Scourge of Gold
// LORD OF OPULENCE //
// OBJECTIVE // Behind Enemy Lines: Infiltrate the SIBC
// New Imperial Order // Gat Tambor
// The Sith Empire // Aerarii Tithe Darth Argentum Madelyn Lowe
// New Imperial Order // Gat Tambor
// The Sith Empire // Aerarii Tithe Darth Argentum Madelyn Lowe
// Aboard The T.U.R.B.O Lover, several weeks earlier... //
Avernus' yacht coasted through the atmospheric shield of the T.U.R.B.O Lover's hangar bay. The chromium ship gently floated down to the hangar floor as the landing gear hissed open. The ship touched down with a metallic thud and a mechanical groan of the landing legs settling under the ship's weight. As if in a hurry, the boarding ramp snapped open almost immediately, followed by the sound of the hydraulic whirring of the lowering mechanisms. Darth Avernus strode down the ramp, clad in the bright ensemble he had chosen for himself for the errand he had been on. Trajan Fett followed shortly, looking around, aghast at the rather eccentric choice of paint and color composition that made up the T.U.R.B.O Lover's main hangar.
Several servants came scrambling to meet them from a myriad of different stations in the hangar. Two rather muscular male Twi'lek slaves began to take the flashy amethyst coat from his shoulders, quickly replacing it with an equally ostentatious robe. As they pulled it over his shoulders, Avernus pulled forward to free it from their hands, taking it upon himself to adjust, close, and eventually tie the robe shut. The Pureblood's crimson hands raised in front of him, the robe sleeves slipping downwards to rest beneath his wrists as he clapped his hands together twice. "Suja! Deeb!" The Darth called out the names of two of his servants.
A gaunt, limping Rodian with both hands clasped together in what almost looked like a scheming fashion hobbled his way over to Avernus. Behind the Rodian sauntering at a much slower pace was a Lethan Twi'lek, scantily clad and covered in jewelry. "Suja, Trajan here is my newest, er, associate," Avernus spoke to the Lethan while gesturing towards the bounty hunter. "He's agreed to a rather lucrative contract and I would like him to feel at home here. Show him around, let him pick out a room, and make him comfortable," Avernus gestured towards Trajan with a sideways nod of his head. "Of course, Lord Avernus," the Twi'lek responded just before making her way towards the Mandolorian with a suggestive grin on her face.
Avernus turned to the Rodian, giving a subtle look of disgust to the Rodian's ghastly physique. "Deeb, I've left an empty glass on the minibar. Take samples from the rim of the glass and send them up to the AvCorp™ lab. The Rodian nodded his head in a hyperactive fashion, "<Yes, yes , yes, of course, Lord Avernus. Anything, anything, yes.>" The green alien skittered away as he concluded his frantic buzzing and droning, heading up the boarding ramp and into the yacht.
Big Money began a confident stride out of the hangar and through the many brightly colored durasteel corridors of the T.U.R.B.O Lover. Men from the 66th Ragnos Legion stood at attention as he passed, while servant offered small bows and the menagerie of responses such as, 'My Lord', 'Lord Avernus', and the like. The Dark Lord paid them little mind, his mind tunnel-visioned on making it to the AvCorp™, eager to bring his plan for Tithe's biological sample to fruition.
Stepping into a lift, Avernus dialed in the code that authorized access to the AvCorp™ R&D deck of the T.U.R.B.O Lover. With a mechanical whirring and a metallic drone, the lift began to descend into the heart of the Star Destroyer. After a handful of moments, the lift came to a halt, and a loud ding signaled his arrival as the doors slid open. All of the AvCorp™ scientists and engineers stood up straight, each of them bowing and greeting Big Money as he arrived. With his hands behind his back, Avernus approached the center of the room and looked over the prototype ODRDK-6000 droid that lay dormant on the table.
"Have you received the samples from Deeb?" Avernus asked the Duros engineer that stood closest to him. "We have, my lord," the Duros responded, producing a swab from the edge of the table, encased neatly within a glass vial. Avernus plucked the vial from the engineer's hand with his thumb and index finger, a small clink sounding off as his long fingernails collided with the glass. "Excellent," Avernus replied, tugging the cap off of the vial. "Activate the droid." The Duros looked to his Ortolan colleague who shrugged and turned to the stepstool that would bring him high enough to reach the droid.
The two engineers connected a series of wires and placed a fusion battery in the droid's chassis. After a few seconds, the blue lights on the droids 'wings' flickered on. The droid erected itself in a dignified position and the wings began to spin. Big Money presented the swab with the trace DNA Aerarii Tithe to the droid. The wings fanned out dramatically and spun quicker, the lights turning green as it scanned the sample. Suddenly the droid jolted to look to its left, the 'wings' thinned out and produced a bright orange light and span widely faster than they had before. The two engineers who were now being faced by the droid each stepped to the side. The droid's 'wings' began to spin slightly faster, now producing a slight whirring sound as they had reached max speed. Behind the two engineers was the glass jar that held the other three samples the Rodian had taken from the glass.
"I'll be damned, it actually works." The Duros stated excitedly, patting his Ortolan colleague on the back in congratulations. The Pureblood smirked, giving a small nod of approval as he watched the droid oscillate frantically. "Excellent," he spoke softly, licking his lips with morbid gratification. "Preserve those samples and begin a rushed mass production immediately. I want at least ten thousand units in the next month." Darth Avernus turned on his heels and made his way back towards the lift. "Of course, Lord Avernus, it will be done," the Duros reassured as the Lord of Opulence reentered the lift, back still turned to the engineers.
// PRESENT TIME //
// Mygeeto, SIBC Vaults //
// THEME // Midnight Shadow
The cold Mygeetoan winds bit at Avernus' crimson skin. The dark robes he had covered himself in did little to protect him from the frigid disposition of the blizzard. The drip, unfortunately, had to take a backseat in the face of the unforgiving temperatures of the Southern Mesas. The only shred of opulence that bled through was the mask that lay beneath the obscurity of his hood. The sudden fog clouds of his breath bled through the mask with every exhale, illuminated by blue light of the Hunter-Seeker droid that peeked over his shoulder, flapping in the direction of what they presumed must be the location of Aearii Tithe.
The bodies of Sith-Imperial troopers littered the floor around the feet of Avernus, Tambor, and the four 66th Ragnos agents that were currently at work with fusion cutters on the wall of the SIBC complex. Each of their Hunter-Seeking droids also flapping towards the same direction as Avernus' which happened to be directly at the wall.
Getting this far without raising any alarms had been a rather arduous task, only possible due to the intense battle that raged on the bridges beyond. Had their efforts and focus had not been spread in such a fashion, frankly, this objective wouldn't have been possible. The agents concluded with their fusion cutters, lowing a large and heavy slab of the wall to the ground. Avernus entered first, looking around the seemingly empty interior carefully for any individuals who might be laying in wait.
None.
Had they all been stationed outside? Nothing about this seemed right, but if this truly was an oversight it wouldn't surprise him too much. The hunter-seeker droid's lights changed color from blue to orange as it began to flap quicker in the direction of a large set of blast doors. He approached slowly, making a hand signal for the agents to follow behind him. Knees bent and profile low they all stalked behind him, keeping their weapons at the ready and trained in all directions.
Big Money pulled the curved hilt from his belt, flicking it to the side at the amethyst plasma exploded from the emitter. He pointed the surging, droning blade towards the blast doors and began to sink it through. It was like pushing a stick through thick clay, plenty of resistance but with an equal amount of give. The steel began to slowly glow a bright orange color as he twisted, pulled, and pushed the blade around. Sweat dripping down his face as the heat that was normally trapped within the blade began to bleed into the doors metallic structure. The wings of the hunter-seeker droid had ceased flapping, now spinning rapidly with a loud whirr.
They were close.