Money it's a hit, don't give me that do goody good bull...

[Ax'no]

​

​

Location: Harnaidan, Muunilinst​

​

After touching down on “Moneyland” in the Spectre, her Scarab-class corvette, Briga Tiin, the Priestess of Iktotch and newly minted Sith Inquisitor swiftly checked into a hotel base near the IGBC in the congested Muun capital of Harnaidan. The luxury hotel would be her home base for a few days, at least. Hopefully the Caprine would not need to stay weeks, but that was an option if her assignment did not go as expected.

Prior to making the hotel arrangement, using an overflowing shadow account of the One Sith, she rented out vacant building slightly next to the hotel. “It must be a large space, a little bit off the beaten path and completely soundproof,” Briga had told the agent. She wanted to find something closer, but Harnaidan was an upscale, thriving center of commerce, and prime real estate just didn’t sit empty for too long.

In the hotel room, she dressed in a long, black gown, not her usual priestly robes, but something with a little more of a business flair. Still with her horns and her feral amber eyes, she did not resemble the serious and intellectual Muun or near-humans who resided on Muunilist. Even in tailored, designer clothing, Briga could not hide the vaguely bovidae influence in her genes. However, satisfied with her appearance, she checked her datapad for the address of where Darth Adekos would be. It was within walking distance.

She would not travel alone. Two imposing Blackblade Guards from the Zambrano stronghold of Vain Hollow had accompanied the Priestess. But they wouldn’t be recognized as such. They were also in disguise of stiff-suited bankers.

Speaking of stiff, it was painfully clear the two human soldiers were not used to civilian clothing.

“Relax,” said Briga. “You two look like corpses. We don’t need him bolting the minute he catches a glimpse of the three of us.”

Walking with the costumed guards, she entered a non-descript banking tower where she would supposedly find Darth Adekos, a profitable Umbaran, droid magnate, and now – Sith Deserter. He was courting some financiers, of which Briga was one, thanks to forged credentials. She hoped to catch him right at the end of the meeting as to not cause too much disruption in the bland, sterile tower.

Once on the twenty-fifth floor, the disguised Inquisitor and her “assistants” found the large transparisteel conference room, where the notorious Sith Lord sat with the other Muun financiers. Briga was used to performing, but she wasn’t the best at improvising. Not to mention the guards looked extremely out of place, their clothing far too tight on their muscular, death-machine bodies.

Still with the utmost grace of a person used to giving sermons to a populated temple, she strode in the conference room and said, “So sorry I’m late. Please don’t let me interrupt. I’ll wait until the end, and then I’d like to ask some questions.” Her voice was even toned, and she expected to hear a bunch of financial mumbo-jumbo for the next few minutes as she waited for Adekos to do whatever business he had to do.

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Briga Tiin"]

The meeting room was fairly small. Darth Adekos himself stood at one end of the room, holding a datapad. Just next to him was a projection of a line chart, indicating that something was in a steady rate of decline. There were only a few other individuals to see the masked Sith Lord prattle on about profit loss, three Muuns and a Skakoan, seated around the conference table. They turned to look towards the door to see who had suddenly shown up so late. Whatever conversation had been going on ground to a halt when the doors slid open. There were also four Stormtroopers standing idly in the four corners of the room, all of whom tensed up at the sudden entrance of three unknown variables. The Triumvirate Stormtroopers were differentiated from their First Order and One Sith cousins by the sinister crimson accent applied to their armor.

There was elegance in simplicity. Why mass produce an entirely new set of armor when all he really had to do was apply a new paint job? Stormtrooper armor was cheap and readily available. So was paint. No sense wasting money on anything else.

Adekos lowered the datapad to check the chronometer on his wrist, then looked back over towards Briga. "You're already too late. I'm just about done here." Concealed by his mask, Adekos eyeballed the two musclebound escorts this unexpected guest had brought with her. They looked dead in the eyes. Like they had seen too much, killed too many, and knew nothing else. How incredibly disturbing. "Go wait outside and I'll speak to you privately once this is over." His tone could have indicated suspicion, or perhaps he was just annoyed she had shown up so late.

 

[Ax'no]

As expected the holodisplay of charts and graphs meant nothing to the Priestess. She barely used her own datapad, much less delved into systems software or a spread sheet during her daily activities. The Caprine were a primitive species, and much of the time her church accepted donations in the form of grain, pottery and building materials. She employed an Iktotchi accountant, but otherwise, Briga was not business-minded. But she was good at pretending, so she looked up at the data with bright, eager eyes as if she understood all of the facts and figures.

After Darth Adekos instructed the Inquisitor-in-disguise to wait outside she said: “I’m just fine here, thank you.” Then she drummed her claws on the hard surface of the table. Tap, Tap. Tap. The room temperature dropped a degree at her defiance to leave. With the guards she’d brought suddenly eyeing up the stormtroopers, the trio appeared a little more suspicious than before.

But Briga was quiet and waited until the three Munns and the Skakoan rose and bid farewell to the masked Sith Lord. Once they were down the hallway and well out of earshot, the Caprine titled her head to the side and said, “Darth Adekos, I’m ready to ask my questions.”

Launching into the first one as though she would accept no argument, the Inquisitor continued: “You were once with the One Sith, were you not?”

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Briga Tiin"]

Silence. Terrible, uncomfortable silence. Adekos tilted his head and somewhere beneath that mask of his an eye twitched in irritation. Just who did this horned harlot think she was, barging in here late, interrupting his meeting, and then standing there like an oaf? Disgusting. Not to mention those two musclebound lummoxes she had on her flanks. Absolutely unheard of! "Gentlemen, it appears this is important." The Umbaran said, no speaking to the two Muuns and the Skakoan. "If you would give us some privacy? I'll contact you later."

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. This hussy may very well have cost him and his an important business arrangement! The assorted financiers present weren't oblivious to the rising tension of the situation. Knowing full well that Adekos was a Sith of moderate standing, they had no desire to stick around for what they anticipated would be a bout of terrible fury. They said their awkward goodbyes and shuffled out, the Skakoan fiddling nervously with the gauge on his pressure suit. Adekos placed the datapad on the table and clasped both hands behind his back.

“Darth Adekos, I’m ready to ask my questions.”

"I'll bet you are." He muttered indignantly. "Yes, I was once affiliated with the One Sith. What of it? If you've come for information, I'm afraid I have nothing insightful to offer you. Not that I would be willing in the first place, seeing how rudely you behave."

 

[Ax'no]

Based on his barbed tone, Briga knew - very clearly - that she was the bane of the Sith Lord's existence right now. But she wouldn't let it deter her. Sitting back in the meeting room chair, the fabric of her gown made an audible swish noise as she crossed her legs in a familial manner, as though they were old friends. Every movement was calculated and calm. The Caprine mystic was used to being lambasted in the Iktotch press, used to being called a charlatan, a fake and even a snake-oil saleswoman over her "visions." She may have had delicate, pale skin, but it was thicker than it looked.

"I haven't come for information from you," Briga said. "I am ultimately going to be delivering information to you."

She let that sink in for a moment, but it was hard to read the enigmatic businessman's face because of the shiny mask.

"I wouldn't say that you were affiliated with the Sith. My sources tell me that you were quite entrenched in their operations. But you no longer are, I gather."

Her verdant eyes narrowed, and she tried to assess Darth Adekos's temperament using the Force, but all she could pick up was a mild case of ill temper, like some of the cantankerous Caprine elders she occasionally had to deal with. "Lord Adekos, may I remind you that the more you cooperate, the better it will be for both of us." This was the first warning sign. Briga was not here to debate. She was paying him a visit to extract some kind of payment but what it was - credits, blood, his first born child - remained to be seen.

"Would you say that you deserted the One Sith?"

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Briga Tiin"]

She was a messenger, then, probably dispatched by the One Sith to investigate the terms of his departure. The suits she brought with her were probably poorly concealed soldiers. Adekos gave a contemptuous snort as soon as he came to that realization. Of all the flat-footed, incompetent deserters that had abandoned the One Sith, these ingrates chose to bother him? They must have missed him sorely. It was as the old saying went, nobody knew what they had until it was gone. The nameless, horned, near-human mutant made herself comfortable. Darth Adekos remained standing for his part and surprisingly didn't make a sound. Perhaps because his helmet's speakers had been muted while he spoke over comms to his guard. Really, it was anyone's guess. Adekos' arms shifted to be crossed over his chest now, a guarded stance for an individual who now felt he needed to be guarded.

"Quite entrenched? Hardly."

A lie to most, but not Adekos. He led three military campaigns for the One Sith during the Netherworld Crisis, represented the One Sith in council with the Healer's Guild, and prosecuted one of their enemies. Not to mention he went sector by sector on Coruscant, cleaning out addicts and criminals and turning them into colonists for underdeveloped worlds. He saw also saw action in several major battles, but for all it was worth he never saw fame among the One Sith. He was never promoted.

Carach had been entrenched. Carach commanded a sector. The most Adekos had ever governed was Telti, and that operation had gone sour before it could get anywhere. Why weren't they bothering him? No matter. It was Adekos' umpteenth desertion on trial here, not Carach's first. "I wouldn't call it desertion." He replied. "Since you idiots killed the Dark Lord, I didn't exactly have anyone to tender my resignation to. My employer was dead, his government dissolved. I don't do business with rump states. Now if that's all, you can see yourself out. Give Mephirium or whatever lunatic took his place my most sincere regards."

 

[Ax'no]

Darth Adekos crossed his arms in front of him like a sentinel guarding droid-manufacturing secrets. Yes, Briga had done her homework on the Sith Lord. He was loosely linked to a Liannan-based company called Hegemonic Automaton. I mean really, any espionage droid worth its weight in oil bath solution would be able to follow the businessman from skyscraper to Sith vessel and report back about their findings. The mystic was surprised that he didn’t have droids as bodyguards, but perhaps the white and red Stormtroopers all served to keep the ruse nice and tidy.

But no matter, she was not here on business or to seize any assets. She said these next words slowly and painstakingly, hoping it would send his annoyance through the roof.

“Everybody, and I mean every…. gentle... being in this entire galaxy who join the Sith believes that they are not entrenched within the Sith. Why just look at me for example. I’m certainly not entrenched within the Sith. I have my own business on my home-world. I have my hobbies and pursuits." As much as she wanted to scream to the heavens, Praise be to Ax’no! Briga needed to keep her identity as much under wraps as possible. Her longevity as an Inquisitor depended upon it. So the details about her church and her Priestesshood were indeed vague or omitted altogether.

She let out a husky, rumbling laugh which sounded a little like a growl. The mystic chanted a lot and her vocal chords were normally strained, giving her a voice a hoarse edge to it. “But even if you are not entrenched in the Sith, the minute you leave, there is a tether. Much like a parasitic worm, I would say. Something like a conduit worm, but instead of the wiring in your vessel, it’s wired right into your spine, or your large intesinees, or your soft grey matter…” She looked up at Adekos and could almost see him paling behind his metallic mask. Briga waved her hand nonchalantly. “Or another random body part.”

She leaned into the desk, folded her hands together neatly and said, “But all of your reasoning does not explain why you left, Darth Adekos. And do you intend to come back?”

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Briga Tiin"]

This woman was certainly keen on resisting his dismissals. Whatever point she was getting to eventually, he hoped it was good. Adekos was loath to waste his time, especially when he had already likely lost four potential business partners that would have helped his current project edge into success. She prattled on about conduit worms and her own personal affairs. Underneath his mask, Adekos closed his eyes and tried to doze off for a minute until she was done. No such luck- she mentioned parasitic worms in his large intestine and he made a disgusted eugh sound. At one point he might have doubted if this common floozy had actually represented One Sith interests, but that was all cleared up now. She could have gone on and on about body parts and innards, he bet, so this one must have been a disciple of Vrag.

It was always the nasty ones that successfully prolonged their legacies. For him, there was no such luck.

"A businesswoman, are you? Fascinating." His tone implied rather severely that, no, this was not actually fascinating to him. "Tell me, do you continue to keep arrangements when they are no longer profitable? Neither do I. My arrangement with the One Sith ceased being profitable. Financially, politically, personally, etcetera... So, I ended it. Is that so hard to understand, or should I use an analogy involving tethers and spines?"

He certainly hoped it was clearer now why he had chosen to left. But did he intend to come back? "Unlike that buffoon currently on the throne, I do not lack for self-awareness. My desires and intentions can change, but I do not know with absolute certainty what the future holds. As of now, I do not intend to come back." He unfolded one arm just enough to shoo her off. "Now, go on, get out of here. Don't call me, I'll call you."

 

[Ax'no]

Briga chortled, and her low, gritty laugh reverberated around the conference room. “You don’t just leave the One Sith, Darth Adekos. You should know that better than I do.”

She rose up from her chair finally, and the costumed guards with her also moved around the table, getting closer to the Sith Lord and his own security detail.

“In fact you should also know what happens to deserters and traitors, yes?”

He would be able to feel the darkside of the Force swelling like a brewing thunderstorm. But she made no move to harm him, and the guards stayed where they were, taking cues from the red-haired Inquisitor they served.

“But I’m not going to convince you to come with me now. You will follow me because you will want to see who I have here in Moneyland. Perhaps this friend of yours can convince you to travel back to Coruscant with me to face the Grand Inquisitor.”

Her body in the flowing black gown began to turn towards the door. She watched Darth Adekos carefully with intense green eyes to see if he was, even interested in knowing who Briga held on Muunilinst.

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Briga Tiin"]

"Oh, but I did. Several times, in fact. And I shall continue to do so." Adekos scoffed, further chortling derisively when she started meandering over to him. By this point his guards had become so tense Adekos feared the one in the corner by the door might pop a blood vessel. The One Sith had always been so woefully schizophrenic in its pursuit of traitors, deserters, and other ne'er-do-wells. He as actually surprised one of them had come this far to see him. No one had bothered Darth Orcus, nor had they bothered Carach. Yet here was one pestering him. Clearly their priorities were skewed.

Or maybe they just thought he was the easiest picking of the lot. His temper flared. "If you think I'm going to crawl back to Coruscant just so I can grovel before your Grand High Poobah like some beaten hound, you're sorely mistaken." He could sense the Dark Side flowing through the woman. If she was a thunderstorm, he was a hurricane. Darth Adekos lashed out all at once, but not towards her. The door slammed shut in front of her and made an audible ding as the security lock engaged.

His orders had already been relayed when he spoke to his men on the com. Kill the guards, take the hussy alive. The locking door was their signal. The two guards on either side of the door raised their rifles to the Caprine and fired nearly a moment later, squeezing off two blue stun rings. The stormtroopers on either side of Adekos mirrored this movement, only their targets were the plainclothes Blackblades and their ammunition decidedly more lethal. A flurry of crimson bolts spewed out of their rifles. Under normal circumstances the Blackblades might have stood a chance, easily killing all four of the Stormtroopers in the room, but bereft of their armor and traditional armaments they were turned into mince meat with ease.

As a precaution, Adekos unclipped the lightsaber from his belt but did not activate it. "You and me, we're going find out if the One Sith will want you back as badly as they want me. How much will they pay, I wonder?"

 

[Ax'no]

Briga’s long ears flicked backwards as she heard the doors slam shut and lock. This caused the Blackblade guards to storm into action, but they were half a beat too late. Her guards were executed by Darth Adekos’s Stormtroopers, red bolts frying their vulnerable organs under the light armor they wore. This sudden development signaled a little pre-planning on his part. In her head, the red-haired Inquisitor made a list of rules not to break next time, assuming there was one. Rule number one: bring more backup. No wonder Sith Lords traveled with veritable legions of men and monsters. The Mechu-deru master went from snide and sporty businessman to evil captor in two seconds flat.

It was a little infuriating, slightly humiliating and yes, she was thoroughly impressed.

And she was going to be in a fethton of trouble with Darth Prazutis for losing those Blackblade Guards.

But she didn't have time to think about the repricussions of losing such trained soldiers as the other two stormtroopers hit her square on with a stun bolt. Briga fell to the floor, writhing in pain for a few minutes, but once she caught her breath, she only smiled displaying an unnaturally perfect and gleaming white set of teeth.

“Aren’t you the least bit curious as to who this friend is? I mean, if I’m not back by a certain time, my orders were to kill her, slowly and painfully – though I doubt she will feel much pain. But I was specific that she was to be dissected and burned so that no trace of her was left.”

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Briga Tiin"]

"Oh. Is that what your orders were?" Adekos sneered. He clasped his hands behind his back, strolling around the meeting table so he could get a better vantage point of what happened next. She hadn't been on the floor for very long when one Stormtrooper put a knee in her back, jerked her arms around, and slapped a pair of stun cuffs around her wrists. Her lightsaber was yanked from where it was hung as well and handed to Darth Adekos, who turned the device over in his hands as he inspected it.

The mental checklist of high-profile women Adekos fancied was a short one and both items present on it seemed decidedly out of this inquisitor's grasp. [member="Natasi Fortan"]? No, never. She was a figure of importance in the First Order. He doubted this ill-mannered trollop could pull off such an abduction without alerting at least one of his informants. [member="Lorelei Darke"]? Somehow even for the One Sith it seemed disastrously short-sighted to torture the loyal Queen of Kuat just to spite a former member back into line. Not that it would have worked anyway, since her majesty had ceased returning his calls some time ago.

He couldn't imagine who she was talking about. Maybe it was just a cafarel he frequented. Very unfortunate, to be sure, but that was the cost of doing business. He would compensate her immediate family when she was identified and the parties responsible for her fate would be handled in due time.

Because that's just how professionals take care of these situations.

"I suppose then you'll have to order your goons to release this mystery-woman immediately. Otherwise I'm just going to kill you." He didn't take pleasure in this. He never did, as he was beyond such barbaric emotions. The stormtrooper that had her pinned got off her, then grabbed her by the hair to hoist her back up to her feet. "A lightsaber to the heart will be more than sufficient, I think. I don't believe in wasting my time or yours with the slow-and-painful nonsense. Dead is dead. You know this; just as I know a low-ranking delinquent, not unlike yourself, will always be more concerned with survival than anything else in this galaxy."

Adekos levitated the lightsaber through the Force and, slowly, began to telekinetically dismantle it. One piece at a time.

"So let's both move past the 'who has the leverage here' routine. It's me. I have the leverage."

 

[Ax'no]

“Ouch!" Briga yelped as the Stormtrooper kneed her in the back. Stun cuffs were hastily fastened around her wrists as though she were a perp on a holoepisode of Law & Order: Coruscant. The lightsaber was promptly taken away.

The horned mystic muttered a string of curses in Caprinean: “Fuma wakho uyphula ezing kim, nyana kuni Bantha! I will not release your mystery woman,” she said, making air quotes around the word woman. “She can perish for all I care. And you won’t-“ Her words were cut short when the Stormtrooper hauled her up by her hair. Well, at least it wasn’t by the horns which would have been far more humiliating. “You won’t kill me. Trust me, I know far too much.” Briga was traveling down a dangerous road for sure. Her own Master was the Director of Intelligence for the Sith, and while she certainly didn’t have access to any useful information, that fact alone would make her a handsome target for ransom. “But I will negotiate,” she said. “You can have the girl unharmed if you hasten my release. And I need definite proof of this.” To let him know that if he wanted to kill her she wouldn’t go down quietly, with Telekinesis, she thrust the two Stormtrooper guards away from her in such a powerful motion so they smashed into the transparisteel of the conference room, causing it to shatter and alarms to sound at the clamor. “I don’t think you know how closely I am connected to the Dark Council and just how powerful my very own Sith Master is.” Even as an Acolyte Briga had been practicing Crucitorn with Darth Prazutis for months. The Stormtroopers which now lay on the floor in the corridor had only superficial wounds, but using the darkside of the Force the mystic intensified the pain of their injuries until both soldiers were in agonizing pain and unable to manage their weapons.

“Do I have your attention now?” Briga demanded.

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Briga Tiin"]

The Umbaran balked, sneering in derision. "It's like you're not even listening." Before he could really rip into her, the inquisitor lashed out with a telekinetic blast. The two stormtroopers nearest to Adekos suddenly flew backwards, smacking into the transparisteel and collapsing to the ground. The glass cracked from the force of their impact, setting off a safety alarm. Eye-twitching again, Adekos reached out with one hand towards the alarm nestled in the corner, tapped into it with the Force, and shut it off promptly. These people never went down easily. Stupid, stupid, stupid. The partially dismantled lightsaber was flung away with the stormtroopers, sans its power cell to prevent any clandestine activation.

The stormtroopers didn't exactly leap back up to their feet, but their armor should have offered them protection outside of minor bruises. Then something else tickled his senses- the harlot of horns was drawing on the Force and exacerbating the pain of those two guards. Suddenly they were reduced to gibbering piles on the ground. Adekos gave the two of them a harsh glare for their weakness then turned to look at Briga again.

"The Dark Council is irrelevant to me. And I must be especially irrelevant to them if they sent some no-name, third-tier flunky to try and reign me in." Adekos cracked his knuckles. "There is nothing you have that I cannot take. Negotiating with you is, frankly, beneath me."

It's him. He had the leverage. Briga could have been holding a whole harem hostage, but if she didn't give their names they would remain forever irrelevant to Adekos. The senseless bloodshed was on her hands, and Darth Adekos would probably take it upon himself to ensure the mastermind of their murders was met with due justice. Or he could just suck the memories out of her head, send law enforcement to the location, and then ransom her back to her precious Dark Council.

That sounded much better.

"And to answer your question: no, you don't. You're abysmal at this."

Without warning, Adekos lashed out and gripped Briga by the forehead. The Force welled up within him, building up into a powerful wave that would crash into Briga's mind itself. The Sithling would break into her memories and probe them until he found what he wanted. Namely, he wanted to know who she was holding and where. He would have liked to see who her so-called Master is as well, so Adekos could determine if he was actually worth the oxygen expended in uttering his name. It would be a painful process, like red-hot needles were being driven into her skull.

 

[Ax'no]

Briga realized she was in over her head the moment she felt the Sith Lord’s mind push into hers with an agonizing pressure. And then prickles of intense pain began converging on her brain as Adekos sought to ferret out any useful information. The mystic put her hands on the table, bowed her head and groaned in pain, trying very hard to remain standing. She had dueled force users before but only under very controlled circumstances. She’d also been shot at by assailants and had survived by the keratin on her horns. Even during the long, punishing training sessions with Darth Prazutis, there was a trust level there that helped her get through to the end without wanting to completely break down in tears or even mental stress akin to psychosis.

Even worse throughout his onslaught, Darth Adekos used the fabled Dun Moch on the Inquisitor. This wasn’t just an act of aggression with which Sith tormented Jedi. The Sith upon Sith application of Dun Moch had the potential to be even more frightening and debilitating. And Briga was not immune. For a being who thought herself as the reincarnation of a goddess, embarrassment was normally met with a deep sense of outrage - how dare the Goddess Ax'no is insulted! Therefore she began to turn the Crucitorn on herself to separate the humiliation mostly, but some of the pain, from her body and keep it locked inside her mind. Therefore Adekos was able to slip inside her of her psyche and flip over the first memory like a playing card to read what was on the surface.

The horned Caprine was holding Morgan Redeaux, an HRD and his own Director of Security for Hegemonic Automaton.

The second piece of intelligence he sought proved to be more difficult. Briga had been conditioned by Darth Prazutis himself to resist torture and lock up sensitive information within more remote corners of her brain. The answer of who Briga’s Master was would take a little more pushing on Darth Adekos’s part to get her to release it.

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Briga Tiin"]

"Morgan Re-" Adekos muttered her name, barely finishing it and instead gasping. Suddenly his torturous efforts lessened up, but didn't cease entirely.

This idiot had taken captive a droid? What folly. He could build another. As per protocol, Redeaux was supposed to have her memories backed up every four to six hours. Though knowing her she probably forgot about that and started making bowties again. Or crying. Personality matrices were still being tweaked on that one, but at least her ability to enforce security policy hadn't faltered. He probably should have invested in a more seasoned head of security, but the Umbaran had pitied Morgan enough to hire her. Him. Pitying a droid. Unbelievable. Some pervert made a robot look like a young woman and now what would normally be disqualified as an appliance had his sympathies.

And look where extending those sympathies had gotten him.

Confusion quickly devolved into a murderous fury. Sure, he could build another droid, but this was a matter of principle. His property- er, employee, had been kidnapped by this thug attempting to shoe-horn him back into that abominable One Sith despotate! Fueled by outrage, Darth Adekos multiplied his efforts tenfold. He could now care less about Briga's master or anything other than the location she was holding Redeaux captive. Adekos had already spent too long hanging around this blighted meeting room after a failed sell. Now he had to make a pit stop to rescue his company's Head of Security.

 

[Ax'no]

When Adekos partially withdrew from her mind, Briga exhaled sharply and dry-heaved once and then twice. She rose back up and what felt like a dull migraine was left particularly around her eyes and in the bridge of her nose. But by the Core, he was still inside her mind, burrowing around like a brain worm.

And the then the tunneling worm bit in deep again. Briga cried out sharply, her face wrinkled in pain. This time she dropped to her knees, her hands flat on the floor preventing her from wanting to curl up in a fetal position from the intense agony in her mind.

“Does it have to hurt so much?” she coughed out. Her mental defenses were growing weary, and Cruictorn felt less likely of an option to be employed with how drained she was. “She’s being held in a vacant building about a block south of the Money Island Hotel,” Briga said, holding her head with one hand. She opened her eyes, pupils constricting with the sudden light.

“Can you please stop now?” Needless to say, the Priestess was eager for the psychic anguish to be over. Darth Adekos was a robotic-seeming Sith Lord who appeared to have a queasy stomach. She had an idea…

“I think I’m going to be sick, My Lord. All over the floor. If you don’t stop I just might…” She gagged abruptly – a faking that she was about to vomit, but well it does sound kind of convincing, Briga thought.

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Briga Tiin"]

The thoughts were forced to the surface even before she yelped out in pain and fell to her knees. Adekos sniggered derisively as she confessed and asked him to stop. The whole process was a tiring one, though by far the Horned Harlot had endured the worst of it. Darth Adekos felt as if he had just finished a long jog. Briga would be feeling what felt like a botched lobotomy for the better part of a week. "Get up, you wimps." He ordered, now talking to the still prone Stormtroopers littering the room. Triumvirate Stormtroopers were no less susceptible to the after-effects of Crucitorn than the rest of the galaxy at large. They groaned and muttered incoherently as they got back to their feet.

"And you." The woman was complaining about feeling sick. What, was she going to vomit? This wasn't even his office.

Besides, he had once been flung about on Raxus Prime. A garbage world filled with all matter of filth. He could handle whatever this impudent Iktotchi had for lunch if she happened to upchuck it now. Slightly winded or not, Adekos was still infuriated. To exemplify this and violate his usual creed that dictated avoiding violence against the fairer sex, the Umbaran abruptly kicked her in the chest. Hard. It would be enough to sprawl her on her back and knock the wind out of her, but he no longer made any moves against her, instead marching impatiently towards the exit.

"If you interfere in my affairs again, I will wipe your memories and give you to the Hutts as chattel." He paused at the door, letting his limping Stormtroopers file past him. He was glaring at one that was still struggling to stumble to the door. Once he was through, Adekos offered one last baleful glare to the mutant and left. The door silently slid shut behind him.