Private We Belong Way Down Below

[Malcoma Hesse]

It had taken a couple weeks for Malcoma to gain the confidence to travel alone again after her interaction with Brandyn Sal-Soren .

Even a made woman in the Core's most powerful mob could be shaken up. What's more, she had been. She still was, honestly, but she had finally put her foot down. Keeping her sequestered in the Guesthouse was not serving her any longer; the sense of security offered by the familiar masonry and men had been overshadowed by manor fever. She had to get out, alone, and back to business as usual.

She did accept one of Damris' ideas. It proved to be a good one the moment she stepped off the transport into the Taleucema spaceport. No one amongst the general populace knew of her here, and those outside of it who did would with any luck not notice her in disguise.

Word had rippled through slaving trading frequencies and reached the Guesthouse relatively recently, though during her short hiatus. If rumor was to be trusted, and she wasn't already too late to act upon it, there was a group of a dozen or so slaves ripe for the picking somewhere on Saleucami. Even if it wasn't, it was well worth the time to check it out, stretch her legs, and show some real slavers no mercy. The latter was among her favorite activities, so fun that her could almost call it a hobby rather than work.

The only question was where to start her search now that she was planetside.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Taleucema

​

Outfit: Undercover Smuggler
Weapons: Blasters
Tag: Malcoma Hesse

With one hand resting against the blaster strapped to her hip, Valery walked through the spaceport and kept her eyes open. The rules of the Galaxy were very different far away from Alliance borders, and while she was more than used to it, she needed to be careful. Her rather striking orange eyes drew attention easily, and her face wasn't exactly too uncommon in even distant parts of the Galaxy.

Still, she had opted for a smuggler outfit and blasters on her hips, rather than her Jedi jumpsuit and lightsabers. It'd help her navigate through crowds, and hopefully could get her closer to her target — slavers. If there was one thing she despised the most, it was that. Not Sith, not war mongering Mandalorians or death cultists. No, slavers.

Partially because of personal experience, and because such control over someone else's life and freedom was simply vile.

"Hmm," Valery sighed and headed for the exit, unsure about where to start. Though, as she neared the streets of Taleucema, she paused and spotted a figure not too far away. A blonde woman — Malcoma Hesse — with a particular beauty that made even Valery stop for a moment to look. A smile formed on her lips after a few seconds, and with a small shake of her head, she snapped out of her thoughts and started walking.

There had to be some kind of slave market here, or perhaps something more underground.

 

[Malcoma Hesse]

Malcoma didn't notice Val. A moment after she was spotted where she had taken a seat on an empty bench, she looked down at her datapad once it chirped with a notification.

It was from Damris.

<< Was able to get into the TPD database, >> his first text message read. << Seems like there's been weird occurrences throughout the capital for the last few weeks. >> He answered the begged question before she could type it out. << Not crimes. Occurrences. Unexplained noises in the night, homes ransacked when unoccupied, even a bit of strange graffiti. >>

<< What's the connection? >> she typed instead, knowing that he wouldn't have brought this up if it wasn't relevant to the slaves rumors.

It took a few minutes for him to reply. As she waited, she acquired a caf with two creams from a nearby automatic dispenser. She could use the stimulant, as she did not want to get a wink of sleep here while so much was potentially at stake. As always, she wasn't after human capital gains for herself. She didn't mind if the slaves she freed would walk with her or walk away, just that they had gotten the chance to physically and metaphorically stretch their legs. Did other executives, criminals or not, care so much about others as to sew their own destruction? Not that she thought about it often, but Malcoma thought not. She did take pride in being a different breed of law-breaker.

She had sat back down and taken the first sip when an image came though.

<< These were found downtown half a month ago. City officials have had them scrubbed away a couple of times now, but they keep coming back. >>

Strange, for more reasons than one. Mainly, she assumed that 'Shield of Light' was an allusion to the Light side of the Force. << Interesting, >> she replied first, then, << Thinking. >> Fresh air would help her do that. She hadn't heard of slavery inspiring poor souls with faith in the Force, but surely anything was possible. Though Malcoma had seen a lot of that side of the galaxy, she more than likely had substantial blind spots. There were, and were going to be, a lot of slaves out there, all in different conditions which altered their reactions.

The headmistress powered off her datapad, put it into her purse, and stood to walk out into the busy streets of the capital.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Taleucema

​

Outfit: Undercover Smuggler
Weapons: Blasters
Tag: Malcoma Hesse

Once she found a quiet spot somewhere down the street away from the spaceport, Valery opened up her datapad and looked at her own intel. She had received reports not only about suspected slave trade here, but other strange sightings too. Graffiti on walls with peculiar texts were among them. Whether it had any connection to the problem she was looking to solve, Valery didn't know, but she had a lead.

If she could find where those markings were made, perhaps the Force could guide her another step forward. Traces of the past lingered in every object, after all, and markings like that were often made with strong intent. With emotions and perspectives that would continue to ripple through the Force for years to come.

All she needed to do, was tap into them and listen.

"Excuse me," Valery began as she approached someone at random with a picture of where the graffiti had been, though her particular image was one without the actual markings on them. "I'm looking for this place, do you know where it is?" The elderly woman studied the photo, then smiled and pointed down the street.

"Follow the street, and take the second turn left. Cross the junction, and it'll be on your right."

"Thank you," Valery smiled, pocketed her datapad, and started casually walking in that direction with her hands in her pockets. She didn't want to stand out, but it was getting hard not to speed up.

Those slaves needed her help, and she hated wasting time.

 

[Malcoma Hesse]

Malcoma did not retrace even one of Val's steps, but did approach the same landmark on another path. Something caught the hapan's attention as she walked down this particular street. Her gaze, wandering to take in all information from her surroundings as she could, fell into the open window of a quiet cantina and the unnaturally heavy atmosphere made her stop in her tracks. She picked up her feet again, following an altered momentum into the building, unknowingly leaving the graffitied columns to Val.

Hanging on their duracrete just above the dried red spray paint, the Grandmaster would find the ripples that she had hoped to:

A primordial fear of something Dark.

Malcoma felt it too as she entered the cantina. The air was taut enough to have easily been cut by her dull hair pin. A nuclear reaction was impending at the bar between a hooded figure and the bartender gipping a mug so tightly that his knuckles had gone white. They had likely been standing like this for a few minutes at least.

"I'll give you one more chance to get out of here, freak," the man hissed. He nor any of his patrons sat to face the door acknowledged Malcoma as she entered the establishment.

"I just require a water, sir," the figure said in an even, quiet feminine voice. "I can pay twice as much as it's worth."

A crisp ding in Malcoma's purse caused the woman to turn her torso towards the noise. There was no time for Malcoma to register the woman's appearance before she was stumbling towards her under the weight of the mug smacked across the back of her skull.

"Someone call the police!" the man exclaimed to his customers.

Malcoma's gaze flitted from him back down to the woman on the ground. She noted the strangeness of the many small, keratinized plates plates splaying her face's T-zone like human freckles, and white irises in light blue scleras that were lighter tones than her skin. The mobster's own eyes went back to the bartender. "She's being polite," she began. "You should try." She looked around the bar; she was now the center of everyone's attention, but at least no one was calling the police. Malcoma disliked slavers the most, but she disliked bullies too in a way that most other criminals did not. On the contrary, most would find the beatdown of a defenseless woman entertaining, both for the discrimination and violence. To show the other wolves that she was one too, rather than a sheep, she had to let a good amount of misogyny slide.

But here? She didn't have to.

"Pour her a drink or I'll do it."

The woman looked up and fixed the fit of her hood over her head. "It's al—"

"No, it's not alright," replied Malcoma, eyes still trained on the bartender. "All species can get dehydrated. Do it. Prove your worth at your trade."

Slowly but surely, thanks to the shaking of his hands, the man did. The strong gaze and wicked smirk of the headmistress were intimidating even without the weight of her name or treat of a weapon behind them.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Taleucema

​

Outfit: Undercover Smuggler
Weapons: Blasters
Tag: Malcoma Hesse

There they were.

Valery looked down at her datapad one last time to confirm, but there was no mistaking it. The columns didn't just look the same, as the ones in her picture, but a sinister aura swirled about them that could only mean one thing - a connection to what she was looking for, or at least something of equivalent darkness.

Valery, however, felt that this was no coincidence. These columns of stone would lead her one step further, so without wasting more time, she stepped forward and reached out with one hand. Her eyes closed as her palm settled against the cold surface, and in an instant, dark images flashed through her mind.

The Jedi Master stumbled back while she gasped for air, and felt a layer of cold sweat forming on her forehead. Long strands of her dark-brown hair clung to her face, leaving her with a messier look while her fiery eyes peaked through the strands.

Her sensed recovered a few seconds later, just in time to pick up on some kind of commotion in the cantina behind her. Deciding that she could use some water herself, Valery stepped inside and first spotted a figure down on the ground, before she noticed who was with her.

Well, hello there-

She recognized the woman from the spaceport instantly, but rather than stare again, she could tell something left the blonde uneasy. Not just because of a feeling through the Force, but simple body language told her as much as well. Orange eyes slid to the bartender, then down to the woman on the ground.

Valery understood, but she could not play the role of a Jedi now - she was just a simple smuggler.

"Is everything alright here?" She walked closer towards Mal and the other and frowned, "Need any help? Together, we can get her up and have her at least sit down in a chair," Valery offeredd

 

[Malcoma Hesse]

"Yes," Mal said, still staring down the bartender as she agrees with Valery. "A novel idea..." Slowly, she looked down at the fallen woman and offered down a hand with nails she had remembered to rough up before taking this trip. She helped the woman up without difficultly, then left for the bar as Val lead her towards an empty group of chairs.

As Val sustained physical contact with the stranger, she would feel the thin tendrils of Darkness encroaching.

Malcoma returned with the water glass, sliding in onto the table and, after it, her elbows onto the high table. "He's placated, darling," she told the woman, not able to stop the pet name that she spoke sometimes with warmth and sometimes with dwindling tolerance as the moment required. Now, it was the former.

"Thank you very much..." the woman mumbled before taking a drink of water. "B-both of you." She looked from one woman to the other. "You didn't have to do that."

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Taleucema

​

Outfit: Undercover Smuggler
Weapons: Blasters
Tag: Malcoma Hesse

"There you go," Valery said, her voice soft and projecting warmth, while she supported the woman into the chair. She maintained some level of physical contact while Mal left to get some water, if only to keep her steady. Any blow against the head could cause lasting damage that none of them would be able to see with the naked eye. So, until the woman was certain to be in good health, Valery didn't want to just leave her.

Not until she felt a cold darkness encroaching.

Valery's breath hitched and her gaze froze for a moment as it happened. Only Malcoma's sudden presence and voice pulled Valery from her own mind, and had her turn her gaze between the two others.

"I think people should always help each other," Valery said with a soft smile and her eyes flicking to Malcoma. Did she know about the darkness that surrounded this woman? It was hard to tell and it was risky to ask. "Especially handling awful people like that," Valery finally added.

With that strange darkness lingering, Valery was looking a little pale herself. It was harder to breathe and her body shifted between being awfully cold and uncomfortably hot.

It felt similar to those pillars of stone from before, but why?

 

[Malcoma Hesse]

Malcoma did not seem to be aware of the Darkness, but she was aware of the change in Valery's features. She knit her brow only for a moment, then turned back to their unnamed companion.

Before she could ask for her name, the woman took another drink as she stood, leaving the glass a little less than half full. "A-anyway, I appreciate it." Her dark blue skin had lightened too. "Thank you."

As she wasn't one to order a strange woman around, Malcoma allowed the woman to skirt away behind the headmistress towards to door. Plus, her focus was on Val. She tilted her own head. Something about this brunette smuggler was familiar; her voice, specifically, held the ghost of a memory, but Mal could not place it.

In the next moment, Mal propelled herself out of her thoughts and slid the water over to Val with one hand. The other retrieved a napkin with two flaps of its thin, tissue paper wings from the tabletop dispenser and wiped the rim inside and out. "Finish it," Mal said as a suggestion though the words themselves could have been an order.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Taleucema

​

Outfit: Undercover Smuggler
Weapons: Blasters
Tag: Malcoma Hesse

Valery barely registered that the woman was about to leave until she was thanked for helping her. She blinked, snapped her eyes to the stranger, and offered a final smile before she departed. Valery hadn't even gotten her name, nor did she understand why she had felt this cold darkness from her. But right now, her mind couldn't focus on any of it. She needed to get out of here for some fresh air and-

The sound of a glass sliding over the table caught her attention. She turned to watch Malcoma clean the rim, then perked a brow at the way she was told to finish the water, "Yes Ma'am," Valery said with a smirk. She wasn't used to someone telling her what to do like that, but she didn't mind. Valery raised the glass to her lips and downed it in one swig before setting it back down with a nice ring to the glass.

A deep sigh followed, then her gaze returned.

"I don't think this planet is for me," she said with a chuckle. "I'm-" she paused and considered using a fake name for a moment, but decided against it on a feeling she had alone. A particular swirl of the Force around this woman.

"I'm Valery."

 

[Malcoma Hesse]

Mal gave a quick, tightlipped smile as the Jedi made her first comment; she thought the same herself, but for a much less valid reason:

It would take a lot of work to recover her hair from the aridity that had hit her since exiting the spaceport.

"Valery," she repeated with a nod of her head, drawling out the V as it dawned on her. A call from Judah ages ago from Tatooine had interrupted a Lomya's therapy session—that's why she remembered Valery's voice. However, she had not gotten a good look at the woman then and did not know she was a Jedi. "Not looking too healthy right now, but I suppose we can't all live up to our names all of the time."

She returned a smirk then, feeling much more comfortable as she knew a bit about her companion she hadn't moments before. "Mine means devotee of the dove." Mal clicked her tongue against the back of her teeth. "I'll let you guess it, you worldly spacer you."

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Taleucema

​

Outfit: Undercover Smuggler
Weapons: Blasters
Tag: Malcoma Hesse

"I suppose we can't," Valery said with a knowing smirk while she fixed up her hair. "Slavers are particularly nasty to me, and this planet feels so cold and dark. There was something about that woman, too..." she let her voice trail off and finally seemed to be satisfied with her hair. On planets like this, she occasionally regretted having such long hair.

But beauty is pain.

"Worldly spacer, hm?" Valery tilted her head and perked a brow while she regarded the woman with an amused smirk. She looked her up and down and then offered an almost innocent smile, "Well, it's nice to meet you too, Malcoma. Or do you prefer Mal?" She flicked a few strands of hair away from her face and finished with a wink. Her orange eyes seemed to have a glow to them now, and burned with their usual intensity again.

Sometimes, telepathy was a blessing — especially when others gave away these little things without realizing it.

 

[Malcoma Hesse]

Mal gave another tight smile, regarding Val as she herself decided how to respond to what was either a lucky guess or a parlor trick. She decided it was the latter. Telepathy and bad feelings meant one thing in this galaxy: Force-users.

"Malcoma," she finally answered. "I don't know you as well as I know Judah."

She continued, "Look at that, I'm cornered," she made a show of looking behind her, "without the corner. Yes, I'm all the confirmation your feeling needs." Did Val remember that Mal dealt information, especially regarding slaves' whereabouts? It was yet unclear. "But, your color, as you Jedi like to say, betrays another conundrum. Is a poor little hapan like me in over her head, Valery?"

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Taleucema

​

Outfit: Undercover Smuggler
Weapons: Blasters
Tag: Malcoma Hesse

"Malcoma it is," Valery said with a more polite tone this time. It had been amusing to pull out a little trick like that, but she wasn't going to disrespect her. What she remembered from the woman was her ability to offer intel. Something she had made use of when she worked with Judah all those years ago.

A mission involving a fighting ring, if she remembered correctly.

"It depends," Valery answered, "Are you here to gather information? Or to stop what's happening?" There was a difference between the two. At the least, Valery knew Malcoma was skilled at gathering information, but could she hold her own if things went wrong? She looked tough enough, but not all people were fighters.

"Either way, I do believe we have a common goal, no?" She tilted her head and offered a smile. "Maybe we can help each other out?"

 

[Malcoma Hesse]

"Why don't you find the answer to that in my head too?" Mal wet her lips and sighed. She noted that she had to ask Judah Lesan if, and how, one might defend themselves against mind reading but, really, what Valery had done was the least of both women's current worries, so it was time for Mal to put her claws away.

"A healthy helping of both," she added. "A slave trader famous on this Rim by the name of Montars Benal apparently had passed through here some time ago on the prowl for targets. He's said to have found a group of the homeless who seemingly met his mark. Problem is, or is not depending upon your prospective, that he's since left a slew of his regular buyers hanging. Now, mind you, this is a rumor very removed from his own account, but it is said that he found the survivors of untold experiments conducted by a renegade Knight Obsidian back when the CIS still operated the Southern Systems, and they tore him apart." Mal paused shortly to smile wickedly. "I would say good riddance but I know from experience that slavers do tend to exaggerate. It's a business in which that trick is... valued."

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Taleucema

​

Outfit: Undercover Smuggler
Weapons: Blasters
Tag: Malcoma Hesse

"I haven't been inside your head," Valery assured her with a smile. "When you told me to guess, I picked up your name as it left your mind in the form of a stray thought in the Force. I promise I will never push into your mind." It wasn't the Jedi way. She could listen to stray thoughts, the same way people could tell someone was angry or upset just by the look in their eyes. Nothing beyond that, unless extremer circumstances called for it.

With that said, Valery focused on the mission again.

"That's... concerning," Valery said with a frown, "He's had his eye on a group of slaves, but left buyers hanging?" Mixed with the experimentation she mentioned, Valery was starting to feel her stomach turn around on itself. "When I touched the pillars that had those strange markings on them before being cleaned, I felt something that suggested darker things happening here. Then, when I helped that woman into her seat, I felt it again."

She paused and let out a soft sigh, "Do you have any leads from here? I have a very bad feeling about what's happening to these people."

 

[Malcoma Hesse]

Whatever Mal thought as Val revealed her twin feelings, she kept it off her face, even as she said, "Perhaps she's a, how do you say... Sithspawn?" She inclined her head. "Perhaps that is why the people here were scared of her." Glancing at the door shortly, the headmistress mused on it. She was inclined not to buy into a rumor among slavers blindly, but the assessment made sense for multiple reasons:

Firstly, the woman's mere existence moved everyday citizens to violence.

Secondly, she did not look to belong to any species that Malcoma was familiar with, though that wasn't proof of alchemical origins alone.

Thirdly, and most importantly, the graffiti's message fit the context that the blonde had put together.

Mal focused on Valery again. "I have nothing more that's concrete," she admitted, "if you've seen the graffiti already, but I do have a prospective location where Benal could have either gone or was taken to. Either way, something happened to him. I do believe that he's here, as if I was a much crueler woman and had his buyers lined up, I would not have stood them up." Taking her datapad from her purse, she powered it on, tapped the screen a few times, and slid it to Val. The geological map displayed showed a knot of lava tubes extending below Taleucema like long tentacles unfurled from a nautilus shell. "This is the known extent of the Magma Caverns."

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Taleucema

​

Outfit: Undercover Smuggler
Weapons: Blasters
Tag: Malcoma Hesse

"Sithspawn?" Valery blinked, then furrowed her brows in thought. It wouldn't be the first one she had met that wasn't just a ravenous beast, designed only to kill. It also lined up with what she had felt, and how similar it was to encounters with other Sithspawn in the past. Then there was the link to the grafiti, and how people in this place had responded to her presence. None of it was a 100% certainty, but there was a strong possibility.

Even more interesting, though, was that Malcoma had figured it out as well.

The blonde then produced her datapad and slid it over after accessing the intel she had. Valery studied it with a perked brow, then glanced at Mal with a smirk, "You know, I could get used to having someone with intel like this around." A kind, appreciative smile followed, before Valery focused on the content of the datapad.

These tunnels were the perfect place to hide or conduct business of the illegal variety.

"This seems like a solid lead. I'm going there to learn more." She paused and slid back the datapad. "Would you like to join me? I'm sure we can figure things out better if we work together. We share the same goal, after all."

 

[Malcoma Hesse]

"You know, I could get used to having someone with intel like this around."

Mal shot the Jedi another tight-lipped smile of forced politeness. That wasn't going to happen. She was already flirting with The Donna's rage by fraternizing with Judah.

When Valery returned the datapad, Malcoma secured it back into her purse. "Well, yes," she replied without looking up. "I'm not about to let you abscond with my intel alone." Once she did, she motioned towards the door. "Lead the way," she said and, to be experimental, if Val would perceive it, tried to tack on the stray thought of, ::Master Jedi.::

She was no Force Sensitive, just a fast learner.

---

The closest entrance to the Magma Caverns was a ragged sinkhole in a residential district covered up with a thick sheet of durasteel in the middle of an alleyway. Far from a secret to the populace, the women had found that many residents knew multiple places where the old lava tubes had compromised the surface of the cityscape. However, all warned them against entering.

When the metal plate was removed, Malcoma understood why. She doubted the assessment of these tunnels being extinct all at once as she was hit with the mild but unmistakable scent of sulfur and even more humidity of invisible vapor. "Well," she said with sigh as she stood from helping to move the plate. "If it's possibly safe for a slaver and/or slaves and/or Sithspawn, I suppose then it's possibly safe for us."

She was clearly trying to talk herself into this. She hadn't caved before, let alone explored lava tubes. That was best left for the most intense of volcanologists.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Taleucema

​

Outfit: Undercover Smuggler
Weapons: Blasters
Tag: Malcoma Hesse

"Mhmm," Valery said with just a little smirk after she rose up to her feet. Perhaps it was just the simple fact of not wanting Valery to run off with her intel, but she liked to think that their common goal made her interested in working together as well. Jedi weren't always most appreciated by others, but she liked to think that she wasn't the worst.

People could relate to her a little more.

Right as the two women were ready to leave the establishment, Valery picked up on her stray thought and stopped. Her gaze slid over her shoulder, and she'd offer Mal a grin, "Very clever."

---

With a wiggle of her fingers, the durasteel plate covering the sinkhole floated away as if it was weightless. Valery set it aside, looked down into the pit, and scrunched up her nose. The smell was awful and everything about it looked uninviting. Dangerous, even.

Perfect.

"Yeah if I'd want to hide on this planet, I'd be going down here." She looked up, noting some hesitancy in the blonde, and offered a smile. "If you stay close behind me, I can guide us through without having to turn lights on. that might reveal our presence. My eyes can see quite well in the dark." She could also ignite her lightsaber, but anybody on the other end of the tunnel would know they were coming.

It was a choice for Malcoma and her level of comfort.

Either way, Valery wasted no more time and jumped down into the hole to start moving.