Private Our Definitions of Death

[Vendra Vane]

TERMINUS
- Somewhere at the bottom -

An urbworld at the end of the known, aptly named for sitting at the cross of two major hyperspace lanes, Terminus was perhaps the last place Vendra wanted to be. If it wasn't the suffocating presence of the Sith then it was the uncomfortable vulnerability of the shadowport. Vendra was the type to avoid such worlds, preferring the backwater to the jewel, and although Terminus stood somewhere in the middle it had the crowd and the danger to match anywhere in Hutt Space.

None of that apprehension mattered when she was on the hunt, however, and it was exactly that which brought her so far out of her comfort zone. Terminus wasn't just home to the Sith or her discomforts, it was home to someone she had been hunting for a very long time, her master's first apprentice. The once and always traitor, Heavens Devoured. An Anzati pirate whose hunger for force sensitives grew unchecked and almost led to the Mirialan's demise and left their master forever weakened. It wasn't out of duty to her master that she hunted him down, no, she just couldn't stand that he got away. That he did all that he did and survived, and now he would dain to continue the madness and find refuge in the heart of darkness.

If this world, this nightmare of a place would be his safety, then she would become daylight in a bad dream.

The Last Apologies would not venture out this far and she wouldn't ask them to. A paid ride on a smuggler's vessel was enough, and it led her here without incident so far. She was able to blend in like any other mercenary, though from force sensitives she could not shroud her presence, which moved about like the thrashing of hungry hounds. Untamed, unlearned, and dripping with unfed retribution.

Mercy

 

[Mercy]

Vendra Vane

She'd realize soon enough that something was wrong.

The deeper she dove into the gutters of Terminus. The more she found the same sort of scene. Of sentients with vacant eyes, drooling. Of mania raging in the alleyways. This was not the usual drug-induced crazedness. It was more potent than that. It might even make her think... that this was her quarry's work and that she was getting closer to her prize.

If she bothered to ask around? She'd eventually be pointed towards an abandoned industrial park. A warehouse in the middle of it. People said that that was where it was all coming from.

Her suspicions would be confirmed because the closer she came, the stronger the stench of the Darkside was getting.

Who else could it be?

 

[Vendra Vane]

Vendra walked the streets like a ghost out of place and time. No one seemed to be themselves and paid next to no mind as the Dark Jedi prodded them for answers. Just a little shove would send the docile down on their asses, while the itchier snapped their teeth like literal predators or laughed at jokes only they could hear. Was this his doing or someone else's?

After a frustrating amount of time spent interrogating by force or fleece, Vendra finally had a lead. It wasn't much but it was all she was going to get it would seem. A warehouse? Some place where the fumes of industry roared no longer, abandoned duracrete and the dredge of ash carrying memories of forges that once fired. A natural place for the wicked to hide, and she hesitated not to press deeper within. In some small way it offered a reprieve from the destitute and colorless masses whose minds seemed not their own.

Her hands held low, one at each side, fingers that twitched near a blaster and the other which hovered by the cold metal of her lightsaber. Then something rare happened... She... Sensed something? Vendra may have commanded the force in a way, but it did not speak to her. She lacked the force perceptions expected from Jedi or Sith, and it made her gravely vulnerable to their insight, but now she felt it... A sickly darkness that reminded her of that cave from her youth. The place where her path began. It was a callback both exhilarating and at the same time sour. She did not want to be reminded, and yet there was hunger.

Perhaps this encounter was meant to be. Perhaps it would lead her to the answers she always longed for, a way to finally outpace the shroud.

The warehouse now stood before her like a line in the sand. Whatever was beyond those heavy doors was the source of what she sensed. It better have been Heavens Devoured, because every need to kill him burned inside her chest.

She entered.

Mercy

 

[Mercy]

Vendra Vane

It wouldn't take long for her to find the center room from which the corruption oozed.

However, inside, was not the quarry she had been searching for.

Instead it was a mountain of a woman. She positively dominated even a large space like this. A mane of red, shoulders wide, scars abound. One arm tattooed and said markings moving on their own. Mercy was leaning over a crate, looking at a map of the undercity. The one she was currently trying to take over with a new form of drug.

Her head twitched.

"I might not be the best with Sense, but even I can figure out when some mongrel is creeping up on me." Her voice clean, sharp, noble sounding. That latter bit a puzzle since none of her suggested she was nobility in any way. "You here for product... or are you here for a fight?"

It almost sounded like Mercy was hoping she'd say the latter.

 

[Vendra Vane]

Vendra looked up at Mercy the same way she did anyone else on Terminus. It wasn't until she finally spoke that the Mirialan realized this person was different. She wasn't spouting nonsense, she laughed at nothing, and her words cut clean through Vendra's thoughts of Heavens Devoured. There was strength, intent, and confidence behind every syllable.

"Product?" Vendra quirked a brow. She spent enough time in underworlds to know slang for what it is. "I'm afraid not. My last credits went to the slop they serve my crew, and I have picky tastes in substances." She replied with a shrug of her palm before the hand fell back at her side.

"A fight, however..." She said with not one, not two, but more than five steps further inside. "That depends." Each with a casual pace that echoed dully against the floor. "Whispers at the watering hole said I might find my mark here of all places. An Anzat... Goes by Heavens Devoured." She threw down a holographic disk which tossed up the frelling killer's image.

"Seen him?" Her words were kind but the hand which neared her blaster told the tale of her inner monologue. Vendra expected trouble. Always.

 

[Mercy]

She only glanced briefly at the image because she already knew exactly who the mongrel was talking about.

"Yeah, that cretin has been a thorne in my side for a while now." Mercy turned around finally and leaned against the crate.

Amber eyes flicked up and down.

Taking in the blaster.

"That little pea shooter isn't going to save you from me." It wasn't a threat. Just a calm observation.

"What do you want with that annoying piece of chit?"

Vendra Vane

 

[Vendra Vane]

Ven took Mercy's word to heart. That confidence wasn't born of stupidity, and so those fingers no longer flirted with the blaster. The hand near her other weapon did not budge, however.

"I want him dead. Preferably by my hands, but just knowing he's scratched from the ledger is good enough for me." She answered.

She then allowed herself a distraction, as another question pressed her thoughts. "I take it you know what's going on here?" She of course meant the city itself. If her words didn't sell that point home, her vague gesture to the surroundings lifted them higher.

Vendra's expression was some mixture of caution and contentment. For now, she had no reason to feel threatened, but that did not mean she trusted the person in front of her. Not by a long shot.

Mercy

 

[Mercy]

Dead, huh?

That could work out.

"He has been a slippery little kark. I have had him cornered once or twice, but each time I am about to squeeze the life out of him, he managed to get away from me." Which was to say, Mercy was incredibly annoyed. It wasn't often that a kill escaped her. Not just once, but twice. The next time Mercy would get him... perhaps with this girl as assistance.

"'Going around here'? You will have to be more specific, sugar, because this is Terminus. There is a whole feth of things going around here."

But there was a bit of a smirk playing on her expression.

Oh, Mercy wasn't as dumb as she seemed to enjoy to portray.

Vendra Vane

 

[Vendra Vane]

Hearing that Heavens Devoured continued to allude to all who wanted him dead was not a surprising development, though it was good news to get some confirmation that he was here. That finally, just maybe, the Dark Jedi had cornered her prey. But a desperate Anzat was still a dangerous quarry, especially one with training in the force.

Vendra rolled her eyes. "Well for one you're the only person here who's spoken coherently, and made eye contact," she said.

Then she waved a dismissive hand. "Matters less than catching our mutual source of annoyance..." Then she wondered for but a moment, "I don't suppose you can scrounge up some bait? He targets force sensitives but prefers the ones who don't fight back. At least not well."

While a ruse was possible, Vendra and Mercy were both known quantities and less likely to get the drop. Someone new, someone either gullible or vulnerable in other ways would be ideal. Though it was a resource Vendra lacked. Besides, something about Mercy struck her as the type to have unexpected answers to all sorts of problems, but maybe that was just a bad read with awkward first impressions.

Mercy

 

[Mercy]

Vendra Vane

"Am I?" Mercy murmured innocently as she watched Vendra with a hunger that was not entirely appropriate. "And how do the others look like then?" A curious tone. But it could be explained. Here in the industrial zone Vendra would have seen far less of those useless and pitiful creatures. Perhaps Mercy didn't get out much.

"Bait..."

Thoughtful there before those huge shoulders did their shrug like a wave of an ocean. She gestured for Vendra to follow her. Deeper into the facility. Until they reached a room with cages.

It was dark and it was silent.

Until Mercy flicked on the lights and the groaning began.

There were sentients of all kinds in those cages. They were properly fed, they were clean, but they were restrained and the begging had already begun. For their medicine.

"These are all force sensitives." Mercy said conversationally over her shoulder. "How many do you think we need for proper bait?"

 

[Vendra Vane]

A rare thing occurred. Vendra was... Shocked? Perhaps a symptom of her inability to sense most things through the force, but she didn't even know they were there until the lights came on. She paused stupidly for a few moments before her gaze flicked back over to Mercy.

"Two." One might have been enough, but two would be a difficult meal to pass up. Any more than that might risk the gambit.

There was the question of why she had them, but Vendra did not ask. It wasn't important. For now, anyway. The Dark Jedi then brought matters back to her assumptions. "Is this mutual aid or am I to incur some cost by spending your..." She looked back to the caged subjects. "Resources," the word dripped with sarcasm. Judgment? Maybe. But it was equally clear by Vendra's tone that whatever moral feelings she had were trumped by her desire to kill Heavens Devoured.

Hell, she would've let them all die if that's what it took. Easy enough when you can pretend they didn't exist in the first place. Sometimes an obsession overruled every other feeling in your bones. If there was to be a reckoning, it had to wait.

Mercy

 

[Mercy]

Vendra Vane

The smirk leveled at Vendra out of nowhere told her everything she needed to know.

Predatory, aggressive, pouncing on opportunity.

"Come now, darling, we both know you want to rip this bullchit artist to shreds more than me." She purred warmly. "He is an annoyance to me, but to you he is someone you have been..." Her nostrils flared and she breathed in. "...yes, you have been traveling a long time to get to him... not a Terminus native either so you have been space traveling to get at him."

She kicked one of the bars and the one-time humans growled in response.

"My little alchemist worked her arse off to get these fethers. She is gonna be very upset with me that I am sacrificing even one, much less two." A slow stretch there, yawning, lazily.

"So... tell me what you can offer. Don't try and offer money, we both know that is less than worthless these days."

She rubbed her thumb and finger together.

"Assets, influence, ships or companies. Big karking favors. What do you got, babe?"

 

[Vendra Vane]

The growl at the kick, the mention of alchemy, and hurt feelings. Yeah, this was Sith Space alright and the thought continued to crawl down Vendra's neck. All of it is made worse by the fact that Mercy here, this stranger of a powerful woman, would choose to play games rather than negotiate stakes.

She clearly hadn't romped around the Outer Rim. You pick up a knack for straightforward business dealings that way. Or maybe she just liked to have petty fun, and it hasn't yet been broken out of her. A thought and nothing more. Not Vendra's problem to solve. At least not today.

Vendra scrutinized the details of Mercy's question, despite--no because of--her casual and familiar delivery. Then she arrived at a simple answer. Kind of twisted in its own way. "A kill for a kill..." It felt fitting enough. "A target of comparable annoyance. You can assess that detail after we've killed him."

"Not falling for that 'Oh now you must kill the Emperor for me' kark that evil little witches try to pull. Solid?" Vendra of course exaggerated the made-up quote when it left her lips, body language, and all. She might've made a middling actress in another life.

"I'm sure it'll spare you an errand or two. Oh, and you're right on one thing, I have a ship. I can hunt very far."

Mercy

 

[Mercy]

She squinted at her.

The smirk was gone and in its stead was just... nothing. Cold hungry nothing. She took a step towards her and it was large enough she practically closed the difference between breaths. Mercy loomed over her.

"Are you implying I can't do my own killing... darling?" Mercy murmured, thick, anger bubbling at the surface. "You think I need help killing anything, even an Emperor or an Empress?"

Unless Vendra stopped her Mercy would grab her by the chin and tilt her head up a fraction.

There was restrained power in her arm, tight, gripping, but it didn't crush.

And then as sudden as the anger lit her up... it vanished once more. The smirk was back. "But you are a pretty thing. I don't need your killing prowess. But... you can take me out for dinner once we are done mopping up your little friend, how does that sound?"

Vendra Vane

 

[Vendra Vane]

Vendra placed a hand on each hip, her stance at ease, and her expression unchanged.

Certainly, the force raged through Vendra's body even now, especially now, and as Mercy tilted her chin it would feel like the tiniest of pricks. A static shock on a dry winter's day. A nibble that spoke of a desire to bite.

"Dinner?" She repeated the word dryly, a question to herself and not Mercy. "I dare say that little touch has already exceeded the cost... And unless I'm mistaken, it sounds like you want me to pay for that dinner as well?" She snickered.

Mercy

 

[Mercy]

It was her eldritch hand that held Vendra's chin.

Anyone with a survival instinct would have been... more reasonable about things. Instead Vendra decided to mouth off. Mercy licked her lips and the sting of the static didn't seem to bother her at all. If anything it only made her increase her grip of her chin.

"Oh, darling, being touched by me is a reward." She murmured softly. "And yes, of course you will be paying for dinner."

Vendra would suddenly feel a surge in the air.

The Darkside building slowly, seeping corruption. The issue with Mercy's eldritch arm was that it had its own will. Sometimes... when it was agitated it would start to try and draw something out of the Other into here. Usually when that happened a Starweird would appear or something else karked up. But Mercy didn't mind it.

In return she could punch with the strength of an elder god behind it.

It would shatter her bones, but whatever was beyond her fist would be gone.

"Don't push your luck. I can always decide to use you as bait instead and leave my little creatures here alone." Vendra was already getting more warnings than most people did. Usually Mercy was of the 'throw through a wall and give out warnings afterwards'-variety. But she was trying to be more reasonable these days.

Vendra Vane

 

[Vendra Vane]

Call it a flaw, a quirk, or even lousy risk management, but Vendra didn't react how someone would if a sizable woman with a powerful and magical arm stared you down within inches of your life. Her expression was thoughtful but had an inward perspective, consideration mixed with what looked like distraction.

The Dark Jedi's stance didn't change one bit either. If anything, she was unusually loose and at ease for someone under threat, still prickly with static but made no moves. There was a silence between them as if Ven was considering the offer. She opened her mouth once to speak but stopped and continued to think.

Finally, she answered. "No, I'll do this alone."

Mercy