A Tool For Revenge

[Abigail Meredydd]

Slow yet methodical footsteps sounded through an empty hall aboard the Corrisia, a bulk freighter doing passenger duty. As Abigail wandered the halls, she found it to be odd how little people she actually met in the halls, since there had been quite a lot of people getting on the ship.

The place had to be massive!

While Abigail was here just to use the ship as a means of transportation, she found it rather interesting to wander around, trying to map out the ship's interior.

The few people she did meet were either on their way to their private quarters or on their way to one of the public areas. Almost no-one wandered the silent halls Abigail wandered, which gave her the peace and quiet she needed after a few recent events.

While she walked around a corner and into a bigger room, she was met with a beautiful sight. A window had been embedded into the wall, providing a wonderful look at the outside.

This truly was the peace and quit she longed for, and oh, she hoped this journey would stay that way.

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

What was Vanessa Vantai doing on a bulk freighter as a passenger? Well, frankly she just wanted to do something a bit different. Constantly playing the role of evil overlord as she lorded over the achievements of the Greater Maldrood was taking its toll, and she was worn out. Now it was time for her to go on a little trip - something simple that perhaps she would be able to enjoy.

Then it all went downhill.

A distinct sensation of the Light Side was emanating through the vessel. Assumedly it was from a Jedi, or at least some sort of Force Sensitive. Either way, she was intrigued, soon wandering through the ship as she tried to find it.

All the while the Dark Side would be sensed within the vessel.

[member="Abigail Meredydd"]

 

[Abigail Meredydd]

Abigail suddenly came to a stop inside the vast room. Around her the air was growing increasingly restless, whispering to her.

"What is it?", Abigail asked out loud, only to get an questioning look from a man who had apparently been in the room with her, and was now in the process of leaving.

"Oh, uh, sorry. I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to...uh...", she paused as she couldn't find the proper excuse.

Luckily for her though, she needn't think of an excuse as the man just rolled his eyes and continued on his way.

Now, she reached out to the Force to understand its commotion, only to find out there was something.. near her.
Someting dark.

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

The light. It was reaching out, that Vanessa could tell. And the response would be clear - The Sith lady would further push against the light that seemed to beacon itself so brightly throughout the otherwise dull freighter. How enjoyable it was, knowing the circumstances...

It was like a game of pursuit. Vanessa soon headed further through the maze of rooms, casually moving towards her prey as best she could. She was thinking of how best to handle the situation, then recalled the juice bar.

It was a very good juice bar. Perhaps this lightsider enjoyed juice.

[member="Abigail Meredydd"]

 

[Abigail Meredydd]

Abigail searched a little further through the Force, just enough to know a general direction. A general direction she intended to avoid at all costs.

As the darkness spread, it came closer and closer to her, eclipsing her light, so to say. Whatever it was that was causing this, it definitely had a firmer grip on the Force than she had, which was yet another reason to make a tactical retreat.

And that was what she did. Abigail backed away, and quickly walked out of the room, occasionally casting a glance behind her. Trying to keep a general feel of where the darkness originated from, she made sure to move in the opposite direction at all times, if possible. As the darkness increased, so did Abigail concern, so much so that she ignored the directions the ship provided her. She now purely manoeuvred herself with the Force as guidance as to where not to go.

And then... suddenly, she paid the price for her haste and carelessness as she found herself in some kind of bar. She looked around, but she couldn't find another way out. There was a door leading to what Abigail presumed to be the kitchen, but the door was locked from the inside for 'renovations'.

Just her luck.

As she turned around, she intended to quickly leave the way she came..

But it was already too late for that.

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

Slowly the form of the robed blond woman would enter into the room, the darkness creating an almost choking atmosphere for the young Padawan. Vanessa’s steps were slow, deliberate in their motion as she fed off the growing anxiety within her target. Further onwards she would approach until she was within range of the woman that one swift stroke from a lightsaber could eliminate either of them.

“You know we’re in a juice bar, right?” Vanessa said to the hostile. “I would prefer to make this a bit simpler, all things considered, but first, let’s have some juice.” She motioned with her arm for the Padawan to sit at the bar as a Duro bartender waited the counter, the Sith Lord motioning for a drink.

“You want something? My treat.”

[member="Abigail Meredydd"]

 

[Abigail Meredydd]

There it was. Even though the woman before her hadn't made any threatening moves towards her yet, Abigail knew by the horrible atmosphere that grew ever stronger as its source approached.

Not wishing to lure out a fight if she could avoid one, she slowly back away, in the direction of the bar, moving so that the other woman was never not in her field of vision.

As she sat down at the bar, hundreds of thoughts raced through the Padawans mind. How was this all going to play out?

"Sure, what do you recommend?", she said dryly, not sure whether she should drink anything near this woman. But, considering the bartender probably had no idea what was going on, she guessed the drinks were safe.

And after all, what choice did she really have.

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

"Aw, how precious." Vanessa said as she watched Abigail shy away. "The poor little Padawan is afraid of the big bad Sith. It's so adorable." She took a seat at the bar right next to Abigail, smiling as she sat down. "Well, they've got a bunch of different types of juice. Probably made from concentrate, but hey, what can you expect?" She got herself the special at the juice bar, a mix of several juices, and soon drank it.

"So what brings a wee little Jedi on a freighter like this?" She raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

[member="Abigail Meredydd"]

 

[Abigail Meredydd]

Abigail gave the Sith a hard stare when she called her 'little' and 'adorable'.
"Don't mistake caution for fear", she mumbled back as the Sith sat down next to her.

Of course, why next to her? That was... uncomfortable and not helping at all. This meant the Sith could still hurt her within seconds and it also made getting away a lot harder for Abigail.

Abigail too ordered a juice, but she couldn't even remember which one it was a few seconds after, because it was irrelevant. The relevant thing was the Sith sitting next to her.

Abigail rolled her eyes as the Sith called her 'little' once more. Choosing to let it go, she responded to the question alone.

"I'm just using this ship to get somewhere else. You know, like everyone else on this freighter. I'm not on some kind of mission, so I'm afraid there is nothing here for you. Really, too bad."

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

“How surprising.” Vanessa said. “Usually the only times I end up running into Jedi are when we’re invading their territory, or when they’ve been sent to spy on me or my assets.” Her voice took on a more casual and less predatory bent.

Vanessa took a sip of her own juice drink. It was made up of a variety of different concentrates mixed together and rehydrated with some of the water on board. It was... well, it wasn’t necessarily good, but it was at least alright. “Well, you know how this is kind of supposed to end up, right? Either I defeat you in some sort of epic conflict and take you back to my laboratory for experimentation, or you get lucky and kill me, or alternatively, wound me enough to be able to take me to trial.” She said. “I know what option is more likely, but would you perhaps like to give up willingly to prevent any bloodshed?” She replied. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

[member="Abigail Meredydd"]

 

[Abigail Meredydd]

"Or perhaps those are the only times you knew they were there", Abigail responded.

She did her best to roll her eyes to mask her nervousness as the woman asked her how this was going to end.

"This is going to end like any normal conversation is going to end, okay? You're going to stay here and finish your little drink, and I'll just walk off. Honestly, the ship's more than big enough for me and for your ego, woman", she responded. She was under no illusions she was actually going to get away without a fight, especially considering the Sith followed and almost forced her to go here. But it was always worth a shot.

"I hate having to shed blood unnecessarily, so I'm just going to get up," she said as she quickly slipped off the chair," and walk away. Okay?"

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

“They haven’t exactly done anything to my holdings that has caused any sort of damage.” She answered. “That is a little bit presumptuous. Certainly the typical Jedi way, but still.”

When the woman stood up, Vanessa did as well. “Not really. The last thing I need is for a Jedi Padawan to report to whoever her master is that a Sith Lord is traveling on board a location where she is vulnerable. Which unfortunately means one of two things. Either you sit back down, finish your juice, and we continue to have an otherwise tense but admittedly pleasant conversation...”

She thought for a moment, hand ready to begin electrocuting the woman if she had to. “Or I will be forced to kill you. And I really, really don’t want to do that. Please, don’t force my hand on this.”

[member="Abigail Meredydd"]

 

[Abigail Meredydd]

Abigail rose an eyebrow as the other spoke.
"And why do you assume I would do that? Tell me, what would be the point of killing you for? Besides, there's no master here for me to call, so rest assured."

After having said so, she wasn't sure whether the fact she basically told the Sith she was here alone was a smart move, but it had already been said.

"I have no interest in getting you arrested or anything, I don't go around trying to mess up every Sith I see, obviously, as if I did do that, I probably wouldn't have even become as old, or young, as I am now. Challenges every Sith is suicide, especially for a Padawan."

While she tried to get the woman to leave her alone, she figured she wasn't making much progress, so she sat down again.
"So, if I stay here for a while, you'll just let me go? No tricks or something like that?", she asked. If she really would be left alone if she stayed here for a bit, Abigail would gladly do that. However, she knew somewhere that this woman wasn't going to let her go. She knew it, but she didn't know how.

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

“Well, that depends.” Vanessa was straightforward as she stood up. “For example, tell me about yourself. Your Force signature was rather obvious, but one does not gain the power of the Force through artificial means - not usually, at least. Tell me of your parents. Are they Force Sensitive? Are they Jedi?”

The more Vanessa could learn now, the more she could manipulate the information in the future.

[member="Abigail Meredydd"]

 

[Abigail Meredydd]

"Well," Abigail replied with a raised brow," if there's one thing I know it's that telling a random Sith personal information isn't exactly a clever thing to do."

She then raised her shoulders as she continued, giving the Sith a neutral look. "Not that I can tell you anyway. I have no clue who my parents are. I'm basically an orphan, so you're out of luck there", she lied. If this encounter had taken place a year or so before, she could've said the exact same thing without having to lie, but now, now she couldn't. After almost her entire youth, she had recently discovered who her mother was. Not that she was going to give that information to the Sith, but still, it would've been easier if she really hadn't known her parents.

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

"The obvious answer is usually the wrong one." Vanessa replied. "After all, if telling a random Sith personal information 'isn't exactly a clever thing to do,' why would you have told me the personal information of you being 'basically an orphan'? Makes me think there's a bit more to it." She said. Vanessa would try to press a bit at the Padawan's mind, attempting to get a bit clearer of an answer regarding what she was looking for.

"Now, I'm going to ask you again, and I'd really like it if you gave me the complete and unequivocal answer this time around. Tell me - who are your parents?" She pressed a bit at the woman's mind. "Try not to think about who your parents are." The reverse psychology would potentially have an effect - or perhaps it would just confuse her. Vanessa was not exactly sure.

[member="Abigail Meredydd"]

 

[Abigail Meredydd]

Abigail felt Vanessa's presence grow ever so slightly, but she managed to shield herself from it, pushing back. She had lived almost her entire life not knowing her parents, and had no trouble recalling those feeling and thoughts, making it seem like she really was an orphan.

"Well, because me being an orphan doesn't matter. It means you don't have any people to go after or any people you can manipulate by threatening me. That's why I said it", she replied calmly, not really liking the other woman's questions. She hoped the woman was right about ready to drop the subject and hopefully let her be. But the chances that would happen were... well.. quite slim.

"Who my parents are-? But I just said I was an orphan..?", she said, annoyed by the fact the woman was pressing on. Then the woman added something else, telling Abigail to not think of her parents, which honestly did nothing but confuse her.
After taking a few seconds to process what the woman said, she opened her mouth to respond.

"I..I am not thinking about my parents, because... I'm an orphan... Do you- Do you even know what that means?"

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]

 

[Onrai]

Vanessa sighed. “Look, I know you’re lying.” She said. “I really don’t want to exert the full force of my power against you to find out exactly who your parents are, but i’m willing to if push does in fact come down to shove. So I’m going to ask one more time.” Vanessa said calmly and peacefully. “Who are your parents? There’s no shame in saying such.”

She sighed, realizing this was going to be a lot more finagling than ever before.

[member="Abigail Meredydd"]

 

[Abigail Meredydd]

Abigail gave the woman a curious yet serious look as she extended her hand.

"Then let's trade, shall we?", she said casually. "If- and I mean if- I was lying, and actually do have parents that I know of, I will tell you the truth. But, in return, you will let me walk out of here, freely. Immediately. No holding me here, no following me around. I will know if you do. I'll speak the truth, maybe for the first time or maybe again, and you will let me go... Deal?"

Her words and movements appeared more confident and calm than Abigail really was at this point. She could feel a certain tension, and was afraid thing might escalate. Yet, she still couldn't give up any names about people she knew, for then they might be in danger, whether that would be now or within ten years.

So she waited for the woman's answer. Although, she had strong suspicions she was a fool for hoping the woman would play nicely and accept.

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]