Private Ego Never Pays

[Katarine Ryiah]

Enemies to lovers but you'll never own my heart​

Location: Canto Bright - Basement of Club Nosh (dance club)
Objective: Escape
Tags: Dash Ryken

The cold, damp air in the basement clung to her skin, sending a shiver down her spine as she struggled to breathe against the chain that was tightly secured around her neck. The metal was rough against her skin, its unyielding pressure making each breath shallow and labored. Her pulse throbbed painfully in her temples, and her body felt heavy, like every movement was an effort she could barely summon. The dim light from a single hanging bulb cast eerie shadows across the bare walls, the silence around her almost suffocating. She tugged weakly at the chain, but it didn't budge, its cold, cruel grip tightening with each futile pull. Fear gnawed at her insides, but exhaustion was close behind, her mind fogged and her limbs trembling with the strain of her confinement. The feeling of being trapped, both physically and mentally, was suffocating, and every passing second felt like an eternity.

She ran her hands over the collar around her neck and felt a wave of dizziness overwhelm her. The edges of her vision blurred, colors bleeding together in a haze. Her limbs felt like lead, heavy and unresponsive, as if they no longer belonged to her. Her thoughts were clouded, sluggish, and distant, like trying to think through thick fog. She let her fingers fall away from the collar and groaned, trying to sit up but the room was spinning. She was vaguely aware of someone else in the room but she couldn't see them. She could barely keep her eyes open.

"Did you drug me?" Her voice was weaker than she imagined it would be and that was concerning.

"In a manner of speaking."

Katarine reached for the Force and tried to pinpoint where the poison in her body was but she was so weak it was hard to concentrate. The small chuckle from the other side of the room made her open her eyes again.

"That won't work. You see Master Ryiah once I realized you were hunting me I made it a mission of mine to know as much about you as possible. That knowledge gave me access to the one drug you cannot fight."

Katarine ran her fingers over the collar again and closed her eyes as understanding swept through her. "The darkside."

"Yes. Finding that collar took some doing. The witch wasn't happy to part with it easily. Apprantly it contains a pretty powerful darkside spell. But all's well that ends well. I want to have a little chat with you."

She felt his hands on her as he drug her into a sitting position and pushed her against the wall. She smelled him before she could see him clearly. The musky scent of aftershave, fine cologne, and blood hit her nostrils and her suspicions were confirmed. Her host was Dr. Roderick Wells, also known as the Butcher of Lambs for his penchant for dining on children. He had escaped Black Marsh during the cataclysm on Naboo and Kat had been looking for him ever since. She opened her eyes and sure enough his balding visage came into view.

"Now my dear. How did you find me?"

Katarine smiled slightly and closed her eyes again. The room was spinning and it was difficult to keep him into focus.

"I didn't. You found me. I was about to leave this planet and chalk it up as a dead end."

His chuckle made her open her eyes slightly again. He looked amused as if fate was playing him. She knew him to be an educated man so it was no surprise he was reading more into this.

"Well that is unfortunate. It seems I could have let you be."

"You still could."

He chuckled again and picked up his wine glass, crossing his legs in the stiff wood chair he'd brought down to her basement dungeon. Though now that she looked at it properly she saw it was fashioned as more of a bedroom than a real cell. She supposed he was too classy to have a true dungeon in his home.

"Don't be silly. You and I both know you are undercover. It will be a long time before anybody misses you and even longer before they figure out where you went."

Normally he'd be right about that but Katarine hid the smile playing at her lips. The other night she'd broken protocol and called her friend Connel Vanagor. Her location would have been leaked. She hadn't been worried about it since she was planning to close this assignment as a lost end anyways but now that phone call might be the one thing that drew someone to her location.

That is if she was lucky. But so many people on Canto Bright were hopping for luck and never got it. She just hoped luck would be a lady for her this time.

 

[Dash Ryken]

ATTIRE: Lionheart Armor
EQUIPMENT: Service Rifle | Pistol | EMP Grenades | Frag Grenades
TAGS: Katarine Ryiah

"Why are they sending us instead of SIA?" he asked, running a hand through his hair. "Seems like rescuing Jedi would be more their thing. Or better yet, send a Jedi to rescue a Jedi."

"I don't ask questions when I'm given an order," Sergeant Higgins said, from his position at the front of the transport.

Dash knew that was code for the shut the flip up and just go with it, so he shrugged and slammed a power pack into his rifle. Still seemed odd, their being assigned to rescue a Jedi in Canto Bight. This was typically a sort of low profile type of thing. Sending in a fire team seemed heavy handed. But who knew. Maybe they were up against some big organization. If a Jedi had been captured it seemed likely there was something fishy going on. Still seemed like SIA work.

The transport came to a stop and the Sarge looked them all over.

"Helmets on, ladies," he said before putting his own on. "The word we got was that the Jedi was supposed to have left days ago. Intel tracked her, but a cam caught a glimpse of someone hauling her off. They tracked them to this building, but we don't know who or what is inside. Lippy, you're on point."

"Shit," he said before sighing and putting his helmet on. "Always on point."

"Brute, you follow him, then Zero, Fuse and I."

Dash grumbled as he stood and opened the transport door, snapping his rifle up to his shoulder and scanning the immediate area. Satisfied that it was clear, he exited and moved to the wall of the nearby structure. Seemed relatively nondescript, perfect place for some scumbag to hold up. Who knew what was inside. Regardless, he approached the door and reached to open it, but it didn't move, meaning it was locked from the inside. Couple ways to get through that, but that's where the Sarge came in.

"I'll slice it. That doesn't work we'll have to blow it," Sarge said as he plugged into the door controls. "Keep an eye out."

"Nothing else to do but keep an eye out and wave at all the people staring at us," he said, his eyes scanning the crowd. "Bad guys will know we're here any minute now if they don't already."

"Well, prep for a firefight, Lippy. And don't get shot."

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

Cause suffering in silence is better than suffering with you​

Location: Canto Bright - Basement of Club Nosh (dance club)
Objective: Talk Her Way Out of This
Tags: Dash Ryken

Katarine could feel her stomach churning and dry heaved. The only thing in her stomach was the wine she'd drank while she was on the comm with Connel, which was unfortunate considering she had nothing to spit up just now offering no relief from the nausea the collar was causing her.

"I hope you aren't ill. I was just about to prepare dinner."

Katarine smirked and let her head roll to the side, pressing her cheek into the cold wall. Hearing a cannibal talk about making a meal was never a fun time, especially since the one in front of her had a deviant appetite even among his true peers. "Aren't I little old for your dining pleasure?" The words and the thoughts they brought made her heave again but she still couldn't bring anything up.

He chuckled again. He seemed to be in a good mood, enjoying playing with her. "Don't knock it until you've tried it."

The realization that his criminal signature was feeding his victims flesh before he killed them did bring bile up this time. She coughed and sputtered, spitting the contents on the mattress beside her. She heard her host get up and walk towards her. A moment latter he was pulling her hair and holding it away from her mouth. His touch was tender and soft and sent shivers down her spine. He pulled a cloth out of his pocket and wiped her mouth, and then pinched her cheeks forcing her mouth open. He then stuck his finger in her mouth to feel her canine teeth. The taste of his fingers in her mouth made her want to vomit again. She opened her drowsy eyes, looking into his own cloudy ones. He was chuckling again.

"You are a vegetarian aren't you Katarine? Your cuspids are dulled with lack of use. Such a shame. We should change that.... OUCH!"

He pulled his fingers out of her closed mouth, suddenly cursing and dropping his elegant accent. Katarine smirked and spit his blood next to the bile on the bed. "Be careful what you wish for." He took his cloth and wrapped it around his own fingers, and for a moment he look like he might strike her but a chirp in his pocket distracted him.

"WHAT?"

"Uh.. Sir... We are at location B... the abandoned factory..."

"I know where you are! What do you want?"

"Sir... someone has just breached the door. A silent alarm was tripped. Should we move the kids?"

Katarine snorted at the look on his face. Wherever he was keeping his other hostages must be some abandoned building and it sounded like he had some lackey watching over hostage children. If the unwanted intruder could gain enough leverage of the lackey they would find the Doctor hiding below the nightclub Nosh where he was holding Katarine. Or maybe he crossed the wrong person and this had nothing to do with Katarine. Either way it was nice to see such displeasure in the doctors eyes. Hopefully whoever was breaking into his other location would set those children free.

"Whats the matter? Little Piggies leaving the market?"

He growled at her and wrenched the door open, then slamed it behind him, leaving Katarine swirling in darkside induced fog.

 

[Dash Ryken]

ATTIRE: Lionheart Armor
EQUIPMENT: Service Rifle | Pistol | EMP Grenades | Frag Grenades
TAGS: Katarine Ryiah

The door opened without the use of explosives, which was almost a drag. It was a lot of fun watching Fuse make things go boom. But it was probably for the best given there were a lot of civilians in the vicinity.

"You're up, Lippy," Sarge said.

He grumbled under his breath, brought his rifle up, and peeked the corner briefly before moving inside, sweeping the corners of the room they were entering in. Seemed clear for the moment. Their rifles and other weapons, for the most part, were all loaded or set to stun. No sense in killing everyone. This wasn't a military operation, but a rescue and if they started shooting willy nilly they risked hitting any hostages that might be held within the facility.

"Clear," he said as he started forward. "Closed door right. Closed door front."

Moving to the wall, he stopped beside the first door and waited for the rest of the team stacked up behind him. Clearing buildings was pretty routine when it came to formations. Stack on a door, give the go signal, sweep in with one as a backup while those behind covered any other doors in the area. So he waited until Brute tapped his shoulder, then kicked the door in before stepping into whatever was on the other side and beginning the process of sweeping the room.

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

Used to empty eyes and a two step dance​

Location: Empty Factory
Objective: Show Hostages
Tags: Dash Ryken


Inside the room the team just entered they would see seven small cages. Three of them were full of young children who looked like they were snatched right from the street. Each cage had two or three children crammed in it. Some where sleeping, while others were playing with small toys in a bored kind of way. When the army team entered the room though the small yells of the caged babes would hit their ears. They were scared and wanted out of their confinement.

A broad muscled man with shaved hair was holding a rifle trained towards the door and yelled out for the children to stop their yammering. Behind him was a figure in a dark mask, A Sith whom seemed to be doing the bidding of the Doctor for some reason. He could sense the team entering the building but it was not them he wanted to play with.

"See to it they are dealt with. I'm going to finish the Jedi and find Roderick."

He walked out the back of the room, as four more muscled lackeys came in. All had guns are were ready for the firefight that would come. They were no match for armed forces. They were merely thugs who followed any strong leader who could show them new forms of cruelty or torture. Inside the other room was some paraphernalia from Club Nosh which would give up the doctors last known location. The thugs were going to put up a fight if they could.

"STOP! You are breaking and entering!" The one with shaved hair, Roach as his fellow called him, yelled out into the oncoming team.

 

[Dash Ryken]

ATTIRE: Lionheart Armor
EQUIPMENT: Service Rifle | Pistol | EMP Grenades | Frag Grenades
TAGS: Katarine Ryiah

"Holy kark," Dash said as he saw all the kids in cages.

Some of them looked like street kids, grimey and dirty, clothing that barely fit. Others looked a lot nicer. Almost immediately he felt angry, and the guy that yelled at them something about breaking and entering was almost immediately blasted in the chest by a stun shot that knocked him back and off his feet as Dash pulled the trigger. He moved in to allow more of the team to enter, doing what he could to avoid the kids getting into the line of fire.

Brute started shooting over his shoulder. He'd have yelled at the guy for that in a normal situation, but he was utterly blinded by absolute hatred for these guys having put children in cages. Nothing was going to stop him. Probably a good thing he was wearing good armor as the other guys were shooting at him and some of their shots were hitting. Better they hit him than the kids and he didn't feel a darn thing as he continued to finger the trigger happily knocking the remainder of the guys down with blue stun shots. He wished he could kill them.

"Lippy stop!" Sarge yelled.

He was standing over one of the guys, repeatedly shooting him with stun shots, when the Sarge's voice cut through the comms in his helmet. Finger moved off the trigger and he slung the rifle back. Without another word, he started searching the guys for keys, but the guy who'd left must have had them because he couldn't find them.

"No keys. Dang masked prick must have taken them."

"Just smash locks," Brute said as he walked over cracked one off with the butt of his gun. "Easy work."

"Lippy chase the other guy. Zero go with."

Dash moved to the door and kicked it open once Zero had caught up. They moved down a long corridor, sweeping doorways in search of the guy, but they found nothing but an exterior door that opened on an empty alley. Dash looked up and down it, but there was no way of tracking the guy in the mess of it. No sign of him, no sign of a transport, no sign of anything. He kicked a can and then pushed past Zero to head back to the room where the kids were.

"Nothing doing, Sarge. He got away. No sign of the Jedi, either."

"Well, there's a lot of memorabilia in here from a club. If she's not here, maybe they're holding her there. Club's probably a front." The Sarge pulled out his external commlink. "Transport to my location. We've got a pickup of child hostages."

"I'm going to kill whoever's in charge of this, Sarge. Don't care about the orders. Mother karker needs to die for this."

"You'll do what you're told. Get the kids on the transport and then let's get to this Club Nosh."

He muttered more under his breath but slung his rifle over his shoulder and started helping the kids out. They'd head on shortly, but the kids were even higher priority than the lost Jedi.

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

All your life you've never seen woman taken by the wind​

Location: Club Nosh
Objective: Escape
Tags: Dash Ryken


Above the basement of Club Nosh was a seemingly ordinary nightclub, the type that littered the streets on a planet such as Canto Bright. The nightclub buzzed with energy, the bass from the speakers thumping through the floor as colorful lights flash in sync with the music. A crowd of people moved in fluid rhythm, bodies swaying and twirling under the neon glow, lost in the beat. The air was thick with the mingling scents of perfume, sweat, and cocktails, as laughter and conversation echo above the pounding soundtrack. At the bar, glasses clink and bottles pop, with patrons eagerly ordering their next round of drinks. The atmosphere was electric, a heady mix of freedom and excitement as the night stretches on and the dance floor pulses with life. Nobody would ever suspect anything dark or sinister was happening here. Sure drugs got passed around but child trafficking? That was a completely different story.

The club scene did little to hold Darth Emras attention. He was being blackmailed by the putrescent doctor who operated the club as a front to furnish the income for a deviant lifestyle. As the Sith wove through the dancers they caught sight of him and gave him a wide birth. His mask stood out to the dancers but they quickly disregarded it to go back to partying. Emras climbed the stairs, hoping he would find the good doctor in his office in the attic. Little did he know the Jedi was the opposite direction.

Down below Katarine tried to loosen the collar around her neck but each time her fingers grasped the dark object she felt so dizzy she had to stop. Whatever curse was upon the dark relic was working its magic. She stretched out her senses, hopping to see if Roderick was coming back but instead she could feel dozens of tiny lights. She must be in a building with several people in it, but friend or foe she could not tell.