Ask Misery Business

[Hatice Altaris]

[Flashback: Pre-Sith]​

Nadya walked the dark slums of Taris, a hand in one pocket and a concealed blaster in the other. It was the first time she’d left Axxila in years, although it certainly didn’t feel like it. The lower districts here were the same: packed with beggars, shady pickpockets, flashing neon lights and the hum of speeder engines. Vendors haggled every passerby, and the air reeked of soft-boiled fish and cooked water beetles.

She had tried street food before, but most tasted like they’d been battered and fried in kerosene. Nadya longed for the old luxuries of her past life. The platters of macarons and oysters and sugared pastries that the servants would provide whenever she asked. She missed the smell of lavender, of freshly carved apples, as she played in the gardens with her brother Jaikus. She missed a lot of things, but now was not a good time to reminisce on old memories. She was on Taris for a reason.

Yuri was an Echani smuggler and mercenary known for selling out his services at high rates and often for jobs no one else dared to try. Since Nadya had gained control of Don Salvara’s cartel, she’d slowly been building her criminal empire, gathering supporters and new allies. But Yuri was no ally. Since Don Salvara’s unfortunate demise, the smuggler had disrupted several of her shipments in the last month and she was eager to set things straight.

According to local rumors, he was hiding out in some cheap apartment complex in the lower levels, a tenement where nobody would bother him—until now. Nadya was accompanied by an assassin droid, courtesy of the late Don, and intended to see the man pay for his defiance. After all she was not beyond getting her hands dirty, not when her future was at stake. She would do anything if it meant rebuilding the Altaris family fortune.

She strode into the lift that would take her up to Yuri’s room, sighing, mentally preparing herself for what was to come.

@Orbit

 

[Vren Mallick]

When Vren had arrived at the temple, it was under no special circumstance for the others and it left him relatively unsupervised for that small window. One of those nights, he had snuck off on his own as he had used a majority of the credits that his mother had given to him to reach the planet Taris. The Echani never knew if he would be given the chance or ever have the power to do anything but he at least wanted to know he had the means necessary in order to search for his family if the time was ever right.

Ditching the robes for a normal outfit, Vren was dressed in a jacket with a hood, pants, and boots. While he appreciated the lightness of the robes, it was nice to wear regular clothing.

A meeting had been arranged between him and a broker known as Yuri, a price not discussed, and thankfully so, Vren's funds low as he would have to rely on his haggling skills. With the address in hand, navigating through the city was quite easy, the padawan still held up from time to time as he would sightsee or just watch an encounter between pedestrians for a moment. Eventually, the address would lead him to an apartment complex, one that wasn't memorable in the slightest.

Vren glanced toward the entrance and the street that led to it and only found a congestion of people that he wanted to avoid. The force was an aspect he generally tended to avoid but there were some aspects even he couldn't deny. Deciding to use a different path, the Echani stepped into a nearby alley and with the coast clear, he used the force to leap upwards and scale the building, the balconies his steps as he would find the room for Yuri after a few levels.

Stepping inside from the balcony, the Echani could hear the whir of a weapon as his eyes immediately locked straight on it with his hands up. "Who the fuck are you?" When the golden gaze locked on the fellow Echani's face, he almost couldn't believe it and he whipped down his hood, "Yuri?" The word came out with disbelief laced heavily in it, the face recognizable but not the name. The blaster was lowered as Yuri also recognized him and the unique combination of white and gold. "Vren?" Their tones matched as they simply stared at each other.

@Song

 

[Hatice Altaris]

Nadya marched down the hallway to Yuri’s tenement, her assassin droid trailing her like a phantom ghost. She checked her belongings one last time: the pair of knives hidden up her sleeves, her concealed blaster, the comlink in her back pocket ready to send out a transmission for help if things went awry. She’d come fully prepared. Nadya would not make the same mistakes as Don Salvara. When it came to her enemies, she would be quick, thorough, and without sympathy.

“Anivia,” she told the droid. “Please let Yuri know we’ve arrived.”

The hulking droid nodded, and at the door into the tenement, reared back its steel-plated leg and kicked. The door practically flew off its hinges, falling over with a loud clang. Anivia revealed two blasters from its waist and stepped through the haze of dust and broken plaster, scanning the room for vital signs. Nadya followed closely behind it, intending to use the droid as a shield should a firefight break out, but she felt confident she could nip the problem in the bud and kill Yuri before he became a threat.

Until she saw he wasn’t alone.

Someone else stood beside him, a hooded Echani in regular clothing. A friend? An ally? There was a strange aura about him, a sensation she could not quite comprehend, and she felt reminded of the Jedi that had helped her defeat Salvara back on Axxila. But they could not be the same—and even if they were, that did not mean they could be trusted. All Nadya needed to know was that this mystery boy was not on her side.

Her emerald green eyes cut to where Yuri stood, armed and looking about as ready for battle as she was. Her lips pursed.

“Sorry, am I interrupting?”

@Orbit

 

[Vren Mallick]

"When the hell did you become a broker Talos?" It was the Echani's real name, a simple merchantman at the time when the two had first met on Eshan. The name Yuri was completely new to the padawan but he couldn't hold it against him, Vren after all was called V by everyone that knew him on the surface.

Talos shook his head quickly, almost still trying to wrap his head around the whole situation and seeing a face he thought he'd never lay eyes upon again. "None of your business." His answer was short and curt, mostly so he could ask his own questions, "So this was all for you? The data and identity?" A bag was gestured to which contained the contents of the padawan's request. "Why the hell are you trying to return there after what happened?" There was actual curiosity in his voice and even a tidbit of concern.

The questions stumped Vren, unable to decide whether he should actually share his reasoning or not. In the end, he was about to reveal the answer, his mouth opening but before any words could be ushered out, the door to the apartment was kicked off its hinges and flew between the two Echani as it smacked into the wall. Talos was already on his feet, his blaster already trained toward the door as Vren had spun on his heels, his two fists up for any sort of defense.

When a droid and a woman stepped inside, Vren's eyes quickly flicked between them and Talos, wondering exactly what he had stepped into.

It was funny, for Hatice, it would be easy to identify both of them as Echani but couldn't be more different. Talos held the regular traits while Vren was much different, his skin tanner and his optics a sharp gold. Answering her question, Talos scoffed slightly, "What do you think? You kicked my goddamn door down!" His gaze flicked between the pair and then to Vren before he quickly fired a bolt straight toward the droid, hitting it right in the shoulder.

While it recovered, he immediately tossed a bag over to the padawan and picked up the contents that Vren had asked for himself. "V! GO!" Without wasting any more time, Talos dashed toward a different section of the apartment as he planned to use an improvised exit.

Vren, not intending to be the only target in the room, snatched the bag and ran toward the balcony which he came in. The droid raised both its arms, firing in different directions and at both Echani. One almost hit the padawan but he jumped off the balcony and to another one, roughly crashing onto a table as he knocked it down and a few plants. Taking only a moment for recovery, he got back up and leaped diagonally and onto the roof of a shorter building where he could manage a landing.

Talos may be the original target and had to pay for whatever sins he committed, his true value was in the information he carried and that was handed off to the random kid, splitting the reward for his attacker. The droid stepped forward before turning slightly to Hatice, silently asking for an order and who to follow.

@Song

 

[Hatice Altaris]

“It’s only fair, Yuri. You take my spice, I take your door.”

Nadya smiled. It was not only two seconds later that the smuggler fired at her, the bolt dinging painlessly against Anivia’s armored chassis. Her smile vanished and a scowl came to the surface. She thought maybe they could have a brief talk, a chance to reconnect or even reconcile, but now it seemed those options were off the table. Now, only one thing was on Nadya’s mind.

As more shots were released and the apartment turned into a fireworks show, raining sparks and plaster, Nadya stayed close behind her droid and kept her blaster raised. She fired several bolts at Yuri, mostly because she had no idea what to think of the other, golden-eyed Echani. She’d hoped he was little more than an unfortunate bystander and would stay out of her business, but the second he accepted the thrown bag and made a dash for the balcony, she knew she should have shot him from the start.

A choice had to be made. Yuri, or the information she needed.

She chose the latter.

“Anivia,” she ordered. “Capture Yuri, and kill him if you have to.” The droid nodded once and charged forward, smashing through one of the walls in the apartment to pursue the escaping smuggler. Meanwhile, Nadya hid away her blaster, took in a deep breath, and ran towards the balcony. She leapt without thinking.

It’d been a while since she last drew on this mysterious power inside of her—the Force, or whatever it was. She still did not quite understand its limits, but she did know it could make her stronger, faster, and more powerful than any ordinary human. Sometimes, when the nights got lonely and she wanted an escape from the nightmares, she would practice breaking things. A vase, a mirror, a cup—she’d learned to shatter them with only a curled fist.

Jumping from buildings was nothing.

Nadya landed gracefully the first leap, then rolled across the gravel rooftop on the next. Before continuing to chase down the stranger, however, she yanked one of the knives from her sleeve and hurled it at his shoulder. If he didn’t miraculously dodge it in time, she hoped it would be enough to take him down or force him to surrender the bag and whatever was in it.

@Orbit

 

[Vren Mallick]

While Vren's skills in the force were a little questionable, his species was still rather agile and he was in excellent condition. The leap to the roof of the other building fared much better compared to his last one. It ended in a roll, somewhat awkwardly with him carrying the bag but he managed to use his momentum to spring him forward in a sprint. He didn't even dare chance a glance behind him, just trusting the fact the safest option was creating as much distance as possible.

Vren had no idea who the woman was, what Talos had done, or what the hell was inside the bag. The one thing he did know was that the fellow Echani had what he needed and vice versa. It meant the two would have to meet again for an exchange and it was exactly the haggle chip that the padawan required. Dropping the bag was out of the question for him.

Being back outside, clouds began to cover the sky as a light rain fell upon the city. As he approached the edge of the other side, a splashing sound accompanying his footsteps, the Echani could see a speeder truck coming down the street and changed course for it. When he neared the ledge, Vren thought he was in the clear but felt cold metal as the knife sank into his left shoulder easily right after the thought crossed his mind. The padawan let out a yelp filled with pain in reaction, unable to contain it while his eyes flashed stars.

He may have been young but Vren was an Echani and used to a life of hardship and combat. Adrenaline and his survival instinct fueled him and instead of releasing the bag, his grip only tightened in response. His plan had been to bounce off the truck but the knife changed that as it made him trip from the pain, more sliding off the edge instead of jumping as he made sure to not land face first. Vren landed on the container in the back after a slight fall, ass first hard as slid across it with his behind and feet, the slick metal helping as he kicked up water.

The vehicle continued to move and it made so he had no idea where he was landing. When Vren slid off the truck, he crashed fast right into an unsuspecting stall, knocking over a couple of stands with items as the merchant fell onto the ground, shouting curse words in his natural language. The Echani got up with a deep grunt after a moment while shaking his head, using one of the fallen stands as support, "My bad..." He uttered the shitty apology painfully before casting a glance to the roof he had jumped from and spotted how near Hatice was.

If he wasn't being chased by some assassin he would have offered to help.

Vren pushed off the ground and reached full speed once more, jumping over a few debris, the knife remaining in his shoulder as he couldn't stop. This was his first time on the planet and he had no idea where to go or what led where. He turned down the first street he came across, and then randomly multiple times after that, doing his best to try and lose his tail. Pedestrians got out of the way as they saw him hustle by with the knife sticking out from his shoulder.

The path he had chosen led him to a market square, some sort of celebration taking place as there was swaths of people. Neon displays light the streets as mini fireworks were fired into the sky above them, the rain not dampening the mood in the slightest. Vren was covered in a sheen of sweat from his wound but he calmly threw up his hood while forcibly easing the pace of his heart. The Echani entered into the crowd as he breathed heavily, mixing in them with as he matched their pace.

@Song

 

[Hatice Altaris]

Nadya grinned as the knife thudded into the Echani’s shoulder, but her satisfaction boiled into frustration as he simply continued, gritting through the pain and widening the distance between her and an easy score. She dug her nails into her palms. Fine. Drawing onto her anger, she drove ahead, crossing the rooftop in a matter of seconds and not even bothering to halt by the ledge. Instead, she leapt as if to defy gravity, a leaf on the wind. Below, she could almost spot the Echani boy, the gilded handle of her knife still lodged in his back.

She hit the ground and rolled, using the Force to cushion her landing. She whipped her head back, throwing her hair over her shoulders, and smiled at him.

As he ran, Nadya shoved past outraged vendors and confused bystanders. She jumped through one stall, pushing over a bowl of fruit and spilling berries across the muddy street. Rain continued to fall in earnest. Afraid to lose him in the crowd, she began to snatch items from other stalls and threw them at him: a crystal rock, a pair of gambling dice, an unripe plum. Most smacked into the faces of innocent spectators, but even those that might have landed failed to register on the Echani as he pushed on.

Then she lost him.

Some ridiculous festival was taking place. Men and women crowded a market plaza, shouting mantras and dancing in colorful masks. Fireworks burst in the sky. Nadya thought to curse, to scream, knowing everything she came for had slipped through her fingers. But then she remembered—she had something this Echani probably didn’t. The Force. She shut her eyes, blocking out the noise around her. Just breathe. Just think. She thought about the boy’s face, his golden eyes. Her gilded knife.

She opened her eyes and spotted it, gleaming under the neon light of the city square. Nadya cut through the crowd. The downpour matted her hair to her face and it had probably ruined her outfit, but as long as this trip was not all for nothing, she didn’t care. Once she neared close enough to the boy, she threw out her hands. The wind and rain lashed forward, and the crowd gasped as they were parted by an invisible force. A clear line of space opened up for Nadya to sprint straight for the Echani.

But instead of running, she did what she had before. She pulled out her second knife and threw it right for his other shoulder.

@Orbit

 

[Vren Mallick]

Vren sliced through the crowd, one of his hands held low near people's hips so he could usher them out of his way. Sweat trickled down his sharp face in multiple streams, the knife protruding from his shoulder the primary cause as the pain felt like fire blazing through the veins near the wound. The thought of yanking it out kept crossing his mind but he knew if he did, it would result in him bleeding profusely and he didn't have a way to stop it.

Despite the handle sticking out from him, he did his best to blend in the crowd as he trusted the number of bodies and bright distractions that covered for him but had forgotten the force and how he himself was imbued with it. Vren was halfway to the other side, oblivious to Hatice closing in on him like a predator to prey. About midway through a step, the Echani was able to sense a sort of energy that pulsed through the crowd, the hairs on the back of his neck rising as he recognized it as the same sensation he felt when he discovered he had abilities in his younger years.

There was a unison of gasps behind him and he acted off instinct instantly, spinning to his right as another knife would soar right for him. Because of his shift, it didn't strike his shoulder but grazed his arm, tearing a massive cut in the sleeve of his favorite jacket. Vren would stumble into a stall and lean against one of the stands, trinkets and assorted items falling to the ground. The knife clattered to the ground after feeling the impact of his flesh and slid underneath a fellow market-stand.

Vren first glanced down at the cut across his bicep, the blood mixing in with the rain as it flowed freely. His gaze then flicked upward to Hatice, surprise in his eyes as he realized she was the same thing as him. Who the hell did Talos get himself involved with? The people that had been pushed were getting up to their feet, the rest just staring between the two.

Taking flight again, the Echani pushed off the stall and rushed onward as he pushed people out of the way roughly. Vren would make a sharp turn into an alley after exiting from the throng and found a fire escape on the side of a building. Exhaustion taking hold of him, instead of continuing on sprinting, be booked it for the stairs. The padawan scaled the steps, two to three at a time as he made his way to the top.

When he reached the roof, Vren didn't find any salvation. A massive neon billboard resided on the roof too and shone down on him, his white hair reflecting the pink color brightly. The space left on the roof was almost a widened walkway as Vren made his way to the opposite side. He would just stare at a building taller than the one he was on in front of him, a flat wall the only thing offered as a handheld. Bones in his body ached and he wasn't ready to find a fancy method of climbing. A drop to the street was to his left, the only way back being the stairs. Vren just slowly turned around as he breathed heavily, waiting for his tracker to arrive.

@Song

 

[Hatice Altaris]

Nadya cursed under her breath at seeing her knife fail to imbed in his shoulder. She had a clean, precise shot, but the Echani had remarkably good reflexes. Still, it hadn’t been quick enough to avoid drawing blood, and she watched it trail his cloak the way a shark might see it in the water. She honed in him as he turned and ran. He was clearly faster in terms of speed, but Nadya was driven by sheer will and she had no intentions of letting him escape.

And yet, she could almost hear her mother’s voice in the back of her mind telling her to stop. As a child, Nadya had always been bursting with energy. Servants around their home would often refer to her as 'a fireball,' just because she loved to run around the halls wreaking havoc, especially with her older brother. She could almost remember the times when she chased him through the penthouse holding a plastic sword, pretending she was a great Sith and he, of course, a measly Jedi Knight.

“Slow down, Hatice, before you tear a ligament!” Her mother would shout.

“I don’t even know what a ligament is!” she would say in response, and continue to chase her brother through the winding halls, screaming like a maniac, a monster of a child.

Nadya didn’t scream this time. Not as she pushed through bodies of angry men and women, over market stalls and down muddy alleys, in pursuit of the Echani boy. She could feel exhaustion creep in the harder she ran. Drawing so much on the Force had definitely put a dent in her stamina, but not enough to leave her vulnerable or too weak to catch up. Pure adrenaline carried her on. Nothing else mattered beyond the satchel and the boy, and she did whatever it took to reach them.

She climbed up the fire escape, trailing him like a shadow until, finally, she had him cornered. On a rooftop bathed in pale rosy light, she caught his eye on the other side of an open walkway. Nadya did not hesitate to draw her blaster. She aimed it at him, signaling him to freeze. Her eyes were like green fire in the rain.

“Are you done running or not?” she said. “Because I’m fucking exhausted.” She panted heavily, but never once let her grip on the pistol drop. Slowly, she closed the gap between them, one careful step after another. “Just give me the satchel or whatever information is in it, and you can walk away with your life. That’s all I’m here for—just that and Yuri. I don’t know who you are, and frankly I could care less.” Her eyes hardened. “But know that I will shoot you if you don’t give me what I need. Don’t think for a second that I won’t.”

But would she? Even she wasn’t so sure.

@Orbit

 

[Vren Mallick]

The rain had grown in volume by the time both of them had reached the roof, drops hitting the ground with thunderous impacts. When the two were finally able to look at each other in the eye, the rain had wiped any notion that Vren had been sweating as he was soaked. The only sound was the passing of speeders, the rain, and the buzz from the giant billboard beside them.

He wondered what the plan was then, he was trapped and she was out of her fancy knives. But his curiosity was answered relatively quickly as Hatice drew out her blaster and centered it right on his chest. Vren scoffed lightly as he wiped his face with one hand, forgetting that she had a gun in the heat of the chase through the city. Why the hell did he take the bag?

The woman was asked if he was done running because she was exhausted and he simply waved her off with a slight grunt, "Yeah, yeah, fuck off..." She wasn't the one who had a knife sticking out from her and bleeding. When she took a steps forward, Vren let her close the distance as he stood there panting, not really bothering to move with each of his own causing more painful throbbing in his shoulder than he was already experiencing.

When she spoke of why he should hand her the satchel, Vren remained silent as he thought to himself. It was almost certain he was facing death with the gun drawn on him but fibers of his being were still screaming for him to resist. The information was what he needed in order to return home when the time was right, when the answer to what happened or is happening to his family could be revealed. The possible key to achieving that was right in his hands.

Not only that, his thoughts then shifted to Talos. Both of them had known each other for years and this was the reason that Vren was alive still. The merchant, at the time, had been able to smuggle him off Eshan upon his mother's request and while the two had dropped contact, this was for the betterment of both of them in case one got captured. The padawan owed the man his life and he wouldn't betray his old friend, even if it meant getting thrown in some business he had no clue about and shot for it. Vren would rather know he put up a fight than didn't, Hatice's word meaningless to him.

After she finished, Vren had listened but didn't respond with his own, his answer instead was him grabbing the satchel and tightening the lone strap around his torso. The bag would be as tight as it could be against him, preventing any bouncing against him. With his opposite hand, he would reach across and grab onto the knife in his shoulder, yanking it out with a painful yell. He slumped over for a little bit before straightening as he lifted the gilded blade covered in his blood. The Echani slowly flipped it so it faced toward Hatice and gripped onto it tightly as he lowered his stance a few inches. The open wound in the back had blood pour from it freely once the blade was gone and felt it sting as his fabric clung to it.

Vren breathed heavily but spoke loudly enough over the rain, "I can't do that... I don't give a shit what you want either woman. You're not getting this bag." Standing across from each other then, in the neon light, the Echani's features would become prominent and how young he was. He was only a teen, fatigue and pain tugging at his face with him still standing at the ready despite that, his eyes still a vibrant gold and burning bright.

@Song

 

[Hatice Altaris]

Rain pelted the roof, the sound like bullets against plated metal. Nadya thought it was over. The Echani was cornered and, compared to her, had suffered far worse injuries. But when he jutted out his chin and refused, she felt surprised. “Why?” she asked. “Are you so determined to die? It’s just a satchel. Just some information and some credits. Why throw your life away for a nobody like Yuri? He certainly wouldn’t do the same for you, not after throwing you that bag and ditching you to escape.”

Nadya kept walking towards him until she spotted his face in the pale neon light. She froze.

He looked so young. Golden eyes, porcelain skin. Fragile. She looked at the blood dripping down his tunic, the two deep gashes on his arms—mementos left by her knives—and she felt a sudden pang of guilt. Was this who she was? An heiress to the Altaris family fortune, chasing hurt boys in the city gutter? How far she’d fallen. It had not been long ago when she stood in the same situation, a stupid teenage girl just trying to survive, exiled from her own home and with nowhere else to go.

She shook her head, as if trying to shake the memories away. “Goddammit,” Nadya muttered. She lowered her blaster.

Doubt rattled her nerves. She panted, her breath misting in the rain. The billboard between them flashed splotches of soft blue and pink, and for a moment, it seemed like Nadya had finally given up. Despite chasing the Echani boy across buildings and through busy markets, she’d decided to let him go. Her mind was made.

But then the billboard slowly turned in color, and the rooftop was cast in a blanket of red. Nadya had made up her mind. She had gone through hell in order to rebuild her old life on Axxila, and she did not intend to give that up now for a stranger.

Her right hand shot forward. The sound of rain and thunder faded out like white noise, replaced by a dull hum in her ears. The Force. She called and it answered, flooding her bones with new, impossible strength, and she reached out with it to seize the bag slung over the boy’s torso. It wouldn’t tear out of his grip so easily, but it didn’t matter. Either the straps would snap, or Nadya would drag him across the rooftop like a rag doll.

“Be that way then,” she said through gritted teeth. “But the only way I’m fucking off is if you give me the fucking bag.”

@Orbit

 

[Vren Mallick]

The woman questioned his commitment to holding onto the satchel and tried to loosen it by attempting the angle that Yuri wouldn't have done the same for him. Despite the circumstances he was in, Vren couldn't help but give a slight cock of his head, a half-smirk tugging at his lips, "He already has. I owe him." Because he had assisted him in escaping from his home, Talos was still in the Outer-Rims and hadn't returned to Eshan. In the Echani's mind, this was the least he could do.

As she had gotten closer to him, Hatice was able to easily see what his age was and Vren in turn could easily see how it affected her. What had once been a steady hand instead became slightly wobbly, the gun also shaking before it was lowered as the decision to pull the trigger wasn't committed, a mental struggle taking place in her mind.

Vren had no idea who the woman was and had no care about her own past. When the blaster was lowered, he saw his opportunity and knew he had to seize it, his injury placing a sort of timer on how long he could actually defend himself before it would really have an effect on him. The entire time, Hatice had closed the distance while the Echani remained where he was, allowing her to and making it easier for him to reach her.

When the blaster was fully lowered, Vren built the force around him and launched himself at her before she tried to pull him. With the distance shortened by her and his species naturally quick and agile, he was upon her in a matter of a couple of seconds. While she was distracted with her own thoughts, he would launch a kick straight into her stomach, enough power behind it to knock the wind out of her and put her to the ground if it connected.

If she fell to the ground, Vren would shoot his free hand out, with the bad shoulder, summoning to force to rip the blaster out of her grasp and to him while she was on the ground and recovering. With the pain blossoming in his shoulder and his lack of practice in the force, if it did rip out, the gun wouldn't go to his hand but soar above him, striking the neon billboard a few feet above him before it ricocheted off and fell to the street below.

Vren's gaze would follow with disbelief before he returned his attention back to Hatice quickly, dropping his hand because of his shoulder before lifting the one with the knife. The distance between them was still close and he kept it that way as he readied himself.

With the brief contact that had been made by them, the Echani had gotten a brief sense of what was churning underneath her skin, able to sense the rage, desperation, and resolve that burned through her. It was a terrifying inferno but one he wouldn't flinch from.

@Song

 

[Hatice Altaris]

“Owe him?” Nadya repeated. “What, are you two friends or something?” She looked at Vren more closely, his youthful features much more clear in the limelight. “Or family?”

It made no difference. Soon as the question left her lips, the Echani made his move. He lurched forward, crossing the space be tween them, before Nadya could so much as consider seizing the bag, and she felt his boot slam into her gut. The air rushed out of her and she stumbled away, shocked. It’d been a long time since she had been hit like that. Even growing up, when she trained under her father’s tutors, they never really hurt her.

Nadya was clever, resourceful, but without the Force, she could just barely handle a real fight.

She fell flat on her ass. She did not register what was happening until she felt the blaster in her hand loosen, shift, then suddenly rip from her fingers and fly towards the Echani. The Force. He had it too. Nadya had always thought she was a strange thing, an abnormality, some cosmic fluke nobody could understand. But now, she was face to face with someone just like her, a Jedi or Sith, and worse—they were going to kill her.

Or so she thought, up until the blaster flew right over Vren’s shoulder and crashed into the neon billboard. Nadya watched as it dropped six stories and clattered onto the pavement, too far for either of them to grab. She almost broke into laughter. It seemed they both had run out of luck to rely on, and the best they could do was just stare at each other, teeth and knives bared. She wasn’t sure what to do—so she spoke first.

“You’re like me,” she said over the sound of heavy rain, taking on a somber tone, as if the two of them were no longer enemies, but rivals. Two sides of the same coin. Two strangers on opposite banks of a river. “Who are you?”

Whether or not he gave his answer, Nadya would shake her head and smile. “I guess it doesn’t matter. You just remind me of someone I knew a long time ago.” Jaikus, her brother. Long dead or gone. “Maybe you deserve what’s in that bag more than I do. You’re certainly fast enough to keep it from me.” She looked up at him, water trickling down the bridge of her nose. “But I didn’t travel all the way from Axxila just for a white-haired emo boy to break one of my ribs and kick my ass.”

She didn’t bother to raise her hands. Her fingers clenched into the grating of the walkway and Nadya unleashed a wave of the Force—energy she’d been building from the moment she stepped onto that rooftop. The rain exploded into every other direction from where she was. If the Echani was not strong enough, it’d more than likely throw him aside like a sack of potatoes.

@Orbit

 

[Vren Mallick]

"No, we're not." Vren immediately countered her statement they were alike. Through their brief contact, he was able to get a taste of what she felt, the untapped rage and hate that would burn down anything if they stood in her way. The Echani wasn't like that and he would make sure he would never become it either while he searched for his brother.

The only force-users that Vren knew were all at the Jedi temple, practically the whole Order. He had never seen the woman before and with what he sensed churning beneath her, it wasn't hard to assume what her kind was. No answer was given back to her question about who he was as his grip around his blade tightened, ready to defend himself.

Vren waited for her to make the first move, not wanting to waste his own energy on strikes that could leave him vulnerable when he was wounded. But as she continued on speaking, despite his lack of experience, he could feel the force ebbing and flowing towards her rapidly, his eyes widening as a result. Immediately, he charged forward, intending to interrupt whatever she was about to pull off. But as he closed the distance, he felt a wave of energy slam into him and nearly take the air out of his lungs as he wasn't fast enough. It felt like a truck directly slammed into him and launch him backward without care.

Before he lost complete control of his body, the Echani would throw the gilded knife straight at her torso with a grunt, his martial training and strength behind it with his good arm taking effect to have it travel in a straight line right at her. The distance between them, while he was struck, was still relatively short and would leave her little time to react as the blade went through the air like a spear.

Vren wouldn't be able to see the result of what happened as he was launched in the air and spun wildly. The neon lights of the billboard would flash wildly and out of focus before he crashed roughly back onto the gravel roof, tumbling slightly before he eventually stopped with a groan. The bag was banged up but it hadn't been torn open and was still snug against him.

The padawan slowly pushed himself to his knees, the taste of iron flooding his mouth as he most likely bit his tongue. His shoulder throbbed painfully with the rough landing and took a moment before he could control it again. Vren stood up slowly to face the woman, whatever her condition was with the knife, a couple more bruises formed along his face as he wiped the blood from his bottom lip and tiredly said, "And I didn't come here to have some crazy bitch try and take what I need, oh well." Both of his arms flared out, silently saying that it seemed that they were at a crossroads.

Because of her attack, they distanced themselves once more and Vren was closer to the edge on his side. With a glance behind him, he saw the small alley down below before the flat wall that stared directly back at him. There weren't many options for him as he returned his attention to her and slowly lowered his stance.

@Song

 

[Hatice Altaris]

There it was, the Force. It flowed through her, and like a ruptured dam it flooded out in an unstoppable wave, rolling the rain back in a gust of wind. Nadya felt euphoric. She had not felt so much power since she first murdered all those men that had come into her home, corralled her family together, and shot them like a pack of wild dogs. But the power in this instance was not driven by fear or instinct, but something like hate. Something darker. And still, she enjoyed its feeling, and she especially enjoyed watching as it threw the Jedi away like a rag doll.

Maybe she was a crazy bitch. Just a little.

She rose from the ground at his words, pumping with adrenaline. It was clear they both were at a standstill, neither willing to give up an inch of space or possession of the bag. Why did he have to be so goddamn stubborn? It doesn’t matter, Nadya thought. You still have the advantage here. You have power. She raised her hands, clearly about to call on the Force yet again, ignoring the exhaustion slowly creeping in on her. “If you think you’re going to stop me, you’d be stupid to—”

She paused, like something had caught in her throat. Then she felt it, and with a quick look down, saw the knife embedded in the side of her hip. Her stomach roiled. “Oh,” she murmured, a little stunned. “That’s new.”

Nadya leaned on the nearby railing for support. Pure adrenaline must have masked the pain, because she could barely feel it. She shook her head and breathed a laugh. “You are really something, aren’t you?” She looked at him through the stormy haze. Then, without thinking, she lowered her hands and slowly took the knife from her side. She grit her teeth, only just now feeling the knife's sting, until it was back in her hands. Neon light glinted off the weapon's bloody edge.

She walked toward him, a hitch in her step.

Nadya was going to kill him.

But something else crossed her vision. A ship. It emerged from the side of the building, rising, bathing the two of them in bright yellow light. She squinted hard enough before she could spot the ship’s ramp opening—and the man aboard it. “No,” she whispered, and cursed under her breath. Fucking Yuri.

@Orbit

 

[Vren Mallick]

Even with the Sith taking some time to collect herself, Vren still hadn't moved from where he stood. His chest rose and fell as he tried to control his breathing, his entire body slouched slightly as the break in the fighting had returned some sensation to the various cuts and bruises covering him, each one beginning to weigh him down at that point.

When she had finally gotten to her feet, the Echani lowered his stance slightly with a grunt, readying himself for another round reluctantly because it was his only choice left. After what happened with his brother, he was willing to sacrifice anything. Hatice raised her arms and Vren squinted, preparing to be blown back once more and slammed into the wall. But as her words caught in her throat, both their gazes would lower at the same time and meet at the blade that protruded from her hip. Well, he had found his mark and hadn't given the weapon back for free.

What came next surprised him. He thought the knife in her would have stalled the fight at least but instead, she yanked it out without concern. The fabric there became torn, blood spurting out from the open wound momentarily as it could flow freely then. Vren lowered his hands slightly as he just stared at her, wondering exactly who he was dealing with.

The distance between them once more began to shrink as she practically limped towards him but she wouldn't reach in time. Just as he closed his own hands, there would be a loud whirr before a ship tore around the corner of a building and pulled up right beside them. The thrust of the engines sent the little pieces of trash collected around the roof flying as well as the rain droplets, some of them sharply whipping the Echani's face as he tried to cover it.

After the ramp lowered, a man walked down it, a massive energy blaster held by both of his hands while the ship leveled. That's when the Echani heard a familiar voice that shouted at him. "V! Let's go!" Instantly after he spoke, Talos slammed his finger down on the trigger and a continual hail of bolts dropped straight toward Hatice. Some of them would be wild, striking the billboard above her as sparks cascaded down in conjunction; the ground around her as well struck and in her general area.

Vren gave a quick glance toward her direction, his thoughts drifting to the small taste of what fueled her as he thought about what it took to lead her down that path. But he didn't want to waste his window of opportunity and with the last amount of energy he had, he used it to propel himself from the roof and onto the ramp after he snapped his gaze away. The air-time would be short but the landing wouldn't be pretty, the injuries and exhaustion taking effect as he practically crashed onto it before rolling inside the ship with no control of his body.

Talos continued to put down fire until Vren entered the ship. When he saw the boy was inside, he took one full step back before slamming his fist against a nearby panel. The ramp would begin to shut as the ship would turn the opposite direction, the engines lifting the craft higher in the air and out of the reach of the woman.

@Song

 

[Hatice Altaris]

Nadya leapt out of the way, crashing against the rooftop in a miserable attempt to escape Yuri’s attacks. She was lucky the man was not aiming to kill, else he probably would have riddled her with enough blaster bolts to turn her into smoke—or maybe it was the Force, protecting her as it had those many years ago. She didn’t know. All she knew in that moment was fear and hate. For him, and for the nameless Echani boy that had left her with a bleeding wound in her side.

She wished she could return the favor, but through the haze of gunfire, she could only watch as he leapt aboard the ship.

No, she thought again. He can’t. You can’t let him go.

Nadya rose as the ramp began to shut. She still had her bloodied knife, and with squinting eyes and one last pull of the Force, she aimed it toward the ship and let it fly.

The knife embedded itself into a wall in the cargo hold, merely inches from one of the Echani’s faces. She couldn’t tell which. Nadya only hoped it was the boy with golden eyes, so he’d understand just how close she had come to killing him. She hoped he would keep that knife, carry it with him as a reminder, and who knew? Maybe she’d get it back someday. Pluck it right out off his corpse.

Now that she had nothing left except her bare hands, she gave the men a final farewell, a choice gesture that relied heavily on her middle finger, as they rose into the sky, through rain and fog and out of her view. Nadya did not care if they saw it or not. She didn’t care about anything. She had lost Yuri, the information, and her pride all in a single night, and the only thing left for her to do was scream—and yet, she was far too exhausted to bother trying. Once the ship was gone, she dropped to her knees, fatigue creeping in like fresh poison.

A figure stepped out from the fire escape. Its skeletal frame shifted and cracked in the rain, and Nadya knew it was her droid, Anivia. “You’re still intact,” she said, somewhat relieved to know Yuri hadn’t taken everything from her just yet.

“Yes, and you are bleeding,” said Anivia. She reached down and practically scooped her up from the ground, carrying her like a child. Nadya hated it, but knew there was no way she could walk back to her shuttle alone. “They got away, you know,” she grunted. “No thanks to you. What am I going to do now?”

“There is always tomorrow, Dona Nadya, tomorrow and after. One day, they will show their faces again, and when that time comes, neither of us will miss.”

@Orbit

 

[Vren Mallick]

Vren rolled hard across the metal floor, the bag making his form uneven and only adding to the awkwardness of his landing. He came to a rough stop in the center of the cargo hold and on his back, his eyes half-open as he stared upwards and just breathed heavily. The Echani's whole body ached and he knew that it would only be a matter of time before the adrenaline exited from his system and he would really experience the pain. Despite that, he was finally safe and could just rest for the time being.

Talos walked back toward Vren as the ramp closed behind him but halfway through the process, the knife whipped through the air and sunk into the metal wall near the other Echani. The sound and feeling of wind hitting his cheek had made him stumble to the side, almost falling but able to recover quickly. Talos spun around instantly after, a sort of mix and growl erupting from his throat as he aimed the blaster once more but found the ramp fully shut.

"Fuckin..." He muttered to himself as his silver optics glanced at the knife before he finally just let it be and went to the boy. With the danger over, Talos holstered the massive blaster onto his back.

Vren remained on the ground and out of the heat of the battle and in the silence of the ship, he was able to hear a periodic beeping next to him. With a few blinks, he glanced to his left with a grunt before turning over slightly and pulling the bag around. Flipped around, there was a yellow light blinking through the fabric. Vren sighed softly before just tossing the bag above his head a few feet.

Talos stopped right above Vren and peered down at him with a slight angle to his head. "Glad to see you made it kid." The older Echani extended his hand down after and offered some assistance, a smile playing at his lips seeing his old acquaintance's condition for him.

Golden eyes flicked to the hand and then to Talos' face, his voice half accusatory but also half dismissive, "You ditched me..." Even though he stated that he still took the offered hand and lifted himself up with a grunt. Fatigue plagued his bones as the amount of blood he lost was also starting to have an effect and almost made him fall again before Talos grabbed one of his hands and put it over his own shoulder to support him.

"To my defense, I thought she was gonna send the droid after ya. Either way, let's get you patched up and some food. I'm sure you got some questions." Talos gave light enough slap against Vren's flat stomach but it still earned a soft grunt from the padawan. It made the older Echani laugh lightly as he led both of them deeper into the ship and hopefully a bed.

While he was being escorted out, Vren couldn't help but glance back at the knife that was still embedded in the wall, the metal glinting from the light. There were still stains of blood and most likely a mix of his and whoever that woman was. "Fair enough..." He finally responded before turning his attention back to Talos with a slight smirk.

/End
@Song