Private The Rules of Power

[Aiwaz Khath]

Light feet scrapped hurredly along concrete; old leather on new stone. The young man darted through clueless crowds and down grotty alleyways, eyes constantly glancing over his shoulder. The pollution of the city made his panting harder, and his lungs ached and stung. His heart beat so hard it felt as though it was about to push out through his chest, and every step felt as though his feet conspired to fall upon one another. Down a dimly-lit neon alley he sprinted, past boarded up buildings on either side and a seemingly half-alive drifter laying comatose in a doorstep, entirely oblivious to the commotion that rushed by. Praying that he had finally made some distance, he made the decision to run into one of the empty buildings, using the full force of his elbow to smash open a locked door of what appeared to be a abandoned restaurant.

That dim, musty place was abhorrently silent, and accentuated the violence of his own chest. Yet all around him was still, and for a moment he felt safe. His hands laid against the inside of the door, hoping that it would keep whatever was following him from entering his new safe space. For a time there was a still that he had not felt for a long time. But in an instant it was vanquished as a claw pulled him back by the neck and into a tight grip. Fear surrounded him, and all he could envision was blood and ash and destruction. An image of his former employer flashed before him, and a violence of words cut through him without remorse.
Where. Is. He?

Ash and tears, blood and bone, and a voice that could not scream. A black street. An abandoned house. A face of a vagrant in disguise. He was still here, on the other side of the city. Simple steel bloodied through flesh quietened the mind to an iron silence.

* * *

Spoiler

New Beles, Thaere Privo
Confederacy Space

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The upper city of New Beles thrummed and hummed with endless activity. It blared with the canvas of industry and commercial tandemonium. The noise of its lifestyle was maddening enough to distract a lesser mind from the bureaucratic nightmare that governed it. The central heart thumped along Belgrave Street, the commercial and tourist centrepoint of the very planet. It was where the greatest business complexes had developed to squash minor competitors and take over the whole planet's economy. Judging by the activity of the city, they had certainly done well for themselves. Draped in a loose, black, hooded coat, Auron Song raised his head for a mere moment to observe the impressive display of status and wealth. But his misted eyes quickly darted back to the ground, ahead and around him. His target, or the indication of his target, was closer here, and yet he felt there was much to achieve before he would find him.
All in good time.


Srina Talon

 

[Srina Talon]

Location: New Beles [Low-Income Sector]
Objective: Capture, and or Kill, a Monster. The worst kind. The human kind.
Tag: Aiwaz Khath

She did not travel alone.​

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Ever.​

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Part of being the right hand to the Vicelord of an entire nation meant that her person was almost considered government property. She could choose the form of an escort she wished to accompany her but her favored choices almost always involved droids. Twin Magnaguard in dark cloaks walked solemnly at her side—Just a half-step behind her. Nightmarish photoreceptors kept anyone from looking too long. This was a city that cherished lavishness and business.​

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Srina did not look like she had come to New Beles for a contract. Probably because she wasn’t.​

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Local authorities had reported several civilians going missing. The few that turned up were maimed beyond what a rational mind could accomplish. It was an animal she sought. One, that simply looked humanoid. This was reminiscent of crimes that had taken place on Geonosis not long ago. The similarities in the cases drew her here. She hadn’t been granted full access, however, none wanted to be charged with obstructing Confederate justice.​

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“Log 3.9.11: I am at the twentieth hour in New Beles. No sign of the suspect. Will canvas the areas with the highest lack of modern living. Abandoned buildings, slums, low-income sectors.”​

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The Exarch kept a formal log of her travels on her Holo-Comm should the Viceroyalty need to review anything officially. Personal business remained off the record but this was far from the case. The young Echani hadn’t bothered to hide her head. She wore a dark blue ensemble that was part armor, part clothing, with a furred hood that fell down around slender shoulders. Her lightsaber sat snug in a holster that ran along her spine.​

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Moonlit hair glimmered like spun-silk in the neon city lights. Whether it was warm or cold seemed entirely lost on her. Everything was lost. Only the mission remained.​

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“Hey pretty lady—Lookin’ for some company?”​

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Srina ignored the salacious jeer. She was walking in a part of town that someone of her stature should not be in. Such a thing almost asked for trouble, however, she was unlikely to find whom she required in an expensive hotel bar. She would find this monster, this wanton murderer, among the dredges of society. He chose the people no one would miss. The ones that were lost. Forgotten.​

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He preyed on the weak.​

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For that alone Srina would never forgive. She hoped that surrender was never offered. Nothing would please her more than to liberate his head from his shoulders if he chose the path of resistance.​

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A catcall followed her while she turned the corner to another alley. Looking. Listening. Scanning. Even with the Magnaguard at her side, hidden though they were, these deviants were incredibly bold. It was almost as if the local authorities hadn’t put the fear of God into them.​

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Perhaps, that was true. Srina would correct that in short order.​

 

[Aiwaz Khath]

This man was like a true shadow, seemingly blessed with abilities beyond normality. The nature of such skills as of yet remained unknown to him, but Auron's investigation had unveiled most curious evidence pertaining to his person. He had learned all things that he needed to know, except, of course, his actual identity. Was he human? Neimodian? Selkath? One thing that Auron was certain of; he possessed an immeasurable power in the Force, and that was enough for him to seek him out. An exile and a hunter, Auron had deemed him an ideal candidate for his Order. But time would, indeed, reveal the truth of the matter.

Something was strange, though. There was something on the wind that told of ill omens and undiscovered challenge. There was a fire that burned in silence along the surface of this planet, and perhaps it would consume it all.

Like liquid mercury, Auron moved through the crowds around him with perfect stillness, the tendrils of his mind stretching across the canvas of the city in search of a single stain upon which to bloody itself. There was a tinge of lucidity upon the fringes of the city's orderly life, and he pushed deeper to understand it more coherently.

And then, like the peace of a forested silence shattered and brought to high panic by predatorial encounter, there was a sobering convergence of some undiscovered kind, though vague and no more than a second. It was something new, something different, something... powerful. He could sense influence and... competition. There was a silent exchange of conflicts and prey before immediate, cold severance, as the cosmic tendrils snapped. Auron's eyes had shot awake, brought to sobriety by the unforgiving immediacy of shock. He breathed, and focused, blinked his way out of it, and kept moving. He needed to move fast, and execute his plan swiftly.

He felt a glimmer of a appearance in the shadows of the city. His target had headed for the slums to the north.


Srina Talon