Coruscant is Burning

[Ruby Veir]

Location: The Umbra Club, Sector 1459, Coruscant Undercity

Sitting on a street corner which marked the intersection of filth and degradation, the black lights and shadowy corners of The Umbra Club in the Coruscant Undercity hid a multitude of sins within its inviting doors. Open all night, the club was a haven for Coruscanti audiences who sought a specific kind of entertainment, the kind that involved long-limbed ladies in various states of undress. Not for your everyday rabble, the Umbra was known for hiring the loveliest dancers in the galaxy, and the price at the door reflected it. Wealthy sapients of all species came through Umbra’s red curtained doors, yearning for a generous dose of its twirling limbs and grinding hips. The dancers were like drugs, and the Umbra’s regulars were hopeless, helpless addicts.

The club was an ideal place for Ruby Veir, creator and purveyor of a very specific type of Holo, the kind that was not exactly family friendly, to scout for new talent. The director had a system all worked out with the Umbra’s dancers, ladies that couldn't have made better casting agents, in her opinion. When a dancer laid eyes on a man with a suitable physique for Ruby’s needs, the woman would signal to the Holo-maker, usually planted at the bar, and for a few extra credits, she would let Ruby know the location of the potential performer. Then Ruby would move in and, well, the rest was immortalized in three blue dimensions.

Ruby’s Datapad pinged a notification, alerting her to a handsome specimen nearby. Scanning her blue eyes around the darkened space, she spied the potential "actor" in question. With his strong arched brows, glossy black hair, angular jaw, and body that was made for very bad things, he couldn't have been a better choice. She would have to pay that dancer extra.

Wearing a black leather dress that thumbed its nose at the imagination, Ruby downed her drink in one gulp, sauntered across the room with almost-feline grace, and brazenly took a seat at his table, regardless of who was currently frolicking on his lap. She bit down on a drink stirrer, holding it between blood red lips, and arched a jet-black brow.

“You look like the kind of man who needs to make my acquaintance.”

[member="Darth Carach"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Ruby Veir"]

The atmosphere was heated with smoke curling up ‘til the rafters, until they were cast aside by the slow moving vents, it was an eerie outlook, but not one the Sith Lord was currently concerning himself with. He had heard that there were people who enjoyed sitting in a strip club and simply… stare outta the window for some reason, perhaps it was a way for the moral whiteknights of this world to get some wish fulfillment. But the honest truth of the matter was?

Club Umbra probably paid and treated its dancers better than most corporations did these days. The Voice of the Dark Lord wasn’t here incognito, some men might have done that- wear some kind of mask in an attempt to hide their identity. But Carach was not one of them, what was so wrong with sitting in a comfortable seat and watching beautiful women dance?

As the exotic Kiffar left his lap to get them some more drinks there was only one thing the Sith could answer to that.

Nothing at all.

It was then that his attention was taken in by a woman deciding to sit down next to him, beautiful in her own way, sparsely dressed and above all brazen enough to assume a whole damn lot. But Carach liked his women that way, they needed to have some fire, some spirit.

Wouldn’t be fun any other way.

‘How’s that, luv?’ the soft rumble carried itself to her ear and caressed it there, a Voice and what a voice it was.

 

[Ruby Veir]

The man’s deep baritone raced through Ruby’s bloodstream like a stim shot, settling itself right in her lap, just like the gorgeous Kiffar who had pranced away a few minutes earlier. Her porcelain skin developed a blush that began around her collarbone and crept slowly up to the apples of her cheeks.

“I represent the Coruscant Rotary Club, a fine, upstanding, community organization here in the sector. We have very specific products that you may be interested in. Have you heard of us?”

If the man were a high-ranking member of the One Sith, he would likely know about the CRC, all but its most heavily secreted details, like exactly who among the Sith was a silent partner. Under the guise of managing legitimate businesses, like funeral homes and flower shops, the CRC engaged in highly illegal activities like murder, theft, spice dealing, cyber-crimes, human trafficking, and organ theft, just to name a few. Needless to say, the shadowy criminal syndicate made perfect bedfellows for the Sith.

Ruby slowly and deliberately took the drink stirrer from her slightly-parted lips, then held out a hand, long, black lacquered nails that reflected the strobe lights accompanying the performance of a pink-haired Zabrak dressed only in a see-through plastic raincoat.

“Name’s Ruby.”

[member="Darth Carach"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Ruby Veir"]

Oh he had heard of the Coruscant Rotary Club, an organization that had infiltrated all the layers of the Underworld- with the permission and aid of the Sith, of course. Few if anything happened these days on Coruscant without Carach knowing it, one way or another, the Dark Lord had directly appointed him as the overseer of the sector.

But even he did not know who was sponsoring the CRC. It wasn’t the Dark Lord, he didn’t concern himself with such trivial matters, there weren’t any Voices left that could have the clout to do such a thing.

And the Hand that was currently active, Vrag? Was not subtle enough for this. No, he had a distinct theory in mind and Carach probably could find out the truth of the matter, but… why?

What would it matter?

It was silly to think that he would be able to control every aspect of Coruscant without the interference or influence of his brethren and sisters. No, as long as the CRC understood where they stood in the hierarchy? They could play their games.

‘A pleasure.’ the Sith Lord answered, at this point he was almost purring the words, his large hand enveloping her pitite one and holding it for a brief moment.

Warm hands.

‘What would you like to do, miss Ruby?’

 

[Ruby Veir]

It was an interesting question. With a couple of different answers. What would she like to do?

Long-term? The half Shi’do wanted to make credits through her art, and let’s face it, sometimes her art involved clandestine methods of filming people in certain positions and doing certain things. By the time the violation of privacy had been exposed, usually Ruby had made enough credits to simply settle any lawsuits in court and still make a decent-sized profit. Credits had a way of soothing the disgruntled.

Short term? Ruby was fancying the handsome stranger’s warm lips moving up her pale neck in an adagio of desire, one large hand wrapped around her waist, the other hooking between her thighs.

The man didn’t tell her his name, and that obviously meant he was someone important. She needed to tread carefully. With a blink of her eyes, her contacts took his picture and sent it on a facial recognition search that would be sent to her Datapad. It would be nice to know who she was dealing with should her plans go south.

“I would like to discuss doing some business with you.” Her pin-straight black hair fanned out as she quickly glanced left and right, her eyes lingering on the Zabrak's profile as she dropped her raincoat in a Bith gentleman's lap.

“But in a more private place, ya dig?”

[member="Darth Carach"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

One blink he was there and the other he suddenly wasn’t, strange how that went, but perhaps she shouldn’t have expected otherwise dealing with such a strange customer. It was in the nature of the beast to be a bit unruly sometimes, and sometimes to simply wish for something that few others would even realize was important.

Such was the way when [member="Ruby Veir"] would suddenly feel his skin brush her neck, as thoughts whispered straight into her mind. Hot breath washed over her skin and would send tinglings up and down her spine.

‘I know who you are, love.’ the incorporeal would tease, little spikes of pleasure entering her system. Perhaps a taste of what could come, if she played her cards just the right way. ‘And I know what you do… so be honest with me.’

‘Were you planning on doing it to me too?’

A foolish idea, it would have been. You do not con a mentalist, especially not during sex when the boundaries were at its lowest and minds could almost meld in ecstasy. It would be the worst time for secrets of… recordings to spill.

 

[Ruby Veir]

The speed in which Ruby’s toothsome mark suddenly vanished almost made the half-Shi’do shift to something more monstrous, something with razor sharp claws and a mouthful of needle-sharp teeth. Then, the woman felt a velvety soft hand push aside a single curtain of her long black hair, and caress the nape of her neck.

Next came his voice, rushing through her system like a drug, cascading through her torso and dripping down into her hips and thighs. The jig was up.

She glanced down at her Datapad which had just returned a name to accompany the perfectly-chiseled face. Darth Carach, the Voice of the Dark Lord himself. Holy sithspit. The jig was more than up. It was cut into a thousand pieces and buried somewhere in unknown space.

Knowing how stupid it would be to lie to one of the Voices, she set a black mask on the table, the one that she had been planning on asking her “performer” to wear.

“To be honest, Darth Carach, I am an artist first and foremost. I merely felt that you fit in with the other colors in my palette. After all, can you blame me?”

[member="Darth Carach"]