Private The Hunt on Pamarthe

[Vendra Vane]

PAMARTHE
- On the Hunt -

A starfighter exited lightspeed like the blip of a star that just appeared.

"Be wee woo woo..." The ship's flight computer relayed the details of their approach.

Vendra adjusted the systems accordingly. "How are things looking?" She asked.

"Doot doot."

"Yeah... Thought so." She looked at a display that showed multiple problems.

// Power regulator... Failing. //
// Engine One... Malfunction. //
// Engine Two... Overheating. //
// Orbital Sync... Offline. //

"We're going to have to take this one in ourselves," she added.

The computer droned and hummed in resignation and began to help her manually adjust the flight systems for a manual approach. A dangerous feat for even an experienced pilot, doubly so when the engines were either overheating or malfunctioning. As soon as the starship hit the atmosphere it began to rock and and veer dangerously on its descent until finally the ride smoothed out and the vessel glided beneath the clouds.

"Beep boop!" The droid celebrated their continued survival.

Vendra meanwhile focused on taking the ship down further. "Just there, a spaceport. Got us closer than I thought you would." She quipped.

The computer hummed apathetically and assigned flight systems over to the control tower which guided them into a docking bay.

The starport sat in the center of an idyllic island chain, with a pocket of small settlements and structures surrounded by natural beauty. The volume of starship traffic betrayed the sense that this was a small place at all, with smaller watercraft swarming the surface waves, as well. Of course, neither the scene nor the vibes were what brought Vendra to this place. She was on the hunt, in search of a Quarren smuggler who had access to secret routes and starship schedules into and out of Sith Space.

Petra

 

[Petra]

Vendra Vane

The people here were free. The thought circled around Petra's mind for a good while with each city block she inspected out of sheer curiosity. Although they were kept in chains, they were still happy and believed themselves to be free. The truest sign of a fool was someone who would look at this with anything other than awe. These people had no reason, not a single one whatsoever, to stick together and yet a desire for security had allowed someone far above them to group them up and subtly beat them into submission.

Of course, Petra wasn't really here to witness the marvel of wage slavery and the fear of discomfort. As any other reasonable woman of ambition she was here for reasons that were entirely her own. If these people, this gaggle of law-breaking scum had a means to her ends then she was obligated to try and find a way to exploit it for her own good.

One such man, one 'Bobaar Free' was here on this planet, most likely doing whatever it was that lesser beings did together when they thought they had escaped through the cracks unnoticed by those far, far above them.

It was just a matter of finding him. The less people that knew why Petra was here the better and to that end she had refused to ask anyone around for help. It put people on edge, made them antsy. Rumors of a Sith advance party spread across the colony like wildfire and in truth she had done very little to quell it.

The more scared Bobaar was, the easier he would be to find.

 

[Vendra Vane]

Vendra's starship touched down with some excitement, a rough but safe landing, and was immediately greeted by techs and mechanics to take care of all its basic needs. The Dark Jedi stepped out of the vessel and gave the smoking rear a quick glance, then looked over to one of the mechanics.

"The power regulator and engines need to be looked like." She tossed some credit chits their way. "Be quick about it, yeah?"

She had no time to be thorough in her explanation and stormed out of the docking bay with a hunter's intent. As soon as she stepped out into the crowded street, however, her demeanor softened. She had to think and consider what her quarry's next move would be. She's been around enough smugglers before, and probably at times constituted as one herself, not to mention much of the company she kept were of such vocations.

With a look to the right and a glance to the left, she considered the movement of traffic and looked for visual clues. A smuggler has a ship. So the spaceport was an obvious place to look or ask around. They rely on clientele and information, even if they were here for another job, like merchants many smugglers wanted to maximize their runs. So a seedy cantina or black market might be the call, too.

She opened a channel with her ship's computer. "Monitor spaceport traffic. Tag the signatures of any departing freighters." A wide net but a failsafe just in case. Maybe she could find out their starship model if she asked around.

Then the Dark Jedi began to search for anything resembling a shady dive or black market. All the while failing to minimize her presence in the force as always.

Petra

 

[Petra]

Vendra Vane

It was like looking for an ember in a fire. Sith were never good news and for good reason too. The all too common mass murderers lingered in their numbers after all. Kainites bent on ruling through something so crude as fear, Tsis'kaar thinking the best shadow is a deadly shadow, it was all so petty and pointless, cowardly even. A true ruler knew that despite it all, the Alliance actually had the right idea of it. Now, the very thought in itself was nauseating to any hardcore Sith, but if you looked beneath the surface, what did you see?

A power couple consisting of two lovers dictating a whole holy order along with the few deemed 'worthy' enough to rule alongside them.

A chancellor married to another force user who just so happened to be on said 'Council'?

No, it might have called itself a democracy, but this was a theocracy hidden in plain sight. Petra's ambition laid in that, in mimicking the very idea of not taking the people's liberties away but rather have them give it away for free under the pretense of 'safety', just like tonight's prey did amongst the company of his so-called friends.

With each block rounded she felt the burning gazes of a dozen souls set upon her, each lasting no longer than the next before they went back to whatever it was that they were doing. A woman patching a coat, a child kicking a ball, and a man standing in an alleyway clearly sizing her up for a moment before freezing in place as his eyes meet hers.

That's a bingo.

He set off in a sprint and Petra set off after him in turn. No force spent just yet. The hunt was just as much fun as the kill after all. The hypothetical that is, she still had no intention of leaving this place one corpse richer.

 

[Vendra Vane]

Vendra climbed up onto the rooftops, and as luck would have it, she saw the familiar image of her quarry unless it was just another Quarren, which would have been embarrassing. Still, his proximity, twitchy behavior, and full-flight run told her otherwise. The Dark Jedi began to jump across the rooftops to try and cut the distance, oblivious to his pursuer below.

Such an error in spatial awareness cost her the pursuit. As soon as Vendra jumped down into the Alley below, she was suddenly tackled by what appeared to be a young woman.

"Gahh!" Vendra cried out as she fell into the dusty street. As instinct, she reached out to grab the woman's ankle. "He's getting away, thanks to you!"

The frustrated Mirialan climbed back to her feet and scanned the surroundings for the Quarren, who appeared to have gotten the slip on them, then turned her attention back to the small redhead.

"Explain yourself, quickly." She demanded with arms crossed.

Petra

 

[Petra]

Vendra Vane

There were only so many ways you could take an unexpected fall with any sense of grace intact. One moment Petra was quick on her feet and in the next she was planting her face in the ground with a loud oof and thud.

"Like hell he is." She growled and tried to pull herself up on her feet again, but whoever it was that had tripped her quickly wrapped their hand around her ankle. Petra jerked herself free from the grip.

They both got back on their feet and Petra got herself reacclimated with the situation, and what she saw was frustrating to say the least. Cocky little chit, thinking Petra had to explain why she was after her friend.

The Sith wrapped the force around the interloper's neck to bash it and her against the nearby wall.

"Where is he going?" She demanded. "Where's your hideout?"

 

[Vendra Vane]

The sudden pressure around Vendra's neck drew memories of her training.

Master Mahl used to subject her to rigorous attacks, psychological torture, and other experiences, both physically and through the Force. It took a second for the panic to wash over her before that familiar training, those honed instincts, kicked in like the rush of adrenaline.

She let go of her own throat, from a violent cough to a captured breath, and began to step forward. "Let... Go!" The Force permeated from Vendra's body, giving strength to her stature that resisted any attempt to bash her against the wall. She bent the influences off of her throat and body.

The Mirialan held up the palm of her hand, which was visibly scarred and blistered over from an overzealous use of force blocking techniques. She did so not as a means to attack but to subdue the energy they both tugged at. Like pulling individual threads from the yarn that was the Force until any influence over it broke down in the spaces between them.

"I don't know anything about a hideout." Vendra took a deep breath, "I wouldn't have to chase him if I did."

"Who in the karkin' Netherworld are you?"

Petra

 

[Petra]

Vendra Vane

Competition. Petra scowled and spat on the ground before she wiped the rest of the dust from her face. If this woman was here seeking the same thing that Petra did then there was only a matter of time before this man, this 'Bobaar' got found by the Sith Order as well. His use to her was counted in days if not hours at best.

"That's none of your concern." The redhead grunted and jumped back. "Run back home, the Sith Order will have their dues from this man. Don't concern yourself any further."

That was all she needed to say. Any sane individual would know to turn their back and run away at such a threat.

Of course, this Mirialan appeared to be anything but reasonable. Her insistence on talking while their target was getting away was proof of that. Petra groaned, kept herself from rolling her eyes before she set off in another sprint, just ever so slightly boosted through the force to make up for lost time.

 

[Vendra Vane]

"What a weirdo," Vendra muttered to herself after the small woman ran off.

She reached up to scratch away the sensation of a phantom's grip around her throat, which still lingered. Now that the target had gotten away and knew he was being chased, it didn't make sense to keep up such an obvious pursuit. The Dark Jedi had to think for a moment. She looked around and then noticed a beggar in a nearby corner.

Ven kneeled in front of him and offered him a handful of stims. "Use them, sell them, just answer my question, yeah?"

He looked up to her and blinked. His thoughts had been somewhere else. "Uh, sure, yeah..." He reached to grab the stims.

Ven withheld one but let him snatch the other. "I'm on the run and need somewhere to lie low. Preferably somewhere I can make some like-minded connections. Where do I go around here? Needs to be nearby and in sight of the spaceport."

The man pondered the question and considered the stimulants, both the one he held and the other she kept onto. After a short while, he nodded a few times and spoke. "Jun Jun's."

"Jun Jun's?" She asked with a quizzical expression.

He swiped the second stim and then pointed in a direction. "Keep that way, small building with red and yellow graffiti. Tell them you're looking for your sister, and they'll let you in... for a price," he chuckled dryly.

With those instructions in mind, the Mirialan stood back up and began her impatient march down the street and in the direction of Jun Jun's. She hoped her hunch was right and that it would be exactly the kind of place he'd dive into to avoid his pursuers. More than that, she hoped the small redhead would've gotten lost by then.

Petra

 

[Petra]

Vendra Vane
Benefit of the force was that you could just latch onto things the more you got to know it, the more aware of its presence that you got. Bobaar was one big hotpot of fear that stood out amongst the rest of these sorry saps like a rock in stormy waters. He would wade in and out of existence, but each reveal just asserted his presence the longer he went on.

Petra stopped by a door and read the sign above: Jun Jun. There were people here. A bouncer, a few drunkards trying to help each other up and failing miserably, and the trail left by Bobaar in his retreat.

"Club's closed for non-members." The bouncer spoke with a voice like gravel on glass. "Come back later."

"I am a member." Petra was quick to point out, her hand clenching ever so slightly as she leaned back and folded her arms. "You will want to let me in."

"No, I don't." The trandoshan chuckled back. "Run along before—"

Five fingers to his skull, piercing blue eyes staring into slitted yellows. A brief yelp of surprise and a groan of uneasiness.

"This is a mercy. You don't want to die for this man." Petra growled as she plunged deeper into the recesses of his mind to dig up regrets and tear open the wounds of the past. "You have a lot to go home and think about."

The reptilian let out a staggered breath before he sprinted out of sight.

Entry: Gained.

 

[Vendra Vane]

Petra's relentless pursuit kept her ahead of the Dark Jedi, for now. Vendra only caught a glimpse of her before the woman disappeared into Jun Jun's.

Inside betrayed the plain, unseemly exterior. It was hot and humid, with an array of exotic off-world plants littered like jungle foliage, and powerful greenhouse lights. A singular protocol droid did its rounds to water the plants, which seemed pointless given the extensive network of water sprinklers and hoses connected to sensors and controllers.

Likely, then, one would need to pass a secondary security check or know exactly where to go and what to do to find the smuggler's club somewhere further inside. Being a step behind the curve was the lesser challenge, however, as plants were far from the only exotic lifeforms that made their home in this place. Several walls were lined with the branches of Olbio trees. How the infamously fickle plant found its way out here and survives would be beyond all but the most expert botanists, yet here they were, and accompanied by their equally peculiar companion.

With the small colony of lizards so centrally located, any force user would notice a startling block in their connection. As if to answer the question of why, the walls were marked with graffiti that read 'the only good Sith is a dead Sith' followed by various expletives and the crude depiction of dead Sith Lords. To make matters more interesting--if not potentially worse--another creature lurked deeper within, which could be noticed in the form of an uncanny feeling.

Jun Jun's was no mere safehouse, it was an entire enclave designed to be free from Sith influences. Such places began to sprout up wherever the Sith expanded. Resistance was inevitable, no matter how ruthless the occupation, particularly as so many Sith regimes have risen and fallen in the last many decades.

Vendra cautiously approached the entrance, and as soon as she did, the Mirialan noticed something was off. Her own sense of strength grew weaker as the Dark Jedi had become so accustomed to force augmentations of her physical characteristics. Strength, speed, unnatural resistance, and survivability were so familiar to her that without them, she felt utterly strange. There was also this unusual sensation at her hip, like the lightsaber she carried was afraid, that it vehemently resisted her insertion into the smuggler's den.

Still, she went, now some number of steps behind Petra and the man they both hunted.

Petra