Sick and Twisted

[Eddard Thul Drast]

They were still on Tanaab.

It was a far cry from the little back water cantina they had been in before however. They were in the capital city of Tanaab and walking through the streets of the rich quarter. There were embassies and other such buildings all over the place, along with fancy banks and even fancier hotels.

Eddard was somewhat used to seeing such places due to some of his family being rich but it wasn't really that great anyway. Tanaab reeked of 'new credits' and they was just enough to annoy anyone who had lived somewhere like Alderaan - the damned definition of Old Credits as the saying went. Either way, he was getting odd looks for his smoking.

And Zarya was getting odd looks for being pink.

What a pair they made eh?

Thankfully this meant that people were giving them a wide berth so Eddard had absolutely no issues with speaking about why they were here.

"Alright Zarya..." he took another pull, "We're here to meet someone - someone who is doing something disgusting. We're here to meet a privately wealthy man who's been bribing local Sith and Imperials to look the other way."

He glanced at his partner for this task.

"He is a corruption - what do you think I want to do to such a corruption?"

@christhebarker

 

[Zarya]

Pandath was the capital city on taanab, it had done well under sith empire, supposedly before the empire during the time when the republic existed, it was nothing but a large spaceport ferrying food to the rest of galaxy and now it was a thriving metropolis thanks to the empire.

This what empire did, it built things, improved thing and with it, its people as well, the city stands as a momentum to the good the sith empire has done with galaxy but they are those who tarnish the empire and its people, that’s why they were here.

“well like rotting flesh, you want cut it out in hopes of saving the rest.” she responded. Corruption was a like how she said, rotting flesh, to be cut from limb to save it though sometimes you had to remove the whole limb to save the rest of body since when an official has accepted bribe once they are likely to do it again.

“Though you may wish to use this to scare the officials he bribed straight, to correct their behaviour and serve as a first and final warning to them.” she added

@Nefieslab

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

She understood well enough.

"Just so."

The whole idea behind the Venatori was that you could use precise strikes, death dealing and otherwise, and leave the Galaxy a better place. A more ordered and peaceful place. And she was right - corruption had no place in the Empire, in the Galaxy, that they hoped to build.

Or reclaim.

He pointed to her with his cigara.

"A decent idea." he agreed as he led her into one of the buildings and called the lift from the lobby, "Now... I have the evidence of his corruption. Had to work hard for it and owe some favours but I have it. And we have a meeting with him in ten minutes."

Stepping into the lift, he handed her a datapad with the information, with the evidence, that had been gathered that showed the man's corruption.

"Tell me Zarya... do we give a man like this a chance to explain himself?"

@christhebarker

 

[Zarya]

She smirked at his responses, taking pride in the acceptance of her ideas. she always eager to prove herself especially since she is looked down upon for just being what she is, an alien.

she continued to follow him into the building and the lift, taking the datapad she quickly scrolled through it, skimming the information to get an idea of the extent of his corruption. “My my he certainly has been a naughty boy” she continued to scroll through it all, "I say yes, I would like to see him try an explain his behaviour, not that it would change his fate."

With that, the ping of the lift sounded out announcing the arrival of their floor, she handed him back his datapad, letting him go first since he was the only one who knew where they were going.

@Nefieslab

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

Eddard glanced at Zarya and noted the way she smirked, as if she was pleased with something. It was a simple fact of life in the Imperial Republica that people tended to treat non-humans rather poorly. He supposed that him treating her as anything more than filth was somewhat appealing. Even if he was only treating her as a craftsman treated a familiar tool, he supposed it made sense that that was better than the alternative.

He nodded.

"Good answer." he told her bluntly before glancing at her with a small smirk, "Yes, this is something of an assessment so there are right and wrong answers."

Putting the datapad away as they arrived, he led the way towards the main office on the floor. Ignoring the receptionist entirely, he opened the doors to the office with the Force - this was enough to scare the receptionist into deciding she was overdue a lunch break and she ran for it.

Within the office, an incredibly large man in a suit stood up from his desk and blinked rapidly.

"Master Sith... to what do I owe this... pleasure?"

Eddard shrugged and waved towards Zarya.

"Don't look at me - she's the one who wants to talk."

The man squinted at Eddard and cast a glance at Zarya, as if trying to see if Eddard was telling a joke or something similar.

@christhebarker

 

[Zarya]

an assessment? an assessment for what exactly?She thought to herself, she originally thought she was just helping an old classmate with something but this revelation changes the whole situation, all this time she hadn't really been serious, now she couldn't be anything but serious knowing she was under evaluation.

she continued to follow behind Ned into the target's office, he was bigger than she expected, the classic phrase passed through her head 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall' in this case, it might be more literal use of the phrase. when the man greeted Eddard, he once again he threw another curveball her way, to be honest, she should've been expecting. "Ne-" She questioned stopping halfway through realising the man's eyes were on her.

Okay, you can do this, let's show him what we can do

"yes, I would like to speak with you, it has come to our attention that you've been bribing government officials, as you most likely know this is illegal under imperial law, what do you have to say about these charges I lay at your feet?" her voice as cold, stern, self-assured, she already knew the extent of his crimes and how this was going to end, what happened in between then and now was a different story.

@Nefieslab

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

She was going to have to sink or swim here and Eddard was curious to see which one it would end up being. He had some faith in her but it was up to her to prove that his faith was not misplaced. So rather than give her any kind of help, Eddard just sat back and waited for her to begin.

And she was going straight for the jugular it seemed.

The official bristled at the accusation and glared hard at Zarya.

"You come into my office and accuse me of illegal conduct without a shred of evidence?" he seethed, pounding the desk with a large fist, "You go too far, Xeno!"

The official turned to Eddard again.

"My Lord, control your pet!"

Eddard raised an eyebrow before pushing the man down into his seat using the force.

"Control yourself or I will take over and, trust me, you do not want to make that necessary."

@christhebarker

 

[Zarya]

the insults were expected, Xeno wasn't a new one, it was quite unoriginal she expected better from him but the pet comment hit its mark, her blood was boiling upon hearing it. the lack of respect towards a sith, even an alien one, was shocking. The nerve of it wanted her to pin the man to a wall with her lightsaber but she would restrain herself to using her words to do it

"pet! I'm no one's pet!" her eyes flashed golden for a second and began walking towards the man's desk staring him directly in the eyes, "I am a proud servant of The Emperor. You. Are. Nothing. you think your money gives you protection and strength, it is a lie you tell yourself so you can sleep at night but that's all it is. A lie. You think money allows you to do what you want, possess what you want but money is like honour, it only has value if you believe it does but loyalty is invaluable, something should be stilled in every creature but those who prove themselves disloyal shouldn't be given the time of day, so giving you a chance to explain yourself was a courtesy, now I'll ask again what do you have to say about these charges?" she slammed her hands on his desk, her voice was still stern but an obvious anger was behind the cutting words directed at the man

this was his last chance to explain himself, which was already one too many by now if Eddard wasn't her he'd likely already be in two pieces but she wanted to impress him. After all, she was being assessed by him.

@Nefieslab

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

Eddard could tell that the comment about being a pet had hit and hit hard and that was somewhat amusing it had to be said. The idea that this man would be that stupid? Well it was surprising to say the least. Most people didn't ever step away from the "xeno this" and "xeno that" level of jokes so he would give the man points for creativity.

Not for intelligence of course, but creativity had some merit all it's own he supposed.

Even the man himself noticed that Zarya was suddenly a lot angrier than she had been before. He shook in the face of her anger and he faltered. It was just a little crack in his armour but that was all that was required for her assault of anger to get the better of him and he broke.

"Okay! O-okay! I... I did some of the stuff but..." he looked to Eddard, "It wasn't anything big! It was barely anything!"

Eddard tutted a little bit, shaking his head.

"Welcome to the Venatori, Zarya." he congratulated her before pointing to the man, "He's heard our name now and he's a criminal - dispense Imperial Justice, Zarya."

He nodded his head to the now whimpering man and left the office to let Zarya finish it.

Spoiler: OOC

Feel free to end it

@christhebarker

 

[Zarya]

The man was just as a Zarya described, he was nothing if had any strength in him would have stood in the face of her assault, she would at least respected that but he faltered and showed his weakness. she turned to face Eddard after he had confessed, waiting for his response.

She had heard of the Venatori, mostly just rumours and stories she didn't believe them to be true, but she understood what they believed in and now understood his secrecy and why he wished to recruit her.

"As you wish" she answered promptly before pulling her saberstaff to her hand activating a single blade slicing across the man's chest in a single fell swoop of her blade. She followed after Eddard, for she had many questions about the organisation and he had the answers.

/End thread