Into the Lion's Den

[Vrag]

She snorted in disbelief at the ridiculous situation, but held back the verbal lashing once the blonde leaning on her started speaking again. When [member="Kana Truden"] had no more secrets to share, no obscure information left to spill, only then would Vrag allow her frustration with her shine through to a palpable degree. For now, the former Jedi was far too useful to alienate by virtue of an outburst, and the firrerreo would hate to see an opportunity as great as this slip through her fingers because her self-restraint had faltered.

For the second time in as many minutes, Vrag snorted, but this time the sound was not one of irritation, but rather of amusement at the brutal realism of the words uttered by her unlikely companion. She didn't interrupt — for there was no need to reinforce a statement that Kana herself knew to be true, and surely better than the Sith herself — but instead kept meandering through the milling throng, slipping an arm to the small of the blonde's back to keep them from being separated by the current of people pulling them every which way; it wouldn't do to miss out on important tidbits of intel because of the ruckus caused by the deluge and splashing footsteps surrounding them.

"Is there anything that Corvus loves more than her holocrons?" the firrerreo finally inquired after she led them both under the roof of a small fast food joint. There was no point in trying to catch a ride out of the lower districts in a weather like this, and her usual, 'trump-all' credentials lay safely stored on the Imperious; it would look rather odd indeed if an unassuming gambler were to flash the authority of the Dark Lord himself in the underbelly of Coruscant — not to mention that it would earn her a laugh from the security at best. There were pitfalls to keeping one's identity a well-guarded secret, that was for certain, but the benefits were still more numerous than the downsides on most days.

"We're going to have to wait this out," she said by way of explanation and then turned to order two bantha burgers from the grouchy trandoshan behind the stall, inhaling deeply of the flash-fried aroma wafting from the sizzling oil.

"Do go on."

 

[Kana Truden]

“She loves them with good reason.” Kana spoke up as she leaned herself against the stall of the grouchy trandoshan. “Knowledge is power.”

There were some aspects of the whole jedi thing that wasn’t worth letting go of. Sure, Kana had a newfound appreciation for means of proving her strength, but she could hardly be held at a fault for clinging to a few of the things she knew from before. Besides, the fact that Kana had knowledge of Ossus in this very exchange gave her the metaphorical upper hand through a control on supply to @Vrag’s demand.

“I have a few maps of the layout of the academy itself in my ship.” Kana took a bite out of her burger. “Veh ovfer is a feu ruff schetches of secyuritee. shechpoins.”

Kana swallowed.

“The rest, well, I really have to be there in-person to tell you the rest.”

“Any questions?”

 

[Vrag]

"Eh," the woman shrugged dismissively and took another bite out of her burger. She could feel the warm fat trickle out of the sizzling bantha patty, painting her fingers with a glossy sheen. Usually, Vrag encountered fat in far bloodier — and more solid — circumstances, so seeing it in such a mundane situation was ironically absurd… but that's what you get for being a Sith Lord.

"Power is power."

"And good. We can go pick them up once this karking rain calms down. Which port are you docked in?"

You could bet your fine ass that she'd go to check out the information in person, though her reasons likely differed from what [member="Kana Truden"] expected them to be. It didn't matter.

"How many people are usually there at any one time? Like, what order of resistance are we looking at? Hundreds? Thousands?"

Even as she spoke her mind, the firrerreo realized how woefully under-informed she was — they were, really — about the clandestine affairs of the Republic and their Jedi puppets. An unfortunate state of affairs that needed to be rectified as soon as possible, given recent developments on the home front. You could never be to careful when leading campaigns to dominate the Galaxy.

She suppressed a chuckle as a few bits of salad escaped the blonde's mouth, doing her best to not follow suit as laughter threatened to overcome her. A former Jedi, once poised and dignified in her battle against the evil, evil Sith; now here she was, enjoying a burger with one while spilling secrets of the highest order.

And it wasn't just burgers that the two had enjoyed together, on that note. Vrag smirked, then finished off the last of her meal and shot a glance at the skies from under the roof of the stall.

"Looks like it's slowing down a bit. Let's go."

 

[Kana Truden]

“D53, Sector 7.” Kana said as she took another bit of the burger. “Hundweds. Ve plesh ish therr men bess of opereshens.”

Kana rolled here eyes in an unspoken ‘Duh.’ The Ossus was where most of the Jedi lived. Unlike the few dozen around the Enclave on Ruusan this place housed most of the Jedi in the galaxy at this point. Something that was rather ironic considering the remote nature of it. It was as if the Jedi was provided their own little corner of the galaxy and told ‘Here, go nuts.’ by the Republic.

And here Kana was plotting to cut it off. It amused her.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Kana nodded as she took the first step out from underneath the stall. “It’s not far from here.”

“So, this would most certainly count as high treason, yes?” Kana turned to [member="Vrag"]. “You know the laydown on Ossus and I...” She chuckled. “Well, I have nowhere left to go.”

“I don’t count on the Sith to hold true to their word, but I want to be there when this information is used.” Kana shrugged. “Until then, well, just keep in touch or something. I don’t know.”

 

[Vrag]

Her eyes flashed with devious delight at the small number, and she curbed the urge to laugh maniacally. A few years ago, the impulse would never have struck her in the first place, and Vrag had to wonder whether or not she was being affected by the villainous viles of the men and women surrounding her daily; was she turning into a stereotype as she spoke? Would the next time be the last when she could still hold back the Evil Laugh™?

She couldn't say for sure, and it would've had her worried, had [member="Kana Truden"] not come in with some well-needed comic relief; her pronunciation of Galactic Basic with bantha burger in her mouth was truly atrocious. Perhaps not the kind of atrocity a Sith could hope for, but the firrerreo would take what she could get.

"I'm guessing, yeah. But don't hold me to it. I haven't set foot in Republic space in ages."

"Okay, that's a lie. I have, but it was only to break more laws of theirs, so…" Vrag trailed off and shrugged with one shoulder, an universal sign that she didn't give a rat's ass about the Galactic Republic or the rules it imposed on its people. And the rats on Coruscant were huge. Just ask [member="Smeg"]!

"We'd never deny you the pleasure of slaughtering them yourself, dear," the woman chuckled as she led them through the maze of the underbelly, navigating well-trodden paths towards the spaceport.

"I don't say this often," she went on as they climbed the stairs to the D53 platform," but I wouldn't mind keeping… in touch with you."

And a dirty wink to boot.

 

[Kana Truden]

Not having set foot in Republic space for a while. Yeah, Kana knew how that felt. If anything it was what she was really alluding to before. With the face-heel turn came the downside of, well, not really having anywhere to belong anymore. The idea of settling down was out of the question. Settling down meant staying in one place, staying in one place meant getting caught.

“Good. Then I will be there.” Kana nodded. “I am ready whenever your people will be.”

The duo continued walking. D53 was within eyesight when the firrerreo made her remark. It forced Kana to stop as her head tilted gently to the side. Her back leaned away from the ‘Sith Lord’ and she perked her brow. Was this about to become another venture based on supply and demand?

Possibly.

“Do you now?” Kana knocked at one of her mental walls. Was she really doing this? “Do you have a habit of kissing and hugging Jedi?” The filter was turned on, never mind what the filter was applied to. “Well then, I am not going to deny you.”

As far as Kana was concerned, the woman in front of her was a very adequate plumber. Why there was simply no other way of looking at it with the other's job performance and how the moment had passed both of them by with utter delight. Oh most certainly, Kana was still trying to get over it, but if the plumber wanted to perform maintenance then there was no real reason for her to say no.

For all Kana knew she might have actually needed it. Maintenance that is.

“Well then, my ship is right ahead.” Kana got closer to [member="Vrag"] as they continued towards the ship. “I can’t offer you much in the way of payment, but if you’d be interested in some data I have available you can have that when we are done.”

 

[Vrag]

The enthusiasm was… unexpected. She's seen firsthand how differently the former Jedi now carried herself in a fight, perfectly willing to tear flesh and spill blood if it suited you. The woman she'd fought all those months ago on Telti was gone, and now she no longer shied away from violence when the situation required it, dishing out as good as she got. No. Better than she got.

Vrag smiled to herself and ascended the stairs behind the blonde, enjoying the sight as they came up to the platform. It was all she could do to keep her hands to herself when such an enticing — and no longer forbidden! — fruit was merely an arm's reach away, but they still had business to wrap up; then, pleasure.

A flash of teeth was all the response that the firrerreo offered to the blonde's barb, continuing up the ship's ramp instead.

"I think I'll take that data before," she stated as they stepped into the soft shadows stretching over the interior of the vessel. With a single long stride, Vrag was suddenly flush against the shorter woman's back, her lips coming to hover less than an inch away from her ear.

"Might take a while until we're done."

Her voice had easily dropped for a whole register in pitch, and her fingers traced the ghost of a promise along the curve of Kana's hipbones before the Sith abruptly pulled back again.

"Now let's see those sketches and maps." Vrag spoke louder again, a hint of impatience seeping into her tone; she had far better things to do with [member="Kana Truden"] on that table.

Er. At that table. Yes.

 

[Kana Truden]

“Oh, certainly.” Kana knelt down beneath the table and began rooting around. “Wouldn’t want you to think I didn’t trust you with this.”

It was an old-fashioned box. Metal casing, push to eject and with a security measure that stood out from the norm. In fact most things around the tiny little ship seemed to indicate as such. Third-party modifications, state of the art while still maintaining their common-househould-name exteriors. Had people known the expenses Kana had spent on keeping her own valuables safe they would have laughed, but she certainly didn’t.

And neither did said thieves when they realised the repercussions of stealing from this dark jedi.

Everything had a lock, everything a code. It wasn’t noticeable in some places. Cupboards and frequent access surfaces were conveniently left alone, but crates and other storage spots were not.

With the final data disk on the table she handed them over to [member="Vrag"].

“Here you go. One upfront payment for services to be rendered.” Kana rose up from the ground to face her guest. “It’s a pleasure doing business with you.”

There was little to no point in detailing said work. It was just best, and the safest for both parties involved (professional secrets had to be kept), to say that from this point onwards the handiwork would just seem to... Fade away as the pressure on the steam pipes were allowed a sweet release once more.

Mmyes. Plumbing.

 

[Vrag]

Out of the many things that Vrag thought she'd be doing at one point or another, plumbing most definitely wasn't on the list. Not that anything was wrong with that job per se, mind you, but the woman had always through her talents lay in… other areas, usually more tied with destroying things rather than fixing them. Then again, she had also learned a long time ago that a little adaptation can go a long way, and doing a bit of maintenance didn't sound like much of a chore, considering the model involved.

"Right. Trust."

That thing that others placed in people and always got them into varying degrees of chit. Why, for kark's sake, did anybody still play that game these days? It was only a matter of time before someone stabbed you in the back, but if you trusted nobody, your back was at least firmly against a solid durasteel wall. Sure, they could still blow you up with a capital-grade turbolaser, but at least you saw it coming; a knife in the ribs, though? No, thank you. If she had to die, she at least wanted to see the face of the bastard who did it.

Which explained why she was willing to 'kiss and hug' Jedi, as [member="Kana Truden"] so eloquently put it; it's easy enough to watch out for trouble when you're on top.

Her eyes left the woman in question for a moment to take in the box as the blonde disabled the security measures and neatly placed its contents on the table. A few datapads, a disk, and a few scraps of what looked to be paper. Did she trust her enough to believe the data was there? Hard to tell.

She cocked her head to the side, still leaning back against a cupboard as she leveled the former Councilor with a long, steady gaze. Hard to believe that she was looking at the same person who had punched her Dhaladii all those months ago. The hard lines of her face, the glint in her eyes, the quirk of her lips as they measured each other; if Vrag were the sensitive sort, she might've felt like a piece of meat under that gunmetal gaze.

"Never thought that a Jedi of all people could make me feel like a schutta…"

"But I guess life's just full of surprises, ain't it?"

With that, the firrerreo would push off the counter with a grin of her own, entirely unperturbed by the fact that she was being bought. Everyone had a price. Even for plumbing.