Unconventional Villains

[blstrgmr]

Mos Eisley, surely they'd find what they were looking for there. The duo had docked at Anchorhead and taken a tip from an awfully kindly bartender that the slave trade was booming as usual in Mos Eisley. In a de-regulated place like Tatooine, the sentient profiteering was rampant...and the Sith would profit one way or another from it as well.

Kairo Djatani was accompanied by another Acolyte to hunt down a strong hull of workers. They'd be whisked away in a shuttle and used as servants or...target practice. Who even knew? The read on those people would go dark as soon as they were assigned to a Sith or some other subsequent handler. It usually wasn't a very great fate.

But for now, that wasn't the duo's problem. They were being en route to the city, transported in a sand crawler after bargaining away their shuttle's droid to the Jawa group that owned it. It was better this way. They'd get to maintain a low profile and talk about planning and the multitude of things that could go wrong. The Jawas were even nice enough to give them their own room to wait in and discuss business, despite it essentially being a cold, metal box.

 

[ZabrakBustati]

A fan on this particular diplomatic mission, Bustati was not. It brought back soar memories of a time she was all too keen to leave behind in Jutt territory, and yet here she was returning to the metaphysical shackles, but this time as a diplomat, more importantly a translator. She was able to aid in the bargaining of the droid with the Jawas getting the better price and making them think they got it on the cheap, giving them more credit then they originally sought. Though as she looked at the bare room of their purchase she still considered them to at their best be stingy. She moved to sit on the hardened bench and looked to Kairo, "Have you yourself ever been a slave?" She asked, trying to understand why he was so interested in the matter.

Currently her own brand located on her right shoulder blade, concealed by the dark cloths that adorned her form burned, a staggering memory of pain from when she first received it. Indeed on their way to this planet her sleep had been fitful and noticed by all as she woke up mid slumber fighting panic and for the very breathe that entered her lungs. Nightmares plagued her of a past that was all too real.

 

[blstrgmr]

Kairo looked out the very small viewport that they had. It was unimpressive, the dune sea. Just long, rolling waves of drab tones and colors. It was dark outside, the twins suns just starting to rise and cast the faintest hint of light on their side of the planet. He had been operating in this area for a half a year and had accomplished quite a bit, as far as his own goals were concerned. His own goals, at times, even went against the Sith. And on this mission, this might be the case. He only hoped if this friction arose during the mission, that he could get the Acolyte with him to roll with it.

His small train of thought suddenly crashed when Bustati broke the silence. "Now that's an interesting question. I guess that implies a certain definition of a slave, hm? I'm sure our definitions don't line up, so I'll say no...I haven't been a slave. Though, I've known many of were and are." He answered truthfully, though rather obviously trying to step around the question. Kairo didn't want to deal with much friction during this little trip. "Is something on your mind, acolyte?" He paused. "Sorry, can I just call you by your name? I've never been a fan of this whole hierarchy of titles. Feels so forced."

 

[ZabrakBustati]

"Definition: Stripped of your identity, dressed in drab uniform clothing, and forced to do acts of labor against your will, and that's if your lucky. No? No. As I thought. But you know slaves! Well that changes everything." The last phrase was laced with sarcasm and she shook her head. Then he asked what was on her mind. The question seemed redundant but she answered anyway, which seemed to make her ever more bitter. "Slavery." She smarted off, "Because unlike you I know what the people chained to this planet and others have been through. Went through it myself for nearly a decade, not that being an acolyte makes much difference. Saved from going to the kill buyers only to get shipped off to Korriban, thrown into a gauntlet, get the ever living shit beaten out of me, and now I'm being brought back to this wasteland...So why? What's in it for you? Why do you care? Your a Sith...Don't think I'm foolish enough to believe you have any sentiments for broken souls." Indeed the other Sith seemed to relish in having acolytes at their beck and call. Using them as sparring dummies or pawns in their schemes. Why would he be any different? What was with the nice act? What was the cache!?

Her arms were crossed and her feet, real and mechanical, were planted firmly on the ground. It was a very defensive stance she had taken. If he had any plans to use her as a bargaining chip she would hunt him down and kill him out right, some how, some way. Needless to say it seemed outbursts of emotion from her lacked anything other than anger. Then again acolytes were generally given quite a bit of grief, or at least she was, by other Sith if she showed any other emotion. So was part of it a mask? An act? Was she projecting negativity because she believed that was what he wanted? Letting negative memories feed the Force through her so as not to appear weak? It was extremely likely.

To his final question she gave him permission, but only through a growl of her name, "Bustati."

 

[blstrgmr]

Kairo listened to her explanation and nodded along with it. So, she was a prior slave. He had suspected it from her behavior on the shuttle, but truth be told...most Sith had enough of a screw loose that would lead to tossing and turning in the night. The Acolyte had strong feelings about slavery, about the freedom of a sentient being ripped from them and used as a bartering tool. As luck would have it, so did Kairo. And now more information about her in the Korriban arena...very interesting. Kairo may have faintly recalled seeing her, but he was never one to really pay attention at those events. If she was here, then she had promise...such was the way of those arenas. Now the more difficult questions began to flow from her. Kairo didn't like speaking much of his own opinions until needed, but it seemed he couldn't risk losing this Acolyte from the mission. Her abilities were invaluable in the diplomatic points of the mission.

"What's in it for me, hm? Well, that's certainly a loaded question. I suppose my answer would be nothing. I really don't gain anything out of these little escapades. You use my little title as a Sith to say that I have no sentiment, or that I must be truly within the code of the Sith. What if I told you that the code was only true on an individual level? That perhaps there's a facet you don't see here? That your Sith Code drives you to do something different than what I might do? Or what I might do versus one of our upper echelons?" As much as Kairo was a straight forward individual when it got down to business, musing about philosophy with acolytes was something he always found enjoyment in. "Just give what I said a thought. The code of the Sith allows us to be one of the most diverse groups in the galaxy...should we desire it." At this point, Kairo was pacing quite a bit, almost rambling on before stopping and turning back towards Bustati. "And I believe you desire it, or you wouldn't be an acolyte. All I can ask is that you trust me for the moment."

With a clap of his hands, Kairo began to look slightly embarrassed. "You must be bored to tears by my ramblings. My full name is Kairo Djatani. A pleasure to meet you...heart to heart, Bustati. Oh...and one more thing. They don't give Acolytes weapons, do they?" This point might be pertinent at some time in the future.

 

[ZabrakBustati]

Bustati expression of anger that she learned to wear so well around the Sith morphed into that of a rather perplexed individual as Kairo spoke. Granted it wasn't his philosophy that seemed to befuddle her, but him in general. He was a Sith speaking with compassion. Granted such emotion was hidden in a riddle of near nonsense, but such an attitude in general made her dumbfounded. Most Sith were one of two things: Brash hot tempered individuals who thought waving their light saber about would solve any problem, or cold calculating generals who played the galaxy as if it were a giant game of chess. He was neither. Was this the Twilight Zone?

The Zabrak sat there those amber eyes a bit wide. Her lips hanging ever slightly open as she blatantly stared at him. She truly didn't know what to do when being confronted by someone whose intentions were good and who had nothing to gain nor desired to gain anything of personal value from her services. A pleasure to meet her? What? Why? Niceties like these were truly foreign to Bustati. She grew up in a war like culture where the fittest survived and thrived and the weak, well she was a prime example of what happened to the weak. The rest of her time had been spent under the management of cruel hands, passed from one to the next with little regard for her. So it could equally be understood that what followed her confusion was a mix of emotions that were none too kind to her mind. Insecurities swept through her revealing a vulnerable sense that when exposed left her beyond terrified. She looked away from him, working to bring those mental defenses back up, salvage what was left of her mental barriers. Needless to say due to her lack of encounters with such an individual she had trouble digesting what Kairo was saying though the last question she understood and in response simply shook her head no.

 

[blstrgmr]

Kairo could only show a slight frown. The wouldn't even give the Acolytes weapons to start out with? How unsporting. How would an Acolyte be useful as help if they were only left to swing their fists at blasters and sabers? The Sith decided that he would remedy this temporarily. "I don't know if this is going against some obscure tradition, but I consider myself above using Acolytes as simple human shields. Besides, you'll learn better with hands on experience as opposed to just watching me." He dug around in his jacket for a moment, pulling a very basic looking lightsaber out of his pocket. It was streamlined, simple, and wrapped with fabric for some sort of grip. It almost seemed made out of scrap metal as opposed to something created with great thought and meditation. He thoughtfully examined the weapon, as if remembering a past event, then offered it pommel-first to Bustati. "For the time being, you can use this. Keep the emitter pointed away from you, swing only at what you can hit, and don't try to deflect any blaster bolts. Just get out of the way of the other guy's muzzle. Well...should it come to that anyway. Oh! And thrusting is just as effective as slashing on an unarmored adversary. Too many Sith with wild bravado like to hack and slash like madmen. Good way to lose a limb."

Should Bustati activate the blade to test it, she'd find that it was a shorter blade than usual. Not only that, but the blade would be colored a very bold blue. "I'm guessing you haven't had much in the way of saber training. I'll try to work some in on the way back." As the sandcrawler pressed on, there was a sudden stop. They had reached the edge of their destination and would have to only press further to find their goals. "Ready to proceed?"

 

[ZabrakBustati]

She heard him speak but did not look his way til his shadow seemed to cross the path of her's and he held out the saber for her to take. She looked to it and then took it into her own custody. "Thank you." She said and she meant it. She examined the saber activating it and finding it to be a brilliant blue, not red like others she had come across. Interesting. She deactivated it and stored it aside in the pocket of her baggy trousers. The sandcrawler came to a stop and she rose to her feet giving a nod. "Ready as ever I suppose." There seemed to be more confidence in those words as the fear was struck out of them. She followed him off of the craft and beyond the borders into the heart of where they were heading.

 

[blstrgmr]

"Perfect. We shouldn't be too far from our destination. Small cantina, nothing you can't handle." As they entered the city, the liveliness of the daily hustle and bustle began to pick up as the suns rose. It wasn't anything out of the usual, which was welcome. Kairo preferred not to get sidetracked. It only took fifteen minutes of walking to reach the building. "Our contact should be in here. You'll need to translate for me...I'm not great at languages."

The door slid up into the framework of the building as Kairo pressed its activation switch; he ventured inside with Bustati. A quick scan of the crowd landed on a Rodian wearing red, just as the contact in Anchorhead had said. A penchant for the color red. Perfect, that must have been their slave trader. Kairo approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder, moving swiftly to the side of him and placing his own unactivated lightsaber on the bar with a loud clunking noise. "Tell him we're interested in buying a quantity of slaves and the Sith would like to personally see his stock. Try Rodian. Can you manage that?" He directed his question back towards Bustati.

 

[ZabrakBustati]

The Zabrak followed Kairo and moved to the opposing side of the Sith, and took a seat across from the Rodian. Her hands placed palms down on the table, showing she had nothing to hide, and feet planted firmly on the ground beneath the table a sign that if an agreement could not be met she would just as easily press herself up into her feet and move onto an individual who was more accommodating to their needs. She knew very well that financial transactions were a two way street. The Rodian was looking for a buyer for live stock that required maintenance. Maintenance meant having to spend money in order to assure a profit which could quickly go south if a deal was not made in a timely manner.

Bustati looked from Kairo, heard his words, and gave a shrug. She then turned her attentions back to the Rodian. Her expression was blank. Her words were crisp and clear with her intent layed out rather neatly, "I speak Huttese, Jawaese, Tusken, and Bocce. Which would you prefer I speak for the intent and purpose of our business here?" Each language was spoken in the tongue of it's name and the final question was fluently repeated in each language she knew. The four languages were all primary languages for Tatooine and thus she figured he understood at least one of them or business for him would be rather difficult..

 

[blstrgmr]

Kairo gave a bit of a disappointed grunt, but decided this little hiccup wouldn't cause any issue for them. "Try Huttese. Language of business." Kairo decided and look toward the Rodian, who gave a bit of a confirmation of some form when Huttese was mentioned. It was readily apparent, but Kairo continually kept glancing downward at the Rodian's hip, keeping tabs on their holstered weapon at all times. Thankfully, it didn't seem the idea of Sith wanting to buy his stock would spook him quite yet.

 

[ZabrakBustati]

Bustati looked to Kairo as he spoke and gave a single nod of understanding. She then looked to the Rodian and spoke in Huttese. "We are interested in buying a number of your stock, but of course would like to personally inspect the goods prior to purchase." She didn't see the need to mention they were Sith, after all Kairo's light saber sat on the counter for all to see, if this person had any amount of intelligence then surely he could make the connection for himself.