Going the Distance [Cloax]

[Silas]

“He’s on Ambria, okay! Just.. Just get this thing off me,” The man’s ragged breath was music to his ears as the figure under his pet struggled against the strength in her lean arms.

For a second he thought to call off his little pet and let the informant go but then he remembered the risk. A slight leer crossed over his face as he said, “Tell me the coordinates and his location. Then I’ll think about it.”

Silas’ green eyes flared with certainty as he stood over the image before him with authority. There in the small upstairs of a small cantina on Taris there was a Sith whom held the difference between life and death in his hand. In a cruel twist of fate, though, he had not been forced to lift a single finger against the drunken Correllian that was held just inches off the ground by what looked to be a normal woman. The man had showed a moment of weakness to her beauty despite her non-vocal nature and in the end could not hold his own against the beauty that turned beast before his eyes.

Now terror plagued his face as he looked into the eyes of his captor, then to the man who had been in the background pulling all the strings. The puppeteer openly smiled as the man broke a little more, “Give me a data pad, I’ll get it all down for you.”

For a second he feigned contemplation for he didn’t want this man to think he could escape his grasp so easily, however after a moment he simply nodded at the woman who held him up. Upon his inclination she let the man go quickly. When the man’s feet hit the ground he instantly fell to the ground out of either shock or the fear that was taking a hold of him. Despite the slight shake in his hand whenever Silas produced a data pad for him to quickly type everything onto it only took him a couple moments for him to write it out. Those large eyes studied him while he looked over the coordinate for the spot in space and on the planet.

Suddenly the man’s whiney voice broke his concentration as he whimpered, “I did what you asked, now I’m going to…”

He’d taken a step forward but Silas’ hand came to grab his shirt in a tight fist. His eyes came up to look into the other’s for a second as he assessed the man before him. While the human was tall he had a timid shrug to his shoulder that made him appear a bit smaller, and there seemed nothing but frailty from him. There was not a single scrap of morale in his face, nor did he seem to have been confident when the Sith had scoped out people who might have the contacts he needed. This was about speed, not having fun so he looked for someone easily broken that might give him what he needed in a heartbeat. However, this made him disposable, which was most unfortunate for the poor fellow.

“Have fun with him, Lilli,” The Fierrerreo told his puppet as he pushed the man to the ground. A reward for a job well done and she would know exactly what it was she wanted to do with him, for he had taught it to her.

The creature that had once been in that body was no more, replaced in complete with ’Lilli’. A simply side project, truly, which had proved beneficial in this instance, for she had been able to easily lure the man to his doom. As he turned towards the door there was much begging from the corpse he’d left behind, but soon enough she’d be done with them. Even though Silas didn’t have enough time to have fun at the moment, it didn’t mean all people should be rid of enjoyment. The door slid closed behind him to muffle the sounds of a man’s screams.

The first phase in this mission was complete, now he needed to find this Ambria.

<Two days later>

One hand tightly gripped the commlink in his hand as the words came through the other end with words he was most definitely not happy to hear. Another man on this mission would simply complicate things in a manner he hadn’t accounted for.

“Another? I work alone,” His voice growled in a flat tone to the man on the other end who gave him this news. A slight static broke up the other voice as he confirmed the addition of the second man, along with the normal ‘no questions’ routine. All the initiate could do was mumble, “Okay.” before he threw the small device across the cockpit.

This would be a set back he did not want to deal with at the moment, nor did he care to meet another new face. It wasn’t as simple as they made it out to be; meet this guy, incorporate him into your mission, and help him know that failure among the Sith is not acceptable. The balance between winning this game, and loosing it was to know all the pieces on the board, even the ones that were on your team. To make a decisive victory he’d need to know this Cloax Zenotite before they trudged into the next stage, which should be taking place right now. Moments before the message had been sent to his commlink he had landed on Ambria where he’d been directed to. Moments ago it’d seemed as though this was going to be easy. Now it was obvious that he’d have to readjust his plans, and Lilli would have to stay in the ship.

Without further notice he exited out of the already lowered ramp onto the hot sand where he had set down his ship. The sun beat down on the sand of this planet to remind him of Korriban, but it was not as enthralling as the Sith’s temple. Instead there was simply a hum of the dark side about this place as opposed to the torrent of the Temple.

Now he waited, for once the man came they would go after the Shadow that was camped out on this planet, and he could not decide how the hunt would go.

[Cloax]

It had been a while since teamwork had been incorporated into Cloax’s work regimen. As the newly initiated Sith member sat in the cockpit of a small starcruiser that was loaned to him by the Order, he pondered his first assignment as he accelerated through the galaxy.

Previously in the Sith Temple, Cloax strolled through the halls while reading a book which was his daily habit. He had begun to acquire a familiarity with the establishment. While he hadn’t gotten to know anyone, he knew that he didn’t need to for many other Sith members kept to themselves and never really looked for company. Cloax held the same idea as he wasn’t too fond of bonding or the notion of having many friendships. He seemed to prefer the occasional acquaintance to which he considered as people of minute interest. As he turned the corner to walk into the Courtyard he felt a hand clasp upon his shoulder.

“This is for you.” As Cloax turned around he glanced at a cloaked figure with his head obscured by a hood that surrounded it. It wasn’t too unusual to see Sith members adopt such an appearance as it was also Cloax’s choice of apparel. The Sith member handed him a small comlink and a small piece of paper before quickly departing. Cloax held the device to his ear with his left hand and held his book with his right, closely listening to the instructions that were being given to him. His face gained a pensive expression as the instructions carried on.

“And this location, how will I get there?” Cloax asked the man who he was speaking to through the comlink. He was told that he would be loaned a starcrusier with supplies that would allow him to make the trip. “This Silas character, is he cooperative?” He asked the man once again. The man replied with an uncertain tone, to which Cloax expected. With a few more words being spoken, Cloax complied with his instructions and placed the comlink in his pocket. He quickly closed the book that was in his right hand and left the courtyard at a quick pace, heading toward the hangar without even stopping by his living quarters.

So it starts…

He thought as he quickly marched inside the starship hangar. After applying the correct codes upon the starcruiser, which he obtained from the cloaked man in the Courtyard in the form of numbers on a small piece of paper, he quickly walked up the unhatched loading ramp that was released upon his command. As he closed the loading ramp, he fired up the starcruiser’s engines and calibrated the universal positioning system which allowed him to locate Ambria, where he was assigned to assist a Sith member named Silas Isao on a manhunt to which he wasn’t fully informed about. Cloax was supposed to meet Silas on Ambria to rendezvous. The mission was first assigned to Silas, who succeeded in the first stage of the assignment which was to find out the location of where the suspect was. After taking a glance at the control panel and the multiple scanner and sensor displays in the cockpit, Cloax took control of the cruiser and quickly departed from Korriban on route to Ambria.

Along his journey through open space on autopilot, he pondered the thought of working with Silas. It had been years since he worked actively in a group or pair. Even when he was in the small Dark Jedi faction in his younger years he usually worked alone once his skills were developed enough. When Cloax asked his mission instructor about Silas’s cooperation with teammates, he was also worried about his own cooperation. He could care less about teamwork, but he wondered if his lone wolf attitude wouldn’t be suited for the mission.

As he neared Ambria, Cloax regained control of the starcruiser and prepared to land. Ambria was a dry planet that mimicked the sands of Korriban. The cruiser’s sensors recognized a familiar starship in the vicinity to which Cloax believed was Silas’s coordinates. As he landed near the vicinity, Cloax quickly unlocked the hatch of the loading ramp and slowly exited the ship. The wind was mild and the sun was somewhat harsh. Nonetheless, Cloax placed his hood over his head as he spotted a silhouette along the sands that blurred in the lines of a mirage. He approached the silhouette and as he finally reached him he stood beside his right side, looking out at the horizon instead of at the person he had acknowledged.

“I’m Cloax Zenotite.” He exclaimed. “I believe that you’re Silas Isao if I’m not mistaken.”

[Silas]

Memories, like a distant dream as they floated through his consciousness seemed to waver above the horizon where the sun cast a glow on the dunes of sand below. The heat rose to form illusions that imprinted on his memory to bring him back to the beginning of all of this; a day like any other. A world apart from not it seemed as he stood there in the dark of a hall in the temple on Korriban with a serious expression written across his pale features. Long spindly fingers ran through his dark hair as he looked over towards the man he had never met before with a look of annoyance across his face.

“No. I don’t think this is going to go the way we expected,” The voice echoed through the halls as he stood there wearily whilst small fingers curled around each other to rest on his stomach.

With a tsk of his tongue on the roof of his mouth the Duros shook its head almost sadly. The older of the pair just meekly looked out the window with a smile on his face as he contemplated the information that had just been given to him. It would be simple to carry out this task for he had a place he knew where the women had loose lips and the men would cave under the slightest pressure. That’s where he would play follow the hint till he found the cretin.

For a second a sigh escaped his mouth as he considered the last time he’d hunted down a Jedi. Rhissai still needed to die so as to never speak of him again, “And you’re sure it will be there?”

“The Jedi? Oh, most certain. Most certain indeed, sir,” The man had almost seemed startled at first that Silas had asked that question, however, he needed their blood.

The taste had been so close to his lips when he’d had that woman there under his grasp and yet she had gotten away. Now, he would have to live with those consequences and yet he found a bit of thrill in the idea of meeting up with her again. Someday she would know the end of his lightsaber as he watched her slowly die; the light draining from her eyes would be reward enough now. His game had been played long enough the last time, now it was strictly business that would encourage their next step.

“Excellent. It will be my pleasure,” He told the creature as he walked away with little more to talk about. The shadow would die under his fingers if need be it.

The dune retook their shape as he the images of the past he knew and the future he might hope for disappeared whilst he thought of vengeance. Of a holy retribution for the sins which had been committed against him by the zealous, by the ‘holy’ in their white armour. From the exile they had placed on him to taking away his wife he knew they must pay for every scar they had left on him. In the end they would, but now he would taste the blood of one, which brought the shadow of a smile over his lips. In the wake of the woman he had loved there only lived emptiness for which he could not fill until those whom had persecuted him were dead.

“I’m Cloax Zenotite,” A voice brought him out of the state he was in to cautiously look backwards towards the man that came towards him, “I believe that you’re Silas Isao if I’m not mistaken.”

And how green will this one be? Perhaps he looks the part, but can he do what must be done? He asked himself whilst the man approached in the hooded cloak that was all too familiar for those that he had chosen to side with. Sternly he answered, “Quite right indeed,”

Without mention for the other man to follow he moved off towards that light that hung in the back of his mind as he said, “And tell me, Cloax. Can I trust you,” he paused for a second to as he continued to walk whilst his finger brushed against one of the sabres attached to his belt, “to do what you must?”

[Cloax]

Cloax peered at the mirage across the large mounds of sand that imitated streamlined water. He kneeled down to pick up a small lizard-like creature that seemed to be targeting his boot for unknown reasons and examined it as Silas confirmed his identity. Cloax nodded toward Silas in acknowledgment as he removed his hood from his head, to get a better look at the lizard. He felt the grains of Ambria's sand scratch the sides of his face as it blew in the wind. The small lizard he held in his hand winced at the amount of wind and sand that was blowing in its own face.

“A baby neek.” He thought as he set it back down on the ground, watching it run away from him. As he wiped his hair back to remove some of the sand grains that he had collected, Silas asked him a question he wasn't surprised to hear. The topic of trust had been brought up, not even one minute into introducing each other.

“Trust?” Cloax asked as he stood up from his kneeling position. He lifted his hand to his forehead to block the sun from his eyes to catch one last glimpse of the tiny neek. “I always admire an animal that eats plants in a harsh environment. These neek are nothing but fodder here, so is it safe to say that I admire fodder?” Putting his hand back down, he placed his hood back on his head and stretched. Before meeting up with Silas, Cloax noticed that he was in somewhat of a trance as though he was in deep thought. He wondered what Silas may have been thinking of before his arrival.

“My cooperation shouldn't be a problem.” He said, finally answering Silas's question. “Since I wasn't given full details about this mission, could supply me with what you know? Who is this person we're supposed to find, and how important are they?” Cloax asked. Across the desert, the baby neek had perished due to lack of oxygen. Cloax gave out a small sigh without batting an eyelash.

“Too harsh,” He thought.