Private Neither Here Nor There

[Alina Tremiru]

There was something liberating about accepting herself as a Sith again. No more hiding, no more fear over who she was and who she could be. She was, finally, free. Grant it walking around as an obvious Sith brought it's own problems. Problems she'd forgotten actually existed. Far from the constant war of the Maw, Alina wandered through Mos Isley adorned in black. Hood down with her pale features on full display. Shining golden eyes taking in the sights. Literally shining, at that. Her eyes physically glowed, though that was more a trait of her species than her being a Sith.

The dead give away? The pole arm she carried with her. While the blade was off, there was an obvious emitter. It didn't necessarily mean Sith of course. She could just of been an edgier Jedi or just a Jedi that enjoyed the color black.

Her presence in the Force was anything but. While unable to use the Force herself asides from her unique little trick, she very much held a presence in it. Cold and empty, almost like a void. Not quite like her Sith fellows, but none the less unsettling. Combined with her look? Yeah.

Sith.

And she didn't care enough to hide it. She walked through the streets with her head held up, proud amongst the criminals. She had other reasons for being here. A couple deals for supplies since her main supplier was dead. The fallout of an Empire collapsing tended to do that. But she needed weapons. And perhaps a hint towards some artifacts she'd been curious about. Into the bazaar she went, ducking between buildings until she came upon the auction in question.

On display, sure enough, an artifact she'd only read up on. Thought Dowser. Alina wasn't sure if they knew exactly what it was they had. She slipped into the crowd, observing the gathering. Someone here had to know just how powerful and dangerous such an object was. She wanted it.

Yeah. That was going to be hers.

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Was Amani a Jedi again? She'd run from the label for a long time now, but Tython had thrust her back into the battle against evil. Whether she genuinely was to be considered one or not, the end result was the same; Standing aside no longer felt tolerable.

And though that state of mind is not what brought her to Mos Eisley, it soon became the reason for staying. There was an aura, undeniably dark. It seemed once again the Force was set on presenting these circumstances to her whether she searched for them or not. Amani dropped everything she was doing, and set to tracking the source. Not that it was difficult. This individual wasn't exactly trying to hide her affiliations, If anything, she was flaunting it.

Whether it was Alina's intention or not, Amani took it as an open invitation. There was no good to come of this Sith's arrival. After Tython, nothing was sacred. Was there some shred of vengeance in Amani's heart? Perhaps, but she didn't view it that way. This was justice. Even if she was not at the battle herself, affiliating with the Sith was a full endorsement of such evils.

So she followed the woman from a distance, and weaved into the crowd behind her. An auction? None of the items on display were of immediate recognition to Amani. But if the darksider was interested, then so was she.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina was being followed.

By who or what, she didn't know. The scent of blood, the sound of a heartbeat willed to stay quiet, she could tell that much. But she had no ability to feel the Force. No ability to tell who it was that might've been following her. Assuming it might be one of her competitions assassins or spies, she let it go. They hadn't bothered her just yet. Standing amongst the crowd, she watched the others. Crime Lords, nobility, business executives. Anyone and everyone seeking out the various items on display.

She was here for only the one.

Credits were slung back and forth, various interested parties buying up the priceless relics that were on display. Until finally the one she sought was brought out. She stood up straighter, her golden eyes narrowing.

"At last, a relic of a bygone era! Ancient beyond ancient, rumors are this device could give you the powers of the Jedi or Sith just by holding it! Imagine the power it could give you over your rivals, your enemies! We'll start the bidding at ten thousand credi-"

"One hundred thousand." Alina stepped forward, out of the shadows. Hand raised. There were a couple whispers from the crowd. But none backed down. Sure enough, the bidding war began anew. Rumors or not, no one wanted to let the item fall into the hands of their rivals. Alina was no different. And soon enough,

"One million."

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

That had to be it. A suspicion that was further proved when the Sith revealed herself, offering up the starting bid before even the auctioneer. What she would want with that wasn't certain, but if she was jumping to those prices right away, then she wanted it bad. Which was itself not a good sign.

Amani slipped between the crowd of buyers, eventually coming up right behind her target. She had a much clearer view of the woman now. Pale skin and shining eyes. Alluring, in an ethereal sort of way. One might even call it vampiric, though how right that assessment was had not quite revealed itself to Amani yet.

Yep, definitely the Sith.

In what was perhaps a bold play, Amani stepped beside Alina and spoke up, "Two million." Credits she most assuredly did not have. But playing the game was now part of sussing out what came next.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

One million was already too much. The various groups all stared between each other in doubt. Was a relic truly worth that much money? Over what it was rumored to do? In truth, no. Alina had no intention of paying that much herself. She just wanted to get a close eye on her possible threats. The people who looked ready to kill her over it. Those were the eyes she wanted to see.

And one of them straight up took it a step farther. The shadow from before stepped up, much to Alina's visible surprise. Golden eyes stared down at the green skinned woman, studying her. No, no way she had that kind of credit. Alina smirked, stepped back as all eyes were glued to Amani. Briefly muttering as she stepped away. "Thanks."

The auctioneer immediately raised their gavel, pointing towards the Jedi. "S.. Sold! Absolutely sold! Two million to the fine young Mirialan. Now, all sales are final. Come around to the main office, and we'll exchange the goods for the credits agreed upon. That's all for today!" Then he stepped down, hurriedly making his way over to Amani. "Miss! Yes, miss! Right this way, if you would. My, we've never had such a large donation! We are quite pleased, if of course you have the necessary funds. Shall we go and discuss how you'll make such a generous payment?"

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Oh fuck.

It didn’t even fully register at first. She blinked, expecting the bids to continue rolling out, only for all eyes to settle on her with the final swing of a gavel. The Sith had outwitted her; A truth so annoying Amani may as well have had steam coming out of her ears.

“Yeah… yeah…” The auctioneer’s words hardly registered, as Amani gawked at the woman now walking past her. “...Uhm, give me a moment to go get my card from my ship, okay? Mhm. Right back, don’t you worry,” With a fake smile Amani attempted to take her leave of the man, pushing through the crowd to keep from being stopped further. Alina couldn’t hide. That presence in the Force continued to draw Amani in, like a moth to a flame.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

This went better than she planned. Alina's only goal was to make a scene about her money and those around to clear out the room. But the Jedi? The Sith slipped around the crowd, especially now that Amani mentioned leaving to go get her payment. Perfect. Just perfect. The crowd didn't take too kindly to that. They started to bicker amongst themselves, all directed towards the random Mirialan that had bid two million credits on an artifact they all wanted.

"I'm sorry, miss. Are you telling me you don't have the funds on you? Did you not know where you were bidding?" The smile the man had was anything but kind. "I'm afraid if you don't have the funds, we'll have to figure out some other way for you to pay. And not for the item, but for wasting these good peoples time and money with your false bids. So I'll ask you again, how do you plan to pay for this, miss?"

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

“Oh sorry, didn’t realize everyone here was just carrying a couple million credits in their pocket,” Amani sneered at the man like he had hurled some deeply personal insult. The truth is she was not built for life this far out in the galaxy. People just worked differently. But what had started as naivety had molded into agitation. She knew how things operated on Tatooine, she just had no patience for it. Which is exactly what led to more uncharacteristic displays such as this.

“You fine people can bid on it all over again. I don’t want the damn thing anymore.” Words were unlikely to get her out of this, but she also made a casual attempt to flash the hilt of her saber at the lead auctioneer. Not enough to make a scene for the whole crowd, but hopefully enough that this wiseguy would take the hint. And just for putting her in a bad mood, she seemed to mouth the words “bite me” at him, before once again trying to turn around and follow Alina.

Other ways to pay. The nerve.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

And just like that the atmosphere changed. What the auctioneer chalked up to be some woman playing around at the auction by her appearance had him suddenly full of doubt at her flash of anger. And the lightsaber. There were only two options. A Jedi, or a Sith. In his mind at least. And a Jedi wouldn't be so keen to flaunt anger or a lightsaber in his mind, so.. He backtracked. Fear and regret filled his eyes before he rather hastily waved off the crowd around him.

"Would you back off and give this woman some space? Don't you have your own artifacts to purchase an- Wait, miss! Miss! Do please forgive me rude words! You just didn't seem the type to have that man-"

Before he could continue, an alarm went off. Wide eyed he looked back towards the stage where the last time should've been taken away to be stored in a vault. Instead, the guard was currently handing the object, noticeably still inside it's case, towards the pale skinned Sith woman from before. Alina hummed softly, taking the glass. Shattering it with a tightening of her fingers before taking hold of the object.

The Force twisted horrendously around her. Though, Alina was unaware of it. She frowned, looking over the object before pointing it towards the auctioneer who'd just started to shout for the guards. He didn't get a word out. Instead, he lifted up his own blaster and immediately put the barrel to his chin. And fired.

Which ironically alerted the guards anyway. Still, Alina was grinning wide as can be. Others around did the same. People of weak will started to incapacitate themselves if not out right killing themselves when they could. The object in her hand brutally mangling the Force. "Look at that. It works."

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

And what seemed ready to turn into a nice little personal win for Amani, quickly switched to something horrifying. There she was, the Sith. Right where she wanted to be all along. With the artifact in hand, the civilians were submitted to her will, starting with the auctioneer. Amani reached out to stop the man from pulling the trigger, but it was already too late. Others began to act similarly.

“Stop! What are you doing?!” It was obvious of course. The woman was even grinning while she did it. Amani outstretched her hand, and attempted to pull the artifact away from its would-be thief.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

“Stop!"

And Alina stopped. The people around paused. More akin to froze, staring blankly at nothing. Their minds utterly hijacked by the item in question.

"What are you doing?!”

The Sith just stared. Confused at first as the woman spoke. She was immune? Then the relic left her hand. Ah. That's what it was. Golden eyes narrowed as she lifted her hand farther. All at once the floating object dropped. The Force that had been so twisted and broken by the item was no longer twisted. It was gone. As if it'd been turned off. The people around woke from their daze, half stumbling as they tried to figure out what happened.

Alina walked forward, calmly bending over to pick up the relic. So it didn't work in her void either? She sighed, but kept the void up regardless as she stared towards the Mirialan.

"You would defend these slavers, rapists, and thieves? They who doubted you so quickly and turned to trying to enslave you? Must I assume a Jedi has been following me, then?"

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani scoffed, "Don't pretend like you're doing this out of the goodness of your heart." The artifact fell to the ground. Her pull no longer had an effect. The confusion on her face was apparent, though quickly overtaken by determination.

"There's no fooling you." She added sarcastically. The lightsaber was pulled from her belt, its blue blade igniting with a snap-hiss. "What do you want with the object?" Amani took a few steps closer, putting herself between Alina and the auction goers.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina frowned. An annoyed sort of frown at this point. The people behind the Jedi were barely aware of what was going on. Lucky, but for who? Them? Alina? The Jedi? They certainly were no friends of Jedi, yet this girl was willing to risk her life?

The Sith hooked the artifact on her hip. Unclipped her saber hidden beneath the folds of her dress like robe. Igniting the red blade and it's cross guardish protrusions. And walked forward. The void she'd made extended, swarming around Amani. All sensation of the Force around her was muted. Perhaps even gone, as the Sangnir tried to smother whatever connection she might have.

"I need it to fix what my mother boke while she was still pregnant with me. You feel that, right? The lack of the Force around you? It's all I can do, without artifacts like this. For now."

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani had her suspicions, and the disconnect confirmed it. Her presence in the Force was much more a lack thereof. Nonetheless it was still a surprising experience, like a sudden drop into a body of water. Inconvenient, yes, but not debilitating. In a roundabout way, her experiences were coming back to benefit her. Three years of operating without the Force had taught Amani ways to stop relying on it. And so, she stayed within the sphere of influence, letting her confidence take center stage.

"Sorry to hear that. But if this is how you plan to use it, I'm afraid that's not going to happen." Her first edict had been to indiscriminately maim and murder everyone around her. The two circled each other, still Amani made no moves, "Not a great first impression."

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"You're not afraid. Loose touch with the Force before, then?" An idle observation. Alina viewed the nameless Mirialan as little more than an experiment. No, like a cat watching a mouse. Surprised that the mouse would try to bite back after being cornered. Her saber burned in the air as she didn't move. Just watched Amani circle around. Then turned her gaze to the crowd behind. A coy grin formed as the Sith took a step back.

"I'll let the mouse play cat, for a little bit. Just don't die." Then she turned and ran. Why was quickly apparent. The group of criminals had finally regained their senses enough to draw their weapons. Blaster fire erupted after the Sith, who despite the void she made seemed to move at an inhuman speed. She leapt up, through a skylight to get to the roofs and continue on.

And once she was out of sight, those same guns turned to Amani.

"Kill them both! The one who gets the relic back and brings me their heads can keep it!"

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani said nothing, though her smirk may have betrayed the truth behind Alina's observation. "We're playing now?" It really all was just a game to her, wasn't it?

But just like that, she was off. The auction goers all turned their attention to the closest of the two. Just can't catch a break. "I hate this stupid planet," Amani hit the foremost collection of criminals with a wave of the Force, her connection returning as Alina put distance between them. They crashed to the floor, and she sprang up to the roof with more blaster bolts chasing behind.

The Sith's unnatural speed already gave her an advantage. And to top it off, Amani would have to keep a certain distance regardless, if she was going to use the Force's aid herself.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina was waiting. Somewhat. More, slowed her mad dash away from the blasters to see if Amani could actually get out and keep up. Sure enough the Mirialan didn't skip a beat. Most Jedi she cut off from the Force ended up dazed and confused. Overwhelmed by the lack of sensation only to have it suddenly pushed back on them. It's how she evened the field where she herself couldn't use the Force.

And yet, there the Mirialan was. The Sangnir was grinning. Pointed canines on full display to only confirm the Vampiric nature she seemed to have. Shouting continued, spreading out through the streets.

"Seems we're wanted, little mouse. Shall we work together to escape, or would you rather fight on the run?" In truth, Alina didn't need to work with Amani. Drop the dead zone, use the artifact to take control of the hunters that would surely be after them, leave. It'd be easy. Boringly easy. And, run the risk of the Jedi doing something stupid or clever to get the artifact away from Alina's grasp.

She needed this artifact too much to risk it.

"I wouldn't mind working with you, if y-" She cut off as she spun around. Her saber cut low, through the legs of a previously unseen assailant. Surprise was the only sound they could make before the saber in Alina's hand split them vertically.

"Or you can strike. Your choice."

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Around the same time the Sith was interrupted, so too was the Jedi. Only her assailant got out much luckier, receiving a simple trip to the ground and out of her way. Some of these criminals needed to get their priorities in check.

In spite of it all, Amani pushed forward, refusing to let the Sith play any sort of mind games. She laughed, and called back between breaths, "You know, if you'd just stuck to the cat burglar gimmick, I might have been stupid enough to fall for that,"

Unfortunately no amount of hot vampire holoflicks could justify such a grisly spree of murder. This game needed to end.

With the Force as her guide, Amani hurled her lightsaber through the air and towards Alina. It was her hope that even in the void, its momentum would be enough for the blade to find its mark.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"I'm not much for lying, all things considered." Combat, war, it wasn't always a game for Alina. But here, where the people who died were inconsequential. Who deserved it, she let herself enjoy it. The thrill of the chase. The bliss of crossing swords with another. Exchanging blows. She loved it. Always did, always would. Then the blade came. But even in the void, Alina dipped to the side. Let the weapon pass over her as she charged forward towards the Mirialan.

Her vampiric powers didn't need the Force to run. Some of them, anyway. Like her strength. Not wanting to completely kill the Jedi, in a display of pure arrogance, she lifted a boot, aiming to kick her off the roof.

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani snorted, “That’s where you draw the line, huh?”

Her saber missing its mark was a contingent outcome, the counter attack she was less ready for. The Sangnir moved like a blur, and the next thing Amani knew, the wind escaped her chest, and she was airborne.

In the scramble she twisted over like a cat, catching the ledge with one hand. Adrenaline kept her focused, and it was only a moment before Amani pulled herself back onto the roof. “C’mon…” Though the Force had once again been sapped from her form, she still moved with impressive speed; The Jedi threw a fist at Alina’s chest, then a second at her face. The challenge was issued. Martial arts continued to prove a good use of her training; Even without the saber, her body was still a weapon.

Alina Tremiru​