Belly Of The Beast.

[Darth Eversor]

Coruscant, Underworld. ​

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Descending.​

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"I'm typically very reluctant to meet new clients face-to-uh... face. But I assure you everything should go off without a hitch. Any questions? Uhh... what was your name?"

"..."

"Ooookay... we'll leave it at that."

A deal made between a smuggler and the silent Kasa Shi was underway, but little did the smuggler know what the dark jedi had intended for him. A dingy and poorly lit elevator descended with both the dealer and the twisted lady to a lower level of the underworld. A place where all walks of scum bargained for illegal substances and materials, some even buying flesh for servitude or for personal favor. A cesspool where crime and debauchery was commonplace and the whims of the corrupt were met with credits or death.

Such a place was where Kasa felt quite at home, the negativity and darkness brewing among the foul denizens being quite intoxicating. The Force wanted her here, and it demanded blood be spilled to further her worth and servitude to it. And she would obey.

Clad in a thick and large dark cloak, the only notable feature upon the dark lady was a distorted and twisted helm made of recycled metals from her previous attire, behind it cybernetics clicked and hummed whilst scanning her surroundings and regulating her brain's activity. Prion disease was an obstacle she would never fully overcome, but her will was strong and she would do all in her capacity to slow it down or keep it at bay.

"Right this way - and remember, no weapons, or else things will get very ugly real quick-like. You still never told me what it was you were after, but since you're so adamant about striking a deal of some kind, we'll work it out."

The two walked down a dark alley and into a dilapidated underground entrance where a corridor with numerous gang members and druggies casting uneasy glances and foreboding stares at Kasa, and she merely returned the gaze accompanied with the Force, sending thoughts and disturbing imagery into their minds. Panic set in and a majority of the squatters ran out of the corridor while others looked away in fear.

"We're here! Now, let's talk business."

A slender hand clad in black leather crept out from the confines of the heavy cloak, pointing to a crate which had Imperial markings. "What? That? I don't think so, miss. That there is a collectible, and there hasn't been anything else like it in any salvage. Now if you can't talk to me, then you might as well get out-"

Suddenly the lights in the room began to die, Kasa's shoulders began to rise and fall as the hand she drew out of her cloak began to tremble with uncontrollable, unsolicited anger. She began to walk slowly towards the smuggler, the man backed up towards a desk where a blaster pistol was strapped underneath. He panicked and attempted to turn around and grab it to defend himself from the looming threat approaching, but when he turned back around, his throat was mere inches from being sliced with an unstable lightsaber. A dark purple blade spat and hissed with fiery discharge, burning his face as the sparks flew.

"O-okay now, let's not get too rash! You-you can have it, okay!? Just let me go!"

A request that Kasa would deny for any sentient creature, for the Force required blood and tribute. The wild blade was plunged through his throat and ripped out the side, his body slumping against the desk with his head only attached by a thread of flesh. She deactivated her blade and returned the crude representation of a lightsaber back to her cloak, claiming the mysterious Imperial crate before departing.

Back into the streets of the damned and broken.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Coruscant had been on the map for Connor to visit for a long time. A very long time, and now was the perfect time with the insolvent One Sith gone. En route to Dosuun, this was the perfect chance away from Voss to see the place that had bred some of the best and worst heroes and villains that had crossed his path over the years.

With his lightsaber wrapped tight to his waist around three brown belts, he was dressed down from his usual navy tunic and cowl. Instead he wanted to be one of the few travelers, scavengers and other criminals that passed through the Core. Looking for a cheap thrill, looking for a job, looking for a way out - whatever his cover, he was dressed in tan and ivory layers with a poncho slung over his shoulder. Nothing screamed Master Jedi about him. Even his aura was mildly confusing; light and dark - a Force user but siding with who.

Connor rubbed his hand, the source of his current pain, and stood in a doorway amidst a stretch of what was known as 'The Underworld'. The best place for him to get a sense of what was out there away from the shelter of Voss, and also to try and piece together more about his latest fascination; the Sorceress Matsu Xiangu, who he knew had once ruled the planet, or so he believed. If she was going to become...an asset, he needed to know as much as possible.

He looked out at the passers by; vagrants, prostitutes, droids, pilots, mercs. Not a Jedi in sight.

What a world.

Having been waiting for a good 15 minutes or so, he moved out more into the street, leaning against a dank wall by a small grid in the floor letting out steam. To the passing eye, Connor didn't look like he belonged down here, but certainly stood with confidence as if he was waiting for something - or someone.

[member="The Rusted Queen"]

 

[Darth Eversor]

Walking along the gloomy streets where the sun didn't reach, all that passed by Kasa gave her a second, elongated look of discomfort. She rounded a corner and sat the Imperial crate down, opening it. Inside were components she sought to further enhance her own cybernetics. Augmentations to enhance the stability brought on by her disease, brain implants and the like that she would have installed at a later time. Stowing the small parts away in a pocket within her cloak, she abandoned the crate and continued her trek back towards the lift she came from.

Her dark figure somehow stood out from the rest of the casually dressed civilians, their worn and drab garments blending in with the rusted pipes and structures of the underworld while the blatant darkness of the masked woman carried the weight of dread and uncertainty. As she walked along, something felt different among the street. Kasa stopped and took in a deep breath, feeling the Force from somewhere - or someone else. She looked around and finally stopped as her gaze settled upon a man who upon first glance, looked like nothing out of the ordinary; however, something about him struck her as odd.

Kasa stood still and stared down the man, reaching out to him through the Force. She could feel how he walked a tight-rope between morality and falling, and it made her quite famished. The Force called to her as well, and in doing so it commanded her to feed. To embrace his flesh in her teeth and upon her tongue to relish in his crimson, yet, she wanted to know more first. Like why he was here, and what were his intentions. Was he hiding?

She craved information. And she wanted it now.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Picking at some cloth around his hand, Connor noted an interesting Toydarian on the prowl, leading a Bith along looking very shady. Eye-patch, false limb, cigar. What a colourful bunch. He never would judge, and it was something he was learning - judge not, lest ye be judged.

The next person to catch his eye seemed to have had the same effect, and immediately he knew this one was a dark soul. Clad in a cloak, surrounded by mystery and brimming with a Force ability edging into the black void of hell. The sort of people Matsu would love to have on a leash. Connor was being watched, and he watched back, not looking scared or trying to hide, just picking his cloth casually, leaning on the wall for a few seconds.

With a little push off from the wall, and careful not to knock a passing astromech droid looking a little worse for wear, Connor approached the dark figure across the street.

"You know her. Don't you."

The corner of his mouth curled ever so gently. He enjoyed reading people. The wild guesses and chances in taking a stab in the dark. This one looked and felt just like he thought Matsu would have in her time here. If not, he would move on.

Still, time to build confidence of getting to know just WHO was really out there.

[member="The Rusted Queen"]

 

[Darth Eversor]

Kasa looked to the man that had taken notice of her approach, and once he confronted her, she gave him a subtle and slow nod. She'd then creep a single blackened hand out from underneath her cloak, pointing directly at him. This would mean one of two things: that she was about to initiate a fight, or she was attempting to reach inside of his consciousness to dig deeper and find out more about the man. While not being a seasoned practitioner of this method, she felt tinges of the Force pulling him apart into two different directions. It made her hunger intensify, and she began to show physical reactions of this.

Her arm began to tremble, and she quickly pulled it back beneath the dark confines of her cloak. Her shoulders began to rise and fall as if she were hyperventilating, a dead giveaway of her novice and incomplete understanding of herself and what she was capable of. Raspy, distorted breathing could be heard coming from the dark lady as she looked at the stranger a final time before finalizing the decisions to strike at him. With a brief shake of her head, she decided against it. The man must have felt her struggle, yet there would be no pull from the Light. Only a void wishing to consume and expand to become that much more powerful.

And she would do anything to obtain it. It was only a matter of time.

Tilting her head back, Kasa emanated a pulse in the Force to call out to her master and fellow Atrisian kin. This man in front of her already knew what he wanted, and that much was a respectable quality. If he sought it for the reason presumed, then this would become a very interesting meeting of fiends and devils. One thing the man might have picked up on is that Kasa lacked the ability to speak, only a brief understanding of how to communicate through the Force. Other than that she was merely a living shadow that haunted the lives of the innocent to rob them of their essence.

The stranger before he was a tempting treat, but one not due for death just yet. She could feel more was in store for him.

[member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The woman certainly didn’t seem the social type, or the chatty type. Easy to see how already Matsu Xiangu’s grip was tight over those beneath her, looking to the Sorceress as a guide and leader in the Dark Arts. Theatricality and deception indeed.

Connor turned his head slightly, taking the figure in with a curious eye. Her movements were slightly hesitant, her frame seemed introverted.

"No small-talk? No chit-chat?"

He sighed quietly to himself and rested against a neon lit window, and he waited for something. The teasing nudges were there from the Force, and rather than want to cut her down or haul her away or knock seven barrels out of her, Connor was interested. Curious.

"You can communicate." He tapped his head. "May I ask your name? What are you doing here in the Underworld?"

[member="The Rusted Queen"]

 

[Darth Eversor]

Kasa tilted her head to the side at the man's demeanor. Typically she knew fear from most, but he presented an authority all too familiar yet foreign. Something about his presence angered her, but it wasn't lucid enough to determine. He made note of her ability to communicate, but it wouldn't be aloud; instead, she would attempt telepathy to convey a more clear message. Her voice would come in the form of a whisper, soothing yet laced with malice.

"...Yooou seeeeek heeer...."​

"....My naaameeee is nooooot of yoouuur conceeerrrnnn...."​

"....Ennnhhhannncceement...."

It was almost as if Kasa lost the ability to speak properly, instead using broken sentences and key words to express her actions or emotions. Her will was definitely her own, but shrouded in encroaching madness and a deteriorating self-control. Despite being a tad awkward and closed off, she remained wary of the man and whatever unseen prowess he might possess. Despite the odd dialogue, she would not deny him the opportunity of meeting her master.

​

"...Sooooooon..."​

With that she exhaled lightly and returned to her neutral posture, large dark cloak obscuring all of her features aside from her helmet as she continued to stare.

[member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

With the nightlife going on around them, nobody batted an eyelid at the two peculiar dressed characters chatting in a place where everybody could be who they were meant to be...for a price, usually. The neon sign flashed across Connor's face and shoulders as it blinked a muted green and blue now and then. He cocked his head a little, smiling slowly at the lady doing her best Matsu impression.

As the voice came through to him, he smiled wider and shook his head, looking back into that mask and what was hidden behind. Behind uncertainty and nerves and a will to impress.

"A pale imitation of a true Sorceress."

He looked dead centre at her, reaching out as he had before where nothing material mattered except the beating heart behind it.

"You're no Queen. But you were a Jedi. Touched the Force, light and dark. Seduced by it's calling and now hers." He stood up straighter. "Who are you trying to impress? Me, or yourself?."

Connor pushed into her head with a stinging stab at her mind's eye. Just to put some pressure there. A mild throb. Nothing more. Just so she knew he was circling her head and wasn't one to be toyed with.

[member="The Rusted Queen"]

 

[Darth Eversor]

She wasn't a Queen? Who was this man to dare and chance his dominance upon her? Kasa began to swell with rage, even more-so at the fact that he knew exactly what she was and where she came from. The dark lady lowered her head slightly and stared back with utmost intensity, as much as she could potentially muster at her stage anyway. Mental barriers being brought up in an attempt to rid him from her deepest most personal memories and thoughts. Kasa refused to give in and make herself seem vulnerable, most certainly not to a being that wasn't her master.

Seething with anger, she relinquished her bastardized and cruel lightsaber and ignited the unstable, dark blade. The fiery manifestation of darkened purple spat and screeched in defiance, causing quite a scene and scaring off a multitude of the Underworld's already unruly denizens. They hadn't laid their eyes on something quite as strange as this predicament, and that in itself was a concern all of its own.

For the first time, Kasa would vocalize herself to be heard. The voice produced would sound damaged, like a machine almost. What injuries she suffered upon crashing into the lower cities were forever scarring and irreversible. This too fueled her unchecked animosity.

"...No one..."​

​

A retort essentially stating that nobody was needed to be impressed, dashed with an inkling of confidence that Kasa was not afraid of this man or what he could do. She was in it for the thrill of the moment.

And her hunger... it grew.

[member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

And with her clear frustration and anger, the Dark Lady presented her saber in the middle of a crowd that straight away drew the attention to her. Connor leaned back a little away from the garish purple blade, a colour he’d not seen in a long time for a lightsaber.

He looked up at the sound of her voice and nodded slowly.

"No one?"

His hand shot out and latched onto her wrist and he dug his fingers in while twisting.

"No one what?" Connor spat.

Another person trying to attack and intimidate him – it was getting to be rather infuriating. Her desire to flaunt her saber was proof she was trying to prove something to herself and others – a show of force and a display of fear. Connor had seen it all many times before. He twisted the had again, the purple glow cast over him from the front, neon green behind.

"I’ll disembowel you right here – don’t think you scare me, Jedi. Tell me where she is!"

[member="The Rusted Queen"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

The call from her Apprentice came to her like a change in altitude, a pressure differential as the Force pressed inwards on her senses and then relaxed. She unlaced her hands from within the guts of her current experiment, nodding to one of the doctors working with her to take over and finish the work. It was a shame that she could not see to the rest of the operation herself but the results of removing someone’s stomach and connecting the esophaghus directly to the bowels would not be seen for a few days anyway.

And Kasa would not call her for something unimportant.

The woman was, on all counts, one of the more interesting apprentices Matsu had ever taken the risk of bringing on and certainly the most fascinating in recent memory. The Sith Lady was no fool - treachery ran thick like tar in the other Atrisian’s blood, but Mat was no stranger to living with the knowledge one’s closest companion may one day turn around and bite at her. She found paranoia, however, a wasteful way to spend one’s time. She would expend her affection until someone forced her to break them.

It was easy to track the call through the fear of the onlookers unfortunate enough to find themselves close to the confrontation, but she didn’t need it. Kasa’s signature was familiar, and even more familiar was Connor’s - however altered it was.

Matsu had never been a fan of emerging from the shadows. Once she’d had the advantage of being underestimated and overlooked, but no longer. Now she simply owned whatever she’d become and walked among others, however alien to her. There was something disturbing in knowing the unhallowed wore a human face.

The scene she walked in on was interesting to say the least. The citizens of Coruscant shrank as she walked by; this planet, no matter who claimed it, would always be her house and even if these wretches so far down did not know her face the way she walked the pavement was evidence enough that the rotten jewel of the galaxy was this woman’s. Though Kasa’s lightsaber was much like the garish neons that glittered all around, none of them made a sound like the weapon. It seemed to match the frenetic clash of emotions in her Apprentice - a chaos that, if she could learn to harness, might just be her greatest strength. But that was for another time, and Matsu’s eyes drifted to the hand Connor had squeezing around Kasa’s wrist. Running her tongue along the scar tissue inside her cheek courtesy of Connor not too long ago, she tilted her head in a mixture of curiosity and warning.

“Your choice Connor,” she said quietly, flakes of dried blood falling from her metal fists she hadn’t bothered to wash clean of her experiment as she fed off Kasa’s chaos. “Fight us now, or play a game.” As much as she would love to bring the full brunt of her dueling force to bear against the Jedi, her game was equally as brutal. “Either way, you’ll take your hand off my apprentice.”

Don’t think you scare me, Jedi.
And what exactly have you become.

[member="The Rusted Queen"] | [member="Connor Harrison"]​

 

[Darth Eversor]

A smile crept across her scarred face underneath the apparatus she wore, enduring the pain of Connor's grasp, she ceased any moment of struggle to get free just to stare [member="Connor Harrison"] dead in the eyes, giving the impression that he had royally karked himself. Pulling her arm free, Kasa gave a bit of sass to the man's demanding threat.

"...Here..."

Still brimming with irritation, she turned her attention to a cowering drug addict hiding just a couple feet away in a corner beneath a street lamp. Reaching through the Force, Kasa pulled the man out of his hole like the panicked rat he was. His throat clenched by an invisible hand as he kicked and struggled to breathe. He attempted to speak and plead but choked on his words here and there. "...P-please! I h-h-haven't done anything!" The cries for mercy fell on deaf ears, and in that moment, Kasa felt what it was for another being to grovel. The pain and horror beating against his chest, his heart racing, all of it was surreal and intense. But it only made the hunger roar, and she would obey.

The grip was released, and the man fell to his knees crying and thanking the masked woman. She walked up to him and knelt to meet him face-to-face, his was dirty and unkempt - rotten teeth and dribbles of saliva passing his lips and falling to the pavement. He raised his hands almost as if in worship, alas, he would meet no merciful deity. Only a riddance of his kind and a blank void where his soul would spend eternity. Kasa then stood strong and sent a boot into her victim's throat, stepping on it until she could feel his windpipe crush. He gurgled and tried to scream out, but all the other onlookers were stunned in awe at the brutality.

A final stomp of her heel against his neck broke the spine, rendering his body motionless with a few spasms before the faint last breath left him.

Kasa turned to the man now deemed a potential enemy and challenge. "...No....Jedi...."

A mockery, but also the truth. Those days were long gone.

All fell silent on the street, lone footfalls building the tension as they echoed and stopped at the side of [member="Matsu Xiangu"]. Apprentice and master, joined together at last.

 

[Connor Harrison]

The Dark Lady put on a bit of a show, and Connor didn't fight much when she pulled away, and with the street rat doomed before he knew what hit him, Connor stepped back once and looked down at her little "show".

It didn't bother him, nor did it prove anything. She killed a slob. Well done that woman. What was she trying to do - scare him?

He turned to the side, distracted by that sensation of something - someone - there, watching or standing too close for comfort. It came from nowhere, and it was a strong presence alright.

Here she was. And she spoke, and it was the first time he'd heard her voice without it being hidden or in his head. For some strange reason, he smiled and turned and raised his hands.

"Miss Xiangu. I can assure you my intentions are strictly honourable." He turned back to the Dark Lady. "My congratulations on such...a fine student in the making." He winked at the robed student, and then flicked back to Matsu, eyes dropping to her disfigurement, proud of his handiwork on top of the other horrendous wounds she'd suffered. "I was simply passing through when this woman caught my eye."

With that, he lowered his hands slowly, face lacking anything that could be translated as fear, or hate, or judgement.

"I don't really have the inclination to fight you, nor do I have time play games. I will listen to you, however, as to what you're up to. I simply wanted to see how the other side live down here."

The slightest swallow followed - he hadn't expected her to be here. The one who held his strings, metaphorically speaking, and could cut them at anytime leaving him a mess.

[member="The Rusted Queen"] | [member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

“Yes, she is rather magnificent, isn’t she?” Matsu said, ignoring the sarcasm in Harrison’s tone. That seemed to be par for the course with him.

When he denied her both a fight and a game she took advantage of once more having the features with which to make expressions, wearing an exaggerated pout that might have seemed comical had her eyes not begun to swirl with strange currents of red shot through the gold. “Oh come on Connor, you’re not being any fun,” she teased. “Besides where else do you have to be? Or are you still living on Voss with your brethren - worried they’re going to notice you’re out past bedtime?” She reined herself in, moving close

“But really, if you want to see how the other half live this is a good place to start. I prefer the levels closer to the surface myself, but there are fewer curious eyes down here.” She rolled her tongue along the inside of her cheek again, considering his refusal and deciding she didn’t accept it. Besides, training against a Master Jedi - or whatever he was - would no doubt help Kasa get stronger. “A game it is.”

Reaching out, she grasped at the minds of Connor and Kasa, planting a set of coordinates there quick and uncomplicated.

“Whoever gets there first, wins,” she simply, before darting off down an alleyway to make both of their lives harder.

[member="The Rusted Queen"] | [member="Connor Harrison"]​

​

Spoiler

Prepare yourselves for this DM'ed thread! Your goal is to beat each other to the coordinates Matsu put in your heads. You may mess with each other as you wish, OR just ignore each other and move quick as you can to get there first. It is quite a few city blocks away, and I'll be DMing challenges along the way! MWHAHAHA!

 

[Darth Eversor]

Kasa looked to [member="Connor Harrison"], a deep grin spreading across her face underneath her apparatus. She pointed directly at him and spoke once more, but this time in a more clear and less ambiguous message. "...You are strong, but that does not assure your place anywhere..." With that she looked to the corpse of the vermin she crushed beneath her boot, holding out a dark leathery hand and concentrating on the waste of flesh. Within a couple seconds, she would cast the body like a stone at her competition, using the Force and her cybernetically enhanced body to speed off towards the coordinates [member="Matsu Xiangu"] planted within her mind.

As she rounded a corner, Kasa stopped and breathed heavily, searching her surroundings when suddenly a band of scavengers chanced upon the apprentice with the intent on capturing her and stripping her of anything valuable, most likely her lightsaber and cybernetics. Wasting little time, the sprightly dark lady activated her unstable blade and ended the fight before it even truly began, at least for the scavengers. Acrobatic agility gave her the advantage as she sliced and tore through them without mercy, leaving their dismembered corpses in the street to rot.

Water from rusted pipes dripped onto the fiery, dark wine blade with a hiss and residual bits of steam rising off of it. A maze of alleyways and streets converged together, but in her mind's eye the path was ever-clear and she set herself back on course. The Sithling was confident of her victory, and she would be damned if she let the stranger show her up and have her master know about it.

Eyes on the prize.

 

[Connor Harrison]

He shifted slightly as Matsu snaked a little closer – now he was almost socialising with someone he had once sworn to destroy. Like three old awkward friends from school ack together not knowing what to make of the other. He didn’t feel threatened, just a little amused at her goading. His fingers rubbed together by his side as she poked fun at him – again, that’s what they all see you as, remember? Boring.

Sniggering to himself and about to bow out of any playtime this obvious Master and Apprentice setup was, a location came to his mind, and his looked down for a moment to see it there – coordinates. A place designated in the city by Matsu Xiangu.

And then she was gone, and when he cast a glance to the Dark Lady, she was already starting to play dirty. Seeing her hand ready across the corpse, Connor prepared himself and as soon as it came up to him like a wet rag, he pushed his palm out to catch it mid-air like hitting a brick wall and it collapsing with a thud to the floor.

Stepping forward where the Apprentice of Xiangu had been, Connor shook his head slightly as he caught her barbaric ways down the street. She seemed a wild one for Matsu to want to tame, but no doubt she would in time. And here was her first test – Connor the plaything.

With a vague idea of what would be the best direction to take in reaching a target, he clapped his hands together and set off on a brisk jog following the Apprentice and hanging back as a few people started to gather in wake of the murders, the neon signs and dank streets illuminating the way filled with noise, music and the smell of death.

This could be fun after all.

[member="The Rusted Queen"] | [member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[member="The Rusted Queen"] -

With the scavengers gone, two paths lay before Kasa. One would take her through the Lion’s Den, that level’s particular alley of drug culture that few except the most desperate junkies had the wherewithal to brave. Half smog from Coruscant’s ever-present water and power siphoning and half smoke from the never-ending use of substance by those too desperate to wait to get home, those braving this area of town aren’t afraid to inhale something that might alter their state of mind.

Or she might choose the ‘rooftops’, a small four-foot opening extending between the roof of one section of buildings and the one built on top of them in shoddy fashion to pack as many in to one area as possible. Dangerous and rife with the chance of electrocution due to faulty wiring and water collection, this might be quicker - but also more immediately deadly than the threat of intoxication.

[member="Connor Harrison"] -

As he followed Kasa, his options were much the same though his hanging back afforded him a third path. If he were brazen enough he might duck through the open door to his left, engaging in that most charming of movie action scene sequences as he barrelled through other people’s living spaces - as much as they might pass for in this city. The chance of taking a blaster bolt due to intrusion was there, or the horror of seeing something he might never unsee - but was it worth it to be first to the prize?