Tables Turned [PM for Invite]

[Nisha Decrilla]

Tap tap tap

The noise of the caff cup meeting the table top reverberated round the caff. No one looked towards its source, instead they tried to talk over it, or stare into the stimulating liquid in their hands.

tap tap tap

Maybe it was because the source of the noise smelt slightly of wine. It wasn't nessecarily a bad smell, but it said well enough that this person was drunk, or sobering up. And no one likes to fight with either of those people, they make nasty opponanats, pain receptors numbed by alcohol fated to feel it all the more when the alcohol vacated their system.

tap tap tap

But this was Annaj, home of the Lords of the Fringe. There were a great many 'don't frak with me' names associated with this place. why would they fear a drunk? Maybe it was the way she was staring at them all, from beneath her hood, only the curve of her smirking lips available, tauning them. Daring them to fight.

tap tap tap

You're annoying yourself now, you realise that?

"Its annoying them more. Powerless and afraid of what might be. Of what could be."

You're actually looking for a fight?"

"I want them to look at me. I want them to see what has become of me. I want them to know that they are in danger now more than ever."

you've drank too much.

She laughed, a bitter and high laugh the she brought the cup down so hard it shattered. She picked a peice of the china from her palm. "Perhaps."

It was this that made the customers pretend she didn't exist. Who wanted to confront a woman who spoke to herself.

[member="Anders Sivas"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

Stim caf is the nectar of the goddesses on a day like this. Life waits for no one and as it is, I'm back on Annaj doing my dang job. The military won't run itself and this little former pacifist is putting in the long hours now to avoid a clusterfeth later when I step down. When. I've told no one in the military or in the Fringe High Council of my burgeoning pregnancy and it's too early to tell by looking over at my stomach. A medical scan and a fierce bit of perception are the only ways for one to see the two lives inside my flat belly as more than an odd empathic imprint. How do I feel about that? Excellent. I'm more than willing to hide in plain sight on a planet like Annaj, and today is no exception. I'm Anders today, the hip and spastic dude who got elected and puts the smiles on. My EMBU's are with me, the Echani Twin-bots dressed in their traditional attire with swords at their techno-hips. Bucket chats back and forth with a comm unit as I waltz up to the till happy as the happiest of clams.

Mikhail's meeting me for coffee and after work, dinner out. The happy life will continue for a goodly long time, but something is nagging at my mind. Something invidious and familiar.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Heeey! Anders! Dude haven't seen you in ages man, where'd you go?" The barista says with a grin.

"Aw, dude I've just been hanging through my territory how's the thing with that girl?"

"You were right. It's great! I asked her to move in last week and she said yes! I'm stoked, man. Thank you. How'd you know?"

"Magic touch, bro. I'm gonna grab a cappuccino today. Biggest you got. Chocolate curls, lemon zest and half sweet, Kay?"

"For reals? Hey Trisha! Cancel the HC's hazelnut latte."

Tap. Tap. Tap,

The feeling crawls up my spine and I shove credits on the counter, leaning my elbows against it to look around. The disturbance is coming from a table everyone avoids. I press my lips together. [member="Anaya Fen"] I was warned about. I have this vague memory of Mikhail getting carried off by her on Lipsec... What stuck with me more was Mikha's response when I asked about her. His terse reply was awash with the unfinished stains of guilt and reproach. I'd let it lie. I let Tyr and Tus handle grabbing my stim caf and I find a table near the door. Bucket and the twins nestle in around it, Tyr sprawls down on the chair across from me, leaving the other free for my date. 'Mikha, don't freak but Anaya Fen is in the cafe. She's unsettled. Erratic. I'm going to get up and walk to where you are... She's looking at me.'

Tap. Tap. Tap.

A death knell? The voices in Anaya's head scream insanity and its against any judgement I can muster that I wonder what it would take to repair that ragged mind. I look at her, my eyes a familiar fog of tragic mishaps. Beyond it all, I hope she doesn't recognize the image of my harrowed and bleeding self on the floor of the Lipsec bar. [member="Mikhail Shorn"]

"Bucket, call Major Iesu. Tell him to have a better eta then last time. Don't want him late for his stim caf." Bucket's eye refocuses. He ends his call and starts another. I spread my mind in a tight network, using the eyes and ears of those around me to alert me to any ill begotten moves.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Do you see that?

Anaya's head tilted as she picked a piece of the shattered mug and resumed her incessant tapping. The beat changed matching the rhythm of a heartbeat.

Badum Badum Badum

"A face in a memory. True or False?"

She tilted her head, watching the hipster settle with his little entourage of droids. A lot of protection for one man. Was he rich? Important? What? What was it about him that nagged at Anaya's mind. She closed her eyes rattling around her broken mind trying to find a source. Lipsec Yes. Thats where she knew the face, a smile curled her lips then faltered recalling the events in their entirety.

That was where it had all started. That was where the first pebble was dropped in the pool the one that sent the ripples rollings. She had saved Mikhail, for the last time. She had delivered him to Manu, and discovered that no matter what she did, he would always hate her. And for what? For that little blond barbie girl. For Spencer Jacobs. He made her wish she'd killed her on Mustafar, least then he'd have a real reason to despise her so much.

So, who is he?​

"A relation to her perhaps."

Did she survive? ​

"I never aksed. Perhaps, perhaps not. The child didn't."

Anaya slid from the table, dragging the shard of china across the table top, the high pitched squeal it made causing a ripple of shudders. She let it go when it reached the edge, left it behind and sauntered towards the hipster that looked so much like Andra. She knew she should go back to the hotel, sober up and find her way back to [member="Jared Ovmar"]. Her disappearance from his watchful eye wouldn't go unnoticed for long.

Andra.

The mother of Jared's unborn child. A child Mikahil killed. What a nice little collection he was brewing. The more guilt he bore, the worse he became. Self destructive, angry easy to manipulate. She placed one hand on the back on his chair, the other on the table and leaned down so her face was a few inches from his. She smiled slightly, though her eyes glinted dangerously. They were so similar.

"I know you, don't I?"

 

[Arage Bao]

A sigh whispered through the bar, it was the son of longing, of a man anticipating death and struggling with the reality of it all. It was the sound of the wind fluttering through the establishment attracting goosebumps where ever it went. It was... the sound of promise. But soon before long even its hint disappeared between the chaos starting to churn in the depths of the mad and the grace's struggle within she who had lost many.

 

[Yasha Cadera]

The cacophony of shrill broken pottery against a hard table top is bad enough. Try hearing it through twelve sets of ears. "Ow,ow,ow,ooww." I grimace and sip my cappuccino, licking the foam on top as I keep my eyes on the display case. I can see her coming toward me, an Acklay with the jitters. Great. That's peachy. Try and get a cup of stim caf two blocks from my Military HQ and what should happen? [member="Anaya Fen"]. I can smell [member="Jared Ovmar"] on her and it makes the situation seem more edgy. More real and unconfined. I've never had reason to fear Jared, he was good to me and he's done nothing to break that faith - but what's he doing with little miss lexu twistie?

"The child didn't." My hand goes knuckle-white on the mug, I pull at the memories Anaya is seeing, skew the face she remembers, delete the appearance in my eyes, the memory of Bucket shooting [member="Mikhail Shorn"] with a spray of firepower. My toes curl, I fight with the urge to get up and run. . . Which in front of a predator like Fen would be ludicrous, my eyes flutter, shifting from a familiar hazel to a deep green. Did someone sigh?

The adrenaline of four of my eye and ear people is hitching up, I pull the caution toward me as Bucket puts his hand on my shoulder and pulls the chair back away from Anaya Fen.

"Not so close to the High Councellor, Ma'am." Bucket puts himself between us, I put a shallow grin on my face and glance upward at the red apparition. "Don't think you do. I don't know me sometimes." This close I can smell the wash of wine under her breath and in her pores. The threads of her mind are ragged bags of yarn tangled up in a snag-vine. Thankfully, with the sheer amount of lunacy in there it's fairly easy for me to slide inside the first gate and donate nothing but the delightful urge for a long, warm sleep. It would start with the fingers, the burgeoning hibernation would flood along them, weighting them down, adding lead and a silken comfort.

Morichro. It's doctor prescribed. "You don't look so good. Why don't you sit down?"

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

High Councillor.

For a moment, Anaya glared at the intrusion from the droid, eyes blurring slightly. Closing them she shook her head, rattling pieces of her mind around in an attempt to find some order that didn't place her in a hospital bed. It was a warming image though, picking the droid up in her minds eye and slamming him repeatedly into the ground till it was little more than scrap metal. She opened her eyes and smiled widely, taking a step back from the table and giving nothing short of a mocking curtsy.

"My deepest apologies."

A sigh whispered over her skin, and she shivered a small flicker of fear in her eyes before she took the seat she was invited to take. "Mmm, I'm not so good. Or maybe I am. Its hard to tell these days. Is it a good day or a bad day?" She rested her elbows on the table and inspected her hands frowning at their sluggish movement. It was like the alcohol was hitting her with another wave of drunk.

There was something to be said of Anaya Fen, whilst not the most skilled with the force, she knew it well. She'd spent most of her sith life with a mentalist as her nemesis. She spent eight percent of her time around a mentalist these days and while her ability to defend herself against mental attacks has not improved much, she recognizes them. "Fascinating."

She murmured, then dropped her heavy hands to the table with a thud, her happy facade fading rapidly. "I do know you. I see you. I see you're smudged face. I see you trying to rub it away. I can feel it going." She chuckled slightly. "Slipping away into the abyss." she continued in an almost sing song tone. She wanted to sleep, she wanted to lay her head down on the table and sleep, her head found her hand and a shrill scream rippled through her brain making her sit upright again.

Someone is attacking you ​

"You wreak of fear. If I don't know you, then what do you have to fear? High Councillor of the almighty Fringe Confederation, or whatever it is you people call yourself these days,"

A. It begins with A. ​

"Anders."

Find the link, find the link and find the reason you came over here in the first place.​

"You, want to stay out of my head." She kept her hands where they could be seen by her bodyguard but tugged her saber staff into view with the force. It hovered between them turning slowly. "I can't be held responsible for removing your head if you continue to tug at strings, it is only self defense afterall. Why do I know you?"

[member="Anders Sivas"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

"You don't know me. We've never met. You know people dear to me, but you don't know me." I keep my eyes on [member="Anaya Fen"] and my mental gaze sweeping around. The network of people in the room and around the block are tying into my network. I feel their inner voices and taste the sights of their eyes, the smells of their nostrils, the brush of breath in their ears. I root into the area and stability passes throughout with a living network of security, delight and safety. This is a warm, safe place. I pull out of Anaya's mind but keep the empathic residue of the people around. Comfort, love, security, safety and the tangible feel of affectionate warm blankets.

Sleep. I will watch over you. I am safe. I am kind. "Fair enough. I don't have any reason nor desire to hurt you, what's your name? You called me Anders. That's right. Said you were having a bad day, and you were tapping your mug. Acting kinda crazy, but that's okay. It's all okay."

I'm not putting the sensation in her brain but in the air and the table and the chairs. My talent in Morichro keeps going, feeding into her toes, knees, up to her bodily organs with a pleasant, promising sleep. 'Mikhail, she's on to me, but it's okay. I'm putting her to sleep. . .' [member="Mikhail Shorn"] is getting nearer. Is he going to make this easier or harder? I keep feeling the niggling aura of [member="Jared Ovmar"]. He's all over her and her mind. Why hasn't he repaired her mind? Looking at the red skinned girl, I feel a harrowing companionship, a mutual expression of the power of the man. My head cocks to the side. "Do you want a cup of tea? A cake? I can send my droid to get it. Is there something I can help you with?"

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya lifted her hand and rested her chin upon it. "Hmmm..." she managed, eyes drooping again. Her other hand reached to pull her saber staff to rest upon the table. She forced herself to open her eyes again. Why was he being so nice? She'd invaded his personal space, threatened to remove his head and yet...

She was safe here wasn't she? Here where no one had dared to so much as look at her. Here where this one was offering comfort and tea. "Anaya." she replied to his question finally, though her tongue felt thick in her mouth. She rubbed her face and looked around, suspicion and panic conflicting with everything else around her. "I don't..."

What was wrong? Something was out of place? Was it her? Was it them? Was it this man before her? She lowered again in the chair and used her arm as a pillow against the table. She was warm and safe and content. And everything about that was wrong. She was powerless against it, even the whisper of her mind mind had given up the fight. Her vision swam as tears blurred her vision.

"I wish very much, that this wasn't a lie."

[member="Anders Sivas"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

"It's not a lie. I won't hurt you. I don't do that. I don't hurt people. Ask anyone. Ask Jared. It's going to be okay." Did I play too much of a hand? I sense the history between the two, see her lekku curling in ecstatic twitches and I know once again what I had felt far before: [member="Jared Ovmar"] would cared, but I would never have been his only girl. Nor had I asked that of him. Jared is a man of manipulations over security, the hurt orphan boy surviving in Coruscant. He never left the streets. "Anaya is a pretty name."

I never left the Monastery my mom tried to shove me off on Naboo. If he finds some modicum of joy in [member="Anaya Fen"] it's worth it, right? The network of peace, comfort and delight continues to strengthen and build around this broken minded Twi'lek and as she floats off, I let out a deeply held breath. "Grab my coat for her, Bucks. Call Jared to come get her. . , goddess, it feels like he's right on top of us. Where is Major Iesu?"

I wrap my hands around my mug and sip the warm stim caf, keeping focused on putting Anaya out. 'She's asleep. Be wary, something is off.'

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

....Anaya turned slowly on the spot, only her reflection stared back at her in the mirrored room. Some of them were cracked distorting her appearance, but they all whispered. Soft whispers of comfort, yet she could feel the panic rising in her chest. She was not in control. Her breathing intensified and she ran her hands over the mirrors, fingers digging into the cracks, trying to pry away the glass. It won't budge, but still she digs, digs till every touch leaves bloody smear on the glass.

"What are you doing?"​

A reflection speaks, its headed tilted, its smile mocking.

"Trying to get out."

"Well good luck with that."​

"Aren't you going to help me?"

"You got yourself into this mess."​

"You are me!!"

"I didn't get us into this mess. And I'm not bleeding either."​

Her fist flashes forward, cracking the mirror, her own laughter mocks her. There is only one person who can help her. Anaya begins to write, crimson liquid smears into letters. Jared. Jared. Jared. Over and over again she writes his name....

On the table Anaya stirs, her breathing heavy, but she doesn't wake. "Jared!" The soft cry slips through her lips, rippling through the force.

[member="Jared Ovmar"] [member="Mikhail Shorn"] [member="Anders Sivas"]

 

[Arage Bao]

It takes concentration to weave a web of enthrallment, concentration, power, knowledge.

Any of the former can be substituted with experience, but most of the times that’s the way the cookie crumbles. The Sith Lord had been content waiting, watching to evaluate the situation and grab the opportunity when it arises - he hadn’t considered Anaya asking for help, not so soon at least.

Two things happened at the same time, one of the waitresses spilled a cup of hot scalding coffee on [member="Anders Sivas"] as she passed. Concentration gone, situation resolved for the moment. Which was followed by a foreign entity wrapping himself around [member="Anaya Fen"]’s mind, akin to how he had protected her light years away when she had gotten herself into trouble with Zambrano.

A voice whispered in Fen’s mind, it was her voice, or wasn’t it? It seemed mixed somehow, two voices speaking as one. Jared and Anaya, two sides of one coin? Mayhaps.

‘Look further, Anaya. See past what she wants you to see.’​

For a single moment the emphatical and mental feelers got cut off, she’d see the truth of Andra within Anders. Before the fake image was restored yet again, a blink or two and it was gone again.

‘She manipulated you, used your mind against you.’​

The voice trailed off with its accusation, before disappearing again.

[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

There's a point in every altercation where a person feels the unalterable desire to get out. Instinct is beautiful. As [member="Anaya Fen"] nods off, the sensation of "gtfo" passes over the back of my neck and blows uncomfortably against my ear. That's when I feel one of the strings of my instilled network get jerked. Coffee tumbles from a cup and I scream aloud as it burns my clothing and my lap.

Jared. He is here, and he's working with her. "Oh goddess no. . Bucket we have to GO!" I yank up from my seat and move for the door, the patrons of the cafe staying in their places as if in thrall. Because they are in thrall. My thrall. The nearest person gets to the door before I do and opens it up. Tyr and Tus flank my sides as Bucket stays between me and Fen. "What do we do about crazy eyes, Boss?"

"Folk have done enough to that woman, leave her. A bit of kindness would go acres."

I see her Lekku twitch and try to strike back into her mind, keep her under until I can get out of the shop. I run out the door. "Where's Major Iesu!? H-we have to get to HQ!"

I shunt my current position through the Force Bond between myself and [member="Mikhail Shorn"], giving him the emotional need to make haste. If I can make it to Military HQ I'll be safe. 'Help! More than I can chew! More than I can chew! Her tangled mind is a worse mess than the laundry basket.'

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Her cheek rested against the glass the panic slowly easing as the voices spoke. Jared's tangled with her own.

See past it. She moved her face back from the mirror, placed her hand on its already shattered surface. To see beyond, she had to break through the barriers of her own mind. Andra's face flitted past her again, gone in an instant, but the name stuck with her. She'd never asked Jared mcuh about her, simply because what she didn't know, couldn't play on her mind. Ignorance was bliss.

But this woman had just played with her. Made a fool of her. Energy rippled out from her finger tips and the mirrors around her shattered.

Anaya sat bolt upright, her hand closing about the saber staff she'd left on the table. "Andra." she spoke the name aloud. Her head swung round to look at the door, to see her and her droids outside. She pulled herself from the chair, legs giving way beneath her she spat a stream of curses and got to her feet. Her hand swung forward sending a wave out in the force. Screams erupted around her as the windows of the cafe shattered.

"Andra."

You saved the man who killed her child. Why was she nice to you?

"Lies are heartbreaking.I should know, I tell enough of them." Most of the inhabitants of the cafe had dove under tables, some fled through the broken windows. "When you think someone might actually be being nice to you, and you realize they are just manipulating you." She grabbed the bodyguard in the force and flung him as far away as she could.

"This is what you were afriad of, wasn't it? Yet you went and made a mess of things anyway."

[member="Anders Sivas"] [member="Mikhail Shorn"] [member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

As Anaya woke up, everyone I control hit the deck. Forty six people instantaneously smacking into the ground, becoming no threat nor bastion of relief. "I was being nice to you! I wanted my coffee! That's all I wanted, my fething Stim Caf and when you came over all cray-cray I gave us both space! Space is nice! Space is healthy! Space is a wonderful, gorgeous thing! Walk away, Anaya!"

Bucket opened fire, before [member="Anaya Fen"] had thrown him. A thick chain of scattergun ammunition pours toward Anaya, slicing through the breaking transparisteel she blew outward. The droid's commanding subroutines were those of protecting just one target: me. It had been love (or maybe embarrassment on how easily his lover could get herself hurt) that brought Bucket into my world and after Jared was gone from my life, Bucket remained. I've never questioned the droid's motivations nor felt uncomfortable with his presence and as he fires a vicious amount of ammunition at Fen, I'm glad.

I keep running, one hand raised in front of me to part the waters of Annaj's crowds. It's two and a half kilometres to the Military HQ and already I'm touching on the minds of my Commanding Officers to be ready for my arrival. There's a fog around them, a slice of the old regime, but I am their commander and they will obey. As I race through the street, I leap over a speeder and keep running, pouring an unnatural level of speed into my legs. Bucket's techno-body goes flying by. I watch his limbs begin to right themselves for his landing trajectory and nod. Good droid. Tyr and Tus continue beside me, their electroswords unsheathed and ready for a physical altercation.

'Mikha, now would be a good time!' I project outward to [member="Mikhail Shorn"], hoping Anaya can't smell the Force Bond between my lover and I like she could smell my true face. . . That in itself is odd. It clicks.

Jared told her. 'Jared, please! I don't want to hurt your girlfriend, call her off. Don't make this into a scene, let me leave.' I project to [member="Jared Ovmar"] and hope my former lover get it. I hope he lets whatever this is go. Why would he even be doing this? We were amicable at our last meeting, why now? What's changed?

Goddess of Mercy tell me he doesn't know.

Suddenly, I'm glad Bucket got rocketed away. Tyr and Tus were my purchases, not his.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya laughed, twirling the unlit saber staff in her hand. Walk away? What a lovely notion. Walk away and there would be no trouble, no fight, no pursuit. Yet as the adrenaline flowed through her, as the force washed away any blurred notions. Anaya felt alive. She felt in control of everything. This was where she belonged, in a hunt, in a fight, not locked away with only her mind to occupy her.

Anaya couldn't walk away.

She drew in a deep breath drew the force in around her and became a blur of motion as she sped after the fleeing Andra. Passing her she came to a halt before the woman. There was something else about her, something else familiar, something that made her hesitate.

"Why are you running? I just wanted to talk." There was no smile on her face, her eyes were glittering. "You could have had your caff and we could have just talked, Andra. Why is that so bad? Why did you have to make me sleep?" There it was, there was that familiarity. Blue eyes flashed in her minds eye, along with that smirk of his.

"Mikhail." The name slipped from her lips as a sigh and with it cam a tide of pain and sorrow that squeezed her heart. Anger washed it away, anger replaced it all.

Snap-hiss.

[SIZE=14.3999996185303px][member="Anders Sivas"] [member="Mikhail Shorn"] [member="Jared Ovmar"][/SIZE]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

I'm running for my life and the red blur tells me I should have spent more time studying the Art of Movement. I skid to a halt, spinning around a pedestrian and narrowly avoiding a collision with the insane Twi'lek with the boy troubles that are nearly worse than mine. " We can still just talk, Anaya. You and me. I got scared, I suck like that. I'm just a little human girl who likes to play dress up. You scared me. I got spooked, is all. We don't-- ."

The pangs of sorrow and angst pouring off [member="Anaya Fen"] at the mention of my lover hit me with tears to my eyes. They pour over my eyelids, these sympathetic waters, and my chest heaves. "He hurt you. He feels terrible about it, I know he does. But attacking me will do nothing to him. There's an even better stim caf joint down third street. I'll buy you a latte! With sprink-aw feth."

The snap-hiss of her lightsaber strikes my ears and I keep my hands up. The Echani droids surge: one forward and one to the side. They move as a single unit and as they occupy her space I bend the light around me until I disappear.

Then I book it as fast as I can. [member="Mikhail Shorn"] [member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Words. They were just words, none of them had any meaning as the red mist descended over Anaya. The darkness in her eyes grew until they were pools of obsidian.

"He hurt you. He feels terrible about it, I know he does...."

"LIAR!"

The EMBU's moved in quickly. Tincans, toys for those unable to fend for themselves. She lifted the first with the force slamming it into the ground, her staff swinging for the second making fast work of its midsection before it could get within range. The first was getting to its knees as the staff flicked down, decapitating him. Chaos had erupted around her. Chaos on the capital of the Fringe.

Oh you're in for it now.​

"Shut up and help me find the lying little queen."

What if she's not lying?​

Anaya was reaching out in the force, looking for that familiar scent, trying to pick up a trail among the screams and panicked citizens. "Mikhail is a murderer with a conscience. But he never cared for the sith. He never cared for me, so what is there to feel bad about?"

There.​

​

She caught it, the lingering scent and began to trail after it, saber staff humming in her hand as she moved, the crowd parting to get away from her. She reached out to her own lover. I need you.

[member="Jared Ovmar"] [member="Mikhail Shorn"] [member="Anders Sivas"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

Whatever Mikhail did to her, I get the feeling I do not want the whole story. This girl is bona fide membranously insane. So why didn't Jared fix her? What use is she to him while loopy-loops?

Tyr swings through with a parry to Anaya's lightsaber, slipping around the body parts of its brother droid and aiming again for Anaya's lekku. Anaya searches the crowd for a scent trail and I give one to her.

I give her three. The scent trails curl off in differing directions, twisting and bending through streets as I book through Annaj toward Military Headquarters. I'm the High Councillor of Military Affairs for Goddess' sake. Around here, my Anders face is fairly well known as one of only a handful of elected leaders. People part the waters, I double back around and watch as Anaya follows one of the duplicate trails. I let go of the Force Cloak and shift my appearance, ditching my jacket on a receptionist's desk, grabbing the receptionist's suit jacket and heading out the back entrance of the office building. As I leave my appearance shifts. I look older, too old to be Anders or Andra. I have dark, nearly black skin and greying hair tied up in a puffed out ponytail on the middle of my head. My clothing is nondescript, forgettable. The suit jacket smells like the ageing receptionist. I walk toward the Military HQ with a crowd around me. There are a few military folks, a few in uniform and I switch the suit jacket subtly, adding a campaign bar, my ID in my wallet.

Lay low, my mind tells me. Don't reach out to Mikhail. Don't reach out to anything. Don't use my powers more than I have.

Mikhail has the ring on his finger, even then he knows me well enough to know where I am or at least to avoid freaking out a little when he feels me slide off the proverbial map. I'm hoping he goes for Anaya's obvious threat and I can pop back up in the middle of Military HQ surrounded by Shock Troops and Marines. I make a mental note to send the repair droids out for the pieces of Tyr and Tus. I can see the main intersection coming up ahead and feel a good long swearing session coming on. All the streets intersect with the main drag. I tug at the fictitious trails, sending one along the main drag away from Military HQ and one doubles back behind Anaya, toward the droids and the cafe.

I grab a comm unit from some mook's pocket, dial up Mikhail's comm and hear it ring through and connect. "Don't speak. I'm okay, but Anaya is on my trail. She knows you're around me but she doesn't know who you are to me. I'm making my way to safety, I need back up. Tyr and Tus are gone. Bucket's re-triangulating on my new position, but he won't know which one is me. Remember that bartender on Cerea? The one who gave us free dessert? I liked her look." I smile as I pass a couple of guards, slipping between them to plant the disconnected comm in one of their pockets and walking along the main drag. I can see the top mast of the Military HQ now, I resist the urge to give up my position by sprinting the last 3/4 kilometre.

[member="Mikhail Shorn"] [member="Anaya Fen"] [member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Lord Ghoul]

"MOVE!"

The crowds parted, not because they wanted to, but because invisible hands swept them back, away from the street. Standing at the end of the parted seas was Mikhail Shorn, hands extended. He was armored in a leather jacket meant to repel the darts of high society's norms and armed with a deadly smirk to disarm even the stoutest of panties hearts.

His face was twisted, lips drawn back in a sneer, eyes wide and full of fury. A dark power bound up in his heart seeped out of his aura, like a cloak of stygian might that he wore about himself.

Subtlety was not his strong suit.

Andra could keep running. He'd gotten her comm. She didn't need him to help hide her. She needed a distraction. More than that, she needed Anaya Fen dead. He hadn't parted a path through the crowd to Andra. He'd parted one to the lethan.

Blue eyes caught sight of her at the end of the path. Her red skin was the color of hell, black tattoos the ink of unending night. Screams rose from the faces of the wailing, terrified innocents stacked on either side of the street. They might as well have been burning in the Nether already.

He held no lightsaber, no knife, but his hand reached out and curled. In his mind, she died. In his mind, the air squeezed from her lungs as she rose into the air, legs kicking, trying to find purchase while a phantom noose strangled the life from her eyes. The panic. He could feel it. Mikhail couldn't count the number of times he'd seen that look in their eyes. The sheer horror as they realized they were dying. It never got boring.

Telekinesis wrapped around her throat. Shorn never was one for preambles.

"I let you live. We were even! But you just had to go and kriff it all up. Now look what you're making me do," he smiled and there might as well have been blood coating those teeth for all the violence it held.

[member="Anaya Fen"] [member="Anders Sivas"] [member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

He was like a storm, her world darkened the moment he stepped into it. Beautiful and powerful with ice blue eyes and that smile. A smirk curled at the edges of her lips as the crowd was swept aside, she turned to face him, as his grip coiled about her throat. She drew in one deep strained breath,her saber deactivated, dropping to the floor as energy danced around her finger tips.

Two balls of kinetite grew and she launched them. Not at Mikhail, no, that would have been a waste, instead they impacted the ground directly in front of him. Duracrate exploded upward, obscuring him from view, the pressure releasing on her neck. She picked the staff up, tucking it away. "Even? I don't think so Mikhail. How many times have I saved your sorry life now? And all you've ever given in return is this."

Kill him. Dont do what you did with Kaine.

"What is she to you? Hmm?"

[member="Mikhail Shorn"] [member="Jared Ovmar"] [member="Anders Sivas"]