A Hero and a Villian

[Via Dolorosa]

When the Jedi entered her mind the first time, she gave a small nod of her head that she understood. The leads they had so far were shaky at best. The droid proved useless other than the fact it had been created with a Force user sentient and false shipping codes embedded into his lower chassis. The soldiers seemed less interested in the droid and more interested in the thieves and the Sith and Jedi. Mostly, the Sith. She found this to be odd that they knew about a factory but under orders from their boss they could not speak freely about it. And, they didn't even question the existence of the droid.

The second time the Jedi popped into her mind, she relayed sets of numbers to her. She memorized the numbers and again nodded her head slightly. With the five inhabitants in her head she found at least one good use for them; they could help her expand her memory. Though a few of them always chided and mocked her, they knew their existence, even if it was delegated to living in her mind, rest in her actions, thus they helped her to survive at all cost. If she died, they died.

The ride had been uneventful, but what was she really expecting to happen? She was cuffed and forced to ride with some less than hygienic individuals, the latter more offensive than the former. Blindfolded and led through a building, Darth Venefica began to grow annoyed. This was taking to long or was that the plan of the soldier's boss, to stall them. At last the blindfolds were removed and sitting on a hoverchair was a Hutt.

"I thought the smell was familiar," she commented earning a slight chuckle from the Hutt.


[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

A Hutt. Fantastic. This is either going to go extremely well, or extremely poorly. There are no in betweens with a Hutt. "Greetings. I am Jedi Shel'tah, of the Galactic Republic. I've come here in pursuit of the Sith that stands before you. I captured her as she broke into a facility on the other side of the district, attempting to steal or destroy what looked like some type of war droid. Through my interrogation of the prisoner I've learned that there is a factory here that the Sith are planning to attack, in hopes of stealing both the schematics and all currently manufactured droids. Judging by the response from your employees that brought us here, I am of the understanding that you would enlist my aide to stop this from coming to light? If so, my only request is that I may apprehend the criminals and return them to the Republic for proper interrogation and sentencing."

Sera looked toward Venefica, and then back to the Hutt. A Twi'lek slave was chained to his throne made for a repulsive sight. One that made the Jedi's eye twitch with a bit of anger. If there was one thing she hated more than anything, it was the oppression and blind eye turned toward the enslavement of her people. She needed to conclude this business and locate the factory quickly, any time spent here was already too much, and the idea that the slave could have been her was enough to make her dry heave.

[member="Darth Venefica"]

 

[Via Dolorosa]

The Hutt began to laugh sending ripples and waves across his over bloated body, causing the Sith to make a disgusted face. She loathed Hutts. The very sight of them offended her and the smells, she wondered if it was a natural smell or if they used some form of concoction to make them smell that way. Either way, surrounded by the pungent smell was enough to make her want to kill this Hutt now and deal with the fallout later. Then she saw the chained Twi'lek, the sadness on her face was enough to break the hearts of those that fought against slavery. She, unlike her Sith brethren, did not believe in slavery. Forced labour from conquered worlds was one thing, but to enslave people like this Twi'lek and display them was deplorable.

Once the Hutt concluded his speaking, a protocol droid translated the words. "The mighty and wise Ghogin the Hutt thanks the Jedi for capturing the Sith scum. However, your knowledge of the factory and his prized possessions is something he cannot overlook. Ghogin the Hutt has decreed that both you and the Sith will be executed immediately. Guards, take them into custody at once."

Darth Venefica looked over at the Jedi smiling. "We thought it was a good plan." Using the Force she removed the cuffs from her wrist, grabbed her lightsaber and ignited it. "We lied...you will die first," she said to the guard that drove the butt of his rifle into her back on the way over. Moving quickly toward the guard before he could react, she drove her blade deep into his chest. "We need to keep the Hutt alive. He will either take us to the factory or be forced to reveal the location," she spoke into the mind of the Jedi. But the Sith Knight was not sure if the Jedi would kill the Hutt on behalf of the enslaved Twi'lek's behalf.


[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Looks like it was the latter of the two possibilities in her estimation. Fair enough. A showdown it will be.

"Some just do not wish to see reason." Sera twisted her body to face two of the Hutt's guards just as Venefica ignited her lightsaber and freed herself of the shackles. Without yet drawing her own weapons from where they hung on her belt she called forth a bit of energy through the Force and deflected the blaster fire from the two guards up and into the ceiling of the complex. "Drop your weapons! This is your only warning! Drop them NOW!" The guards paid no mind to the Jedi. The Republic and her Order held no weight this far out, and as far as they were concerned, this Hutt was their lord, protector, and God. The Sith and the Jedi were just target practice.

The Jedi sighed and pulled her sabers from her belt, her thumbs gently gliding over the activators as she continued to swat away the enemy's shots. "Have it your way." The Twi'lek lunged forward in a frontal layout, flipping up and toward the first of the guards as she pierced his chest in mid-air. As she arched over him and landed the saber withdrew from his chest, dropping him silently to the floor as she proceeded to swing the right handed saber in a horizontal motion across the mid-section of the second opponent. The Jedi was in a crouched position from the landing, and the saber made a clean cut just above the man's hips, silencing him as well.

More guards rushed into the chamber. Sera's impatience was growing and she wasn't interested in slaying the entire populace of the planet to get the information they needed. In a single, agitated groan, her hands pushed outwards, altering the air in the space occupied by the newly entering guards. Suddenly in a violent turbulence the men were lifted off the ground and into a maelstrom of rapidly spinning air, unable to move about freely as their weapons were torn from their grasp and thrown about the room. There was a fire in the Jedi's eyes that she had yet to fully control, and the inner strength of her mental abilities were starting to unlock here, being pushed by the necessity to overcome the guards, the Hutt, the enslaved Twi'lek, and working with the Sith. Turning her head she whipped her right arm back and launched her lightsaber in a vertical spin toward the Hutt, cleaving the chains that bound her enslaved Twi'lek sister to his will, before recalling the blade as it deactivated and landed in her grasp.

Venefica would need to settle the debt with the remaining guards within the room before they could discuss the situation with their new acquaintance.

[member="Darth Venefica"]

 

[Via Dolorosa]

Darth Venefica wasted no time in landing crippling blow after crippling blow against a score of enemies. She had been humiliated in front of the Jedi by the first guard she killed and now reason and common sense had been sent flying out the window. Her blade moved in blurring fashion switching back and forth between deflecting shots and piercing chests. Her anger at the whole situation, starting with the surprise attack in the cantina to the mysterious weapon turning into a Force using droid to being prodded in the back to the offensive ordour of the Hutt, began to increase with every breath she took. The only consolation out of all this was seeing the Twi'lek Jedi. Even that fueled her passion to get out of this and hope the Jedi didn't get cut down.

The Sith Knight caught a glimpse of the Jedi's blade out of the corner of her eye which she could only assume was the Jedi freeing her Twi'lek sister. However, the Jedi had managed to leave her right side open to attack and when the Dagobah Sith saw a guard take aim on the beautiful purple Jedi, she cast a jagged blue and purple energy at the guard. The Sith Lightning wrapped itself around the guard, cooking him from the inside out. That left only two guards and she could sense their fear of her, which earned them a haunting smile. "Fear attracts the fearful...the strong...the weak...the innocent...the prideful...the corrupt...and the wicked. Fear is our ally," she hissed toward the guards gripping one by the neck via Force Choke and blowing out his flame. The other one dropped his weapon and fled. "Coward!"

Slowly she skipped toward the Hutt smiling at him. "Looks like all your little toy soldiers are gone Mr. Hutt."



[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

A bright burst of bluish purple energy surged across Sera's body in a brilliant flash. Her body tensed for a moment as she was taken by surprise. Looking over her shoulder to the now fried guard she spun her her head back over to see that it had come from Venefica. She was thankful for the save, and that made her somewhat angry with herself. She was in such a strange position here, fighting with a Sith, having to kill, and yet, being aided by the Sith as well with Force powers that she was an opponent of. She had to shake it off, the focus needed to be on the here and now, and the many lives in the galaxy at stake should the pair fail here today.

With the last of the guards dispatched she turned her attention to the massively overweight Hutt that reeked of Bantha poodoo. She approached him, as close as she could get before the stench would overwhelm her.

"It's over. Tell us where the factory is, or your life is forfeit!" While the Jedi was bluffing, she wouldn't kill the unarmed blob of filth, she knew that Venefica would, and that should be more than enough motivation for him to spill his guts about the location of the factory. Begrudgingly, the Hutt pointed towards the rear of the building, a pair of double blast doors which obscured a turbolift to an underground factory which his protocol droid explained contained thousands of workers, and many, many guards. He laughed, explaining to the two that they had no hope of stopping him, and that the droids would be activated once the guards saw them. There was nothing they could do, and killing him would mean nothing.

Sera sighed, looking to Venefica. "Well, what do you think?"

[member="Darth Venefica"]

 

[Via Dolorosa]

She glanced in the direction the massive sack of filth was pointing knowing that would pose several problems on several different fronts. The guards would naturally defend the factory and the thought of more droids would trump both the Jedi and Sith. Then there was the matter of the workers. Where they slaves forced to work break backing hours or were they loyal to the Hutt. If it was the latter, then add more problems to this equation. The options in front of them were dwindling faster and faster. There had to be something they could do.

The Sith looked into the eyes of the Hutt then said to Seraphina, "He's coming with us." Her plan was risky and it would take a toll on her mentally. And, it would cause the Jedi to be ready to defend her on a moment's notice. "We can dominate his mind and in essence force him to work with us." The Hutt roared with laughter as he pointed out that a Hutt's mind and will were nearly impregnable and that she would only be wasted his time and hers. She winked at the Hutt, "So we've been told...but we are resourceful."

She placed her left hand on the Jedi, fighting the overwhelming sensation coursing through her, and said, "You will have to be ready to fight if all this goes south. This will take a lot out of me but...but...we trust you not to take advantage of our weakened state." Spinning around to look at the Hutt, she smiled and ignited her blade and touched the hot blade to his arm. The quickest way she learned to break a strong willed individual was to force them to focus on something else, in this case pain.

The Hutt screamed in pain and in a flash she entered his mind using first Mind Shard, to increase his pain further and breaking down his will even more. With the Hutt's mind and body racked with pain, she turned to Dominate Mind and after a couple of minutes now was in complete control of the Hutt and asked, "Who do you serve bloated one?" The Hutt replied, "You my Master."


[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

The Jedi looked to Venefica slightly confused. We have to drag this slimy worm with us? Surely there must be some alternative. It was then that the Sith revealed what her plot would be to coerce the Hutt into following them into the factory. The use of the technique very closely bordered on the edge of morality, but there was little argument she could make against it. Logically, the Sith was right. They would be in serious trouble if they had no collateral, going down there blind might very well be suicide.

"You have little to fear from me. I came this far already haven't I? If I wanted to take advantage, I'd have done it when you turned off your saber and feigned a surrender earlier."

The moment of torture to force her way into the Hutt was immoral, and Sera felt mildly uncomfortable by the use of force, to say the least. "Did you really have to do that?" Though she tried her best not to crack a smile at the girl's jest toward the Hutt when she commented on him being the bloated one.

She motioned toward the turbolift. "Are we going to be able to fit down that with him? Rather, is he even going to fit down that? He's....Rather plump."

[member="Darth Venefica"]

 

[Via Dolorosa]

"We took no pleasure in harming him," she said before revealing a wide grin. Perhaps there was another way to divide his attention but she was low on patience and still feeling rather angry at all the attempts on her life. However, she would seek to find better solutions ro problems such as these in the future. But for now, it was all she could think to do. Besides, it was a Hutt. Not many, if any at all, really cared for their kind. Darth Venefica despised their greediness and worse than that, their alignment with slavery.

The turbolift was not very big and it would be a tight squeeze with all three of them inside. Plus the the Sith and Jedi. "If you desire...we can remove some of his less functioning parts to make him fit," she replied with a wink. Her biggest concern was his smell. Confined to such a small area would surely make her gag and dry heave. Sometimes one just had to bear and grin it.

When the turbolift doors slid open to allow the trio to exit, they were greeted almost immediately by a score of the Hutt's troops. Time to see if her hard work paid off. Tightening her hold on the slug's mind, she whispered the words she wanted him to speak. "Gurble grio garbbe joldd gurble blip," the Hutt said to the guards. Darth Venefica did not understand Huttenese but his guards did, leading them to the centre of the factory where several droids were being constructed.

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

The idea that Venefica took no pleasure in harming him was quite frankly a difficult pill to swallow. She believed quite the opposite. But what was done was done. There wasn't time to debate the necessity of her method with the possible implications riding on this day. And perhaps the bit of her inner cynic thought it a fitting punishment for his imprisonment of her Twi'lek sister earlier. Following into the turbolift opposite Venefica, with the Hutt between the two she scoffed. The offensive odor radiating off of him was repulsive. Clearly Venefica felt the same judging by the look on her face.

"Let's keep him in one piece. As vulgar as he is, it's important that he is unharmed, otherwise we have nothing to bargain with."

She watched as the Hutt spoke, anxious to be done with this as there were a substantial number of troops, though the workers appeared to all be slaves, judging by their horrendously tattered clothing and what appeared to be a severe state of malnutrition. Sera's face turned to a scowl as she looked around the room to see the deplorable conditions they were working in. A guard for every three workers to ensure order, with supervisors overseeing the operation as a massive line of droids were being assembled in a line.

Sera reached out with her mind to Venefica, offering up the only bit of advice she could think to give in this situation. There are too many guards. We won't stand a chance if things go south. The workers might help us, but they'll be gunned down quickly. The only thing I can suggest is to order the factory evacuated, and we burn the place to the ground. Destroy the data terminals and anything that has been constructed or in the process of being constructed.

[member="Darth Venefica"]

 

[Via Dolorosa]

As the words in her mind drew to a close, Darth Venefica agreed. They were outnumbered even with the assistance of the unarmed workers and how long would they last anyway against the armed guards. With a small glance at the Jedi followed by nod of her head, she would go with the Jedi's plan. She gently whispered the words into the Hutt's mind telling him what she wanted him to say. "You will give the command to evacuate the building stating the operation as been compromised. They will release all the slaves in the process. You will also ease their suspicions that you are staying behind with your two new associates to ensure all the data is properly secured."

The Hutt passed along her message via his language, spurring his guards to first release all the slaves then they began to evacuate the building; leaving only the trio left inside. "We need to act quickly...and we'll handle the Hutt." Once more she called on Mind Shard, focusing all the attention on his mind until at last his mind broke; turning him into a drooling blob of stinky flesh. "We didn't kill him...but he will no longer pose problems for anyone ever again. You destroy the data and we'll handle the destruction of the building."

She found the main control room and quickly scanned for something that resembled a self-destruct device. She chuckled when she found a terminal still active with one of prompts displaying Initiate Self-Destruct Sequence. The Sith stretched out through the Force and connected her mind to the Jedi. "We are ready."



[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera watched in awe as the building began to clear. Things were actually going there way for once today. Surprising, no doubt a sheer stroke of blind luck. Great. I'll find the data terminal with the prototype schematics and the design plans. Just...Don't blow the place up before we get out. As much as I enjoyed our last collapsed building rendezvous, I'd much rather delay our next one if possible. The Jedi ran towards the opposite end of the building which appeared to be the starting line for the droid assembly. Fingers tapping elegantly against the keys as she searched through the terminal to find what they would need, she watched the Sith. She wasn't entirely sure what was meant by her message indicating that the Hutt wouldn't be of further issue. Honestly, it was better off she not know what exactly the girl did to him. There was hardly anything good that would come of it.

At last she found the schematics and designs buried in layers of security. Well, poodoo. looking around on the floor she found no transmission cable or line that would connect the system to another redundant terminal or server. That was about the extent she knew of these types of things. If this was the only system housing those data plans, then the security systems didn't matter if the entire thing was destroyed. Activating her sabers she looked down at the machine, then back to Venefica, and over to the partially assembled droids. In her heart she felt sorrow for destroying their opportunity of sentient life, however they were built to be evil by nature, to destroy all life without concern. They had to be destroyed, but it made the decision no easier to do. Her sabers slammed down through the top of the terminal, burning their way straight through as she torn both back and forth, until the system lay in three separate pieces.

To further complete the task she rose the busted terminal from the floor with her mind, focusing intently on the three objects as they began to implode, crushing itself into three small scraps of metal before dropping them to the floor. It's done. Let's go. As she ran back towards Venefica she shook her head, "We still don't know for sure who made these designs. But with the factory out of commission, perhaps that figure will show themselves in the future."

[member="Darth Venefica"]

 

[Via Dolorosa]

Darth Venefica watched as Sera dealt the factory terminals a serious blow. It was a shame that these droids could not be brought back to the One Sith and transferred into war machines for the military. But her orders were clear and she knew it was unwise to disobey a direct order from the Council. Death would be the best punishment she could hope to receive. No, the droids and the factory were a serious threat to the entire galaxy, no matter what side you fought for.

"We can only hope for a figure to emerge from the shadows and attempt this again," she replied as she began the self-destruct sequence. "15 minutes is the longest time we have to get out of here. Let's split!" She never ran so fast in her life. They didn't have a lot of ground to cover in terms of leaving the factory behind but at the same time they had no idea how big a blast radius the explosion would be. And that was not her problem.

Reaching what they assumed to be a relatively safe distance, she watched as the factory exploded into millions of pieces. "We get the strange feeling that we left something inside," she commented to the Jedi.

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

The Twi'lek smirked. It was an inappropriate moment for a joke, but she let it out any way. "I'd rather not, honestly. Can't they just admit defeat and leave the galaxy killing robots to burn?" Heading up he turbolift and out of the building was a nerve racking moment. It was impossible to feel any sort of relief with an explosive timer counting down the very seconds you had to make clear of the premises before the entire place went up like the fireworks on Manaan. As they made their way to the outskirts of the area she turned and watched the explosion. It was moderately contained, though some exterior damage was likely on the surrounding buildings, but nothing too major.

Turning to Venefica she raised an eyebrow. What is the deal with this multiple personality thing she has going? "What did we leave inside? I think it's too late to go back and find it, given the state it is in now."

[member="Darth Venefica"]

 

[Via Dolorosa]

She stood there tapping her right index finger against her lips trying to recall what they left behind. When the realization of what it was set in, she began to laugh so hard she fell on the ground landing on her butt. Trying to speak through her laughs proved difficult so she rode out the waves of her laughter. Finally she had calmed down some and looked up at the Jedi. "The Hutt!" Once more she began to laugh making her sides hurt. She had no intention of killing the Hutt just as the Jedi wouldn't kill him. In fact, if she did want to kill the smelly oaf, the Jedi would have argued against it. And yet in their haste to get away from the explosion, they both forgot about the blob.

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Spoiler

Oh my...I just laughed so much...I completely forgot about him.

Sera stared at Venefica, entirely confused by why she was hysterically laughing to the point of falling over. What is this crazy crazy doing? When the girl finally managed to get the words out, Sera's jaw dropped, and her eyes widened. Oh...Oh no. "We forgot him in the building! You didn't tell him to leave!? Oh my gosh!" She rubbed the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. In the panic of escaping the complex she hadn't even thought to ask about the Hutt. She assumed Venefica ordered him out through her mind link. She still wasn't certain of what the Sith had done to him.

"I...Can't believe that just happened. That's horrible! You are so cynical. I've no idea how you find that to be so hilarious. Poor, fat, Schutta."

[member="Darth Venefica"]