Public Chasing a Rumor On Samovar

[AMCO]

In hindsight, he probably should have reconsidered asking a Sith Lord to be "ruder still".

Still, it all went reasonably well until the boy got involved. Seeing that bodies were about to start hitting the floor in droves, the Sorcerer raised his hand, smiling genially. "Please, my Lord, I do believe your display of power is more than sufficient."

Spreading his hands, he laid thick layers of persuasion atop his words, speaking calmly so as to lull those present into a gentle daze. "Though I dare say they might be getting the wrong message. As young Lord Astapov has made abundantly clear, there is a Sith relic present on this world - but such power is not meant for the uninitiated, for its very presence can spell certain doom, as the good Count's fate makes abundantly clear."

Placing a slender hand upon his chest, as if directing their attention to his heart and the veritable wellspring of benevolence that was himself, he wove the web of persuasion thicker yet, more than one noble literally drifting into sleep. "Fortunately, my good sirs and madames, we are here to swiftly and with the utmost care remove the relic before more lives are lost. All we need to accomplish said task, to save you from this evil... is to borrow an airspeeder."

There was a long pause, and then a dazed-looking woman handed him a pair of gleaming keys. "My profound gratitude, my lady. Truly this shows that you, nay all present, are beings of not only wealth but reason." Smirking smugly, he turned to his comrade. "Shall we?"

Lord Venari & Draconis Caesar | Jacen Nimdok , Zara Tate, & Westenra Mina​

 

[Zara Tate]

Meanwhile.

Snow was falling lightly outside Moxxie's warehouse. Zara Tate slipped out the side door and back into the dim lantern light of the empty River District streets. The clouds hung low among the tall towers of the city. She pulled on her warm hood and breathed a foggy sigh towards the lonely road around her.

"Damn. Doll was empty. Whatever had been inside, small as a pebble, was now missing too."

She began walking further south. Alongside the frozen canal and more towards the southern city walls. She could exit the River District there. Hike up the street towards the Estates. Find somebody to point her in the right direction. Somebody less blue collar. Someone more familiar with the nobility.

"My only remaining clue is, Foxglove to Summer Palace. Well. Hard to think of anything summer right now though. This place seems as frozen as a weekend on Illum."

She stopped along the iron railing and looked down into the canal. It looked deep and foreboding. Slick with low frozen ice. Like a blue highway to no where. Mmm,

It reminded her of this planet too.

"Going somewhere?"

A deep mysterious voice asked behind her.

"Mm?" Zara spun around and peered outward from her fuzzy hood. It appeared, she just attracted the wrong kind of attention.

He was a giant of a man. Taller than the highest doorway in all of town. His broad shoulders, too broad for a normal man, where draped in black leathers. A slick trench coat from neck to toe. Towering over her. He spoke with a deep, powerful voice. His eyes burned like hot coals. And that beard of his. Pitch black and long, all the way down to his knees. More like a banner falling over his chest than a winter fashion.

Zara immediately knew she was in trouble. She could sense this man. He was a cybernetic enforcer. A killing machine.

"I'm just out for a bit of fresh air. Nothing special." Zara scoffed as he feet moved slowly to a sword stance.

"Of course. And the warehouse detour. Tsk tsk. I'm sure that was nothing too."

Zara's eyes grew grim. The poor fellow was smiling as he continued.

"Well. More the pity. Can't have people nicking things from the family, now can we? Oh, oh no. I'm afraid I'll have to make an example out of you, little girl. Sorry but. Master's orders."

Zara slowly pulled down her hood. Letting the snowfall between them grow slower still.

"You know. I'm not much good at mind-tricking cyborgs. Always too many crossed wires up there. Nothing but static in the head really."

She reached for her saber, hidden inside her cloak.

"But come now good sir. You wouldn't really pick on a fair little lady in these terrible mid-winter streets, now would you?"

The towering gast just smiled back at her underneath his long devil's beard,

"Oh. On the contrary lass. Fair ladies, are a specialty of mine."

His trench shifted ever so slightly. Revealing a long curving machine blade in the place of his right arm. Some sort of cyborg's devilish attachment. Huge and powerful.

The cold turned Zara's pale cheeks a rosy hue. Snow falling lightly upon her eyelashes. She narrowed her eyes and felt the slight presence of more goons lurking in the shadows.

Four others. Two across the canal. Two over in the alley. Watching. Waiting. Laughing. No need for an ambush, I suppose. They'd let the big guy have all the fun.

"So be it then. I'm your huckleberry." Zara held her chin high.

Cloudy skies, damp weather, and icy lantern light. dimming. The perfect place for a battle.

"Why, then by all means." The towering giant boasted aloud with a smile, "Let the fox, face the hound."

He slowly stepped forward. Beard dangling. Shoulder held low at the ready.

With hot coals in those dead eyes.

...

Jacen Nimdok | Westenra Mina | Draconis Caesar | Lord Venari | AMCO​

 

[Westenra Mina]

"My client came across it during an auction, but never owned it. He did however, indicate he had touched it." The Biot answered Nimdok. He seemed to really want to help.

Westenra, upon the young lady saying her brother had just called, saying others were looking for it right at that exact moment in his gallery, looked at Jacen Nimdok in clear alarm.

"It is likely that they too know its location at this point, whoever they are. Going there could be very dangerous. What if they are Sith? We could all die choking. Your best bet, Countess, is to make a break for the Summer Palace immediately with Nimdok. I in the meantime...will delay them in any way I can manage...I do, however, strongly urge you to destroy it. If it is not possible to keep the holocron out of their hands, then at least you can deny them victory, and stop the device from being used to claim any more lives than it already has. I'll contact you again when I can.

Westenra, without a word further, departed, switched her pheremones back on, looking for a place she could be alone for three minutes. She decided to risk a supply closet a floor up.

Once there, she slipped off her dress, which fell to the floor silently, and got on one knee, triggering the transformation process.

Her skin everywhere bubbled and warped as she remained perfectly still, database reconfiguring, pigmentation altering, turning paler as the flesh warped and wriggled everywhere.

One of the Janitors, out for a smoke break, happened to remember that the last bottle of an expensive cleaner was in said closet and went to fetch it before his break ended.

The Janitor, dressed in stained gray overalls, waltzed over to the closet door and opened it. He stared in bewildered silence at the bubbling, wriggling horror in front of him. He didn't scream. Didn't recoil. He'd survived an attempt to sacrifice him to an unholy ritual when he was a teen after accidentally getting too drunk at a party. His father had been forced to strangle a Lich back to death after accidentally discovering its tomb. His grandfather had killed a Rancor with a knife after accidentally wandering into its nest.

All of these familial experiences gave him just enough inner reason to take one long, hard look at what he didn't realize was a shapeshifting Android caught mid-transformation, and simply said. "Nope." He then calmly closed the door and went back to his shift. Let whatever the hell that was be some other poor bastard's problem.

The Biot exited a minute and a half later, no longer resembling a tanned skinned, middle aged woman, but a pale, raven haired woman in red and blue hoplite armor with silver bracers. She hid the dress in a vent above her and exited the theater, no less stunning in this appearance than she had been in the previous. But she needed a weapon. No mere fist would do for potential Sith.

As she exited the theater, Westenra spotted an officer on watch with a sword, placed there after finding not just the guy she had first paralyzed and drank from, but Nimdok's innkeeper also.

Seeing a great opportunity for an audacity joke, the biot slinked up to the officer, who was dressed in a blue uniform with a blue coat of wool and a large, officious looking cap.

"Hello officer..." she purred as he rounded a corner into a street. He was startled as he beheld her.

"What's your business, offworlder?" He asked, instantly suspicious.

"Say..." she spoke, glancing down at his longsword. "That's a nice sword."

"Yeah, and its for keeping offworlders like you in line." He sneered.

The Android smiled, pink eyes glittering. She let the pheremones slowly do their work.

"Why can't we be friends?" She mock-pleaded.

(Sinister Latin Chanting)

The guard swooned a bit.

"Why can't weeee beee friends?" he slurred, blinking as he struggled to keep his mouth from opening at how gorgeous she looked, even with the armored skirt she wore.

"Why can't we be friends?" The Biot repeated. (War: 700 XP)

"I...don't see why we couldn't be..." he said, utterly bewitched.

"Do you trust me?" She purred, stepping closer.

"Implicitly. May I ask who exactly, you are?" He inquired, besotted.

"I'd make a clever reference, officer." The Android replied seductively, hand slowly moving upward to his neck...

"but I'm in a hurry..."

Then her eyes spotted the necklace of kyber on his neck, a gift from his mother. It was yellow in color, a simple chunk of raw crystal, encased in a transparent sphere.

Her eyes widened as deathly fear gripped her at the sight of the crystal, a preprogrammed psychological weakness that was part of her very genetic code.

She snarled in fear, the snarl unnatural and animalistic as she recoiled from him utterly, terrified, almost too terrified to think.

"Huh?" He got out, startled momentarily from the Pheremones effects, backing away slowly out of raw instinct subconsciously.

"Do not put your faith in such trinkets of deceit." The Biot hissed, backing away further. (I have seen many strange things already!: 90 XP)

"What are you going on about, offworlder?" The policeman asked, suspicion starting to get past the Pheremones effects ever so slowly.

"That necklace of yours...it doesn't suit you, my dear...please...toss it aside so we can be friends..." The Biot pleaded, backing away as he started to move towards her.

"My Ma gave me this necklace!" The Officer exclaimed. "What's with you, offworlder?"

As he stepped closer she hissed at him in fear, and that's when he saw the black fangs.

The policeman screamed, knowing exactly what sort of genre life had suddenly placed him in.

Westenra had to make a choice. The kyber terrified her, but the policeman was now a witness and his screaming would likely draw others.

With immense difficulty, she charged, even as he pulled it off his neck and held it like a ward, making her slow down as she fought back nearly uncontrollable panic staring more at the crystal in his hand more than him as she closed the distance.

She did not see him draw the sword, but she had enough time to see him swing it. She dodged and instead of cleaving her head directly in two, which would have temporarily killed her, it went through the shoulder, not cutting all the way because he was so terrified to have stumbled into an old-timey vampire-on-cobblestone-streets encounter that he wasn't fully focused on the first swing.

The sword tore the biot open diagonally, splashing glowing red blood everywhere. The biot snarled, still more focused on the crystal even as the policeman continued to scream, the red blood getting reabsorbed into her body even as she continued to gush it out through the massive wound on her torso. But when he ripped the sword out of the deep trench he had made, Westenra caught him by the wrist, paralyzing him with the toxin in her ring.

Shuddering in fear, the damaged, bloody Android with great effort took the crystal out of his frozen palm, and hurled it with superhuman strength out of her sight.

The policeman man started whimpering in fear as The Biot bared her teeth, the fangs sliding out in front of him.

Her fangs went into his neck, drinking his psychic energy, muscle fibers latching together what would be a fatal wound in ordinary people, dragging him into an alley.

Three other officers, these armed with simplistic Samovar variants of the Snubble Special finally reached his spot twenty seconds later out of the fog, shining lanterns everywhere, including the alley, but there was nothing. Nothing except his badge on the stones.

One officer, a friend of his named Parker, leaned down to pick up the badge. He shined his lantern lght into the black void that hid the alley. No sign of the officer.

"Brett?" He called out, worriedly.

No answer.

Despair gripped the officer.

"BRRRREEEEEEEETTTTTT!"

Twelve minutes later...

The Biot exited a small, primitive subway tunnel a block away, still licking blood off her teeth. The policeman was unconscious, and his wounds had been treated, leaving him on the bench to sleep, where he would be unable to remember a single thing when he awoke. She had, of course, taken his sword.

With haste, she made her way back to her path on the Gallery, using the vibrosword to cut open the energency exit doors, sheathing the blade and going into the service area above everyone, which had catwalks for maintenance access.

Her telescopic vision focused on Lord Venari and AMCO .

Now to plan a strategy...her design rendered her heavily resistant to telekinesis and mental attacks, but her design only went so far. Then there was the matter of civilians to consider.

She kept quiet, wondering what their next move was.

Draconis Caesar

Zara Tate

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

With “Lorna” having departed in a hurry, Nimdok turned to Lady Astapova and raised an eyebrow.

The girl was still frantically trying to contact her brother, but she wasn’t oblivious to the urgency of the situation. Slipping a wireless earpiece into her right ear, she said, “I will keep calling him. In the meantime, we can head to the Summer Palace.”

Nimdok bowed his head in acknowledgement. The two left the Countess to watch the show and headed out into the snowy night.

At the click of a button on her datapad, Lady Astapova called her landspeeder to the front of the Lazdinay Theater. It was an expensive vehicle driven by an astromech droid—flashy and conspicuous, but it wouldn’t look out of place parked outside a palace. Once the two were inside, the speeder bolted forward. Despite how fast it was moving, the luxurious design smoothed the ride.

Through the windows, Nimdok watched the snow-capped city blur past, replaced by open countryside locked in the dead of winter. Eventually, he caught a glimpse of a grandiose estate resting on a hill. The architecture was still quaint, but it was somehow slightly more modern than what he had seen in Melekess.

“Why is it called the Summer Palace?” he inquired.

“Because it is built for warmth, no matter how cold it gets outside,” she replied. “It is kept heated by an internal system, and there is a greenhouse on the grounds where hothouse fruits and flowers can be grown year-round. The place has been in my family for generations—it was originally a gift from the Tsar in exchange for one of my ancestors winning a great battle.”

Nimdok smirked. The Samovarians, having been forgotten by the rest of the galaxy, had filled in the centuries with their own private little wars. Currently, much of the planet had fallen under the power of the Olenskan Empire, which in many ways mimicked the Galactic Empire’s internal structure. There was a Tsar in place of the Emperor, a First Citizen occupying the position Darth Vader had held, the nobility fulfilling the role of Moffs, and so on. He doubted the Olenskans could match the sheer scale of cruelty and oppression exhibited by their galactic forebears, but that was only because their imperium was confined to just one world.

Shortly before they arrived at the Summer Palace, Lady Astapova managed to get through.

“Andrei!” she cried. “Thank goodness. Are you all right? Where are you?” His response made her face grow pale. “...Get out of there! Find somewhere safe… No, I’m not… Please, you don’t have to do anything. I’m with a friend…”

The speeder pulled up to the Palace. She was still in comm with her brother, her back hunched over as she listened. Nimdok made a gesture indicating he was going outside, then opened the door.

His boots crunched over the snow as he headed for the entrance. The Palace seemed to glow from within. As he approached, he noticed there was no snow gathered in drifts on the building or in the immediate radius of it. Only water, melted by the heat it produced.

At the sound of footsteps, he looked over his shoulder. Lady Astapova was following him, holding up the folds of her dress as she walked.

“My brother is coming,” she said. “He called my bluff when I said we weren’t here.”

Approaching the door, she pressed her hand to the side of the archway. A hidden scanner, disguised as part of the brickwork, approved her fingerprints and released the latch.

They were hit by a blast of warm, sultry air as the carved wooden doors swung open. Lady Astapova entered first, followed by Nimdok.

“There are dozens of rooms. I’m not sure which one holds the crystal,” she said. Turning around, she frowned, puzzled. “What happened to your jacket?”

“It’s very warm in here,” Nimdok replied, standing before her in only his shirtsleeves. Even though his response didn’t really answer her question—if he had discarded his jacket, then where was it now?—she didn’t care enough to press the issue.

They were running out of time.

“My brother told me he was attacked by two men at the gallery,” she explained. “They forced him to tell them where the crystal was. No doubt they’re on their way here now…”

Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke. But unlike her, Nimdok didn’t appear concerned in the slightest. He strolled through the impressive halls of the Palace, his hands in his pockets as he looked the place over.

Upon entering the drawing room, he asked, “Does this building have any defenses? A burglary system, perhaps? Turrets, minefields?”

“If it did at one time, it certainly doesn’t anymore,” she replied, sinking into a chair.

Nimdok studied her. “You’ve been very cooperative,” he remarked. “Despite your youth, you’ve handled all of this very well. I’m impressed.”

“Well, thanks,” she mumbled, clutching her head in her hands.

“Are you feeling unwell?”

“I have a little bit of a headache,” she admitted. “Mostly, I just feel tired.”

“It would be unwise to sleep here,” Nimdok murmured. “But I believe the holocron is close. Otherwise, it would not be affecting you this way.”

She started and leaped to her feet. “Is it… somewhere in this room?”

Nimdok raised a finger to his lips, listening. Slowly, he made his way toward the center of the room. His shoes brushed an elaborately woven rug lying on the floor. Stooping, he threw back the rug, revealing the wooden floorboards underneath… one of which was noticeably looser than the others.

Fitting his fingers between the cracks, Nimdok yanked the board up.

Something large and dark came out of the hole.

Lady Astapova cried out, her hand covering her mouth as she backed away.

The creature loomed, black wings unfolding. It was pale and bloodless, its eyes blazing, and though the room was warm, its body radiated cold.

Nimdok swung the floorboard in his hands, striking the creature across the face.

It reared back, howling in pain, and fell on the floor in a heap of black feathers and white flesh. A sound like the tittering and cackling of crows lingered in the air, along with a sharp burning odor.

But despite all this, it was obvious the creature was humanoid. It had arms and legs attached to a thin, bony torso, and a head crowned with wild gray hair.

“Who are you?” Nimdok demanded.

The six dark wings sprouting from its back shifted. One of them revealed the face hidden beneath the mane of hair.

Lady Astapova gasped. “Oh no,” she said, her words muffled by her hand. She sounded sickened.

The creature’s face was not deformed. Rather, it was shocking because of its familiarity. Nimdok too recognized the face of Count Astapova from pictures he had found on the Holonet when the Count’s daughter had first contacted him. His countenance was pallorous, but it was unmistakably his face that stared back at them now.

Regardless, Nimdok was unmoved. “He's some sort of gatekeeper, no doubt. Don't be afraid.”

As he spoke he spared a quick glance down into the hole. It was empty. Looking up at the creature again, his eyes narrowed.

“I believe you have something I need.”

The icarus hissed at him. Its wings flexed, as though preparing to take flight.

“I guard something you want,” it rasped. “I take the face of the last to fall prey to my quarry. He was not pure.”

The creature’s tongue slid out, tasting the air. “You are unclean,” it growled. Creeping around Nimdok, it attempted to get closer to Lady Astapova. She shrank from it, squeezing her eyes shut to avoid looking at the corrupted visage of her late father.

Nimdok stood in its way, brandishing the loose floorboard. “You come any closer and I’ll hit you again.”

“Shi’ido!” The icarus spat the word as if it were a curse. “Changeling! Get out of my way!”

It lunged. Nimdok swung. Lady Astapova screamed.

Draconis Caesar Zara Tate Westenra Mina Lord Venari AMCO

 

[Lord Venari]

"Shall we?"

Venari regarded the Knight with narrowed eyes, partly angered, partly impressed. On one hand, letting the lot dispatch one another would leave zero room for word to get out and draw more attention to the gallery, on the other Adrian had both diffused the situation and may have earned them a few ground assets, "we shall," he said approaching the young lord Astapova, offering him a hand, "come why not accompany us to the summer palace and so we may rid your family of its suffering," he laced his words with a command of the force.

The now more relaxed Andrei Astapova took his hand and came to a stand, "yes indeed. Let us end this. But first I must contact my sister," he replied. Venari gave Adrian a side-eyed glance. The Sith Knight pressed the sole button on the control fob key he was given.

Venari guided the trio outside, "very well, but make no mention of either myself or my companion. Best not arouse any undue suspicion. Lest your sister deny us entry and we prolong your family's anguish," he continued influencing the young lord's mind.

Before stepping out Venari took one final look behind him, scanning the room of its many ornately dress aristocrats and many murals. A ripple in the far corners of his mind told him something was off. Brushing skepticism aside, the trio left the building. Outside, an icy blue and silver luxury airpseeder awaited; at the head of the vehicle, an old era pilot droid waited. The dual Sith took their seats while the young lord finished his holocall.

"Ready?" The Sith lord asked, feigning patience.
"Yes... uh, yes indeed," he stuttered in reply, boarding the speeder.

The air speeder shot into the sky, a heating system kept the coming snow from covering its charges; nonetheless Venari's black cloak grew damp as they sped towards the summer palace. Astpanove provided the coordinates leaving the Sith to wait. Soon they'd have the Holocron and could leave this humdrum world behind.

AMCO Jacen Nimdok Zara Tate Westenra Mina Draconis Caesar

 

[Westenra Mina]

Oh crap. They were going all right. They also had what was essentially a hostage. She'd arrived too late to challenge them directly and now had to scramble for a back up plan.

Superhuman speed and combat strategems allowed her to quickly think one up. Going back out where she came from, Westenra took the comm link she had seized from the policeman she had fed on and issued an all points bulletin in his voice. It helped that she had read the Samovar legal code before coming here

"All units, all units, unidentified offworlders have drugged a citizen. We have a 12-60 violation here." She spoke in the voice of the Policeman she had fed on. "Hostage is believed to be a member of the Astapova Family. Suspects should be considered heavily armed and extremely dangerous. Destination believed to be The Summer Palace."

She thought about what else to say. Trying to stop them directly would be too risky to the hostage.

She decided to cut the Gordian Knot.

"Be advised, Countess Astapova and her guest at the summer palace are in extreme danger. I believe a barracade should be formed around the perimeter of the Palace itself to prevent entry."

"Confirmed, Unit 45. Dispatching all available units." Came the operator.

Westenra put away the link, found an air-speeder she liked, broke the feth into it and hotwired it (Though she would be sure to return the vehicle with full compensation later.).

She made sure to pilot at a speed just under the legal limit, as she lkely had minutes to reach the palace herself, and that's if they had not already made it.

She kept a respectable distance, though...at first. But when she saw their speeder, literally minutes from reaching the palace itself, she decided to risk the dragnet falling on her as well if it meant catching and delaying them. Even if she failed, they would still have the police waiting for them at the palace.

As she heard distant sirens in the air, she gunned the engines to maximum, reaching their speeder in short order.

Westenra then presumed to re-enact one of the scenes in Fury Road (With her as Furiosa presumably) by trying to slam her speeder into theirs. Would Lord Venari and AMCO be able to evade it?

Jacen Nimdok

Zara Tate

Draconis Caesar

 

[Zara Tate]

Elsewhere.

Silence had fallen over the cold byway warehouses. Emtpy streets nearby an empty ice canal. Muffled snowflakes falling lightly. Dimmed only by faint, warm lantern light. Here among empty streets. Where not a soul was stirring. Not even a mouse.

Yet. There had been a terrible thunder only the fraction of a moment before. A terrible roar of falling steel and smashing gale force trauma. A catastrophe that had rent stone and burst brown brick into gray groveling gravel. Sent shards of the icy street in every direction. Bending, braking, rending even the blackest steel railing that seperated the canal's icy sidewalk from the rest of the street. The whole road was torn asunder. Yet now the giant and his towering falling blade was still. Quiet in the loose falling snow. Silent as the grave.

The dim-witted goon opened his eyes from the thunder and peered slowly around the box he had been hiding behind. His partner did likewise behind him. Together they cast their eyes over the littered destruction of the roadway. Moxxie's great Enforcer now kneeling silent. Bent over his burnished breaking blade. His beard fluttering slowly in the wind.

"What just happened?" One knave asked of another. Slowly removing himself from the alleyway shadows.

"I don't know. The big guy used his arm blade to smash right down into that poor girl and then..."

"Did you see blue too? That flash? What was that?"

"Yeah. I don't know. And then, just nothing. They didn't move."

"Is he..? ...Are they dead?"

More shadows moved across the dark canal. More bandits cast off the sudden strife of battle and removed themselves out into the open. All the more curious to see what had become of their champion and his prey.

One man removed his polished sword and slowly crept up upon the unmoving corpses. Shuffled threw the blasted and torn street. Across the smashing crater left agape by their champion's devastating cybernetic blade-arm.

"Damn." The fiend scoffed at his approach, "He tore right threw the cobblestones and rail too."

"Kark me." His partner crossed himself, "...What do you see?"

The bandit drew closer and peered through the mess. He found only one corpse. Not two. And a very strange smoking hole right into the chest of Moxxie's enraging Enforcer. No doubt made by a Lightsaber.

"He's dead."

"What!?" a dumbfounded, unbelievable sound.

"Super dead." The half-wit kicked the giant's leathery corpse. It didn't even budge. So heavy and grounded was it's dead weight.

"Then. What about the girl? She dead too?"

The first bandit leaned in under the giant's collapsing form. Pushing his view around the bulk and deeper in towards the middle.

"Nope. Nothing."

"What do you mean!? Nothing."

"Hey!" Two voices cried out from across the canal. More bandits, curious'er and curious'er. "Hey! What happened!?"

"HE'S DEAD." The first bandit called. Poking the body with his sword. "LOOKS LIKE HE GOT A HOLE RIGHT IN THE CHEST TOO."

"What about the girl!?" They cried from across the street.

"That's what I said. What about the girl."

"Shut up. ...SHE'S GONE. MUST HAVE MADE A RUN FOR IT."

The men across the canal looked at each other. Then threw up their hands in distaste. Clearly frustrated.

"Kark me man." The second bandit clamored. "What are we gonna do now? Moxxie's gonna be pissed?"

"Kark if I know. There ain't even foot prin..."

He looked out down the street. Actually. There were footprints. They just started far past the debris of the rent cobblestones. Clearly. The girl with the bright blue blowtorch, had gotten swiftly away.

"Well. ...Chit."

. . .


Zara rematerialized from her invisible form upon the top of the fisherman's warehouse. Three stories above the rabble and broken street below. Whoosh. Man. That had been a close one.

She was still breathing hard from her sudden confrontation with the dead giant below. A swift cut to his belly as he charged was all it took. He was dead before his heavy stroke fell. And luckily. The force and concussion of the blow was enough to let her slip away while the goons dove for cover. They wouldn't know she escaped for awhile now. Not with such fan fair to sort through. Bah.

She wiped gray dust and stone from her cloak. Letting it fall softly among the rooftop.

"Darn bandit scum. Ugh. So... Uncivilized."

Zara scoffed at the bewildered bandits below. Then breathed deeply and sighed. She still had a holocron to find. Smuggler goons be damned. So she patted her shoulders off once more and then turned to take her leave. Up the River District rooftops. Up towards the Summer Palace beyond.

Her journey was not over. Yet.

She did not notice, as she made her cloaked escape, that a silent dark ninja had witnessed the whole thing. The battle, the bandits, and Zara's magically empowered escape. And those bright, baby-blue ninja eyes. That svelte womanly form. Bathed in murky shadows between the tall city towers above. That devlish ninja woman who watched Zara make her way slipping deeper into the city.

She smiled. And silently followed suit.

. . .

Jacen Nimdok Westenra Mina Lord Venari Draconis Caesar AMCO​

 

[AMCO]

Though the lack of a roof proved annoying in such weather, the journey was pleasant enough until he noticed the psychotic driver following them and the sirens blaring in the distance - the direction they were going. How in the blazes had local law enforcement beat them there?

Swearing loudly, he pushed down the accelerator, darting forward with all the speed of an illegally modified sports speeder. After a quick order given to the dazed Astapov, he opened a line to local law enforcement, shouting down the communicator. "This is Lord Adrian Terassi of Serenno, some madman is trying to fething ram us out of the sky, we're..."

With a resounding crash, the vehicles collided, surging towards the ground even as Adrian grabbed young master Astapov and wreathed them both in a shimmering barrier of protective energies - had to keep him alive and compliant, he was their key to the locals' - and innocent to boot.

Digging two long grooves in the ground, the vehicles shuddered violently, pieces of brightly painted metal and shattered transparisteel crashing against his barrier. Visibly snarling with anger, he pushed himself from his seat, bruises already forming - it was fething hard to force transferral.

"Venari! You wanted to kill someone? I believe some nitwit just volunteered!"

The police were close - and more importantly so was the palace - but it was still a distance away. Such a fething mess.

Lord Venari | Jacen Nimdok , Zara Tate, & Westenra Mina​

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Lady Astapova’s scream died abruptly in her throat as she cowered and threw her arms over her face. The lunging icarus hadn’t reached her, but she could hear signs of a struggle. Loud, violent sounds that seemed to come from all corners of the room…

After several terrifying seconds, the banging, scratching, scraping and howling died away. She dared to peek through her manicured fingers.

The scene before her was a chaotic mess. Furniture lay strewn about, some of it having been dismembered. Claws had gouged into the upholstery, and deep scratches wounded the wood paneling. Curtains had been torn down during the fight, and yet somehow none of the antiquated glass windows had broken.

Most startling of all was the sight of the subdued icarus, groaning like a wounded animal. A makeshift stake fashioned from a destroyed chair leg was embedded through its middle, pinning it down. Nimdok stood over it, panting breathlessly… with his arm slowly dragging across the floor.

Sensing that she was about to scream again, he quickly assured her, “It’s all right. It’ll fix itself in a moment.”

With wide eyes, she watched the elongated, over-muscled appendage creep back into his body, resuming its normal length and shape. Even his shirt sleeve looked normal and unaffected.

“Don’t say anything about this, my dear, and I will be eternally grateful,” Nimdok said, dusting himself off.

Swallowing, Lady Astapova nodded. “I won’t tell anyone.”

Satisfied that she would keep his secret, he returned his attention to the icarus. “Now, gatekeeper. Tell us where the holocron is.”

“No,” the icarus replied. Black blood spilled from the corner of its white mouth, staining sharp teeth. “I will not tell.”

Nimdok's tone turned icy. “Then I will burn this place to the ground with you in it.”

The icarus’ wings sagged. It knew it was defeated, yet pride kept it from giving in to Nimdok’s demands. “You will have it destroyed. I am programmed to guard—”

“Perhaps not,” Nimdok said. “You have yet to tell me what the hell it is you’re guarding. How do I know it will be worthwhile to save it?”

A strange look came into the icarus’ eyes. “You truly are impure,” it murmured, licking the blood from its lips. “Never mind justice or the vanquishing of evil. All you care about is absorbing more knowledge.”

“Who programmed you?” Nimdok demanded, ignoring his comments. "What Sith lord would have this kind of power?"

The icarus grinned. “Lord of Hunger.”

Nimdok’s eyebrows rose. “Darth Nihilus? Would he really bother to create a holocron?”

The icarus laughed, but would not confirm his guess.

The archaeologist was growing annoyed. “The holocron can’t be far away,” he said, looking around the vicinity of the icarus’ body. “Gatekeepers are usually just projections, but you are a living being.” His eyes landed on the stake jutting from the creature’s torso. “I wonder…”

Straightening, he turned to the Astapova girl. “I suggest you leave this room. I have some... unpleasant business to attend to.”

She was more than happy to get out of there, away from the monstrous thing which bore her father’s visage. Returning to the main hall, she paced the floors, trying again to contact her brother. He did not respond to her calls or her barrage of instant messages.

Outside, she could hear the faint echo of police sirens. She dared to hope that Andrei (or perhaps Lorna) had called the police to help them, but she was smart enough not to risk venturing outside to meet them.

Her pacing was suddenly halted by the arrival of Nimdok. He approached her slowly, clasping an object in front of him. His hands were smeared with black blood, as was the red pyramid-shaped crystal in his grasp.

“It was as I suspected—the heart,” he murmured, turning the holocron over with slippery fingers. “The gatekeeper is quite dead, or at least no longer functioning.” Glancing up, he quietly asked, “Lady Astapova, where in this house was your father’s body found?”

“In the room where that thing was,” she replied without looking at him. She was still staring at the bloody holocron.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what was the cause of death?”

She wrung her hands. “He cut his throat.”

“Grotesque,” he murmured under his breath. She didn’t seem to understand what he was implying with this line of questioning, and that was for the best. If his theory was correct, the gatekeeper of this holocron was able to take physical form by feeding on the Count’s shed blood after driving the man to suicide. It would certainly explain why the icarus had looked like the late Count, as well as why it had formed its new body with the holocron as its center.

“The police are coming,” she said, eager to change the subject. “What should we do now?”

He hesitated. Now that his search had ended, he longed to depart this world and retreat to solitude, where he could study the artifact in peace. But there were still many loose ends to tie up here. The least he could do was ensure her brother’s safety. He owed that much to the Astapova family, after all that they had been through.

Placing the holocron in his pocket, he approached one of the large windows overlooking the front of the house and peered out. Several police vehicles had already surrounded the building. In the distance, he could see other vehicles moving across the skies.

“We should be safe here, especially with the police forming a perimeter around the Palace,” he said. “If we were followed—and I have no doubt we were—then we should remain where we are. Let them come to us.”

AMCO Zara Tate Westenra Mina Lord Venari Draconis Caesar

 

[Lord Venari]

With one hand Venari braced himself against the seat in front of him, with the other he clutched the door. The Sith Lord didn't intend on remaining in the flying wreck. A split second before the crash he pushed off of the vehicle and took to the air. The world was a blend of snowy white the dark oak trees of the forest. He spun about wildly for a moment then exerting his will into being, righting himself. With the force he controlled his descent and alongside the crashed wreckage of their commandeered airspeeder. Above, their assailant's vehicle was spinning about but its fate hadn't been sealed yet. It was still airborne after all. Venari would simply have to introduce a literal course correction of his own.

"Venari! You wanted to kill someone? I believe some nitwit just volunteered!"

"An astute assessment," he agreed.

A dark pillar of smoke rose from the front of their attacker's airspeeder, which dipped just a few meters above the crash site. Venari surged into the air and crashed onto the emerald hood of the damaged speeder crushing it under boot. In it, a pale woman clad in crimson and azure armor was vying for control. Venari glared at the woman, through the lens of the force she appeared as a lifeless visage of gray. An odd one, but no matter, he thought to himself.

"Bold move, but it appears we're sharing the same stop," he shouted. His hands sparked with the notorious purple current of dark side energy. The Sith Lord unleashed a torrent of lightning which coursed through the vehicle's skeleton, blowing out the internal ion engine and repulsor coils. Flames engulfed the speeder's innards and with a resounding burst consumed the rest of the vehicle. Venari backflipped off the exploding wreck and landed alongside Adrian and the young lord Astapova, watching the vehicle come to ground.

"Take the boy and go to the summer palace," he ordered. Peeling away the familiar veil of existence, Venari searched the woodlands as it appeared through the force. Smaller animals scurried away. Adrian's arm still pulsed with something that didn't match the rest of his natural aura. Even the young lord exuded a bright white presence slightly stronger than most commoners, he almost blended in with the surrounding snow. From the crash, almost nothing, "the pilot, she was different. I'm going to make sure she's dead. I'll join you afterward."

He took hold of his lightsaber and approached the wreck but kept a few meters distance, scanning the scene for the woman.

AMCO Westenra Mina Jacen Nimdok Zara Tate Draconis Caesar

 

[Westenra Mina]

Oh damn it all....

Well, the first part of this plan had worked, certainly.

But then Lord Venari leapt aboard Westenra's now damaged speeder that she was struggling to control and flooded the whole thing with electricity. Westenra's skin malfunctioned and glitched, rippling as her body took the electricity as well. Then Venari, in a boss move, leapt back onto his own vehicle while hers careened into the woods, grinding itself (and her) against the ground as it turned into flaming wreckage on impact.

The tissues were heavily fire retardant however, and the mutilated, burned and completely skinned android pulled itself out of the fire, still clutching her vibrosword, leaking glowing red blood everywhere as it dragged itself away from the wreck. It's muscles and organs began repairing at a frighteningly quick speed.

Its skin and hair started to regrow, along with the "armor" it had been wearing. It looked at its vibrosword, realized the vibrocell had been affected by Venari's electricity and detonated.

"Chit..." she sighed, her face not having even started to regrow.

A Samovar man who lived in a shack in the woods came out brandishing an old officers vibrolongsword, golden in color. He was in long johns, wisps of hair on his balding head as he stumbled out to examine the wreck so close to home. Westenra's back was turned when he called out to her, brandishing his golden longsword in suspicion.

"Hey! You drunk or something?" He called out. "Coulda killed me! Who's your insurance provider?"

"I'm not drunk..." Westenra said as she rose up, turning around.

He froze in horror, seeing her partly exposed, glowing red skeleton have muscle bubble over the bones rapidly.

"But I am something..." the Android finished, still mutilated.

The man dropped his sword, screamed and ran for his life.

The Android picked up his sword, admired its finish, and pulled out the Vibrocell, leaving it dead metal, but at least it would not detonate.

She then began walking out of the woods, her telescope vision picking out Venari as she exited into a clearing.

She spotted him. She had faced a Dark Adept before. She knew nothing less than lethal Force would suffice if she saw no way to knock him out. Fighting just one Adept had pushed her to her limit. Best not to play around when the life of the Astapova's and Jacen Nimdok were at stake.

Her face, torso, and hair finished repairing as she let him spot her and she decided not to waste time, and sprinted towards him at five times the speed of a normal human in peak condition, her sword aimed for his throat in a killing strike. She knew it probably wouldn't work but she needed to gauge his defenses.

Draconis Caesar

Zara Tate

AMCO

 

[Zara Tate]

Meanwhile,

The commotion around the Summer Palace drew Zara directly to it. The barrage of law enforcement surrounded the unique noble compound. So Zara climbed a nearby structure and observed what she could from the chilly rooftops above.

"Fascinating. I suppose this little journey of mine is about to take a turn for the most dazzling of curiosities."

"Well. I'd say it already has."

Came a silky smooth purr from above.

Zara spun around the dark rooftop and quickly observed a svelte and shapely ninja woman. Perched high, high above her rooftop observatory among the stone gargoyles and angelic statues of the city somber-stroke skyline. Zara's face was visibly surprised at being, well, surprised.

The sensual ninja simply smiled with her eyes,

"Hard to sneak up on a Sorceress these days. Though I admit, I did enjoy the challenge immensely. Mmm."

The strange woman leaned over a black icy gargoyle and slowly stroked it's long fangs. Her face was a silky mask of mystery but her eyes betrayed a deviant, mischievous smile.

"You're looking for the Sorcerer's Box. Aren't you?"

"And just who might you be?" Zara retorted. Somewhat frazzled at being caught unawares and by so playful a stranger.

The sly woman above simply ignored her. Petting her play gargoyle and winking with her bright blue eyes,

"Ya know. I'd leave well enough alone if I were you. That box is cursed and malforms anyone who touches it. Monty. That poor, bearded oaf you capsized earlier and put a hole right through his chest. Hmph. He simply touched the darn thing for a second and it nearly took his arm right off. Chomp chomp. Bleh. Pity really. ...I'd wished it had finished him completely, then and there."

Zara frowned with her own steely eyes. Completely aware that their situation among the rooftops was precarious at best. Yet the sly ninja seemed naught to mind the police presence gathering below them both at all. Continuing her silky monologue unabated. Turning those playful eyes downward to ask so casually,

"You're a Jedi. Aren't you."

Zara remained defiantly quiet among the icy shadows of the tall building peaks. Using her Force Senses to quietly size up her newest opponent as she talked.

"Ya know. I've heard about your kind. Never met one in-person though. The Master always warns us, of course. Magical tricksters you are. With a long history of causing pain. Discomfort."

Zara was getting tired of this. Elsewhere an adventure was brewing. Elsewhere clues were being assembled and a Holocron mystery was being solved. The good Sentinel was growing weary of this ninja's flowery attire. So Zara finally decided to play her hand.

"I'm here to recover something that was lost. You'd be wise to stay out of my way. Else this cold weather be the least of your troubles."

The svelte ninja woman brushed her stone companion so lovingly. Running her nimble fingers over the quiet gargoyle statues mouth. Tracing every frozen, icy stalactite that drew downwards like a dagger towards the far away earth below. Such a terribly far distance to fall. Don't you think?

"Oh but darling. ...Darling. I'm here to help?"

The ninja slipped away from the statue and gracefully descended the distance between them. Landing ever so softly upon the slippery, sly slopes of the city's darkest shadows. An incredible feat for a cyborg performer, indeed.

Zara remained kneeling as the ninja resumed her full height and spoke with a purring caress.

"You see that mess down there. That's... A cluster kark darling. Mm, yes. I'm afraid our good Lord Astapova get more than he bargained for from the box. Tsk tsk. Such a shame."

Sensing no danger, Zara looked away towards the calamitous rabble of police below.

"From the box, you say?"

"Yes. Quite. My Master was quick to denote it's terrible dark power. Unable to access the box or it's secrets, she quickly gave it away. Hoping that the good Lord and Lady of the mansion would be the one to unearth it's secrets. Alas. ...She made the right choice discarding it. Such trinkets are the opposite of garnering wealth and power. They damn the very soul to Agonon."

Zara scoffed. But she knew what she meant. Sith artifacts had that potential. So tempting yet so destructive. Not even the Jedi were safe.

"Well. I'm not here for a box." Zara turned her head, "I'm here for a crystal."

The ninja nodded in kind and moved to kneel opposite the dark rooftop.

"The red shard from the doll. Yes. I noticed you poached the trinket from the warehouse. I wondered why it's empty vestment might interest you so."

"You're remarkably straight forward for a spy?" Zara scowled.

"And you're remarkably talented for an outsider." Her blue eyes smiled darkly.

"Where's the crystal shard?"

"With my Master. Far, far from this cacophonous rabble."

"Take me there."

"Mind tricks don't work on me." Blue eyes smirking.

"It wasn't a light invitation."

"You're in no place to negotiate."

"I'm in every place to..."

"Kaw KAW! Kaw KAW!" The dark ninja crowed like thunder.

A sudden spotlight from the police below caught Zara unawares!

"HEY YOU! UP ON THE ROOF!" The police shouted.

Zara shielded her eyes and steadied her feet. Yet beyond the glare of the din below. She couldn't help but kick herself.

"Damn it!"

And the sly ninja woman had already disappeared.

. . .

Jacen Nimdok | AMCO | Lord Venari | Draconis Caesar | Westenra Mina​

 

[AMCO]

Well, this could certainly have gone better.

Grabbing a hold of the dazed-looking Astapov, he waved his hand before the man's face once more, quashing the beginnings of doubt. "Shell shock. It's what you are experiencing. I'm here to help, you trust me. Now we need to go."

All but pulling the young man along, Adrian spared one last glance in the direction of his fellow Sith and whatever-the-feth the attacker was before breaking into a jog in the direction of the palace. Young master Astapov would keep up - or he would physically drag him.

Smiling softly at the glaring lights of an approaching police speeder, he slowed down, wincing visibly as he moved - he even positioned his head so as to subtly emphasise a forming bruise on his cheek. There was no lightsaber at his hip, not even a blaster, and his fine suit was of obviously luxurious make; he was a foreigner, yes, but also clearly aristocracy - and more importantly human aristocracy. Specieists, go figure.

"My friend, I think he might be hurt... I don't, I mean, there is a Sith fighting some kind of monster back there. You've got to get us out of here!"

After that, it did not take much persuasion to have them bring the pair back to the palace - after all, no career-focused officer would even consider leaving a pair of wealthy, influential civilians behind... and no sane officer would willingly confront a Sith without an army at their back.

Lord Venari | Jacen Nimdok , Westenra Mina , & Zara Tate​

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

A policeman knocked on the door. Lady Astapova answered, and the officer swept into a bow.

“I am sorry to bother you so late, my lady,” he said. “We received a call stating that you and your guest were in danger here. We’ve come to offer our protection.”

“Yes, I figured that much,” she replied. “Was it my brother who made the call?”

“No. In fact, the caller said that Lord Astapova was being held as a hostage. We’re looking into it now—”

The officer’s comm buzzed to life. “Captain, we have Lord Astapova in custody, accompanied by an offworlder male. Says they were in an accident, Sith involved, and some kind of monster in the woods.”

“Copy that,” the captain replied. Turning back to Lady Astapova, he smiled. “Right on time.”

But Nimdok was uneasy. Standing out of the officers’ sight, he removed the holocron from his pocket and held it in his palm, weighing his options. After a few moments, he reached a decision.

By the time AMCO and Lord Astapova arrived at the Palace, he had left Lady Astapova behind to be reunited with her brother. She didn’t notice him leave and had no idea where he was going; therefore, she was in no danger of divulging his location to the Sith.

As long as the Sith had the Astapova boy as a hostage, they would use him as a bargaining chip, demanding the holocron in return. Nimdok couldn’t allow that to happen. He hoped to draw the Sith away from the family, taking responsibility for the holocron upon himself.

Even so, he doubted he could hold off a Sith for long if they came to blows. He had no idea where Lorna had gone, nor did he have any knowledge of Lord Venari pursuing her through the woods just outside the Palace. The situation looked grim.

He ascended the stairwell, heading for the top floor. Eventually he found himself standing in an attic, surrounded by crates and boxes of seasonal wares. A small window opened onto the roof, just large enough to squeeze through.

I will try and gather as much information from the holocron as I can. And if worst comes to worst, I will destroy it here and now.

Nimdok set the holocron on the attic floor. The device gave off an eerie aura; it seemed to imprint its silhouette on the eye even after one had looked away from it. He knelt before it, took out his datapad, and set to work taking pictures of the outside and typing notes, comparing the markings on the sides of the holocron to known Sith symbols.

The holocron was not made by Darth Nihilus. Instead, the markings indicated the name ‘Tel Angor’. He did not recognize it, and could not find any records mentioning such an individual.

When he lightly touched the capstone with his fingertips, the three panels of the pyramid opened like the petals of a flower, exposing the intricate crystal matrix within.

“Strange,” he murmured. “It should not have opened so easily...”

By killing the gatekeeper, he assumed, the device could no longer divulge its knowledge—at least, not in the traditional way a holocron’s data was unlocked. Perhaps this was a failsafe, a backup method to ensure its contents were not lost in such an event?

Nimdok was beginning to feel ill. He turned away from the holocron, rubbing his eyes and massaging his temples. Forcing himself to return his attention to the holocron, he carefully removed the crystal matrix from the outer shell, then forced the empty container shut.

He pocketed the crystal, opened the window—and hurled the hollowed-out holocron over the edge. It fell to the stone steps at the front of the building, where it shattered on impact in a shower of ash not far from where the Astapova siblings were having their reunion, accompanied by the mysterious aristocratic offworlder who had brought the boy home.

A provocative move, to be sure, but one he hoped would pay off.

Zara Tate Westenra Mina

 

[Lord Venari]

It was exposed for only a moment, but a moment was all the Sith Lord needed to garner its truth. Synthetic flesh or the like made final repairs to the machine's face and body. That explained why Venari couldn't get a good read on it, droids and other such machines were as touched by the force as your average stone. Trace amounts may exist as the force flows through all, but when perceiving through that mystical space their presence was dull, near non-existent.

With this fascinating specimen before him and the holocron not too far behind, Venari had a few viable options. Adrian would be closing in on the artifact; the Knight would be able to handle himself. What else are you capable of? The Sith Lord thought, considering the possibility that victory at Samovar may be twofold.

A frigid breeze signaled an oncoming blizzard. It wouldn't be too long before the snow grew to apogee and brought a downpour of hail with it. Venari wanted this finished before then.

The machine broke into an inhuman sprint, vibroblade in hand.
"Show me, show me what you can do. Impress me," he said under breath.

Every step it took kicked up a flurry of snow, a self-made storm in the machine's wake. It accelerated more rapidly than he'd seen any man or machine unassisted by the force. Burning the distance down to less than a meter the droid swung. Venari activated his saber and with his own augmented speed parried the vibroweapon then hopped to his left to create some minor distance. Unless the blade had a special weave it would be cut to about half range.

A slight twinge took to Venari's right arm, a trickle of blood on his robes. She managed to nick him still. Most impressive, he thought. Venari preferred flesh and bone soldier to tin cans, but this was no tin can, and with a little work it could be repurposed into another tool for his arsenal.

"You are a fascinating one, but your... talents are wasted on such ventures," he said.

Three lightsabers unhooked themselves from the back of his belt and took to the air activating in unison with their notorious hum. The three sabers spun toward the machine, dancing around it taking wild swings from head to toe. The Sith Lord's free hand crackled with electrical energy and with it he released a cascade of lightning on the machine. You're an agile tool, but are you a durable one? He thought, watching the lightning arc toward the droid.

AMCO Westenra Mina Jacen Nimdok Zara Tate

 

[Westenra Mina]

Lord Venari was quite fast...but Westenra still managed to nick him, but his lightsaber left a scorch mark on her sword. Apparently even the Samovar had access to Cortosis-Weave.

She watched in fascination as his sabers floated by themselves. A smile of wonder crossed her face as they sped to her with Venari's mind alone.

Her extensive sword fighting protocols allowed her to predict the trajectory and travel arcs. Her sheer reflexes and speed did the rest. She flipped over, twirled, spun, ducked, dodged, and deflected the deadly blades advancing to him ever closer, even as her blade grew more scorched.

It turned out removing the vibro-cell had been a prudent measure on her part, for his discharge caught her full on, her flesh sparking and wriggling disgustingly, even her 'armor' which was revealed to simply be flesh imitating armor as it hit...but it did not slow her down except a little allowing, one of his lightsabers to occasionally get a nick or two in. But she was still advancing, her current configuration geared for Sith Killing, as the chemicals in her artificial flesh rendered her highly resistant to electricity. Not immune, but his blast had clearly not done much, and even the small lightsaber nicks she had received during momentary breaches in an excellent defense were starting to rapidly seal as she closed on him, still deflecting his blades.

She at last managed to damage one blade, when her protocols, enhanced hearing, and sight allowed her to predict its arc after deflecting it previously which subsequently allowed her to pull some Deadpool-Level chit and execute a flip over the first two of his blades to slice through his emitter apart.

A blade managed to get its tip to cut a diagonal trench across her face while another cut into her belly, but this didn't seem to effect her her, in spite of the badassery of Venari managing to actually make a full cut twice in a row. But when one dipped low as she took another step towards him, she flipped forward in place, and cut it clean in half as it arced through where only her legs had been mere seconds before evading.

One blade left. Her reflexes and hearing allowed her to study its spin rate as her face and body sealed back up during the moving forward evasion sequence she executed. She ducked, predicting the exact second its blade would be pointed away from her during its spin, her hand reaching out to grasp its hilt, crushing it.

She then tossed the crushed lightsaber, again after pulling one of those Deadpool-Level freak flips, at lethal speeds right at his stomach.

AMCO

Zara Tate

Jacen Nimdok

Draconis Caesar

 

[AMCO]

From her shocked exclamation and the way she inspected his dazed compansion's bruises while angrily criticising him for confronting dangerous criminals alone, he took this one to be the man's sister. Lady Astapova, then.

Attractive enough, but for once he was focused on his task - the holocron was near and soon it would be his.

Smiling politely, he shook his head. "No, I met him at the gallery. I'm a bit of a collector you see, specialise in the esoteric, and I was wondering if..." A flash of red at the edge of his vision and he spun with superhuman speed, hand snaking out - but too late. With a crash, the holocron shattered.

"NO!"

Eyes glowing a sullen orange, he was briefly shocked into inaction by this vile crime against history before turning to stare at the face, the same smug Sephi - that was the most common pointy-eared species - from the city.

"Ahhh... my apologies, Lady Astapova..." His eyes returned to their former blue as he composed herself, though her shocked expression made it clear that she had seen and was at least vaguely aware of what it meant. "... but I dare say you have a pest problem. Not to worry, I have it handled."

Silently fuming, he strode past her even as she sturred out a response and the young Lord began waking from his stupor. He no longer cared about subtlety or politeness. One did not simply destroy a relic of the Sith without facing retribution most vicious.

Jacen Nimdok | Lord Venari | Westenra Mina | Zara Tate​

 

[Zara Tate]

"NO!"

The shell of a holocron shattered just beyond someone's reach. Causing a lithe ninja woman to kneel down and gaze at the commotion beneath her hiding place upon the Summer Palace's tallest rooftop. Her curious blue eyes smiled as all present below lamented the destruction of a terrible, horrible, God-forsaken red relic.

"Good riddance, I say." The ninja woman smiled.

Then she looked back up and stared across the expanse towards a familiar rooftop across the street.

"No! There was someone up here. I swear!" Two police officers passed their flashlights over the far away rooftop. Hanging onto the edge of the tall metal ladder as they searched for Zara Tate. "...Hey! Where'd they go?"

Meanwhile. Just below. In a dark alleyway across the street from the Palace. Zara strode out from the shadows and cast her eyes directly at the Summer Palace's rooftop.

"Ha! There you are! Found you!"

Bright blue eyes fluttered beneath their ninja garb. Smiling with their eyelashes down at Zara's all-knowing exclamation from far up on high,

"Oh my. Looks like the little Jedi down below has found me again? Hehe. How fabulous!"

The svelte ninja stood up tall and straight upon the rooftop's icy perkiness. Even as the attic beneath her feet grew more crowded and crowded with activity by the second. Yet still, she gave a welcome bow and the grand flourish of a seasoned performer. All for the eyes of the beautiful, yet obviously infuriated, Jedi minx across the byway.

"Ah! Well then little Jedi. Come and get me!"

The ninja jumped from the Palace's roof and disappeared behind it's tall morning towers. Leaving Zara down below to scoff and shake her fist at the residence with passion,

"Oh! I'm coming for you alright! Gah!"

Just above. Two police officers scratched their heads with distaste. Confounded at the loss of their foe. Yet still a gray shadow blitzed across the cobblestone streets beneath them. A fuzzy gray shadow that vaulted over the Summer Palace's stone wall with a flip and disappearing into the garden's warmest walkways beyond. A blurred, frantic fuzzy and wonderfully girlish form that dashed through the silver slivers of darkness between the police's spotlights and sentries searching eyes. Weaving and cutting through the warm bushes until it neared the mansion's tallest brick wall.

"Hmph!"

Zara made for the roof in pursuit of her lost red crystal and the only woman who could tell her where it was. Scaling the building by means of it's copper metalwork and outstreched brick masonry. Straight up the east wall and bebyond.

Meanwhile, an attic window burst! Shattering high above her and letting broken glass spray forth like shimmering fireworks on grand display.

"What!? She's in the attic!?" Zara frowned as she scaled halfway up the east side of the great stone building, "...Or, is that..? Someone else hiding in this busy little building!?"

"Oh, you WHO!"

A devious smile waved down at Zara from the mansion's tallest tower balcony.

Zara grimaced from her rapid assent, "YOU!"

"Oh darling! Dearest darling. Why, now don't you keep a girl waiting, ya' hear! Hahaha! You and I have a date with destiny!"

"Gggrrr!" Zara scaled the crimson building's brickwork even faster. Yet, even she couldn't help but notice the lights brimming just inside the mansion's crowded interior.

KABOOM!

"WHAT THE!?"

Wait! What was that!? Good gosh Gods-and-France! Just WHAT on earth was going on inside!

. . .

Jacen Nimdok | AMCO​

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Oh, it was a pity, having to destroy priceless relics. Nimdok couldn’t help feeling somewhat sickened by his own actions, but given the circumstances it was a necessary sacrifice.

The crystal matrix felt heavy in his pocket, a reminder that he wasn’t quite out of danger yet. Worse, he saw AMCO make eye contact with him, his gaze filled with fury. Nimdok, with his photographic memory, recognized the boy from hours earlier, having glimpsed him briefly outside the inn on his way to the Theater. Evidently, this chase had been going on for even longer than he thought.

While the young Sith headed into the Palace, intent on making Nimdok pay for his crime against history, the archaeologist climbed out of the attic window and onto the roof.

The wind had picked up, the beginnings of a blizzard beating against his back, but he managed to ignore the wind chill and the snow soaking his clothes long enough to force the window shut and break the latch off. Hopefully it would delay the Sith’s pursuit for a minute or two.

From there Nimdok began to slowly and carefully make his way across the roof. He was just reaching the tall morning towers when he heard a female voice call out:

"Ah! Well then little Jedi. Come and get me!"

Followed by a muffled thump as the owner of the voice landed on her feet before him.

The ninja woman straightened, looking him over. “Aren’t you cold up here dressed like that?” she purred in a voice that could melt butter.

Nimdok blinked at her. He supposed she was yet another contender for the holocron, though it was difficult to tell this late in the game whose side she might be on.

Still, he dared to ask. “Who are you?”

A hint of a nervous smile crossed her lips. Had he caught her by surprise? The microexpression passed quickly, replaced by sensual bravado.

“Who, me? Does it really matter? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, so why bother?”

Nimdok rolled his eyes.

Hearing voices down below, the ninja woman quickly added, “You and I can be friends. Or we can be enemies. The choice is yours. Which would you prefer?”

“I would prefer to get out of here as soon as possible,” he replied tartly. “If you can assist me in that endeavor, I would consider us allies for the moment. If not, please get out of my way.”

She pouted. “Not to worry, darling. I’ve arranged an explosive meeting between your friend and mine. Sparks are sure to fly.”

As if on cue, one of the attic windows shattered. Nimdok flinched, only to glimpse the fur-clad shape of Zara Tate scaling the wall nearby. He recognized her as well. Wink.

“I see,” he murmured. “Then I believe we—”

When he turned around, the ninja woman had disappeared. But it wasn’t long before he heard her shouting from another tower, taunting the girl.

Nimdok wasn’t one to miss an opportunity. He continued his trek across the roof, trying to put as much distance between him and his pursuers as possible. If a confrontation between the Jedi girl and the Sith boy was indeed imminent, they would most likely be in for far worse than a pretty light show and some minor property damage.

Westenra Mina Lord Venari Draconis Caesar

 

[Lord Venari]

It was durable, fast and incredibly strong, all packaged into a human-sized frame. Venari watched as the droid danced with the crimson blades he let loose upon it. It even withstood the brunt of his lightning, without so much as a lasting burn. The droid simply repaired itself, but there was a solution for every problem and the Sith Lord wanted this machine for his own machinations.

One by one it swiped away each of his flying weapons. The trio of sabers sliced away bits and pieces of the biotic construction but still no lasting damage. A sly grin took to the Sith Lord's face as it crumpled the last of his initial wave of attacks.

"It would've been a poor showing if you fell so early-" the Sith Lord was cut off as the crushed form of his weapon's hilt was slung violently through the air at deadly speeds. Venari's sight, his senses, extended far beyond the physical plane, and his reactions were far faster than most. The force was a tool that transcended all else, and he had long since mastered his craft. With a leisurely raise of his hand the mutilated metal form stopped in its place. Venari then launched the ruined weapon back at her at even greater speeds. He didn't want to destroy the construct; it would be an exhausting effort requiring a summation of power the Sith Lord would rather avoid using, as they would come at the expense of his prize. The cards in his hand were many, his options vast and there was no reason to end the game prematurely.

"The night is young still. I wouldn't want you to tire already but I am curious as to how long you can keep this up?" He questioned rhetorically.

Venari left his personal lightsaber to float at his side casting him in brilliant crimson light. With both hands raised he released dual streams of ionized force energy, mechu macture, to accompany the wrecked saber hilt bolting toward his prey.

Slowly, Venari backpedaled through the forest. The blizzard was near full swing, piling around his boots but the Sith Lord wasn't too far from the summer palace now. Mechu macture was a powerful tool against droids, machinery and the like, typically overloading their systems and short-circuiting them. How this particular construct would deal with it would be a sight. Regardless, a more cunning play awaited the biotic woman should she survive yet.

Jacen Nimdok Westenra Mina AMCO Zara Tate