Faction Part One: Looking in the Mirror [Darkwire]

[Venku Bralor]

Tags: Xan Deesa

Gloved fingers Fingers drew away from the neck of the droid. Revenge. Did he want revenge, after seeing what it turned him into?

Yes, he did. That scared him.​

He didn't want to become that person, but at the same time he couldn't let this death go unanswered. He would claim his vengeance.
The human's touch was grounding. It anchored him to the moment, held him back from flying off after the ones who did this. She was right, he'd have to do this smart. Still staring at the corpse, he nodded. "Yeah... okay." Who knows, maybe they could revive him. Grey ears pinned back against his head and his muzzle parted into an almost snarl. All the while tears gathered in his eyes, obscuring his vision. Leaning down, Venku took hold of the gold and grey buy'ce, lifting it from the table. He would get his revenge. He would remember his vod. No one else would, so it fell to him to keep the memory alive. Just another name in his Remembrance.

Glancing up, naturally golden eyes caught Xan's matching ones. He had to do this smart. That didn't mean he had to like it. Staring at her, tail flicking behind him, he found himself hesitating. He stepped aside. Might as well get it over with. Ka'ra, he hoped they could bring him back. All he'd wanted was to be free. Now he'd never get the chance. No. There was still a chance, slight as it was. He had to believe it was possible.

clipping the gold and grey buy'ce to his belt, he nodded to Xan. "Do what you need." He would see this through, one way or another. Picking up his own bucket, an orange thing with red accents and thin grey lines, he positioned it expertly on his head, sighing - a sound that was ignored by the vocalizers of the helm - as the skin suit engaged and the cold air of Denon faded away.

 

[Xan Deesa]

At least the cat seemed to have a bit of restraint as he agreed to her suggestion and stepped aside to let her do her thing. She gave him an annoyed look before reaching in and yanking the droid closer to herself. "Oh sure, just leave the heavy lifting to the girl." she grumbled as she pulled the copycat over her shoulders and secured her hold on it.

Carrying it out of the room, she entered a staff room and walked through the back exit, avoiding the patrons that might have had a mouthful. Checking behind her, she made sure that Venku followed after her as she walked through the back alleys towards her apartment. Sure, she might have twisted the truth a little to win the Mando over, but her promise wasn't completely empty. She did have contacts and she did know a lot about slicing as well. The issue was that she first had to make some calls and rummage through her stuff for her droid stuff. She hoped it was an easy job... but her realistic side told her that it won't be.

After drifting through back alleys they finally reached her apartment. "About kriffing time. This clanker's really starting to dig into my neck." she mumbled to herself as she stepped into the elevator and waited for him to get in as well. "Top floor." she told him, waiting for him to press the button. One awkward elevator ride later, they were by her door and she managed to get her keycard out of her pocket. The door slid open and she didn't waste any time to dump the droid on her loveseat. With a heavy sigh she stretched a bit and turned to face him. "I made sure any cams in the building can't look at us. Microphones as well. We're safe for the moment." she assured him. Handheld devices were always a threat, but it wasn't an issue. She took her datapad and commlink and dumped them into a drawer.

Confident that they were alone, she went over to her fridge and pulled a can of cola out for the both of them. "Okay, just relax and... I dunno. Just chill. I gotta make some calls. After that, I'll try to see what's going on in the dude's head." she explained before taking a swig from her can.

Venku Bralor

 

[Venku Bralor]

Tags: Xan Deesa

The apartment small apartment was painted with bright colors, making it seem a tad larger. Albeit it wasn't uncomfortably small. A luxury in a place like Denon. Taking the drink, Venku made his way to a recliner, removing his boots before he sat down. Grey ears twitched as he popped the can open. The tell tale sound of carbonated bubbles sounded much like static to his sensitive ears.

Setting the drink and its uncomfortable noise aside, Venku set about stretching his feet. Shoes may be useful in preventing injury, but they made his feet uncomfortable after wearing them for too long.

"So," He said, picking up his drink. "You're a ha-kchaug hkak chauk" The soda burned as it went down his throat, forcing a racking cough from his body. Actually, it didn't burn so much as scrape at the inside of his throat. His throat had burned before, he was mandalorian after all, and this wasn't a burn.

When the coughing fit stopped, Watery golden eyes met the near identical ones of Xan. "Sorry, went down the wrong pipe." No way in hell was he going to admit the soda hurt his throat. He took another swig, holding back the tears as it went down. It wasn't near as bad the second time, and he knew from experience it would be gone by the third.

"Anyway. You're a hacker?"

 

[Xan Deesa]

Venku made himself comfortable while Xan walked over to inspect the decommissioned copycat. She turned its head and fiddled around before looking back to Venku as he spoke up. The cat went into a coughing fit after his first sip. With a raised eyebrow she walked over and sat down on a couch across him. Calmly she sipped at her own cola as she waited for him to recover.

When he finally calmed down, he apologized but she merely gave a shrug. "Happens to the best of us." she quipped as she sipped at her drink. He enquires over her skills and she thought for a moment on how to answer. "Among other things, yeah. I'm mostly clued up on security systems and stuff but I also play around with droids when I can. But I'm not a master by any means." she admitted with another swig of her drink.

She glanced back to the copycat then back to Venku, thinking of who she can call. "Sit tight, kittycat, I'm gonna take a walk. I got someone who's a legend with slicing who should crack this easily enough." she spoke up as she finished up her drink and gave him a slap on his armoured leg as she walked past. Slipping on her mask and snatching her datapad, she opened the door with a salute. "Be right back. Make yourself comfortable." she called out.

Once outside, she glanced around and took the lift down for a stroll. She browsed through her contacts until she found the name of Rook.the.slicer

She started the call as she leaned against a building, a happy smile on her face. Hopefully her tone would work like a charm. "Hey! How's it going? Listen, I'm in a bit of a pickle and I'm hoping your magic touch can help me and a friend. I got some creds in it as well for ya." she spoke when it sounded like she picked up.. but if she didn't, her voicemail would pretty much be the same.

Venku Bralor

 

[Daiya]

[Post Soundtrack: Reflection by Christina Aguilera]​

It was an odd thing, to be following herself. Daiya watched from behind as the girl in front of her did everything she would do, and more. Horrified as she was by the presence of another her, the young shadowrunner had to admire her copy —what was the girl supposed to call her double anyway?— and how confident she moved, how brazenly the other girl carried herself, her twin blasters worn openly against her hips, her absence of fear in walking past the Puurgil Corp's front doors. Following behind, Daiya glanced nervously at the security patrols and the thin crowds of pedestrians, expecting at any moment for a guard or one of the bounty hunters to start heading their way.

Nothing happened.

Daiya breathed in the relative safety of the train once more, seated awkwardly next to her —twin? clone? those seemed inadequate— other. If anyone on the train thought it was odd for two of the same girl to be seated next to each other, they didn't show it. Instead, the rest of the train went on with their business, rocking quietly with the uneven track of the commute or engaging in subdued conversations, leaving the girls to their own devices.

The girl sat by her double in tense quietude, a thousand nervous questions hiding just behind the tip of her tongue. She tried to ask before while her copy had stalked ahead of her, paving the way to their unbidden destination, but Daiya's curiosity went unsated. Finally, the other girl had turned right around and uttered the worst insult the young shadowrunner could imagine, "SHHH!"

Finally, Daiya could hold back no longer, and blurted out in a quiet undertone. "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" her double asked, turning to face Daiya. The double's face was plastered with that saccharine grin that Daiya used herself, and it made her spirit wither inside.

Was this really how she appeared to others? Was her act really such a thin veneer? Her chest felt tight at the thought, and the girl nearly forgot her purpose in asking.

"Imitating me? Trying to hurt me?" Daiya suggested. It was as if the world was closing in on her. She never felt this way. Fear, sure. Nerves, of course. Worry, all the time. But never this bone-chilling, breath-stealing dread that permeated her very being. The girl nearly bleated as she let out an exasperated, "Everything!"

"Imitating you? I am you!" the double declared proudly, her tones hushed but still clear as a bell.

For one single moment, Daiya wished that her copy had spoken too loudly. That she had drawn the attention of the train's crowd, and they would step in to sort this out. Two girls who each claimed to be the right Daiya, surely there was a simple way to prove it! A court of public opinion would easily exonerate the girl, and leave her copy to be punished and the datachip returned to Puurgil Corp. Everything back the way it should be.

There was no chance of it. No one on the crowd would care about someone like her, especially not the corporate drones and idle bystanders who inhabited the train car. If only she hadn't decided to split up and leave Tawrro behind. He would have a solution and then Daiya wouldn't have to sit here and listen to another her pretend to be the real Daiya. Except Tawrro wasn't here and the crowd was not on her side, she would have to figure this out by herself, and the girl's shoulders slumped at the realization.

"And why would I hurt myself?" the double pulled out the datachip again, brandishing it like a prize as her faced beamed from behind. "This one is for me. For us. Daiya all the way-a!"

"You're not me," the girl said quietly. She glared, first at the floor, and then at her would-be doppelgänger. Daiya met her own eyes, wishing she could see some tell-tale sign or evidence of imperfection to prove it all a farce. All she could see was the face that greeted her in every reflection, the face the girl showed to the world, a face she had been proud to wear. Now it was all she could do to stop from ripping it apart with her hands. The young shadowrunner repeated it, a mantra more than an accusation, "You're not me!"

"Of course I'm you." The doppelgänger's declaration didn't stop the girl from repeating her mantra again. She heard the double laugh. "I look like you, don't I?"

Daiya stopped short of another repetition, watching the doppelgänger's eyes again. Wishing she could see, or better yet See, something different this time. All she saw was delight in the copy's identical eyes. The girl set her jaw, admitting through gritted teeth, "I guess so."

"Of course I do!" the doppelgänger said with a giggle, and the sound was as if it came out of Daiya's own mouth. Even in the discomfort and confusion, the girl felt the familiar tones of her laugh, and they rippled through her being. She wanted to laugh with them. Despite every fiber of her being finding this double revolting, hearing her own giggle triggered something instinctive inside her. Something that the doppelgänger didn't notice as she kept going, "And I talk like you? Walk like you? Act like you?"

And giggled like Daiya. As much as the girl wanted to deny it, her copy was just that, a mirrored version of her in almost every way. "Yeah, that's pretty eerie."

She considered her words in retrospect, and gave her head a slight shake. How could she be uncomfortable with herself? Daiya loved every part of herself! Well. Almost. There was one part she didn't enjoy.

As if on cue, Daiya's double said the words she knew were coming, speaking forth the secret she kept holed up inside her, bringing with it all the dread the young shadowrunner had felt from the first moment of meeting the doppelgänger to the surface.

"And I have powers like you?"

There it was, that accursed secret. Uttered forth for all those on the train to hear. A secret Daiya had only revealed to a few trusted others, but one the doppelgänger felt confident enough to brandish freely. The copy held her hand out, drawing them like a needle through fabric, until the datachip poked forth from her pocket and began to float freely toward her fingers.

Daiya's heart jumped into her throat, and she clamped her hands over her double's. The girl froze but for her eyes, darting about the cabin of the train car, watching for anyone who would have seen them. Waiting for someone to call out, to rally the crowd against her, to condemn her for the powers the little seer wished she could be rid of. Her voice was small and thready as Daiya spoke, uttering a hiss of caution to her doppelgänger, "Don't!

The doppelgänger Daiya's laugh was mirthless as she brushed away the girl's vigilant hands, picking up the datachip and returning it to her pocket. "Now do you believe me?"

Daiya withdrew her hands, placing them quietly in her lap as she offered a silent nod. It was hard for her to tell what she believed, but she couldn't ignore what her eyes and other senses were telling her. That feeling of dread inside her felt just as ever-present, strongly protesting against the other Daiya sitting beside her. Yet a voice inside her was growing stronger, pushing back against the dread enough to ask, "What do you want?"

"Aha, now you're asking the right questions," her double said cheerily, the bitterness gone from her tone. "I want what you want, of course. To survive!"
The doppelgänger leaned down far enough so she could crane her eyes up into Daiya's, adding, "For us to survive."

Daiya looked up at —she couldn't really deny it anymore— herself, giving her doppelgänger a curious look. "What do you mean?"

"I've got a plan, but it requires both of us working together."

The young shadowrunner thought for a moment, her dread subdued at last. Cooperating with herself, however bizarre, was surely trustworthy. Taking the last step, the girl asked herself, "Working together to do what?"

DoppelDäiya gave herself a grin and held up the datachip again, "To get Puurgil Corp off your back and make a chitload of credits for both of us!"

Daiya mirrored the grin right back at herself. "I'm in!"

 

[Rook.the.slicer]

Rook leaned back in her comfy chair in her hackers cave. It sat right below the operation she had going on, she glanced up at the ceiling as if to see what they were doing up there. There were about a dozen screens in front of her, each one plugged into her cybernetics. Apparently SOME old technology is good, because there was nothing on those things. Placing her feet on the desk, she calmly watched the feed from a dozen different worlds.

She remembered back in the war against the Empire, how they would say, Wars run on information. It was still true over 8oo years later. Rook had nothing left from her old life, except what was on her personnel, so now she was starting again.

Right in the middle of such musings, her comlink rang. Hm- curious. Instead of picking it up immediately, she placed it on the computer scanner, plugging it in.

She pressed the button to show she answered- but it only showed on her end. The caller was none the wiser whether she picked up. Taking the information from the call, she brought up the general area on her screens, hacking into the security cameras. The callers voice filled the room.

"Hey! How's it going? Listen, I'm in a bit of a pickle and I'm hoping your magic touch can help me and a friend. I got some creds in it as well for ya."

A small smile quirked on Rook's lips. Xan Deesa . Yes- the eccentric woman she had met however long ago. Staying silent for a second she used that time to hone in on her from the security cameras. Not a hard task. Honestly, sometimes Rook believed the security camera's were only her person video show.

There she was, leaning casually against a building. Now for that job. Rook pressed two fingers to her lips in consideration. She didn't need the credits, per se. But she was always a fan of making contacts.

She nodded slowly to herself eyes following on the multiple screens that showed Xan's general area. She was curious what she needed. Xan was also a Slicer, but she must need something hard done if she called her.

Rook spoke after a moments more consideration, "I'll be there shortly."

 

[Cassus Akovin]

Belazura had been a nightmare.

It was supposed to be a literal vacation, mom in tow, after suffering an entire lifetime on Parcellus Minor. Of course, "suffer" didn't exactly feel right for Cassus. If he could go back to the idyllic false landscape of happy dreams come true, he would have stayed. Except, that if he had stayed, the mother of the dream he knew wasn't real, while the one with flesh and blood was wasting away without his support.

He'd never forgive himself if he didn't choose to wake up to this horror-show of a life he found himself in. No amount of saccharine injected happiness would ever fill that void if he gave up. Daiya and Zenie, despite being the source of his latest Grief, had actually somewhat come to his rescue while they awaited to be smuggled off of Belazura. Not physically, but mentally.

He was in such a state that he felt as if his mother had died instead of been captured, he had been sent into a paralyzing shock. Somehow, even though the Bounty Hunter was often at odds with the female Shadowrunner, her empathy and sense of compassion had inevitably reached him, and lifted the paralysis in his heart. He was an Akovin, and they were Relentless. This was a set back, not the end.

For that debt, he wasn't sure if he could ever pay it back.

​

Denon was nothing like Belazura or Parcellus Minor, and for that he was thankful. The boy Bounty Hunter much preferred the dreary urban sprawl to the backwater swamp towns or eye-sore luxury resorts who have forever been stained by the anxiety of losing his mother. It was like walking into the familiarity of an old home from deep within childhood.

Not that Cassus ever had such an experience, having been born on and living the majority of his entire life on a starship. Except, in a way, Denon had become his surrogate home after escaping CIS custody, and found refuge in the form of the Bounty Hunters Guild and Darkwire. Although, as of late, the Guild was under some hot water after what happened to Sakedo Tower. Not only did those nasty Pirates do massive damage to the entertainment complex, apparently the hunters responding to the Bounty on them had caused an unacceptable amount of collateral damage, nearly killing a Captain and almost fatally wounding a Lieutenant, among other causalities.

That made it difficult of course but he was an experience hunter with a bit of renown... or at least that is what he thought until he tried gather information on where his mother had been smuggled. Suddenly anger and CorpSec were being thrown into his face for reasons he didn't know. Luckily for him, when the Guild was failing to get him results, Cassus was able to resort to slicers within the Darkwire Network to get the information he needed.

"I found you mom." The boy said, finding himself outside a prison complex not entirely dissimilar to the one he and Sam Rodarch had escaped from some time ago. He was about to paint an even bigger target on his back...

 

[Venku Bralor]

Tags: Xan Deesa , Rook.the.slicer

Neon pink hair disappeared through the door, leaving the investigator with the all encompassing silence. Not knowing how long the woman would take, Venku pulled a holopad from his pack. He didn't usually take it on jobs, but the evidence documents needed to go somewhere, and his pad was an easy choice.
He wasn't looking at evidence. Instead, dexterous fingers pulled up the notebook app and flipped to the most recent page. Stylus in hand, the togorian began to write. He didn't do it often, and never considered himself an expert, but it had been a passion of his since childhood, right next to filling his brother's pillow with sand, or hiding on the roof of the cavern system their dessert home was built into until one of his many brothers walked bellow.

The air unit shuttered on, drawing the investigator out of his reverie. On the page was a story he had been working on for a while. Written as an epic poem, an older form of mandalorian writing. The page sat empty. It would continue to sit empty as the writer had no idea what he wanted to write anymore, not with this story. Loss of motivation and loss of vision plagued him to no end.

Fingers flicked across the pad as Venku changed journals, going instead to what he so lovingly referred to as his "junk journal" with all his experimental writings and short snippets of stories.

The sky is a magnificent thing, with it's myriad of colors and timeless infinity.
They have never seen the sky. Trapped beneath miles and miles of earth as they were.
The sight, and in fact the very idea of it, remains utterly unknown to them.
.....
​

Motivation, which was previously lacking in his true story surged back as the words fell across the page. Already the idea of the world and the people sprung to his mind, a mix of cultures and ideas that he had encountered in his journey. He knew it would fade with time, slip away like all the others, like trying to hold sand in spread hands.

Golden eyes barely glanced up when the door opened and Xan entered, lost to the world of stylus and pad, words and sentences, fiction and fact.

 

[Xan Deesa]

Xan patiently waited for an answer from the woman on the other side of the call. She glanced around and took note of the cameras looking ar her. She just had a suspicion that Rook was responsible for it, but at the same time there was a chance that someone else was looking at her. She hoped it was the former.

The voice spoke up from the other side of the call, earning a smirk from Xan. "Sweet! See you in a bit. I trust you know where to find me." she quipped and ebded the call, making her way back to the apartment.

Upon entering, Xan noticed that Venku was focusing hard on his datapad. Calmly and smoothly she made her way behind him and leaned over his shoulder to read over what he was doing. "Who's 'they'? she asked suddenly as she glanced at him, taking off her mask. "You writing a story or something?" she continued as she walked around and got herself another cola.

She sank into a seat beside the cat, taking a sip of her drink. "At least it's a droid and not a dead body. I hate having to keep dead bodies in my places, they always give you trouble in one way or another." she quipped as she stared at the droid. She took another sip and glanced at Venku, studying him. "I made contact with my friend. She should be here shortly. In the meantime, would you like some yarn to pass the time?" she teased as she gave him a bump with her elbow.

Rook.the.slicer Venku Bralor

 

[Kadora'Tra]

​

"You know, I never did like cat jokes." A third voice would join Xan Deesa and Venku Bralor in the small apartment, electronic and otherly, disembodied.

"But I think I have a better one: how many lives do you think you have, Venku?" A buzzing sound filled the room.

"Nine... Eight... Seven... Six..." The sound of boots coming up stairs began to sound clearer.

"Three... Two..." Electricity in the apartment cut out, just as a red eyed flying droid seemed to peer through a window, ostensibly the source of the voice.

"One." The beam of red light filled the room, as blasters popped out of the droid, and a pair of mechanical boots kicked down the apartment door.

​

While problems were being dealt with by her pet toy, a Kadora'Tra was on the move. Apparently, tonight had been a busy night for Darkwire. The Directive apparently, hadn't created duplicates as durable as she was. She had other duties, however, the Observer-Controller was already mobilizing clean-up crews that didn't require the careful touch of an operative.

Right now, she was dealing with something else, something more... sophisticated than cleaning up. Her job was less destructive and more, reproductive, in a certain sense. A delicate situation that required just the right amount of force applied, at the right time. The Authorities currently held a bit of leverage over an individual that had caught the eye of Larz Blackheart himself, someone they see as potentially important.

Which was why, she was heading towards the prison cell of Triam Akovin...

 

[Venku Bralor]

Tags: Xan Deesa Kadora'Tra

It wasn't uncommon for Venku to loose himself in writing. As such, it came as no surprise to learn that the brightly colored woman had snuck up behind him. Nor would it be a surprise to know that his first reaction was to ram his armored elbow backwards in the general direction of her gut. He was a mandalorian after all and when it came to fight or flight, he picked fight.

"Sorry!" That didn't mean it made him feel good. "And yeah, I'm writing a book. This isn't it though, it's just an idea I'm playing around with." Xan turned towards the fridge and Venku's words trailed off. she didn't want to hear him ramble about some fictional place. He didn't blame her, few people held any interest in writing and world building. His tail curled close to his spine and his fingers played with the controls of the pad before shutting it off, slipping it into his pack.

Golden eyes found themselves tracking the brightly colored human, flicking from flashing bit to shiny bit to glowy bit. "So..... you get much experience with dead bodies? I wouldn't suggest keeping them here. It'd be too easy for evidence to link you to the crime, a second location is usually a better idea-" His muzzle shut with a click. No need to go rambling over the transfer of evidence and ways to avoid being caught. The woman before didn't seem like she needed, or even wanted, the information. "...sorry"

The quite didn't last long, not that he expected it would. Nevertheless he'd hoped it'd last longer, a break would've been nice. The interruption came in the form of a voice, condescending and so very familiar. "You know, I never did like cat jokes."
Where had he heard that before? It sounded like his employer, what has her name... Kador'tra? That sounded right.
"But I think I have a better one: how many lives do you think you have, Venku?"
There was no need for her to be here, no need for her to even pay attention to them.

"Nine... "​

Who then?

"Eight... "​

Golden eyes flicked to his doppelganger.

"Seven... " ​

Of course! How could he be so stupid?

"Six... "​

She had a doppler too.

_______________________________

The electricity sputtered and stuttered, flicking on and off and on and off before cutting out, leaving the two humanoids in darkness.

"Three... "​

Quick hands snatched up his buy'ce, slipping it on his head as pupils widened and adjusted to the dim lighting. Xan glowed beside him, her multicolored lights drawing his eyes.

"Two... "​

Yellow eyes caught sight of the droid, so that was it. His right hand gripped his blaster even as his tail brushed his staff, ready to pull it loose and fling it into the air as it extended. Unlike a farghul, he couldn't hold things with his tail, but he could use it to push a button and hit the staff into the air, albeit the skill took practice to master.

"One... "​

A blaster bolt flew through the darkness, impacting his pauldron with little effect. "You know, It's funny. I don't like cat jokes either!" Venku open fired, sending four consecutive shots towards the droids head. Beneath the helm, he was snarling, teeth bared and ears pinned back. Not that those around him would be able to hear it, with his external mic turned off.
The force blared through his mind, impressing upon him the idea of danger, of fur and claws and metal joints. A little late for that.

 

[Xan Deesa]

Xan's reflexes kicked in and grabbed hold of Venku's arm just before it managed to drill into her gut, a surprisingly hard iron grip clamping down as she gave him a harsh glare. He quickly apologized and she released him, moving to get her drink and sit down next to him. He voiced his thoughts on her comment but quickly interrupted himself, earning a smirk from Xan. "Not as much these days. But I used to before arriving on Denon. There's only so much you can do after you had to kill someone in your apartment. Luckily I'm no stranger to cleaning up a scene." she admitted, flashing him a wink as she took another sip.

She was about to annoy him a little further when a voice spoke up from behind them. Xan set her drink aside and drew her pistol from underneath her jacket, turning in her seat to look for whoever was speaking. The voice wasn't from one specific place, but she could hear heavy footfalls nearing the door as the voice spoke. She dropped to the ground and made herself small as the power was cut, taking aim at the door from underneath the couch. The voice sounded familiar to her. Could it be that annoying little brat at the Corpo HQ? It would be rather depressing if she had to execute a kid... but then again, how could she get here so quickly? This couldn't be the real one, could it?

The countdown ended and the room was filled with blasterfire, but Xan held her fire. When the door came down, she opened up with four shots at the person's legs and moved her aim up to fire another two more at their gut. She retreated and shifted to look around the side of the couch, ready to fire and move if their attacker wasn't dealt with already. "You're gonna pay for that door, you know!" she shouted over the chaos.

Venku Bralor Kadora'Tra

 

[Kadora'Tra]

​

Venku's blaster bolts never impacted the floating bulk of droid as it opened fired, instead dissipating in large blasts across an otherwise invisible shield surrounding the cyclopean droid, flashing red with each impact. It fired back, though more slowly, each shot in succession from one of the two weapons on its sides. It's red glare seemed to search the room, before settling on the "corpse" of Venku's imposter, its vision seemingly independent of its aiming mechanisms.

Meanwhile a pair of CorpSec droids clambered through the apartment door as blaster bolts tore through its legs, causing it to tumble to the floor as another pair flew past it. The other droid followed in behind with a riot shield hoisted to its arm that didn't quite cover the entire body, but was emblazoned with the red wings of the CropSec crest, CORPSEC featuring prominently above it, while their motto was initialized below it (Heart, Valor, Strength, Judgement). With its free arm it blasted more or less aimlessly into the apartment towards Venku Bralor , while the other droid decided to start firing from its prone position towards Xan Deesa 's position.

Even over the din of the flying blaster bolts and droid noises, a loud sound ignited outside of the apartment from behind the window the Red Glare was positioned in. It... sort of sounds like a rocket?

 

[Venku Bralor]

Tags: Xan Deesa Kadora'Tra

Three droids, two people, and one fallen brother. Had Venku not been a mandalorian, the odds would be steep. As it was, they were doable with help.

Three droids. Venku ignored the second one, trusting his armor to protect him. Instead he holstered his blaster, it was useless with the shield in place, and fired off a grapple line from his right vambrace. Metal clanged against metal as it as it wrapped around the arm of the first droid. With a yank and some help from mechanisms of the vambrace, Venku attempted to pull the droid towards him. It may have been easier to use the force but he preferred to keep that card close to his chest. Never know when you need an ace up the sleeve.
His left hand drew a vibro blade, flicking it on and preparing for a fight. He’d always preferred close quarters.

Two people. Xan was pinned beside him, taking fire from a nearby droid. Venku couldn’t do much about that.
"You're gonna pay for that door, you know!" Her voice was easy to hear even over the clamor of fighting.
The togorian chuffed. “I dunno, I think it looks better this way.” Though she couldn’t see it, a smile curled at his muzzle. As much as her cat jokes chaffed at his fur, he couldn’t help but appreciate the human’s acerbic wit.

One fallen brother. Venku’s Doppler lay on the couch, silent and unmoving. Broken, both inside and out. Was it possible for a droid to feel? Faced with this shadow of himself, Venku had to believe it was. He would not let his master have him.

A snarl escaped his lips, slipping into the room through the still active external mic. Three droids, two people, and one fallen brother. He always liked long odds, and these were disappointedly short.

 

[Xan Deesa]

As the first one collapsed onto the ground, the second one moved past with a very interesting shield. That confirmed her suspicions. She was going to have to pay a visit to that little kitten up at CorpSec after this. She just needed to remember the spray bottle, battery and jumper cables this time...

Her follow up shots impacted the shields and naturally nothing happened. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the other droid coming back online. they needed to finish this fight before something else happened as well. This was already taking too long for simple droids. "Go choke on a furball." she grunted as she vaulted over the couch and crashed onto the droid with the shield, firing into its head as she came down on it. Blasterfire zipped around her and in the chaos she felt a singe against her side, likely just a graze. Regardless, adrenaline could sort it out, she had more important things to worry about. Laying on top of the destroyed machine she hoisted the droid's arm up and used the shield as she hid against the wall, making sure the shield covered her from overhead fire by the droid merely a few feet above her. From her spot in cover she raised her blaster and fired at the droid on the ground to finally put it out of commission.

But through the blasterfire she heard the whistling of something familiar. That wasn't good. "Get to cover!" she shouted at the top of her lungs as she yanked the shield free for cover and ran towards Venku in hopes of sheltering him. But she doubted that she would be in time. Even with her enhancements, she would likely reached him just in time if it was in fact a missile coming at them. As for the dead droid... they could pick up what remained after all this.

Kadora'Tra Venku Bralor

 

[Kadora'Tra]

​

A cold yet almost seductive laughter emanated from the floating red eyed cyclops, barely heard over the din of blaster fire, shouts, and the whistling of a fast approaching missile towards the apartment window.

"Times up!" The voice echoed before the missile flew into the room, and detonated along with the droid, centered on the doppelgänger corpse...

​

Kadora'Tra left the burn ward of the MedCorp building where she had met with Lonnie, feeling somewhat lighter, a feeling that began to sink back into normalcy the farther she walked away. A pit in her throat fixed her vision to her feet as she walked cautiously out into the darkened streets, catching small whiffs of burnt ozone lingering in the air. It wasn't nearby, maybe a mile away, but she got the distinct sense that someone somewhere was busy burning holes into bodies.

If only she knew.

Closing her eyes, and taking a deep breathe, she tried to banish her tightened throat so she could focus on the here and now and not on anyone - anything -else. She only managed to move the pit to her stomach, but it at least allowed her eyes to track her path ahead, rather than her opened toed feet.

Xan Deesa Venku Bralor

 

[Daiya]

[Post Soundtrack: "Ready Steady Go" by Paul Oakenfold]​

The Fluffy & Friends Grooming Center was closed to the general public for the day. It was unassuming, almost too much so, Daiya decided. Her doppelgänger was certain that this was the place, though. According to DoppelDäiya, this was actually the site of Testing Lab No. 4 for the Purrgil Corp. The company name was deceptive, just like the shop itself. Purrgil wasn't just an excuse for an adorable mascot, it was a broadcast about the sketchy intentions the double had told her about. And she hadn't been wrong yet. The girl had little reason not to trust herself.

After all, if Daiya couldn't trust herself, who could she trust?

It was an easy matter for Daiya to get them inside the front shop. The imposing shapes of the creature grooming and comfort stations reached out in the darkness, though Daiya didn't find them scary. What had her heart pumping in the after-hours silence of the shop was the task that lay ahead of them. Glancing around at the instruments meant to pamper the creatures brought in, in the long shadows of the dim light it didn't take much imagination —or special powers— for Daiya to envision those same instruments used to torture and kill those creatures instead.

Emboldened by a renewed sense of justice, the young shadowrunner moved on to the rear of the shop. She followed her double through a storage room, where a door stood at the very back. Unlike the other doors in the shop, with windows and simple access panels, this one was built to be a real barrier. The girl's double crouched at the sophisticated keypad, and plugged wires into the side of it to slice through its security. Daiya watched a pace behind, drawing a look from DoppelDäiya as the other girl worked on the door. "You're not wimping out, are you? Remember what these Corpos do, they hunt and study space animals to find out what makes them tick."

Daiya nodded passionately, prompting a lopsided smile from her double. They had worked over the plan for a few hours, right down to the identical clothes they wore. "Yeah, I got this."

The keypad beeped, signaling the unlocked door. Withdrawing the wires, her doppelgänger withdrew and beckoned for Daiya to move forward. The girl nodded, and then opened the door quietly, passing a version of herself mouthing, Good luck, to her. A hallway stretched out before the young shadowrunner, and she took it slowly, being cautious not to make much noise. The cheery and functional decor of the shop had given way to a stark, industrial hallway devoid of any life, decorative or otherwise. The girl paused when she came upon the junction where the hallway opened up, giving her three choices of wings to explore, and a guard's station to the side of them keeping watch over the whole place.

That is, if the guard had been paying attention. He was focused, instead, on a handheld gaming system that seemed to be taking a lot of effort by the look of his furrowed brow. Daiya grinned to herself, passing him by and choosing the right hallway.

"Hey, you can't be in here!"

Uh-oh. Daiya glanced back at the guard, who was paying attention at last. Busted!

She took off at a run, hoping that her chosen hallway led to somewhere other than a dead end. She passed unremarkable doors with cutesy labels bearing the names of spaceborne animals: Purrgil, Exogorths, Neebray, Dov-Atu, and Wyrru. The names and their cartoon-y logos belied the grisly truths they hid behind those generic-looking portals. Heavy footfalls behind her told the teen that the guard was gaining, and even knowing the plan, Daiya's heart still quickened with a rush of adrenaline. It made her feet move faster, drawing her pursuer ever onward as she turned the corridors in the direction she hoped was right.

Daiya burst back into the junction she had entered before, passing the guard's desk as she saw a flash of light-colored hair from behind it. Close on her tail, the security guard found his own second wind, bringing their gap down to a frightening distance. "Oh no you do—aaggghhhh!"

The girl ran another few paces before turning around to find her double holding a heavy-duty blaster and wearing a venomous grin on her face. The guard lay sprawled out on the ground, a gaping wound looking up from his back. Dead. Daiya gaped at the sight of it for a moment, before joining her doppelgänger's side.

"He was a Corpo," she offered.

Beside her, the other girl nodded, "He was helping them hurt all those creatures. He was complicit."

Complicit. That was the justification they held for shooting a security guard in the back, one whom Daiya had provoked by walking in someplace she wasn't supposed to be. It wasn't the first time she'd been caught breaking in, nor the first time that the security guard had to die to free her. With some despair, however, the girl noted that it was the first time the guard had been unarmed.

"So, why did we have to grab the guard's weapon again?" Daiya asked as she walked along with her doppelgänger towards their target destination. "We have our own blasters, we could have just stunned him and tied him up in a closet."

"Tschh," the other girl scoffed at her. "Where'd you get all these principles, Daiya, from Tawwro? You said it yourself, he was a Corpo. He would have done the same to us." Daiya wasn't so sure. She wasn't used to hurting people until they wanted to hurt her. She wasn't a murderer! "And we needed his weapon 'cause we couldn't bring our own. That hallway you passed through would have gone off with alarms if you had any weapon but this one. I couldn't disable that, or the holo-recorders, until I got the guard's station. Here."

Daiya took the blaster into her hands, hefting its weight. It was a little lighter than her favored Merr-Sonn 434 blaster, but from what she had already seen it packed a bigger punch. Their fast pace didn't give her time to inspect why, only notice the STARLIGHT INDUSTRIES logo on the side of it. The young shadowrunner gave her double a curious look, realizing that she knew far too little about this mission than the girl was used to.

"Right," Daiya said simply. It didn't sit right with her, but it was too late to back out now. Besides, no matter how friendly their security guards were, this company was still trying to hurt animals. "Let's just get this over with."

Her doppeldänger gave her a knowing smile, and then led the way. With the first part of there plan over, there was only one part left.

"This Corpo, Doctor Irokini, she's the lead scientist on this project. Aleena, 38, apparently she was working for the Sith Intendant of Pisces Base until a few years ago, doing live experiments on the Mon Calamari workers there." DoppelDäiya was saying as they ventured farther into the labyrinth of the research facility. The girl wondered just how much information her other self had on this whole place —all that from a single datachip?? "And now she's working on how the flight systems of Rupings and Dov-Atu are related."

She could still hear talking, but the girl had started zoning out of her double's lecture. Mad scientist, space creatures, evildoing, that's all she needed to know. Whatever the specifics of it were seemed really boring to her. "Quick!"

Daiya grabbed the arm of the other girl, pulling them both into an open room just before the owner of a set of footsteps rounded the corner. The darkness hid them from view as the footsteps paused outside their room, but the girl stepped backwards anyway, dragging her double along with, until she bumped into something behind them. Daiya kept quiet, biting her lip until the door slid shut on its own and the footsteps moved off along the hallway they had come down. She let out a breath, then turned around.

The lights flipped on to reveal the nature of the lab's experiments. A Ruping lay motionless on the table she had bumped into, but it was no ordinary bird. Its wings didn't match up at all with its body, and when Daiya looked closer, she could see the seams and sutures holding the transplanted wings onto the creature's abdomen. Other scars crisscrossed the animal's body, making it clear what was going on, even if neither of the girls had intimate knowledge of the science behind it.

"This is what I mean, Daiya." But her double didn't have to tell her twice, Daiya was already nodding along, wide-eyed as she stepped away from the gruesome sight. This wasn't boring, this was evil! "All Corpos are like this, hurting whoever and whatever they want, just so long as they can make a credit. They think they can get away with anything!"

Daiya's voice caught in her throat, but her flight was as neutered as the Ruping on the exam table. She swallowed, her feet staying in place, and the grip on the blaster tightened. A low voice came from her, "They can't do this!"

"They won't, Daiya," her double assured her.

Daiya nodded. They had planned for this, but now she was resolved in her core. She knew what had to happen next. "Let's go get that scientist...Daiya." It felt odd to say her own name to someone else, but it felt good to know that someone else was her. And they were both of the same mind on what had to happen. And how. Her voice was confident now with renewed determination, "We have to stop this...them..."

Her double nodded, and moved back to the door. It had been a minute now, and the footfalls were gone. The dopplegänger waited another minute before opening the door, ushering the two of them back out into the hall and on towards their target.

"I thought you said there was only one guard tonight," Daiya whispered.

The other Daiya shook her head, "There was only supposed to be. We'll just have to be quick about it."

Before their deeds were discovered, that is. Daiya gave herself a curt nod and they moved on to complete their final deed.

 

[Daiya]

[Post Soundtrack: "Dangerous" by Zayde Wolf]​

As Daiya and her doppelgänger made their way through the secret Purrgil Corp facility, she felt the weight of every step as they crept closer to their target. It pulled at her, challenging her determination, but the girl kept moving forward. She furrowed her brow, this was the way it had to be. The other her made that clear to Daiya, these Corpos wouldn't stop unless someone stopped them. And who else was going to do it?

Within a few minutes, the pair stood before the double-doors into the research lab, behind which Dr. Irokini was waiting. She glanced at her double, setting her jaw as she steeled herself for the task. There was no hesitation or second-guessing in the young shadowrunner now, only a steady anticipation. Her dopplegänger gave her one last look before preparing, taking off the dark cap they both wore and messing up her hair. Before Daiya turned away to wait out of sight, her double was furiously rubbing her eyes.

Crouching down, Daiya caught sight of the other girl rushing through the lab's double-doors and the sound of hysterical sobs coming through the door before it shut again. She waited, perched on her haunches, clutching the blaster that would end the Corpo science madness here. Soon, her double would give the signal for her to move.

The doors opened with a bang as DoppelDäiya walked out, trailed by an Aleena behind her. Daiya frowned, that wasn't the signal! She stood up anyway, creeping behind them quietly.

"Honestly, I didn't think Dr. Quamar was working tonight, or that he brought his daughters along. You'd think he would know better after the last security breach," Irokini was saying, her arm against the back of Daiya's doppelgänger as the two walked forward. The shorter alien looked odd, comforting the girl who was both taller and younger than her, but the gesture reminded her of Tawrro's compassion for lost things. A strange characteristic to find in a Corpo. "It's alright, we'll find your sister. She's probably just waiting up at the guard's desk, nobody gets past Surl without him noticing."

"Thanks, Dr. Irokini," DoppelDäiya said, sniffling a few times to keep up the act. She caught sight of Daiya behind them and winked. "I was busy doing my class project, and when I looked up she was just gone!"

Daiya's face took on a wry grin as she moved in behind the pair. She brought the blaster out, and the girl put it up against Irokini's back. It ended up at the tiny scientist's neck, who looked up and around wildly until she spotted the girl. "Oh, here's your sister, Tahl. And she looks just like you!"

"Yes, now move," Daiya ordered tersely, not sparing a moment. Irokini seemed to notice the blaster for the first time, and made a noise that sounded like a speeder whine.

"Where did you get that? There aren't supposed to be any weapons in here. Your father is going to hear about this, both of you!"

"No, no one's going to hear about anything," the other girl said menacingly, as she stepped up alongside Daiya. The diminutive alien's eyes widened for a moment before they returned to the saucer-size that was normal for her species. "There's no one else here anymore. No one alive, anyway."

Daiya was impressed at the other version of herself. Tawrro had always delivered their threats before, either by his body language or his unforgettable Wookiee roars. She was more used to taunting their targets until Tawrro appeared, and then saying 'told you so.' Watching her doppelgänger's confident, solo performance was inspiring to the young shadowrunner.

Part of her wished that the double was holding the blaster, too. At least until Daiya reminded herself that the kindness of the Corpo ahead of her had been absent on that butchered Ruping she found. The heat rose up in her cheeks again and she pushed the blaster deeper into the mad scientist's neck, growling, "Move!"

Irokini put her hands up in the interstellar sign of surrender, and started moving. The double gave Daiya a grin, but the girl was too deep in her anger to return it. She only wished the little alien would move faster. The faster this was over, the faster they could leave, and the faster Daiya could feel normal again.

Sweaty palms made her readjust the grip on the blaster, but the thumping of her heartbeat in her ears was something she couldn't fix.

Somehow, they made it all the way to the entrance junction again without running into the other guard, or whoever it was still in the building with them. At the sight of the dead security guard, the Aleena scientist made a little sound as she slowed.

"So that's why Surl wasn't answering the comms..." Irokini said, and Daiya almost thought she could hear sorrow in the mad scientist's voice. The girl urged Irokini on with the blaster, but got only a single step out of it. She glanced up at her double, keenly aware that their time was running out. "I suppose you're going to murder me, too?"

"Like you murdered those poor creatures?" Daiya spat, unable to hold back her anger anymore. She had been waiting for this confrontation since the moment they had stumbled upon the Ruping. "Yes."

"'Those poor creatures?' Oh, you mean my specimens? They were going to die anyway, very few survive the therapy. But I'm sure I can improve that, my next process should get the success rate up to 2%."

The scientist's callousness took Daiya by surprise, as if she was talking about something inanimate. A thing to be used, not a living, breathing —or whatever space creatures did instead— being. Something that was living on its own, not bothering anyone, until Purrgil Corp came along to take it from its home and subject it to lethal experiments.

"What could be worth the deaths of all those innocent animals?" Daiya asked, seeking some kind of answer, something to put her mind at ease. The only outcome she could see from those experiments is pain. And anyone finding success from pain was a sadistic being indeed.

"Yes, well, some things have to die for progress to be made," Irokini said, but she didn't sound sad about it. Not like she did for the security guard. It was more matter-of-fact.

"But why?!" Daiya cried plaintively.

"Why?" Irokini turned her head to look at Daiya, bewildered. Her face took on a blissful appearance. "Why else? To see if it can be done! If a planetbound creature can gain the organs of a spaceborne one, then why not us? And if we can soar through the cosmos, what need would we have of hyperdrive or starships?! We would be free!"

"Oh, don't worry, doctor. We'll free you." DoppelDäiya promised ominously, gesturing towards the door back out to the shop. "Now do like my dear 'sister' says, and move."

"Ahh, so you understand," the sadistic being said, and she walked ahead with a sort of contentment. Daiya was mystified, the little scientist didn't seem to live in their same reality. Whatever galaxy the Aleena doctor occupied, the girl just wished she had stayed there. They approached the end of the hallway, and back to the security door the girls had breached earlier. The doctor entered her code at the keypad, watching the door slide open before turning to them. "Well, this has been a strange little chat, but I'm glad you girls have learned not to jump to conclusions about our work. Still, I don't think you should come back again, I'm going to tell Security we need several more guards here in the evenings. Do whatever you need to do tonight, just be careful with the specimens, and don't stay past 0500, that's when the morning staff starts arriving."

Daiya looked at her double as the Aleena turned to leave. The doppelgänger nodded, and Daiya pointed the blaster at the mad scientist. The next part wasn't hard, not after everything she had seen and heard. Aiming at the back of Irokini's head, the girl pulled the trigger. It was easy.

"Good riddance to another Corpo, huh?" Daiya's double muttered cheerily, taking the blaster back from the girl and giving the body another shot. "Good job, Daiya. We should split up, I'll holo you tomorrow with the meeting place."

"Hey! FREEZE!" The other security guard appeared at last, rushing towards them down the long hallway.

"Good time to run!" Daiya pointed out, and her doppelgänger didn't disagree.

They ran in different directions, leaving the guard no easy choice of which one to follow. After a few blocks, Daiya didn't see any signs of a pursuer, so she dropped back to a walk. Within a minute or two, she felt recovered. Her heart was beating regularly, and her empty hands were dry once more. She grinned to herself, and found a little spring in her step.

 

[Cartri Keswoll]

It had been a long day for Cartri as he tiredly walked back to the apartment, groaning now and then of the thought of training still ahead of him. For the past few months he had been training under Xan who taught him the means of surviving in such a unhospitable place like Denon, and todays training was the gruelling self defence course. He couldn't complain though, all this training was helping him to be better as a person and look after himself the way he should be. As he walked up to the bottom floor entrance of the apartment he slowly repositioned his heavy bag of credits and opened the door, introducing the strong smell of blaster fire and smoke.

The boy hesitantly walked up to the stairwell and looked up, noticing the thick cloud that seemed to linger around the area where Xan's apartment was "Shit..." he whispered to himself before suddenly starting to run up the stairway to the apartment level, his breathing heavy from the weight of the bag pulling him down. As he got closer he could hear the loud sounds of blaster fire coming from the area, before an unexpected explosion that seemly rocked the whole building. All he could hope for was that Xan wasn't involved in this mess, although from the looks of things it became more and more likely. From the end of the corridor he could see that the door had been blown through, as well as the various blaster fire that littered the walls in front of it. With a small sigh and a shake of his head, he carefully moved forwards.

Cartri stood to the left side of the doorway and took a peek inside, only to see scattered robot parts that had been flung around the room like a scrapyard. However, nothing seemed to be moving as he finally made his way inside. He roughly dropped his bag to the floor and stepped over the various layers of metal, astonished by the amount of chaos and mess that had now purged their apartment "Xan... what the hell have you done" muttered the boy to himself as he gazed at the huge hole that had impaled his room "You've got to be fucking kidding me..." groaned the boy, who stood there staring at the wall with a loud sigh, noticing that everything inside had been blown to smithereens. In spite of that fact, he had yet to acknowledge the two people who were still in the room and the potential danger of more attacks aimed at the apartment

Xan Deesa Venku Bralor ​

 

[Venku Bralor]

The togorian pulled the droid towards him, so focused on the task that he didn’t even hear the whistling of the missile. Xan screamed, and Venku heard that. Feet pounded against the ground, thumping their way towards the mandalorian. It was the only warning he got before the cyborg slammed into him, throwing them both back just as the missile crashed through the window.

Fire exploded through the room, blackening the floor and burning the walls. Smoke filled the room and the heat licked at his armor. It leaked past the beskar and through the armorweave, held at bay only by the skinsuit beneath it all. He could almost imagine the painful heat consuming his pelt and shockingly cold ground beneath him. Ground that continued to warm at a dangerous pace. He could almost taste the acrid smoke that buffeted past his visor as it traveled to the ceiling above.

Xan was sprawled on top of him. He clutched Venku with white knuckles as his chest heaved short rapid breaths. Those golden eyes were wide, pupils dilated with adrenaline and no small amount of fear. “Vore!” He thanked her in mando’a. It was a testament to his own state that he didn’t even catch the slip up.

Fire burned around them, a deadly wall of heat and light that enshrouded the couch and the far part of the room. Glass littered the floor and sparks fizzled on the other side of those flames. Sparks… Naasade! He scrambled to his feet, shoving Xan off as he surged towards the burning couch, first on four legs, then on two. The droid was burning, its artificial skin blackening and melting off a twisted metal frame. He pulled the droid away from the fire and ignored the heat that licked at his tail or the liquid plastic that stuck to his gloves. It slammed into the floor and he dragged it from the flames, putting out the few remaining flames. Thank the manda that plastic didn’t burn well.

It was only when the panic left that Venku collapsed back to the ground, beside his burned out copy. Faintly he could hear talking and his hand shot towards his blaster. He had it aimed at the door before the human even walked through and didn’t lower it until it became obvious that he meant no harm. “Who’re you?” His voice was sharp, all business with the high lilt of hysteria. He’d almost gotten blown up, this was no time to make jokes.

Xan Deesa Cartri Keswoll ​