Location: Weapons Factory District,
Iskaayuma, Rodia
Goal: Scout the factory district for the ideal target
Equipment: Phase I Powderpunk Armor,
Phase I Powderpunk Facemask,
Raven Knife,
434 Blaster Pistol,
Dissuader KD-30 (Loaded with
Glitter Bullets),
Deactivator Hold-Out Blaster,
JH-70 Glitter Grenades,
Vita Stones,
View Masker,
Interference Box,
Holojournal
Allies Nearby:
Nighthaunter
, Agents of Chaos
Enemies Nearby: CIS, No One in Particular (Dance Partners Welcome)
"
So, it was just down to me and her sister, right? Just the two of us, alone against the Quacklord of Doom and his evil worm minions!"
The girl's hands were splayed in a dramatic fashion before her, eyes wide at the tension of the tale she spun. Daiya drew close to the Rodian peace patrol officer, whom she seemed to have transfixed by her story. It was a good thing, the Rodian woman had caught her sneaking through the weapons factory district of Iskaayuma, and the Darkwire agent didn't have a Confederate ident beyond the forged replica of Srina Talon's signature to show along with a fictitious letter of passage on her datapad.
Which, naturally, prompted the need for an explanation of why she had that. "
Now remember, Exarch Talon's sister is her double and bodyguard, right? So she puts on the best imitation of her sister's voice, and since she and her twenty sisters all sound alike this is pretty hard to do mind you, and said, 'You won't be going any further!
'"
"
So, the Quacklord was pretty confused by this. He'd sent us clew after clew of worm minions at us, but between my glitter bullets and her sister's valiant sword, we drove them back in the most colorful way possible. A bunch of worms lay dead at our feet, all writhing and squirming like worms do when you pick them up." The teen demonstrated with her shoulders, rolling them and wiggling her body in an approximation of a worm. She nearly stopped for a moment at a sound from the Rodian officer. Was that a laugh? If it was, it earned the grin she now sported as she carried on. "
Well, His Quackness let out a huge squawk, like the sound of a thousand terrible things coming this way. But all his worm minions were gone, and there was nothing left to come except for our fiercely feathered friend."
"
And then, just when her sister and I thought it was all over for us, because the Quacklord of Doom didn't get his name by being a cute and fuzzy little duckling, you see," she said, pausing for effect. Even knowing just how tall her tale was, Daiya's heart thumped loudly with each word of suspense. "
She and I, we looked at each other and we knew. We just knew, without even saying anything. At the very same time, both of us—"
The pressure behind her eyes offered a familiar warning to the girl, but her vision was as clear as the sight before her as the teen looked up. Down the street, she could see another peace patrol officer approaching, rounding this part of his beat in the neighborhood. Chit. Her heart pounded louder under her skin. The girl had hoped for more time, but the enthralled Rodian had only been under her banal spell for as long as the story would allow. As it was, the pause was slowly shaking the woman from her pseudo-trance, forcing Daiya to ask, "
Is that your friend?"
It only took a moment for the officer to glance down before she pulled her eyes back to the girl in front of her. Too quick to make her exit, she would have to wait for another opportunity. With two of them, in a district so heavily patrolled at the moment, Daiya's chances were looking dim.
"Is it close to midnight already?" the Rodian woman remarked, completely disengaged from her story again. Chit. Daiya could already see the peace officer's glimmering eyes considering her once again with suspicious intent. It looked like her story was at an end.
"Ah'chu apenkee?" the other Rodian called as he drew near. This one spoke Huttese, and its harsh sounds played discordantly upon her ears. It was not an unfamiliar language to the Denon native, though, nor were her own words difficult to shoot back.
"
Jee eesgoo nechaska Commenor," Daiya said, trying her best to look like the youngest Arenais sibling and giving the Rodian a smile that was truly
royal. Sure, she was far blonder and shorter than Lori, but these goons probably didn't know that. The girl was just counting on them wanting to avoid the Common punishment that would arise from harming a princess.
She didn't have to depend on her own bluffing skills for very long, as a shock of bright lights erupted from the sky, with a clap of their explosive presentation. The Rodians jerked up from the conversation, their antennae pressing flat on their heads at the shock of the noise. For her part, Daiya didn't even flinch. She gave the fireworks a passing glance, then turned back to the guards to flip them a small grin before her parting words, "
Well, I think that's my cue. Gotta run, but enjoy the show!"
Laughing gaily to herself, the teen skipped off, turning around a corner before the Rodians could make sense of what had happened. She only managed that much before she heard the patter of their feet behind her, shouting at the wind behind her back.
"Chuba!"
"Hey, stop!"
As highly as the girl thought about orders from authority before, and that wasn't much, she wasn't about to change her mind now and comply. Daiya didn't need a real vision to tell her what would happen if the two Rodian officers caught up to her. A forged identity and pretty story probably wasn't going to cut it anymore. And as if the Darkwire teen needed more proof of her prediction's accuracy, a round of blaster bolts ricocheted off the nearby wall, narrowly escaping her legs.
The Rodian officers had just become the enemy. Daiya grinned to herself, freed from her own self-restraint by their actions. Donning her facemask at laast, she plucked one of the objects from her utility belt and primed it with a thumb. The triggered bundle of glitter sailed over her head as she tossed it, landing well shy of the patrol pair. It deterred their shooting for only a second as it landed, and a glance told her that they were still running into the glitter grenade's path.
A second later, the device burst in a shock of non-lethal, but nonetheless disorienting, pink-colored glitter. The eye-catching pieces of tiny, colored plastic would have looked far more dazzling in the sunlight, but even in the fading glow of the fireworks they appeared magical.
Daiya didn't wait around to watch the show or gaze at the now-enpinked officers. The Rodians were occupied by the fiendishly persistent glitter, and she'd found a particularly sad weapons factory that was in desperate need of a similarly colorful makeover. Now to get back and deliver the news...