Bay of Tears

[Skye Mertaal]

​

Nothing like the acid rain of Vjun to bring such a cheerful disposition. Rain pelted everything it could touch, shrouding the nearly dead world of Vjun with a pale olive green haze and bringing with it the scent of rotting vegetation and thick humidity.

From behind the shroud of the dark tee visor, the Hunter gave a dark scowl. Her target was there below. A Sith. Twenty thousand credits. Salvage rights. Extra if anything of note for any other Sith was handed over for more bounties.

All the better.

The Bay of Tears was a deep water harbor on Vjun guarded by sudden shoals. The shores of the bay had a network of caves and tunnels, some of which exited into the cellars of Château Malreaux. The Chateau in which her target currently resided in.

Mertaal had staked this position out for the past two days. She'd taken note of the Sith's mannerisms. His trends. His guards and who visited him.

Come nightfall, the Hunter would make her move.

And claim her bounty.

@Valkyrien Aurelios

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Skye Mertaal"]

The man who had ferried him here had been gone since yesterday. He had greedily taken his reward and scampered off as quickly as he could, and understandably so. Vjun was not at all a pleasant world, in fact most would cub it something of a...well Val could see why not many people resided here.

He stood above a cliff-side, peering down an odd sort of estate that was home to the Sith he and Ryssa had been chasing. He had no idea whether or not she would be here, had no idea where she was, yet oddly enough he didn't care. They had not trusted one another, and even though he respected her, and still owed her a debt, the fact that she was gone...well part of him thought it was a good thing. The trip to Vjun had allowed him to calm himself a bit, had allowed him time to think. He'd considered what he'd done, what he'd said to her and how. A part of him was filled with regret because of it, but he knew there was nothing he could do to change it now.

All he could do was move forward.

That was why he was here, to end the tale that had been started all those centuries ago.

His hand tightened into a fist as he thought about just who had started it all. His lips turned to a scowl, and his eyes slowly wandered towards the estate below before snapping towards the skies. Dark clouds hung within the air, and he knew that he would have to do this quickly. Acid rains tended to pour upon this world, and if Val was caught up in those even he wouldn't last long. His fingers slowly drummed on his thigh as he squatted down.

He just had to wait for nightfall.

 

[Skye Mertaal]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

From behind the cybernetic ocular patch of the Hunter, a deep and careful scan of the area took place. The chateau itself had long since been rumored to excel in security. Those who had built the structure upon the sweat, blood and tears of the natives had ensured it so with their power and the credits they had. Some say that such ostentatious wealth lay there still. For the Hunter? That did not matter to her.

Only the Sith that she would have felt had it not been for the Force Suppression pills she took. Rain pelted down, trickling over her beskargam and saturating the already soaked floor.

When dusk came, the storm did not abate, and the woman would use this as cover for her slow approach. Armed with a wide assortment of ordnance and gear, the Hunter took to the path that would lead her to the harbor. Drainage pipes would flow from within the keep into the sea. Never had Skye thanked Allya enough for the fact that her armor had a filter.

The stench of the water and the spoiled sentiment that sloshed within the putrid waves would have made anyone retch.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Skye Mertaal"]

Disgust pulled through him.

The freighter pilot had given him a jacket that would resist the worst effects of the acid rain, but he could still smell it, feel his boots sink into the mud. He scowled as he moved through the perimeter of the estate, quickly dashing through the odd forest as fast as he could. Luckily he had managed to catch himself a nice meal the day before, and thus at the very least he felt energy pumping through his veins. He moved quickly, heading towards the far wall where he knew the patrols were more slack.

He crashed against the heavy duracrete with a slight thud.

There were no stars above, and the moons of Vjun were cut off by the thick cloud cover of the storm. Searchlights sparked through the rain, slowly drifting over the outside of the estate even as Val clung to the side of the wall.

Val took in a breath, then looked up.

The light passed him by, and he could just barely make out the heavy tromp of an armored boot passing on the walkway behind the wall. He took a few steps back, and then rushed forward. Three steps and then a jump saw him pressed up against the duracrete, his fingers latching like claws onto the top of the wall as he held on, and then quickly pulled himself up and over the top of the perimeter.

 

[Skye Mertaal]

@Valkyrien Aurelios

Water sloshed around her thighs as the Hunter continuously scanned her surroundings. Her HUD bloomed, processing movement, thermal signatures, infra-red readings, and lifeform scans. Up overhead, the long guard rail had four figures. Just had to keep quiet and low.

Towards the north face, she'd find the drainage pipe. Durasteel beams made a criss-cross pattern, a method to prevent the fauna and potential infiltrators away. There would be sensors near here. Likely a holocamera.

Where are you.

Narrowing her gray eye, Mertaal came to a low crouch. Water lapped at her waist, and she had to brace herself so as not to be overtaken by the waves. Gears whirled, and that ocular patch went zooming in. Switching filters, the survey went across the surface of the roof.

She found it a couple of seconds later. A small black box. Pulling up her wrist, the woman brought out a small tiny ball. It was a circuit looper, allowing a temporary connection to a holocamera to loop the same image over and over. In this case a few seconds worth would be fine.

A press of a button and the sphere gave a slight beep.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Skye Mertaal"]

Val didn't bother with stealth. He never did, and in all honesty he simply wasn't built for it. The guard that was assigned to patrol this sector came around for his second pass, and when he reached the section of wall that Val had hopped over he found the Viking waiting for him.

Their scuffle was quick, and surprisingly quiet.

A single punch, a quick grapple followed by a muffled snap was enough to send the man tumbling to the floor. He landed with a muted thud drowned out by the sounds of the storm, his body quickly dragged into a set of nearby bushes. Val deposited him there, taking a keycard from his belt. He frowned slightly as he pulled a blade from the small of the man's back, a vibro-knife. He shifted the dagger in his palm and then pulled back, assessing where he was before moving forward.

He watched in silence for a moment, peering about before quietly stepping toward the estate itself.

The courtyard was large, but thankfully the rain and the night sky obscured him well enough.

 

[Skye Mertaal]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

There were few choices for the bounty hunter. Either use explosives to blow her way in, or try and slice her way through the durasteel.

She opted for precision placed detonating tape. Her armored fingers set the tape at key points. She was going for efficiency and effectiveness. The roar and wail of the storm should hide the bulk of the nose. The flash perhaps thought as part of the lightning.

Bringing up her wrist again, Mertaal took a step back and aimed for cover.

Three.

Two.

One.

Shheboom!

The fuse lit and all around the edges of the durasteel crate suddenly flashed and seized. Metal warped and bent back, the sound swallowed by the thunder.

Returning in place, Mertaal quickly bent the metal back to allow her entry.

Alright, now to move in.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Skye Mertaal"]

A part of him wondered if this was even worth it.

He wondered if he should have just left well enough alone. Ryssa was gone, the gauntlet was gone with her, and in truth there was no real benefit to...well killing this Sith. He doubted very much that the Sith would come after him personally, and finding Ryssa was more difficult than one might think.

Didn’t that mean this was all wasted effort?

A part of him thought so, but another part saw opportunity.

This man knew more about Moridin, more about...Val frowned as he pulled open the sliding glass door, fingers latching around the handle as a sweep of light passed by just behind him. His heart thundered for just a second, and then the spotlight floated on by.

He stepped into the building and out of the rain, a wall of warmth striking him almost immediately.

”Now.” Val said quietly. ”Where are you?”

It wasn’t like he had schematics for this place.

 

[Skye Mertaal]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Mertaal did.

Although those schematics were dated. The files she picked up using [member="Jonathon Patches"] data banks told her that this drainage tunnel should lead towards the inner east section of the chaeteu. From there she'd be able to make it up to the first level. There were several rooms and chambers in there. It would make narrowing the location of the sith harder, but not impossible.

Carefully and all the while searching for more life form scanners she may have to neutralize. All the while the storm raged on over the keep. Several guards stood patrolling the outer and inner courtyard. The target quietly sitting within the depths of his library. Was he aware of who stirred within his walls?

Who knew the mind of a Sith and their curious ways of the Force.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Skye Mertaal"]

Val frowned as he looked through the different halls of the home, his eyes slowly wandering from place to place. There were statues everywhere, some crafted of marble, other of steel. Ornaments hung on the walls, shields, swords, and spears. He frowned for a moment as he moved closer towards the center of the estate.

For a moment the giant stopped, looking about and then at the knife in his hand. He frowned and plucked one of the blades off the wall, carefully removing it from the odd nails that had held it in place. Val hefted the weapon, then gave a satisfied nod.

If he was going to face down a Sith, he’d need more than a knife.

”Alright.” Val said as he slowly slipped forward. As the floor turned from carpet to heavy wood his footsteps began to sound out within the hall. They echoed as he moved forward, an odd pit forming in Val’s stomach. The feeling was an ill one, but familiar. A scowl painted on his, and slowly he approached the Library.

He could feel it in his stomach.

The dread of the Sith.

 

[Skye Mertaal]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

A lift and a shift and a small hatch at ground lever slid open. A small scanner came up, verifying for any lifeforms or security scanners. None so far.

This would be near the east end. Ground level. A grunt and a small movement brought the hunter up and out of the hatch. She quietly slid it closed again. Rancid-smelling water trickled down her beskargam, her sensors constantly scanning for lifeforms. Three up ahead. Two on the second level above her.

Now to get inside the inner building. Patience, she told herself. Only thing is that patience had never been her strongest suit.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Skye Mertaal"]

The feeling was an uncomfortable one.

A pit in his stomach, an ache in his head. It was an odd sort of pressure that seemed to exude throughout the household. He could feel fear gripping his heart, dread entering his throat. It was like he was staring down the barrel of a blaster pointed directly between his eyes. There was no one there of course, not yet, but it felt as though...it felt as though he was facing an entire army. Val swallowed hard, and then kept on walking. A coward ran in the face of fear.

A hero walked into it.

He took a breath, turned down the hall.

It got worse with every step. Val wasn't sensitive to the force, he couldn't feel it, manipulate it, or otherwise change it at all, yet here it was. His fingers tightened around the blades he carried, his knuckles goiing white as he turned the last corner and stepped into the library.

"Ah. There you are."

Val Froze.

 

[Skye Mertaal]

@Valkyrien Aurelios

Thunder rolled, lightning striking across the Bay of Tears with intermittent flashes. Up ahead the Hunter crept towards one of the entrances. She kept herself crouched low, hands at the ready.

There was a guard up ahead. Human. Her HUD spat out more information over her eyes in a stream of data.

Two meters.

One.

A hand extended out with a snap with Jeco like precision. It went curling around the guard's neck, her fist coming in close to inject a kyber tranquiliser dart right into his neck. His body gave a twitch and a low grown between the gargle. As his body became heavy, Mertaal slid the unconscious guard behind her.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Skye Mertaal"]

"I've been expecting you."

There was a pause as Val stopped on the doorway, looking at the man within the library. He was thin, thinner than thin actually, almost skeletal. His skin appeared diseased and dying, his eyes were sunken but a bright burning yellow. Tubes ran out of the back of his neck and Val could swear more than one patch of his flesh was completely missing. In truth the figure was absolutely...disgusting. Val frowned slightly, taking a single step forward to move into the library.

"I-" Val began but the man instantly cut him off.

"None of that. Where is my gauntlet?"

Val frowned.

What was he supposed to say? 'Oh I don't have it a changeling ran off with it'. That likely wouldn't fly.

The Viking frowned for a moment and took another step forward. The dread that he felt in the pit of his stomach was very clearly coming from this man, emanating from him like...well a plague. Yet he seemed so fragile, so easy to break...so easy to kill.

 

[Skye Mertaal]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

One cold gunmetal gray barrel crossed the threshold as the Hunter used caution to enter. The first story, two more guards. They were quickly dispatched and knocked out as the previous one.

A chill that had nothing to do with the cold or the storm overhead ran down Mertaal's spine. What was it? Didn't matter how many pills she popped, instinct still pumped hot in her veins. Something was off.

A grey eye narrowed, then she flattened herself against the wall. She heard voices.

Who else was there?

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Skye Mertaal"]

”I lost it.” It was true...in a way.

Ryssa had run away from the shadowport, and he hadn’t decided to chase her, now she was gone. In a way he had lost the gauntlet, though of course he had also lost Ryssa. It was better this way though, better for her and for him. He frowned slightly as he took another step forward, something that the Sith didn’t even seem to notice.

“Unfortunate.”

The man said as Val took another step. He was within a few meters now, his knuckles had lost all blood, his grip nearly threatened to shatter the hilt of the blade. The Sith turned away from Val, the tubes in his neck shifting slightly as he did so. The man glanced towards something in the library, then slowly back towards Val.

His look was chilling.

“Does the girl have it? I assume she’s not with you.”

Val froze.

Did he know about Ryssa? Did he know everything that they had been through? He scowled for a moment. ”What girl?”

The lie clung to his tongue.

 

[Skye Mertaal]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"You are a terrible liar." the Sith said, his breathing a hissing sound as if whistling from a deflating bag. His body was decrepid, almost as if falling apart. The Darkside of the Force clung to him, perhaps the only thing keeping him together.

"So she has it." he gave a nod, as if confirming it.

"A small matter of finding her." he said simply.

Mertaal drew closer, holding her blaster in hand. On her person were several means of dealing with Force Users. The question was just what this Sith was wearing. Her research had shown him to be rather proficient in the force, not so much in melee combat.

Of course, that could all be lies.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Skye Mertaal"]

Val considered his options.

He obviously wouldnt let the Sith go after Ryssa, that was out of the question. He doubted that he could talk the man out of it, and with that settled it really only left one option open to him.

A very attractive option.

His finger tightened on the blade and he made a move to step forward and simply plunge the blade into the Sith's chest. It was not a subtle attack, nor was it a very well thought out attack, but Val didn't really care. He'd never fought a force user and certainly never a Sith.

"Oh stop that."

Almost nonchalantly the Sith waved his hand.

In an instant Val found every muscle, bone, and tendon in his body completely frozen.

 

[Skye Mertaal]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

The voices grew louder. The Hunter heard mention of someone. No something. A gauntlet? A girl? Who was the Sith talking to. Pressed against the wall, Mertaal was but a dark shadow. Will I have to take care of another? How well would that work? Her mind was already reaching for potential plans and methods.

For now, Skye simply needed more information. To listen and hear what they were doing.

Then press the attack.

"As if you could do anything." the Sith spat out, almost disgusted really. Mertaal wasn't sure if it was just cocksure assurance or typical Sith pride. She imagined both with the manner by which they enjoyed monologueing.

"Surprised are you?" he took a step closer, his decrepit visage blooming under the light. Yellowed teeth bared as he tipped his head back, getting a closer look at Val.

"Ah, more than surprised. Anger runs through you."

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Skye Mertaal"]

He struggled against...himself?

Val had no idea what was going on. The obvious guess was the force of course, and...well that was what he assumed was going on, but every single muscle in his body had seemingly betrayed him. He couldn't even twitch his fingers and yet the grip on the blade remained tight. He scowled, or rather, attempted to scowl. Even his tongue seemed entirely frozen, as if someone had taken a clamp and simple thrown it into place to stop him from doing anything at all.

"Fool."

The Sith said in critique, though he made no other move. Val's eyes locked on him as he tried to assess what was going on. The Sith had frozen him, that much was clear, but why not simply kill him? Snap his neck and be done with it. He frowned slightly, as he tried to move, tried to do...anything.

It was a struggle like he'd never known.

"You can't break free."

The Sith hissed as Val pushed back once again.