Private Dig In

[Rinea]

It had been a day or two since Rinea and Kaila Irons met for the first time.

Their conversation, though productive, had been mired in subtext and tension, which Rinea used to great effect. A deal had been struck--and with a Sith no less.

Darth Anathemous would receive a message. The details were cryptic, but its sender would be obvious to her and no one else. They were to meet again, on an oceanic world called Talay. It benefited from a mixture of homesteaders, resorts, and modest trade ports found on its many islands. However, its real value was its location.

Since the Planeshift, Talay has become a booming route between the Corellian Run and Vermillian Drift, bypassing the High Republic and Mara Sector authorities, and diverting trade from the nearby Abrion Sector.

Rinea did her research, had operatives on the ground, and confirmed her assumptions. Talay would become an important world in the Outer Rim, and she meant to exploit it. The officer was cautious; she arrived on the world via civilian transportation and sat at a spaceport cantina's bar where the two would eventually meet. The chiss idly stirred her drink. The location was cool, off the beaten path of spacer traffic, and by the look of things, had no regulars to speak of. It was a place you passed through, not stayed, and the quality of the drinks spoke to that.

From time to time, a stranger would try to occupy the seat next to her, only to receive a cold glare. "I'm meeting someone for business. Kindly disappear." She told off the last one who was trying to get her HoloNet handle. Said she reminded him of a 'poster he used to have on his wall.' Whatever that meant.

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Suit + Gloves
Tag: Rinea

Anathemous had seen worlds like this before.

She knew what it was like for an underdeveloped planet which suddenly found itself along a trade route, to fend off scavengers eager to exploit what does not belong to them.

She knew, because she governed once such world.

And now she was here to do the exploiting for a change.

The young Darth stepped into a cantina, dressed in a simple suit with the tie discarded and collar unbuttoned, the closest thing to casual wardrobe one might find on her marble form. Glowing eyes searched the bar in that dim light, eventually catching sight of that familiar cerulean face looking sternly at some foolish sod.

"Wildspace again?" she intoned in her approach.

"Though I suppose this corner is more lively than the last."

"How are the drinks?"

She slid into the seat beside her, withdrawing a pack of Cigarra's from the inside of her jacket, offering one to the chiss between gloved fingers.

Always gloved, even in this climate.

​

 

[Rinea]

Rinea found herself surprised by the Dark Lord's change of attire.

It was a stark contrast from the projection of Sith power that her armor and helmet displayed, but it was good to see the woman had more wits and tact than the average barbarian she had come to believe her Order harbored.

The chiss was caught in the moment, she soaked it all in, and was anything but coy in the way her eyes followed the fabric from her collar and down.

"I picked this spot for a reason," was all she alluded to for now.

She grabbed her drink, a local cocktail, and sipped. "Bad." That's how she felt about the drinks. The bartender gave her a bothered look and moved all the way to the other end of the bar. Good, he wouldn't eavesdrop. Rinea had successfully alienated the entire corner, leaving it to just them.

"I'm disappointed you didn't find my ship lively," Rinea mocked. "Perhaps a tour is in order, next time you're aboard." She gently plucked the cigarra from those gloved fingers and maintained eye contact. "Light mine?"

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Suit + Gloves
Tag: Rinea

The way she looked at her did not go unnoticed.

Kaila hated it, because she loved it.

She wanted someone to look at her like that again, but it was too soon. And she knew somewhere deep down that was exactly the sort of look she'd given powerful people when she wanted something from them.

"Suppose I'll be drinking water then."

Her lips twisted dangerously close to a smile.

Yes, she found some humor in Rinea's dry delivery, enough to afford herself some outward expression. For that reason, she insisted to herself, and none else.

"I'm disappointed you didn't find my ship lively," Rinea mocked. "Perhaps a tour is in order, next time you're aboard." She gently plucked the cigarra from those gloved fingers and maintained eye contact. "Light mine?"

She pursed her glossy lips, realizing she'd not brought a lighter. A habit she'd have to get used to, if she wanted to keep up this disguise.

Without breaking eye contact, she pulled her glove away and gently tapped Rinea's cigarra with a blackened fingertip, producing but a small candle flame, though it burnt quite hot.

And that was about the extent of her bravery before she turned, elbows to the bartop.

"I didn't say it was a bad thing, you know."

"Contrary to what one may think, I am capable of enjoying peace and quiet."

​

 

[Rinea]

Rinea waved the bartender away when they were en route to see what Anathemous wanted.

They weren't there for drinks, even if the chiss had one right in front of her. She leaned in as soon as the finger reached out to ignite her cigarra, and took a drag of the surprisingly hot smoke. It wasn't unpleasant or uncomfortable. No, Rinea responded with a sly smirk. There was a bit of rush in the unknown.

"Contrary to what one may think, I am capable of enjoying peace and quiet."

"It will be anything but."

Then, she slid a holodisk towards the Sith. On it was data that would be useless without its contexts. Shipping manifests, money trails, names, addresses, and debts. All of it was collected by her operative, who went above and beyond in snooping. Thankfully, there were some competent minds in the mix of her stranded fleet.

"We need to exploit trade from the Mara Corridor and Abrion Sector. That will allow us to siphon critical resources back to the Fleet... The trouble is, we need a way to do so without rousing suspicion. It would be difficult to pass off the scale of our operation as mere smuggling." Not to mention, a criminal front might attract unnecessary attention from the Black Sun.

"Perhaps this is an area you can speak to?" She wondered.

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Suit + Gloves
Tag: Rinea

That damn smirk.

Kaila tried to ignore it.

Tried.

"It will be anything but."

She quirked a brow at the chiss, unsure as to her meaning. Soon though there was a holodisk to distract her, and if there was one hook she always bit, it was one which satisfied her curiosity. The young lord was quick to take it and peruse it's contents, sliding the rest of her cigarras to Rinea as though some to trade.

"My payment, I take it?"

"We need to exploit trade from the Mara Corridor and Abrion Sector. That will allow us to siphon critical resources back to the Fleet... The trouble is, we need a way to do so without rousing suspicion. It would be difficult to pass off the scale of our operation as mere smuggling." Not to mention, a criminal front might attract unnecessary attention from the Black Sun.

"Perhaps this is an area you can speak to?" She wondered.

Her curious gaze wandered toward the chiss as she explained, putting Kaila aboard a fast train of thought.

"Hm." she pinched her chin.

"Easy. I own a resort on Cantonica you see, nestled into the cliffs of Canto Bight, which is essentially the gambling capitol of this galaxy. Lots of rich folk dump cash into my operations there. I could start a similar business here under the guise of opening a chain, that can be your big money maker."

Kaila explained rather quickly, as though practiced.

Well practiced.

"Now, if you need things moved without raising alarm then we can use some of those funds to build a mock shipping company. I'm assuming your people have the know how to smuggle it all once the business side is done."

"Charities are another good front if you can keep up the illusion, rebel cells used to do it quite often."

"Then of course we have Echnos." she flicked her gloved hand at nothing in particular.

"If we connect my city to this up and coming trade route, let us say I would be... pleased."

​

 

[Rinea]

"Easy. I own a resort on Cantonica you see, nestled into the cliffs of Canto Bight, which is essentially the gambling capitol of this galaxy. Lots of rich folk dump cash into my operations there. I could start a similar business here under the guise of opening a chain, that can be your big money maker."

Every ongoing syllable in the string of words took a chisel to the stone of her expression. At first, she weathered it; this was part of the plan, and they needed the resources. But an entire world shone out for its gambling practices? Her ease of navigating capitalism? Rinea grimaced.

The chiss exhaled sharply as the conversation continued. A shipping front made perfect sense to her. It was the easy option to move a variety of goods en masse. There would still be the trick of getting it to her fleet without rousing unwanted attention, but that detail would be dealt with. She trusted it. Then, there was the mention of charity, and after that, Echnos.

"Your governorship," she remarked. "If your world is the end destination, then that will make it easier for us to obfuscate the missing manifests." On paper, it meant Anathemous was eating those costs, but in reality, it would be as if those numbers never existed at all. A profit still to be made.

Now, for the conflict. "I must confess... gambling is not an operation I wish to support." Rationally, the Chiss understood that being picky here would only limit her options, but casinos and resorts? The heart of corporate corruption. On the other hand, it meant getting closer to her natural enemy.

"I'll leave it to your judgement," she resigned.

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Suit + Gloves
Tag: Rinea

That expression was not what she'd hoped.

Her lips were pulled into a tight line while she pocketed the holodisk, wondering what bothered the chiss so.

And then she explained it, causing Kaila to frown slightly.

"I..." she sighed.

Either this hesitation was a ruse to manipulate her or Rinea had morals after all. Part of her was almost pleasantly surprised to have met someone in her line of work that felt anything at all for the little people. The Sith in her however understood how complicated morals could be, even if she'd sacrificed a lot to keep her own. However few they may be.

"We don't have to." she reassured, daring to move a little closer.

"I don't conduct the gambling. I just house people on their way to or from. It is a vacation destination."

"Just like Talay could be, with it's beaches and ocean view."

"We don't have to build a casino here, just a place people want to stay."

Kaila took a deep breath, eyes wandering to the drinks behind the bar, as the thinnest thread of guilt pulled at her heartstrings. But of course she was better then that, she insisted to herself.

"If it makes you feel any better... my business partner and I moved to Canto Bight intent on overthrowing the local government. We bought loyalty, yes, but not always with money. We tried to enrich what lives we could, earn working class support, not subjugate."

"You may find that hard to believe... I wouldn't blame you."

She began rubbing her blackened hand.

Gods she wished the drinks were better.

​

 

[Rinea]

Rinea stared at her drink. Listened, with surprise, that Anathemous double backed. That she altered the conditions, explained away the challenges, and provided an alternative.

Then, the Sith's attention drifted. There was a pause, and Rinea did not reply at all through it. When Anathemous next spoke, there was not only confessed intentions but shreds of insecurity mixed throughout. She wanted Rinea to see well of her, but that wasn't quite it, and then the chiss thought, and then she said it aloud.

"You don't want me to see you as a Sith." The words were softly spoken, but serious.

She blinked at the thought, then finished her drink, then grabbed the leftover cigarras. "A casino will be fine. It moves revenues." No disappointment in her voice.

Rinea stood up, cigarras in hand, and walked towards the side door. She didn't look back, but she waved one finger to beckon.

"Come along, lighter."

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Suit + Gloves
Tag: Rinea

"That's..."

She squeezed her eyes shut, jaw tightening.

But when she opened them again, Rinea was already walking away.

"...not the whole truth..."

It felt so wrong to even consider. She was Darth frakking Anathemous, the warrior-sorceress, a conqueror in the making, she had come so far. And she was proud of that.

Wasn't she?

She didn't look back, but she waved one finger to beckon.

"Come along, lighter."

Kaila grumbled, rolled her golden eyes, but then stood and followed anyway.

She even left the glove off, hiding her brand in a pocket, all to make it easier when the chiss inevitably asked for a light.

Still she wore that dour expression as she exited the bar, that oh so sithly face women like her always made.

"Why are moving?" she asked, passing through the doorframe.

"We being watched?"

​

 

[Rinea]

"No one is watching."

Well, except the spacer who quietly tucked himself into a corner. He stared the whole time, but it wasn't information he was after, and it wasn't their conversation that distracted him. Someone to consider, but an unlikely threat.

The door led outside, onto a mostly empty street. A parked speeder. Some boxes. A GNK power droid well past its prime but still functional. On its way to deliver power, as usual. A couple of drunkards turned the corner and were on their way out of earshot.

She didn't want to admit to Anathemous that the goal was simply a change of space. The chiss found that a change of scenery, even going to another room, was a helpful way of resetting things. She sat on one of the cargo boxes and placed a cigarra on her lip. It was an old comfort turned bad habit ever since they were stranded here.

Rinea waved the Sith over and leaned forward a little in expectation of a light.

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Suit + Gloves
Tag: Rinea

"Mm." she nodded.

Just a smoke break, she supposed.

Still her gaze wandered the street, assessing threats though there were none, planning an escape she'd never take. And yet she walked right up to Rinea, who was probably the biggest threat on that street next to herself.

Kaila leaned forward, removed the hand from her pocket and flicked her fingers upward, sending a small arc of flame just big enough to light her cigarra. Then she sat down beside her, although her gaze was still down the street, as though holding rear security.

No drinks, no smokes, as she'd given them all to Rinea.

Nothing to fill the silence.

"It's not that I don't want to be Sith."

She finally spoke up, tracing circles around her ring finger.

"Just wish they were different."

​

 

[Rinea]

Rinea saw the circles being traced. Had she been raised in a culture that understood the notion, she would've seized the meaning and pressed on it. Yet, from such a culture she was not.

The revelation was enough, however. The chiss' assumptions had been confirmed. All that she had learned about the Sith from Anathemous locked into place. The Sith Order was ruled by an Emperor; there were landed Sith who competed for power, a schism among Sith ideology, some had governorships and some belonged to an Assembly, which seemed to displace power between Sith of a certain status, and to her understanding showed that the Emperor's word had challengers, even if in private, and some even lorded over Legions. Division within their government. Division within their religion. Division within their military. For the particular Dark Lord, she gleaned that perhaps there was even division within their resolve.

Rinea didn't even smoke. Just held the lit cigarra between two fingers, and eventually offered it to Anathemous without a drag.

Those words echoed. Just wish they were different. Direct eye contact. "Because you're different?"

She might've left it there. Let the question sink first, but Rinea, as always, needed to seize.

"Can you change the hearts of your equals?" She posed. "How about your betters?" She pressed.

"Your Emperor?"

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Suit + Gloves
Tag: Rinea

She glanced at the cigarra, then Rinea.

Kaila took it a beat later, pressed it to her lips and took quite a long drag.

Only to cough at her question, just barely audible.

Direct eye contact. "Because you're different?"

Smoke shot in a sharp exhale that hadn't even finished when the chiss prodded further. Kaila didn't like it one bit and yet the question was painfully valid. Was she? Her eyes were widened by the barest inch and yet she could not make herself look away from Rinea's own.

A deer in red headlights.

"Can you change the hearts of your equals?" She posed. "How about your betters?" She pressed.

"Your Emperor?"

Finally she closed them.

Turned, to take another drag.

"Hm."

Blew another cloud of smoke and tapped the ashes away.

"The emperor is a complicated man."

Her features were pulled tightly when she opened her eyes, but not towards Rinea.

"But he is the reason I may hunt slavers with impunity. The Empress is why I am a free woman-"

She jabbed gloved fingers at her chest, producing a strange thumping sound.

"-the one who enabled me to free myself."

"But Sith respect only strength."

"I have made change in the Order, in my sector. But change is slow, Rinea. Slow, and violent."

​

 

[Rinea]

"He is the reason you hunt slavers?" She barked back. "Otherwise, you'd let them live?" Rinea knew damn well that she twisted the Sith's words.

The Empress is why I am a free woman-"

"She enabled you? Freed you?"

Rinea hopped off the crate, took a step forward, and was now face-to-face with the Darth. "You have made a change, have you?"

"Are you sure it isn't the Emperor. Or how about the Empress?" She snapped. "Because all I hear is a Sith who justifies her own strength, her own existence, even her own resolve in the acts and permission of others." Rinea spat the words like they were poison.

A step back, she turned, but ever was the Darth in her periphery as the Chiss paced.

"I understand change, Anathemous. I've engineered it time and time again. In the hearts of individuals, in the chambers of decision. I've guided hands that stroked the signatures of surrender. I've pulled others' trigger fingers on the skulls of their superiors." Each claim brought with it a glimpse of memory. The emotions. The inner turmoil she felt in those very moments of tension. And the rush of power that came with it.

Rinea turned to her again. "I do not see an agent of change. I see a woman who yearns for it. For the power to change herself, but hasn't taken it!" She snatched the cigarra and put it out against the fabric of the Dark Lord's blazer.

"Do you burn so fragile?"

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Suit + Gloves
Tag: Rinea

Let them live?

Kaila stood abruptly.

Every word made her jaw tense, artificial teeth grind. All were as if daggers which set her heart racing at half truths and lies meant to provoke a reaction, and they accomplished their goals aplenty. Permission. The word made her blood boil, brought heat to that freckled face she did not know the chiss could see, did not know would push her forward.

Permission from Carnifex.

Permission from the Dark Council.

Permission from The Emperor.

Permission from her.

Someone was always giving orders and Kaila did not even realize just how tired of it she was.

But she knew Rinea only wanted to give her more. She practically confessed it in the way she boasted, the passion in her words, and the way she challenged Kaila to take that power for herself, trying to tempt her.

She snatched the cigarra and put it out against the fabric of the Dark Lord's blazer.

"Do you burn so fragile?"

Anathemous never caught fire.

And it was Anathemous she was speaking to now, Kaila was no longer at the helm.

One could see it in her eyes, the way they shone brighter than before.

No, the fire obeyed her as it had since she was small. It climbed her shirt, barely singing her collar on it's way down to her arm, growing ever bigger and far too quickly until it reached her fingertips.

Fingers she never lifted.

The very force reached for Rinea's throat like a vice, such that air pressure changed in their ears.

"I have been killing slavers long before my knighting." she roared.

Kaila's eyes never wavered from hers.

"I have climbed from depths you cannot possibly imagine!"

"I have stood in defiance long before they named me traitor, anathema, slayer."

"Do not think I cannot hear a snake's tongue when it hisses in my ear."

"Do not think I haven't severed them before."

Finally she reached out, pointing her index and little finger at her.

A ball of flame swirling between them.

​

 

[Rinea]

Rinea glared as the cracks formed.

That glare quickly left her as the phantom hand constricted her throat. The Chiss' own hands reached up in reaction, grasping at something that wasn't there. Dominance replaced by fear, primal fear, as her body inched to the precipice of shock. It was the first time she ever felt the Force this way.

Yet, there was still a kernel of frustration that shot its way to the surface. Her eyes were afraid, yes, but there was a glint of conviction as she squeezed out a few words.

"I..." Pain. She felt blood in her throat. "See..." Her heart pounded. "You..." Words... Impossible.

Her vision began to fade around the edges. Her fingers, toes, and lips went numb. In a desperate effort to connect, Rinea reached out in the force, a projection of her voice. "They named you? Is that not even the extent of your change?"

The darkness grew towards the center of her vision. "It is fine to be angry... But let me fething see you, woman!" Her hands fell to her side, and her eyes began to close.

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Suit + Gloves
Tag: Rinea

I see you.

Her face contorted, lip quivered.

A war fought between fury and regret.

A stalemate back and forth.

"They named you? Is that not even the extent of your change?"

The darkness grew towards the center of her vision. "It is fine to be angry... But let me fething see you, woman!"

Kaila closed her eyes, held on just for a beat longer.

And then her grip released, on Rinea, on her tears, even as she ground her teeth and tried to scream. It came out as little more than a strained whimper.

She let go all at once, hand dropping to her side, letting her flames die out with her anger.

And she moved so quickly to stop Rinea from falling.

One arm around her waist, the other around her shoulders. They were so close now, enough to see that death had come so much closer. Kaila was at frakking war with herself, with the entire world. Angry, ashamed, bitter, she couldn't possibly pick one right now. Her breaths were quick and shallow, each hiss hardly bringing any air and she could feel nothing about it because Rinea was in her arms hardly breathing at all.

"I'm... sorry..."

​

 

[Rinea]

An implant sent a shock into her heart and a rush of stims throughout her bloodstream. The chiss coughed violently and spat blood onto Anathemous as she shoved her way out of those arms. Rinea crashed against the crate and wheezed to refill her lungs.

Her whole body was still numb, she couldn't move, and she could barely see. Still, she set her blurry eyes upon the Sith. More confused than afraid.

Through a hoarse voice, she spoke. "You will have to learn to be angry--not let angry to be you."

"You can shout. You can scream. You can slap me away, you can leave..." Then, her composure dropped, and she leaned forward. "But you don't fething choke me!" She screamed at her, followed closely by another coughing fit.

Be it the adrenaline or strong emotions, Rinea's vision sharpened enough for her to notice the haunt on Anathemous' face. The immediate impulse was to ask a question, but instead she said the answer.

"You're not okay."

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Wearing: Suit + Gloves
Tag: Rinea

She looked right at her, but her eyes were distant.

Kaila didn't even flinch when the chiss screamed at her, just continued staring.

It wasn't that she couldn't hear her, even if her pounding heart made it difficult, she understood the contents of her words. It was just two different trains of thought colliding up there, the part of her that felt powerful and the part which felt powerless. Powerless and afraid.

Her face was still that dour thing, anger masked as control when rather it was simply cooling. But she could do nothing to hide the damp streaks across her skin.

Anathemous was not locked solely in introspection however.

She saw Rinea's fear. her blood. her defiance. She too was powerless now, in every sense of the word. And yet she screamed and fought against it, much the same way a younger Kaila would have.

"You're not okay."

No.

She hadn't been for a long time now.

The world just decided to make her worse these past few months.

"You were right." she finally spoke, voice so much smaller.

"I didn't want you to see me as... this."

​