Private Blood and Shadows

[Darth Tormenta]

Jutrand was far from Khamesi's favorite place in the galaxy. A city planet, filled with billions and billions of people, the stink of factories and civilization clung to everything. She preferred her ship, at least there she knew every angle someone could come from. Next to that, she preferred stations or outposts, so many people close together set her on edge. Of course, that'd been the case long before she'd ever been a Sith. Before she was an adult, she'd never even set foot in a place with more than a few thousand people. Granted she had lived on an asteroid colony mining the belt around them, so she also hadn't ever really seen fresh air, but old habits die hard. Still, there was hardly a better place for her to be than the Capital of the Sith Order's newest regime. Plentiful spaceports, every kind of product under the sun, and plenty of places to fence money or spend it. She took another turn down the walkway she was on, somewhere on the mid levels. She stood out to much for her own comfort, but she couldn't help how big she had grown, she hadn't even gotten into manipulating her own form with the Dark Side yet, she imagined she could become even more imposing if she wished. Instead she strode through the streets, only a light cloak around her to conceal her saber, not even her favored weapon. Like always she dressed in quiet, practical clothing. Unassuming if not for her size, but she was far from the biggest sapient to wander the streets of Jutrand. At least, she appeared to be wandering.

In reality she was taking a convoluted maze of paths, stopping at random shops, buying some small things like clothes, spare power packs, some food she'd probably give to her crew, she preferred to prefer her food herself. All in an effort to confuse any watchers, throw them off her trail as needed. Scattered around the planet at a score of different spaceports were her loyal Ash Dragons, a fleet of freed slaves she'd built with her own hands, and a little bit of debt she still intended to pay off. She had given her word after all, and she'd needed the ships. Even the corvettes were valuable, some of them had gravity well projectors, invaluable for a quick pirate force, locking a freighter down with no chance of escape was a near guarantee on a haul.

It'd be another fifteen minutes on her current route to reach the spaceport, where her own personal ship resided. Only a Agrias-Class Rapid Frigate, not a particularly tough vessel, but it was fast, and could unload a lot of damage at once. The Rettia was her own little home, secure in every way she could make it till she was dead, or found something better. Still, there was a risk in splitting up her forces the way she had, it was easy to isolate them from each other, but that was partially by design. Couldn't flip on the rest of the fleet if you didn't know what ports they were in, and it kept a degree of separation between the Ash Dragons and the Sith Order military, letting them operate outside it's command and maintain the veneer of simply working for the highest bidder. That wouldn't last forever, having a Sith as the fleet leader would get out in time, but for now they were resting after a job well done, a little bit of shore leave before they set back out, at least until Khamesi was needed elsewhere. She had trusted commanders that could take the fleet if she wasn't there, but she preferred to keep in charge where she could. Besides, most raids got her new crew, and new ships to scrap for other interests to make use of.

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"You've got a good taste in ships."

The voice came from above. A pair of sickly pale legs, dangling freely from the upper wing of the Frigate. Golden glowing eyes peered down from a face far too pale, far too smooth. It was near marble, unblemished and perfect. Alina scooted forward just enough to drop, silently touching down to the floor as the black cloak she wore settled down around her. Draped in such a way to obscure and hide whatever her appearance was underneath it.

"Agrias, right? Have you done anything to modify it's defenses? Doesn't seem like the most.. Suited for a Sith to travel around in."

Darth Tormenta

 

[Darth Tormenta]

Khamesi's eyes narrow at the unexpected intruder, her senses snapping from a broader wariness to focused on the stranger. She didn't know who this was off the top of her head, nor how she had found the ship and connected it to her. Of course, her being here would confirm it if it was just a suspicion on the strangers part. That wasn't what mattered, Khamesi in her day to day didn't exactly scream Sith. Simple clothes, she wore a cloak but cloaks were common the galaxy over these days. Only an enemy or another Sith, still a possible enemy, would know she was a Sith. At least that's what she told herself, there were plenty of neutral parties that could figure it out, but Khamesi didn't trust neutral parties. She'd been trained in an isolated and independent manner, and much of it had been her essentially teaching herself. Trust was already difficult for Sith, and Khamesi had been slow to trust before she had even become one.

"It's fast and packed to brim with weapons. What it can't fight simply can't catch it. Besides, it's only temporary. Better things are in the works."

This was a slight bluff, but not a total one. Her puppet company wasn't yet where they could really build anything bigger than a Corvette, let alone bigger than a Frigate, but some plans were already being drafted for a personal ship by designers she had particularly liked so far. The Rettia was simply the best she had at hand, as sure she could probably take ships from the Sith Order fleets to use, but these ships? They were hers and hers alone, she would have no one else staking a claim on them, no matter how trivial. She kept a healthy distance from the stranger, trying to judge their intent. It read as...cold, but Khamesi was never the best judge, and she dare not reach out with the force and try to pull it from her, not yet. Whether she was Sith or not, odds were she was prepared for such a thing. Khamesi shifted slightly, ready to dodge if needed but did not move closer.

"Just who are you?"

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"It only packs a punch if it's not disabled."

Alina hummed at the thought as she stepped over, meandering her way to close the distance between them. And casually just looked Khamsi over. The dark clothing did well to hide her features as intended, but up close it was impossible to hide the youthful face. Forever at that bridge between a child and adult, frozen in time the moment she drank the blood that made her what she was.

An all too coy grin took over though, as she flashed her fangs.

"You're nervous. Why? Sith shouldn't be so easy to unnerve, don't you think?" No sooner did she finish speaking then she moved. A fist, pure and simple, swung around for the woman's gut. Unnatural speed, unnatural might. Neither born of the Force, but just from what she was. A normal person wouldn't be able to stand it. But Khamsie wasn't normal. She was Sith.

It should be easy to block. If not, well. This little test would be failed before it could even start.

Darth Tormenta

 

[Darth Tormenta]

"It's-"

Khamesi didn't finish the thought before she twisted, her hand coming up to catch the punch. It hurt as it impacted, but her fists were hard as iron even without the force, years of practicing Teräs Käsi had helped with that. She had long honed her body to be a weapon, sacrificing as little speed as possible to match her strength. She stayed limber and didn't focus on simply building muscle mass, but honing her body to move with it as well.

"-not nerves, it's caution. Unknown threat shows up? Underestimating a threat at a glance gets you dead. As my old master discovered when he thought I was a simple brute to be twisted to his liking."

She grimaced slightly at mentioning her old master. The man had been incinerated long ago, punished for treating her as only muscle, and a future vessel for his own spirit. She had made him pay dearly for believing she had no mind behind her size and brawn. Course she also hadn't been able to recover most of his books or his holocron, so she had only scraped together the bare basics of the sorcerer's preferred arts.

Khamesi pivoted and withdrew away from the woman, the oddities around her were screaming danger to Khamesi, especially given the blinding speed of her strike. She remained in a ready position, focused more on defense than offense, for the moment. She may favor Teräs Käsi, but Hikata and Stava served well when an opponents strength and style were unknown to a person. She used her left hand to tighten the light cloak she was wearing, she had a fondness for the soft material it was made of and didn't desire to lose it.

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Oho~ Smart answer. Underestimating people is always what gets someone killed. It's what will get the current leaders of the Sith killed." Alina watched, waited. She took no stance, not at first. If anything, she figured the first strike would pull some kind of violent response from her fellow Sith. Instead, it didn't happen. The Sangnir lifted her own hands after a moment. A classic boxer's stance, her golden eyes narrowing in focus. Drive.

"I'd ask who you support, but Sith lie with words. Not so much with fists, mm?"

She blinked forward. Faster this time. The Anima in her body burned as fuel, making her that much faster. Stronger. "Show me your drive, Ash Dragon."

Darth Tormenta

 

[Darth Tormenta]

Khamesi let the dark side flow into her, forcing it into her muscles and bones to make her stronger, make her faster, make her all the tougher. She had been ready for an advance, and responded quickly, fists lashing out in a short series of straight jabs, quickly coming back in to keep her guard up. She didn't know what this person could do, but she was definitely fast, and definitely strong, liked to get close. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately depending on view, that was the same way Khamesi liked to operate. She preferred to feel the crunch of bone under her hands than just pass a blade through it, though she still kept hers on her at all times incase she needed it. She cursed herself for leaving her slugpistol and blaster behind, either could be useful here.

Her series of jabs was aimed more at the strangers head than her chest, given the size different straight jabs would go for her head anyway. She was undoubtedly faster and more agile, the force could only compensate so much for Khamesi's size, but she was faster than most expected given her bulk. She intended to get her opponent worrying about her hands more than anything else, once the jabs finished she brought her leg up to try and slam her shin into the strangers thigh, a break there could force her back or at least slow her down till she could heal it. Khamesi had little doubt she had a way of doing so, maybe not a way she knew, but most opponents that could fight at supernatural speeds had a way to heal themselves to some degree, even if it was just the standard dark side favored technique, temporary though it was.

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina didn't dodge. Didn't block. The punches all hit home, cracking into her body. Pain. She could feel the pain already. The bruises, the probably broken or at least bruised bones. Her body was hard, unnaturally so. But Khamesi was the same. In a different way at least. But for every punch she took, she threw her own. Trying to catch Khamesi with each haymaker.

Blood leaked from her lips as she just grinned. A wide, fanged grin.

There was nothing more thrilling than a full brawl.

Darth Tormenta

 

[Darth Tormenta]

Khamesi was thrown off for a split second by Alina's smile at the impacts. They had clearly hurt her, Khamesi had felt at the very least a crack, and could see blood. This shock was only momentary though, this only narrowed down that either she was from a supremely tough species, some manner of dark sider who often relished or drew strength from pain, or most frighteningly, both. She blocked the second haymaker after the first stuck home thanks to her shock, but the impact was still hard enough she could feel it. Bruises probably, a crack maybe, but not a clean break. She snarled and a laughed, she was quite used to pain by now, and quite used to healing herself. Unlike many Sith, she'd learned a technique more commonly used by the Jedi. While not one filled with the light side, arguably more effective, it was still better than the temporary patch of the more common Sith technique, if not as immediate. She'd be fine assuming she survived, it was that very technique that hid the vast majority of scars she'd ever had, alongside bacta patches or other treatment to work in tandem.

The haymakers were wild, while trained fighters certainly used them, they were to throw off an opponent or deliver a heavy blow when the other could dodge. Khamesi respond by bringing her foot up as she took a quick step backwards. A good push kick would force her opponent to back off or physically force her backwards, assuming it hit squarely and she wasn't ready for it of course. At the same time she began focusing more of the dark side into her hands and claws, reinforcing them even further, like she would when tearing apart a blast door. The impact was more effective than the slice, but even her claws had gotten through some in the past. She very nearly set herself into a full rage, but her opponent wasn't playing all her cards yet either, and the loss of most of her control would leave her more vulnerable to strategy even if she did hit far harder while under the effects of Dark Rage.

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina flipped back with the kick, gracefully moving to a handstand before pushing herself back. Making distance. What marks on her skin were there had already disappeared. Sangnir healing. No trick, no needed power. Just the simplicity of her unnatural biology. But the moment, well. The claws were coming out. Literally. Alina narrowed her eyes for a moment as she scooted back farther. Step by step, no longer striking out, instead focusing solely on dodging, evading.

Then let loose her void. Ripped the Force from their surroundings. Clawed at Khamesi's own connection to muffle and smother it.

"Careful now. Don't bring out any blades, claws included."

Darth Tormenta

 

[Darth Tormenta]

"There's no fun in blades, usually."

Khamesi's eyes narrowed as the power of the force flowing through her was suddenly smothered. She'd heard of people who could do it, but had never encountered it in person. It wasn't quite all gone, at the core of it all there was still a little spark she could reach, not much, but maybe just enough to do what she needed. It certainly wasn't enough to fully shroud her, but enhancing her strength and speed to the original degree was no longer an option. Instead she focused what little left she could into her eyes, searching for the shatterpoints in her opponents stance. Everyone had one, there was no such thing as a perfect material or defense, it was just a question of if and when she could use.

While this happened, she shifted her stance to something that let her move more freely, with her enhancements in the toilet, she would have to start avoiding hits to the best of her ability, not just avoiding them. Despite the very real danger, a smile found it's way to her lips. An actual challenge of a fight. These were rare for her thanks to her caution so far, and it was thrilling. She was by no means a slouch without the force, masters of Teräs Käsi have been known to break battle armor and keep up with force users without the force. It was the origin and point of the form as a whole, and why she used it so heavily, it let her use the dark side to capitalize on advantages rather than just evening the field. At least against more even opponents, Alina here probably though Khamesi was defenseless without the force. Sure she was now at a clear disadvantage, but she wasn't without tricks of her own, the burning nugget of pain and hatred that nestled at her core may be smothered, but this alone wasn't enough to smother the power she could draw through it.

She retreated a few steps back from Alina, shatterpoint would work better if she started attacking rather than dodging, give her more openings to make use of, then maybe she could even shatter those dangerous claws of the woman. Maybe not, but she bet she could find openings most didn't see. She took a brief respite to remove her cloak, letting it fall to the ground. Her saberstaff hilt was now easily visible, but she didn't bother to reach for it, she preferred to use her fists anyway, it was just the backup, or if the opponent wasn't worth expending her best moves on.

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Good, good! You didn't panic immediately. Most people do. Some surprise me, though."

Alina was shot the last time she'd been sure her prey was defenseless. Bullets hurt. Blasters hurt. It was that surprise that had her always ready. No one was truly down until their heart stopped beating. And, well. Given her own didn't beat could she say the same? She raised a hand, to her back. And pulled out a pistol just as Khamsie started to rush in. Alina was ready for this random stuff. It's how she survived all these years when she couldn't feel the Force.

"Surprise."

And so she started blasting.

Darth Tormenta

 

[Darth Tormenta]

Khamesi couldn't dodge every bolt headed her way. Some force users probably could, even as hampered as she was, but Khamesi had to much weight and bulk to dodge every shot. She didn't need to of course, blasters had a pretty variable firing path, it's why she mostly used a shotgun when she was using a blaster. No matter how skilled you were, some shots would always miss, especially with pistol blasters. She dodged some that were on target, but a few did splash home, burning into her shoulder and bicep as she presented a much less vital target to them as she closed. She only needed a small opening, and she saw one. Shatterpoints didn't lie, though one could move fast enough to prevent a strike from hitting home. In this case her fist came in on a hook, the uninjured arm. The opening she had found was the hand holding the blaster, more specifically, the wrist of it. If this was a normal person and the strike struck home, every bone in the wrist would be turned to dust.

As it was, she didn't trust that to work fully, and even if it did, she didn't know how long the strangers healing ability would keep that wrist down, if at all. Instead she drew strength from the pain of pair of bolts that had burned holes into her, and channeled what she could into pure speed, her fists going for fast, light attacks to force her opponent onto the defensive, or try to. Pain was no stranger to Khamesi. She still remembered the beasts she'd been pitted against by her master, unarmed against a pack of predators. If not for removing the scars, she'd have a great deal of bite and claw marks on her. Whoever her opponent was, it was obvious she was probing Khamesi, testing her somehow, and Khamesi didn't like that. So she didn't play all her cards. The pain had given her a bit more strength to work with, but the holes in that arm slowed it down to, and gave an obvious injury to exploit. She knew she would have to play some other cards soon enough, but which ones?

She didn't have the power to generate lightning as she would like, but fire and ice were still in her reach, and perhaps if the blaster or some other such thing remained in play, a little Ionization could knock it back out temporarily. If it came down to it, she could give into Dark Rage, that'd give her some raw power even in her weakened state to survive or maybe even win this. If this had been on more favorable terms, she would have had her grenades and shotgun with her, but her opponent had picked a timing where she would have had to leave behind the more obvious weapons, she had gone into the city to conduct business after all.

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Crack.

The wrist took the punch, snapping in an instant. Alina's eyebrows twitched, the only sign she couldn't stamp down on to hide the pain it brought. The gun itself scattered off to the side as she turned, hiding her injured wrist as she instead focused on scooting away. Weaving through the punches as best she could while keeping the void up around them. Knocking the strikes aside where she had to with her one hand. It paid to be a smaller target, sometimes, it seemed.

"Haha! You didn't even hestiate! That's fantastic! I like you, Khamsie!"

Her hand came back around. No longer broken, to catch one of the fists thrown her way as she flashed an all too wide grin.

"Let's be friends."

Darth Tormenta

 

[Darth Tormenta]

Khamesi almost ignored what the girl was saying, at this point she was treating every move as literal life and death, only holding back cards because she could tell her opponent was doing the same. However, almost was the key word. She restrained herself just enough to pull free and back away, forcing her breathing to remain calm and steady so that she kept a weary eye on her opponent, and didn't let the adrenaline break her focus. She stayed in a ready stance as she finally responded.

"Khamesi, not Khamsie. And of course I didn't hesitate, I deflect sabers with my bare hands at times, no point hesitating against a blaster when I don't have one to return fire with either."

Her arm ached, but she'd felt worse pain in her time. It slowed the arm down, but pain could be power so it wasn't the most major problem in the world. She kept her guard up, still unsure what this stranger wanted or why she'd attacked.

"You have a strange way of approaching people you want to be 'friend'."

Strange, but not entirely uncommon among the Sith. Sith didn't often have friends, just allies of convenience, or those that weren't currently an enemy. Of course not all Sith were so hardline, some had family, friends, and the like, but whatever friends they had they were often sure weren't a liability, or some other measure of being 'worthy'. She wasn't going to let her guard down just because her opponent was using words like friends, it could easily be a trap. She had already ambushed Khamesi once after all.

Alina Tremiru