Private Red lit meeting

[Darth Anathemous]

Location: Nar Shaddaa, Red Light Sector
Wearing: Outfit + Gloves
Tag: Vestra Tane

Heels clicked and music blared.

Darth Anathemous surveyed the red light sector club with golden eyes that shone even through the haze of neon for which this place was named. Nar Shaddaa had changed since her last visit, so much more lively under Black Sun rule. In the past she might have cursed the Haxion Brood's competitors, looked upon this world with jealous zeal, but of course the Brood was gone and the Sith Brotherhood who controlled them scattered.

Now she saw it for what it was; opportunity.

She'd come here to meet with a stranger who was both customer and client, as was often the case in underworld dealings.

What this atypical however, was that they had approached her.

This fascinated her.

And so her inhuman gaze softened when at last she spotted booth #43, their proposed meeting place. It was a good spot, nestled into a far corner that was a littler dimmer and a little quieter than the others, composed of an oval table and cushioned seating that wrapped around one side.

The coat hanging from her broad shoulders swayed as she came to a stop.

"Do they serve corellian twist?" she narrowed her eyes on the person before her.

It wasn't a real drink, just a passphrase to confirm her identity and that of the contact.

Kaila had taken all manner of risks to satisfy personal curiosities.

Identity theft was not one them.

​

 

[Vestra Tane]

LOCATION: NAR SHADDAA, RED LIGHT SECTOR
TAGS: Darth Anathemous

Arrogance. Raw, stupid arrogance. That's all this was; some dumbass junkie's plan to dig herself into an early grave.

So why was said junkie so giddy? It wasn't the spice - she'd been off the stuff for a few days a this point. The shakes had even started to go away. Maybe the old witch stuck in that Holocron had finally started to rub off on her.

"Nah. They don't even have any good squigwine here." The criminal jerked her head, gesturing to the seat across from her. If she was scared, she was doing a good job at hiding it. Her smile was friendly, her posture relaxed...she'd even set out drinks. Cheap as chit drinks, sure, but still.

It was all an act, of course. A very valiant act, admittedly, but an act all the same. Beneath the veneer of professionalism, beneath the genuine but shallow glee, there was bone-deep terror. She was, she knew, swimming with something way, way worse than any shark.

It was why she was off the spice, to keep her head clear. It was why she'd chosen a window seat, and it was why, every few seconds, she flexed her right hand and listened to the soft, mechanic whirr of a trihexalon cartridge being primed. Just in case. Just in case.

Vestra raised her glass, left handed, and raised her gaze, too, to get a good look into the Sith's eyes -

And the act slipped, for just a split second. For that fraction of a fraction of time, the criminal's dread was naked, raw, plain on her face...

"Never done business with a Darth before." And just as quick, everything was back to normal. Same sleazy glint in her eye. Same used speeder salesman charm.

"But I think I can be a very valuable asset, if you'll hear me out."

There. A little bit of humility. It didn't come naturally to her, but it couldn't hurt.

 

[Darth Anathemous]

Location: Nar Shaddaa, Red Light Sector
Wearing: Outfit + Gloves
Tag: Vestra Tane

Her freckled features softened some.

She sat across from her, just out of reach. Enough to give space.

Still she searched the scoundrel's expression and body language as she was trained to, now more habit than anything. She was good, Kaila had to admit, but the way her hand repetitively flexed, that briefest glimpse behind the mask, Kaila had made a career out of noticing these things.

It looked like fear. Tasted like it too.

"Never done business with a Darth before." And just as quick, everything was back to normal. Same sleazy glint in her eye. Same used speeder salesman charm.

"But I think I can be a very valuable asset, if you'll hear me out."

The young Darth allowed a faint curl to form on her lips, removing her coat, reclining with her arms sprawled out. Away from potential weapons of course, not that she needed one. Instead she was trying to send a subtle message as to her intent.

"You're a bold one to do so, though I like a certain amount of bold."

Her voice was softer now, but accented in a way typical for most Sith of her station.

"It's got me... curious, which tends to be profitable for most,"

"If-" she raised a gloved finger "You play your cards right."

​

 

[Vestra Tane]

LOCATION: NAR SHADDAA, RED LIGHT SECTOR

TAGS: Darth Anathemous

"So. Darth Anathemous. Governor of Echnos." There was a short but tense silence between each snippet of speech, as if Vestra was waiting for a telekinetic backhand, or for her windpipe to suddenly collapse. "Nothing on your side of the Wall is easy to find, but I did my research."

Then there was another pause. This time, it was to calculate. What kind of person, exactly, was Darth Anathemous? Self-serving, obviously. More than anything, that was what it meant to be Sith. Driven, if she was a Lord. And what angle worked best? The Sith had already said she liked boldness, to a degree...

"On paper, I'm an antiquities dealer, but what I do is I find what people want - or what people don't want me to find - and I get it. Weapons, ships, secrets, people - and I'm good at it. I've boosted treasure from Sith vaults and gotten away with it, and I've scraped code certs from Imperial bureaucrats without them ever finding out."

Now the fear was gone - maybe not from her heart, but at least from her demeanor. Even the little hints, the breaks in the facade, had disappeared. She wasn't slinking into her seat, or entertaining the faux relaxation she had been earlier. No, she was animated, talking rapidly, gesturing with her hands - this was sales, and pitching a sale was second nature to Vestra at this point. It was all her sense of self-preservation could do to keep her from standing up and - very foolishly - attempting to tower over the Sith Lord. Thankfully, self-preservation won out over showmanship.

"I can do that for you, Lord Anathemous, and I can do it discreetly...and I think my asking price is entirely reasonable."

Finally, she seemed to have calmed down a little, and swiped her glass close to herself. Notably, she had yet to say what her asking price was.

 

[Darth Anathemous]

Location: Nar Shaddaa, Red Light Sector
Wearing: Outfit + Gloves
Tag: Vestra Tane

The shift was as peculiar as it was delectable.

Kaila leaned forward, elbow to the table and chin resting upon her wrist. Vestra had the young Darth's undivided attention, listening carefully to her every word. She sounded experience, but the Sith wondered if she was hearing passion between the lines, or just a practiced speech born of necessity.

Her lips pursed and thoughts swirled behind those eyes, but she never took them off her.

"It's an impressive résumé," she admitted.

"Though I wonder how at risk my own vaults would be, having you around."

Kaila gave her a knowing smirk, reclining some to sip her own drink.

"Either you sought me out in particular because I am your only hole in the wall, or you've heard that I too am a collector of 'antiquities', in which case this is a set up to get inside my walls."

"A great asset, or a great risk."

Another sip, another moment taken to consider.

She hid her reaction but there was the barest twitch in her lip as the flavor touched her tongue.

"So..." her tongue clicked.

"What exactly do you hope to gain?"

​

 

[Vestra Tane]

LOCATION: NAR SHADDAA, RED LIGHT SECTOR

TAGS: Darth Anathemous

"If I wanted to rob you, then it'd be pretty fucking stupid of me to walk up and tell you how good I am at it. Besides, I don't want to rob you." Vestra shrugged, then. If it stung her pride to be mistrusted, it didn't show - backstabbing was part of the business, after all.

"What I want," Vestra looked the Sith in the eye, nerves steeled, and raised a finger. "First of all, is power. The Syndicate's looking to do business in Sith Space," she paused, for half a breath, to knock back the rest of her drink and then recline in her half of the booth. "And it'd be a lot easier for us to do that if we had a friendly port of entry. Second..." Vestra's voice trailed for a second, and then...something changed.

A spike of tension, hanging in the air. A flux in the Force. Three booths away, some poor bastard's handle of revnog exploded in his face. And all the while, Vestra sat, outwardly calm, while the barest hint of sulfur-yellow crept into her eyes.

"I want Power. The kind that really matters."

 

[Darth Anathemous]

Location: Nar Shaddaa, Red Light Sector
Wearing: Outfit + Gloves
Tag: Vestra Tane

"You'd be surprised." she chuckled dryly.

Still, the girl had a point. Maybe that warning was necessary when she was an apprentice, but now?

Kaila wasn't so appetizing a target as before, and she'd worked hard to make it so. Maybe after all this time, it was finally starting to pay off. The young Darth relaxed some, allowing her gaze to wander while she sipped away.

What I want," Vestra looked the Sith in the eye, nerves steeled, and raised a finger. "First of all, is power. The Syndicate's looking to do business in Sith Space,"

She glanced back in time to hold her gaze, brows perked with curiosity.

So she's Black Sun? The real deal, not just a petty thief. It made sense with a skillset like that. It also meant this deal was potentially more lucrative than she thought. Her lips pursed, visibly considering until a spike of dark energy drew her attention elsewhere.

She caught the sound of shattering glass almost before it happened, but the source was...

And all the while, Vestra sat, outwardly calm, while the barest hint of sulfur-yellow crept into her eyes.

"I want Power. The kind that really matters."

Kaila chewed the inside of her lip in thought, and slowly nodded. The evening was shaping up to be more interesting than she thought, but now she needed to take it seriously.

She needed to take Vestra seriously.

"Alright, I'll bite."

"You want to wield the dark side better, I take it? enough that you're willing to risk meeting a Darth. That takes courage."

The sith glanced around, then folded her arms against the table. Her posture was different though, softer than before, like the look in her eye. Some might consider it uncharacteristic of a dark lord, but Vestra had picked one of the stranger Darths.

Are you asking for a teacher or just lessons?"

"Something dedicated, long term, or something faster, an introduction into the arts?"

"You're free to start at your own pace, of course, or leave, once our contract is fulfilled." she said softly.

But her jaw tightened some, just not at her.

"I'm not looking to own somebody."

​

 

[Vestra Tane]

LOCATION: NAR SHADDAA, RED LIGHT SECTOR

TAGS: Darth Anathemous

Again, Vestra paused. It wasn't just this Sith's peculiarity - if you were a Lord of the Sith, you got to act however you wanted, she figured. No, it was the deal. Too clean, too fair, too reasonable for her to trust it.

"Alright..." She let a little incredulity creep into her voice. "It's a better deal than fighting to the death at the end, I guess, and I could use a teacher."

Vestra looked down at the table, and tapped metal fingers against synthetic wood. For a few long seconds, she just sat there and thought.

And then, finally,

"I know the basics. I speak a little Sith. I know the Code, if you care about that. I probably won't be as reverent," Somehow, she made the word sound like an insult, "as some Korriban Academy brat. But none of them are Black Sun agents."

 

[Darth Anathemous]

Location: Nar Shaddaa, Red Light Sector
Wearing: Outfit + Gloves
Tag: Vestra Tane

"Oh please, I'm not some Banite." she scoffed.

What a useless cycle that would be, training somebody to kill her, destroy everything they'd built and start over.

Maybe the girl didn't believe her intentions yet, that was fine, gods know she was still trying to figure hers out in kind. It would take time to trust one another, but the young Darth was willing now, picking up those little things they shared.

Like that sound.

Her eyes wondered toward those fingers, padded in flesh of sorts, but there was a familiar weight behind every tap.

Kaila tapped the rim of her glass, producing a similar sound.

"I know the basics. I speak a little Sith. I know the Code, if you care about that. I probably won't be as reverent," Somehow, she made the word sound like an insult, "as some Korriban Academy brat. But none of them are Black Sun agents."

"Reverent?" she smiled some.

"Neither was I, when I began."

"It is good that you know the code, I do care. There are as many interpretations of our code as there are Sith. Whether or not you revere it, it is the foundation we all share in common."

"You will have your own, I am sure, whether my teachings influence it or not."

She glanced at that hand again, then curiously at Vestra.

"We already share a thing or two in common. A prosthetic, I think?"

"How'd you come by it?"

​

 

[Vestra Tane]

LOCATION: NAR SHADDAA, RED LIGHT SECTOR

TAGS: Darth Anathemous

"Oh, this?" Vestra looked, dispassionately, at her arm, and flexed it. She smiled a little; she'd grown pretty fond of the sound of whirring servos.

"I got hired to boost an antique Sith wayfinder from some rich playboy." She flexed her arm again, and this time the synthflesh quivered and separated into neat little panels lining her arm. "Except the security was all Sith." A small, wheezing little huff-laugh followed. It still felt unbelievable to her. "I'm fuzzy on what happened next. I know that some fishman hacked my arm off. I know I caved his skull in for it. Someone on the crew gave me something to keep me on my feet, and..."

A pause, and a shrug...and then a snicker.

"And next thing I know, I'm laying on the floor of my ship, and Vee's rolling around, panicking, trying to stitch my guts back together with cabling."

She sighed, dreamily, like she was remembering a nice family trip to Niamos instead of something mind-shearingly traumatic. Idly, she picked at one of the panels on her arm, peeling it back to reveal the white metal underneath.

 

[Darth Anathemous]

Location: Nar Shaddaa, Red Light Sector
Wearing: Outfit + Gloves
Tag: Vestra Tane

Kaila had heard that laugh before.

On the lips of soldiers after near a death experience.

Troopers who'd narrowly dodged a sniper, veterans who knew the model of incoming artillery by the sound it made over their heads. It was a humorless laugh, but it calmed one's nerves in the face of something unbelievable.

Or maybe the girl was just disturbed, who knows.

She wore a sympathetic frown, nodding slowly.

While they were talking, Kaila began to roll up her sleeve. The black silk slowly gave way to oddly smooth skin, all the way up until her strong bicep, which had been riddled in jagged scars where stitches had healed poorly and multiple times. The scars wrapped in near perfect circles round the whole width of her arm.

"It's a little different, I'll admit," she began hesitantly.

"The flesh is real, but the bone is metal from head to toe."

Not quite cybernetic, nor had she explained the scars, but it was a start.

Whether she knew it or not, Vestra had gained some respect from the lord of Echnos.

"Who's this 'Vee' character, If you don't mind my asking? is that your BB-unit or something?"

Her tone was curious. Perhaps the thief enjoyed similar companionship as herself?

​