Something Wicked Lurks (lmr)

[Ash]

A 'tink' of plasteel-on-metal sounded off ever so softly in the wood-line surrounding a small complex of warehouses and smaller buildings. Save for a handful of wandering guards, the place seemed deserted. Off to the left, there was a small herds of Reek mingling, around, but there was no cause for action on them.

The cool air seeped behind the mask Zwei was wearing, keeping him wide awake, not that he needed any help with that. It was about 20 minutes until daybreak, and he was in the moment of the hunt, so how could anyone sleep, or even think about sleeping, now, especially in this environment.

The Hutt's running this complex were long overdue with what they promised: weapons. This was a known supply depot: the first place many illegal weapons would go before being distributed across the galaxy; to all kinds of terrorist and other scum. Things that happened here would ruin people, and expose even more for Azura.

Zwei's dark eyes narrowed at this thought, unseen behind his mask, not that anyone was around to see them. Azura was the Organization Zwei was 'employed' by. As it was put, this was just one more small step for Azura to bring peace to the Galaxy. How could Zwei believe that.

A small beep when off in Zwei's ear, bringing him back from his wandering thoughts. Right on time, the guard-shifts changed, opening up the window for Zwei to get in. Activating his stealth belt, Zwei rose to his feet, leaving his rifle where it was, and took off at a dead sprint. All that could be seen was the grass being moved by his feet, but then again, the wind covered that.

The new guards were barely in position before Zwei made it to the gate. One of the two guards posted at the front of the gate was mid-yawn when Zwei made it to him. The assassin struck hard, shoving his hand, open and fingertips first into the man's windpipe, collapsing it. His eyes bulged at this, and he was unable to make a single sound.

At this attack, Zwei's stealth field dropped, exposing him to view. Black armor, black cloak, and a white mask with a simple design on it, it would be enough to shock anyone who saw this figure materialize out of no where. Zwei drew his virpine pistol on his leg with his left hand, aiming down the sight and firing a single round through the plexiglass and into the head of the second guard, who was dumbstruck. The first guard, by now, was running out of air, tried to grasp for Zwei.

The assassin took a step back, and let the man collapse at his feet, where he withered and died in a horrible way. After that was done, he moved the body into the gate room, setting it in a chair. The front gate was now wide open for him. Phase one was completed, and now came the hardest part. If he could keep the guards from becoming alerted to his presence, he should be good.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Naraka was on Ylesia, and frankly, she was loving it. Grasslands, rain forests. Stunning scenery, and everywhere life. It was as different from Korriban as night was from day, and she relished that difference, savoring it like a gourmet with a plate of exotic cheeses and a bottle of fine wine.

In something of a departure from the typical Sith Master, the wild Togruta woman hated Korriban. Dusty, dry, barren, and lifeless apart from a few overgrown bats in a cave and some miserable little creatures in equally miserable tombs. Ylesia was different though.

Admittedly it didn't feel quite like her native Shili or her much-loved Felucia, but it was still a vast improvement, and she was planning on dawdling for a day or two after the mission the Sith Order had assigned her to was over.

That mission was deceptively simple: kill a Hutt who was funneling weapons into the Empire for use by dissidents. On the surface that seemed like a simple goal, but there were always multiple ways to approach it. Her chosen way was direct, but not as blunt as it could be.

Get in, find the Hutt, kill the Hutt, escape.

While Zwei was approaching from one side, Naraka was approaching from the opposite. Additionally, when he came from the ground, she came from the air.

For the Togruta Master, it was a simple matter to leap from a nearby treetop and telekinetically move herself over the fence. She took it a step further, and landed on the metal roof of a warehouse, her bare red feet making only the slightest of sounds.

From her vantage point she 'flew' from rooftop to rooftop until she reached the headquarters in the center, whose floor plan she was more or less familiar with. And then she pulled out one of her lightsabers and started to cut through a section of the ceiling.

[Ash]

Death: it was funny that as you became accustom to it, ceased to phase you. That was how it was for Zwei at least. A group of two wandering patrol guards fell at his feet, both with a bullet penetrating their skulls. The last thing they saw was the black clad figure with the white mask. From one of the men, he took a keycard, and made his way towards the main building.

On his way over there, however, he spied a figure leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Even with his enhanced vision, however, he couldn't have been sure. For now, he logged it in the back of his mind as a bird, which seemed the most obvious, and left it at that.

The first door Zwei found along the building was locked up tight, but it seemed to be an old fashion door with a deadbolt lock. Obviously, it had an alarm on it, but still, this was the best point of entry, as there were no windows on this building.

Taking aim, Zwei fired two rounds into where the key went, and kicked the door open. No one was in sight, at least yet. Surprisingly, no alarm went off just yet. Zwei noted that, left his field generator off to conserve the finite battery life, and ran down the hall, pausing at each intersection he came to. He didn't have a map of this area, so he was flying blind. There was no use complaining though. It couldn't be helped. All he could do was make his way through the building, kill or move around anyone, and kill his target.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Naraka could sense another person inside the room she was about to cut into, and she reached out through the Force, implanting the idea that he wanted to leave into his mind. She knew she'd been successful when he walked off. That was when she cut out a person-sized circle and shoved it in with the Force, dropping down from above and surveying the room.

A guard post, which was very convenient.

She glanced over the monitors quickly and saw a door kicked in by a masked man. Hurriedly, she disabled the alarms from the console. Why not give the man a chance to carry out his little agenda? Besides, if it went off it would make her job harder too.

The Togruta Sith stepped out into the corridor and headed off towards the 'throne room' she anticipated the Hutt would be in.

Her bare feet carried her noiselessly and leisurely through the halls; moving at a relaxed pace.

Naraka's thoughts were elsewhere. The mysterious masked man. Clearly he was not a Sith, so who was he? Agent of a rival Hutt? Terrorist? Maybe he worked for the Republic.

Now there was an interesting thought.

Who knew though, perhaps she'd meet him.

[Ash]

So what does that fatass want now? He's too hocked up on his drugs to mess with any of the slaves tonight.

Hey, don't ask me. I just come when he calls. So long as I do that, I wont be killed. You remember what happened to the last guy.

Aye. Poor Billy.[/b]

Zwei was waiting at an intersecting corridor, listening in on what was transpiring before him. His implants didn't have any problems picking up their words, which should have been very quiet, if even audible. He must have been getting close, if he ran into people who, for once, weren't guards.

As soon as he heard the steps walk away, Zwei walked down the hallway, activating his sound dampening stealth field generator as he did so. A flutter of black cloth and a shimmer of twisting light later, and the man was invisible. Soft footsteps could hardly be heard as the man quickly moved down the hallway, and turned down a corner.

And damn near into a large Gamorean. There was no time to think as the pig-like alien caught the shimmer, and squealed in surprise, and took a step back. Zwei drew his verpine pistol, putting two round into the alien's head and putting him down for good. The squeal was sure to alert someone, and the body, which Zwei already knew he couldn't move would seal the deal. Zwei quickly engaged his belt again and took off down the hallway. Now anyone else he would meet would need to die. No problems there.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Naraka sensed a presence drawing near, and she anticipated she'd practically run into him at the intersection of two halls. That suited her fine, as she could simply choke him into submission or scythe through him with a lightsaber, and she didn't see the need to be wholly silent now. She was already inside, and not even the Hutt Cartel itself could stop her.

The presence moved into the corridor in front of her, but her eyes revealed nothing.

For most sentient beings that would inspire doubt. After all, nothing was there. However, for a Togruta, there was another sense. She had spatial awareness to a great extent, and she could passively detect the location of every object within quite some distance. She literally felt the location of a person-sized object standing in that empty corridor in front of her.

And then there was the fact she could sense him.

Her hands rested lightly on the hilts of her lightsabers, arms crossed over each other, ready to draw them from her waist. Despite that readiness, she was completely relaxed and nonchalant.

"Well ,well, well, the invisible man," She said drily, smiling in an amused fashion.

She came to a stop and stood still in the center of the hall.

"Now what would a man like you be doing in a place like this?"

[Ash]

Zwei was finding it harder and harder to find anyone. He killed two guards and some random man who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. After dispatching these people, which proved to be real easy and didn't require any ammo, he continued on.

That was, until he turned a corner and saw a rather scantily clad Togruta woman, who seemed to be looking right at him. That was confirmed when she spoke directly to him. Her arms were crossed, and hands were over a pair of cylinders. He knew these to be lightsabers, as he dealt with wielders of these before. He took a step back, and let his cloak fall. She stood about as tall as him, minus her montrals. Her smile sent a chill up his back.

His cloak swirled, faceless mask unmoving as his eyes, hidden under pitch black lenses, scanned the woman's body for anything else. Save for her clothing, a few pieces of off jewelery, and her lightsabers, she had nothing else. Zwei kept his pistol pointing right at her head, his left hand on his left hip where his second verpine pistol was.

I could ask you the same.[/color]

Zwei's voice remained neutral, and was slightly muffled by the mask, which was curious, as it only took a small speaker and microphone to be able to hear his voice clearly. The man's eyes never left the woman's, but, force or not, she would only see that mask staring blankly at her.

Once again bad intel. I had no idea some force user was going to be here. Im willing to bet she is some Sith as well.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Naraka held her lightsabers in her hand now, and leaned up against the wall as she took a good look at the man now that his stealth field was dropped. There really wasn't much to see, just dark clothes and a mask of some kind.

He looked professional though, not like some amateur. Obviously he didn't work for this Hutt, and she highly doubted he was employed by any Hutt on retainer. It was likely he was an assassin or agent of some kind on contract, taking job by job.

Of course, it was possible she was mistaken. After all, the Togruta Sith was no more omnipotent than any other being, and she didn't have a surefire way to tell. Yes, she could broach the topic to him and then scrutinize his mind to pick up on his thoughts, but somehow she doubted he was in a gaming mood.

Unfortunately for him, she was.

"So, I'm going to guess you weren't invited here any more than I was. The question is whether you're an assassin, a saboteur, or just in it for some information. I'd say it's tempting to just turn you in, but it really isn't. And would I lie?"

Her eyes flickered with amusement, and she shot him a winning smile.

"I might," She answered her own question suavely. "But why would I? We're more or less on the same side for the moment."

[Ash]

I'm not sure... Would you?[/color]

Of course this woman would lie. Zwei already deduces that she was a Sith or Dark Jedi of some sort, simply based on her actions, and how she was playing these little games. Ever so slightly, Zwei let his pistol slide off target, moving to the right of the woman's head.

The question was, what is the meaning of her being here? He was quite likely that she was here to simply cause chaos, or maybe she was here just for the fun of it, being able to kill whoever she liked without a care in the world.

Or perhaps she was here as a bodyguard or hired mercenary. Whatever the case was, he needed to figure it out soon, just to know if he would be able to kill her, and if so, when would be the opportune time to. All these thoughts went through his head instantly, but his body nor head swayed. He was drawn back here when she spoke again, smiling at him. She confirmed some of his thoughts with her own words.

You say that, but you also said you may have lied. If we are on the same side, then lead the way.[/color]

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"No," Naraka said casually. "I don't think I'm about to turn my back on you."

It was a legitimate concern. With her back to him, he could easily put a bullet in it without giving her time to react. If he'd wielded a melee weapon she could have taken that risk, if she'd been feeling charitable.

For now though, she didn't.

This was intrigue, this was danger. While she liked danger and running risks, she wasn't suicidal. Jumping from a great height was something she could do, rough love in bed was something she enjoyed, but turning her back on a man who could put a bullet into it was not on her agenda.

"I think we should both level with each other here. You tell me your purpose here, and I'll tell you mine. With honesty of course."

Her voice was the same cool and confident tone, even and measured, with the same relaxed charisma she usually wore. It could transform into anger or lust easily though, and her whole demeanor would change. But for now she was the very picture of nonchalance.

"I wouldn't dawdle though if I were you. I doubt you were quite as quiet as I was here, which means we really don't have much time to fight."

[Ash]

Zwei's eyes narrowed at the woman as she spoke, and he couldn't help the very small, bitter smile that touched his lips. This woman wasn't stupid at all. He also found out that she didn't trust her own skills if he was to walk behind her. That was good.

However, she wanted to level out with him. Anyone could have figured out what he was doing here, especially with the trail of bodies he has left laying around. His dark eyes narrowed under his mask as he contemplated the woman's words, thinking of what he should say and do. It took him but a few heartbeats to know what to do.

I'm going to kill the Hutt. I trust that that isn't a problem with you?[/color]

Zwei's voice was cool, calm, and collected. However, one couldn't deny the sarcasm that leaked out as well. His outward appearance didn't change at all. He still held his same pose, ready to change and shoot at the woman if anything provoked him.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"What a coincidence," Naraka said with mock surprise. "I'm here for the same reason. I guess this makes us new best friends now, doesn't it? Shall we get matching necklaces? Bond over a nice meal?"

Her tone was very relaxed, and rather snarky, but her eyes were keen and attentive, scrutinizing him. She wasn't even attempting to delve into his mind, as his thoughts were quite orderly and controlled. They were all centered on the mission, on his task, and on the complication that was her.

The Togruta woman was rather confident he wasn't going to kill her. There were a few simple reasons for that guess. Chiefly, she was simply too hard to kill. Fighting her would be a rather large undertaking with no guarantee of success, and it would cut into his time for the mission.

So really, he had an interest in not fighting. All that she had to do was convince him to work together. In theory, that wasn't so hard. In practice? She was willing to bet he wasn't cooperative.

"You can buy me dinner later, how about you lead on to the throne room while I cover your back?"

Naraka straightened, no longer leaning on the wall, and she took her lightsabers into her hands, gesturing down the long corridor with one. She signalled to him quite clearly to lad on and keep going.

[Ash]

Zwei didn't like this woman, this Sith, at all. Her sarcasm and mocking was getting on his nerves real fast, yet he kept his composure. He let her talk, and didn't any motion, or speak at all. He just stood there, ready for anything, and let the woman talk.

At least until the point where she wanted him to lead the way towards the throne room. If he was anything but cold, and had some sort of real sense of humor, he would have right there. However, he remained silent for a moment, looking at the Sith.

I don't think that will happen. You have the force. I don't. You would stab me in the back without my knowing.[/color]

Now if it was the other way, with the woman going first, and Zwei in the back, at least she would sense if he was going to attack, and he had no inclination to do so. She wasn't his target, nor was she a direct threat right now. He had a feeling that she wouldn't go for this, but they needed to compromise somewhere.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"Could," Naraka admitted casually. "But not would."

The Togruta woman let her thumbs rest lightly on the switches that would activate her lightsabers. She knew that if it went down, it would happen very soon.

"Unless I'm very mistaken, those are Verpine shatter guns. They fire a very lethal projectile with absolutely no noise, which means if you were behind me, I wouldn't have much of a chance."

That was her big valid point, and the honest reason she wasn't keen on going in front of him. Apart from that though, she didn't want to make it easy for him. More like vastly annoying.

"In contrast, you'll hear my lightsabers activate and have a chance to run to cover. But beyond that, why would I kill you? We both have the same interest, and I can just use you as a distraction."

The Togruta woman stared him in the eye, or rather the eyeholes of his mask, and she spoke in a very confident and commanding tone.

"I'll give you a minute or two to think it over. I'm in no hurry tonight. You, however, might be."

[Ash]

This woman was right about him being in a hurry. The quicker he could kill his target and leave this building, the better. He didn't want to waste time arguing right here. He sighed, frustrated now, but mind cleared.

Fine. Lets go then.

Zwei turned around, heading the way he memorized from the blueprints he reviewed and reviewed from before. He knew turning his back on this woman was a mistake, but he had to keep moving. He had no other choice but to trust his implants, intuition, and reflexes if anything went sour.

He didn't bother waiting around to see if this woman was behind him or not. He didn't need to see to know anything, and being a force user, she shouldn't have a problem keeping up with him. He felt a mild sour taste in his mouth as his distaste for force users rose up once again. He shoved it down and continued on his path.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"That's better," Naraka said with a toothy smile as the man turned his back and started off down the corridor.

It was always nice when someone cooperated. While she liked a good challenge now and then, sometimes it was gratifying when she got her way easily. While undoubtedly breaking the man into little pieces like a twig for kindling would be fun, having him along as a bullet-sponge was much more practical.

The Togruta woman followed along behind, moving noiselessly behind him. If he hadn't known she was there, it was very likely he never would have noticed. Stalking was easily one of Naraka's greatest skills, something honed over many years.

Quite honestly, she would have preferred stalking wild game on Felucia or Shili instead of being here on Ylesia inside a building, working to kill a slimy Hutt. It was tempting to simply leave again and hope the masked man would successfully kill the target.

However compared to her own abilities, she doubted the man was skillful enough to do what had to be done. It would fall to her to do work in the end, as was so often the way of missions with partners.

It was a little disappointing actually. But maybe he'd die in an amusing way.

[Ash]

Zwei had his sound dampening stealth field back up, hiding his movements and his footsteps as he made his way down the hall. To him, his feet sounded loud, and he didn't know if it was because he was aware, or if it was due to his implants.

He was also quite aware of the woman some ways behind him; the unusual sound of flesh on cold floor. He was sure, if it was louder around here, he would have a hard time hearing her, but because it was so quiet, that wasn't an issue.

It didn't take long for him to hear voices coming up from around a corner. They sounded like they weren't right around the turn, and, upon coming to it, saw that they were coming from two guards walking his way. There was enough room for him, if he was still, to hide in a doorway, so long as they didn't use that door, but it would be harder for the lady behind him. He smiled slightly, eyes narrowing behind his black, polarized lenses of his mask as he stepped into the doorway. He was curious as to what the woman would do, with all her little force powers.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Naraka sensed the pair of guards coming, and though she half-hoped they would branch off, she quickly realized that they weren't going to. Her masked associate didn't seem to mind, as he ducked into a doorway where that was only room for one.

"My my," The Togruta woman said. "Chivalry really is dead."

The guards were talking, and their voices carried down the corridor.

"So I told Jada, if you think I'm buying that hunk of junk, you're crazy."

"Yeah Barry, no one likes a D7A. That price was outrageous too."

"So what if she's- Hey! Who are you?" Barry demanded as he leveled his blaster at her.

"Oh, no one of consequence," The Togruta Sith said. "Just one of the new dancers. I got a little lost when I was looking around."

"What are those?" The other guard demanded, looking at her lightsabers. He seemed skeptical, but luckily she had an ace up her sleeve. Or what would have been up her sleeve if she'd been wearing a proper shirt. Bare arms just felt so more natural though...

"They are nothing," Naraka said softly with a wave of her hand.

"They're nothing."

"Yeah, guess it's nothing. Sorry about that. What's your name anyway sugar?"

"Kalima," The red-skinned woman said with a little fake giggle to make her seem younger. It helped that her race had a tendency towards being ageless. "How about you two?"

"I'm Barry, and that's Leon. Anyway, good to have a new dancer."

"Maybe a friendlier dancer too..." Leon said with a grin.

Naraka smiled coyly back. "I can be real friendly..."

Leon took a step forward, but Barry clapped him on the shoulder.

"Settle down loverboy, she'll still be here tomorrow. We've got work to do."

"All right. Bye Kalima," Leon said with a wink as the pair of guards resumed their march down the hall. They continued their conversation where it left off from, as if nothing had ever happened.

Naraka leaned against the door frame and idly examined her fingernails.

"I'm sure at some point someone must have told you that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."

[Ash]

And I am certain someone told you it isn't nice to play with someone's mind. That's exactly why I don't trust anyone like you.

Zwei dropped his cloak, his body seemingly materializing from thin air. He had his arms crossed as he looked at the woman before him. His eyes were narrow and filled with distrust, but this woman wouldn't be able to see them behind his lenses. What he was talking about was force users in general. He cared not if they were Sith or Jedi or some random force user with nowhere to go.

After a few moments longer, Zwei brushed past the woman: quiet as his namesake of Phantom, and cloaked himself once again. He imagined that they were getting close enough to his target that he didn't need to worry about sneaking around anymore. He readied one of his pistols, it in his arm hanging at his side. Anticipation could be felt, but what out-matched that was a killing instinct: an unusual thirst for blood that felt almost artificial.

Zwei rounded a corner, bringing himself face to face with two more roving guards. Without a single thought, Zwei raised his pistol and shot the first man square in the face, blowing off the back of his head. His partner didn't know how to react, and stood dumbstruck as the man materialized in front of his now dead comrade. That was the wrong move, as he took a slug in the head as well.

The killing instinct took Zwei over completely, it seemed: next to nothing was felt from Zwei now, and he felt nothing. Behind his mask, his eyes were glazed: they seemed to have lost most of their color: they would seem almost an orange color, toned in with green due to his cybernetics becoming visible in the glassy orbs. He paused for a second to make sure the woman was behind him, then continued on, not worrying about his stealth field any longer.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"Messy, messy," Naraka chided the masked man. She clicked her tongue before smiling impetuously.

Such acts of violence didn't bother her at all. It was simply part of nature. Animals killed each other routinely, some merely for the sake of territorialism. Come between a predator and his food, and you would regret the decision. And of course there was the fact that as a young woman, the Togruta had ripped open a man's throat with her teeth and gouged out his eyes with her nails.

It was safe to say a few dead bodies didn't trouble her. Of course she would have given them an open-casket funeral had the need arisen.

"I suppose now we'll have to walk faster," The red-skinned Sith said as she increased her pace, now walking only slightly behind the man, and to the side.

Together they progressed through the halls without incident, and they stopped before the throne room. When they stopped, Naraka grabbed hold of the man's shoulder and spoke.

She was already familiar with the layout of the room, and she knew that there was only one entrance, this one. However the room itself was quite large, with adjoining chambers on three sides. To the left were entertainers, and to the right a steady supply of food and drinks. In the rear were guards, and the Hutt himself. What they needed was a plan.

"When we enter, I'll go to the left, and you take the right. Try to be quiet."

Of course she knew he would, but she had the delightful feeling that saying that would make him angry.