist on the hilt of his repaired katana.

<I found a plea on the DarkNet. Followed up and lead it me to Rake and Ray. They plucked kids off the streets, groomed them, seduced them, and then destroyed them. Thought it’d be a wonderful kick uploading their exploits ‘anonymously’ on the ‘Net. Butchery, vod, enough to turn any veteran’s stomach. They were affluent and well-bred and they knew it. CorpSec would never touch them. …But I could,> Cato said.

Griss Tallow

 

[Griss Tallow]

OUTSIDE

<Hold on - I heard about those tapes. Those two were...?>

Semi-professional communicator, lost for words. Mostly because, compelled by some sick and nameless urge, she'd watched those tapes. She was grateful that the buy'ce hid her face and polished her voice flat.

She didn't make the mistake of asking whether he'd known the victims. If the answer was no, the question would be an insult. Vengeance for butchery on general principle was a matter of honour. Real honour, not the kind proclaimed in conclaves of wounded pride and genital measurement. Back home she had a beskar measuring ruler labeled SOLE RULER - THE ONLY RULER YOU'LL EVER NEED. Apparently the explorer Jorus Merrill had commissioned them for kicks. A joke upon a joke, and none of it funny, because the galaxy really did offer so little to believe in.

<I won't keep you, ori'vod.> She had no idea how old or young he was under the helmet, but the honorific felt right. <If you come this way again, your next is on me. And if you ever need a second set of hands, ask for me in Lum Rouge.>

 

[Daiya]

It wasn't surprising to her that the smelly boy had scoffed at her and promptly began whining. The cynical poodoo that spilled out of his mouth suited the overpowering odor that infected the space around him. Daiya gagged at the smells and sounds of it, and shook her head. Some beings were just chit, through and through.

"Maybe you get those chit jobs 'cause you're the only one desperate enough to take 'em," the girl shot back. She knew it was crass, and a little too mean, but so was parking himself right next to her smelling of a literal sewer! This went beyond awful teenager, or even spacer, hygiene, the rank scent was on the level of a toxic waste hazard. And if she spent any more time near it, Daiya was going to have a more massive headache than any hangover could deliver.

Daiya swapped stools in time to hear Jerec switch gears, now he was comparing the Force to alcohol instead. She put her clean hand to her head, massaging her forehead for a few seconds before running it back through her hair. That didn't help clear up the dull throbbing in her head, that was growing more and more troublesome by the moment. Between the smells, the drinks, and the Force talk, the teen was not looking forward to waking up tomorrow morning.

Catching the eye of Cichei again, Daiya signaled her for a refill. If she was destined for a headache, the girl was going to do her best to earn it, even consigned to a weak drink for tonight.

"So some get addicted and some don't, but you make it sound like everyone has a choice. Doesn't the Force ever, you know, force itself on someone involuntarily? Unwanted?" Daiya wasn't just asking hypotheticals, as desperately as she tried to word them that way. Since she could remember, the girl had felt cursed by her abilities, particularly the visions that came without reason, or much warning. Even learning that those talents came through the Force, linking it back to the stories she had heard of Force Wizards and the cult wars they raged in the Core or Outer Rim, didn't make her feel any less unsettled about their nature or how little she wanted them. Given the choice, she would happily walk away from her Force powers and just be a normal kid again. "'Cause spending your whole life around a bunch of fething lizards sounds like a miserable way to stop it."

Turning to the droid, whose ramblings so far had sounded rather nonsensical, Daiya finally heard something to pique her interest. "Would you import those lizards, or something?" The girl still didn't know what kind of lizards were being talked about, but if they could stop the Force then she definitely wanted to know. "Sell them for people to keep? Like as pets?"

The barmaid's return was strategic and discrete to avoid Meeno's judgemental eyes, but Daiya viewed it as no less triumphant when Cichei put the glass down in front of her. It wasn't just to keep the woman from getting caught that made her pick up the cocktail and drain half of it in one gulp, but the thought of helping a friend keep her job, while still reaping the benefits, did put a smile on the girl's face. The sweet liquid was the only good thing that was coming out of tonight for her, anyway.

Jerec Asyr Aaran Tafo Echo EK0 Landon​

 

[Landon]

In his cloud of grumpiness, he'd forgotten about the droid. Hard to do with its size and volume. The teen grimaced and slipped off his soggy jacket handing it out to the non-organic. Echo EK0

"Delivery skills noted, mate. Might call you up one of these days but think you could do me a solid and dry my jacket since princess here doesn't like the wet smell?"

A ballsy wink toward Daiya even as she moved away.

"And maybe some of us aren't criminal royalty who can afford to be choosy about jobs, hm princess?" A salute with his top-o-the-line gen to Jerec Asyr as he downed it and got another one.

"Yeah but maybe the force is like having a blaster. Just cause you have one doesn't mean you're gonna go use it to kill off everyone. You can choose to fire it and choose who to fire it on." A roll of his drying shoulders.

Outer-rim spice, he just wanted to get a little drunk and somehow make it back to his bunk in mostly one piece.

 

[Echo EK0]

Daiya was definitely in on the Force conversation despite the young organic experiencing some on-going physiological irregularities.

Headaches.

Unwanted Force forcing Force powers? As a humble droid Echo didn't understand half of what they were talking about. Far as it was concerned when someone used Force Push they were somehow interacting with the galaxy on a quantum level -- spooky action at a distance! Only different. Maybe some day Echo would crack the code and make a new form of maths for organics to le...a...rn... No, probably save it for the Electronic Super Intelligences.

But then the young one Daiya looked at Echo. Like, genuinely looked. She didn't throw a wing at it, but far as Echo knew that wasn't a custom non-Jerec followed.

"Certainly. I always get the customer their package. Even if the package is a lizard, and even if the Jedi or Sith try to stop me. No job is too small, no blockade too large." Of course no job was too small because Echo could always set the floor for minimum payment. They could ask Echo to deliver a rock and it would deliver that rock! For an obscene amount of money because you probably said to deliver it to the other side of the galaxy. "Why I could even deliver you to the lizards, but something tells me you're not looking to escape the city."

Soon enough Landon then offered his coat to be dried out. One of Echo's domes rolled around to examine the garment held out for the droid to take. "Uh, sure. Just hang it up over there," Echo pointed to a nearby booth where the heating element snapped and sparked as the voltage was cranked up a notch with a little slicing.

Well it was that or Landon's coat would find itself unceremoniously on the table. Echo was there 'in spirit' since most places didn't like giant droids taking up space. Plus Echo could keep making deliveries! Oh, uh, and maybe because Echo was still trying to get the ear of the gang of troublemakers. Troublemaking sounded fun.

"Hmm... So you don't have to drink it. You don't have to fire it. And you don't have to consume it. Then you don't have to use the Force, but," Echo lifted one clawed arm into the air, "it just being there must be an awful tempting option when things get tough." Or something.

Tag: Jerec Asyr | Aaran Tafo | Daiya | Landon

 

[Gray Venasir]

It was late. There was smarter things one could do at this hour, like reading holobooks, trying to catch up on news or politics, or just plain old sleeping. But alas, the smuggler known as Gray decided to go to a bar. The Blue Flame was always his first choice, as it was close enough to Gray's place so he could walk there, he knew a lot of the regulars, and it was a good place to get information. Or tell exagerated stories to drunks. Either way, it was fun.

Gray had arrived there earlier in the evening, but decided to get a proper meal before going down to mingle with the others who were there for a drink. But the meal had dragged on longer than he had anticipated, because one of the part-time waItresses reacted stronger to the smuggler's casual flirting than he thought she would. But he had found a way, eventually, to get back down to the bar.

Without taking a good look at the people that had gathered there, he walked over to the bar area, and ordered his usual. Once he got one of them down his throat, he looked around. And to his surprise, a few familiar he did not expect were among the crowd. Daiya, an old friend of his, and Jerec, and Ithorrian he had briefly met. And with them were a couple unfamiliar men, and a droid. A weird gethering. But places like this could often make such strange groups gather. And this group was about to get bigger.

"Hey, Daiya," he said as he walked over to the group. "DIdn't expect to see you here. Jerec, how's it going?" He nodded towards the Ithorrian. The others, who Gray did not know, he also gave a nod to. "Pleasure meeting you, gents. So, what's going on here? Anything interesting?"

Daiya | Jerec Asyr | Echo EK0 | Landon | Aaran Tafo

 

[Jerec Asyr]

Gray Venasir Daiya Echo EK0 Landon

"We are talking," Jerec said with immense dignity and a burp out both sides of his neck, "about the Force and its mysteries. We've long passed my area of expertise and are speculating and griping in equal measure. Have a seat."

He focused on Daiya, who seemed to have - if he was any judge of young humans - issues. "To get back to the question you've been circling around and I've been sort of avoiding all night: yes, it's possible to make the Force go away without carrying a big friggin' lizard backpack around for the rest of your life. If you want to, and I think you want to. There's like...six ways and most of them don't have side effects except bad luck and slower instincts and crap. I mean crap in the colloquial sense, not that your actual crap is slower. I'm Ithorian - we're not known for our reaction time and hand-eye coordination. But now I'm Force-sensitive. Look what I can do."

He threw a vibroknife in the air.

 

[Daiya]

Her drink was mildly soothing, or at the very least it distracted her from the dull headache in the back of her head. Its sweetness had planted a satisfying flavor on her mind instead, a sugary seduction that she was finding difficult to resist. The cares over her insecurities, or the offensiveness of the new boy's smell, felt a little less important now. The girl nearly giggled at that, it was an amusing thought to consider. Impossible to ever attain, but amusing to think she could.

She even took the pungent boy's sneer with a graceful shrug. "I'm missing a castle, but glittery pink is my color. I could handle being a princess, sure!"

Daiya was sure she could handle just about anything with a few more drinks, really. She drained the last of hers, and set it back down. The teen ducked under Meeno's withering look, he didn't much approve of her drinking, but turned her attention back to the conversation until she could catch Cichei's eye again. The barmaid had a softer side for her, whenever the Devaronian woman could get away with it, at least. The girl didn't bother much with the drama behind the counter anymore, not for a year or so onw, she had other things to think about.

Those were coming back in force as the taste faded from her tongue and the conversation carried on. The plucky little droid was exchanging a rather witty repartee with the boy now, before offering a somewhat quippy observation that dulled the last of sweet flavor from Daiya's mouth. Her mouth went dry, and she found the headache roaring back to full force inside her head. Her loosened tongue lashed back at the droid's suggestion. "Oh sure, just don't use the Force, right? Just ignore it when it knocks, right? Oh, it's so easy, just choose not to. Gee thanks, I'm cured!"

Her cheeks were burning, but Daiya felt hot all over and she hardly noticed. The girl scowled at the droid's bristling suggestion, before turning her bright red cheek its way. Chit. The fury that simmered beneath her surface bubbled up into tears, surging behind her eyes with no illusions about their intentions. Its heat plummeted to a cold chill as realization settled on the girl about what she had just admitted. Hiding her face would do no good, even blinking back her tears was fighting a losing battle, all Daiya could do was fix her gaze at a spot on the bar counter. She couldn't face them now, not even her dear friend Gray, whose gentle voice she heard greeting her. It was too late to take back her words, just as it was too late to stop using the Force.

So that was it then, Daiya would be cursed forever.

The great sobs never came to her, nor did the river of tears. They threatened, and even as the girl steeled herself for the onslaught, it never occurred. She was left with a quiet whimpering as she faced away from their faces, the shuddering of her shoulders the only visible signs of her distress. She was pathetic, the girl decided. There was no more reason to stay tonight, Daiya figured should just go home and try to sleep. And tomorrow, maybe, forget about all of this so she could carry on somehow.

And then the Ithorian offered her the tiniest of hopes. He was drunk, and in his own words just speculating, but even the morsel that Jerec offered made the girl lift her head. Was there really a way to get rid of the Force? Damp eyes turned to look at him, and her voice faltered the first time she tried it. Finally, Daiya managed to croak out, "How?" She didn't mean the knife. "How do I make the Force go away?"

Jerec Asyr Echo EK0 Landon Gray Venasir​

 

[Jerec Asyr]

It finally dawned on Jerec that Daiya was in actual distress - that whatever her level of experience with the Force, she considered it a curse. He let the thrown vibroknife thunk into the bartop between his fingers rather than finish his trick. Or maybe that was the trick; he couldn't recall.

"There's some Forcers that know how to shut it down for other folks, cut them off. I'm not one of them. There's a shot that the Mando Empire came up with a few years ago - the Cure, they called it. And there's the best way: get this prugnuficatingly rare stuff called Void Stone, grind it real fine, and mix it into tattoo ink. You'd have to get a few tats to really do the job, but it would scale a lot better than the other ways. Maybe one tat takes the edge off but leaves you with the good instincts and reflexes. Or whatever. This stuff's all doable. I could probably hook you up but you've got better black market connections than me around here."

He eyed the kid morosely, hoping all this would help.

 

[Landon]

Landon's eyes bulged as that knife went circling into the air. There was a nudge. Just something instinctual. A little-teeny tap with his mind that he'd never be able to explain only that somehow he knew that if he hadn't acted that knife would've gone through an Ithorian limb.

Head shook as the feeling leaked away as soon as he'd had it, like water dripping through a crack of a well that had suddenly been filled.

Eyes tracked down to the half finished SECOND gen in his hands.

"What the kark is in this stuff," he muttered mostly to himself. Eyes tracked to Daiya . Not drunk enough yet to fail to notice her change in posture. That tone.

Oh hell.

Lips parted not sure which side of the fence he was gonna fall on. Making her more mad at him or trying to make her laugh. Luckily he didn't have to so a damn word as good ol' Jerec Asyr spoke. Bless. And his stomach grumbled loudly more than any word he was about to utter through his panicked look at about to comfort someone of the opposite sex.

Tel happened to meander by right at that moment.

"That will not do. I do not allow those hollow stomach sounds here kiddo. And say, you're new here. First meal is on the house."

Landon's lips parted wider about to vehemently disagree with this 'kiddo' comment. But he didn't get a chance as Tel whistled behind the bar and disappeared into the kitchens, preparing to bring a feast out to the lad.

 

[Gray Venasir]

"The Force, he?"

Gray sat down with the group, and ordered a strong drink. It was needed, if it was the chitting Force they discussed. There was no secret that Gray hated the force, with every fiber in his body. And he had reason to do it. The two sides of it were always fighting, but in the end, those in the middle were the ones who lost.

"Well, I know a great deal of people that should be forced to take one of those methods, Jerec," replied the smuggler. In the past, Gray had worked with a few force users, most of them Jedi. And they all preached about the "living force", ad they called it, or about doing what is best for others, not yourself. So Gray could count on one hand the number of force users he liked and respected. "That is, if they actually work. So far, I've never heard of anyone being rid of the force forever."

But while he had been talking, he hadn't noticed Daiya turning away, and silently sobbing. He only noticed when she turned back, and asked how to be cured. Gray hadn't known for sure, but he had suspected that his young friend was force sensitive. There had been hints to it, during the time both worked with princess Arenais, on the Jaster's Sparrow. But he hadn't thought much of it. She didn't activly use it, and she was neither Jedi, nor Sith. She was only ever Daiya. And in Gray's book, that was a clear pass.

"And you're sure it works? Not just rumors?" he asked the Ithorrian. He didn't want to see the girl go on a wild goose chase, only for it to be wasted. "I've heard a great deal about the force, but never anything about tats being able to cancel it. Only thing I know works are the lizards, or things related to them."

Gray barely noticed Tel as he was about to leave to get food. "Oy, Tel, get something for me as well, Same as you get for him."

Daiya | Landon Jerec Asyr | Echo EK0

 

[Echo EK0]

Echo's three domes honed in on Daiya as the young one sounded quite perturbed at its summation. Yes, she seemed angry. Anger wasn't good according to the customer service protocols. Could prevent someone from making use of Echo's amazing delivery services! And delivering malicious code was still considered a delivery.

Of course Echo couldn't begin to conceptualize why Daiya was upset and how to respond to her outburst. Especially since its logic seemed sound. Why couldn't an organic just not use it? Was this another feature organics lacked compared to droids? Probably, but that didn't help Echo figure out how to deal with this situation.

"What about turning Void Stone into jewelry?" Seemed like a way to make sure of Jerec's other option without the dangers of some random person grinding it into fine powder to add to tattoo ink. Echo wouldn't say there were other positives like having the ability to take it off to use the Force, or being able to blend in by not standing out to those using the Force. A temporary solution seemed best anyway. Didn't really sound like suppressing the Force was a healthy option.

Tag: Gray Venasir | Daiya | Landon | Jerec Asyr

 

[Daiya]

For the first time in the night, Jerec sounded like he was actually responding to her. Directly to her, and not also to the general audience in the tavern. Daiya particularly didn't need to feel special right not, exactly the opposite, yet when the Ithorian spoke to answer her question and only her question, it sounded like validation to her. That her fears were legitimate, that her struggle was not unique. Her shallow breathing eased, as the girl took in relief along with air in each breath.

Her trial wasn't over, far from it. The teen wasn't as foolish to believe that it would be a simple task to find the methods Jerec suggested, or that they would be cheap. Daiya had spent nearly her whole life struggling just to provide for herself, to finance an expensive cure was beyond her wildest dreams. Yet she would eagerly trade those dreams for the ones that plagued her with vision and prophecy.

Swallowing, the girl nodded. Daiya slid from the seat of her bar stool, gripping the counter. The texture of it under her fingertips, the tactile nature of the sensation, it reminded her that this was real. The girl was neither dreaming, nor seeing some vision. What she heard was truth, or at the very least, factual. It was surreal, and part of her still couldn't believe she had really been told, but each time her doubt was overcome by the feeling of the wooden bar counter beneath her fingers.

"Thank you," she said. The girl turned away, she couldn't hold back the flood any longer. Her head drooped as she gathered her things, and her shoulders shook, but the girl was happier than she had been in a long time. Daiya planted her feet in front of her, first one and then the other, testing her balance. The drink made her unsteady, but her purpose kept her true.

The others were already pitching new kinks, trying to seed doubts into the plan. Daiya shook her head, shrugging off their doubts. She had no Mandalorian friends, so a chance to pursue their 'Cure' path seemed unlikely. A Void Stone, as rare and expensive as it sounded, at least seemed like something the young shadowrunner might be able to locate. And if she couldn't afford it, there was still a chance she could acquire it some other way. No, Daiya was sure of her path forward now, she needed no more time to debate it.

Her ears did catch an idea that made her pause, moments away from the door, and glance at the back of her wrist. The temporary tattoo, one that had symbolized the very tavern she stood in, was long gone now. As little as she had enjoyed getting it, Daiya had decided that measure of pain was price enough to abate the curse of the Force from her body. When the droid suggested jewelry or another way to house the Void Stone, the girl felt a lightness to her body that seemed to lift away the rest of the lingering affects of the alcohol.

As Daiya passed out into the streets of Denon again, headed toward the soothing comfort of her bed, her feet began to skip and she hummed a tune all the way home.

Jerec Asyr Echo EK0 Landon Gray Venasir​