Faction Part One: Looking in the Mirror [Darkwire]

[Dara Naevo]

Seven Corners District, Denon.​

Dara went ahead of Venku Bralor , stepping off the repulsorcraft that brought them into Seven Corners. It looked like Nar Shaddaa, only shinier. She looked back at the Cat Man and threw up her hands in a shrug.

"Where do we even...b-begin." she asked.

The Twi'lek flipped open her datapad and began to blend with the crowd of commuter foot traffic. She began accessing local closed circuit networks. Screen after screen of crowds beneath blue tinted scanlines. Everyone was disappointingly normal looking and not up to any apparent mischief.

Dara spun about back towards Bralor, "what is it you do? Investigate? Y-yeah, do that. See what you...sniff out."

Just when Dara was about to disappear off again, there was a commotion on the far end of the platform. She could make out two fuzzy ears that quickly darted out of view, followed by a half dozen security droids. She heard someone in the crowd mutter, "Darkwire, again!"

 

[Venku Bralor]

his tail flicked in annoyance. "First off, we're working together, we need to stay in touch. Here's my comm link." listing off a series of numbers, he watched as the twi'lek put it in. "Second off-" he was cut off by the flash of ears and shout of people. Attention thoroughly caught, golden eyes flicked to the fuzzy appendages. His own ears swiveling to track the noise. "This way!" He called to the twi'lek, before slipping his way through the crowd, collar boneless shoulders making it easy to slip in and out. He knew there was little chance of catching up to the figure, so he made a beeline for the droids. They were witnesses, and while witnesses weren't the most reliable source, they would do for now.

He kept up easily with them as they ran, signalling the twi'lek to follow the suspect and meet back here if he lost him in a shortened version of GSL. Hoping the woman knew the language. That done, he turned to the "Excuse me sirs! I'm a private investigator hired to look into these rumors about darkwire. Why is it that this sentient is being chased?" Hopefully they would know to contain the crime scene. Police droids weren't the best with the whole forensics aspect, used mostly in apprehending suspects instead.

On his back, his forensics pack, a backpack containing all standards and some non standard types of evidence containers, bounced. It was decently heavy, some of the containers needing to remain freezing or burning hot to avoid contamination. Not to mention the camera he had packed away in there near the top, made for photographing any evidence that couldn't be moved or who's exact position was vital to the scene.

One of the five droids slowed to a stop, looking him over before deigning to answer his questions. "This man just set off a bomb. We were sent to apprehend him."

"Can I see the crime scene? I have my credentials right here, they should be good for Denon."

The droid seemed to think, eventually dipping it's head in a mechanical now. "This way." The droid turned around, leading him the way they had come to a police speeder, Venku not far behind. "You say it was a bomb. Anything I need to worry about at the site? I have a skin suit build into my armor, so I should be good against radiation, but extreme elements tend to do a number on the armor."

Lights blinked as the droid began responding, "No need. The bomb was a simple fire bomb. We have all the flames out, but forensic experts are in short supply on denon so no one has come out to look just yet." Before he could ask another question, the speeder came to a stop by a residential home. "right this way."

Inside was trashed. The floor and wall were black from the bomb, and there was shrapnel everywhere. Some of it looked to be from the bomb, but others were from the floor above collapsing down. Venku whistled, "Some bomb."

__________________________
Dara Naevo @anyone else​

 

[Gray Venasir]

How long Gray had walked, he did not know. The sky was dark, and the buildings were lighting up the night, so it was hard to tell what time it was. But there was one thing Gray was sure about. That all the wierd and uncomfrotable looks he got from people on this street were highly unusual.

After the meeting with Dirk, Gray had tried to hunt down his supposed "double", who was ruining his reputation. But on a planet like Denon, finding one particular person was close to impossible. Especially when this person did not want to be found by the one he was impersonating.

"Oy, feth-face, get lost" someone shouted. Gray turned to the side, where the shouting had come from, and saw a small man staring right at him. And doing innapropriate hand gestures towards him too. "We don't wan' yo'r slavin scum here. You 'earing me? Get lost!" With a few quick steps, Gray wasright in front of the man, holding a hand around his throat.

"Listen up, laserbrain, you will tell me exactly where you saw me, and what I did, that made you feel the need to insult me like that. Got it?"

The man, who seemed to have shrunk in size, quickly nodded his head. He seemed completly terrified, and stuttered while telling of his meeting with "Gray". According to him, the duplicate had dragged a few female slaves with shock collars through the streets, belitteling and threatening them as they moved. The duplicate had held a blaster too, at the time, and aimed it at anyone who tried to approach him. "And you also said you'd come back later to take our women as slaves too," shimpered the man.

"And where did... I go, after this?" asked Gray. No wonder the people here gave him such nasty looks. It was wierd they hadn't called the police on him right away. "Yo- you headed down th-that alley over there," pointed the man. That was all Gray needed to hear. He let go of the man, and walked to the alley. It was darker than the streets, which was to be expected. Which was probably also why fake-Gray took that route.

"Alright, time to look for clues. If I were impersonating me, what would I do here?" Gray crouched down, to see if the duplicate could have dropped something. But out of Gray's view, a shadow jumped from somewhere higher up, and landed behind him.

 

[Dara Naevo]

Dara ignored Venku as he clambered into the police speeder. She had other ideas.

With the datapad in hand, she sprinted after the man. She weaved through various side streets and alleys, trying to simultaneously track the doppleganger's movements on the security feeds. Her augmented Lekku twitched painfully under the stress of the hunt, she was struggling to catch her breath.

The doppleganger met a busy intersection of speeders and a barrier started to lower to block off pedestrian traffic. If she could time it right, Dara had the advantage. She waited in the shadows on a less populated corner of the street. The Twi'lek waited patiently for the barrier to rise again and under the distraction of high speed air traffic, she rushed the doppleganger.

The two criminals wrestled for their lives, Dara trying to pull the man into the adjacent alley. The scuffle felt like it went on for an hour, but it was over in a matter of seconds. Dara gritted her teeth and clasped her cybernetic hand over the doppleganger's head. She tensed her hand as quickly as she could, hoping to fry its circuits.

There was an electrical charge and Dara screamed in agony then swore profusely in a number of alien languages. The doppleganger was on the ground, his weak replicant body was smoking from the shock. Dara's hand was as good as gone, only a charred skeletal structure remained and it no longer responded to her nerve impulses.

 

[Venku Bralor]

Carefully, he made his way around the bomb site, collecting samples of the blast marks, bagging any debris in seal-able bio hazard containers as was standard. "Anything like this happen before?"

"Yes. We've had several reports of similar bombings, we think it may be a serial bomber."

His sketch droid, a small disc shaped thing floating two feet about the ground with robotic arms containing several pencils, and a piece of flimsi on the flat of the disc, along with a camera to photograph any evidence, though Venku preferred to do that by hand,, went around the scene, sketching it out according to the correct protocols. The togorian rarely concerned himself with protocol, but forensics was one of the few places he did. There were too many osik CSI already, he wasn't going to add one more to the bunch. "Well, if they're a serial bomber, they must have an MO."

"They plant bombs in statues or other types of stonework. These works are typically sold anonymously and once in the home, are rigged to blow."

Deft hands remove a high quality compact camera and photograph a pile of debris before a pair of tweezers removes brown fur from the debris, placing it in a small bio hazard container. "Why haven't you set up guards at any auctions?'

Behind him, a police speeder approaches, slowing down at the scene, though Venku never notices.

"We've tried. But if we start searching the auctions, they just sell more bombs to individual people on the streets. Bigger ones two. Those ones always knock out several apartments, as opposed to just one." Armored feet make their way to the crime scene. Grey greaveboots, the shin armor marked with bloody stripes, dripping where the paint was went went sat up, make their way across the room. Flashing a CSI badge at police droid. Shown to fast for human eyes, but the droid was still able to scan it.

"So we have a psychological killer. That isn't good. Any idea how they're blowing the statues? They can't just be timed bombings." Venku stands up from his kneeling position, having been gathering a set of fingerprints from a piece of statue rubble. Behind him, stone skitters at the greaveboots kick evidence around the room.

Venku whips around, snarl on his lips.
"No, we aren't able to tell."
Only to come face to face with a near identical set of beskar'gam.
"We think they may be watching for the sculptures arrive."
It only makes him pause for a second.

"We've been trying-"
Venku snarls at the droid. "Shut it." With his attention no longer divided, he turns to the other togorian mando with a snarl. "Who do you think you are? This is an active crime scene you can't be here!"

Golden helmet, marred with thick grey stripes across the eyes, reminiscent of his own, smaller grey lines, cock to the side. "On the contrary, I'm exactly where I want to be." Venku snarled at the mando - who's very words seem to come out a vengeful gold - ears pinned back bellow the helm it barely bridled anger. "Is that so? Lemme see your badge." Gloves hands reach into a pouch to pull out a license. On it, in bold, utilitarian writing next to a picture of an mottled grey togorian, is a name. Venku Naasade.

_______________________________________
@anyone at this point​

 

[Brie Jaxx]

Seven Corner's District
Denon

She had barely escaped the scrap dealer, just a while ago having to make a quick run for it out of his shop because of reasons unknown.

Thief! Scamp! Sleemo!

The male besalisk had not been short on words to call her when she fled his four gigantic palms that was trying to get her. She was no thief! At least, not if you didn't count scavaging for abandoned bits and pieces at some scrapyard. She would never steal from another person, and definately not from an employer who gave her credits and portions in return for the things she collected. Now, clearly someone had done it and the besalisk had obviously mistaken her for that person.

Brie walked down the sidewalk in silence, gaze low set and trying to figure out how she could have been so mistaken. It was not like the universe was littered with blonde teenage girls trying to make a living through scavaging, and she had been at that shop before and never had any issues. A gloomy and concerned mood descended upon her. Her black space boots felt heavy, and it was quite the distance back to the landing platform and the change from her teal and black padded space suit.

Something didn't feel right.

Who could that person be?

Then. From somewhere in the crowd closer to the curb, a hard and charged push made her grunt and sent her offhand into an alleyway. Before Brie could react to the assault, she was grabbed by the collar and pushed to the wall with a thud.

''WHO ARE YOU?!''

Despite the simple question shouted into her face, the sight of the person in front of her made Brie totally speechless. A girl of the same height, the same blonde hair, the same blue eyes and the same... the same face as her! It was almost like looking into a mirror, the only thing that separated them was that the girl had black eyeliner and her hair let out.

''What?! Are you deaf or something?!''

The grip around the collar was tightening. The girl was clearly upset and angry about something. It was still incomprehensible to Brie that she practically stood before herself.

 

[Daiya]

[Post Soundtrack: Blind by Jean-Michel Blais]​

Thoughts raced in her head like airspeeders did in the traffic above her head. Catching the tram lift to the upper levels gave the girl a reprieve from the remaining pursuers, but that only removed the immediate threat. If what this datapad said about her was true, Daiya was in a whole lot more trouble than she expected.

She should have picked up the comm and called Tawrro. It would have been the smart thing to do right now. But she decided against it, Daiya wasn't interested in getting the lecture from her pseudo-guardian at the moment, and she couldn't think straight when he was freaking out.

It wasn't like Daiya was doing great thinking on her own, though.

The teen wracked her brain, trying to remember if she had ever heard of this Puurgil Corp. She certainly didn't remember acquiring a datachip for them, nor did she have the foggiest idea of what could be on one to make it so important. Daiya only had a few datachips on her, and most of them were filled with music or backup copies of her art. She didn't have any with corporate secrets on them, and what would she do with those anyway? Sell them to someone else, maybe. It seemed like the thing she would do.

Only problem was, despite the dossier claiming she obtained the chip but then never delivered it to Puurgil Corp, Daiya never had it in the first place!

The company surely thought she did, though. And from everything she had experienced so far, they were pretty upset by it. Enough to send beings out to hunt the young Darkwire agent down. The datapad didn't say what the hunters were supposed to do with her, only to acquire the chip. She didn't need to imagine, it was clear from her encounter with just one of the hunters on the streets below, they were going to kill her.

Or torture her.

Or—

Now she was thinking like Tawrro without him even being around. The girl made a bitter sound, which drew a look from a few of the passersby around her. She quickened her pace, what was really doing up here? The upper levels were way outside Daiya's domain and comfort zone. If the hunters tracked her up here, she'd be as good as dead.

Maybe that was why she came up here, to force their hand and make it quick.

No, no, now that was just being stupid. Daiya shook her head, she didn't have to be the opposite of Tawrro just to avoid his overprotectiveness. The girl set her jaw, she could do this her way and still be smart about it. She pointed her body in a direction, then just started walking.

A sparsely-trafficked walkway turned to a crowded one as the young Darkwire agent traveled its course. There were stores she could duck into, to hide or find a distraction, but she walked right past them. There were some places to eat, and though her stomach mumbled a suggestion, the girl walked past those as well. Daiya kept walking until she arrived at a horizontal tram, loading with passengers destined for other parts of the city-world.

There was no waiting or indecision, she bought a ticket and boarded.

Daiya glanced up at the station map from time to time, watching for some signal at each depot. Was she supposed to exit here? How about this one? She stayed onboard, however, as it transited through different sections of the district she knew and on to others she didn't. People milled about her as conversations hummed, and sometimes she chatted with someone until they grew quiet or just left.

The vision came on just as the train departed a station, leaving the car packed with bodies. At first, Daiya just thought the headache was from a putrid smell one of the newcomer riders had boarded with, but it throbbed against her skull with such a familiar rhythm. She pressed a hand to her head, as if she could hold it back with that alone.

Not here, she willed it.

A glance at the station map told the miserable teen that the next stop was too far away, and she pushed harder against her forehead.

Not in front of all these people!

She shut her eyes as fickle images played at the edges of her vision, but that only encouraged them to grow in strength.

Tears leaked out from her eyes as she held them shut against the flood.

Her breath came short and labored until she could no longer feel it at all, and the pulsing of her headache was also gone, surrendered to the vivid premonition playing out in her head.

A vivid symbol appeared; bright and colorful, its shape distinct; gone in the next moment before it could be studied. Other symbols and text appeared just as suddenly, then it, too, blinked out of existence. A whirl of color and imagery outside the portal to beyond, flashing by at lightning speeds; gradually slowing until they curved around a bend, out of sight. A train slowed as it entered the station, opening its doors to reveal the bright lettering of the station name: PUURGIL PLAZA. A crowd exited through the doors, the mass of beings oozing out into the world beyond the station; it thinned as sections broke off, its members dispersed, weaving through the walkways of the city until only one remained. She skipped and spun through the streets, until she turned and vanished from sight; a flash of blonde marked the only evidence of her wake, around a corner, down an alley, under a sign with a vivid symbol affixed.​

The present rushed back at the girl, leaving her reeling and taking breaths in quiet, short gasps. She felt sweat under her arms, and a fear clamped around her stomach. Her eyes darted up once or twice from staring at the floor, looking to see if anyone was taking notice. The rest of the train's passengers seemed either blissfully unaware, or too polite to stare. Daiya closed her eyes for a brief moment of relief, and wiped away their held tears after she opened them again.

She couldn't search for Tawrro's comforting presence this time, nor was there any respite from the pressing crowd on the train. Daiya needed some kind of purpose, a distraction from her anguish and embarrassment. Finally, the girl reached into her satchel and pulled out her datapad. Flipping it open, she readied herself with the holojournal app and stylus. She took a breath, steeling herself, and then shut her eyes again. Daiya searched for the image in her mind, the vivid symbol that had played over her vision. Then she started to sketch.

"You're pretty good." The voice threw her off, scratching an errant line in the drawing. Daiya erased it with the tap of a button, then looked up at the stranger who had spoken. A Sullustan was leaning over her work, his eyes glancing back and forth between that and something else. "Is that all freehand? You should consider going into graphic design."

"Huh?" she asked, baffled by the stranger's comment. She followed his gaze to the flashes of advertisements outside the train window, and in the next second she saw what he did. The same vivid symbol from her vision, prominent on an ad for a local eatery. Daiya frowned at it, glancing down at her drawing once more, and then a satisfied grin emerged upon her face. "Thanks," she offered the man, "it's just a hobby."

"Well, someone has to make all the artwork for those ads. You might as well get paid for the hobby."

Daiya let out a non-committal sound before glancing down again. Sure, ok boomer. Her head gave an almost imperceptible shake before she went back to her drawing.

She heard the screeching brakes first before she felt the train lurch to a stop, opening its doors at the PUURGIL PLAZA station from her vision. Daiya squinted at the letters, then sprang from her seat at the last moment to get out the door. She wasn't used to her visions showing her events that were already in motion. The girl reflected on the chain of events, she had gotten on the train before the vision began, right? Her visions might be disorienting, but Daiya could at least remember that.

Joining the crowd out the doors, she felt squeezed as the throng of bodies pressed their way out into the world beyond the station. Most of them corporate, heading to jobs or meetings at the Puurgil Corp or nearby businesses. The sudden realization hit her, she shouldn't be out in plain sight around this company's headquarters.

A few twists down some side streets later, and Daiya found herself staring at that same vivid symbol again. This time, it was emblazoned above a run-down looking eatery that bustled with customers.

She was still following the vision's path without realizing it!

Daiya tried to remember where to go after the symbol. There wasn't an obvious direction to follow, some side streets twisted off into the maze of the district, while alleys swept away from them. The girl gazed down several of them, wandering in a circle for what felt like forever, until Daiya no longer had a clue where she was.

That's when the young Darkwire agent came upon her. Seated at the top of a low barrier wall, the figure was leaning back and kicking out her feet. As if waiting for someone. When Daiya got closer, she saw that the figure was blowing bubbles from gum in her mouth, and it wasn't until she got even closer —or her mind simply wouldn't believe it until then— that the girl realized who the lackadaisical figure was.

It was her!

It didn't make any sense at all, but there was was before the girl's eyes. Another her, sitting around casually as if meeting yourself was just an everyday occurrence. "Umm," Daiya asked, still in disbelief, "Who are you?"

The other Daiya just rolled her eyes before remarking, "Oh, don't be stupid." She jumped off the wall, blowing one last bubble before spitting out the gum onto the ground, and started to walk off. "Come on, we've got a lot to do."

Daiya just stood there, glancing at the gum on the ground for a moment until her eyes returned to the other version of her walking away. She watched herself, every motion of the copy feeling like a violation of her own skin, stop and turn back. The other Daiya sighed and pulled out a datachip from her pocket, waving it in front of her face with a snobby expression. "You're going to screw up everything if you take any more time being confused. Come on!"

Not seeing much choice in the matter, Daiya began to follow herself.

Well, that wasn't a position she had ever expected to be in.

 

[Venku Bralor]

Golden eyes flicked from the badge to the mandalorian. The other man stood there, in his gold, grey, and red armor. Vengeance, family, and mourning. His visor marred with grey, like old battle scars, and the bloody stripes decorate the legs. His breast plate must have once shines with the gold and red, painted as swirling sandstorm of their home, but was not dulled and chipped. Much like the vambraces that match it.

The last name was different. Naasade. He loathed to think why that was. Why he would choose that name.
Naasade. History and memory were treasured by mandalorians. They worked hard to be remembered. That way, if they died, they would live on in memory. To give up your name, the very thing that defines you- to give it up was nothing to be taken lightly. Instead of handing the badge back, Venku gripped the other togorians wrist, dragging them to the street outside the apartment. Numbly, he led them down to the lower levels by rote, mind churning as he walked, ignoring the calls of his double.
Naasade. What kind of horrors did this man commit to give his up? What burdens did he carry?

What burdens would he carry?​

Venku Bralor couldn't deny it. They looked exactly the same, for all that their beskar'gam was painted differently. It was like looking in a mirror. A cracked mirror, but a mirror nonetheless.
Naasade. Nobody. What would drive Venku to forsake his name, his family, to become this man?

The answer came easily. Even more terrifying than the question itself. His family. He couldn't survive alone. He needed their support. If they died, he would break. He break, and he would fall, and fall, and fall. He'd do anything to save them. Things that would later cause him to cast off his name.
He could see exactly how the story would go.

"Would you let go of me!" The other man growled and wrenched himself out of venku's grasp as they descended a lift. Thought shattered. Tinkling through his bind like glass. Gloved hands lift the orange and red helmet, revealing a matching face to the one on the badge.
Naasade stumbles into the wall, yanking off his own buy'ce. Matching faces stare at each other. They were the same. Yet not. The two barely make it out of the way before a young, blond hair girl is squeezing into the lift and heading up.

"Who the feth are you?!" Gold bucket attached to hi belt, Naasade rounds on him, fuming. It was only a front to hide the fear.
Venku didn't step back. His ears pin back and his fur fluffs in a silent challenge. "I'm you. But not. Venku Bralor."

Now it's the other man's turn to to look shocked. It quickly changes to anger. "What kind of osik is this?!" He snarls in Venku's face, making him flinch, but not back down. Time for a gamble. "You grew up on concordia. Mom was supposed to help you forge your armor but she died so your older brother did instead." Naasade only snorted. "anyone can know that."
He kept talking. "When you were seven, you filled Riil's fresher head with glitter. In retaliation, he put glue in your hairbrush, you had to cut it all short. Kept it that way for a year and told everyone it was to spite him. You just liked the style." They both take a shaky breath. "That enough information for you?"

The twins fall silent as they walk, broken only by the noised of their shoes.
"Wanna get a drink?"
"Ka'ra yes."

__________________________
@anyone​

 

[Kadora'Tra]

​

The contractors left the premises, and for Kadora'Tra, it couldn't have been sooner. Her mind had been more or less occupied recently from... non-work related issues, in the sense.

"I'm going out. Cover any contact for me until I check back in." She issued an order to a Lieutenant, who nodded in salute.

The Farghoul put on a jacket she acquired from Sakedo Tower some time ago... before it's top floor exploded of course. For that reason the jacket had a strange... contradictory sentiment to her, but it did help her to blend in with the commoners. Or rather, blend in as far as an alien feline could, by at least not overtly displaying CorpSec colors by covering it up.

Something about the crowd was different tonight, sparser than usual, and it seemed whoever was left was more paranoid than the usual paranoid. Knowing what she knew, and given recent events, this did not come as a surprise to her. The populace was scared, and not in the typical existential depressing dread that the Corporations Design directly into the environmental weather patterns, but a true concern for their own safety. Pirates and Bounty Hunters openly attacking Corporate Assets, leaving neighboring residential districts in fire or full of holes, and the typical criminals recently emboldened by CropSec failures leaving what few straight citizens barely living on their wages more afraid of bodily harm than the financial suicide staying home might entail.

The Corporations were struggling to appropriately punish no-shows while maintaining productivity. There were only so many debtors CorpSec could imprison before entire departments are left barren and void... but if it meant punishing every single possible punishable person she could for what those scum-suckers did to Lonnie and her reputation, then whole Corporations would burn for her. Diviak willing, of course.

Entering the burn ward of the MedCorp building, Captain Kadora'Tra made her way to the room the receptionist had indicated belonged to Lonnishkelo Rro. She knew the female Trandoshan as Lonnie of course, no one was going to properly hiss out such a mouthful of foreign sounds when the first half of her name was perfectly pronounceable and short hand. Pushing the door open she entered the dormitory, and experimentally peaked her two tone eyes outside of it.

As she had seen before, the green scaly woman was occupying herself with a ball and a cup... using her feet. The stumps of her arms were still growing it, larger than before but still much too small for any level of articulation. The poor things face however was still very much bandaged up. From what she understood Trandoshan's were known for re-growing limbs with relative ease, but the damage to her snout was of a more unusual degree that regrowth had to be prompted medicinally rather than naturally, taking a bit longer as a consequence. It was apparent the woman had not noticed the appearance of her Captain just yet.

"Hey Lonnie," Kadora'Tra offered, and screwing up the Trandoshan's ball and cup attempt, as she looked up to a Kadora'Tra with a weak tired smile and a short raised hand. The Lizard woman offered a muffled trill as she stood up and approached the Farghul, and quietly (though softly and slightly hesitant due to anticipation of pain) placed their neck on Kadora'Tra's shoulder as if in a hug. Though, of course, it was not complete given her lack of adequate arms.

"Alright, alight that's enough. It's good to see you too," Kadora'Tra backed away from the attempted embrace, though not coldly, her tail swaying a bit. Lonnie hissed a muffled query about the job. It was difficult to make out, but the Farghul was an intelligent girl who had gotten used to this lizards particular mannerisms and thought process that even buried under bandages and with half a face she could make out what the other girl was saying.

"Yeah, Diviak has been really, well, Diviak since the tower..." Kadora'Tra started as she took a seat across from Lonnie's bed, and began to spend some time making sure her f-

- her Lieutenant, was well informed while she recovered...

Far away from Lonnie and Denon, Kadora'Tra monitored a dozen screens on a wall, overlooking the scene of Kadora'Tra talking with her fellow CorpSec officer in recovery. Except, clearly, this could not reasonably be Kadora'Tra so far in an undisclosed and classified cyber station in deep space somewhere within the Loronar sector.

She carried herself differently, too. A self-confidence and self-assurance that was almost too natural to be organic to Kadora'Tra, as if it was mechanically etched into her synthetic posture. A type of visible arrogance hoisted by legitimate skill and prestige well earned. A copy which consider itself superior to the original, because it very well might be.

She - or rather, it - stared at the screen with intensity, before moving on to scan the rest of the dozens of screens with similarly candid observations of individuals. A network of scenes captured with the same essence of a mage scrying upon their rivals and enemies. One of them observed a man being put down and destroyed by a blue Twi'Lek ( Dara Naevo ).

It picked up a communication device - a superfluous thing that it personally hated having to pick up in the first place as a natural consequence of its form factor - and began to speak into it.

"A unit went down near you-" It began before issuing the unit designation that had been decommissioned...

Much closer now to Kadora'Tra, back on Denon, a Kadora'Tra who was distinctly not a CorpSec Captain but still carried the laurels of being one stood atop the roof of a residential building with an armored figured close by, while she received a call. After a few words exchanged, she hung up and look down at the roving vehicles and walking individuals below.

"Looks like you've got a new mission kid. It's recovery, kill as necessary, as few witnesses as possible. No fail state, try not to be identified."

"Then she will be released?" The distorted digital voice sounded older, with a strange kind of indignity within that did not seem to indicate it came from any personal doubt, but rather some level of disgust.

"As discussed, you will be brought to her for... renegotiation. You're not the only one after her, remember?" The female retorted with a show of her own disgust, without looking away from the tiny persons far below her.

"He doesn't matter. She's my mother." A cool confidence oozed from the masked individual partially hidden in the shadow. This seemed to illicit a short hiss, and the whip of her tail in the air.

"We're not real, stupid." She said with the kind of malice one has for experiencing a person with the audacity to tell a lie directly to ones face. "We have a purpose. You, have a purpose. She, has a purpose. Whatever fake thoughts they put into your head are a delusion, a secondary input to ensure we can't be found out by those lazy wet-brains. The Directive is all that matters to us." She finally looked towards the softly glowing vizor of the individual standing behind her.

"Akovin is mine." A moment of silence fell between them as her eyes glowered at the figure of Cassus Akovin, before slowly the feline woman took small confidently in control steps towards the facsimiled Bounty Hunter.

"You belong to Xopsaloff!" The fake Farghul struck the mechanical copy across the face, sending him reeling to one side, before briefly recovering. "Blackheart is the father of your mind." The reproduction of a wild woman, struck the childish body once again sending it to its knees. "Starlight is your blood." The body of the Bounty Hunter remained in this way as his superior stood above him, and leaned down to have her mouth meet the side of his head where his synthetic blood-pounding ear would be.

"While we pretend to live and breathe, this dance of falsehood, in the end you exist to obey. Your possessions are theirs, so as I said," She brought a finger up to meet the chin of his mask, and lifted his head such that her two-toned gaze would meet his faceless one. "She will be 'renegotiated'."

"Yes Captain..." The mechanical mercenary would eventually force between his lips.

"Good man. Now... go." And as she raised to her full confident height.

He did.

Spoiler: If you want to be spoiled on the secrets look within

Hey there Darkwire writers!

If you do not want to be spoiled on this plot, read no further until you're ready!

Does this seem like a crazy post? It should! So it's come to our attention that it hasn't exactly been clear to you all who is behind this whole mysterious plot and why, or how these bizarro Dopplegangers work! You can feel free to ask these questions in the discord server for better clarification but the long of the short of it this:

So the main baddies for Darkwire are five individuals that make up the "Direx Board", the most powerful Corpos in the CAD. They aren't always on the same page and come into conflict with one another. They sometimes utilized Darkwire for their big and dirtiest missions, but they also have an antagonistic relationship with the criminals.​

​

In this storyline, we are following up on the story with Parcellus Minor (Though of course not everyone was necessarily present there, this story is still living with the after effects of that event). In essence, while Darkwire was tripping balls on Nanites living out their ideal lives in a virtual reality they all shared and sometimes conflicted, the Direx member Larz Blackheart (Head of Cybersecurity for CAD) was opportunistically using the crisis to collect vast quantities of data on members of the Darkwire organization from these invasive Nanites.​

​

What's happening right now with the Dopplegangers, is that Qanatain Xopsaloff (Another Direx, in charge of banking and funding stuff), is funding the construction of extremely sophisticated HRDs filled with the data Larz Blackheart has. The purpose of this being: They believe that Darkwire is growing too powerful and too influential for them to control, so now they are hitting them in the only way that can actually hurt us, our reputation.​

​

They've been using them to purposely botch our missions to discredit our abilities and reduce our employment so that we'd be desperate to jump at the chance to conduct their dirty deeds for them. Marlene Starlight may also be involved, but to what level, none of us really know yet. That's basically the gist of the idea so far!​

This is the brief that I gave the creatives, that I am now offering to you guys who want it to better tell your stories for this thread! If you need more information, do not hesitate to ask on the discord, or utilize our Faction forum to discuss this! PMs also work for myself, Daiya , and Rika (we be the admins of Darkwire). For example, the HRDs are intended to be highly sophisticated, and even capable of spoofing the abilities and senses of those sensitive to the force on very low levels (nothing much crazier than that). Even those who weren't on Parcellus Minor, or who are corporate, may find themselves duplicated (though perfection is never achieved for these dopplegangers, they can be very fallible in the case where information on a particular character might be severely lacking).

Just have as much fun as possible with this series. Part one is going to be all about the discover of these strange things, and we will pick up on this storyline in a part two dealing with the possible destruction of undoing of this Corporate Plot to use us!

Enjoy!

 

[Gina Venasir]

Running. Running had been most of the short life Venasir had known. Since she had escaped the lab, she had constantly been on the move, running from those who would see her captured again. Who those individuals were, she had no idea. All she knew was that she did not want to be taken back to them.

There had been a few months now since she had escaped. And before that, she had lived only a few years in the lab, though the exact number was unknown to her. That had been her whole life. Yet, for some reason, she had memories from before that. Memories of a planet far away, with high rock pillars, and green fields surrounded by barren rocks. And factories, this world also had factories. But Venasir only remembered the the beautiful countryside.

But now, she was on Denon, a big, loud, exhausting city planet. She had arrived relativly recently, having snuck onboard a cargo freighter who was going there. After, she had lived on the streets, when she couldn't hide inside closed buildings, and stolen food from small shops or people she saw as easy prey. But she had yet to find the reason she was on Denon. Until this evening.

Through all the memories she had of this other planet, there was one name that never left her brain. Gray Venasir. After escaping the lab she had lived in, she tried to seek this person out, mostly without any luck. That was until last week, when she heard a slaver mention his name, and she learned that he was on Denon. She did not know why or how, but she had to find him.

On Denon, she had heard more rumors about the man called Gray. The people that talked about him, said he was a brutal slaver, who beat up anyone who tried to interfere with his business, and that he almost seemed like a psychopath. Why the force would this young girl know the name of a man with that reputation.

Late one night, when she was standing lookout on the roof of a building, looking for clues and people she could steal food from, luck struck her. A man was walking down the street below her, and she instantly recognized him as Gray. Somehow, she just knew. She saw him enter an alley right below, and squat down to look for something. This was her chance. She took out a blaster she had managed to scavange, and made her way down to the alley. She landed behind him, and aimed the blaster at his head. "Gray Venasir?" she asked. "I'we been looking for you."

 

[Gray Venasir]

The small thud had been inaudible, as the figure landed behind Gray. It was only when he heard the voice of a young girl, that he realized someone had snuck up on him. "That entirely depends on who is asking," he answered, and turned around to look at the girl. Seeing the blaster pointed at his head, he slowly put his arms up to the sides of his head. "Ain't you a little too young to be owning a blaster like that? Shouldn't someone like you be in bed by now?"

Sometimes, it were the young or desperate, who didn't know how to use a blaster, that were the most dangerous. Without even knowing, they could fire the blaster by mistake. Gray and the girl were in an alley, so there were no one else who could see them, and come with help. Not that anyone would have done it, what with Gray's new 'reoutation'.

"How about you put that blaster down, and I take you back to your mom? How's that sound?" But Gray could see on the girl's face that she did not want that. "Look, I am Gray Venasir, alright. Don't know hoe you learned my family name, but whatever. If this is about the rumors of me being a slaver, it is not true, alright?"

"I am not here about the slaver stuff," the girl finally said. "What connection do you have to me? I don't know how, but I remember your name. I recognize your face, from somewhere. Were you one of the scientists at the lab?"

All of this made Gray feel taken aback. He had never seen this girl before, but she was saying she knew him. And what kind of lab was she talking about? "Look, I have no idea where you recognize me from, and I don't know anything-"

"Well, ain't this a surprise?" A voice, sounding exactly like Gray's, came from one of the alleys leading into this. Both Gray and the girl looked in that direction. And shortly after emerged "Gray", or someone who looked exactly like him, with a cocky grin on his face. "The whole squad is present."

 

[Xan Deesa]

After her little exchange with Spark, Xan decided to head off on her own again. She was still not sure on what was going on, but she was going to get to the bottom of it. It seemed that the both of them had supposed copies and she was willing to bet that it was the same for a bunch of people in Darkwire. Walking through the streets of Denon, she pulled her cap down a little bit more as she glanced around. She was running on high alert now, more than usual. Were her creators replacing her? Were they listening in on everything she'd been doing? If that were the case, she was going to have to get the drop on this copy... not an easy thing if the replacement was coming after her.

She was snapped out of her thoughts as she walked to the Blue Flame. The path was normal, she'd become quite a regular customer there. What did catch her attention, though, was the same cat she saw back in the CorpSec building... walking side by side with another cat that looked exactly like him. She couldn't see any difference between them. Even twins weren't perfect copies. This was not right.

She focused on them as she kept a good space between herself and them. She followed them into the bar, blending in with the crowd and getting herself a cider as she kept the two cats in her line of sight. Once they got their seats and got comfortable, she made her move. With her cider in hand, she slid in beside one of the cats with her holographic mask curled into a smug grin. "Hey boys, how ya doing?" she greeted them as she sat back, her hand holding onto her pistol underneath her jacket. "Alright, which one of you is the copycat?" she asked casually as she drew her pistol and placed it on the table. Her other hand slipped off her mask before bringing her bottle to her mouth for a tender sip. "You two better start talking before I waste both your asses. So start talking. What the kark is going on here?" she ordered them with a voice suddenly devoid of emotion. The golden contacts in her eyes shifted from one furball to the other as her fingers dribbled against her pistol, waiting with anticipation for them to give her some sort of explanation.

Venku Bralor

 

[Venku Bralor]

Engaging: Xan Deesa

The two felines glanced at each other. Eye contact was broken as the one in brown and orange armor glanced back at the painfully colorful being. The other looked around the bar. It was too open here.
"That wou-" "Who are you and why do you want to know?" Nasaade cut off his younger self. Despite the fact that they were the same age, Bralor was still so innocent that he couldn't help but see him as his vod'ika. He would protect him, make up for his past. Programming be damned, he would protect him. He was the only brother he had left.

That meant telling him. This would be a problem, his programming forbade him from telling. Maybe he'd suggest Venku examine their hairs. With the identical strands, the differences would stand out. A DNA test would work, but those took much too long. Attention was drawn back to the woman - at least he thought it was a woman - before him.
"If you want to talk, we do it somewhere private. Too many listening ears." Too many chances of being watched. Ka'ra be damned he wouldn't let a couple farghuls get in the way of protecting his aliit.

Or escaping his bonds.
​

This is what happens when you try to enslave a mandalorian. Already he was stepping on toes by painting his armor differently, but there was nothing forbidding it. His beskar'gam was his soul, and it would be colored appropriately, despite the threats of his masters. The poor fools wouldn't know what hit them.

 

[Xan Deesa]

Xan's golden eyes glanced at the other one as he interrupted the first cat. A cold smirk spread across her lips as she glared at him. "Well that answers that question." she quipped as her fingers wrapped around her pistol's grip, shifting it to point it right at him. The familiar hiss-and-click of the weapon indicated that she wasn't in the mood for beating around the bush. Her other hand gripped the neck of her bottle a little tighter, ready to use it to take care of the real cat if he got in the way.

"We're fine right here, copycat. Besides, I'm not done with my drink and I'm a little tilted already as it is." she commented as she took a long swig of her drink. She didn't let go of the bottle as she sat it down on the table again, still glaring at the both of them. "Now, here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna tell me everything you know, programming or not. If you're worried about cameras or prying ears, stop acting like you're busy with sketchy stuff. I got a copycat problem of my own and if you don't give me some useful information right now, I'm going to stick a scomp link up your ass and see for myself what the kark you're hiding." she ordered with a sing-song voice as she gently started to squeeze the trigger of her pistol, aiming the barrel roughly at his neck. Any higher and she might have trouble following through with her threat.

Without looking at him, she decided to address the real cat. "If you plan on hindering me, Mando, I'll turn you into my next winter coat." she kept up her casual tone as she flashed a friendly smile, making it look like she was having a rather fun chat with the two 'twins'. "So, let's start at the top. What's your name? And what's your mission?" she asked him simply, sitting back to make herself comfortable.

Venku Bralor

 

[Venku Bralor]

Tags: Xan Deesa

A gun was drawn. She was threatening his brother! Grey ears pinned back as Venku snarled, a low noise. He couldn't do anything, he couldn't do anything! Panic encroached on his mind, tugging at his thoughts and taunting him with the gun. Beside him, his ori'vod hardly even seemed worried. His ears flicked back but that was it. How could he be so calm? He had a gun pointed at him! To add insult to injury, she implied that his brother, copy cat or not, was no mando'ad. This at least elicited a small snarl from the golden clad warrior.

"My name, is Venku Nasaade." His voice was tense, almost a snarl of his own. A blatant contradiction to his own posture. "The mission-" here he did snarl, likely upset at revealing his plans. Still, Venku wondered at the use of the instead of my. Who's mission was this if not his own? Venku looked over his ori'vod with appraising eyes. Who's controlling you, brother? And when do i get to punch them? No one enslaved his family. "is to ruin darkwire's reputation."

This was by no means a surprise to the young togorian. It had been obvious from the start, with all the corroborating evidence. Any investigator worth their salt could figure it out. "That's the mission, but what's your mission?" The words were spoken quietly, too quite for human ears. Almost to the pint that even Venku, with his superior feline hearing, strained to grasp his own voice. "Not here." The words were equally quiet. They were also tense. Something was bothering the man. The woman? No, he hardly seemed to break a sweat until she called him dar'manda. It had to be something else. His master? Probably, but could they listen even here? Surely they weren't in the same room.

Too many listening ears. ​

The cameras! His eye flicked to the security camera in the bar. They were everywhere on Denon. If someone could hack them, they could see literally everything. Listen in on private conversation, watch the actions of one's enemy....

Even keep a leash on one' slave.​

Venku snarled, this time at the chains those electronics represented. The hut'uuns would pay for this.
He didn't bring up the escape attempt, as that was what it likely was. Instead, he glared at the woman before them. Except he didn't glare at her so much as in her direction. No. Instead his mind was spiraling down the path of what he would do to the cowards when he found them. His force signature curled protectively around his brother. Who unsurprisingly had a connection to the force of his own. Venku felt him hesitate, and eventually lean into the presence that buzzed like an angry cat around him. No more.

 

[Xan Deesa]

The copycat introduced himself and gave a short explanation of his mission... both of which was rather useless. At least now she knew the real one's name, if the whole copycat thing was anything to go by. The two cats spoke to each other with hushed voices that even Xan's enhanced hearing had trouble listening in on. But their hostile behavior was becoming an issue for her. At this rate she was going to have a firefight on her hands and no valuable information was going to be gained from it.

She sighed and took another swig of her cider before glancing at them again. "Yeah that's not going to help me at all. I'm gonna need a lot more than that." she stated with annoyance. Glancing around them, she thought of a different approach to the situation. "Okay, listen. I apparently got a copycat situation of my own. The only difference is that mine has potential to be a lot more severe and on a much bigger scale than Darkwire." she admitted with a softer tone. "I need to know how far this copying streak goes and if my own little conundrum is, in any way, connected to the Corpos. So if getting info out of you means going somewhere private, then sure we can go somewhere private. But don't make the mistake of thinking that I'll let your stubbornness get in the way of my own life." she explained to them with a serious look in her eye.

She finished off her cider and waved over the bartender, sliding her pistol in underneath the table. Once he arrived, she gave him a friendly smile. "Yeah, I'll take another cider." she ordered politely, giving the two cats a sultry smile. "And whatever my two friends here would like." she offered, flashing them a seductive wink before paying the bartender for the order. "Keep the change, hun." she quipped before he went to get their orders. Her annoyed demeanor returned in the blink of an eye as she looked at them. "I don't got spare Sith heads lying around so I guess drinks will have to suffice for a peace offering." she quipped flatly as she sat back. "So Mandos, are you inclined to help a poor walking neon sign or are we going to have to resort to more drastic measures?"

Venku Bralor

 

[Gina Venasir]

So this was the man she had been looking for. For some reason, he was neither anything more, nor anything less than she had expected. But acording to the rumors, he was a slaver. And that made him bad. But he claimed he was not what the rumors said. In the end, it didn't really matter.

"I am not here about the slaver stuff," the girl finally said. "What connection do you have to me? I don't know how, but I remember your name. I recognize your face, from somewhere. Were you one of the scientists at the lab?"

Gray looked as confused as the girl felt. She had no idea where she knew this man from, but she knew she had seen him. Somewhere.

Suddenly, they were interrupted, by a man that emerged from one of the pitch black alleys leading to this one. The man who emerged made the girl's mouth drop. Another Gray Venasir, identical to the one standing in front of her now (Except for the accent.) This must have been a dream. Maybe this had all been a test in the lab, that none of this was real. But what if it was? She changed her aim, to have her blaster pointing at the new Gray.

"Well, ain't this cute?" he said when she had fixed her blaster on him. "You gonna shot me? Go ahead, do it. I'll only come back. And then, I'll take more girls from these people as slaves." What he was saying sickened the young girl. She could feel anger boil inside her as Gray spoke of taking slaves, but she didn't know why. She had never even met a real slave before. But she could feel her fingergetting closer to the trigger, as on reflex.

"Ah, ah, ah, not so fast," said the Gray, and waved his finger, inciting her to stop. "You might want to reconsider. Or else, you will never know what connection you have to Gray Venasir, the man standing beside you." Once again, her mouth dropped. This Gray somehow knew what her connection was to the Gray that was standing beside her. But at the same time, he admitted that he wasn't the real one. But did that really matter? "What do you know?" she asked desperately, and lowered her blaster. "How do I know him, you, whatever?" Honestly, this whole two Grays thing was beginning to give her a headache.

 

[Venku Bralor]

Tags: Xan Deesa Kadora'Tra

He was so very close to committing murder. It wouldn't be his first time, wouldn't even be in the single digits. Still, this lady wasn't an ordinary criminal. Picking a fight with her wouldn't end well. Even is she did call him dar'manda.

The drinks arrived quickly. Picking his up, a simple water, Venku led the way to a private back room. "I'll help, but in return, I want contact with the best coder you know." He would not stay in these chains.

Taking a seat, he gestured to a chair opposite him, Ven'ika sliding into the one beside him.

"There are... others, though I've never met them. I'm what you could call an experiment, compared to the others. My interactions with the other copies is heavily monitored." Clawed hands played with his gold and grey buy'ce tracing the lines of of vengeance and mourning.

Around them, the empty room seemed foreboding in its stillness. He was divulging information. Shouldn't those sith cursed ferghuls have found him and stopped him by now? He kept talking, taking what chance he could get. "As for the scale, i know they're in both Darkwire and Corpo. Someone outside wants both of you fall. Likely they want to profit from the power vacuum left in the shadow of these giants' corpses. I honestly don't know much more than that. I'm just a lackey. I don't know the big plans. If you wanted that information then you need to find-" Sparks cut through his artificial nerves, the synth flesh hiding them from the world outside. Naasade tensed up, before going lax. Artificial eyes unfocused and mechanical breaths stilled, all but dead to the world.

Someone had pulled the kill switch, stopping the droid in it's tracks. It seemed the ferghuls had noticed after all.

Beside the robotic corpse, the organic Venku snarled and lunged for his brother, checking for a pulse as he did so. Burnt plastic filled his nose and the flesh sent a tingle up his arm. There was no pulse.

There had never been a pulse.​

 

[Xan Deesa]

He agreed, laying down his terms for the info. "Deal." she stated flatly, getting up and walking with them to a VIP room. It was an easy thing to agree to. With the amount of slicers she knew as well as her own skills, she could easily uphold her end of the deal. After taking her seat and sipping at her drink, he jumped right into the explanation. She set her drink aside and focused on him as she memorized as much as she could. What was very interesting was the fact that Corpos also had some copies running around. It made her wonder just how big this conspiracy was growing.

He was about to give her the best lead she could ask for when he suddenly shorted out... literally. With wide eyes she got up, reaching out towards him. But it was no use. He was fried. The smell of electrical smoke filled her nose and she sighed in defeat. The original Venku was by his side in an instant, looking for a means to help. "Well... shit." she muttered as she downed her drink. "He's karked, Mando." she commented as she turned to leave... but she stopped by the door. She turned back to Venku and studied him for a second. Unless whoever fried the copy fried his memory as well, she could possibly get her answers from the droid's head. But getting his head meant getting past the Mando and that wasn't going to be easy. She stepped back and stood next to him, looking at the copy of the cat.

"You can still get revenge for this. If we work together, we can find these people and take them down." she admitted as she reached out to place a hand on his shoulder. "But to do that, we need to find out what's in his head. I know people that can help to find out what's going on in his memory banks. Perhaps they might even be able to revive him." she explained. She was talking out of her ass at this point. She didn't have a clue if the droid could be revived. But if it meant that the cat would work with her, she was willing to play that card. "Whaddya say?" she quipped as she looked at him.

Venku Bralor

 

[Brie Jaxx]

Seven Corner's District
Denon
Alleyway off the main street

''N-No...?'' she answered confused to the girl in front of her. It was the only thing she could come up with right now, trying to answer the questions that she had spat at her by this almost exact copy of herself. It was a surreal situation, but the angered girl seemed not as confused as herself about meeting herself. The girl had a violent demeanor that was so far from her own, she could not even imagine herself being like this. It was like night and day, but somehow she could feel some sort of connection with the girl. A connection not easily explained. It was a puzzle. A riddle.

''My name is Brie... W-Who are you?''

The girl yanked her once more against the duracrete wall, making a slight grunt escape from her.

''Shut up! You are talking so much bantha poodo - I am Brie!''

''W-Would you please just... just let me go? I promise... I won't escape or try anything. I want to sort this out as much as you... Please?''

Her look-a-like stared at her with suspicion in her eyes, before she slowly loosened her grip around the space suits collar.

''You better not!''

Brie exhaled deeply, relieved that the girl would lower her guard just a little bit for them to hopefully straighten things out. She brushed herself off a bit from the fall to the ground, while the look-a-like took one small step back, the whole time keeping an eye on her.

''I-I'm... I'm as confused as you about this... Whatever it now is, and... I'm afraid that I have as few answers as you got...'' the real Brie begun, thinking of what to say to the girl. ''All I know is that... I was chased out of a scrap shop, just by entering it... They thought I was a thief, and I barely escaped and... Well, then I ended up here...''

The look-a-like suddenly cracked a sassy snooty smile and pulled a hyperdrive part from the pocket of her black leather jacket.

''Laserbrain... That was me! A girl gotta make her credits, and this little baby is worth quite a lot where I'm going.'' she said and tossed the part once in the air before putting it back in her pocket.

''But that's not...''

Brie stopped herself. She did not want to argue or anger the girl any further.

''I mean... We're clearly very alike, and... I've never had a... like, twin sister before... Don't you wonder why we meet like this?''