The Instigator and The Scientist [Valik]

[Nisha Decrilla]

Arkanis Sector
Orbit of Doldur

Anaya's fingers drummed against the arm of the pilot chair, her companion stiff and silent at her side. Valik was one of her more interesting conquests, the effect of glitterstim combined with the raging pheromones that flooded the streets of Zeltros had made him one of her more exciting lovers. Lips curled into a smile and she swivelled the chair to face him, bare feet rising to rest on his legs.

"Listen carefully Vee, because this won't work if you don't." Fingers flashed across the control panel to bring a miniaturised hologram of a man to life. It rotated slowly, figures flashing underneath it, detailing a hefty bounty placed by Omega Pyre. "A few weeks ago, Omega took control of Maramere, they shut down the trihexalon mine and seized what is believed to be all of the substance and sealed it away. They've deemed it 'unsafe' and 'immoral'," she smirked, of course they were right, but the less moral side of the galaxy were raging "This man, is the captain of what was a large group of pirates that were using trihexalon to...shall we say, make their lives easier. The group is now very small, one ship. One ship in dire need of repairs and crew. He has in his possession, six vials of trihexalon and I. Want. Them."

She rose from the seat, deactivating the hologram she moved from the bridge padding to her personal quarters, beckoning Valik to follow. She began to strip from her slacks and long sleeved top, uncaring of the effects it would have on Valik, flashing him sly smiles. "The plan is simple. We land, you play the engineer with a lot of credits You will offer them me in return for trihexalon." She redressed in the outfit that he had seen her on on Zeltros. Short skirt, corset and boots. "They will refuse, and you will negotiate credits and keep the leader busy while I play with the other minds."

Ultimately the goal was simple, obtain the trihexalon without spending a penny, smear another pirate band off the face of the galaxy and let Valik play master with her for a change.

@[member="Valik"]

 

[Valik]

Valik himself silent as the kiffar and the twi'lek made their way to orbit the planet of Doldur, a quiet little world in the bombshell that was space between the Confederacy and the Protectorate. Truth be told, he didn't trust himself around the twi'lek after giving into his more . . . primitive desires at Zeltros, but there were no pheromones or drugs toying with Valik's mind and perceptions today. At least he didn't think so, the tart might have snuck something that he hadn't noticed, but he was about 80 or so percent sure he was in the right frame and state of mind.

That being said, though Anaya Fen was on a short list of people Valik was weary of, that didn't stop his desire to work with her. She had a certain talent for causing chaos, which combined with the promise of experimenting with some sort of pathogen was enticing, to say the least. More than that however he wished to examine the twi'lek's methodology, her play. Before Zeltros he hadn't recognized the usefulness in manipulation through social means, but at Zeltros Anaya exhibited considerable control over many zeltrons, not to mention admittedly himself for a while.

As they arrived at their destination Anaya turned to face Valik, putting her feet on his legs before addressing him by what many would call a 'pet' name. It seemed touch was one of her primary weapons, with her toying and affectionate tone being the next. He pondered on this briefly before the twi'lek mentioned Trihexalon, and nearly instantly his mind proceeded to what sort of devious machines and toxins he could manufacture with such a substance. One ship, understaffed and understocked, but with six vials of the precious material. So many possibilities, but first thing was first. He needed to get those vials.

Slowly ruffling her feet across his legs she put them back unto the floor before rising up and leaving the pilots seat, motioning for Valik to follow. He joined her as the two reached the twi'lek's private quarters, where the lethan promptly changed her clothes into a more fitting outfit, flashing smiles at the alchemist as he was bit surprised at her disrobed appearance. During such time she explained that he'd be the businessman with the resources, bidding to trade the trihexalon for Anaya herself, a clever ploy considering the ubiquity of twi'leks on the slave market and Anaya's considerably underestimated skillset. While Anaya put the finishing touches on zipping her boots and tieing her corset Valik too was making an aesthetic change, shifting his appearance from a young caucasian kiffar to a slightly older man with a much darker skin tone. One of the benefits of being one of the more skilled Alchemists in the galaxy, changing your own appearance on a genetic level with a haste unseen by cosmetic surgery.

"I'll have no trouble playing the role you require, though I prefer not show my true face to a band of brigands." He said, with a bit of a grin as he turned for a moment to leave the woman's quarters and proceed to the matters at hand. Before he reached the exit however he turned back for a moment, looking back at the Sith. "Tell me, do you prefer to wear a red coat tonight? If you wish I could change it to a blue or a green or any manner of things, and return you to your crimson hue upon completion of our work."

@[member="Anaya Fen"]

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya closed the gap between them as he paused in the doorway, fascinated by his new appearance. She circled him smirking "This is precisely why I brought you along, Vee." she purred "Full of ideas to solve minor problems. They will not know what has hit them. I think, I would like to be blue." She planted a firm kiss on his lips and closed her eyes, allowing him to work his alchemy, altering her physical appearance. Tattoos faded, her lethan skin became that of a rutian. She opened her eyes when the strange sensation stopped, revealing green eyes instead of red.

Drawing back she admired her new skin in a full length mirror. "Perfect." she said softly. "Now, Master" she said slipping easily into her role. "Perhaps it is time we landed and contacted our supplier?" She moved gracefully back towards the bridge slipping once more into the pilots chair, switching off the auto pilot she took them into the planets atmosphere, keeping an eye on the scanners as they hunted for the pirate ship. Half an hour and she found the signature she was looking for and pointed Valik to the communicator.

"Time to play." she suggested with a smile.

@[member="Valik"]

 

[Valik]

Blue she wanted, and the twi'lek closed her eyes and leaned forward to give him a kiss on the cheek, but Valik had other plans, a new method to experiment and view the results. So he turned his head as she came and pressed his lips to hers as he wrapped his arms around her back, one wandering up to her shoulderblade and the other wandering down to the patch of leg at the tip of her thighs, above her boots and under skirt. With the three points of contact he began to alter the woman's biology to match her request of blue, literally from the inside out in the case of her skull, and when the process was done he held just a little longer before releasing her to examine his work.

Ultimately futile, he wasn't going to best the twi'lek in manipulations of the social manner, at least not now, but it would be important for him to gauge her reactions and analyze them to see if what he had done would work or not in the future. A complicated little game, but for new methods of provoking others to carry out his desires? Worth it without a doubt. She admired his work, herself as well he suspected, before the two went back to the bridge and landed the ship, searching for various comm signatures until they found the unsavory men they were looking for.

"Time to play." Anaya said and looked at him with a smile, which Valik returned with his maddened grin. To think by the end of the day six trihexalon vials would be his to play with, even to further the twi'lek's schemes and not his own, were tantalizing. He opened up a channel to the ship in question and hit the comm, ready to begin this verbal dance of death and deeds.

"Hello there captain, this is Keith Law and I have heard rumors you might possess some . . . interesting resources. I'd like to discuss some sort of trading agreement, let me liquify those goods for you a bit. Can I meet you planetside so we can discuss this in person?"

@[member="Anaya Fen"] @[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

@[member="Valik"] @[member="Anaya Fen"]
Soon enough there would be a transmission back to Valik
"Resources, ey? What kind of resources are ye talking about Law? I'm not much of a fan of yer last name to be 'onest, sounds to me like a police name. If this be about the cargo we taken last month, fugget about it, we have no time for tradin' and it be long gone."
There was a crack of interruption as the transmission ended before continuing on
"Try the peddler merchants back on Tatooine, and we 'ave no time to be goin' drinking right now."
Because "liquifying" meant something else in pirates' vocabulary than it meant in Valik's

 

[Valik]

Blasted pirates. Valik reopened a channel to the men and decided to stop dancing around the issue, instead taking a more blunt approach. "Captain, I'm a man who decided 'legitimate business' was a bit too limited for what I wanted to accomplish. I can provide you with money, whether in credits or precious gems, weapons, drugs, ID's, and even more exotic pleasures." He said to the Pirate ship, infiltrated by @[member="HK-36"].

"There are many ways I can help make your lives easier captain, and all it will take is a few little vials." He tempted.

 

[HK-36]

@[member="Valik"]
There came a pause from the pirate ship, most clearly there was a bit of discussion or argument aboard the pirate vessel, arr pirates enjoy debates arr.
However, there did came a response finally
"Stop beating around the bush, lad, if ye be talking about the vials we think ye be talking about, ye name yer offerings, and they be better good offerings."
The transmission crackled in a short intermission
"This vials be one of better things that happen to come upon us, so ye be offering quite the treasures, once yer offering be satisfactory, there be a small raiding base nearby we can meet at for transaction, so ye speak."
The transmission crackled once more as it came to an end, awaiting response from Valik

 

[Valik]

Valik smiled. He'd gotten their attention at least. They'd of course brought credits, and gems, and Valik found making weapons and ID's to be rather simple with his skills, so presenting the goods wouldn't be a challenge, but that wasn't his ace in the hole.

"As I said before captain I can pay you in cash, stones, weapons, drugs, get you and your crew new ID's to whatever system you want to explore. " Valik said, before pausing a moment, as if contemplating whether or not to make a decision. "I also might be convinced to part with the finest Rutian slave this side of Ryloth." He said, sounding a bit doubtful in his words, a credit to how valuable he perceived the slave.

"I'm rather negotiable in how you're paid, provided I get my share. I'll head over to the raiding station, and when you're ready with your terms I'll be glad to see you join me." He said, and motioned to @[member="Anaya Fen"]. She'd be playing her part soon.

@[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

@[member="Valik"] @[member="Anaya Fen"]
//Sorry it took so long to get around to his, busy life D:, I hope it will not be just a fight between Valik, Anaya, and the pirates, I came up with a sorta backstory for them //
There was another pause of calculation and discussion on the pirate's part before they responded
"We ain't no want no drugs or slaves, keep yer prisoners on yer ship, we may be pirates but we ain't gonna have more than we gathered on our tail if the Omegas of Feds catch up with us, it be too risky to own or friend a slaver in these parts of the Galaxy."
It was true, the Black Suns were the only faction who did not hunt slavers like pests in the Outer Rims where this group worked, pirates, sure they could still get by without whole fleets after them, but slavers, for killing those one would get a nice reward and respect points.
"Bring yer creds and identities, everything else ye may as well keep aboard, we ain't have no interest in 'em no more, not in these parts, no sir."
And with that the coordinates to the pirate base would be sent.

The base was not too big, at least not on the surface, it was on an unnamed desert planet, in a rock outcropping. There was a small hidden landing pad with a shuttle already there, seems the main pirate vessel was hidden elsewhere, and a room for another shuttle, the one Valik and Anaya was to presumably use to come to the surface.
Other than that, it just seemed like a collection of rocks, at least from above. However, with closer inspection it revealed that the base had a hidden doorway and other now closed ports, probably from which turrets were ready to pop out during an attack.
Small camera could be seen above the closed doorway, there were few more hidden cameras monitoring the area.

Surely, once Valik and Anaya would be ready to land, the doorway would open when they would step in front of it.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya pursed her lips as the communicator cut off, the coordinates flashing across her screen. "Well, that wasn't ideal, but we can improvise." she said softly. It would have been easier to destroy them from the inside, much faster, less mess. Still there was always another way to do things. "I hope you can think fast on your feet Vee, this will need it. Pirates are more backstabbing than me, and that's saying something."

She guided the small ship to the coordinates they had been given, making a few flyovers before coming in to land. Her lips tight as the feeling settled on her that this was not going to go as she wanted it to. She was, at least, grateful that Valik was here and able to change their identities. "Our primary objective is to get those vials Valik. If we need to walk away and leave the pirates unscathed so be it. There won't be a trail for them to follow anyhow." shutting the ships main syste,s down she rose from the pilots chair, gliding past Valik to the cargo hold and seizing a small crate. It rattled and she smiled.

"Cred chips." she informed Valik as she met him at the top of the landing ramp, using her elbow to activate it. "After you, Master." she purred at him.

@[member="Valik"] @[member="HK-36"]

 

[Valik]

As @[member="Anaya Fen"] has stated, their conditions were less than ideal, but nothing the two Sith couldn't handle. As the twi'lek sith piloted the ship in Valik could spot a camera from the monitor, and sensors were picking up various energy sources that were probably weapon emplacements, whether in the form of droids or turrets. He supposed they probably had a few more hidden surprises as well, and while Valik and Anaya were two powerful Sith Masters, they were two men walking into the base of a potential firefight. Caution would need to be had.

As the ships rattled and slowed, descending into docking area. Valik went and got the ID's he'd made, as Anaya Fen gave him a small box, filled to the brim with cleanly organized credit notes. "After you, Master." Anaya said to him, doting on the word 'master' with a purr that was, even to him, admittedly a bit enticing. He brought his hand around her waist, letting his hand rest at her hip. "Stay close." He said to the now Rutian twi'lek in a tone that indicated he had an idea of what he was doing. As the loading ramp descended and Valik, or Kieth Law as the inhabitants would know him, with a bit of a troubled look on his face.

"I'm sorry, I know you guys said not bring her, but Aphrodite here, she's a bit clingy. Didn't want to be away from me for twenty minutes. She's harmless, but if you really want I guess you could search her." He said, a bit jokingly, before getting to business. "Now, I've got your payment here, but I'll need to see those vials before I we get this underway."

@[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

@[member="Anaya Fen"] @[member="Valik"]
And here was where the fun began,
The door open as Valik/Kieth neared them with Anaya/Aphrodite.

What greet them was a wall of dull greyish smoke, stinking of Force Breaker gas and deathsticks. The stench of it filled out the small main room of the den where most of the pirates were gathered in. It slightly obscured the vision but not to the point where it was too hard to see people inside or what was happening.
On a larger chair at the end of a long table, plates and utensils being set on it, sat a pirate of peculiar look, he wore a leather vest, and square handlebar mustache adorned his mouth along with a pompadour of dirt blonde hair.

Due to trinkets on his neck, he seemed to be the leader of the gathered pirates.

He raised an eyebrow at the comment about Aphrodite
"It's not the probability of what she may do or what she be carrying is what we did nay want to have here, it was her presence, but seem it be too late for that."
He glanced to the Twi'lek, one of the pirates set down a plate in front of the corsair leader
"Oy!"
He glared to the pirate waiter
"Oy!"
The waiter responded, moving on to continue working.

Speaking of other pirates, besides the Leader, there was also a Female Pirate around, checking her pistol idly somewhere in the corner, slightly coughing on the smoke, a Nexu pet rubbed up by her leg, she scratched him and the Nexu purred, moving in to disappear somewhere in the smoke, moving down into a side-corridor further into the base. A Burly Pirate finished cleaning a repeater, setting it aside in the corner of the room as he glanced to the pair of "traders" as a Blood Carver moved past them to sit at the table, slightly clicking the orange-yellow chitinous beak, a pair of jagged swords hanged at his back.

The Leader looked to Kieth again with a raised eyebrow
"Vials? Why would you we be selling ye more than one of the vials? They be our last trading card in these here parts, besides, we don't be having them here, be too risky in case somebody be wanting to raid or steal 'em from us."
The Leader motioned for the table
"We just be 'aving a bit of a supper for the day, if ye want to join it with us while ye show what ye be offering to us in exchange."
The Leader leaned back on the chair
"Ye be talking earlier on about new Identities, aye?"

Prolonged exposure to the smoke filling the room could begin to dull the senses of the two Force Users, things felt fuzzy around the Den when it came to Force sense, perhaps it was the gas, perhaps something else was interfering. Although, as they were both Masters, they probably knew techniques to hold their breath for a longer time.