Not Ordo
Just under the upper hand.
He walked calmly down the street. Amber eyes scanned the faces of the other pedestrians of the Sundari street as he went along. He listened to the sounds of his own foot falls as the bags of provisions sat heavy in his arms. The sounds of speeder traffic and people calling to one another filled the air like a fog of sounds that was only made thicker by the sounds of construction droids as they worked to repair the damage that had been done by the civil war. Kal didn’t have any feeling about the civil war. It was only natural that two alphas should fight for who would run the pack and the loser would either die or be reduced to exile. That was the way of things. It was the galactic balance that saw to it all, everything had a balance and counter balance. Nothing was above that. Nothing.
He rounded the corner to his building and punched in the code that let him into the squat building he had found for his days away from his job. But, he never did take time off from what he believed and that was what today would be for. He walked down the long corridor and unlocked the heavy chain on the door that led down to his living quarters. It was actually a speeder garage once, before the people who owned it left rather than be given the cure for their force problem. He locked the chain again behind him and picked his bags back up before he continued down. The dark steps smelled of damp duracrete and mildew in the stairwell, but thus far he had done nothing to cure it, and he likely wouldn’t bother.
He walked down the steps casually as he would any other day and set his bags down again as he flipped aside a durasteel plate and held still while the security system scanned his face. The sounds of several locks moving groaned and scraped from inside before the door popped inward and he grabbed his bags and carried them into the dark room. He sat the bags down in the dark. The coldness of the room a welcome sensation after the hot street. He rubbed his face with his hand and took a deep breath then blew out hard to clear the smells that still lingered from his miserable trek up into the world of greater society. But a smell still lingered the smell of another being and he didn’t like it. Not one bit.
He stood at the counter and reached through the dark to his left and flicked on the light switch that turned the light on in the room on the other side of the counter. The bright ultraviolet rays poured over the form of a large human male strapped to a steel folding chair in the middle of the room. Kal slowly began unpacking things for his bags. Thing he normally didn’t bother with. A small plasma torch came out first and was sat down on the counter with a bang that started the sleeping being to wakefulness. The thick fabric over his head still kept the man from seeing but the Kal knew the man understood his situation well enough.
Kal continued to unpack one bag and then the next in silence as the man began yelling for help, and demanding to know what was going on. Kal couldn’t help but let the idea of the man making demands tug the corner of his mouth upwards for moment. He sat down the last of the items and grabbed a piece of dried meat from the supplies and stuck it in his mouth. He chewed happily, his jaw working in slow deliberate motions beneath his thick brown beard as he rounded the counter and walked toward the man. His amber eyes lost their mirth as he looked at the man and thought of the reasons why he had been strapped to the chair. The man liked hurting kids, young ones. Then selling them to people off world to hide his vice. The balance didn’t like that, and that meant Kal didn’t like that either. He walked forward, his thick fabric jacket stiff against his thick forearms as he neared the man and ripped the bag from his head. Kal popped another piece of meat into his mouth as the human’s eyes adjusted, the old Gurlanin watched as he chewed quietly.
“You!” the man said as his vision began to focus.
“Me.” Kal replied with a level almost amused voice.
‘Let me go now, old man.” The human said as he jerked against the restraints. “If you don’t let me go I’ll….”
Kal’s face grew hard as he brought his face close to the man’s his amber eyes stared into the man’s osik brown ones and brought him to silence.
“You’ll what?” Kal said his voice calm, “Go ahead. What will you do? I really want to hear what kind of bantha osik idea you thought would be worth starting with the words ‘I will’.”
Kal waited for a long moment eyes boring into the man’s as he waited for an answer. The man spat in Kal’s face foamy spittle striking his cheek just below his eye as the kark stain of a human smiled.
“Cute.” Kal said calmly as he stood and wiped his face with a sleeve. “I guess that means you’re ready to skip the pleasantries and just start the dying part?”
The man looked at him with wide eyes as if he had seen a rancor busrt out of a gizka’s backside. The mixture of disgust fear and confusion was not something you could reproduce often and it made Kal smile.
“There it is.” Kal said as he squatted in front of the man and motioned in a circle around the man’s face. “That is the look of a man who just figured out he wasn’t in karking charge of a single damn thing.”
Kal reached down to his boot and tugged aa knife free and held it loosely as he rested his arms on his knees.
“I don't like you.” Kal said as he looked around the room.
“Please,” the man said a slight whimper in his voice, “I'll do whatever you want. Just, please let me go.”
“I want you to bleed.” Kal said calmly, “How are you going to do that right if I let you go?”
The man started to sob, his head hung low as it bobbed against his chest while the tears began to fall.
“If you tell me where you sold the kids…” Kal began and watched the human's face light up with hope, “I can promise you won't suffer more than you have too.”
The man nodded and started to mumble out information faster than Kal could make sense of. He stood calmly and stepped closer to the man. With a steady motion he made the man's fingers one less than ten and walked to the counter for the plasma torch amidst the screams. He walked back and calmly cauterized the wound before he took off his jacket and looked at the screaming man's face.
“Now slower.” Kal said as if instructing a child, “One answer. Who did you sell the kids too?”
He rounded the corner to his building and punched in the code that let him into the squat building he had found for his days away from his job. But, he never did take time off from what he believed and that was what today would be for. He walked down the long corridor and unlocked the heavy chain on the door that led down to his living quarters. It was actually a speeder garage once, before the people who owned it left rather than be given the cure for their force problem. He locked the chain again behind him and picked his bags back up before he continued down. The dark steps smelled of damp duracrete and mildew in the stairwell, but thus far he had done nothing to cure it, and he likely wouldn’t bother.
He walked down the steps casually as he would any other day and set his bags down again as he flipped aside a durasteel plate and held still while the security system scanned his face. The sounds of several locks moving groaned and scraped from inside before the door popped inward and he grabbed his bags and carried them into the dark room. He sat the bags down in the dark. The coldness of the room a welcome sensation after the hot street. He rubbed his face with his hand and took a deep breath then blew out hard to clear the smells that still lingered from his miserable trek up into the world of greater society. But a smell still lingered the smell of another being and he didn’t like it. Not one bit.
He stood at the counter and reached through the dark to his left and flicked on the light switch that turned the light on in the room on the other side of the counter. The bright ultraviolet rays poured over the form of a large human male strapped to a steel folding chair in the middle of the room. Kal slowly began unpacking things for his bags. Thing he normally didn’t bother with. A small plasma torch came out first and was sat down on the counter with a bang that started the sleeping being to wakefulness. The thick fabric over his head still kept the man from seeing but the Kal knew the man understood his situation well enough.
Kal continued to unpack one bag and then the next in silence as the man began yelling for help, and demanding to know what was going on. Kal couldn’t help but let the idea of the man making demands tug the corner of his mouth upwards for moment. He sat down the last of the items and grabbed a piece of dried meat from the supplies and stuck it in his mouth. He chewed happily, his jaw working in slow deliberate motions beneath his thick brown beard as he rounded the counter and walked toward the man. His amber eyes lost their mirth as he looked at the man and thought of the reasons why he had been strapped to the chair. The man liked hurting kids, young ones. Then selling them to people off world to hide his vice. The balance didn’t like that, and that meant Kal didn’t like that either. He walked forward, his thick fabric jacket stiff against his thick forearms as he neared the man and ripped the bag from his head. Kal popped another piece of meat into his mouth as the human’s eyes adjusted, the old Gurlanin watched as he chewed quietly.
“You!” the man said as his vision began to focus.
“Me.” Kal replied with a level almost amused voice.
‘Let me go now, old man.” The human said as he jerked against the restraints. “If you don’t let me go I’ll….”
Kal’s face grew hard as he brought his face close to the man’s his amber eyes stared into the man’s osik brown ones and brought him to silence.
“You’ll what?” Kal said his voice calm, “Go ahead. What will you do? I really want to hear what kind of bantha osik idea you thought would be worth starting with the words ‘I will’.”
Kal waited for a long moment eyes boring into the man’s as he waited for an answer. The man spat in Kal’s face foamy spittle striking his cheek just below his eye as the kark stain of a human smiled.
“Cute.” Kal said calmly as he stood and wiped his face with a sleeve. “I guess that means you’re ready to skip the pleasantries and just start the dying part?”
The man looked at him with wide eyes as if he had seen a rancor busrt out of a gizka’s backside. The mixture of disgust fear and confusion was not something you could reproduce often and it made Kal smile.
“There it is.” Kal said as he squatted in front of the man and motioned in a circle around the man’s face. “That is the look of a man who just figured out he wasn’t in karking charge of a single damn thing.”
Kal reached down to his boot and tugged aa knife free and held it loosely as he rested his arms on his knees.
“I don't like you.” Kal said as he looked around the room.
“Please,” the man said a slight whimper in his voice, “I'll do whatever you want. Just, please let me go.”
“I want you to bleed.” Kal said calmly, “How are you going to do that right if I let you go?”
The man started to sob, his head hung low as it bobbed against his chest while the tears began to fall.
“If you tell me where you sold the kids…” Kal began and watched the human's face light up with hope, “I can promise you won't suffer more than you have too.”
The man nodded and started to mumble out information faster than Kal could make sense of. He stood calmly and stepped closer to the man. With a steady motion he made the man's fingers one less than ten and walked to the counter for the plasma torch amidst the screams. He walked back and calmly cauterized the wound before he took off his jacket and looked at the screaming man's face.
“Now slower.” Kal said as if instructing a child, “One answer. Who did you sell the kids too?”
