Strike Back

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"Apprentices." Vrak answered without even looking.

There was no need to even glance.

"Berilin has entire armies at his disposal." Vrak said as he reached down and grabbed the scruff of the still living assassin neck. "For him hiring killers would be foolish. He would assume they would succeed."

He'd been playing this game too long. "The man is centuries old, arrogant, and powerful. He thinks of me as just another acolyte."

Vrak dragged the assassin across the floor, then threw him up against the wall.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Well, at the very least it seemed the man knew nothing of Seraphina then as well. That gave them a small advantage.

Obscurity and anonymity was working in her favor as she had intended.

"Then there's your lead." She asserted, slipping her weapon back onto her hip, arms crossing as she leaned against the opposite wall, watching the Sith. What he did with the apprentice was largely none of her concern. There were two types of prisoners, ones that squealed all they knew and more, in hopes of mercy, and those who knew their fate and gave nothing in order to savor the frustration of their final few moments.

Which one he was she had yet to figure out, yet she sparkled with anticipation over the next few moments.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

Vrak slowly squatted down in front of the assassin, the fingers of his off hand reaching beneath the Assassin's mask and slowly peeling it free.

He lifted an eyebrow as he revealed the face beneath his mask, bright blue skin and glowing red eyes facing him. Chiss were not entirely unheard of within the Empire, but most of them worked for the Intelligence sphere, their logical and more crafty nature making them perfect for that sort of work. He frowned for a few moments. "Now now."

Vrak mused.

"This is most interesting." He glanced up at Seraphina. "What might you be doing here."

His hand pressed down on the shattered knee.

The Chiss screamed, but said nothing.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera scoffed at the Chiss, a slight bit of frustration with herself. She would have bet that the assassin was about to beg and plead. Instead it just cried out and snarled at Vrak. Perhaps the apprentice was unaware though, of things worse than death itself. The Twi'lek wandered next to Vrak, kneeling down beside the broken thing, looking to it from behind her veil.

"You're unsuited to this type of work, young one." She said, cheeks puffing from the smile beneath her mask. "There are few in this galaxy that can resist while each and every tiny bone in their frame is broken into shattered pieces." A pink digit floated over the broken knee, pressing slightly against it. A yelp followed, "What you have here is not even comparable to what I will do to you. Even if you were not to speak, I want you to imagine how it will feel having every centimeter of your body broken."

The woman took up the hand of the young Chiss, three of her fingers wrapping around the blue index of the alien. Holding it firmly she did nothing at first, simply sat and waited for a response.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"W-what do you want to know?"

By his accent Vrak could instantly tell that this man had not been raised among his own people, rather he had been brought up here on Athiss. There was no hint of the harsh pronunciations of Cheunh in his tone and his basic was nearly flawless, that didn't happen often with Chiss. That alone was clue enough to tell him this man really was one of Berilin's apprentices. He smiled for a few moments, and then glanced up at his companion before returning his gaze towards the Chiss.

"I know Berilin sent you." A bit of shock floated across the Apprentices face, exactly what Vrak had intended.

An interrogation was much like a game of back and forth. If your subject already though you knew certain things, then it made lying harder. Every truth he told could be verified, every lie could be checked, and of course the check here was a few broken bones.

"I want to know where the others are." Vrak continued. "Where does he keep you? Train you?"

"I-I-I can't te-"

There was a loud snap as Seraphina broke one of his knuckles, a scream rushing from the boys lips.

"KORRIZ! Korriz! He has an outpost there, dozens of apprentices chosen from the Massassi."

Vrak shook his head in disgust. This boy had given up after two broken bones and a shattered knee, pathetic really. The Pureblood slowly stood, his eyes wandering over the three other corpses scattered around them, then he looked towards Seraphina. "Do with him what you please, my dear."

The Pureblood said as he began to wander towards the Temple.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

A loose end was a loose end. It had to be tied.

As Vrak wandered away towards the temple Sera took it upon herself to draw one of her weapons, and despite the modest attempt for the Chiss to flee on one broken knee the Twi'lek impaled him through the back quickly and effortlessly, thereby ending his life in an instant. The weapon was rescinded and replaced by her side as she quickly made off to catch up with Vrak just a short distance ahead. Surely it wouldn't be long before others found the bodies, though she assumed that the discovery of slain victims was hardly an out of the ordinary sight for Athiss.

"I took care of it." She said quietly, walking alongside the Pureblood.

She recalled the words the assassin spoke just minutes prior. "Korriz?" She asked, a planet she was unfamiliar with. "You think he will be there himself?"

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"No no." Vrak said shaking his head slowly. Korriz was all but abandoned. Once upon a time, thousands of years ago, the planet had been another Sith Stronghold world. Millions of Purebloods had lived there and during the height of the Empire it had been a rich mining world, now it was nothing but an isolated and broken rock.

The perfect place to hide an outpost.

"Berilin is on Telos." Vrak was incredibly confident in that, if only because the man had an insufferable ego. Telos was his new 'crown world' and he was building up a massive fleet around Citadel Station and the planet itself. It would be a staging area in the future, a place where they could expand into the tingel arm from. The plan was basic strategy, but it also meant the Pureblood was basically untouchable due to all the forces there. "Korriz will be isolated."

He half stopped, turning to her. "Perfect for us."

The Pureblood smiled.

"Do you want to take a trip?" They had planned to anyway, but Vrak found himself in a playful mood. Victory often always did that to him, that and...well the force seemed to be smiling upon him as of late.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"Well we don't have much choice if we're going to find these other apprentices, now do we?"

Not unless Vrak had suddenly changed his mind to kill Berilin now instead of later which she doubted. If he had as much security as Vrak claimed, it wouldn't be as simple as landing on Telos and assassinating him, then inserting a new puppet to the role that Vrak could manipulate as he needed.

Korriz it had to be, at least for now. Killing his apprentices would put a damper on and slow down any plans for killing Vrak for the time being.

Besides, she could already feel the lust practically emanating from the Sith following the moments prior.

"Let's go."

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

He smiled and turned on his heel.

A communicator was slipped from a pocket on his belt, fingers pressing a few quick keys to send a message back towards the ship. They would take a different path back, mostly because he didn't want anyone to see them. It would be best if for the time Berilin thought he had remained within the temple. There were no spies inside, at least not any that could give away Vrak's position, if they moved quickly they could arrive on Korriz before the Councilor ever learned they left Athiss.

"Does your armor secure against vacuum?" He asked. "Korriz' atmosphere is poison."

An unfortunate fact of what the Jedi had done.

"We'll need rebreathers." Vrak didn't mind so much, mostly because he wore a mask nowawadays anyway. It always seemed that Jedi and others became far more terrified when they were fighting a faceless foe. He mused on that as they looped around the starport, boarding the starship a few moments later.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera turned, following his lead, quietly nodding.

"No. It's not made for inhospitable worlds." More often than not she was assigned to planets with breathable atmospheres, devoid of toxins or vacuum. For those times she had been sent to planets without atmospheres, she was always given the necessary equipment, not that it would be incredibly difficult to acquire a rebreather.

"Have you been to Korriz? Are you familiar with where they might be hiding out there?"

The last thing she wanted to do was wander about aimlessly on a hostile world.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"Once." He admitted.

That came so easily now, the truth. Vrak didn't often tell it, usually he hid it behind a veil of lies and secrecy. Yet Seraphina had been with him long enough, served him long enough that he knew she would not try to betray him. Perhaps she would kill him in the future, but she wouldn't sell him out to another one of the Council. She wouldn't use what he told her against him, no Sera would just end his life. That meant she got the truth instead of vague answers and lies.

"Their camp will likely be on the far side of the planet." He told her. "Within the broken jungles, It's where I would put an outpost."

Berilin was smart enough for that at least. The man was bold, brazen, but he wasn't a complete fool. As Sera and Vrak quickly walked up the ramp to the ship he could hear a loud hiss echoing out around them, the heavy metal slowly raising to seal in preparation for their departure.

When they made it on board Vrak turned, facing Sera and grabbing her with one hand. "We'll have to get you another mask."

He mused, his hand reaching up to remove the covering from her head.

"Wouldn't want you expiring on me." Vrak played off of what she had said earlier, the questions of jealousy, of her place being taken. He showed her something akin to affection, though not quite the same.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"Can we get close enough to it for a drop?"

Dropping straight from a gunship or similar atmospheric aircraft would be preferable. It would be quicker, and likely give the inhabitants less time to amount any kind of real defense. Sera wasn't sure what types of defenses, guards, or how many people were living at this outpost, but the faster they infiltrated the better. Otherwise, alternatively, she would prefer to survey the location for some time in the distance to get a feel for it, map out any hazards, and then move on the apprentices.

Once inside the ship again the Twi'lek paused, his backhanded concern surprised her in some way she hadn't quite expected.

Green eyes narrowed, staring down the Pureblood for a moment.

"Concern doesn't suit you well. But I'll take that rebreather. I'm not keen on dying yet myself."

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

He offered her a small smile. The concern wasn't real, not in the way that a lover might care for her, but he didn't want her to die either. Sera was the most useful of his tools, and...well there were certain other joys that she was able to bring into his life.

"We'll land." He told her simply. "I want to survey the camp, dropping in might be...unfortunate for us."

Berilin had access to the military, and that meant he could set up quite the defensive perimeter if he wanted to. Everything from laser canon turrets to anti-air missiles could be set up around the camp and Vrak simply didn't want to take the chance. In this case it was better to be safe than sorry. "We'll do this carefully."

He pulled the mask from her face, his arm looping around the small of her back.

"Then strike swiftly." Vrak kissed her, his teeth sinking down into her lip.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Landing meant this would take longer. She sighed, but nodded. "Very well."

Hitting two free-falling targets would be a feat of indescribable talent, but if Vrak wanted to play it careful, she would do as she always did.

"Anything there besides these apprentices?" Sith tended to have rather nasty guards lingering around. Massassi, Terentateks, the typical dysfunctional beasts.

Before she could finish her thought Vrak proceeded to pull free the obscurity from her face, planting a vigorous and violent kiss against her, half pushing her back from the force. Pink hands pressed against his upper chest, finally breaking away as the man drew blood from her as he typically did. A lighter shade of pink drew over her torn lip, clearing free the small patch of red before she eyed her companion. He always did seem to revel in the excitement of revenge.

"Let's go." She said, walking past Vrak towards the inner quarters of the ship.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

He followed after her, his tongue darting over bloodied teeth.

"Massassi are likely." Vrak stated as they moved through the narrow corridors of the ship, The Twi'lek slowly opening the door to his, quarters. The room had been cleaned in the brief time they had left the ship, new sheets and pillows, everything misplaced had been properly tucked away, and the room was seemingly untouched. Vrak didn't even notice this of course, to him this was simply how it was supposed to be when he returned.

"Turrets, droids." There was a reason he wanted caution. "Berilin runs the entire military."

It was good to remember that. "Whatever he wants, he gets as long as he can convince the Councilor of Logistics. I'm sure If i dug deep enough I would find some line item that explained this camp was for something else."

They didn't have time for that though, only the brief journey to Korriz which would be occupied with other affairs.

"So we'll have to see." He told her as she finally came to a stop in the middle of the room. "For all I know there will be an army waiting."

The prospect seemed to excite him even more, oddly enough.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"You'd best hope there's no army waiting for us."

She would bail faster than a sinking maritime vessel. After all, she was an assassin, one assassin. Taking head on the might of an entire army wasn't exactly in her list of talents. Sera still would have preferred a silent drop over the complex over sneaking their way inside. Something about this being possibly littered with forward defenses and enough personnel to see them to their demise made her uncomfortable.

Massassi weren't a problem, nor were droids or turrets. What was a problem was the number of each, as well as whatever Vrak hadn't yet taken into account, such as how many apprentices there were stationed there.

"Do you think he will call you forward publicly after this?"

The nature of Sith bravado always intrigued her. Some were very public and outwardly spoken. Others were much more conservative in their efforts to undermine their peers.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

Slowly Vrak crossed the room, his hands eventually settling on Seraphina's hips, thumbs gently pressing against her skin.

"I don't know." He answered truthfully. The history of the Dark Council was filled with subtlety, subterfuge and lies. Yet that was only because in the past it had to be that way. There was no avoiding the fact. They had struggled for survival, and infighting had just made everything worse. So things had to be moved slowly, they had to be done carefully, and they had to be done in such a way that no one could accuse anyone else of trying to tear down the Empire.

Now things were different though. The Empire was ascended, they had risen and for the first time in centuries their population was growing. It was remarkable, though the truth of it was that most Purebloods simply saw this as an opportunity for the growth of their own power.

"In the past we couldn't simply strike at one another in the open, not without being declared traitors to our people." He gently began to push her back towards the bed behind her. "Yet now...our Empire is here. We are growing. Most of our rules are already broken."

He mused for a moment. "For all I know he'll challenge me to a Kaggath."

The idea didn't seem so exciting to him.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

The Twi'lek bumped the back of her heel against the foot of the bed as Vrak pushed her towards it. There was a pause before she fell back onto her rear, hands catching herself as she landed, head looking up to the Sith in front of her. She largely ignored the advance, continuing the conversation all the same. "Rules? What rules do Sith have? Don't you kill your own siblings to stifle any contention of power between one another?" She wasn't certain if that were true or not, but what she knew of Sith culture made it seem incredibly likely.

"And what exactly is a Kaggath?"

The woman looked confused, having not heard the word before. Though judging by the pronunciation it sounded as though it were a native word. "Is that some kind of fight to the death?" That would seem oddly noble for their people. Noble, and honestly silly. She would just as quickly step behind the man and put her saber through his back if it moved things along more quickly.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"We had plenty." He told her as he slowly leaned forward, his hands slipping beneath her clothes to slowly begin removing them. "Remember that Athiss remained hidden for night on Six thousand years."

Perhaps she had never actually considered that. Sera had no reason to study the history of his people, and she had never really asked him about it much either. Vrak couldn't particularly blame her given that he had little care for Ryloth or the history of Twi'leks. "We had certain rules that prevented outright civil war. Everything we had to do to rise to the top, everything I had to do needed to be done carefully. Those who moved too brazenly were labeled traitors."

If you killed a Councilor outright you would be charged with trying to bring down the Council and executed. If you killed a rival it would be claimed you were killing your kin and thus executed. If you did it all quietly however, left no trace, then no one asked any questions. It was decidedly backwards, but these were Sith. Things weren't exactly straight forward with their kind.

Slowly Vrak pulled Sera just a bit closer, his fingers running over her skin as he continued to explain.

"A Kaggath is an official declaration of war between individuals. It was rarely used even at the height of the old Empires." He said with a frown. "It's more than just a duel. It's a challenge. 'Everything I have versus everything you have, winner takes all'. That's how my father described it to me. They were outlawed on Athiss, but now? If anyone brought back that tradition it would be Berilin."

The prospect clearly didn't entice Vrak.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Traitors. Sith calling one another traitors. Amusing.

Sera sat quietly for several moments, even as Vrak proceeded to remove her clothing while he spoke of the meaning behind the Kaggath. Even that seemed rather absurd. To officially declare a war of assets against another Sith, when their culture was built on the foundations of undermining one another, murdering of opportunity, and the like. It seemed Sera was destined never to understand the strange ways of Vrak's people. She was simply a Twi'lek however, and their cultures were polar opposites of one another.

"Obviously the one who controls the armies would be in the best position to return that custom, but then, wouldn't that just make him all the more a target? I would ignore the Kaggath then, and simply murder him in his sleep."

If you knew you were going to lose, that was not a sound tactic to use.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]