Act I Through the Looking Glass [Purple Zone Open Thread]

[Draven Carter]

He walked down the late night street. In the far off, a mercat was playing a staccato rhythm trying to attract a mate. If he could see the furry loudmouth, the mercat would have attracted a bullet. But then, he'd only have three bullets. More bullets felt much safer to Draven, at the moment.

Why was he walking down the street instead of running? This was unfamiliar turf in the unfamiliar middle of Black Hole. You don't run from the Black Hole. Otherwise, every watching soul will assume you're up to no good and you get sucked right back in by someone who decides to check what's up. At least, that's how Draven perceived the world right now. For him, it felt like he would certainly get sucked in and crushed. So, it was walking from here on out.

Walking, walking, walking.

It wasn't until now that he realized just how big and scary the Black Hole could be. Albeit, his perception was likely muddied by the dark, the recent events, and the lack of familiarity in the culture that you can only truly learn by growing up around here. If he took anything away from tonight, it was that he never again wished to be the odd man out. He wanted to be the one who was in charge of what happened to who, not the other way around. He wanted to be the one who knew the inside and out so that he never again had to be afraid of the unknown.

Finally, the surrounding neighborhood looked really familiar. He was back near the transport shuttle. Draven thanked his lucky stars. He didn't have his badge or wallet, but he was ID'd as an Agent. So, he got on the transport for free back to HQ where they would no doubt need to debrief him. So much for that fantasy about getting sleep. He wasn't at all comfortable with sleeping on the transport...call him paranoid, but he never liked riding on public transport shuttles ever since he was a kid. Even though he was the only one on the transport, he felt like eyes were watching him in this dirty passenger section. He sat in his seat with a dead, yet wide-eyed look. He was running close to empty, but he couldn't relax at all until he was out of here for good.

[member="Nergal"]
[member="Mirror Emperor"]

 

[Ibby]

[member="Nergal"] [member="Draven Carter"] [member="Zephyrus"] [member="Vulpesen"] [member="Infected Drones"] (Tagging everyone, like a boss b) )

Location: The Anvil (Strider's Ship)

Sem sat cross-legged on their bunk, tongue sticking out the side of their cheek as they attempted, yet again, to get a particular stitch right. This was a project they'd been working on for a while now, but it seemed like as soon as they began to get close to finishing...something would happen. Like now, for instance -- their fingers were getting cramped.

Of course, it probably didn't help that they were Clawdite fingers. Not always good when it came to fine dexterity, but it was a price Sem had to pay to be comfortable.

Bah, we will give up comfort for the sake of our project. The shifter nodded, pleased with the (teensy) bout of heroism, though they recognized the irony in it. Or was it irony?

Does it really matter? We must finish this stitch! It would be a shame to let this lovely floral design remain unfinished.

Resting the fabric and sewing material on their lap, Sem closed their eyes and began to initiate the change to--

Location: The Black Hole District

*Phwoop!*

"Gah!" Whatever happened caused Semziru a great deal of pain. It was like fire burning through their veins, eliciting many groans and sharp intakes of breath. But the Clawdite could not stop now -- they were in between shifts, and some primal instinct told the alien that it was not safe to be in their natural form.

So with many more yelps, groans, and shouts, along with writhing on the filthy pavement, Sem finally shifted to their human form. Once that was done, though, they hovered in and out of consciousness, their strength depleted from the shift in form and place.

 

[Mirror Emperor]

[member="Vulpesen"]

When he looked up from his datapad, he would find see a holo statue proudly proclaiming to be of Emperor Vorticus III, the current Emperor. Really, the statue showed little more than an ornate set of armour.

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

Location: Black Hole District

Nefertari had said farewell to the crew of the Blue Milk Thistle. Luckily the shipment had simply mostly been knick knacks and nothing super illegal.

Her lightsabers were in her backpack, disassembled and arranged to look like scrap electronics on scans. Her self defense was a dagger disguised as a code cylinder, and the force.

She observed a Twi'lek interacting with a CAD like the one in the police station back on Chandrila.

Nefertari hailed one of the [member="Drones"] and approached

"Would you mind directing me to a good dance club?"

 

[Drones]

[member="Nefertari Sovint"]

The Drone was programmed to provide objective information. It was supremely well programmed. But subjectivity was beyond it.

"There are 47 different dancing establishments within 0.9 kilometres of your present location. A more specific explanation of the music genre would provide a more accurate response."

It hovered...waiting further instruction.

 

[Mirror Emperor]

 

[Infected Drones]

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

[member="Drones"]

A ding came from Nefertari's communicator. It was Lareih

How did that nerf herder get my information?!

The lady decided to ignore the thought and answered
"Hello Lareih, which club are you guys at? According to this little droid here, there are forty seven in nearly a kilometer radius! I could more easily find a tree on Coruscant!"

There was a moment of static

"What the kark is a coruscant?"

"Sounds like a lavish pastry to me" Nef heard Danny say in the background

"Nevermind, just tell me where you are."

"We're at the Mon Calamari's Mouth. It's a jazz club. See you there, darlin'"

Nefertari rolled her eyes as she turned the communicator off and returned it to her belt.


Once more, she spoke to the drone
"Sorry about that. I guess I am in search of a jazz club called the Mon Calamari's Mouth."

 

[Drones]

[member="Nefertari Sovint"]

In a nano-second, the Drone had calculated thirteen possible routes and taken into account the prevailing weather and traffic conditions.

"Glad to be of service Citizen. The club you speak of is rated 9 out of 10 stars for its music, 7 out of ten for its food and 8 out of ten for its range of drinks. It can be found quickest by traveling 0.634 kilometres along this road," the Drone's panel indicated a direction if travel. "Turn left at the intersection and proceed 0.274 kilometres before reaching another intersection. The Mon Calamari's Mouth is situated diagonally opposite. Have a safe and pleasant journey citizen."

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

The droid of the empire showed the directions.

"I had better get a move on then. May the force be with you, little drone"

The lady estimated the mechanical earshot
"Sucker" Nef muttered under her breath

Lareih, the Zeltron pilot who had brought Nefertari here, had promised to put her in touch with the rebellion. Apparently part of it met in the back room of the Mon Calamari's Mouth.

Nefertari entered the club after trying to avoid more imperial entanglements. She drew the Jedi pendant from her robe and put it on beside her lesser imperial signet.

She entered the back room. There was Lareih sitting beside Danny, a human child he took in, and a few others.

"Here's the neon swordswoman now, boys. Let's catch her up."

Another person burst in
"Peacekeepers heading this way! It's begun"

"We'll catch her up on the way, come on!"

A full helmet was tossed to Nefertari
"I picked it up for you. It'll let you breathe the dandelion district's air and hide your sweet face from the empire. You're on the DfR's list. Those guys are freaky."

Everybody put on their masks and quickly entered a secret tunnel

"Let's get to pipeworld ASAP"

GO TO ACT II​

 

[Zephyrus]

Zephyrus had never been much of the struggle for everyday living. Living amongst the trees with his friend was more than enough to distract him from the pain inside his heart. He filled the void with studying database files from before the great conflict, he collected food from the trees, and he relegated empathy after the hell he had endured. And now he watched as everything that kept him grounded turned to ash.

Zephyrus had a hot streak a mile long, but he had controlled his emotions, he learned patience. He turned to the hovel beneath the roots of the grand tree, still leaving the controlled pyre burning. He began sifting through the things Kri Dune owned to burn with Kri. Zephyrus hadn't prepared for life beyond Kri, and his mind was in a spin.

[member="Drones"]