Malice and Maladi

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


"Please, don't kill me! I surrender!" Did the scary robot woman with Force powers respect the Camaas Convention? Would he have respected it if things were the other way round? Probably not. But that was besides the point.


"You stink of fear and sound pathetic when you beg. Your weakness disgusts me, mewling coward," the aforementioned robot woman hissed. Those crimson eyes flashed menacingly.

"I can...serve you!" he cried out, sounding desperate. "I can...fire a gun, pick locks and....uh...cook." It was always good to have a varied skill set. Especially if you were begging for your right to live.


"I do not eat," the machine woman said flatly. There was a dramatic pause. "But maybe you are not entirely useless. Get up. You will obey my every order without question and serve me until I release you or you die."


Who the hell talked like that? "Yes, I swear it!" he called out as he got to his feet. Damn, his entire body ached, but he dare not to show any further weakness. Otherwise the psycho bot might rip him in half after all.


"If you betray me, I'll tear your spine out," she added menacingly. "And if you hit on my sister, make leecherous comments about her or oggle her, I will castrate you and cut your tongue out." Some girls had Redneck fathers who greeted would-be boyfriends with a shotgun....others had mechanical sisters. "Now get a move on. Walk in front of me."


Behind her, a random gangster slowly awoke and tried to reach for his weapon. Without even bothering to turn around, Enyo casually raised his shotgun with the Force and blew his face off. Then she headed to the door. Her new, appropriately frightened minion went through first.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
As Enyo entered Amara raised her hand in greeting.
“Found a friend, eh? Well, this is Zar’kahn. Some of these treasures are heirlooms for his people so he pitched in to help. Zar’kahn, this is Enyo.”

She looked at the collection of frightened traders and mercenaries.
“Now get over there, face the wall and keep your hands up. If any of you even think about being dumb we’ll know.”

She wasn’t about to massacre the lot of them, but if any of them realised that united they might have a chance she would put down any threat.

“I’ll watch them, you see what’s there,” she suggested.

The abandoned auction had thoughtfully opened the various crates and containers of items. The Kar’zun hoisted his weapon onto his shoulder and picked through the items. He came out with some beautifully detailed metal tablets. It looked like an illuminated manuscript, but rather than parchment and leather it was bound in gold and silver and featured plates of burnished bronze inscribed with silver letters. Images engraved onto the thin metal plates using the most beautifully delicate of touches were visible.
“These works are the tomes of our history and family genealogies,” Zarkahn explained softly as he placed the three volumes carefully in a padded container. He also extracted some beautifully carved jewellery in gold, silver and gems and put them in as well.
“And those are the last ornaments of our final Queen, hidden from the Eldorai for a thousand years. I tell you this as you likely care not, to explain why I take some but not others.”
There were indeed richer items there. However, the Kar’zun ignored them except to take a golden ring and chew on it like it was finest candy. He took a handful of gold and stored them perhaps in case he wanted a snack later.

“Pick through the rest as my reward for your assistance. I will parlay what you do not take for credits.”

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


The Kar'zun had strange priorities, but looked badarse and had a cool gun. Enyo decided she sort of liked him. Oh, and apparently he...ate gold? Weird. "You're welcome to keep the...arefacts." Anyhow, Enyo helped herself to plenty of shinies. By her estimate, they should be worth a lot. She'd leave the task of selling on the black market to Amara's two helpers. Such mundane tasks were beneath a warrior, but appropriate for minions.


"I'll take over from here. Finish gathering up the treasures," she ordered Amara and walked over to the presently cowed gangsters and thugs, focusing her eyes on those who looked like they could fight.


"I demolished all your friends without breaking a sweat. Ask the kid over there," she began pointing a metal finger at Ron. "None of you are a match for me. I could hand you to the police and toss you into a prison, or just slaughter you. Instead, I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse. From now on, you work for me. Do your job well and obey my every order, and you'll be rewarded. If you disobey me, I'll kill you. If you betray me, I'll kill you painfully. Clear?"


"She's not joking, mates," Ron said feebly. Maybe he wanted to earn brownie points. There was uneasy shifting and murmuring amongst the throng of gangsters. Uncertainty was evident in them.


"Uh, yeah, sure...boss," one said. Then, in a lower voice, he whispered to one of his buddies. "Not gonna lie, mate, that blonde chick's a hottie. Have you seen those legs? And that arse. Wouldn't mind being alone with her."


Enyo's eyes narrowed. Alas, her hearing was very good. Suddenly the thug was lifted into the air and hurled right towards her. He landed a few feet away with a painful groan. As he tried to get up, she was already upon him. All it took was the slash of her lightsabre amidst a blaze of purple, and he was unmanned. His screams did not last, for it was no trouble for her to reach into his mouth and pull his tongue out.


"Anyone else?" she asked in a deathly calm, cold voice, while still holding his bloodied tongue in her hand. No one else decided to mouth off. One by one, gangsters began to step forward and swear allegiance. Clearly Enyo and Vader had similar ideas about how to motivate the work force.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Amara had never seen so much gold and silver. She looked at the Kar’zun curiously.
“So…if you eat it how does that work?”
He gazed at her levelly. “Do you eat paper? You write on it, but you could eat it.”
“Yeah, but it’s not very nice.”
“And the same with this stuff. We prefer to eat stone, not metal. Gold is nice in small amounts.”

Kar’zun culinary tastes were suddenly put on hold when Amara turned to see Enyo’s lightsabre slicing a man through the groin. She ended up with a tongue in her hand too.
She stood there for a moment, sickened and appalled. Maybe an example was necessary, but this was too much, far too much. Perhaps Enyo simply had no empathy or mercy for any organics which weren’t her and any other clones they might find. It was unsettling.

Still, these were all criminals, and whilst they perhaps did not deserve to become mute eunuchs it would ensure that none would oppose them.

She did not give any quips though. Instead she merely took a deep breath. “I warned you,” she said.
She hadn’t known what set off the maiming. If she had she wouldn’t have known whether to be touched or horrified.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


Enyo felt Amara's disgust. She did not feel remorseful or sickened by her own actions though. As usual, her sister was too nice for her own good. Naively so. The Galaxy was full of people who'd take advantage of her. These were hardened criminal scum and thugs. Force was the only language they understood.


No one else mouthed off. No one else stepped out of line. No doubt they would betray Enyo the moment she showed weakness or it seemed convenient to them, but that was fine. They were just means to an end: Tools. The only people who really mattered to Enyo, aside from herself, were Amara and the other clones.


"Message heard loud and clear. I can, uh, help you sell this stuff," one of the merchants spoke a bit timidly, raising his hand. "That is, I know some people who'd pay a fortune. I can set something up for you. Pardon the question, but what should we call you?"


"You can call me Boss," Enyo said flatly. Mistress was right out. This was not some kind of porno, after all. One imagined that the only Eldorai in her gang would be those who really hated the ancien régime and had cut all ties with the Matriarchy.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Zar’kahn had watched the proceedings with amusement, if such a thing could be gleaned from that craggy face.

Amara meanwhile had simmered down a bit. “You know better what these might be worth,” she told the Kar’zun. “Could you make sure he gives an accurate accounting of the treasures?”

She glared at the merchant. “That way, if he tries to cheat us, Boss can take the difference out of his hide.”

Was it racist to assume a Kar’zun would be good at valuing precious metals? Regardless, he nodded.

“I will ensure there is a thorough accounting.”

“Good, we’ll sort through the gear,” Amara said.

Off to some distance from their new ‘partners’ and the Kar’zun, Amara unexpectedly did not lambast her sister. Instead she smiled.
“Good job, Enny, thank you. Did you want to hire the Kar’zun on if he’s up for it? He could be useful.”

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


"If anyone else looks at you in a leecherous way or treats you disrespectfully, I will punish them as well," Enyo said, as if that was a normal thing. Some girls have Redneck dads with shotguns...others have mechanical sisters who use lightsabres for castration.


What would she do with the man's tongue? Perhaps put it in a jar and let it serve as a warning. She made a close imitation of a frown while she thought. "The golem could be useful, yes. Looks like he can handle himself in a fight. And perhaps he can lead us to more of his kind who are in need of work. They eat rocks and ores...right?" Presumably they still regarded cannibalism poorly.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
“Yeah, they do. They favour rocks over metal, but only specific types of stone. Like with organics each one has a different preference. It’s complicated.”

She smiled and glanced back at the recruits. “They’re not reliable. What are you going to use them for?”

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


"No, they're cannot. That's why their cannon fodder," Enyo said bluntly. She was not one to mince words and shirk from calling a spear or spear. "They can be distraction while we do the Melkar job. If some tun out to be useful, good. If not, at least they've served a purpose. Let's try to keep the Kar'zun though."

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Amara nodded. It was ruthless but understandable.
“I’ll get the loot packed up. When the merchant has a buyer that buyer can come to a location we choose. I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him.”

And so, the mission done, the details were being wrapped up. Amara would do as she said whilst Enyo gave orders to her unwilling band of despicables. Few of them would probably answer any summons and would try and vanish into the shadows. That was fine, the more dispersed and hidden, the less chance they’d try foolish revenge.

They’d soon be back at their base, soon with a new friend, and able to move on to their next mission.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


Mission accomplished! They had plenty of loot and a host of minions of immensely dubious reliability plus a badarse Kar'zun. Unlike the former, he ought to stick around and be useful. Rock guys were cool.


Anyhow, Enyo passed out her orders to her unfortunate band of deplorables. None of them wanted to be turned into mute eunuchs...so they obeyed. Or at least made a good show of doing that. The merchant grovelled an awful lot. It annoyed Enyo. Regardless, after all the details had been settled, our intrepid band of in some cases morally dubious adventurers arrived at the base, which was a fancy name for Amara's apartment. Ron tagged along for...some reason. Maybe he could make coffee.


The apartment was not the best, and located far from the affluent portion of town, but that also meant they were less likely to receive attention from Jedi or Coruscant's overworked police, which suited Enyo just fine.


"That's your place," she remarked as their speeder came to a halt. "Doesn't look bad. Jedi won't come to this district. Not posh enough. That's good. Any of the locals give you trouble?" No, Enyo, you don't get to mutilate more people in this thread.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
And so they were back in the apartment. For now Ron would be given a room down the hall. He wasn’t trusted enough at this point.
Faelar and Shoshary were there and looked very pleased when Amara returned.
“Boss! How’d you go?” Shoshary asked.
“Got you girls something,” Amara said happily, handing over a couple of small gold pieces to them. “We’re in the money for now. We’ve got a rock man selling off our treasure. He might join us for the next mission. Also picked up a wimp who didn’t want to get unmanned by Enyo, and a mob of deplorable crims who can be a distraction.”
“Great, thanks!” the Eldorai said, taking the small gold ring and slipping it on. It had once been used for the little finger of a young Kar’zun, now it was just small enough to fit on the big finger of an Eldorai. How ironic.

Knowing that Enyo was not that patient and would expect progress rather than a love-in, Amara coughed.
“Right, anything you want to add Enyo before we go into what the girls have found out about Melkar?”

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


Enyo was not a patient person. She was also not the type for love-ins. Or socialising. Gregarious, talkative people tended to...annoy her. Moreover, Shoshayry had been eating crisps. The sound annoyed Enyo a lot. Someone who no longer felt the need to eat could not understand how delicious these crisps were.


"No, elaborate on the Melkar job. I assume you made progress," she said in a predictably expectant and commanding voice. Her look was severe enough to get the Cathar to stop crunching crisps, which was good because the hybrid really hated that sound.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Amara gently took the crisps away from the feline before the kitty got into trouble. Enyo seemed these days to be even less patient than before…if this was possible!

“Tell us everything,” Amara said encouragingly.

“We’ve contacted this Melkar that we’re interested. He’s given us more details. He wants us to break into a rival company called SYI Incorporated and retrieve plans for a new and more powerful engine. He says that SYI stole it from him and that this is just the latest in a series of attacks,” Faelar said.

Shoshary, hoping to redeem herself for the crisps incident, added.
“I’ve looked into SYI and they’re a big company through the old Republic territories. Their headquarters is here on Coruscant…seems they work with whoever is in charge of the planet without much discrimination. Apparently their main office is just a front, and Melkar has directed us to the R&D facility in the Crystal Vale. It’s locked up pretty tight though, like a fortress.”

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


Impatient was a good way to describe Enyo. Amoral and sociopathic also applied. It was probably pretty obvious by now. "I'm sure he's an innocent lamb and they're the prime evil," she commented dryly, and indifferently. Perhaps SYI had stolen the toy from him, perhaps he simply wanted to one-up a competitor and had invented a sob story. Either way, the cyborg did not care.


"We got cannon fodder. Elaborate on the security measures. Every 'fortress' has blind spots, if only because of the organic element being willing to part with secrets when motivated by grudges or credits. Did he have any blueprints of the facility or do we have to acquire those on our own?" Enyo was tough, but though not a master tactician, she figured they could do better than charge the front door and battering ram her path to the McGuffin. Their gang of deplorables could make themselves useful by getting shot at though.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]

It was apparent to Amara that her sister was ruthless. That was obvious to even a Jester. However, Enyo had not taken any steps yet over the event horizon of morality which Amara personally subscribed to. Something to look forward to, for sure!

“All we can get are drone pictures and what details Melkar is able…or willing…to provide,” Faelar said.

Amara looked at the pictures and models they had. It was clear that this was not the place one just walked into. The massive complex covered over half a square kilometre and was buttressed by security towers and stations around the outside.

“The plans along with the other valuables are in a vault in the basement,” Soshahry said softly, pointing to an area pretty near the centre of the maze of corridors, workrooms and facilities.

“We should use the gang to get their attention after we’re inside. Do it before and they’ll lock it down tight before we can get in,” Amara mused. “Say, do you think our Kar’zun friend could lay his hands on a boring drill? Or even an exciting one!” she added brightly, then sighed. “Sorry. But yes, drill.”

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


"Your jokes still are not funny," Enyo said flatly in her usual prim and proper tone. Clearly some things never changed. Such as her utter lack of humour. She'd probably left it in a jar somewhere. Presumably not in the one that contained her brain.


"Contact the stone man about the drill. Let's raid the whole vault, while we're at it. We take all the valuables - and make copies of the plans. Someone other than Melkar might be interested in them and that means more profit for us." Breach of contract? Eh, who cared? Enyo certainly did not. She had a war to fight. To her, that was more important than the petty desires of insignificant organics.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Amara huffed slightly. “My jokes are funny, it’s just that you don’t appreciate them!”

Back to business. “Sounds good. But we should probably have an escape route. Girls, I want you both to get speeders and be ready to dive in and either provide distraction or evac if needed.”

They agreed with this willingly since it meant they’d not be in the firing line. Amara neither wanted to risk them in a firefight, nor thought they’d be much use in one.

“Enyo, you want to bully those thugs into their distraction, I’ll find our rocky friend and get him ready to go. I’ll meet you here tonight and we’ll make this happen.”
She pointed to an area on the map about 250m away from the facility among some derelict warehouses.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


Soon Enyo was back at the warehouse that was supposed to be her meeting place with the thugs. She did not even have to shoot or punch any of them as she walked. That was just a bit disappointing. "I have found a target that will provide us with riches and treasures," she announced. "The laboratory of SYI. My sister and I will infiltrate it. When I give the signal, you'll make a diversion, to allow us to steal their secrets."


"Are you nuts? That place is a fortress. I'm not gonna be cannon fodder. You're not my boss!" choking noises escaped his throat when Enyo seized him with one hand and lifted him up into the air. His face looked very red and he had trouble breathing.


"Anyone else? Spoils will be shared, bravery rewarded, cowardice punished with castration." Chaotic Evil was convenient because it meant subordinates did not require a lot of motivation. But it made them hard to control. Eventually, the gang of deplorables fell in line.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
From her hiding place Amara and Zar’kahn could hear as the sirens and blasters started firing.

“There’s our cover. Start the drill,” she urged.
The Kar’zun nodded and pushed forward an elaborate hovering contrivance. When he started it up it blazed with golden light as the plasma lances began to spin. Like two lightsabres spinning around at hundreds of rotations a minute, the driller started to shear through permacrete and durasteel like it was butter.
The best part? It was very nearly silent aside from the whine of the machine and the rapid hissing as the molten metal and stone cooled.

“Kar’zun creation,” he said proudly, noting Amara’s amazed look.
Despite this though, it’d take time to bore under their target and then emerge from below.

When Enyo arrived, Amara pointed proudly to the machine. They’d made exceptional time.
“Give the gang the signal. By the time they get shooting we’ll almost be in place.”

XXX

A darkened meeting room. Through the gloom only the light of a single surveillance monitor could be seen, showing the delporables firing their blasters and moving threateningly.
The door opened, allowing light to spill in.
“Talk to me, Miss Carlisle,” the man at the table said.
“We’re under attack, sir! There’s at least a dozen of them. They’re trying to force an entry into the south gate.”
Silence. “No. They’re not.”
“Sir-,” she said, but saw his raised hand.
“They are creating noise, drawing attention. Making, what you might call, a distraction. They are not attacking, have no means to do so, and clearly intent either. They are meant to fixate us. What have you done in reply?”
“I’ve assembled a force to counter attack and put all staff on alert.”
“Stand down the rapid reaction force, but keep them on alert. Ensure all scanners and anti-air weapons are ready and that all approaches are monitored. Miss Carlisle, you will monitor it personally.”
“Yes, sir, as you say,” she said.
“This has all the hallmarks of one of Melkar’s schemes. Let us see if he has more than these criminals roped into his plan. Watch the skies, Miss Carlisle, and report to me immediately if something unusual occurs.”
“Yes, Mr Yeravan.”
The door closed and he sat back in his chair, watching the criminals blaze futilely away. He pressed a button on his chair’s arm.
“Get me the police. There is some disorder for them to correct,” he said softly.