The Bigger you are, the Harder you fall.

[Rosa Gunn]

"Our Could City is compromised of three hundred and ninety two levels and is held afloat by over thirty thousand repulsorlift engines and tractor beams..."

The tour guide was overly cheerful, even for Rosa but the rest of the group were lapping it up, eyes bright with awe as they took in every detail. She'd give the Cloud City credit where credit was due, it was an impressive piece of architecture, but that was not why she was here. She watched a snotty nosed child press its face up against a window as the tour guide, a slightly plump and sparkly toothed blonde began explaining about the work they did.

She'd joined the tour for two reasons, the first was to blend in. She shrank her own force signature, using the signature of those around her to blur the edges. The second was be cause the tour included, an albeit shallow and brief section on the luxury estates. She would loose them there, slipping away unnoticed, just another tourist who got lost.

A bounty had cropped up that caught her eye, a name she hadn't seen or heard since before....well...that wonderful holiday with Darth Isolda and her pals. [member="Darth Orcus"] , though she knew him better as Hion hasn't really done her any wrong directly, but he had been a part of something that had ruined her and a nasty little part of her wanted nothing more than hurt him. He was easy to get to, and there was a pay check involved if she succeeded.

She'd left a note for Seydon with strict instructions to steer clear, though she'd doubt very much that he would, wife slipping away in the dead of night and all that. A part of her, an alter ego she'd buried, chained and boxed let out a gleeful giggle as Rosa slipped away from the group and extended her senses. Hion was not a listener, he was a shouter and she'd no doubt he would be easy enough to locate in the force.

 

[Mammut]

Cloud Nine lived up to its name, a resort city for the wealthy and influential. Famous faces walked the streets, both the ignoble and the fabled. Many were, like the Herglic Hion of Giju, simple corporate executives wishing to settle down in a scenic locale. They would be hard pressed to find a more enchanting vista. If the gentle roar of the waterfalls, the tall spires and the splendor of the domes did not take one's breath away, then looking over the city's edge and staring at an endless fall through Bespin's clouds might heighten the surreality.

A city of angels.

Or perhaps not.

The notorious Sith Lord Darth Orcus made his abode on Cloud Nine, a small estate on a lower level of the tiered wonder. The manor took the form of a rounded dome, with architecture recalling the finer aspects of Theed city. Two hulking Herglics guarded the entry to his far from humble home. Though physically imposing, they wore jocular expressions as they leaned against the marble wall in which the door was set, in the midst of a heated debate. Deep voices rattled the air and carried a bit further than they might have intended.

"Listen here, Wil'y, I been a 'lancer for fifteen years 'fore I worked for Darkwater and in all my time Babusa has never won the Kantuk race."

"Great deeps, Mobe, you aren't reading the statistics. Just look at him. Fastest finishes in the last five races by a minute in the least. A minute! Closest to beatin' him was Algarsh, but he isn't even entered in the Kantuk."

Mobe shook his massive head. "Mark my words, calf, something will go wrong. Something always goes wrong. It's not about the statistics. It's about the money. And I'm bettin' on a blown turbine."

"You be a crazy fish, Mobe. A crazy fish."

Beyond them and the bull Herglic sized door they guarded was the atrium into the manor. Full of fine sea decor and blue lights, with images of waves and beaches heavily scattered throughout the whole.

On the other side of the manor - the side facing the open sky - a small terrace was separated from the main living room by a glass wall. Orcus himself lounged in one of several overlarge chairs on the terrace, staring up at the clouds. He wore a three-piece suit of the deepest blue, though no tie. A discerning eye might recognize the slightly gaudy design of Chase Fashion.

A small ledger rested on a round, kriin-wood table in front of Orcus. He closed big, black eyes and gave a contented sigh.

[member="Rosa Gunn"]

 

[Rosa Gunn]

The resort was beautiful in its own rights, and for a moment she paused to consider whether she could live here. It was away from the core and from the wars that seemed to never end, it was picturesque...but it lacked the sandy beaches she'd grown to love. That and she had reservations about the quality of her neighbours. Their little island on Arda truly was their little Sanctuary. No one bothered them there and their only visitors were the local fisherman bringing them their food for the week. She snapped her attention away from home as a stab of guilt shot through her. She had a job to do, the quicker she did it, the sooner she could be home.

She peered at the entrance to Hion's home, pressed against the wall of the opposite mansion and concealed slightly by shadow she watched the two guards. They would be a problem, even if she got past them she didn't expect Hion to remain quiet, he was after all infamous because of his volume. Kill them. Rosa's eyes widened, surprised that Layil had managed to escape her mental lair. She slammed her alter ego back into a metal box at the back of her mind and took a deep breath. Reaching out in the force she found the minds of the guards, working her way through cracks she planted a very strong suggestion for them to sleep.

Two great thuds followed swiftly after and Rosa moved out from the shadows, crossing the distance between her and the guards in the blink of an eye. Vines trailed along the front wall, she reached her hands to them, encouraging them to grow. She watched them grow rapidly, coiling about the herglic guards lifting them upright and concealing them in great vine pillars. She pulled her lightsaber from her belt and felt a sea of calm wash over her as she opened the door and stepped inside, clicking it shut behind her she moved quietly down the hall, unveiling her presence in the force as she did and with it, the score of souls she'd consumed as Layil.

[member="Darth Orcus"]

 

[Mammut]

Eyes of a fathomless black peeled away from sky-gazing and rolled toward the manor. Wide lips thinned. The Herglic security magnate rolled a shoulder, then preoccupied himself with shuffling the papers in the ledger before him into an orderly stack.

Satisfied, though not nearly content, Orcus leaned back and said in a deep bass that carried, "I can sense you. Why don't you come out onto the terrace?"

A flipper reached inside the jacket and extracted a small device. Orcus struggled for a moment, frowning openly, before managing to click the button. The glass wall slid smoothly up, retracting into the ceiling and exposing the interior of the house. Orcus set the clicker down on the table and licked his lips. They tasted of salt, a lingering remnant from his anchovy snack. He smiled, lips splitting over large, conical teeth.

"Never let it be said that I kept a guest waiting. Your presence seems familiar. Have we met before?"

Orcus could not quite put a face to that caligionus aura. And the aura itself swirled unnaturally, as if many composed the whole. An Ilum, perhaps? Ah, but he had no cause for angry Iron Knights to come bristling at his door. And this presence practically brimmed with hostility.

[member="Rosa Gunn"]

 

[Rosa Gunn]

Plush carpets muffled her steps and she moved across the large living room, unable to stop her eyebrow arcing at the glass wall as it rose smoothly. A small amount of anger bubbled in her chest and she let out a slow breath, releasing it before she stepped over the threshold and onto the terrace. A breeze ruffled her dark hair as she moved into Hion's line of sight.

"Many a time, old friend." She replied, though there was a bitterness in her voice as she uttered the word 'friend'. Layil was screaming for vengeance, pleading with Rosa to skip the niceties and simply kill him. Rosa ignored her. "There's an awfully large bounty on your head, Hion."

[member="Darth Orcus"]

 

[Mammut]

"Hauum. Yes, I believe I remember you, now that I see you clearly. Strange, last time we met you walked in the light."

He smiled as would an indulging patron, comfortable in the sprawl of his wealth and power. A Sith Lord at ease.

"But come now, you came all this way for a petty bounty? I do hope there's at least a tint of vengeance to this sad saga, or are you really so desperate for coin?"

A massive flipper waved dismissively.

"No matter. The price on my head is but a pittance for what I would pay you to simply... walk away."

Caliginous eyes looked past her, at everything and nothing.

"Provided, of course, that my guards are still alive. I do enjoy their company."

[member="Rosa Gunn"]

 

[Rosa Gunn]

Rosa moved to place a hand on the rail of the great terrace. She closed her eyes for a moment, letting the breeze ruffle her hair. "You're right in thinking that there is more to this than money." She spoke calmly . "I was good once, the light was my only path. Even after the life of my unborn child was ripped from me, after my fiancé abandoned me, I never lost my footing. I stayed true to who I was , to what I believed. Now?"

She opened her eyes, letting a little of Layil to seep into her violet eyes, tinting them with red as she looked upon him. "Now I am infested. Unable to reach the light, cursed to walk an eternity along a dark path, less I can rid myself of this creature." Venom began to seep into her voice. "You aided the One Sith in their advancement. Supported the dark lord and the whore that calls herself Isolda." The anger one like bile, burning her insides, darkening her vision.

"They ruined me." She hissed, angry tears in her eyes, she let go and allowed Layil to take control, a smirk appearing on her face as she did.

snap-hiss

[member="Darth Orcus"]