Compliments from the Whale in the Back

[Ghorua the Shark]

The Shark's giant fist connected with an invisible barrier, hitting Joza's protective bubble with enough force to wreck a speeder. It gave the Zeltron enough time to hop out of the way. After she avoided certain death, Ghorua punched through her seat, the booth caving easily around his massive fist. Bringing his two hands on each side of the new hole, the colossus tore through the seat, rending the metal from it's place. Ghorua tossed the two pieces of booth over his shoulder easily, nearly crushing a few dancers.

The patrons and employees of the Row were reasonably terrified. Screams pierced the air, as men and women ran, pushing past each other to escape. Deathstick Row security inched forward, stun batons raised pitifully, dwarfed by the Shark's immense bulk. They seemed hesitant to get involved. This was Nar Shaddaa after all; things like this happened rather regularly.

Ghorua roared again, a line of saliva trailing off one tooth. He was a very different being than he was a minute ago. The complacent, agreeable Ghorua was gone, replaced by a savage, killing machine. He stepped toward his target, seeing her crush a mug in her hand, confirming his suspicion of cybernetics. Or she was simply extremely strong. As she let her shard fly, the Shark snarled, and twisted his head out of the way. The beast's reflexes almost matched those of a Force-Sensitive, the projectile only succeeding in drawing a thin line of brackish blood across his neck. The added scent only seemed to further enrage the monster.

The Herglic planted one foot on the edge of the table Ms. Perl had jumped on, and pushed. The table would fly across the room, not unlike the rest of the furniture that had been unlucky enough to cross the Shark's path. Whether or not Joza went flying with it was up to how adept she really was. Wherever Joza landed, Ghorua would try to close the distance.

- [member="Joza Perl"] -

 

[Joza Perl]

Karkarkarkarkarkarkark—

Joza watched with wide-eyed displeasure as Ghorua tore through the furniture like it was wet tissue. A prickle of fear eased into her chest, but she didn’t let it take over her senses. It was good to be wary, so long as you were focused as well. Still, she figured it was best to stay out of arm’s reach until she figured out a way to take him down—if she could figure out a way. Thankfully the patrons of the bar were sufficiently frightened, practically tripping over each other to escape the bout of violence. No one seemed interested in stepping forward to intercept him, and frankly no one could be blamed. Joza was just glad that she didn’t have to worry about evacuating anybody. Hopefully.

“Woah!” Her knees instinctively bent into a quasi- crouch as Ghorua sent the table and herself flying across the room. The Zeltron let the momentum carry her body backwards, twisting into a flip in order to slow her descent. She’d landed nearly perfectly—unfortunately, she usually didn’t combat opponents in stilettos. This caused her to land awkwardly, twisting her right ankle as she came down. Joza grimaced, but forced herself to stand quickly and awkwardly as Ghorua approached. After a few monstrous steps, the pink woman extended her arm out and slugged a hefty Force Barrier towards the Herglic, hoping to stun him or knock him off his balance.

Crouching defensively, Joza would continue to gather the Force to her, prepared to do…something else. She wasn’t sure what, but it would probably be something cool.

Hopefully.

[member="Ghorua the Shark"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua lunged forward, each step shaking the ground slightly as he charged. He saw his prey stumble, and quickly right herself. The Shark doubled his speed towards the woman, trying to capitalize on her momentary weakness. His arms were raised above his head in a clobbering position, willing and ready to smash down in extreme prejudice. Before he could clobber, however, he ran into an unforseen object.

The giant Herglic hit the Force Barrier mid-stride, completely catching his simpler mind unaware. The ebony-skinned monstrosity wheeled back from the unexpected obtrusion, trying desperately to catch himself before falling. Flailing, one arm caught a table, smashing through the flimsy wood. Ghorua went down. Hard.

The boom was heard throughout Deathstick Row, equated with a small earthquake. The breath was knocked out of the cetacean, in the form of a loud hauum. Every bone in Ghorua's body ached, slammed against the wall. Silence fell over the cantina for a few tense seconds, precious seconds Joza would need if she hoped to summon any more Force.

Suddenly, a surge came from the pile of muscle and blubber. In the blink of an eye, Ghorua the Shark righted himself, growling savagely. The Herglic, thinking of nothing else to do, lowered his shoulder, and charged. The force of the charge would most likely break any more hasty barriers or tables in it's way, a speeding bullet of pure mass.

- [member="Joza Perl"] -

 

[Joza Perl]

A burst of relief spread through Joza’s chest as her barrier made full contact, slamming into the large brute with enough force to unbalance him for the moment. His momentum lost, the whale crashed to the floor with a mighty thud, heavy enough to cause the building itself to shudder for a few moments. An uncomfortable silence fell over those who had remained or had yet to escape, and Joza swallowed thickly.

Would he stay down? Or would he get a second wind and continue his frenzied attempts to smash her into bits? She really hoped that this would be the end, not wanting to be crushed into a pulp just yet. Mind games were risky to play, and it appeared that she’d picked the wrong route this time around. Either way, he was so not getting any useful information out of her right now. She would watch the Herglic’s crumpled form, gathering the Force to her in preparation.

Despite the fact that Joza was proficient with using the Force defensively, the whale-man was a large creature and appeared very tough. Unluckily for her, he was tougher than she’d anticipated considering how he’d risen and charged at her like a freight train. Reacting defensively, the Zeltron barely had enough time to engage in a Force assisted leap—upwards, where both hands would grasp onto a light fixture.

Now dangling from the ceiling, she was likely above Ghorua’s reach unless he decided to jump. In an attempt to deter such actions, the pink woman would unleash a torrent of flame from her left foot which she kicked out towards Ghorua. The use of pyrokinesis quickly removed her shoe, leaving it nothing more than a half-melted mass of sparkles on the ground. The other shoe’s heel was broken from her trip, which sucked because they were really cute shoes.

[member="Ghorua the Shark"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

The speeding bullet that was Ghorua launched past Joza as she jumped over him, catching onto a very stylish lamp. The Shark turned on his heel quickly, feeling the breeze that had caught up in his wake against his face. He saw her dangling, like a morsel just waiting to be torn apart. As he jumped to reach her, however, he noticed a bright flash, and a blistering heat.

The fire washed around Ghorua's face and neck, blistering his skin, and making him shut his eyes. The whale-man rolled out of Joza's vicinity, giving her a clear path of escape.

Ghorua's eyes watered from the intense heat, and a few blisters had popped up around where the flames had tickled him. The Herglic's thick blubber had prevented him from sustaining any further damage, but it still stung. With a growl, Ghorua hefted a table in each hand, and flung them at the Zeltron, each one a dangerous projectile. It was then Ghorua began to retake his own mind, grasping it from the rage. He remembered the rest of Plan B; go into the Frenzy, wreck house... let her escape.

The Shark was many things, including a Bounty Hunter, tactician, and actor. He used the third of his abilities to feign the uncontrollable brute, slightly foaming at the mouth as he snapped at Joza, not moving any closer, the door to Deathstick Row tantalizingly close.

- [member="Joza Perl"] -

 

[Joza Perl]

As the flames made contact and Ghorua recoiled, Joza felt her heart leap at the opportunity for escape. Hoping to be as far away as possible before the whale man regained his senses, Joza let go of the light fixture and dropped to the floor. She’d managed to work her remaining shoe from her foot, practically yanking the damn thing off. One shoe with a broken heel could certainly hinder her getaway. Next time I’m wearing flats!

She dodged one of the flying tables and managed to duck under the other, throwing her body to the ground and skinning her knees up in the process. But the Zeltron barely winced, running on adrenaline to the point where all she did was push her body to go. No point in trying to placate the raging beast that was Ghorua, and if she left fast enough she might slip away from any property damage charges.

Hoping that she wouldn’t regret her actions, the pink woman tilted her head back towards the bounty hunter for a split second in time to see him snap at her savagely. Scrambling upwards, Joza sprinted barefoot out of the cantina fueled by the sheer power of nope. Disappearing into the crowds, Joza began to wonder why he hadn’t lunged at her while she was grounded. And then…there was that sniper woman. Crap. On instinct, she raised a red-tinted Protection Bubble around her body, trying to navigate her way to…safety? Was there even any place safe?

[member="Ghorua the Shark"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

As he saw Joza flee out into the Nar Shaddaa, Ghorua smiled, feeling all of the energy drain out of him. The Shark swayed briefly, feeling the aftereffects of his Frenzy. If she had stayed for another minute, the Herglic would have most likely been toast, literally.

Hmph. Fire. Didn't know Forcies could do that.

As Deathstick Row's guards began to advance with stun batons, Ghorua ran for the exit as well, making sure to turn the opposite direction from where he saw Miss Perl go. The Herglic dashed around a building, finally stopping to catch his breath. His muscles ached from the exertion, and his face still felt hot. With a start, he noticed his comm going off, and picked it up. Lo and behold, it was his favorite sniper.

Tula sounded as monotone as ever, but there was a hint of urgency in her words. "Shark. The woman is getting away, I lost her in the crowds. Should I send the probe droids?" Tula had indeed lost her target, searching desperately for a sign of her.

Ghorua only chuckled, fatigued. "No, let her go."

"As you wish." Tula huffed, and turned off the comm.

Without another word, Ghorua whipped out his datapad, and typed out a message to one Yee Lung, a young slicing prodigy.

// MESSAGE FROM: BIG GUY //
// TO: LOCKPICK //
// SUBJECT: PLAN B //
/ You can say 'I told you so' later. I want to know locations within the next two weeks. Make it happen. /

Plan B was the less-desirable option if Joza had been uncooperative. Ghorua would go in, and attempt to be civil in his information-gathering ways. If that had failed, Ghorua had to attack, and leave Ms. Perl shaken. The rest of the plan was quite simple. All Yee had to do was tap into Joza's communications, and wait for a concerned Joza to contact Nik about a rampaging beast headed his way. With a little luck, he could trace the call back to Nikias' hideout. There was no knowing how well off Joza's equipment was against hacking, but Ghorua had confidence in the young slicer's skills. All Ghorua needed was locations, and he could take it from there.

For the next two weeks, Yee would attempt to slice into Joza's personal life, and scrounge up anything he could on Nikias. How well this worked, however, was unknown. Perhaps it wouldn't work at all.

- [member="Joza Perl"] -

 

[Joza Perl]

Few paid attention the barefoot Zeltron woman with skinned knees as she wove her way through the crowds. This was Nar Shaddaa, after all. It would be best not to get involved.

Usually her bright skin and hair made Joza easy to pick out, but after a few blocks it appeared that she’d lost her assailant. Still, she didn’t dawdle as she made a beeline for the hotel she was staying at. Puling a comlink from her purse as she clambered up the stairs, Joza contacted the one person she knew she could count on, because she paid him.

“Ivan, come get me. I’m on Nar Shaddaa.”

“What?” The pilot’s reply was instantaneous. He was a man who did his job right, but as always, he didn’t sound pleased. “Why can’t you just take a transport? The hell did you do now, Perl?”

“Just shut it and come get me already.” The note of desperation in her voice was more overt than she would have liked, but it had gotten the man to cooperate.

“Alright, alright. Calm down, I’m on my way…”

---

After leaving Nar Shadda, Joza’s ship didn’t head for Voss or Lianna. Instead, it went directly to Korriban where the Dark Jedi Temple was known to be located. She’d been smart enough not to contact Nikias directly, but not clever enough to scramble anything when it came to locations. But perhaps it didn’t matter, because the temple was deserted, with no sign of the Dark Jedi Ghorua was after.

It would be roughly two weeks later when Joza’s meditations were interrupted, having felt Nik’s bond sever from the Force entirely and fade into nothingness.

[member="Ghorua the Shark"]