A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy (Joza)

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Joza Perl"]


"My place. It is very secure." She'd booby-trapped the place! It did not occur to her that this was not something normal people did. "Let's go." She turned on her heels and walked away, heading for the door.


Perhaps it was a sign of trust that she went first and left her back exposed. Or something else. Either way, they would end up outside and see District 024 in all its impoverished glory. It was so dark that it was difficult to see much, yet Enyo did not seem to have trouble seeing. Her eyes glowed in the darkness, emanating a crimson glow.


"Be on your guard," she spoke as she made her way down the dirty street. It seemed that no one had bothered to collect the garbage for quite a while, so the smell was atrocious. Worse than a gym during a janitors' strike. Suddenly, without warning, Enyo spun around, Cylix bolt pistol in hand. She squeezed the trigger and an explosive bolt sailed right past Joza...and blew the head off a zombie that had just jumped down from the roof.


More were coming. Many more.

 

[Joza Perl]

Zombies. Why did it always have to be zombies? The shambling undead hordes seemed to plague her since her time as a wide eyed Padawan, from a necromancer sorceress to strange viral plagues.

Joza was already half turning on her foot as Enyo whipped out a blaster and put one right between the eyes of an approaching zombie. One hand was braced out in front of her, the other already gripping the pistol stashed in the waistband of her pants. Her movements were nothing short of instinctual, ingrained from her time in combat.

“Run or fight?” She grumbled, flexing her prosthetic hand in preparation to boot up the light shield embedded within. It would rip the pink synthflesh from her arm but she highly doubted Enyo would be offended at seeing naked cybernetics. The other hand aimed the pistol and squeezed off a pair of shots at another duo that had come shambling from around the corner.

Glancing to the roof, the Zeltron crouched as she gathered the force to her and sprang upwards in a leap that took her part of the way up the wall, enough to reach a lower hanging roof. Whether they stayed or left, having a higher vantage point would be better than staying on the street. “Any risk of infection if they break the skin?” She didn’t know too much about this particular strain—or any zombies beyond the basics—but knew that quite a few were deadly if you got bitten or even touched.

Either way, the smell of rotting flesh struck her in that moment and she lurched over to one side, projectile vomiting on one of the zombies was currently trying to scale the wall. She grimaced but it made him lose his balance.

[member="Enyo Typhos"]

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Joza Perl"]


Enyo did not just enjoy battle, she revelled in it. It animated her in ways few things did. All but deprived of sensation, it was one of the few thrills she had left. The fact that her companion was clearly able to handle herself in a fight made it even better. Ghouls charged her and she stood her ground. "Fight our way out?" she roared jubilantly.


Her bolt pistol roared, spitting out an explosive bolt that brought a savage creature down. The wild slash of a ghoul's blade hit naught but thin air as she moved out of its path. Using the gun as an improvised club, she bashed the skull of the rotten creature with such force that brain matter was splattered over her weapon. The monster's head exploded like an overripe melon or a balloon.


Claws slashed across her face and a beast tried to bite into her hand - and ended up losing teeth by chowing down on solid phrik. Grabbing the creature, she lifted it and slammed it back into the ground with enough force to break its spinal cord. Showing off? Maybe a little bit.


Moving with great speed, she ran and then leapt, cyborg limbs and the Force propelling her upward onto the roof. The ground beneath shook just a bit as she landed. She cocked her head slightly, looking at Joza. "No, Chton aren't infectious. But hungry. Don't get bitten though. Never know what they might carry," she said calmly.


Somehow, the look in her cold eyes managed to be almost feral, like that of a predator that had been let off the leash, Projectiles sailed through the air towards her. The cyborg twitched a bit as the shots impacted upon her, turned and her gun spat bolts of death to put down a shooter. "Some have enough brains to use guns." More creatures came their way, seeking to scale up the walls like spiders would.

 

[Joza Perl]

While she couldn’t watch Enyo directly lest she become zombie food, Joza had to grimace in appreciation of the cyborg’s battle tactics. As indecisive and soft hearted as she could be, the Zeltron had a no-holds barred outlook on combat in the sense that anyone who attacked first was fair game. While this didn’t include anxious civilians and little old ladies—who she’d prefer to subdue and pacify as gently as possible—she didn’t mind aggressive tactics so long as they were economical.

“Gonna need my shots after this,” She muttered, firing a pair of bolts into a zombie’s open mouth and watching as the skin around his neck and jaw dissolved. It was good to know that getting bitten wouldn’t turn her into a shambling brain eater but she was just grossed out by rotting flesh in general. It wasn’t supposed to move! Suppressing a wretch, she kicked the corpse from the roof and hopped up to an incline just above the one she was on. They were swarmed, but Enyo seemed far more enthralled than worried at this point.

A few shots pinged off of Enyo’s body and Joza whipped around moments after the cyborg had taken down the shooter. “They what?” For a moment she thought that a more sentient sniper had joined in but she wasn’t used to the undead brandishing anything more than rudimentary clubs or…vomiting acid. You know, normal stuff.

The zombies were still crawling their way up the walls of the building, a few managing to make it up further than most. One reached for Joza from behind as she squeezed off a few more bolts at another approacher, nearly catching the Zeltron off guard until she spied him from the corner of her eye.

With her left hand still raised and firing, she half-stepped rapidly in the direction of the zombie trying to grab at her and jammed her pointer and middle finger into each of his eye sockets with her right hand. The added strength of the cybernetic made for a grotesque impact as the creature’s head exploded against the wall in a theatrical fashion, brain tissue and burst vessels spraying all manners of fluid onto her arm and torso.

[member="Enyo Typhos"]

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Joza Perl"]


"Brainier than the average ghoul. But poor fire discipline," Enyo spoke conversationally, while the air was filled with the staccato of rapid blaster fire that splashed against the roof. Ducking, she removed a grenade from her belt, she primed it and then tossed it downward. The small explosive ball tore through the air with blast and heat.


There was a loud boom when it impacted, producing a shower of blood, guts and rotten flesh. But a number of ghouls had already managed to ascend and now they fell upon the unlikely pair. Perhaps they were feeling vengeful because a bunch of their kin had been slaughtered over the last couple minutes. Or they were just hungry and had decided that the two ladies would be delectable.


A ghoul sought to grab her. This proved to be a mistake as a swift elbow doubled him over. Grabbing the back of his head, she slammed his face into her raised knee. This produced a very loud crack, and plenty of fluid. Cylix bolt pistol and heavy blaster held in one hand each she advanced, shooting, clubbing and kicking as she did so. Projectiles struck her, claws scratched her, teeth bit her, but she persisted.


One ghoul caught her off-guard and landed a vicious blow with a hammer. The cyborg shook and was pushed back, under pressure, but then simply rammed her attacker by turning her 120 kg phrik body into an improvised battering ram, then stomped on the creature's throat. "Get to the next roof," she ordered Joza. From afar, sentient figures were observing the scene through macrobinoculars.

 

[Joza Perl]

While she was no phrik tank, Joza was light on her feet and managed to avoid many of the projectiles—that, or she used her right arm to block. Bolts sizzled against the synthetic skin, one managed to clip the side of her neck and left an angry red welt on the already delicate bruises encircling her throat.

Enyo didn’t need to tell her twice, the Zeltron quickly leaping over the gap and onto the next roof and grumbled with a straight face. “You know, usually when someone’s going to eat me it’s a lot more pleasant.”

Left hand continued firing while the other dove into her pocket, retrieving a handful of Stun Pearls—tiny compact grenades that released enough of a charge to stun but not kill most sentient beings. They were designed to be a method of protection for women of high status against attackers but could be carried by anyone thanks to their portability. Careful not to aim at Enyo, she lobbed a handful down at the approaching zombies below. At the very least it would lighten the load for a bit and allow them to maneuver easier.

“Is there no end to them?” She groaned.

[member="Enyo Typhos"]

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Joza Perl"]


"How could someone eating you be pleasant?" Enyo wondered aloud, feeling rather baffled. As street-wise and battle-hardened as she was, she had yet to grasp the concept of innuendo. However, now was probably not the time for a lesson.


Bolts shot towards her, some sizzling against her artificial skin, as she ran, jumping across towards the next roof. She landed with a solid tile-cracking thud, dropping immediately to one knee and one hand, gun like an extension of her other hand.


"Firebombing might help. But they're good practice for the new blood," she commented dryly. Outer Rim Coalition, if you ever have to deal with a zombie outbreak, don't accept tactical advice from Enyo Typhos. Unless you want to become a darkside faction. While Joza lobbed down Stun Pearls towards the ghouls below, Enyo concentrated.


Focus was written across her features as she wrapped her willpower around a dumpster that was stuffed with garbage. If Siobhan were here, she would have lifted the heavy garbage bin with no visible effort, but it seemed to take a lot more focus for Enyo. Whether this was because she was less experienced or her cybernetics had diminished her Force potential was another question.


Her left hand, cut here and there to show the metal beneath it, made a gesture and finally the container rose and slammed into ghouls. Her eyes flashed for a moment. Here and there her skin had been ripped, while her clothes were smoking. "Come quickly. I know a shortcut." The stench would probably get even worse before they finally reached Enyo's place.

 

[Joza Perl]

“You weren’t complaining at Blush.” Joza grumbled in response with less bite than usual, most of her concentration honed in on dodging and firing rather than giving the proper intonation to a sassy response. There’d be more time to talk about the birds and the bees later, or so she presumed given that Enyo wanted to have a mindgasm.

She made a face at the mention of using them as practice but decided to say nothing given that now was also not the right time to discuss Enyo’s moral compass.

With the stun grenades and telekinetic dumpster bash doing their job, Joza followed closely on the clone’s heels as they started to flee the scene. An unfortunate shot buried into Joza’s flesh shoulder causing her to drop the blaster in surprise, leading to a stumble. She quickly caught herself, pulling the gun into her other hand via some measure of telekinetic effort. It was a nice gun and she wasn’t going to leave it if she could help.

“Ugh—“ She grunted, adrenaline and experience keeping her feet moving just as fast as before. Her left arm may have gone limp but she was glad that it hadn’t been one of her legs. “This shortcut had better—nng!—be short.” She ground out, holding onto the blaster tightly this time.

[member="Enyo Typhos"]

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Joza Perl"]


"Come on," Enyo grunted a bit unkindly. She was not one for pep talks. Perhaps it was also difficult for someone who could not feel pain to grasp that it could inconvenience those who still experienced such sensation.


Regardless, she jumped down the roof, landing in a narrow alley. There was plenty of garbage lying around, which caused a predictably foul stench. After making her down a bit further, amidst the distant hisses and screeches of ghouls, she came to a halt before what, on first sight, looked like a normal manhole cover.


"Fools don't look past appearances. It leads to a bunker. Stay close to me. I laid traps. Do you have a rebreather?" Enyo spoke quietly in a low voice, while her right cyber-hand gripped the steel cover. Leave it to the cyborg to lay a gas trap and booby-trap the secret entrance to her lair.

 

[Joza Perl]

“Yes, My Lord.” Came the somewhat snide response to Enyo’s urging. It didn’t help that the adrenaline was wearing off just enough to send burning pain throughout her shoulder and the side of her neck.

Joza landed with a bit of a dramatic labored grunt onto the ground, bending on one knee before rising as Enyo started to remove the heavy durasteel cover. She frowned at the mention of traps, eyes flickering over her shoulder to ensure that there were no zombies descending before she made the decision to pocket her blaster. “What kind of traps?” There was an edge to her voice, wondering what a murderous cyborg would lay to keep her enemies at bay. The Zeltron has booby trapped her own safe houses with winding tunnels and shock wiring, but she wouldn’t put it past Enyo to have a Sarlaac or something beneath the surface.

Her good hand fished back into her pockets for a basic rebreather, fitting it over her mouth quickly before she reached back to wrap her fingers around her blaster. “Please tell me the rebreather is so that I don’t puke myself to dehydration and death from the smell.”

[member="Enyo Typhos"]

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Joza Perl"]


"No, it's to keep you from being gassed. Now go down," Enyo said matter-of-factly. Ghouls could be heard snarling and hissing in the distance. The cyborg took the time to look at Joza, as if to make sure the rebreather was fitted properly and sufficiently covering.


"And I left explosives. I shall deactivate those," she added...after they'd begun their way down, and the heavy durasteel cover was moved to cover the hole. Down they went, and immediately upon hitting the ground they were enveloped in a cloud of yellowish-green gas. Not enough to flood the entire tunnel, but sufficient to ruin the day of the average street thug.


Unaffected, Enyo closed her eyes for a second or two. The Force swelled inside her for a moment. "Mines are deactivated," she said blandly. "I wanted gas that works on skin contact, but that might be awkward. May install a compressing trap though," she added conversationally as she made her way down the tunnel.

 

[Joza Perl]

A short huff was her only response before descending into the sewer, figuring that whining wouldn’t get them away from the zombies any quicker or make the smell any better.

She cringed as the gas hit them, glancing over to Enyo to see if she was alright on instinct—which she was, but she looked so human that it was hard to see her as anything but.

“You certainly cut no corners when it comes to protecting your interests.” A trait that Joza admired, even if Enyo’s execution was over the top, she had no doubt that it was certainly effective. “I bet it works well, though.”

She flicked her head to the side, trying to remove a stubborn lock that kept moving to tickle her nose. She’d be damned if she was letting go of the blaster for that, and her other hand wasn’t feeling so well at the moment.

“What does the gas do, anyway?” She imagined it would lead to a violent death, but maybe she’d be surprised.

[member="Enyo Typhos"]

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Joza Perl"]


"It kills, of course, by inducing suffocation via lung paralysis. It does not require high concentration to be lethal," Enyo said matter-of-factly, as if this were totally normal. "And thank you. I was taught to be thorough." She seemed to take the praise at face value.


They moved on through the tunnel, eventually leaving the gas cloud. Inert, concealed mines were not the only defences. Somehow, Enyo had managed to get her paws on an auto-turret and managed to set it up. Its large barrel greeted them, ready to unleash hell upon intruders.


Finally, they reached an imposing steel door. Enyo stepped forward, letting a retinal scanner scan one of her bionic eyes, then she stepped aside as the door opened with a subdued hiss, revealing a chamber that looked like a paranoid survivalist's wet dream - guns, surveillance tech and a fridge that only contained juice, mineral water and healthy food. Alright, the last part had nothing to do with crazy survivalists. "I set this all up myself," she said in a tone that sounded almost prideful. "After you."

 

[Joza Perl]

“Pleasant. At least it’s quick.” While suffocation was anything other than pleasant—fetishism notwithstanding—Joza could think of a few worse ways to go. Still, the sarcasm in her tone was evident as her mind briefly drifted to the pain ways she’d seen lives ended before her thoughts settled on one very personal death via suffocation.

She sneered for a moment, finding even good recollections tainted by him. His death leaked like an ichor across her mind, blackening the time they’d spent together and stripping the rose tint off of pleasant, naïve memories. In a strange way, Joza liked it better. It was more honest and she elected to own her choice and power on.

“Thank you,” Thoughts shifted back to the present as she entered the room Enyo had opened after a retina scan—another layer of security. The Zeltron’s eyes shifted about, taking in what Enyo had built and briefly wondering how far underground they were.

“I expect no less.” She mused, opening the fridge and crouching a bit so that she could scan the label on a tin of something. “Who is the food for? I’m not sure what bionic tummies run on.” Normally she’d used the proper adult word stomach, but when you’re a parent to a toddler who was just learning to speak then…yeah.

[member="Enyo Typhos"]

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Joza Perl"]


The heavy durasteel door closed behind them. "I do not require sustenance. It is for my sister," Enyo replied evenly. Joza might recall the cyborg mentioning other clones. "She is not a duplicate of Siobhan, in case you're wondering." No, she was the clone of a sadistic Sith Assassin.


"You may help yourself. All the food inside the fridge is healthy. There is no liquor though. I do not allow it. There will also be no smoking in the house," she said softly, but seriously. How would Enyo react if Jozie tried to introduce [member="Amara Zarides"] to the fun things in life? Very poorly. She was such a puritan. She gave Jozie a one-over, as if scanning her. "Do you require medical attention of repairs?"

 

[Joza Perl]

“Whoever she is, she’s lucky to have a sister that looks after her.” There was a distinct note of fondness in Joza’s voice as a sibling was always something she’d longed for. She’d discovered a half-sister, Nami, but the two had parted ways shortly after and hadn’t seen eachother for a handful of years. The sibling bond was something she’d craved from a young age making her briefly wonder about Alan’s potential future siblings.

Did she want to have more kids?

This probably wasn’t the time to be questioning that, so instead she took Enyo up on her offer with a nod of thanks—juice to spike her blood sugar and a tin of what appeared to be assorted beans for protein. “I’m good at playing by house rules.” She commented, indicating that she wouldn’t try to sneak any drink or cig behind Enyo’s back. It would be impolite, especially as Enyo was being generous. That and Joza didn’t fancy more strangulation.

The Zeltron shifted on one foot, upcapping the juice and taking a long, relieved drink after realizing how dry her throat had been. “Mm,” She put the bottle down and began patting down her pockets with her good hand. “I’ve got a stim here, could you inject it into my left shoulder for me? I can do it myself but it’ll be more accurate if someone else does.” Who knew if that was true, but she held the capped needle out anyway. “If you have any ointment for my neck, it would be much appreciated.” The marks at her neck were beginning to swell, already turning from a pale greenish to deep purple and black splotches. Because of her pink tones, bruises often appeared darker than they would on caucasian skin.

[member="Enyo Typhos"]

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Joza Perl"]


Enyo could not have kids. This was probably for the best. She'd find their lack of discipline annoying. Keeping a gang in line was difficult enough. She had yet to grasp that fear and intimidation only accomplished so much. It took more to foster genuine loyalty.


"Yes. Take your shirt off," Enyo said laconically and stalked off. A moment later she returned with a small bottle of ointment. Putting it down, she retrieved the stim from Joza's pocket. After preparing the syringe, she would inject it into Joza's hurt shoulder. If the Zeltron had not given her access to her shoulder before that, Enyo would simply remove her shirt for her. No need for false modesty. The floor beneath their feet was obsessively clean.


Then she proceeded to spread some ointment on her hand and rub it across Joza's neck. Enyo had a long way to go before she could expect to win a masseuse of the month awards, but she was being more considerate than when she'd choked the Zeltron. "When you start setting up your clinic, inform me. Have you seen Siobhan lately?" she suddenly asked. It was a completely innocent question. Totally.

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza didn’t argue when told to remove her shirt—didn’t even make a provocative comment, not when the adrenaline was wearing off and the fatigue was hitting her. Instead she put her focus into keeping her senses sharp and eating what she could. It wasn’t as if she disliked Enyo—she found the droid woman rather charming in her own murder way—but she didn’t completely trust her.

The shirt was peeled off quickly and draped onto the counter as she drained the rest of the juice quickly, rubbing at the side of her neck with her good hand. She’d almost forgotten that a shot had clipped her there, but now that they were out of immediate danger everything was beginning to ache again.

She tensed when Enyo began to spread the healing balm across her neck wounds, partially out of wariness given what she’d experienced of the mechanical touch and partially out of the tenderness of her skin.

Joza nodded vaguely when Enyo asked her to let her know when the clinic would go up. “Should be in a few months or so. I’ll get you a finalized date in the next few weeks.”

The question that followed made her look Enyo in the eye as she arched her brows. “I haven’t and I’m not about to go and play spy for anyone.” Her tone was one of dry humor but she meant it.

[member="Enyo Typhos"]

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Joza Perl"]

Enyo met Joza's gaze. If she had been more crass, she would have asked which of them was better in bed. Alas, she was kind of a prude. Sooo boring. "You're honourable. Archangel helped space her once. They have abducted many of the space elves she obsesses so much about." Enyo could not understand what was so great about them. They seemed decadent and annoying to her.


The way Joza tensed did not go unnoticed. "You are wary of me," Enyo observed while she massaged her neck to spread the ointment. She was not good at being gentle, but was making an attempt. Finally she ceased her ministrations. "I don't intend to hurt you. I like you." Joza's scars did not escape her attention - at least those that were exposed. To Enyo, some looked like wounds that had been sustained in combat, such as those that looked like lightsabre burns. Others were...different.


She traced a finger across a whip mark on Joza's back before withdrawing. The cyborg really needed to learn about privacy. "You have been hurt a lot," she spoke softly. "So have I. You just cannot see my scars anymore."

 

[Joza Perl]

Green eyes watched Enyo, not with suspicion with the way a mother might watch her child doing something precarious. Not wanting to interfere just yet, keeping some sort of distance to allow them both to breathe.

She flinched when Enyo’s finger drew across a whip scar—Joza couldn’t see it, but she knew what it was. She hated that her scars changed over time, that they became more raised or less, tanned or lighter or even faded. It meant that they were still there, still moving and changing as if they were living.

She jerked her shoulder away and grabbed her shirt, fitting it over her head and then torso. She could never quite find the words for this sort of situation, never find the right mask to wear to create some emotional distance.

“Don’t do that again.” She murmured.

She’d come to terms with it on many levels, enough to allow her to live her day to day life without much worry. Heartbeat and her kid kept her mind busy enough to shoo away the dark thoughts most of the time.

Drawing a heavy breath in, she held it for a few seconds before exhaling and expelling the dark thoughts out. She smiled at Enyo, a sort of smile that would have been considered cocky if it wasn’t so dry. “It’s been a rough go for the both of us, hasn’t it?” Her tone was even and back to normal speaking volume. “But we’re still here and we’re thriving from what I can tell.”

She paused, placing one hand on the counter and dragging her fingertip along it as if inspecting for dust. “I don’t trust a lot of people. It’s not personal. I just don’t know you very well.” It wasn’t the sort of thing she really told…well, anyone but Enyo struck her as more earnest and genuine than most.

She believed, but she didn't trust.

[member="Enyo Typhos"]