Within The Dark

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

”Fine with me.” He said with a shrug. Of course, he had noticed that she’d said nothing of the gauntlet. He wasn’t a fool, and trust between the two of them was still entirely too thin. He thought about confronting her, but in the end the fight simply wasn’t worth it.

The gauntlet was rare, yes, but if he stayed on the ship he cut off her means of escape.

She could abandon it, but for some odd reason Val found that possibility entirely unlikely. Her possessions might have been meager, but a ship like this certainly wasn’t cheap, and if she decided to run away...well he was pretty certain that he would be able to track her down...once he figured out how to run the auto-pilot.

”But, please don’t be foolish enough confront the man on your own.” She could handle herself he was sure, but now was not the time to take risks. ”At least do me that favor.”

Despite the mistrust, he’d rather not see her die.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

The ship gave one last shudder and then it landed. A glance over at pink band shirt saw the brief concern go over his heterochromic eyes. Part of her didn't want to see that. It made her feel odd and a bit uncomfortable. She'd been ok her own for so long that seeingvsoneone or even hearing a bit of concern for her felt-- weird.

"I'll be fine," she insisted, popping off the security belt and getting to her feet. There was much to be done. Digging a cerulean hand into her picket she found a twenty credit credit chip.

"Here," she flipped it over to him with a flick of her thumb. "Get yourself something to eat." A frown turn a pause.

"Try to blend in." Asking much but well one could hope.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

”That wasn’t a yes.” Val said simply.

He hoped she wasn’t foolish enough to go alone. Whatever the man was, the gauntlet was dangerous, and that simple truth alone was enough to make pursuing all this on her own...well just plain foolish. In the end, she wasn’t a Bounty Hunter, she wasn’t a Mercenary, and she certainly wasn’t a soldier.

Ryssa could handle herself, but some things...some things you just didn’t go at alone, unless you were a two meter tall viking anyway.

His hand came off of the deck and took the credit chit. For a moment Val frowned and inspected the little piece of plastic, being more used to Aurodium coins or rare gem stones when bartering. He found it hard to believe that anyone could see value in such a tiny little thing...but he decided not to question it.

”I’ll try.” He told her. ”Though historically, it’s not gone so well.”

Even in a crowd of aliens Val tended to stand out.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"Nor was that a no." She added back, toned if slightly bruised limbs moving the Changling towards the rear of the ship. She paused along a panel, where she opened a small compartment and went over a few things. It wasn't at all hidden like the rest of the compartments. Just a nook to store things. Years back she had an aftermarket security mechanism installed. It was an aural sonic switch that would send waves of sound at a painful frequency, disorienting and even making Wookiee fall to the ground in pain. Enough of it could make someone fall unconscious if they didn't have the right implant to filter it out.

"Whatever happens, don't flip that yellow toggle there." It would activate the system. Since Val didn't have the implant, he'd be affected too.

"Actually just please don't touch anything in the cockpit." Better blanket it all. Digging into the compartment she found her blaster and few more credits.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

He hadn’t intended on doing so. Val couldn’t fly the ship if he wanted to, so just leaving was out of the question, and he was pretty sure that anything else would cause a critical reactor overload that would cause him to end up on the evening news.

Better to stay away.

Unless Ryssa was gone for more than a day or so, then he would start touching things in an effort to either find her, or track her down and cut her throat for betraying him. Either one. ”No worries there.”

Val had no idea if she would actually believe him or not, but that hardly seemed to matter to him. He would likely get some food, perhaps buy some clothes from a thrift shop meant for Hutts, and then be on his way back to the ship.

Sadly, he doubted there was time to see the sights.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Closing the compartment shut Ryssa gave a nod. Good. Holsterimg her blaster by her hip she adjusted her belt and turned to leave. Here's to hoping that the manbun in a pink band shirt didn't cause too much trouble -- or wrecked her ship. Her boots gave a slight thud as she charged down purposefully down the corridor.

Meeting Brinx was first on the list. He was the one who had given her the heads up ok the job. Time to see if he knew more than what he'd seemed to know at the start of it.

Then she'll narrow it down from there.

Ryssa left her ship and Val behind. The starport was packed. Going off to a nearby console she paid for the landing pad. Inspections weren't so prevalent. But that could still be a problem.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Val wasn’t in any rush.

He figured that Ryssa would be going to meet some informants or perhaps a Broker or something, and that meant he likely had a bit of time. The viking wasn’t exactly sure just how far twenty credits would get him, but he figured Ryssa had likely given him enough for at least a meal.

Still, he decided not to go anywhere fancy.

A little while after Ryssa left Val followed suite. As soon as he stepped off the ship Val found himself completely and entirely lost, the starport itself being twice as big as the biggest city he had ever been to. His lips thinned, his eyes darting from place to place as he tried to figure out where the hell he was going.

Eventually he simply gave up, and then decided it would be best to follow the most reliable thing he could at the moment; his nose. Val sniffed the air several times, and then quickly began to follow after the most delicious scent. He wandered for some time, eventually finding a small cart at the corner of one of the Terminals. ”Fantastic.”

Val said as he saw the vendor hand a man a stick that appeared to be filled with meat.

What better thing could he have asked for?

Without a moment of hesitation Val ran towards the vendor, nearly knocking over a lady with a small dog as he rushed over. Within just a few heartbeats Val ordered something off the menu, simply pointing to one of the pictures. Just a second later, and Val was holding his own meat stick...stick of meat...food, not male parts.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

The Academy of Tion Heritage was a rather luxurious building. It held within it several Tionese cultural works that had been saved from the previous planetary razes under the Sith rule. It was also the location of one specific curator by the name of Tionas Bif.

Tionas Bif was a nobleman of a good family. Blonde hair, green eyes, rather skinny with a patrician nose. He was also an annoying academic but he had connections that would serve Ryssa whenever anyone needed an archaeologist on the field. He was also the dirty womprat that would be her first stop.

It was rather busy today, which was to her advantage. Now where is that sniffling brat. Thinking back on it now it made sense why he had been rather shady about it all.

Likely he hadn't even considered her showing back up here again.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

After consuming his food, which he ate about as ravenously as one would expect, Val inspected the Credit Chits that the now had. The meal had cost him seven credits, which to him meant very little.

For all he knew it should have cost three.

Still, the price meant he had thirteen credits left over. A part of him wanted to just give the sum back to Ryssa, but then he caught a glance of himself in one of the more reflective panels within the starport and he ultimately decided that he would do no such thing. It wasn’t her fault that she’d only had one shirt for him, but...well this was a bit ridiculous.

Perhaps he would be able to find something that actually fit him, something that...well wasn’t bright pink either. With a mission in mind he set off out of the starport, this time asking for directions.

Apparently none of the locals had any idea what a ‘thrift store’ was, and most of them balked when he said the words ‘cheap clothes’.

Eventually however he managed to find a shop selling antiques, ancient furniture and old things that seemed the right place to find something he was looking for, or hopefully anyway. Val stepped into the shop and waved to the man behind the counter. ”Hello. I need some clothes.”

The shopkeeper behind the bar gaped at him.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Getting into the academy was easy. Finding Tionas a little bit harder. It didn't help that she was in Wroonian form. Which meant she had to try an lay low while she searched for the curator. Tion might have a bit of an influx in alien species, but there were still a bit of that humancentric nature left here and there. Especially in the upper classes. Bringing her wrist up, Ryssa gave a few taps of her holographic wrist comm. It was a multifunction tool, but it brought up any information on what was going on in the academy then.

Tionas, it seemed, was just at the end of a presentation. Perfect.

With a half smirk, the Changling flicked her hood over her head. Alright, now time to blend in. Sorta. The Aurek conference room would be across the hall towards the right on the third floor.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

The conversation with the store owner was an interesting one. Apparently the man had simply been surprised at his size, rather than his request for clothes.

He was a kindly old man, and Val talked to him for what seemed like some time about his children and the nature of his business. Most of his customers were apparently rich folk, all of whom wanted something rare or unseemly. A request for clothes, he said, was exceedingly odd, but not too difficult.

Eventually he showed Val a trunk full of old clothes, most of them seeming to be of a rather...noble style.

He frowned for a moment and looked through them, eventually picking out a loose fitting shirt that appeared to be some sort of cotton. He felt it for a moment and then checked its size. It would hang loosely on him, likely meaning it had belonged to a rather large alien at some point. He offered to pay the shopkeeper, but was told almost immediately that he would be doing a service by taking something he’d never sold.

”Thank you.” Val told the old man with a smile.

Kindness paid off.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

The topic of the day was Ancient Sith Empire Relics.

Coincidence? I think not.

Ryssa snuck into the back of the conference room, settling into a corner under the shadows of the dim light. Up ahead was a large holo array that was going through the history of the Old Sith Empire. It went over their origin, leaders, and how they'd spread across the Tion Sector.

Now this was getting more and more interesting. Ryssa narrowed her eyes, watching Tionas as he ambled back and forth answering questions.

"So you are suggesting that there are still several artifacts and records scattered across the region dating from the Old Sith Empire?"

Tionas gave a nod.

"Why yes." he spread his arms out. "Who is to say that there might be some here on Linna just waiting to be discovered?"

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Val parted ways with the shopkeeper not soon after that, having thanked the man once more and asked him for directions back to the spaceport.

His return trip was surprisingly...well boring. Though this world had much to offer, it seemed that most of it, if not all, was meant for people with a ludicrous amount of money. Nearly every shop and every corner demanded payment of some sort, and they all looked rather unfriendly towards Val who now wore a gray, loose fitted shirt that appeared to be older than most of them.

It was odd how he drew the eye in a crowd, even when he tried to do his best not to be noticed. He moved quietly along the walls, trying to shrink himself as he slunk back into the starport and headed towards the Hangar.

The vendor was still at the same corner, and Val decided that it would be best to eat more now rather than suffer later.

Thus he paid another seven credits, and received another stick of meat.

After that he simply wandered back to the ship, intending on waiting for Ryssa until she returned with whatever news she would have, hoping she hadn’t done anything foolish.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Foolish... ehh... Well that was a matter of perception.

If one considered how the Changling waited until the end of the presentation to make her move, then yes, maybe foolish. Tionas had gathered up his materials and ate up as much attention as he could with last minute questions. He always enjoyed being at center stage. Had been since their time at the academy. Yeah, Ryssa had the bad luck to have been in the same class as this idiot. The only difference being that she had been there for a seminar and he had been the buffoon trying to dip his wick into a blue fountain.

Needless to say, Tionas had his boons. His connections were important to Ryssa in getting new jobs. However, that didn't mean that she let him get away with things. Like the fact a Cult was out to get her for a gorram gauntlet.

When Tionas left the conference room and headed over to his office, Ryssa made her move. The cold, insistent press of her blaster met the small of the Tionese nobleman's back. As did her wry, "Looks like you've been busy Tionas. "

He froze, face turning pale.

"How about you give me a little one on one presentation about that Old Sith Empire hmm?"

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

His time on the ship was spent much the same way as the last two days.

True to his word Val didn't touch any of the ships systems or try to mess with anything, nor did he snoop around her room. He could have, and in all honesty was rather tempted too, but the angel on his shoulder named Aerith prevented him from doing any such thing. Instead he simply sat there in quiet peace, contemplating about the Gauntlet and other things. The Tion Hegemony seemed uninteresting to him now, and thus his attention turned towards another subject.

Moridin.

The Sith Lord that had made the Gauntlet, that had once ruled over this sector of space.

Ryssa had gone to look into him on her own, but he figured that he might as well do a little digging about it on the holo-net. There was plenty to be learned online, as long as you took whatever you saw with a big grain of salt. He began to dig into the subject of the former Sith Emperor, looking up his name, where he had been born, anything that could be fine. Sadly, there were many lacking details, though at least once or twice he came upon a tidbit that he had not known before.

"Several children?" He asked himself quietly.

The Viking perked an eyebrow and then clicked the link.

Who knew Stih had kids?

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"Ahhh Ryssa..." Tionas began immediately stammering. He turned his head to try and look back at her but the distinct prod of the blaster at the curator's back suggested that was a bad idea.

"Ah, ah, ah...how about we got into your office." another prod made her intention clear.

"Of course, sure sure..." Ryssa could see his Adam's apple bob. "I didn't expect you back so soon..."

"I'm sure you didn't Tionas." Ryssa gave a glare, looking around to make sure they were not caught. "move it!"

"Right this way," he stammered out, gesturing towards an office down to the right. If anything, she was sure that he might try something. "Hands where I can see them Tionas."

"Right, right," he lifted his hands. At the very least he was a coward. A stupid one, but a coward none the less.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

He kept digging.

There wasn't much else for him to do at this point except for sit, wait, and read.

What he found wasn't all that interesting. Apparently Moridin had two children that the galaxy knew about, one had become Queen of Rattatak for a short time before dying, and the other...Senator of Borleias for the Galactic Republic. The two were dynamically different, and from what Val could tell they had never even met one another. It was odd, and he wished there had been more information, but apparently whoever the Senator was had kept himself mostly private, and the former Queen was now dead.

He frowned slightly.

"Useless." Val commented as he swiped another page.

Most of the information was simply gossip columns about the Senators love affair with his Jedi Wife. All very...boring.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Shoving Tionas into his office, Ryssa cut quick to the chase. He went scattering within his room, crashing against his desk. He was very nervous, fussing with his papers and then trying to straighten himself as he turned to look at her.

"I...I thought you were at a dig sight Ryssa!" he managed to squeak out. His eyes kept going to the door.

"Oh I bet you did." Ryssa added, closing and locking the door behind her. A nod of the blaster towards his seat gestured for the man to take a seat.

"So why did you expect that? " she took a step closer, narrowing her eyes.

"Be.. cause you like to take your time!" really? He went with that? Her glower deepened.

"How about we talk more about the Cult of the Ominous Fist?" she went straight for the jugular. "and what it has to do with the Count wanting this particular artifact?"

The fact that Tionas turned even paler was telling.

"Tick tock Tionas. My patience is wearing thin."

"Look, it was just a basic contract to dig..." he began.

"You no good womprat, you knew!"

Both of his hands went up as if to prevent her from shooting hiim.

"Just what he told me! I swear! Just that there might be something of interest of the old Sith Empire!"

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

He tried hoogling some more stuff about the Senator and the Queen, but ultimately all he found were tabloids or old articles written about one thing or another. Strangely enough there were no pictures, as if most of them had been taken down for one reason or another.

Eventually Val gave up.

"Oh well." Val said tossing the datapad onto the acceleration couch. "Guess it's been too long."

The truth was, after a couple years passed nobody even really cared anymore. Moridin had been a terror at one point, but he'd been dead for decades. The Queen of Rattatak, his daughter, had similarly been dead for a while, and his Son? Well Moridin's son was apparently still alive but no longer Senator or even in the public eye, that meant people simply didn't care anymore, and that meant the holo-net didn't care. Val likely could have kept going but...well he wasn't the greatest at operating technology beyond the basics.

Research wasn't exactly his forte, even with his love of holo-docs.

He just simply didn't get exposed to technology that much.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"How much did the count know?" Ryssa demanded, only to add as Tionas lowered his arms to his desk, " Ah ah ah! Keep them up where I can see them."

He gave a grimace but immediately brought them up. If he could get his hand down under his desk he would be able to nab the electronic stunner.

"Look, we both were paid well right? Did you at least find it?" he attempted to distract her, asking questions. Ryssa was having none of it.

"That doesn't matter. I want to know what is up with the Cult of the Ominous fist and how much does this deal with Moridin?"

At that Tionas narrowed his own eyes.

"So you did find something?" at her glare he continued. "We both know that there are plenty of items scattered across the galaxy. Finding them is just as much a necessity as keeping a bit of history for all to see."

"For all to see or for specific people?" Ryssa took another step forward, getting a good look at him. There was more. Was the count a Sith?

"Does it matter? You were offered fifteen thousand credits right? Just to track whatever it was down?" while he spoke he was slowly lowering his arms again. Just a little bit closer.

"It does when I'm being chased down but cultists I wasn't expecting!"

"Well, you seemed to have done right by yourself now..." just a little bit more. "You can just turn in whatever you found and get your credits and be done with it."

"Not how I work Tionas and you know it!"