Hold Up

[Itash Mecetti]

There were dangerous rumors afloat on Arkania.

If you knew where to put your ear they whispered right back at you, like little birds sharing secrets reserved only for the worthy... or those that paid well. If there was one thing that Tash extended money over the counter for it was information (alongside with fine clothes, excellent food and endless supplies of Tapani caf). Most of the time this information didn't really do anything more than provide him with opportunities to gain more money, more wealth to funnel slowly into the excavation of the ruins. It was strange how this was supposed to be a little side-project and was slowly becoming a fully fledged part of what he was doing.

The rumors were thus, a strange cult was slowly gathering each night. An abandoned mag-rail station in one of the outer districts of Adascapolis, reserved for all the non-Arkanians that weren't allowed in the inner-city.

Usually Tash wouldn't care about this.

But it were Sith that were gathering and they had started to appear relatively soon after his excavation efforts had started. Part of him wondered if someone had talked, spilled the beans and whispered secrets in ears that weren't meant to be listening. Difficult to say- it was night, cold, the Tapani suppressed a shiver as he crouched in the shadows. He was hugging a bend of the wall.

It had been difficult to get on the roof, but now Tash had a good vantage point from where he could see the comings and goings of the cultists.

Today was supposed to be another gathering.

Time to see what was truly happening on Arkania. It could be nothing, just some strange fringe group that had read a book that they shouldn't have seen. Bored nouveau riche trying to find some new excitement in a society that was strictly focused on the scientific. But it was that last part that made Tash doubt- a lot of the group were supposedly Arkanians themselves... it took a lot to get that group excited about anything other than their research.

It was what had moved him to leave the warm quarters of his apartment behind.

It was what led him here, ground zero.

[member="Ka'ta'lek Blen"]​

 

[Katicorn]

It was not the sole fact that this new planet was so foreign from the ones she had once explored in the past, nor that she was beyond known leagues of distance that stretched between this world and the ones she called home. And yet, both had left the woman feeling more alien than she ever had when living among Humans. Ka'ta'lek's lekku tingled in apprehension, as the creeping sensation that something wasn't right slithered its way up to the base of her skull.

Arkainia was the antithesis of the planet from which she had come. Where Selen had warm sun and grassy fields full of flowers surrounded by spiraling buildings of pristine white marble, Arkania kept most of its impoverished inhabitants below ground and in the mines. Dim light encompassed by darkness and coarse grey stone was their daily sight. These observations were not the worst of it, at least not according to Ka'ta'lek. Far worse was the bone-chilling breeze, scented with decay, that whispered through the miner's halls. It was so unlike the warm and floral winds of Selen that the sardonic comparison would have caused severe distress in the Twi'lek...had she come here merely to observe.

What Ka'ta'lek had come to do was far more exciting. Some blind and eccentric antiquarian, one with an ironic love of flowers and sunlight, had requested she visit this place in search of some relic. An impromptu thought amused the Twi'lek, causing her to smirk as she made her way out of the mines. The Arconans - and, indeed, the entire Brotherhood - had believed Arkania to be a myth. The people and their planet were fairytales, beings of legend and unworthy of exploration.

And yet, here she was.

The former Shadow of Arcona nodded her head politely to a passerby who regarded her with a cold sneer, and she carefully readjusted her hood to cover her eyes. She had grown far too complacent, having been around people who took no notice of the fiery gaze for which many people she encountered here were keen on shunning. The corners of her mouth turned up in a sly smirk as she crested a flight of steps and exited into the frozen night air.

The crisp scent of something other than soot and coal pierced her nostrils, and she almost smiled in relief. Then the cold hit her again, and she shivered violently, exhaling a puff of white breath. With a temperamental glare to the starlit skyline, Ka'ta'lek pulled her cloak tightly against her body, wishing she had brought something warmer to stave off this frigid hell.

Movement suddenly caught her attention, a shape slipping around a corner on the darkened rooftops before disappearing from view. Her earlier apprehension once again tingled down to the tips of her cranial appendages. She stared for a moment, considering her options before settling on making her way up to investigate.

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Ka'ta'lek Blen"]

Itash's attention was not on the Twi'lek, because he wasn't paying any real attention to his surroundings.

No. All that the Tapani nobleman cared about was the comings and goings of the cultists leaving and entering their little secretive hideout. Risking missing any new and novel movement by not paying attention for even a second's time? That didn't seem like the logical thing to do here. Better to take a risk, even if it was a large one, as long as the profits and opportunity were high.

It was strange to him, then, when the dice in the back of his head started rolling again. The coin flipping in the air with its trademark chime and letting him know that there was opportunity afoot.

Something was about the change, about to get both more complicated and less complicated, but Itash did not know what it was.

He never did- it was always vague, always relying on his observational skills to see the opportunity for what it was. But as the Twi'lek slowly picked her way through dark, damp alleys and began her climb up to the building? Tash was blissfully unaware, too focused on trying to find the opportunity closer to his goal - perhaps something would soon change with the cultists themselves?

Who could truly know?

Once Blen picked her way up it would take a moment for her to find him. He was not stupid, after all, so Tash was deep in the shadows of a nearby alcove that granted him a good view of the cultists' hideout.

Back to her.

 

[Katicorn]

"I know I saw something," the Twi'lek thought to herself as she peered into the shadows. Having slipped up the small staircase and onto the roof, Ka'ta'lek was disconcerted to find nothing waiting for her. She crouched down, quietly stepping along the ledge and keeping to the darkness. With a deep breath, the Sith reached out with the Force, extending her senses to the edges of the building.

A lone person crouched against a wall, their breathing slow and steady as their heartbeat pulsed in anticipation. Ka'ta'lek quietly stalked over, keeping her posture low and footsteps steadfast and silent. She licked her lips as she approached, her headtails flickering in apprehension as she realized her quarry sat in a corner with his back to her.

With her heart pounding in her throat, she extended her right hand and activated her lightsaber with that all too familiar hiss.

"Oh hello," she said with a smile, no longer bothering to hide her face. "Whatcha doin'?"

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Ka'ta'lek Blen"]

From one moment to the next the chiming of the coin intensified with pulses of danger.

This wasn't the pulse of opportunity, not as such, there was more to it than that. Anticipation, adrenaline rising and flowing through his veins to get him ready for something even if Tash wasn't sure what it was... yet. That lack of knowledge was filled in only moments later with the familiar snap-hisss of a lightsaber igniting behind him all of a sudden.

Itash froze.

Then slowly, his hands full into view so the assailant would have no reason to suspect that he was about to assault her, he rose up and turned around. Eyes brushed the line of her jaw, her slender neck, fine tone of color brushing her cheek. Twi'lek, yes, not too unpleasant to look at either. "Hello to you too." It sounded almost as if he was.... that could not be.... right?

"Depends on what your opinion is when it comes to exhibitionism." ....okay, so Tash was flirting with the obvious Sith swinging her saber around.

 

[Katicorn]

Ka'ta'lek blinked, slowly and with seemingly great consternation. Her mouth opened as if to speak but quickly she shut it as if cutting off a remark not thoroughly thought out. The Twi'lek recalled a time when it would have been she who attacked her adversary with quips of perversion. The Sith deactivated her weapon with a click of her tongue, latching the violet blade back into place beneath her cloak.

"In that case, I'd rather not know what you were doing." She turned to walk away but thought better of it. Something was going on, and the twitching of her lekku would not let the apprehension die. Although she no longer believed this Human was the cause, she fully intended to stick around to find out the what was.

With graceful ease, Ka'ta'lek pushed past the man, peering over the ledge to find out what he had been observing so intently. Her small frame forced her to stand on her toes to see around the corner. As she did so, she flicked her cloak gently to the side, giving the shameless male an opportunity to view the dual sabers on her hips. Somehow, it slipped her mind that he would have likely gazed elsewhere.

Regardless, she obliviously turned back to him.

"What were you looking for, Human?" Almost nothing could disguise the vitriol that slipped from her tongue as she spoke the final word, despite the fact that her face showed none of the malice her tone exuded.

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Ka'ta'lek Blen"]

Contrary to what most people would do Tash did not exactly move aside for her.

This would force her to skid up right against him in her efforts to take a good look over the edge. Perhaps that was rude, but Blen had already threatened him with her lightsaber this night and Itash didn't feel particularly charitable when it came to personal space at that point. "Hmmm, do you want me to help you look? Just a little push here and there and there ain't nothing you wouldn't be able to see." The Tapani asked innocently, while eyes brushed past her side and had a good wide look at what she was offering him.

It didn't even come up in his mind that she might be trying to threaten him more.

He had already skipped past the lightsabers and studied other things that were far more pleasant to the eye. No, it was clear that she was playing with him a touch, which was completely fine with Tash.

The crazier the better in his experience.

"As for what I am looking for, Twi'lek, why should I tell you?" Head tilted slightly as smirk pulled up. "What's in it for me?"