In The Dark

[Aela Talith]

Nar Shaddaa
[member="Shisa Thalvi"]

Elizabeth slowly clacked her fingernails on the glass table in front of her.

The expression on her face was an unpleasant one, the way she carried herself spoke volumes of anger, and her general demeanor seemed far more sour than it normally was. The young woman glared daggers at the person sitting across the table from her, a shaggy looking man who was wearing what equated to little more than rags. The only nice part of his appearance was a carefully maintained leather jacket containing the patch denoting allegiance to the blazing claws.

It was more than obvious that the man thought said patch protected him, the smug look on his face being enough to make Elizabeth want to wretch. She scowled at him, her eyes wandering to the figure that was standing right behind him. "I'm sorry you feel that way."

Her voice was curt, quick.

"You ain't got 'nough money to see us gone, missy."

She perked an eyebrow at the 'missy' comment, but decided not to say anything about it. This man was a pirate, supposedly anyway, and it wasn't the time to get violent. At least not yet anyway. Instead the Underlord stared at him, considering just what the hell else she was supposed to say. She'd offered these goons a literal pile of credits, she'd offered them ships, transports, everything under the sun and still they wouldn't move.

It was starting to get very annoying.

"Fine." She said, her fingers finally raising from the table and gently scratching against her own cheek. "Shisa, get him out of here."

Elizabeth frowned. "Quickly."

Before she got annoyed.

 

[Adder]

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]

The Blazing claw looked up. Shisa looked down.

One smiled. The other didn’t.

There was the sound of a baton snapping to full length. A spine straightened. Muscles tensed.

“You heard the lady, kid. Beat it,” her lip curled to one side, skewering her features to an unpleasant degree. “Don’t make me help ya.”

The pirate did his best to outstare the enforcer, but Thalvi was cheating – never had to blink when you had cybernetics for eyes. With a crack of the stick against her palm, the boy flinched in his seat.

Her grin spread to the other side of the face. A flash of teeth.

“Out.”

And he was gone.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Shisa Thalvi"]

"I told you they would be a problem." Elizabeth said quietly, her lips thinning and her gaze adjusting slightly as she watched the boy head out of Circuit.

There was no way the pirates would settle down quietly, this latest approach was just confirming that. She'd offered them money, weapons, ships, everything that she could think of and still they denied her. The truth was they weren't seeking a diplomatic solution. She had no idea if it was pride or something else, but they wanted to hang onto their little club within the Promenade.

That fact bothered her.

"We have to kick them out." Elizabeth stately simply. "Quickly."

She doubted that anyone would interfere, but if some of the other independents caught wind of what she was doing the idea that they would try to stop her wasn't necessarily out of the question either. These weren't innocent shopkeepers after all, ever one of them was a hardened criminal in some way.

That was the way of Nar Shaddaa, no innocents.

 

[Adder]

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]

“Of course they’re a problem,” Shisa laughed. “They’re karking pirates.”

The enforcer pinched a cig from a packet with her lips. Lit it up a second later to continue. “Give me a couple men then.” She shrugged, puffing out smoke. “We’ll follow the kid, get inside, clean house.”

Her green eyes flickered over to the pair of guards at the door to the backroom. Their grins were telling. “We let them go, we just give ‘em time to prepare. But if we go in now…” Thalvi tilted her head, blowing a ring at the ceiling, “we catch ‘em with their pants down. Bang!”

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Shisa Thalvi"]

Elizabeth frowned. She didn’t like the idea of sending any of her people into a situation where they might not come back. Shisa was right, these men were pirates, killers who had for years honed their arts. Most of the new recruits they had on their side were little more than...well whatever they’d managed to recruit. She let out a muted sigh, glancing up towards her enforcer before slowly looking at Circuits main dance floor.

”Fine.” She shifted her weight in the chair.

This wasn’t something that she could avoid forever or just put off, this was something she’d actually have to address if her plans were going to go anywhere at all. The Promenade was hers, it was something she could claim and no one would stand in her way. It had to be that way if any of this was going to work.

”I’m coming with.” Elizabeth said as she slowly stood. ”No use in sending you all alone.”

She slowly leaned down and opened her desk, pulling a blaster free from one of the drawers.

 

[Adder]

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]

“Ye are?”

Shisa quirked a brow, green eyes flicking over to the pair of guards. One of them shrugged, and the enforcer tilted her head back. “Aight. You’re the boss.”

Her gaze traced from the ash-blackened ceiling back down to the blaster in Castille’s hands. Her mouth formed a small ‘o’, and then Shisa let out a low whistle.

“Picked a blaster up, have ya?” The redhead let out a smoke-choked laugh. “Took ya long enough.”

With a gesture to the door, the enforcer swept out of the Circuit. Men filtered from the crowd at the beckon of her hand – SMGs under their jackets, blasters in their belts. The group filtered out onto the streets of the Promenade, quiet but piercing the crowd anyway.

The rats of this place always could smell the flood coming.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Shisa Thalvi"]

"I never minded picking up a blaster." Elizabeth said with a sniff as the two of them headed out the door, her hand quickly concealing the weapon beneath the small 'cloak' that she wore.

The promenade was of course on Nar Shaddaa, thus meaning that every single person out in public was armed, but they didn't need to advertise that they were on their way to conducting what was essentially an assault. The pirates still didn't know they were coming, and it was best to keep it that way for as long as possible.

"I just had to find the right one." She explained as they walked. "The others were all too ugly."

There were slight chuckles from the men behind her.

Most of them were more used to Elizabeth staying behind, giving orders from the back and letting everyone else handle it.

A few however knew her as something else, the woman that lead from the front, the one that wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty when it really mattered.

 

[Adder]

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]

“Oh I’m sorry,” Shisa scoffed as they made their way through the rowdy crowds clogging up the Promenade. “Forgot about the rule that says a blaster’s only good if it matches your wardrobe.”

This elicited a round of chuckles from the rest of the men following behind. Over the past few weeks, Thalvi had built an uneasy camaraderie with their growing pool of recruits. Nights spent on watch and monkey karking cigs and sharing stories – it paid off. She wasn’t some distant ruler. She was the first pair of boots on the ground.

“Hope you know how to shoot that pretty thing as well as you can make it look, boss,” the enforcer added after a beat. They were getting closer, fanning out to blend in. Some of them feigned the stumbling stride of drunks; others parted ways to split up their obvious group.

Shisa and Elizabeth remained alone, and her teasing grin fell for a moment. “You do, right?” Quieter, now, with brows furrowed in concern, not mischief.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Shisa Thalvi"]

"Yes." She wasn't a fool.

The weapons that she most often preferred were close quarters, but that would be too dangerous here. Most people would already be expecting her to stay back at the club and not fight, going a bit...too crazy would be foolish. She didn't want to give too much away just yet.

"No need to be concerned." She told Shisa. "Me with this blaster is the least of our concerns."

There were far more dangerous things ahead. "Just keep an eye out for our new recruits."

Things were about to get very very dangerous. They weren't fighting soldiers, no, but they were fighting men and women who had experience in the narrow halls of ships and pirate bases. She wasn't too keen on taking this fight in the first place, but it was something they had to do if they were going to make any progress at all on taking the rest of the Promenade. As much as she hated it, Elizabeth knew they had to resort to this.

 

[Adder]

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]

Rolling the cig with her tongue, Shisa just gave a shallow nod. A moment later, she was already drifting off to the right, disappearing into the narrow passage between a casino and the pirates’ building. Men filtered in behind her in staggered intervals.

As soon as they were left alone in the dark and dumpsters, the group pulled out their weapons.

Thalvi cast her green gaze over the hard faces of fellow criminals – some, she knew from before. Others were fresh blood, boiling with the need to prove themselves to a rising boss.

She exhaled dread and the shudder in her arm and the last of the smoke, then kicked down the door.

Welcome to hell.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Shisa Thalvi"]

Action exploded almost immediately.

The men they were fighting werent trained soldiers by any means of the word, but they knew how to react when a fight broke out. As soon as the door slammed open half of the cantina was on its feet and by the time Elizabeth managed to get through the door the other half had joined them.

”Hello lads.” Elizabeth said as she drew her blaster.

One of the pirates was about to speak, but by the time he opened his mouth several of the men behind and to the right of Elizabeth already opened fire.

In half a heartbeat the cantina became flooded with stun bolts and blaster shots.

 

[Adder]

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]

They were putting the squeeze on them.

Some folks tried to flee from the front through the kitchens, only to be met with a hail of blaster bolts. There was no escape. No mercy.

Reminded her of the days she’d spent in the Coruscanti underbelly. Firefights in back alleys, high-paced speeder chases, drugs, rock’n— focus, Shisa.

Her Westar cracked without respite, scorching holes through parts of men she’d never been particularly keen on shootin’. Even now, when bolts singed past her head and clipped the sweet hairs off her neck, Thalvi would rather be aiming for the knees and the hands.

But she knew these men’d gut her if they got the chance. Give ‘em a finger, and they’ll take the whole arm.

And she couldn’t risk that.

With a grim expression, Shisa went for another double tap.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Shisa Thalvi"]

Pirates weren't something that the galaxy needed, they weren't something the galaxy wanted.

Piracy was a scourge, a plague. They preyed upon the weak and tore into those that couldn't defend themselves. By and large piracy knew no innocents, it knew no good men or women. Pirates weren't the kind of people you dealt with kindly, they weren't the kind of people you showed mercy to, Elizabeth knew that, those around her knew that, but... these were still sentient beings.

Her blaster let out a loud screech as she fired another bright blue arching blast.

A man was struck in the chest, tossed back in an instant as his body went limp and fell to the floor. Elizabeth scowled as they continued their work, moving through the club even as it devolved into little more than an urban battleground. Tables were flipped over, glasses were destroyed, and half a dozen bodies were already laying on the floor. Another bright blue stun blast left her blaster, the weapon flaring up for just a second as it recoiled and it's round struck another man in the chest.

The blaster felt clumsy in her hand, slow.

Out of the corner of her eye she potted a man, taller than the others and holding a bolter rifle. "Shisa!"

She called to her friend, pointing towards the man even as he turned and fired.

 

[Adder]

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]

That voice in that tone of scream wasn’t something she’d ever wanted to hear.

But it pierced her ears nonetheless, and green eyes snapped dead cold to the man. To his rifle.

Her heart dropped into her gut. He opened fire.

Shisa was a leftie – meant her right arm, her cybernetic arm, was free to clinch the edge of her jacket and yank it over her head as she ducked into cover. The first few bolts hit home – she wasn’t that quick – but they bounced right off the black leather and burned out the light.

The short-circuit knocked out the rest of the power, and everyone was suddenly standing in a black complex of overturned furniture and bodies.

Breath short, the enforcer plastered her back against the aisle. She wasn’t dead.

She wasn’t blind, either.

Biting back a grunt, Shisa rolled onto her belly and began to crawl around the cover to get a bead on the rifleman.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Shisa Thalvi"]

Elizabeth's eyes adjusted unnaturally quickly, but the ring upon her finger flared and burned against the contact of her skin. Her lips had turned down in a scowl but in a situation like this it wasn't something that could be helped. A curse escaped her, but she wasn't about to slow down.

The darkness wrapped around her, and within two steps Elizabeth shot forward.

It took her only a heartbeat to cross the room, a soft glow erupting from behind her sunglasses as she dashed forward and smashed herself into the man that had been holding the rifle. A loud groan escaped him as her fist struck him in the throat, a second later her blaster ramming into his stomach. The man let out another gruff groan, trying to catch his breath and letting go of his weapon so that he could better grapple with Elizabeth. Before he could get his hands around her however the young woman struck again.

"What th-"

A loud crack echoed through the darkness followed by a shriek.

"Stay." Her voice was a rasped whisper followed by another loud crack of bone. "Down."

The edge in her tone was more than enough to keep the man grounded, a quiet whimper escaping his throat.

 

[Adder]

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]

Shisa rose to her feet on creaking knees, breath heavy. Her green eyes were wide as she found herself face-to-face with Elizabeth. Heart drumming hard against her ribs, hands shaking from adrenaline… and all she could think of was ki—

a shot rang out, glancing off her side and into one of her men.

He went down with a cry, and the enforcer whirled around, wrist locked, breath released… with a resolute squeeze of the trigger, the attacker slammed against the wall and slid down to the floor.

“Upstairs.”

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Shisa Thalvi"]

The Underlord shifted her attention towards the stairwell, her lips thinning for a moment.

"Go." Her tone was cold, passionless.

She didn't like this work. She didn't like the killing that had happened and she most certainly didn't like inflicting pain on others. Her fingers slipped away from the man that she had brought down, letting him fall onto the ground like a rag doll with a loud thud. A moment later she drew herself up and stepped towards the staircase.

"Seal the doors!" She called to her men. "Get the lights back on."

No one could escape here.

 

[Adder]

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]

With a sharp nod, Shisa called to her men and stormed the upper landing.

While the darkness still persisted, the enforced quickened her step – something she could exploit for an advantage. Their group quickly spread out, slamming backs into cover behind booths and tables. With a quick glance around the paneling, Thalvi counted out the red specks through her IR vision.

She motioned for one of her older associates to hand her a flashbang, and waited, breathless, for the call to come in her ear.

:: Going online in three… ::

She primed the grenade.

:: Two ::

She picked the largest knot of targets.

:: One ::

Shisa cast the explosive at their foes, and the bright flash burst across the balcony just as lights turned on again.

“GO!”

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Shisa Thalvi"]

There was a yell, a few pops as blasters rang out, but just as soon as it had begun it was over.

Elizabeth stood in the middle of the club, not having joined Shisa on the upper floors. Her eyes leveled on a door behind the bar, lips thin. She knew the layout of the club well enough, they'd sent a scout a week or two ago. Much like with Circuit the second floor of the club was a VIP area, but the main office was located directly behind the bar. The place was a lot smaller than she'd thought, though given that they only served former pirates she wasn't too surprised.

"There." She motioned to one of her men.

A few of the pirates were still alive, rolling on the floor in pain or shifting to try and get towards the doors. The effort was useless of course, but as Elizabeth glanced up she couldn't help but notice the three men lined up against the railing that Shisa was holding. Would they try to run? She hoped not.

"Shisa." She called to her enforcer. "Office door."

That was where the owner would be hiding.

 

[Adder]

[member="Elizabeth Castille"]

“Tie them up,” she snapped at her men, motioning with her chin to the prisoners. “We’ll have a chat back at the Circuit.” Shisa gave the three a grim grin before moving back downstairs.

Green eyes flickered over to Elizabeth for a moment. “Get me the shaped charge,” the enforcer ordered without looking away. Soon, one of their people appeared with the explosive. She gestured to the door.

“No way that ain’t reinforced. Set the charges, tear it down.”

With a level voice, Thalvi began directing the rest of their group around the counter. Stun blasters for this one. Gang leaders were a veritable fount of information once you softened them up.