No Strings Attached? [Ashin]

[Nisha Decrilla]

When Anaya looked back at the past couple of years there were a handful of figures that stood out. People that had helped her grow, intentionally or unintentionally. In the grand scheme of things most of them were what Anaya would now class as 'nobodys', people who had faded from her life or fallen from grace in her eyes. There were three that remained with her forever. Spencer Jacobs, her nemesis and the woman that would ultimately bring Anaya to her knees. Darth Moridin, the Lord of Chaos, her master, the man who had laid a legacy out for her to continue.

Then there was Ashin Varanin, former empress of ten thousand worlds, Ori'vod, Admiral Karrde so many names, a different face from that which Anaya had grown to admire. Where Moridin taught her how to create chaos, Ashin had shown her how to bring order. Inspirational some might say, the best ally you could get but the worst enemy you would ever face. In her memory, Anaya could recall perhaps four meetings with this woman. The first, being the day they met, the second was the day she asked for Anaya's help to overthrow Moridin, the third when Omni struck and Ashin had given Anaya her greatest lesson - what it meant to be a sith. The final?

Red lips curled into a smile, some days she really did wish Spencer dead and always for such selfish reasons. A corest clung tightly to her slender frame, the fishtail skirt fluttered in her wake, long knee length boots clicked against the durasteel floor of the Chimerea, but the important detail? The silver briefcase in her hand and the all-in-black guards in her wake. anaya did not need guards, but the package was delicate and precautions had to be taken.

"Stay." she commanded as they reached the door. Obedience without question, the flanked the door, faces impassive eyes set ahead. "Ensure we are not disturbed."

Anaya opened the door.

She did not like to knock.

@[member="Ashin Varanin"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Anaya Fen"] got an eye half full as Ashin knotted the sash of her robe. "You might knock once in a while," she said, folding one hem over the other modestly enough. "I might have been indisposed. Oh, wait. That was, in fact, the case."

But Rakata Beta and a broken throne bought Anaya Fen some forebearance. Ashin gave the Twi'lek's getup a long once-over. "So," she said after a moment. "You're back, and you've...well, Anaya, I'm shocked. I didn't think you were the type to give. At least, not in this context."

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya enjoyed what view she could while the opportunity was there. It truly was a rare occasion that Anaya got @[member="Ashin Varanin"] to herself. She rolled her eyes at her statement of shock and moved further into the room, setting the case upon a table. The palm reader on the case was responsive only to Anaya, so she was going to drag this out as long as she could get away with.

"Honestly Ashin, do you really think so poorly of me?" she paused looking thoughtful for a moment.

"Okay, so I stabbed you in the back and tried to kill your wife so perhaps your judgement is valid. But we all make mistakes." She gave an innocent smile, knowing full well that the woman before her would see right through it. "Speaking of your wife, she doesn't seem herself lately. More prone to my antagonizing than usual, and those eyes..." she smirked. "I never thought I'd see the day that Spencer Jacobs fell."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Anaya Fen"]

The silk slipped off her leg as she took a seat in her office's armchair. Steepling her fingers to rest her lips against her fingertips, she didn't replace the edge of the robe. "Spencer makes her own decisions," she said quietly. "I think you underestimated her again. She's not one to cling to a way of doing things if her judgment says to go in another direction. And I've rarely had cause to fault her judgment, not even since she began to touch the Dark Side. It may say something about you and how you feel about yourself that you call it falling, like a Jedi would. But I'm no more here to analyze you than you're here to catch me in less clothing than normal. This isn't Rakata Beta. Or Eshan. More's the pity."

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya gave a low chuckle "Very clever." she commented taking a seat, eyes roaming for a moment down Ashin's neckline and that of the skin her robe had exposed. She lifted her gaze to meet the eyes of the woman that had helped her grow. "Spencer's been looking down at me from her high horse of balance and better moral standing for a long time. Better that she's at my level when she ends me. I do not underestimate Spencer. Mustafar is not a mistake I will make twice." Anaya had no doubts any more that Spencer would be the end of her. They tolerated each others existence now because both we preoccupied with their own business but the time would come when they would have to settle their score once and for all. Death did not frighten Anaya as it once had, but she had a lot of work to do between now and then.

"You're running out of room to grow." She drew the conversation away from Spencer "This is supposed to be the Fringe, yet you reach into the core. The Republic are watching you. Omega Pyre have already tried to bite off more than they can chew. I wanted to give you something..." she pursed her lips in thought and shrugged when she couldn't find a word to describe it. She pulled the breifcase towards her, placing a hand on the scanner. It emitted a beep and a hiss as the locks released. Opening the case she stared at the contents for a moment, pause to make sure she was doing the right thing, before she spun it round to reveal the two green vials, and sat back with a heavy sigh.
@[member="Ashin Varanin"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Anaya Fen"]

The sight of the two vials drew a low whistle from the part of Ashin that had, ten years before, been a starfighter pilot. "And I thought you were generous in other contexts, Anaya."

Without a flicker of hesitation or fear, she stretched out to the Force, and a precise and expert mental grip brought the two vials up to rotate above her palm.

"Is this what I think it is?"

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya smiled "Only the best for my favourite lady." she purred.

"I've been sitting on them for since Omega took Maramere and sealed the galaxy's supply of trihexalon in a high security vault. It took some time and some help from a friend to retrieve them without a trace, but the supply is limited. Every vial had a name on it, these are yours. The rest," she flashed a devilish smile "I'm going to raise hell with."

@[member="Ashin Varanin"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Anaya Fen"]

The trihexalon vials floated over to Ashin's private safe, a chunk of turadium with six-inch-thick walls. The buttons made no visual cues as she pressed them remotely. The vials floated inside and into a volatile-elements rack of firm gel. The safe shut with a clang.

"I suspect I'll be forced to use them for similar purposes, if this keeps up." She rose from the chair and circled Anaya, leg flickering through the gap in the robe. Cool air bit her down to her waist in a narrow line. "But then, I suppose we have different sorts of hell to raise. Will you be staying aboard, Anaya? Or do your...interests lead you elsewhere?"

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

A tongue flicked across her lips as Ashin rose and circled her. Her lekku quivered and she cursed herself silently. Ashin had a label on her that was invisible to the eye but screamed at Anaya. It said 'Not yours, can't have her'. Yet it only served to make Anaya want Ashin more. To make matters worse, Ashin knew it and she played this game just as well as Anaya did when she toyed with those who wanted her. She forced her eyes to remain on Ashin's face and shrugged in response.

"I'm not ready to strike yet, so I can be persuaded to remain on board if you want me here Ashin."

Red eyes glittered with hunger.

@[member="Ashin Varanin"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Anaya Fen"]

"Oh, I do want you here. There's no question about that...but like I said last time we had this talk, the decision isn't something I'll be taking for myself."

The safe cycled closed as Ashin circled behind Anaya.

"Then again, to ask you to stay isn't the most...well, words escape me. There's a bed on the Chimaera with your name on it, and always has been."

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

"Ugh," Anaya rolled her eyes and reached forward to snap shut the now empty briefcase. "There you go, ruining our little moment again."

She passed a hand over her eyes and sighed, annoyed that she had allowed lust and desire to get the better of her for a moment. "You know, if I though killing her would make a difference, I would go out of my way to do so Ashin."

@[member="Ashin Varanin"]