Test Your Might!

[Celiana]

I'd been bathing the stars in blood recently. Probably should flinch at that fact but honestly? It felt really good, I was an assassin before I was ever a Jedi. Now I was a club owner, information broker, dealer in illicit goods, and body bagger. Rolling my neck as I drove my swoop bike towards the central tower I felt the breeze against my cheeks, my platinum blonde hair whipping about in the wind. Agents of Chaos... something I could get behind...plus when there'd been a break of trust with The CIS I'd finished my business with them and erased my existence. I'd followed Scherezade to battle against the Grysk.

Smiling I was still impressed I'd rammed a cruiser with The Morrigan. Not something that would've been endorsed by The Jedi....the tower was quickly approaching and I gunned the engines. The tower loomed overhead as I screeched to a halt. Ominous, imposing...perfect. It reminded me of some of the legendary sea beasts of Manaan. Intriguing design choice... Pulling a set of headphones with cute ears from my seat I fitted them over my head and moved towards the building. Sabers on either hip, mando hidden blade gauntlet, and my handforged force-imbued blade inverted along my back.

Security seemed on edge with my arrival but that was probably normal. I had the sense that someone was waiting for me somewhere in the tower... Flicking through my music I put on a peppy synthtastic song and walked through the doors into the tower...

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

@Celiana​

She adored the Tower. It had not taken long before she was introduced to the giant building, gaining the blueprints to how they were going to build it and making a whole bunch of adjustment. Construction had been quick. Incredibly quick. Scherezade was learning just how fast you could build and create something when you had both the resources and the will. No redundant bureaucracy. No endless waiting. No paperwork. When the Agents of Chaos and Discordia willed something, it was done. The combination of droids, indentured servants, and a few more that they had within the territory that they themselves had constructed, was enough to make it so. Her only hope was that as time passed and they grew, this particular aspect would not change.

And here she was now, standing on the Western tower, the winds of Eve blowing her hair wildly around her face, bringing a happy smile to her lips. Her favorite spot. The very edge, where one mis-step would translate into a drop of over a kilometer, and traffic was still not heavy enough to provide speeders to jump from and slow her descent.

She didn't need it though.

Today, would be a fun day. Of the few that had left the Southern Systems with her was one @Celiana. She'd recruited her into the birds months ago and had earned the woman's relative respect and trust. Oh, there was hardly ever complete trust between spies and assassins. But that was okay. As far as someone you didn't have life altering moments with, there was more trust to go around than one would expect, especially if they knew anything about Scherezade.

She'd called her white haired friend through the Force. Sometimes, it was better not to pick the commlink up and leave a message. Not to mention, this would make the game so much more fun. Celiana was too far for Scherezade's Blood Hound scent to pick up, but she knew the assassin was close. All she had to do now… Was find her.

 

[Celiana]

Smiling as I entered the tower I felt Scherezade calling me through The Force. She had interesting abilities as far as scent was concerned...though I liked a game of cat and mouse. Using The Force to communicate I said "hide and seek but more intense eh Scherezade? Now you only have to find me, good luck I'm not bleeding." When assassins played hide and seek things got intense. I hadn't exactly pitted myself against another assassin in a long while. The fact we considered each other friends made it even more interesting.

I'd picked up on the fact that Scherezade tracked with blood. After having been Force altered following Mandalorians on Eshan I'd undergone some rather....extreme changes. Though I had to say having been exposed to biological agents wasn't exactly fun. Wreathing myself in The Force I disappeared from physical view. If any security had clocked me they'd be rather shocked now, probably slightly panicked too. I'd had a great deal of practice with Force cloak on Kasshyyk...Though I did miss Kachiro beach and actually going out to swim or board. Who knew? Maybe Eve had some kind of resort I could hit up later with Scherezade... Moving through a floor I popped into an empty office and checked my sliced blueprints of the building.

Upper floors would be likely for her. Cocking my head to the side I moved out of the office just as a patrol went through. Ahh the perks of physiological alterations from The Force... Plus after the biological agent I'd been exposed to even if Scherezade had picked up my scent previously now it was completely different. Good luck cya'rika... darting into an empty corridor I started looking for ways to make my way up through the tower. I knew she had the advantage of already being up top, if she was involved in construction in any way or had blueprints then she'd know the ways to climb the tower. Smirking I blew a wisp of platinum blonde hair out of my face. I could always surprise her though.

After this I needed to do something with my hair. Add a little color maybe? Scherezade probably had ideas on what I could do she still had to find me first....

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

[member="Celiana"]​

I thought you had to find me, Scherezade managed to send back before Celiana disappeared in the Force. If her friend wished to play it like that, she was more than welcome to. The Sithling smirked, not bothering to tap into the local surveillance. If Celiana was missing in the Force, she was certainly not appearing on any cameras right now.

It was half a shame though, that her partially-Echani friend had decided to forgo the chance to push Scherezade off a building. Under normal circumstances, she was certain that the majority of people would be more than willing to jump on an opportunity like that. At least, that had always been her experience at the Confederacy. Here though… Things weren't a little better. They were much better. They were almost as though the previous two years did not exist. She still wasn't sure on how to digest it.

With a shrug, she entered the Tower through the wide open glass doors. Still no scent or feel. Celiana was hiding very well today.

Grinning, Scherezade waved her hands, and all fifteen of the knives she had stashed across her body detached from their holsters, settling around her body with the pointy ends edged outwards. She was not a knife-porcupine. And she was ready for whatever her friend would try to do.

 

[Celiana]

Smiling as I heard Scherezade's voice in my head say that she thought I had to find her I kept moving. I'd moved from a floor of offices on up through ventilation ducts...I was silently thankful that I'd taken to free climbing wroshyr trees. Huge amounts of endurance, but well worth it when you had to scale buildings without use of The Force or other devices. Hell of upper body workout too, no wonder I looked as good as I did. If she was on the upper floors then I suppose I could have simply made my way up and shoved her off but with so little in the way of traffic still I didn't exactly want my friend or me to go splat. It'd be dramatic fro sure but I wasn't about to traumatize pedestrians. At least not without reason...

Speaking through The Force I said "You pulling your knife porcupine routine Scherezade?" I'd seen her do such on several ops. It was quite dramatic. That being said I'd practiced against such things before I'd left the Silver Jedi. I'd reached another floor, 27 floors up from where I'd begun. I wondered how any spectators would react should they be privileged enough to see Scherezade and I cross blades. The Masters Council of The Silver Jedi hadn't been too fond of my....experimentation with Force abilities. I doubted Scherezade had any such boundaries...Now though since I'd left?

I was outright dangerous before....Now? Now The Council likely had me on a watchlist. Not that they could bring me in anyways.... I'd surpassed most of their operatives in sheer ferocity and lethality. Kinda what happens when you break out of a prison designed to hold Jedi. The Sith severely underestimated my resolve and as a result some of their initiates had lost far more than simply a hand.

Popping open a ventilation grate soundlessly I scuttled out and silently shut the grate back into place. Patting my left thigh I ensured my compact compound bow was in place along with my quiver across my shoulders. One thing I'd started doing was keeping my weaponry in Force-dead sheathes. As an assassin it made sense too since it made my weaponry almost completely imperceptible to other Force sensitives. Right up until it was too late. Arja would be proud.... I idly wondered who had trained Scherezade. Looking around while cloaked in The Force I felt about, I could feel the bristle of her presence in The Force.

I was thankful that the Echani huntresses had showed me how to cloak my presence in The Force. It made me extremely effective as a huntress in my own right. She had to be above me a few floors but now I'd let her make her way to me. Pulling my bow I knocked an arrow with a phrik arrowhead. She had knives I had a bow let the showdown begin when she found me.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

[member="Celiana"]​

Scherezade made no response as Celiana teased her about the porcupine thing. Dramatic or not, she used it because it worked. It kept her focused, kept her nerves sensitive, and her instincts sharp. It was a tall building though; much more than the 27 floors that Celiana had counted thus, though Scherezade had no way of knowing how many exactly she'd counted. By her calculations, the woman could've taken an elevator to complete some or most of the way, or done part of it manually, or… She was hoping that Celiana hadn't decided to climb the entire thing on her own. That would take so long.

With all of Celiana's Force blocking equipment on her, there was little that Scherezade could do to detect her through the Force. But that was all right. She didn't outright need it for that, not just yet.

When enough time had passed so that Scherezade knew Celiana wasn't gonna bother coming to her, all her knives returned to her body. Moments later, she had located a shadow big enough forher to jump into, and she came out through another one, a few floors below. Was she a bit closer? A lot closer? She had no way of knowing. But it didn't matter.

One knife slid into her hand as she jumped into another shadow, emerging from one a few more floors down. If she was going to have to reach the bottom without finding or being found, Celiana was going to owe her dinner. There was a new steak place that opened up not too far from the Tower.

 

[Celiana]

Smiling as I waited I sensed movement. Narrowing my eyes I realized that it was rapid movement... Even were she using Force Speed that was....remarkably fast movement. I blinked when I realized she was moving whole floors closer to me in seconds. That was....concerning. Though now I knew she had other tricks.... as it was my bow was still drawn. Then a shadow in the corner of the room shifted, and she was in the shadow. That....wasn't something I was familiar with...Oh Scherezade you're gonna have to teach me that trick...I caught the glint of steel in her hand and breathing out I loosed an arrow towards that knife. I knew she had plenty but I was all about taking them away one at a time.

As soon as I'd fired the first arrow I'd nocked and drawn a second one. "So....the shadow traveling is new. You're gonna have to show me that trick Scherezade." Releasing my Force Cloak I came into view. Smiling I said "So how do we decide the winner of this little contest? I reckon dinner and a night out is in order after this." My eyes I no longer hid the illusion around certain people. The bright purple with flecks of red and gold flicked over to her. Let the games begin...

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

[member="Celiana"]​

Scherezade let the first arrow find its home a few inches away from her. She knew Celiana wouldn't shoot anything that would be fatal to her in this place, and she had not wielded the title best pin cushion in the 'verse for nothing for months on end. But now that Celiana released her Force Cloak, getting to her would be so much easier.

"So greedy," the Sithling remarked with a grin, "It's almost as though you've become one of us."

Moving, Scherezade avoided the next arrow, by a much smaller margin than the previous one.

Hidden on her ship, the Blood Hound knew she had an energy bow that she had yet to test. It had been a gift from Discordia, meant for the Sithling to use in her pursuit for game meat rather than for actual combat. It was a slight shame that she had neglected to bring it with her today. But that was all right.

Her hand moving so quickly that it almost seemed like a blur of a motion, Scherezade released one of her knives and tossed it at Celiana. It wouldn’t remove anything overly vital if it hit her.

"Who's covering the food this time?" she asked, throwing knives number two and tree in quick succession, "I do believe it's your turn after Nar Shadaa."

 

[Celiana]

Scherezade's comment of me being greedy elicited a smirk from me. Then she said almost like you're one of us now....Oh she had no idea how true that was. I saw the flick of her wrist and saw a blade fly from her hand. I moved out of the way and heard the first blade shink into the wall. Then she asked who was covering food this time, after Nar Shadaa....feth why did everyone always remember things from Nar Shadaa? Two more knives flew my way. Snatching Scherezade's first knife from the wall I flicked it towards the oncoming knives. clinking off the first knife it ricocheted into the second knife. All of them fell to the floor close to each other.... There was a pause where we locked eyes and I said "What is it with everyone always remembering Nar Shadaa....? But I'm free to take you to dinner Scherezade...."

During the pause I pulled my Sith Sword free of its inverted sheathe.... She'd sense the moment the blade was freed of the sheathe. The blade literally pulsed and dripped Dark Side energy from it.... it took most aback. In the second of realization of what I was unsheathing that I could see registering on her face I darted forward at blinding speed to close the distance between Scerezade and myself....

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Celiana​

"Because you'd rather we did not," Scherezade responded with a grin, her hands readying to grab more knives and hurl them towards Celiana. But instead of the banter resuming, the Echani instead pulled out a Sith sword.

Scherezade paused and lofted a brow. She could sense damn well what that was. "When did you become a Sith?" she asked, eying the blade, "Do I need to get a drop of your blood again to see what's changed?"

Grabbing another knife in her left hand, she did not throw it this time. Instead, the dagger morphed and became the Sword of Darkness. Scherezade blinked, surprised that it had come at all. She had not even attempted to summon it for nearly a year. The sense of dread and suffering in the room became thick enough to be tangible.

"You can buy me dinner," she nodded, still holding the sword, "I can never say no to a good serving of bantha wings."

 

[Celiana]

Her question of when was interesting. "Probably a bit at a time, as I made copies of any and all artifacts I'd been ordered to retrieve for The Council. I wanted to learn things The Jedi didn't teach...." Spinning my blade I saw a dagger become.....A blade of.....darkness....The negative emotions from her blade.... "Interesting blade my friend...."

Taking up a Makashi stance with my blade I waited for her to move she spoke of needing a drop of my blood to see what'd changed. I smirked and said "You're welcome to try....or you could simply ask...." I sensed she'd go with the blood....I couldn't explain it but there was a.....predatory tension. As it was I waited for her to move...

Scherezade deWinter

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Celiana​

"You mean their restrictions in teaching and learning aren't just a myth?" Scherezade asked, eyes going wide for a moment. Of course, she'd heard about it. But just like with many other things that she knew by now were either propaganda results or random myths, she'd somehow assumed that was one of them. Why would anyone limit the learning of others unless they had something to hide?

As for the drop of blood, Scherezade just shook her head. "If I ever do need it, I won't be asking," she smiled sweetly.

With that, the Sithling shook her hand, and the sword dropped. The moment all contact with her skin broke, it turned back into what it had been before; just a small knife. It was but one of the many reasons Scherezade had not yet found a proper way to get the sword checked out. And what it could do.

"Let's go eat," she smiled, "I'm hungry. And on the way, you can tell me why the Jedi were so dumb about keeping information away."