Going to Hell in a Hand Basket

[Linalia Soft]

Before the man making his way toward her could say a thing, Linalia glanced at him, her eyes saying all that was needed to say. He turned around and went back to where he came from. Even in the most luxurious of bars there were cretins of all sorts. She sipped on her drink which was way overpriced, escaping into her own thoughts. Lina was living so many lives all at once. This was one of the few moments where she could just get away from it all and be free from any pressures she had.

Flying Nexu was one of the most prestigious bars in the outer rim. It's clientele was mainly high-end business owners, wealthy crime lords, or people like Lina: very, very rich thieves. Unfortunately, the food an drinks did not always live up to the atmosphere. "Give me another," Linalia said, pushing her empty glass forward, "But this time, make it good." She looked on with anger while waiting for her drink. She'd had nearly enough of this place. It was about time for her to leave.

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

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Nar Shadda, Hutt Space
The Flying Nexu

A lone shuttle emerged from hyperspace somewhat outside of Nar Shadda's planetary scanner range, moving at a leisurely pace before assimilating into the overcrowded mess of starships coming and going from the ecumenopolis' surface. The pilot, a modified TA3 tactical droid known only as βμτςнεя, deftly maneuvered the ship through the twisting labyrinth of Nar Shadda's neon skyscrapers, taking great care to avoid using the more frequented skyways to avoid as much attention as possible. After what seemed like an endless dance of turning and weaving through the planet's pustulant bowels the shuttle at least reached what appeared to be its destination.

A high-end bar called the Flying Nexu.

However; the droid sat the ship down several dozen meters away from the bar's entrance and lowered them boarding ramp so that his sole passenger could approach on foot. A hiss of hydraulics heralded the arrival of the organic occupant, who descended down the ramp cloaked in a thick brown linen robe that concealed his face and the overall shape of his body. Not even the searing light from the myriad of neon lights above and below could penetrate the swirling darkness that seethed behind the threshold of the being's wide hood. He walked with purposeful, meticulous strides towards the bar's entrance and with a lazy wave of his hand he enchanted the rather brutish looking bouncer to pay him no heed as he entered. But his entrance did not go unnoticed as many of the bar's regulars cast curious glances at the newcomer, but many went back to their drinks or their boisterous conversations full of guffaws and obscene language.

He didn't bother to acquire a drink from the bartender, but rather continued on past him and into the backroom. One of the security guards went to go stop him, but never returned from the back. A veil of darkness seemed to descend on the bar as the sickly, skin-crawling feeling of unease began to afflict the patrons in a most malign way. Most of them were quick to leave the bar, practically scrambling over one another until they could escape the pulsating wave of discomfort that seemed to radiate from somewhere deep in the bar. Those that stayed were either made of sterner stuff and could resist the aura's effects or were completely immune to such wizardry.

Either way something was going on in the back, but did anyone have the courage to discover what?

[member="Linalia Soft"]​

 

[Linalia Soft]

It was very clear when the huge presence had entered the bar. Not only the bar, but Linalia could sense a major bubble in the Force. It didn't take too long for almost every patron in the bar to become shifty. Lina thought about what this could mean. While she had power, it was clear that someone had came here who had much, much more power. Power that she knew, despite her abilities, would overcome her with ease.

Before she realized what had happened, all but a handful of people had left. All but a handful of people were able to withstand the exertion that was coming from...Linalia realized with a start that the bubble was no longer outside. It was inside the bar. She never realized the transition. With a quick movement, she gulped down the rest of her drink and stood. Time to investigate. There was a door she saw immediately that had a trail of death leading into it.

With decorum, she walked silently and quickly to that door, and with a breath, pushed it open. The door lead her to a backroom. "Hello," she said, seeing the figure ahead of her. "You sir, are quite the presence. Here before you, I can sense how powerful you are. I have no quarrel with you, but I would like to know who you are."

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Initially it seemed the hooded man was alone, still as a statue in the dimly lit backroom with his arm outstretched into the obscuring darkness. But as the overhead lights sputtered out their last flicker of life they revealed that the enigma's hand was wrapped around the throat of a Jablogian's fleshy neck, his fingers digging into the red meat as the creature gasped and struggled to inhale. The enigma's head and shoulders ruffled as if he had spoken, but no word's seemed to emerge from the darkness shrouding his face. Still, the alien's face blanched as if he had heard perfectly clear, and he struggled to speak through the vice that clamped down on his windpipe. "Mi-ack! Milord, give me ano-hyuck! Anoth- Another chance!" It was unknown to the bystander what this particular corpulent alien had done to incur the wrath of this man, but it was pretty clear that no amount of groveling would save him.

And thus with a roar reminiscent to that of the sound barrier breaking the enigma shattered the Jablogian's neck and skull with a gesture that seemed too casual, too benign, to be capable of such grotesque destruction. Gore splattered the counter that the Jablogian had backed himself up into, great globs of blood, bone, and brain matter oozing down the sides to plop onto the floor with a sickening splat. The man released his grip on whatever remnant of the alien's upper body that still remained and allowed the corpse to wallow in its own offal, and then turned his attention to the witness. Despite the presence of the shroud covering his face it was clear that a pair of baleful eyes now fixated upon her, the faintest pinpricks of seething crimson shining through the otherwise impenetrable darkness.

"W̵̕h̴̛o͟͠ ̢͢͜a̡͠r̸҉é͝ ̶͠y̛͘͢o̢u?̡̕"

The inquiry seemed to reverberate through her soul rather than her ear, and didn't seem to originate with the man standing in front of her at all. It seemed to be birthed from a darkness deep inside of her, a seething parasitic malignance that now thrummed with vigor by just being in the vicinity of the shadowy creature that stalked hungrily towards her. He repeated the question, this time more forceful, and her ears were filled with the sound of a thousand buzzing insects clawing past her ear drums, chewing through flesh and cartilage to feast upon her mind. It was not only the voice of the man, it was the voice of the madness that dwelt within being reconstituted by the dark magic that swirled around him like a tempest, obscuring his features and radiating a befouling presence.

It wouldn't be prudent to make him ask a third time.

[member="Linalia Soft"]​