Within The Dark

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

He sighed.

There wasn't much else he could do unfortunately.

Searching on the holo-net for more information about this senator didn't seem like a good way to go. Sure he might have known more about the Gauntlet, but there was no telling where the man was or even what he was doing at that time. It was better just to wait for Ryssa to get back and see what she found out, especially because he'd very likely just get himself mad if he tried to finnagle with the datapad anymore than he already had been.

Better to just leave it.

Val frowned, and then sat himself down on the couch. Perhaps a nap?

He had eaten quite a bit of food, and for the first time in days he felt absolutely wonderful. The shrapnel in his back was still bothering him quite a bit, but...well that would be something he'd have to get used to until this was all over. He knew the doctor he'd head to after...she would hopefully be able to help, but finding her was another issue for later. He yawned, and then looked at the couch again. A shrug rolled over his shoulders.

Not like he had anything better to do.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

In between Val's sleeping and Ryssa's interogating, that's when the most chaotic of things would happen. Maybe it was Tionas constant chatter that got the drop on Ryssa. Or maybe it was simply dumb luck. Whatever the case in between gathering more information and pointing that blaster at the curator Tionas managed the few seconds he needed to snipe at the stunner under his desk.

He drew it out and shot at Ryssa once, twice, and finally a third time. She was so caught off guard that they all hit her on the chest. Her vision became blurry, her muscles relaxed, and panic set in as she felt her knees buckle and give way under her. The last thing she saw was Tionas face turning into a violent sneer before everything went dark.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Naps were good, even for one hundred and twenty year olds. They provided much needed respite and rest, not to mention that they were generally good and comfy.

Val had taken one of the blankets from his room and wrapped himself up on the acceleration couch within the tiny lounge, figuring that Ryssa would be back in a few hours and would find him there. What he didn't know of course, was that she had been ambushed, the other thing he didn't know was that things were at work that neither of them had quite expected of predicted. So, while Val slept and Ryssa was kidnapped, an assault team slowly made its way into the hangar.

They were dressed in a more subtle version of tactical gear. Collapsible blaster rifles, thick Tactical vests, and several stun grenades hidden in the pockets of leather jackets. Val didn't see them of course, being inside of the ship, but as the first boot clunked against the ramp of the Nephilim his ears perked.

The footfall was loud, and quickly echoed by half a dozen more.

There was an instant line of flight or fight that surged through him, his blood pumping. He knew that Ryssa wouldn't sound like that, he knew that she wouldn't have brought people back either. His fingers tightened, and he shifted beneath the blanket, rising to his feet in an instant as the team boarded the ship.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"Well, you're full of surprises." the voice seemed to come off from the edge of Ryssa's hearing. There was a dull throb of pain that ran down the length of the right side of her face. A groan rumbled through her mouth. Wait, where am I.

A chuckle echoed rather malevolently. Her lids fell heavy and she tried to lift them open. However they wouldn't budge.

"This is a surprise. All these years and this is really who you are." now that got her attention and the added strength to lift her lid. It was bright, vision blurry. Everything was out of focus as the Changling attempted to focus on the voice. Tionas?

Finally her vision cleared. There he was, crouching in front of her, arms along his thighs. He stared at her with that sneer, upper lip curling up.

"Always full of surprises. Certainly not as pretty as you used to be." he gave a tilt of his head to the right, staring down at the olive green scales of the Clawdite. Immediately Ryssa began to struggle only to find her arms bound at her side.

"So tell me Ryssa. Where is the artifact?" he asked her. "You know far too much now to say that you didn't find it." he gave a rap of his fingers along her thigh.

"I found your ship. I have a few of my associates heading there now. How about you make it easy for yourself and just tell me where that artifact is?"

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

The familiar snap of bone rang out as Val clashed with the first mercenary.

The narrow corridors of the ship favored him above all others. He was taller, stronger, and faster than all the rest of them, and they were forced to come at him one by one within the tiny halls of the Nephilim. Blast shots went wild as he grasped the first man, red bolts striking just above his head and searing the metal it struck. Flames burst forward, but Val ignored them as best as he could. The lead man let out a scream as Val snapped his wrist, forcing him to drop the blaster he'd been holding.

There was a loud clunk of metal and then another scream as Val broke the man neck, his body thudding to the ground a second later.

The second man came upon him then.

Another blast shot went wide, striking the acceleration couch and ruining the upholstery. His hand wrapped around the barrel of the blaster, the smell of singed flesh filling the air as his hand was burned. He tore the weapon forward, grabbing the man by the throat and slamming him against the metal wall. Blood smeared there, and he dropped. Val quickly moving on to the third man, then the fourth. By the time he had dispatched them the fifth had retrieved a stun grenade from his coat pocket.

The pin was pulled, and Val eyes popped open. "Poodoo."

Val cursed as he half ducked.

The grenade went off just behind him, popping with a loud bang and causing his eyes to ring and eyes to sting. The fifth man came at him with a force pike, stabbing at him but narrowly missing as the Viking spun and grabbed his arm. There was another snap, arm breaking, then a thud as Val hoisted the man up, and then threw him to the ground.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"You sniveling --" this time it was the press of her own blaster upon her temple that shut Ryssa up. The deep furrows of her brow bones froze and those vertical pupils grew wide.

"Ah, ah, ah. It isn't nice to call people names Ryssa dear." Tionas added in his silky voice. Ryssa's lips thinned.

"Now, back to the topic at hand. I figured you must have dug up whatever Moridin might have left behind right? Rumor had it he had built up quite a little following but no one knew what he was up to. Such a silly Sith Emperor no? You would think he would have a better grasp of all the things he did but who am I to question a Sith's train of thought."

He always did enjoy talking, it annoyed her.

"So, I already searched your interesting little body but haven't found the gauntlet on you." another tap of the blaster tip on her temple again.

"Which means it must be in your ship."

Ship. Her eyes went wide. Val!

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Three dead mean, two unconscious one.

Ryssa would not be pleased.

Val stood in the hallway for a moment, looking around and trying to figure out exactly what had just happened. All five of the men were well equipped, new blaster rifles, new vests, their clothes even looked brand new. None of them had any sort of badges or emblems. He frowned for a moment and then looked behind him. The open Cargo door was just a few feet from there...and if anyone got curious.

He let out a sigh.

Though it took him a few minutes, Vall grabbed all five of the downed men and quickly dragged them further into the Nephilim. He pulled the three dead guys into the lounge, half stacking them in the corner of the room while he placed the two unconscious ones over towards the now burnt acceleration couch. He would have to explain to Ryssa that this really wasn't his fault, the men had...well they had likely come to kill him and he'd just defended himself.

A frown settled on his lips. Why had they tried to kill him?

Surely connected to the gauntlet.

Val frowned, and then quickly began to look around for some rope.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"Oh I seemed to hit a nerve!" Tionas voice rose an octave at that. Ryssa wasn't the best liar but she could hold her own when she needed to. Unfortunately she was caught unawares and in her true form, which meant her nerves were already shot to fully keep her sabaac face in check.

"So it must be in your ship. Well that makes it easy enough." Another prod of the blaster. "Just a quick search and -"

"You really think I'm that sstupid enough to leave it on my sship?" There was a slight reptilian accent to her sudden jab. A small stress along the 's's'.

"You'll never find it if you hurt me. I'm the only one who knowss where it iss." A lie, but hey a girl had to do what she could to give herself time. She could only hope that Val would be alright. They wouldn't know he was there.

Tionas scowled. A click of his tongue and he made up his mind.

"Then you best tell me my sweet. We can do this the easy way." Another tap of her head. "Or the hard way."

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

He eventually managed to find some cords that Ryssa had likely used to tying things down in the Cargo-hold, with it he managed to bind the two unconscious mean in a way that they wouldn't be able to escape any time soon, especially since one of them had a broken arm and the others wrist had been snapped to what was practically a ninety degree angle. He frowned for a second and observed them, trying to think of what exactly his next step would be.

Interrogating them would seem like a good idea, but...well he'd never quite had a lot of skill in such things.

Cruelty generally wasn't in his nature. He preferred to get things over quickly. Sure he went for the occasional bite of vengeance, but that was different than interrogating someone. That took a certain amount of willpower, not to mention disregard for someone else's well being. Yet it was pretty clear that he likely wasn't going to get anywhere if he didn't. He frowned for a moment more, and then quickly began to search the dead bodies.

He looked for identification, licenses, tattoos, anything that would tell him something.

What he found was nothing.

"Alright." Val said with a sigh. "Get it over with then."

Slowly he wandered over to one of the unconscious men, smacking him once or twice to get him to wake up.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"Keep pressing that to my head and you'll never find your precious little artifact." How long Ryssa could keep this bluff was unknown to her, but she needed time. They couldn't realize that it actually was on the Skygazer. Her only reassurance was that it was hidden within one of the nullification resin compartments. It gave her time.

Yes, Val had literally been with the gauntlet all this time. Wouldn't he love to know that?

"It isn't on the ship." She said flatly. "I've hidden it somewhere else." Total lie.

"You'll need me to take you there or else you won't get access."

Tionas was not amused. However from what he could read off Ryssa he couldn't take the chance.

"Fine. Let's hope you're telling the truth." He shot up hod feet and grabbed her by the arm. With a savage jerk he lifted her up.

"Time to go for a little walk."

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Interrogations were messy, they were dirty, and really most of the time they could only end in one of two ways. Either the person being interrogated ended up in a prison cell, or they ended up dead. There was hardly ever an inbetween, and Val would argue when there was the person doing the interrogating usually wasn't doing it properly, or they were conducting more of an interview.

This view was of course rather harsh, but he came from the Outer Rim.

Justice there was only as good as you yourself made it out to be. Every world had a different system, some more cruel than others. Vilith itself had never really had issues with criminals, though the rare times that it had retribution was usually rather swift. Some might have called their methods of punishment medieval, but when you lived in a community that relied upon itself more than anything else you had to deal with threats in the only ways you knew how.

Harshly. That was how Val lived. "Now. I need you to answer some questions."

"I won't tell you a damned thing!"

The man insisted, Val smiling as he squatted before him in front of the acceleration couch.

"We'll see." Slowly the Viking reached up and grasped the mans shoulder. "We'll see."

There was a loud snap, and then a scream.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"Where is it?" Tionas asked.

"You'll have to go back to the Spaceport." Ryssa told him. He shuffled her along and she gave a half stumble. He barely managed to keep her on her feet.

"And I hope you enjoy going out in public to get there." she added snidely, only to have him laugh.

"Oh please. You think I don't have another way of getting out?" he shoved her out of the office, moving her towards a rear exit.

"I have my ways, sweetheart." his smirk grew wider. "I have my ways."

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

After a few minutes, the man relented.

In the end he was a but a mercenary, not a soldier or a cultists loyal to the professor, and that meant there was only so much pain he was willing to take before his pride broke and his will faded. Val frowned as the man told his tale, spinning a story of manipulation, greed, and of course power. "Unfortunate."

Val said finally as the mercenary finished speaking.

"I will have to see this professor." The mercenary seemed to pale at that.

"W-what are you? You're not human."

The statement wasn't an insult, at least not really. There was a great amount of fear in the Mercenary, Val could practically smell it on him. He frowned for a moment, and then slowly rose, a smile slowly replacing his expression. For a second he thought about scaring the man further, instilling terror, but no, there wasn't time. If what the man said was true then Ryssa was in danger, and that meant there was no time to waste. So instead of speaking, he simply punched the man in the face.

The man dropped like a light, and without further hesitation Val headed towards where Ryssa was being held.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

A door slid open towards the rear of the academy. Tionas shoved her forward, sending her through the door. She bounced off the wall and then ricocheted back. A heavy glare radiated from those bright yellow vertical pupils, and her upper lip curled up over her sharp teeth.

Oh he is sooo going to pay for that.

"You know, never thought this would be what was under all that blue skin Ryssa." another sneer and he shoved her forward to go down the corridor again. A few more steps and Ryssa glowered.

"What? Ssomeone who will be punching you in the face ssoon enough?" okay, so maybe she couldn't stop sassing the Curator. Her reward was a smack across her face. Blood bloomed as her lip cut against her teeth and she bounced off the wall again.

Yup, going to make him pay for that.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Val didn't need much.

All he took from the mercenaries was one of the vests, and a blade. That was all he needed, all that would be required for where he was going. The man whom he had interrogated had been quite clear about where he should go, a few broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder had seen him practically shout the answers Val had needed.

The viking moved swiftly.

A few people within the starport glared at him, some even pulled away in fear, but Val didn't care. The man had told him that Ryssa was likely dead or being tortured, something Val could not abide. He wasn't a wookiee or a Trandoshan, he did not believe in debts of life, but he owed Ryssa for what she had done. She had pulled shrapnel from his back, saved his life, and that meant she was...well she was worth something to him, even if he didn't trust her.

He had to save her.

It was that simple.

Thus his slow, methodical walk eventually turned into a jog, that jog turned into a run, and then that run turned into an all out sprint as he headed towards where he knew Ryssa was waiting.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

They made it to a turbolift. Dragging Ryssa inside, Tionas pressed the button to shut the lift and send them down to the speeder park level.

"Sorry about that, you should really learn to do more productive things with your mouth." another glare. What were the best ways to make some sleezy Tionese guy pay? Ryssa could think of at least half a dozen. As they walked she took stock of her situation. Her legs were free but her arms were tied down. This turbolift was too small for her to really use her small size against him. If she could only just get some wiggle room to --

"I always wondered why you played hard to get." he added, prodding her along towards the front of the turbolift door. "Guess it all makes sense now."

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

The door slowly slid open, and Ryssa stepped out. The Tionese man stood behind her, pointing the blaster at her back. The parking garage seemed to be entirely empty, no living soul within or around. Speeders lined every single nook and cranny of the place, most of them luxury, though some more economical. Oddly enough there were no cameras or security drones, the people of this world apparently not thinking they needed them. The two moved forward.

One step.

Two.

Then suddenly hand lashed out. Fingers jumped out like a viper from a dark spot just beyond the left of the turbo-lift. They wrapped around the barrel of the blaster, pulling the weapon away and clear of pointing towards Ryssa. The Tionese man let out a harsh yell of surprise, his finger squeezing down on the trigger and sending a bright red bolt wild, flying just right of Ryssa's pert bum.

The man tried to yell out in objection, but a fist landed with a hart crack against his jaw.

Val stepping from the shadows as he sent the man spinning to the floor.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

The sudden crack startled Ryssa who suddenly gave a small cry and scrambled back. Wide eyed, those reptilian eyes went panning up to see just what the heck was happening. Was this another interested in the artifact? Did she now have to deal with --

That's when the looming shadow stepped into the light. There was no pink band shirt. No Jodi and the Blowfish in bright blue letters. But the loose waves of hair, vest, and clothing that stretched against that broad chest and rippling muscles were the first hint. The blaze of one eye and the ice of the other the second.

Val.

Shit.

There was a shaft of fear and anxiety that came with that knowledge. Along with a dozen questions like - how did he find me? How did he get here? Where did he get that gear? And even more importantly, as her reptilian eyes went wide and her skin flashed cold, the knowledge that she wasn't in her Wroonian form.

Swallowing hard she scampered back into the turbolift. Panic set in, forcing her to hide. Shit. shit. shit! If there was anything that struck fear in Ryssa's heart was having anyone she actually knew see her in her true form. Tionas could be dealt with -- Val...

That was another thing entirely.

Tionas managed to stumble to his feet. Blood poured from the right side of his face and he staggered, only to point the blaster at Val's direction.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Val saw a figure move, but right now he didn't particularly care.

Nor did he seemingly care about the blaster being pointed at his chest. He frowned for half a second, yes, but he hardly seemed to take the weapon seriously. Val stepped forward, the man pulled the trigger. A bolt struck him square in the chest, singing the blast-proof vest and causing him to recoil for half a second. He took a step forward before another blast could be loosed however, rushing the man and gripping the blaster once more.

The stench of singed flesh once again filled the air, though the man holding the blaster would hardly have time to comprehend it.

Val struck out as fast as always, his fist connecting with the mans face once more.

There was a loud squelching sound as blood spurted from the mans nose, a loud thud ringing out in the empty parking garage as the professor, or whatever he was, struck the ground. A groan escaped him, signalling that he was at the very least alive. Val looked down at his blaster and tossed it to the side, throwing it half-way across the parking garage so that it would be of use to anyone, then he planted his foot on the mans stomach.

"Ryssa?" He said, turning his head to the figure in the turbo-lift.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Focus. Focus. Focus..

Ryssa ducked her head, covering her face with her hands. Pain went shooting through her limbs, searing hot and enough to to make her give a muffled cry.

Focus, focus, focus.

At her age she was able to shift easier than when she was younger. However, that did nothing to stop the immense amount of pain that lit her nerves as if on fire. Scrunched up in a fetal position against the wall, her voice echoed out.

"Sstay back!"