Time to Face What You Have Always Been (Tarissa)

[Cora Passek]

"But is that by its own right enough? To just be able to live with it?" Cora questioned quietly. She had more questions but decided not to press it. Though she had one last thing to add. "Second chances aren't given from the Gods without a good reason. Perhaps being a demon hunter is your fate, to be a hand of the Maker, seeing his judgment through on those that have slipped past traditional justice." She shrugged, "You may not believe it, but I think better of you, of the fates. And if I have to believe enough for both of us monsters that we'll find some peace in life, then I will." It was just who she was, believing better of those around her. It was the reason she lit candles in churches for friends and enemies alike, and for those that had passed beyond this realm. "You may not have much hope, but I have enough for both of us."

Without a further word, Cora turned away and walked back towards the armory to collect her weapons for the day. With care, she checked her bolter thoroughly before she slipped it into its holster. A traditional dagger, she slipped down into one boot, and a holdout blaster into the other. And of course, she had her holdout bolter necklace. Once everything was in place, she slipped the earpiece into her ear. "Last chance to grab anything you might need." She said a little loudly, letting her voice carry through the ship. "Once you're set we'll head out to the old market. And with some manner of luck things will go smoothly." Or so Cora hoped. She wasn't much in the mood for a fight, or too high of a price tag on the information she needed.

[member="Naamah Aesham"]

 

[Naamah Aesham]

[member="Cora Passek"]


Naamah just stared at Cora open-mouthed, unable to muster a coherent response. She could not allow herself to feel anything close to hope. If there was cause to hope, if her actions had a deeper meaning and forgiveness was something she could find, then she would just get hurt. If she believed that she could be forgiven for her sins, then was only deceiving herself. This was also one of the reasons why she preferred to work alone. It meant she could not be betrayed - or hurt someone. As perverse as it sounded, fatalistic nihilism could be a safety blanket. She was a mass murderer who'd been given a reprieve from hellfire, that was it.


"I cannot fathom how you think of me that way," she said quietly, voice barely above a whisper. Then she stuffed the sniper rifle and some ammunition into a duffel bag and zipped it shut. A disruptor pistol slipped into her holster, a vibrodagger into her boot. Disruptors were illegal in most civilised systems, but she could not care less. Besides, this world was hardly a shining example of good governance. She also slipped a stealth field generator on her belt.


"I'm ready. Let's go," without a further word, she opened the hatch and strode down the landing ramp, bag slung over her shoulder. Predictably, it was still dark and gloomy outside. This seemed par for the course for Kaas. Far as Naamah was concerned, anyone who waxed about Mandalorian honour should go visit the ruins of Kaas City and ask the ghosts of the millions who'd died when asteroids rained down from the heavens.

 

[Cora Passek]

Cora shrugged, "I just can." The irony didn't hit her at all, that she was much the same, unable ever to see the good in herself when she could so clearly see it in others. But she wasn't worthy, or capable of good things, at least that had been a belief she'd clung to for perhaps far too long in her life.

For her, her gear had to just fit onto her person and into the small messenger bag that she had slung over her shoulder. She couldn't afford for anything to be too obvious with this meeting. She gave a worried look back to Fluffy and sighed. Her mind was in about a million places when she needed it to be right here, right now. She couldn't easily push away the thoughts of things that could go wrong today. She couldn't seem to visualize the things that could go right, either. So she was caught between the two, which couldn't help matters.

With one last glance, she finally headed to the boarding ramp and quickly lowered it for them both. Once Naamah was outside with her, Cora sealed it back. Her whole body felt alive with nervous energies, as she looked out on the new day. "I suggest we take separate ways to the marketplace." Cora's paranoia just had to rear it's ugly head. "Because showing up with company is probably going to be rather frowned upon." She took a moment to straight out her jacket, waiting a moment to see if Livia had anything to add before she started off towards the meeting place.

[member="Naamah Aesham"]

 

[Naamah Aesham]

[member="Cora Passek"]


"Agreed," Naamah said blandly. There was little emotion to be found in her voice. She spared Cora one last glance, then stalked off, heading into the opposite direction. She would take care to keep her distance from the blonde and not make it obvious that she was going to the marketplace.


That meant killing some time, but she'd already figured out a spot to lurk when she arrived. There was a cool wind blowing across the street, snow crunched beneath her boots. Everywhere she looked, there was nothing but misery. Most people seemed to live in ruined buildings, sometimes even tents. Thugs were out on patrol. She noticed one of the ruffians discreetly pick up a comm link when she passed.


Her lightsabre was concealed and the Taozin amulet would mask her Force signature, but she could not help being on edge. Nervous energies filled her being, and she made sure her hand was close to her gun. Paranoia was deeply ingrained and completely warranted on this blasted darkside wasteland.


"Please, Miss. Could you spare a few creds?" A voice commanded her attention and she stopped, turning around to behold a woman and her little boy, both of them dressed in dirty rags and looking emaciated. The boy was huddled in a filthy looking blanket. "He's so young. I'll do anything."


So much poverty and darkness permeated this benighted place. What did two lives matter? They were just two among many. As if moving on autopilot, Naamah headed to the pair and tossed a bunch of credits into the woman's cup. How much? She had no clue. "Take that. Don't waste it on booze and drugs. Get a flight away from here," she grunted sternly.


"Thank, thank you, mistress," the woman exclaimed, looking shocked by the act. "Jacen, say thanks to the nice lady..." she tried to reach out and touch Naamah's hand, but the shifter had already walked away.


She came to a halt when she heard noise, some thug was cornering the poor woman and her boy. Without missing a beat, the Clawdite turned around and shot him in the back with her shatterpistol. He was on the ground before he even heard the shot. By her estimation, the hyperaccelerated pellet would've travelled from his back into his chest and produced a collapsed lung, but that was a rough estimate. Either way, it was not her business anymore. The former Inquisitor vanished from the scene almost as soon as she'd appeared. Within a short span of time, she was arriving at the market and moving towards the building.

 

[Cora Passek]

Cora sighed and glanced back to Livia once more after she had started walking off in a different direction. In her annoyingly paranoid manner Cora took a similarly twisted path to head back to the market. After all, she had to be certain she wasn't being followed. Risks weren't something she could afford today, no she had to be certain.

Her mind was drifting as she walked from so many events in the past, so many memories were floating through, reminding her of what life used to be like before the paranoia set in before her family was destroyed. Occasionally she'd pause, and take another side street just to be sure no one appeared behind her more than once.

Taking her time seemed the wisest thing to do at this point, there was no need to rush. Unfortunately, Cora could feel her stomach twisting into knots. Her nervous energy was rising and leading her to some dark places as she thought through the possibilities of the day. Seeing the Bookkeeper was risky enough, and on top of it, she'd been unsettled by the men they'd found the day before. There were too many possibilities, too many variables to work out for what could happen. She sighed and paused for a moment to shake the thoughts from her mind. She needed to calm down to focus on the situation at hand and on exactly what was in front of her. Anything less was taking on unacceptable risks.

She sighed as she came to the top of the marketplace. This she wasn't sure if she was ready for. It's too late to back out now. It's already done, and he knows you are here if you walk away now, he could simply sell the information of your location. Chances are he'll sell it anyway, but at least wait long enough to ensure he gets what he wants out of you. And that buys you time.

She exhaled slowly, letting her shoulders slump as she did her best to relax one last time. The building Naamah had picked out was on the far end of the market and Cora was certain the woman had made it there already. After all, she seemed quite capable and knew her stuff.

She glanced at her watch to check the time. It was just a couple minutes before the hour, just a couple minutes to the planned meeting time. And down the way she could see three men. One she recognized as the Bookkeeper. Odd that she had never heard his name beyond that, but infochants relied on secrecy given what they dealt with, so in some ways, it was no surprise. The other two, she suspected were just merely bodyguards who also made sense for the situation.

Taking her time she approached cautiously, her eyes scanning the street for anything that remotely stood out. "Two guards, am I really that scary?" She asked with some level of amusement. Though, much of that was just an act to mask the anxiety she was feeling at the moment.

"Give your history; I think you understand the need, Corina." He said finally speaking. "Never thought I'd see you alive, much less back here. You've been quite the busy girl. Got lots of enemies these days, eh?"

Cora tensed hearing her full first name. Cora was just a nickname she'd taken on over the years. Corina was not a name she'd heard for a good decade. Seldom few out there knew it, and those who did were generally the people who had known her as a child. She resisted the urge to grab a weapon as he spoke of her enemies.

"Relax, before you do something incredibly stupid." He said quickly as he noticed the tension grow in the air, and could see tiny movements in Cora that told him all he needed to know, "I've no intentions to harm you. Though that does not mean an outside source won't try. I heard about what happened yesterday. Not my doing, I assure you. Now that also doesn't mean I won't sell the information of your presence later after you are long gone from here."

The blonde nodded, "Real comforting." It wasn't assuring in any way. In fact, that made her more than a little uncomfortable.

"It's the best I can do." He said with a shrug, "Beyond that, your comfort with the present situation is down to you. Now before we start I want to make this clear; I agreed to meet you for two reasons One; I owe your father a favor, for helping me out in my younger years. Two; I like you despite the trouble you tend to cause." He only paused slightly to let that sink in before speaking once more. "Now that introductions are out of the way, shall we get down to business?"

The look of shock couldn't be hidden, as her mouth fell open a little. She wasn't even remotely sure how to respond. Meeting someone who had known her father had never actually happened before now. "Hold up, let's go back to the part where you knew my dad."

"It's a long story."

"We've got time."

"No, we don't. Not here, there isn't time to tell that story. Personally, I'd prefer not to do so at all, as it's not that important. So let's get back to the business part of this exchange. What is it that you are wanting and looking for?" He seemed to want to move quickly on, skipping over his personal connections with her father.

Before she could reply, a sense of something not being off started to grow. Her shocked expression faded quickly into one of concern. She glanced anxiously from left to right, trying to get a look at what exactly was going on.

"Cora, now." He snapped insistently. "There's plenty of dangers out here in the open like this. And I'm not in the mood to wait around to see what shows up. Not with how you attract trouble."

[member="Naamah Aesham"]

 

[Naamah Aesham]

[member="Cora Passek"]


In the holovids, things were simple. A sniper crouched on the rooftop or hid behind a window, waited for a target, then fired round after round. Inevitably, scores of enemies were taken out with well-placed head shots before they even realised someone was firing on them. The sniper did not have to worry about detection or enemy counterfire. Or think of something as mundane as rapidly switching position.


Unfortunately, reality was far less glamorous. For starters, most snipers worked in tandem with a spotter. The sniper's job was not to create a pile of bodies on the streets. More often than not, she spent a very long time not doing anything except observing. When she struck, she did so quickly, then vacated her position before the enemy could launch an artillery strike on the building she was hiding inside. A sniper was a surgical weapon, not a one-woman army.


So Naamah waited. She had no spotter, but that was fine. The Clawdite had crouched behind the window of a room located on the highest level of the building. All power had long died here, so there was little light. The bolt action rifle was deadly and almost silent, but it had a low firing rate and if it came to a fire fight, it was doubtful she'd have the time to reload after having expended her ammunition, so every shot needed to count.


To put it plainly, her role was to wait. Not very glamorous, but killing was not supposed to be that. The Taozin amulet should obscure her from Force detection, though a skilled tracker would be able to overcome that. The stealth field generator hung on her belt, but had not been activated yet. After all, its battery was limited. So the Clawdite looked through the scope, focusing on the bookkeeper and his goons while he chatted with Cora.


The former Inquisitor was on edge. Something did not feel right. Her rifle swept across the market from left to right, searching for possible targets. So far, no one else had come, but suspicion welled up inside her. The bookkeeper was the one with the information Cora needed. Ergo, if it came to a fight, she'd kneecap him. Or just shoot him in the groin if she could pull the shot off. The others were fair game. She was to far away to really understand where the conversation was going, but she could feel Cora's anxiety. It occured to Naamah that she'd be upset if something happened to Cora. It felt strange.

 

[Cora Passek]

Cora's frown deepened as she tried her best to force the moderately paranoid thoughts from her mind. The blonde closed her eyes for a moment to bring her focus back to the situation. Thus far, the encounter had been entirely unexpected. "I had no idea you knew him." She shook her head trying her best to leave that be for now.

The man remained silent hoping she'd quickly get to the point and let the personal connection disappear.

Biting her lower lip, Cora sighed. She knew they needed to get down to business quickly. And it seemed he wasn't just going to simply fork over information on her father. Every once in a while, she would glance to the side, trying to spot what had caused that odd sensation that was bothering her. She hoped that for once, she was just simply being paranoid. "I'm just," She paused, and looked back to him, "I'm trying to find what happened to him and my family. The few things I can piece together don't make sense and several directly contradict one another. I firmly believe I've never gotten the real story."

The Bookkeeper nodded, "I never found the public story believable either. Your father wasn't the type to betray the Empire. Certainly never to the degree that has been claimed. I too have heard a few conflicting reports on it." He sighed, looking to Cora, "I don't know how much physical evidence even exists any longer. I can look, check with my contacts, gather what I can. Oh, and Corina, this doesn't come without a price."

Cora seemed confused for a moment, thinking that favor he owed her father was still on the table. "But you said ..."

He lifted a hand to cut her off before she could get much further with that thought. "I said I owed him a favor. And I've fulfilled that by meeting you and keeping the details of where you are, your ship and the like concealed, until I know you are long gone, and the trail cold at that point. That I've already done for you. And technically that's two things I have done and am doing for you. I'm just being kind with the second one."

She sighed slowly, not quite expecting what he'd said. Perhaps she expected him to be a touch more generous and not count meeting her as a favor or just holding the info of her whereabouts. "What do you want in return for this information?"

"There's a ship that should arrive here within the next 48 hours. They are carrying something I want."

"And that is?"

"A single small crate among the other cargo it's transporting. Inside is a set of three datacrons. Before you can ask, what's on them is not your concern." He said as reached into his pocket carefully and removed a datapad before offering it to Cora. "The details of the make and model of the ship, the rest is up to you. Just meet me at the same bar when the task is complete."

Cora nodded, "Okay, and I assume we'll exchange information then, yes?"

"Of course." He paused looking at the blonde once more, "It was good to see you in one piece, try to keep it that way."

"Planned on it."

He had started to turn to leave but stopped feeling the need to impart a touch more advice to Cora. "And you, my dear may want to find a different location to plan and wait in; I suspect the market won't be safe much longer.You, on the other hand, might want to find a different location to hang out in until then. I don't think this is going to be a safe place for much longer." With that, he motioned for her to leave as he turned to head down a side street.

A part of Cora breathed a sigh of relief. The meeting had gone well all considered. Unexpected, but well. The price wasn't too high, all considered. He could have asked for a small fortune. Obtaining a few datacrons for him from a transport, didn't seem all that bad. As he disappeared, Cora couldn't help the feeling that there was someone else watching her, and that was not a thought she liked in the least. And while that feeling bothered her a great deal, there wasn't much to do but find Livia, and let the problem present itself in its own time.

[member="Naamah Aesham"]

 

[Naamah Aesham]

[member="Cora Passek"]


The realisation that she'd actually care if something happened to Cora was disconcerting. Attachment bred weakness and left you vulnerable. There was only one person Naamah had allowed herself to really get attached to: Mirien Valdier. It was plain to the Clawdite that this had not gone well for her.


She suppressed this thought, flushing it out of the metaphorical airlock. Ice encased her heart. She had a job to do. So she continued playing overwatch, monitoring the scene between Cora, the information broker with the mundane alias and his goons. Something was not right. It put her on edge. As the meeting came to a close, and the bookkeeper vanished down a sidestreet, Naamah maintained her vigil. After all, this would be the perfect moment for another party to carry out an ambush, when everyone might have cause to believe that the danger had passed.


Then she heard noise coming from the alley down below. It was too close to the building she'd sought refuge for her to feel comfortable, but Cora was still in the area. Her Force senses prickled when her danger senses flared. Her sniper rifle swept from left to right, then back again. The Force guided her weapon and directed her mind towards a window.


Someone else was watching the scene. Whoever was hiding behind it was good. Naamah could only dimly perceive their presence. Indeed, what alerted the Clawdite to the presence in the first place was that she a dark void. It was as if the spot was enveloped by a cloud. Force Dead? Doubtful. Taozin amulet equipped? Far more likely. Contrary to popular belief, wearing a Taozin amulet did not make you immune to detection via the Force, just very difficult.


A skilled tracker could see pass the veil. Mirien Valdier had trained her girl well. Her finger moved to the trigger and squeezed. The suppressor reduced the sound and visible muzzle flash of the weapon when a bullet leapt out of it. Sound suppressors did not make a weapon completely silent, contrary to the depiction in Holowood movies, but it close enough. They were too far away for Naamah to hear the other sniper's cry of pain when the bullet hit its mark.


She took a deep breath, her senses flared. Too late. "Drop your weapon now!" an angry voice barked. A disruptor rifle was levelled towards her. The Clawdite did not fly into a rage or lose her nerve, but she silently cursed herself. "Put your hands where I can see them."


"Alright, I'm dropping the gun," she said quietly, her hands leaving the rifle. Slowly, she got to her feet and put her hands over her head.


"Stay where you are," the man barked. Talking was a mistake. The Clawdite sprang into action. There was a bright flash when a beam exited his weapon and blew into the night's sky. By that time, she was already moving. He fired once more, when she suddenly bolted ran up the wall. The disruptor beam blew a hole into it. Naamah leapt and landed behind him. He spun around, she grabbed the rifle and tore it from his hands. There was a cry of anguish and it did not come from her when she disintegrated his lower leg and rammed the gun into his face, breaking his nose.