In the unlikely places of the Galaxy.

[Ignatius]

I smiled and simply nodding my head to Matsu as she thanked me for ending it and coming in. "Promise I won't make you do that again." After I was done speaking, I looked to the Offshoot and he recognized me As he spoke I got closer, speaking about how he had gotten away. I twisted my head slightly, "No not really. More so.."

BAM!

I used the pommel of the sword I held to swipe across his jaw and leave a purple bruise on this skin, as well as a slight cut from the pure power I put behind the hit. "..you and I were just having a chase." I put the sword away and leaned down to pull a small dagger from my boot. It was about five inches long, and in the style of a buck knife. Long, thick, and hefty. I grabbed the man's hand while a crate slid over from the force as I slammed his hand down. Landing on the crate as though I timed it right. (Actually I have been practicing this just for this guy.) I splayed his fingers out and held the dagger over his hand. I then slammed down fast landing the blade between his fingers. I used the force to keep his hand to the crate. so no matter what he did, he could not move his hand. "Now, you are going to answer all of my questions, or you might end up losing a finger." I then stabbed the knife down and it scraped his index finger letting the crimson blood start to trickle from his skin. Smiling I asked, "Who do you work for?"

[member="Matsu Xiangu"],

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=10pt] Matsu, for all the silence and cold she'd found somewhere along the way, had a tendency to make a show of what she did. There was something inherently flashy about the Force, and she could respect Erin's use of it. To those without the Force it's seeming endless possibilities must have made it all the more frightening - what could they do to me? What is the limit? Hell, sometimes even as a force user she wasn't sure where the limit was - perhaps there wasn't one.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt] Zek - mouth dry, licking at his lips in a display of fear Matsu was sure he thought was subtle - eyed Gymnast-Erin with a look bordering the line of contempt and terror. [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]"Screw you kid, I ain't tell--EEEEOOUCHH!" [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]A pathetic screech of pain escaped the Offshoot as Erin dragged the knife along his finger.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt] Matsu was rather enjoying the show and wouldn't mind it going on longer, but what was she if not a little helpful? Raising her hand she closed her fingers ever so slightly, putting the tiniest bit of pressure on Zek's throat. The man was a coward and she was afraid any more would break him. (Though, if push came to shove, she would extract the information Erin wanted from his mind herself.) [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]"Play nicely please - he asked you a question."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt] Zek's eyes start bulging out of his head, more out of fear than any actual threat of losing his breath entirely. He was stupid, but he wasn't fool enough to believe he stood a chance against the two of them. But - conniving weasel he was - he couldn't let it be that easy.[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt] "Alright, alright! Let me go and I'll tell you who I work for." [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]Typical small-time scum, willing to give up his employer to save his neck.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt] Matsu slid her eyes to Erin as she took the chokehold off, speaking to Erin without opening her mouth. [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]"Your choice. I was enjoying watching your darker side, but either way...he won't escape."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt][member="Erin Angel"][/SIZE]​

 

[Ignatius]

I kept the dagger in the man's finger. Even while he was being choked from the fingers on his throat. I smiled as she talked to him. But the words of letting him go, made my grin brighten. Even when I heard the woman's voice in my head, Saying she rather liked the darker side I was showing. Speaking back to her, "I will use whatever I have to get the information I need. Dark Actions, always get answers." I still heard her about how she would not let him go. Probably in the form of using her mind to inject fear, or pain into his own and literally stop him in his tracks with just a thought.

I pulled the knife from the man's hand and slammed it in front of his fingers. letting go of him with the force, I, with an open palm, indicated for Zek to speak. "Talk fast. I do not have all the time in the Galaxy, So you don't speak, and if you run, We will start back at square one." Really if I could, I would have taken a saw and just taken off his entire finger. But I didn't want blood to go everywhere, and I didn't have a Saw. Almost as an afterthought, I had one sentence play in my head, "I want to play a Game."

[member="Matsu Xiangu"],

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=9pt] Zek looked between the two of them with deep-seated fear as he raised the hand that Erin didn’t have in peril to his throat, rubbing it as if Matsu had truly just had her delicate fingers wrapped there. The reprieve was short-lived however as the one in front in him slammed the knife down scant millimeters from his hand, eliciting a cowardly shriek from the Offshoot. His embarrassment at the outburst was written all over his face as he tried to affect a menacing scowl, trying to convince them he had the upper hand. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] “He’s a Nikto – real ugly lizard called Shaalas She. He’s been having me gather up explosives, hitting places they’d have the uh…particulars he needs for a real big job,” she Arkanian offered, clearly thinking every word brought him closer to absolution.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] “He’s telling the truth,” Matsu said quietly to Erin alone. She wasn’t surprised that the pathetic excuse for a blob of flesh they’d managed to capture had given up his employer so easily. His mind was disappointingly easy to crack, one of the easiest she'd come across. It almost wasn't enough of a challenge to count as practice. She was only surprised to realize he thought he was truly free to go now.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] She didn’t move to take the Arkanian. She had – after all – promised Erin his fair share of time with the man. She smiled.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt][member="Erin Angel"][/SIZE]​

 

[Ignatius]

With the Arkanian speaking of a Nikto, with a name and small amount of information. I smiled when the voice of him telling the truth coming into my mind through Matsu. I reached for the dagger, pulling it free clearly liking the fact that I was in complete control of the situation. I held the dagger and began to tap it between the man's fingers. With his hand splayed out I could get the blade in between the fingers. Slowly I sped up hitting between each finger and even behind the thumb as I spoke,

"Oh come on Zek, I know you have more than that. or you wouldn't have a bounty so large and looming over your head."

I then slammed it down hard between his index finger and his middle finger. Getting so close to his middle finger for him to feel the cold steel of the blade against his finger. I stopped there staring at him. Daring him to lie to me. yet oh so wanting him to do so.

"Thank you Matsu Last question that I need, and one thing I need to do. Promise."

[member="Matsu Xiangu"],

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=9pt] Matsu waved away the promise. “[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]Ask as many questions as you like. I’m in no rush, and watching him squirm makes the experience in that cantina more bearable.[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] She could feel Zek’s fear spiking again when Erin went back to his knife games, the momentary blindness each time the blade caught the sun making the Offshoot more and more anxious as he lost sight of where the blade might land. In truth the fact that Erin had so much skill with the knife was more frightening than if he were clumsy – he could mete out exactly the punishment he wanted to the exact degree he required with that type of precision. The possibilities had Zek squirming. And even worse – he was a boy! That’s what Zek spat – in his mind and out loud – every time he had a thought about Erin, trying to save face even if it was only for himself.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] Just a BOY you idiot – get a grip, don’t give away EVERYTHING. That woman is useless too, just staring and not saying a word. Maybe she’s a dolt and you didn’t notice.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]“I’m tellin’ the truth! I’ve just been scavenging a lot of stuff, so my bounty keeps goin’ up. Been on the run for a while you know…”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Lies lies lies lies lies…[/SIZE]​

​

[SIZE=9pt][member="Erin Angel"][/SIZE]​

 

[Ignatius]

I smiled as I continued to move faster and faster with the dagger. I used to do this for hours on end when I was mad with myself. I had started out with just a writing utensil, and as I am now, used a dagger to the point where I could stare at something off in the distance, even hold conversation and hit between my fingers without stabbing myself. I smiled as the Arkanian was clearly nervous about the blade almost hitting his fingers. It was when he said that he was scavenging around, I already knew it was a lie. But I let him believe that I believe his charade.

I slowed myself down to stop hitting the dagger. I waved my hand as though to let him go, and with a sudden flash, the dagger came down on his hand. Not on his fingers, but in the center of his hand, pushing past bone and muscle into the crate under his hand. pinning him to it. I got in his face even as he screamed out in pain, "I WANT THE FETHING TRUTH!" The dagger was not all the way in his hand, but by taking my fist and slamming on the pommel, it was hilt deep and pushing on his broken skin. Daring to get the small guard on the weapon under his skin.

"AND I WANT IT NOW!"

[member="Matsu Xiangu"],

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=9pt] If Matsu didn’t know better, she’d take this as proof that sometimes simple scouting days didn’t have to be boring. If someone had asked her she never would have guessed “I will watch a boy torture a man for answers to his questions.” It was a vast improvement over strolling through the snow and she tilted her head when Zek let out a scream of disbelief and pain, grinning and showing her fangs. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] The Offshoot’s first instinct was to fly backwards, escape the pain, but even he wasn’t stupid enough to risk the intense damage such a knee-jerk movement would cause. Pulling back was asking for destruction, and trying to lift his hand and the knife up was just the same. He was pinned unless he wanted to lose all motor function in that hand (compared to what had already certainly been accomplished). There was now a special place for the dark-haired boy in the Arkanian’s mind – hatred, so thick Matsu felt as if she could reach out and pluck it from the air. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] And she might have tried had she not felt acquiescence blossoming in the Arkanian’s mind, as if finally accepting that perhaps he was in more trouble than he’d wanted to admit. “Fine, fine! Just – no more of that knife, alright?” He held up his free hand as if warding off any more violence, knowing that what he was about to do would have his name on a black list somewhere. “I’m half and half on the deal with She. If it goes through we’ve got enough slicers to take the best ships off the hands of the Fringe, Protectorate…you name it, and no one knows it was us. There’s a lot of money in it kid…”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] An idea popped in to the Arkanian’s head, looking between Erin and Matsu. (It took all Matsu had not to start laughing at the hope the idiotic proposition gave the Offshoot for a moment.) “You two could get in on it – we’ll split the money with you…” (Save my skin, save my skin…) [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt][member="Erin Angel"][/SIZE]​

 

[Ignatius]

I smiled as he started to talk. He had tried to rear back, but in pain, he stopped. He would probably lose his motor function for his index, middle and possibly the ring finger with how the blade was placed in his hand. My face had no emotion. I did not like doing this. I didn't want to, but it was necessary to injure one, to save another. Even if the man was born and raised on a planet of snow and ice, his eyes were full of fire and hatred. His voice was full of pain and anger as such when he spoke about the dagger. Speaking up, he spoke of slicers to literally start a war. Blame one faction on the other. And starting a war this size would only make it harder for me to get Jasmine. I simply looked at him and smiled as he tried to get me into the business.

I looked up at Matsu, and winked before taking the dagger, I pulled it out till the tip was almost out, and shoved it right back in. I twisted the dagger for good measure. Not saying a word until he had stopped screaming on the top of his lungs. "Get it in your head now. What I want, costs more than all the money, credits, weapons, and starships, you could ever give me."

I then took the dagger out of his hand and stood up. However his bleeding hand would still be on the crate with the force. "Now, you will tell me everything, or you begin to lose yourself.... literally." I would be more than willing to take off a finger. "This is what I call 'To the pain' You see, killing someone ends the line of communication. No my dear Zek. What I do is different. I will start with your nails. Moving up to your first knuckle and your next one. Doing it on every finger. Soon I will start on the toes. I will gouge out your eyes, and cut off your nose, rip out your hair." I knelt down on one knee and got close to him. "Whatever god you believe in now, is not real. I am your god. I will determine if you live or die. I will cause you so much pain that you will pass out. And I doubt that my friend here would mind if we moved you to a private place to allow me to get my information."

I stood back up, Cleaning the gore off of the blade with my hand. with the blood on my hand, I wiped it on the mans face and clothes. Disgracing him in any form I could. "Now tell me what you know, or we will start this process of 'To the pain." My voice was so cold that I even could feel my own spine shiver. Just the pure words held so much hatred, pain, and were crystal clear to the point where I felt I was no longer myself. I felt almost sick to my stomach as I knew, when -not if- I find Jasmine, I would not tell her of what I had to do so I could see her once more.

[member="Matsu Xiangu"],

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=9pt] She wondered if the boy had any formal training under his belt, either in ways of the Force or interrogation and torture. At first she had been inclined to say no simply because he had a mission of his own, one that precluded a lot of the time many paths of training took. But now she wasn’t so sure – it was a smart move to drive the knife back in after giving Zek a moment’s relief only to twist it to the side and solidify the odds that the Arkanian was walking away with permanent damage. It provided Erin’s next words more weight, more threat, and it was clear the Offshoot was not taking them lightly.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] Matsu certainly didn’t mind providing a more private venue for the afternoon’s activities – they were, after all, outside on a freezing iceball of a planet and she didn’t do well in the cold – but she felt the cracks in Zek’s mind and didn’t think it would take much longer. A little more pushing, a little more prodding….[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] Zek’s fear was palpable, nearly real in its intensity and Matsu could feed off it without even trying. She reached outwards with her mind, slipping in without a sound in the wake of the strong distraction of swirling emotion Erin was drawing from the Arkanian and pressed in the soft spots. There was so many in the slippery worm of a man and it was like she wasn’t even trying.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]He doesn’t care you know.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=9pt]He’ll do whatever it takes.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=9pt]What could you possibly offer him?[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=9pt]You’re going to die. Slowly.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=9pt]He’ll just tear pieces off, slice, cut until you’re Zek Impressionism.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=9pt]They’ll whisper about your fate in alleyways.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=9pt]And then they’ll forget you.[/SIZE]​

​

[SIZE=9pt] It was fear mixed with hopelessness then, the kind of potent cocktail her kind blossomed and grew lush with power on. But it was strange. The hopelessness had a unique quality to it, and digging deeper she realized it was because the Offshoot offered all he thought he knew. He couldn’t understand what the boy wanted – he was an idiot after all. Perhaps he just truly didn’t realize who he was talking to.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] “I told you, I told you! I told you what I know, don’t fething do this!”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] (Keep going – lose yourself.)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt][member="Erin Angel"][/SIZE]​

 

[Ignatius]

HIs fear was visible in all forms.

I shook my head disappointedly as Zek said he told me everything. Putting my dagger on my belt, I pulled out my obsidian sword. It was a short sword, but heavy in weight. I placed the sharp edge on the top of his fingers. unmoving. I looked at him for a second. Daring him to not answer me. "I said everything, and you said nothing."

Pulling the blade back up I then swung it down towards his fingers. Waiting for the man to answer. If he didn't start to scream in my answers and information, then he would do the same in pain.

[member="Matsu Xiangu"],

(sorry for the short post. Can't think of anything else.)

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

Matsu took a few steps forward then, watching the blade swing down to take the Offshoot’s fingers. It was not that she much cared if he survived the encounter with all digits, limbs, and proper levels of bodily fluids attached – it was just that nagging knowledge that his fear was legitimate and no level of torture would extract it from him. Whatever information Erin thought he possessed, it was buried or Zek wasn’t looking in the right place.

Her strides took her right next to the Arkanian who looked up as if dreading what he might see – like the woman might suddenly have turned in to some terrible beast. (And she was – the FINAL beast.) But she merely reached and splayed her hand over his skull – a physical connection often made tapping in easier, though she was becoming adept at breaking in to minds. Diving deep she mined him for everything he might know or have seen over the past few months, finding that most of what he’d admitted to under duress was true. Cowards were inherently weak and his mind was an open book, as easy as flipping through ideas in alphabetical order as she opened him up and walked through. Eventually she reached the one piece of information that seemed connected to the others, though by a thread so tenuous that Zek had not put two and two together. (Mmm, a tangled web in such a simple head.)

Looking to Erin, Matsu kept her hand on Zek’s skull, the Offshoot’s eyes rolling back in his head. “He knows a woman, vaguely connected to the ring who work for this She. She is tall, dark-haired and dark-skinned. Human. Young, perhaps my age. Do you know her?”

[member="Erin Ecthelion"]​

 

[Ignatius]

I sword stopped in mid swing as Matsu moved forwards and grabbed the frightened man's head. I didn't know what she was doing until she began to spout information about a woman. Dark haired, dark skin tone, tall young, and human. From the thoughts of the man, she had gathered information that I needed. I was half tempted just to go off on her and ask why in the hell did she not do that in the first place. It would have saved my energy. Looking down at the Arkanian, I could see true fear in his eyes. He was so scared that he could have not ever put the information into his mouth and say the words. I, a child of 18 had scared the poodoo out of a man. In my rage, I had not seen that. I allowed my emotions to control my actions. I took the sword looked at the flat end, and moved closer to the man to where I could stand just a little over the woman's height.

"Check again please. I look for someone closely looking like that, but with fair skin." I looked at the woman as though I had committed a crime. Ready for my punishment almost. But I found that this little session with the man, had brought me some entertainment. He was scared of me. and part of me liked that. But the stronger part, the real part of me, wanted to kneel down to the man and apologize for screwing up his hand for the rest of his life. As well as scaring him to the point of causing him pain. I moved my eyes back to the woman.

"I seek more than just one woman. I seek two more people as well." I indicated the man's head within her hands with my free hand and a point. "Any information about someone you don't know, or looks suspects in there, I may like to have that information."

[member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

Although she subscribed to the dark side of the Force, Matsu was not the kind of Sith that automatically disparaged the light. She supposed it had its advantages. She supposed having some form of morality might be an admirable quality. She even supposed that being kind might work in someone’s favor every once in a while.

She supposed.

For her part, she had just been born wrong. She had an innate affinity for the dark side and it seemed pointless to use anything else. She wasn’t as heartless and cruel as some Sith she’d met or heard of and she was far less likely to torture than to just take what she wanted. But she would never understand for a moment how anyone could feel bad for taking something that they wanted. If one was too weak to protect themselves – and that included the mind – than what was not glued down was hers. And while she could have done this from the beginning, sometimes it was fun to watch someone do things they could never take back – let them get in touch with some part of themselves that really only had the chance to come out in moments like this, maybe do something that would keep them up at night worrying about existentialism while she slept like a baby.

See who you COULD be.​

She pushed farther when Erin elaborated on what he was looking for. The Arkanian’s mind was exceptionally weak and he put up no fight even when she paused for a second to listen to Erin – it was almost boring, honestly. Though she searched for anyone at all, no faces came up that put up a red flag in her mind…at least not the kind she thought would interest Erin. Zek knew all types of seedy characters, the dregs of the Galaxy with no better destiny than to circle the drain and disappear.

Except for her.

“Hmm…he knows of her. He does not know her name, but he has seen her. Most often in Wild Space, traveling between planets on its outer edges. He doesn’t think she has a hand in the operation his employer oversees, but then again…” She pressed harder, so hard that Zek screamed and curled the one working hand in to a fist so tightly his nails bit in to his palms, before falling over unconscious. “…he doesn’t know much of anything.”

Wiping her hand on her coat again to rid herself of the Offshoot, she turned her head to Erin. “Is that everything?” The sooner the scum could be locked away for the Fringe to ‘speak’ with, the better.

[member="Erin Ecthelion"]​

 

[Ignatius]

I watched as Matsu began to contemplate the actions I had chosen. Asking her in looking deeper into this man’s mind for the information I sought, almost lusted for. Her thoughts racing to her own actions or other parts of her mind. With a close of her eyes, I knew that she had accepted my request. Wanting to help me in some form or another. I watched her as she stopped moving. Almost completely. Still as cold stone, I looked to her chest just to watch it rise and fall as she breathed. A statue in almost every form.

I watched her for a second more when I looked away. Leaving her to her actions and choices, I then noticed some shaking at the side of my vision. I turned my head to see Zek. Shaking in fear and pain. His mouth open wide and tears streaming down his face in a silent cry of pain. Grabbing onto his head trying to rid himself of the pain that was caused by this process. Evident on how calm Matsu was, and the immense pain that Zek was experiencing. I felt sorry for him. Even while he was a petty excuse of a being, as well as a perverted slave-born. A man, no matter who, did not deserved to feel this for as long as he did. The actions of this woman, a Sith, causing him so much pain. I began to wonder about the pain she had caused to others. And how I was now genuinely scared of the woman. With a power to cause this much pain with a touch on the head, I hoped, and wished that I would never be on the receiving end of something like it. And then it hit me.

What pain have I caused to others??

I searched my own mind for an answer. Looking to all the faces of people who I have killed. All the faces of people I had caused pain and agony. I let my head fall to my chest as I saw the faces of the three people I sought after. Would they appreciate the sacrifice that I had made to find them, or would they condone me for the transgressions of my soul? I looked to each of their faces as they changed from smiles to frowns. Their eyes filled with sadness. Wanting me to act on the man. To stop this pain. Looking down to the bleeding dagger in my hand, I watched as the solid drop of crimson life drop from the tip. Slowly falling to the ground and splashing on the flagstones. A boot moved on top. Removing it from the picture. Zek’s boot moved as he tried to fight back. His entire body in pain.

His eyes open and red. Filled with pain and streaming with tears. Mouth open in pure agony. Screaming an empty cry. His breathing fast and hard as the digging in his head continued on and on. I could hear a voice in my head. Not the woman who stood before me. But a voice. Soft and sweet to the ears. Ringing in my head with an authoritive tone. Yet it was filled with sadness. Almost the sound of a parent talking to their child. “Fear your transgressions. For they will lead you down a path in which you do not wish to go.” And my head fell silent of all thoughts and emotions. I looked up as Matsu was now done.

Giving the information on how Zek knows of the nameless girl. Traveling on the outer planetary systems. Far away from the Core of the Galaxy. As well as commenting about how Zek didn’t really have much of a mind. I kept my voice and face void of all emotions as I looked to her. Looking at her directly in the eyes, I nodded my head. “That is all I seek.” Standing there for a second more, I then turned around to leave. Stopping myself at the last second, “Don’t cause him any more pain. He already got what he deserves.” I held out my arm wide. Holding the dagger with indication to it. My fingers then opened up to let the dagger drop and bounce around on the ground. “Many times over.”

I didn’t need it anymore. There was no need for it. I was done here. I was disgusted at my actions. Harming a man for information when I could have just been nice to him about it. I had chosen my poison. Now it was time for me to drink it. Only time will tell if I can find the antidote to cure me of my sin.

“Till we next meet Matsu Xiangu.”

[member="Matsu Xiangu"],