Faction The Need to Feed (open to Eternal Empire)

[Eskk Jannik]

Eskk had arrived via military transport on Bursoll Two. It was a cool planet with a somewhat large population. It had many mountains. This was Eskk's favorite place to go when he was hungry.

He landed near the planets largest city, the name of which he couldn't be bothered to remember. In Eskk's mind the city might as well be called Dinner Plate, because thats what it was to him. When Eskk arrived it was still daylight. Too early for the hunt to begin.

Like a true predator, Eskk liked to hunt at night. So, he walked around the city until he found a small cantons to bide his time in. As soon as he walked in, one of the waitresses caught his eye. He decided then and there that she would be his prey tonight.

Eskk stayed in the Cantina for a few hours until it was dark and the waitress was getting off work. Eskk followed her as she left, keeping enough distance between them as not to arouse suspicion.

She was smart, she kept to more populated areas until she had no choice but to turn into an alleyway. Eskk accelerated his pace, he was closing in on her now...

Loreena Arenais-Valhoun

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori was still on the hunt for a new ship. The Jaster's Sparrow was too well known, especially in Eternal Empire space. She kept herself cloaked, with the hood drawn up to hide her features in shadow. Fortunately her Rebel Armour wasn't so easily picked out among the crowd, especially at night.

Shady deals in shady places. That was what it had boiled down to. At least for this part of her inquiry anyways. With her hands in her pockets, she turned into the alleyway mere moments after Eskk Jannik did as he stalked his prey.

Her brows furrowed as she saw what was happening up ahead. It was obvious that the girl was being stalked. And not for any good reasons either. Breaking into a run, she headed towards them, yet completely ran past Eskk and it wasn't until she was safely between them that she called out to the girl. "Hey, wait up! You promised to catch that holo-movie with me, remember? I know that you don't think that I'm cool enough to hang out with you and the gang, but I am! I promise!"

There was obvious confusion on the girl's face, yet upon seeing Eskk right behind Lori, she understood what was going on. She was in trouble. And girl code was always the same; to keep eachother's backs, even if they were strangers. "Umm...okay. I guess we could, just this once."

"Lead the way!" Lori looked back over her shoulder to Eskk, narrowing her eyes at him as she ushered the girl through the alleyway. Hopefully what she did was enough.

 

[Eskk Jannik]

Eskk was seething with rage. Who was this prissy little thing who dare to deprive him of his dinner. All he could do was stand and watch as they hurried out of the alleyway ahead of him.

Eskk turned around and started back the way he came. The streets were starting to empty themselves now. The only people left were the dregs, the degenerates, and the homeless. None of them would make for particularly appetising meals, but Eskk had to eat.

He wandered the city until he found a group of young people standing around. "Hey man," one of them said, "I got what youre looking for." How nice of you to volunteer, Eskk thought to himself. Eskk grabbed the young man by the throat and shoved him back against a building. His proboscis unfurled from the pockets in his cheeks.

The other two young men started to approach him. "I dont think you know who..." The speaker didnt get to finish his sentence. Eskk used his free hand to draw his DL44 and shoot him directly in the chest. He collapsed to the ground and the other young man took off running.

Now Eskk was alone with the person he had pinned up against the wall. His proboscis slowly began to slowly make their way up his nose towards his brain. Eskk's prey made facial expressions that ranged from as if he was being tickled to eventually one of horror.

Eskk could feel his body absorbing the sweet luck of his victim. He felt his hunger lessen but he was not satisfied. Eskk released his victim as he drained the last of his cerebral fluids. The young man collapsed to the ground dead.

Eskk was still angry, and still hungry, but now he had time. He would find the girl who had stolen his meal and she would pay. Most importantly, Eskk would find a worthy subject to prey on.

Loreena Arenais-Valhoun

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori breathed a sigh of relief after she looked over her shoulder a few minutes later to see that no one was following them. Not even Eskk Jannik . The pair seemed to have managed to give him the slip. "Looks like the coast is clear."

"Thank you."

"Yeah no problem. My advice though is to keep away from alleys at night. There tends to be trouble."

"I was using it as a short cut. But I get your point."

"Good. You'll stay alive longer that way."

Lori waved her off and then shoved her hands in the pocket of her coat as she started down the street, pausing as she looked at a displayed map of the city. The last thing that she needed was to get lost while looking for her contact. Hopefully she wouldn't be late either.

Now she just needed to plan her route.

 

[Eskk Jannik]

Eskk had a vivid memory and good intuition. He started asking around about the woman who had taken his meal from him. At first, none of the criminal element knew anything of use. Even Eskk's most... persuasive attempts were met with failure.

Eskk thought about the woman again. She was all the Anzati could think about. He remembered the image of her running past him, close enough to touch. He was on his way to another information broker. He had found a street artist and commissioned him to draw a portrait based on his description of the girl's face.

Even though he had only seen her once in the dark, Eskk felt like it was a good likeness. Eskk sat down in another cantina. These were only full of rough characters at this time of night and Eskk had a few bruises from the other brawls he had started that evening.

He slid the picture across the table to the information broker. "I'm looking for this girl," he announced in his nasally voice.

"I havent seen her," the information broker replied, "but I can tell you where to find some nice Twi'leks if youre interested."

That was almost the same response that he had gotten verbatim from all three of the information brokers he had tried before this one. Eskk was irritated. Was there some kind of joke he didnt understand? Why did they keep trying to sell him Twi'leks?

Eskk thought about trying to be more persuasive with the broker, but he didnt really feel like getting in another fight tonight, and it had not been an effective strategy anyways. Eskk thought about the girl again. She had been athletic with defined muscles, lean, and fast. Eskk didnt think she was the kind of athletic that came from everyday trips to the gym.

Eskk felt like there was a practical purpose to her fitness. Eskk had a new idea. He pulled out his military identification card and slid it across the table. The information broker stopped smiling and flatly asked, "am I under arrest?" Ears around the bar pricked up and people started to stare in Eskk's direction.

"You dont have to be," Eskk said as he added a bag of credits to the table and picked up his ID card. "You could tell me something that I'd find interesting instead."

"There's a rebel meeting going down tonight," the broker spilled. Eskk wasnt sure if he was doing it for his freedom or the credits but he didnt really care.

He pulled out a datapad with a map of the city on it. "Where is this meeting taking place," Eskk asked. The information broker pointed to the location. "If youre lying, I'll find you, and it wont be for an arrest," Eskk threatened.

"I swear I'm telling you the truth," the broker said. Eskk walked out of the Cantina and towards the location that had been provided. He had no way of knowing whether the girl would be there or not, but if the information broker had told him the truth it didnt matter. Arresting some rebel conspirators was just the kind of thing that could help him bounce back tonight.

Loreena Arenais-Valhoun

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori figured out her route. And unlike the girl she had rescued from a predator, she wasn't going to go near the alleys. However she did draw her hood back up.

As she made her way down the street, she was acutely aware of some people glancing in her direction. The Eternal Empire had put in an announcement proclaiming the death of the Emperor and they had the gall to implicate herself and her brother, as well as the Eclipse Rebellion. That made even setting foot in or around EE space was dangerous. Being the face of the Eclipse Rebellion, it wasn't as though her identity was a secret. She had made announcements of her own and had another one planned and in the works. All of these thoughts ran through her mind while she walked, keeping her hands in her pockets and doing her best not to draw much attention to herself.

Her meeting point with her contact wasn't in some cantina or bar like most were. Instead it was near the secondary spaceport, a section that was more industrial than anything else and had plenty of mechanic shops. A perfect place to purchase a new vessel or at the very least, get a good lead on where one that fits her requirements could be found.

"Hey. Are you Freebird?" she asked a man with a datapad in hand that was looking over a little freighter.

"Ahhhh, you must be Nest." The man was stout with a mustache that curled against his cheeks. One could easily tell that he enjoyed his fair share of meals and then some.

"Yeah, that's me. Is this the bird?"

"Nah, not this one. You don't want this one. She's got a few holes that need repairs. The one that I want to show you is just out on a little test flight. Should be back shortly. I got the stats here, if you'd like." He handed her the datapad with the appropriate file brought up. Lori looked through it thoroughly.

Eskk Jannik

 

[Eskk Jannik]

Eskk had been following the map to the location the information broker had marked. It took him into the industrial section of the city and towards the space ports. Eskk was in no hurry. He didn't want to arrive ahead of the rebel or rebels attending this meeting.

He kept one hand resting on the holster of his DL44 Blaster Pistol. The industrial section of town wasnt known as an especially dangerous place, but with rebels in the vicinity, one never knew what to expect.

Eskk reached out with the force, looking for life forms. He could feel some presences in the buildings, but there was no hint of nervousness or deceitful intent. Such feelings would usually fit the beings involved in the kind of shady business Eskk was looking for.

Eskk continued on for awhile, not finding anything to match his query. He was close to the spaceport when he finally felt something promising. There were two beings in close proximity, one felt familiar to Eskk, like he had encountered it before. The other was unfamiliar but very nervous, somewhat exited, with just a twinge of detectable guilt.

Eskk decided to investigate further. He went up a ramp several meters away and began to close the distance, using the various starships for cover as not to be seen. This was a hunt for Eskk and he had to determine if either of these two life forms were valid prey.

As he got closer and closer, the feelings of excitement and suspense intensified. As did the feeling of familiarity with one of the life forms. He had definitely encountered one of these people before. Eskk was usually pretty good at remembering the people who had met him and lived. He reasoned it must be the girl he had been searching for, or maybe he just hoped it was.

Eskk creeped closer until he could hear the conversation taking place. He still couldn't see the two beings. He was behind a ship that had been damaged and was in the process of being repaired. Instead he kept track of their presence in the force. There was a buzzing and flickering light above him that made it difficult to hear and difficult to concentrate. Eskk reached out with the force and crushed the bulb. There was the sound of breaking glass and the buzzing stopped. Eskk was enveloped in darkness as he waited and listened...

Loreena Arenais-Valhoun

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori chewed the inside of her cheek as she inspected the schematics of the ship in the datapad. The breaking of the bulb came as a surprise. She shifted on her heel, turning to look at where it broke. She stood watch for a moment, looking for signs of movement around the ships, but there didn't appear to be any.

Satisfied, she turned her attention back to her contact. "Looks good so far. I'll need a few alterations, however. The hyperdrive will need to be boosted. And I need a panel or something on the hull that can be flipped to reveal different insignias. If I'm going to be covert, I'll need to be able to have the ship look like it is in the right sector of space that it needs to be." Lori handed the datapad back to him.

"Ahhhh, I might know someone that can pull some of those tricks for you."

"Is he or she a Loyalist?"

Freebird snorted. "About as Loyalist as my right foot. He's Bakuran. What you put out there in regards to what the Empire did--" Lori cut him off by placing her hand over his mouth. She shook her head quickly and after a moment, she removed her hand.

"I saw the holovids too. Terrible what happened there. How much longer till this ship arrives?"

"Should be here shortly, Nest.

Lori shoved her hands in her pockets again. It was hard to tell which ship travelling in the skies would be the one she wanted to look at. Hopefully this wasn't all some set up and trap.

Eskk Jannik

 

[Eskk Jannik]

Eskk knew that voice. His inner sense of excitement and his thrill spiked hard. It was the woman who had stolen his dinner. Now, it was time to make her pay. Based on what Eskk had heard, she was some kind of spy or something. It was interesting that she had cut the man off. Eskk wondered what she didnt want him to say.

He had heard enough to warrant an arrest anyways, but Eskk didnt want to merely arrest this girl. She owed him a meal and she seemed to have brought one along with her.

She also seemed to want to get off planet on a ship with illegal modifications. Eskk was determined not to let that happen. She was staying here where Eskk could play with her until he was satisfied that she had suffered enough.

Not far from Eskk's current position was a panel that controlled the lighting for this area of the space port. Eskk reached out with the force and ripped the covering off. There was the loud screech of the metal separating and the clatter of it crashing to the floor and sliding away. Then Eskk force jumped onto the wing of the broken ship he was hiding behind.

It was only a small climb to the top of the ship from here, but it was illuminated and Eskk didnt want to be seen yet. Eskk reached out for the panel again with the force. This timea he yanked wires out. Lights all over the spaceport began to suddenly go out. Once it was completely dark Eskk climbed on top of the ship and stared down at where his targets were standing. He didn't have exceptional night vision and couldnt see anything more than vague shapes, so he kept sensing their presences with the force.

Loreena Arenais-Valhoun

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

It was the screeching sound that had caught both of their attention. The two turned to look and saw the piece of metal clattering to the ground.

"That's not normal."

"No, it's not. I think that this concludes our little meeting."

"Ahhh, yeah. I've got other places to--" Freebird's words cut off, not by Lori this time, but by himself as the lights started to go out. "Well see ya, Nest." He starts moving away from where the commotion started.

Lori stood there for a moment. Her instincts were telling her to run, yet she was curious as well. If darkness was what her pursuers wanted, well then she'd just bring them light. Focusing on the air particles in front of her, she urged them to spin faster and faster with the Force until there was a little ball of light in front of her. She had been using this technique for twenty years now, so she was well practiced at it. Making the ball of light bigger than her fist, she quickly shut her eyes and covered them before making the ball of light explode, illuminating the area like a huge bolt of lightning. Lori then uncovered her eyes, opening them as she sought cover behind one of the other ships.

Eskk Jannik

 

[Eskk Jannik]

The exploding ball of light had been a neat trick. It took Eskk totally by surprise and temporarily blinded him atop the damaged space craft. When his vision returned both the beings he had been observing were gone.

They had split up just like Eskk had wanted them too and now his target was alone with him at last. "Little fly, little spy," Eskk said out loud in his high pitched whine. "You've been a naughty little spy. Took something that was supposed to be mine."

Eskk climbed back down onto the wing of the starship and subsequently to the floor of the spaceport. "Come out little fly," Eskk continued speaking, "there's no use in hiding anymore. I can smell your fear." Obviously, Eskk couldnt smell the girl's fear, but it sounded good in his head.

He hadn't been this excited by a hunt in quite some time. Eskk could feel his heart thumping hard in his chest. There was an almost tangible feeling of anticipation in his chest. As Eskk walked, he made sure each of his steps made a loud click noise that reverberated through the otherwise quiet spaceport.

Loreena Arenais-Valhoun

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori leaned back against the hull of the ship that she was hiding behind, hearing the words that Eskk Jannik screached out. They explained who he was, in some respect anyways. He was the one from the alley; the one that she had saved the girl from. And now he had followed her here?

The man was taunting her, she could recognize that. And so far that she could tell, he wasn't a part of the Empire, which at least gave her some breathing room. It meant there'd be a lot less trouble for her should things go badly.

His footsteps were easily heard. And for a brief moment she wanted to shout out after him, to give him some witty or sarcastic comment. But no, she decided to save that for later. It was far better for her to get out of there and the sooner that she could give him the slip, the better.

So Lori remained quiet, using the ship for cover as she removed her cloak and bundled it up in front of her. She drew her hair up in a braid quickly and hoped that it was enough to change her appearance somewhat, before she set off in a casual walk. Running only attracked attention.

The ship could only cover her walking away for so long and she wanted to use every moment of it that she could. All the while she listened to the footsteps to hear if her pursuer was following her or not.

 

[Eskk Jannik]

Eskk continued searching for the girl. Despite his best efforts he felt her presence moving further and further away in the force. It was disheartening but at the same time gave him joy. It only meant the hunt would go on longer.


Before she was too far away Eskk shouted at at the top of his lungs, hoping she'd hear it. "I have your face and I know what you're seeking. Wherever you go, I will find you. I will never stop hunting you. I will find everyone you love and take them from you until you are begging for me to take you."

With that Eskk figured he had spent enough time on this girl. Besides, he was getting hungry again, and it was getting late. He needed to report in the the imperial headquarters on the planet. He suspected he would be able to find more information on the girl there. If she really was some kind of spy, the empire probably knew something about her.

Eskk turned away from the spaceport and began to travel to imperial headquarters. It wasnt a long distance to the building. Soon he would be scouring the imperial archives for any relevant information about his target.

Loreena Arenais-Valhoun

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori heard Eskk Jannik shouting after her. If he really knew her, he wouldn't be shouting what he was. So she was quite confident that he knew nothing and was just boasting. And besides, it wasn't as though she hadn't been threatened or hunted before. Even now it was set to get worse once word would spread about her and her brother being the masterminds in the death of the Emperor.

She continued walking further into the space port until she too, decided to leave it. Once she was sure that the coast was clear, lori unravelled the cloak and wrapped it around herself, drawing up the hood so that her face was hidden in shadows again.

Most people would have left if they were in her position, but she still needed a new ship. And quickly. So it was time to reach out to one of her other contacts and wait for a response......

 

[Eskk Jannik]

Eskk was at the Imperial Headquarters now. He had put his drawing of the girls face into one of the data terminals scanners and it was searching records for a match. Eskk sat at the data terminal and waited impatiently. It had been fourty five minutes and still no result.


Eskk understood that there were millions of records to scour and that all he had was a basic sketch, but the lack of progress still irritated him. Eskk pulled his DL44 and began to disassemble and clean it at the workstation. He was scrubbing away at the Carbon Scoring on the inside of the barrel when the workstation chimed. It had finally returned a result.

The result was only a seventy three percent match to his sketch, but Eskk opened the file anyway. He got an alert window informing him that this file was restricted to Officer's Eyes only. It asked him for his name, serial number, and pass code. Fortunately Eskk was an officer and was able to provide valid information.

The first thing Eskk did was look at the images associated with the file. After browsing through a few of them, he was sure that this was his girl. Eskk began to read the file. Her name was Loreena Arenais-Valhoun and she was listed as a high priority target wanted by the empire along with her brother.

According to the file, she had a suspected boyfriend who was wanted by the Empire as well. Eskk took all of this information in and plotted his next move. It was time to make her life difficult. Eskk updated the file.

His update read, Subject last seen on Balosaur Two. Positive identification confirmed. Subject appears to be alone and currently stranded on planet. May be attempting to acquire transportation off planet. Reccomend appropriate security measures be applied to the cities space port to prevent this. Reccomend street patrols be increased within the city to search for subject. Approach with caution, Subject is armed and dangerous.

Next, Eskk looked at her known aliases. It seemed she liked to use the moniker "Nest" for her covert operations. Finally, Eskk looked at the list of known associates. There were a few on planet. He narrowed the list down further by analyzing the files to determine which of them would theoretically be able to provide her with a ship. There were still several names on the list. Eskk flagged each one and issued surveillance orders with orders to contact him directly if anyone fitting Loreena's description showed up to speak to any of them.

Now all Eskk had to do was wait for the troopers to do the work of finding her for him.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori wasn't thrilled with her situation. Some punk trying to make a name for himself thwarted her shopping venture. And now? Now she had to look for someone else.

As she walked down the street, she kept her movements casual. At times she'd join in with a group of teens and follow along with them, especially as she saw patrols going by. There seemed to be more of them coming around as their frequency of passing the same blocks increased. Staying the same course would only decrease her chances. So Lori turned into an alleyway and leaped up onto an emergency ladder that took her up a winding set of stairs to get up onto the roof. At least from up there she'd get a vantage point and be able to observe things better.

Now she wished that she had her jetpack Ol' Sparky with her or her Boots of Escaping. Those would've come in handy right about now. But no matter. She'd take on whatever came her way. It was what her Mandalorian mentors and family had taught her.

This is the way.

Eskk Jannik

 

[Eskk Jannik]

Eskk was chronically annoyed by the lack of progress. The sun was starting to rise and there were no reports of his target anywhere. That only meant that she was smart enough to avoid the increased patrols that he had sent out to find her.

That fact both greatly annoyed Eskk and made him happy. He didnt want the hunt to be too easy, but patience was not a forte of his. "Why is this taking so long," Eskk screeched at a junior officer. "Don't answer that. The answer ia because these troopers are incompetant. I want the Watch Commander publically whipped for his failure to provide results. Youre all a shame to the empress."

Eskk had worked himself into a rage now. He didnt want to be in the command center anymore. He needed to search for his target. "Prepare a shuttle for immediate takeoff. Send any relevant reports to my datapad," Eskk ordered.

Eskk walked to the imperial shuttle he had just requisitioned. It was an older model, salvaged from the era of the Galactic Empire. Eskk preferred the old aesthetic of the Galactic Empire. Everything about it look streamlined for maximum efficiency.

Soon he was in the air. "Take us around the city," Eskk ordered, "low speed. Keep an eye out for anything unusual and report it to me directly." The trip on the shuttle was uneventful in the beginning. Eskk monitored his datapad willing it to tell him something. It told him nothing.

The pilot's voice came over the intercom system. "Sir, there's someone standing on a rooftop." So, Eskk thought to himself, what did he care if someone was standing on a rooftop. That in and of itself wasnt illegal. "They could potentially fit the description of the target individual."

Now, Eskk cared. He walked back into the cockpit and stared out the viewport. There was a dark clad figure alone on the rooftop. Eskk reached out with the force and felt the familiar presence from the spaceport. It was her. Eskk was thrilled.

"Take us down. Land on the rooftop with the loading bay door facing the subject," Eskk ordered. "Get a few squadrons of troopers in that alleyway. She doesnt escape this time. Open the loading bay door on my command only."

The shuttle began to descend towards the rooftop.

Loreena Arenais-Valhoun

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori watched the sunrise, covering her hand with her mouth as she yawned slightly. Jetlag was approaching and she seriously needed some caf. That or maybe a place to sleep. It might do better for her to lay low for a while, and she could certainly afford to do so.

However a chill ran down her spine signalling a warning. Lori turned to see a shuttle approaching the building it was moving slow and for a moment she thought that it would pass her by. That is until it began to land.

She clenched her jaw, all tiredness washed away with adrenaline as she began to back up to the portion of the roof where the stairway was. Her hand reached for her blaster and slid it out of the holster, keeping the weapon pointed downward, she waited to see just who this was.

Eskk Jannik

 

[Eskk Jannik]

Eskk felt the shuttle land. He paused a few moments for effect. He could feel his targets discomfort through the force and he relished it. Now was the time for the final confrontation. Eskk was determined to take her away from this rooftop as his prize.

She would come willingly, Eskk hoped, but if not there were body bags aboard the shuttle. Eskk waited a few seconds longer, allowing the tension to build. Finally he ordered the door to be opened. His sense of excitement made the door seem to open slower then it actually did.

Upon seeing that his target had a blaster drawn, Eskk called his chromium plated lightsaber into his hand and ignited the purple blade. It came to life with a snap hiss noise and a rolling hum as it superheated the air particles around it.

"Hello Loreena Arenais-Valhoun ," Eskk greeted his target. "There's no where to run this time. It's time we were properly introduced. I am Major Eskk Jannik, Imperial loyalists, and you're coming with me."

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

The shuttle landed on the roof, yet nothing happened. Maybe her instincts got it all wrong and they were just lost? Stranger things have happened, right?

But the feeling just wouldn't go away. Her fingers gripped tighter to her blaster as the shuttle door finally began to open. She recognized Eskk Jannik from the alley earlier that evening. And now here he was...

Lori glanced down at the alley below. Already troopers were heading to their location. Run. She was on a roof! What running was available? No, there were plenty of other options. And following this Loyalist's orders wasn't one of them.

"Coming with you where? Look Major Butthead, this isn't how you ask a girl out. You don't stalk her and bring about a bunch of troopers to make you look tough. Or...." she waved her free hand towards his lightsaber. ."..wave a lightsaber around. The answer is no. I'm already taken. So....See ya!" With a mocking salute, she jumped off the roof and landed on the stairwell. Lori hurried down a couple of floors, then fired her blaster at the window of an empty apartment. The glass shattered and she leaped inside, hurrying through the room and out into the hallway.