EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As the three were waiting together in the room, the discomfort in the air was palpable. Meesei refrained from saying anything further so as to avoid seeming as if she was trying to make excuses for her order. Ri’vashi, meanwhile, simply did not know what she could say. The end result of it all was a silence that went on for an uncomfortably long time, without so much as eye contact for the majority of the wait. Eventually, Dar-tzesa’s head had been sufficiently cleaned of blood so that Gallus could carry it in his bag without the blood showing through on the outside.

With only a simple nod for confirmation from Meesei, the three headed out the door, towards the prison. It was only at that point that Ri’vashi finally managed to do something in response to the situation. She still did not speak, but instead placed her hand gently on Gallus’ shoulder and looked down to him sympathetically.

The silence was finally broken when Meesei decided to give a few final comments about the plan. “The guards will be ready to accept any story you give. They have been told to give believable skepticism, so as long as your story is reasonable, Hiritus should not pick up on the deception. Myself, Ahnasha, and a few of the clan’s mages will be following behind you, out of sight. Go wherever he leads you, but it is important that you not allow him to actually meet with any of Vile’s followers. He knows the location of this stronghold, and the risk of them obtaining that information is simply too great. Any information you gather from him will have to come before that point.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With Dar-tzesa killed, Meesei's expression returned to one that was more neutral. As per usual, she showed little in the way of an outward reaction to her rather brutal death. Internally, she was unsettled with the potential implications of what Dar-tzesa had said, and how abruptly they had been forced to kill her, but those opinions were not expressed beyond her mind.

"It had to be done." Meesei finally said. "She was growing restless, and might have transformed. That is not a delay we could afford at this stage. I would not allow yourself to become too disturbed by her words. We have no way of knowing how much of what she said was actually true, if any of it actually was. She could have been lying in an attempt to gain some last minute sympathy. It is entirely possible that she was a devout follower of our enemy; we cannot know based solely on her words."

It was not long afterwards that Ri'vashi finally returned from her final sweep, though the sight she walked in on immediately gave her pause. "Oh...this one did not expect her to be dead yet. Well...everything is ready. All of this one's guards have been briefed, and are ready to carry out the plan. Once the head has drained enough blood to be put into your bag, we can begin."

"Good...good. Do you have the ring?" Meesei asked.

"Of course." Ri'vashi answered as she approached Gallus and offered him Dar-tzesa's false Ring of Hircine. "It is actually a quality forgery, so it should be enough to fool Hiritus. This one has not seen any identifying marks that would separate it from the genuine relic."

Star Wars: Coruscant Underworld [Always accepting!]

Once Tir’s arm was cleaned and reassembled, she simply laid back on her couch and grabbed her freshly repaired datapad to pass the time. Even in the lowest pits of level 3030, there was always no shortage of entertainment of any type, as long as one could access the holonet. Through it, information from the farthest corners of the Empire could make its way to Coruscant, though regardless, Tir still kept an eye on local news and events. Granted, there was not a great variety of media produced in such an impoverished area, and anything that was usually was produced by one of the gangs. There was some independently produced media, like “DJ Dyno’s” station, but it was rare, and still often had its own agenda. However, for the event Tir was reading about now, all sources agreed on one basic fact: Zam’s brothel had been bombed.

With this development, even Tir was surprised, which was not an easy thing to accomplish. A combination of her strong instincts, and familiarity with the brutality of level 3030, meant that many of the tragedies she witnessed were almost expected. This, however, seemed to come out of nowhere. Zam’s brothel was neutral ground, and up to this point, none of the gangs had shown signs of infringing on that neutrality. Of course, this was assuming that one of the gangs was responsible. Such large scale acts of violence required resources that the gangs had, and were more than willing to use. If there was a new group with those resources, then it would be a disturbing development indeed.

For Tir, there was no measure of hesitation within her mind on how to react to the news. Immediately, she put away her datapad, gathered up her tool belt, pouches, and weapons, then rushed out of the door. She practically sprinted on the way from her apartment building to her speeder, and was in no less of a hurry on the way to the brothel itself. It was not as if there was any law enforcement to fine her for piloting recklessly.

Tir landed her speeder as close as was safe to the brothel, or what was left of it. Many of the reports she had read were conflicting in their details, so she had not expected that the brothel would have been reduced entirely to rubble. Granted, the building had not been the most structurally sound on Coruscant, but it still would have taken a high-yield explosion to cause such destruction. There were small crowds of onlookers grouped together nearby, talking amongst themselves, in addition to others who were combing through the rubble; likely friends or family of the brothel’s employees or patrons. With this kind of devastation, the chances of finding survivors was low, but that was not going to stop Tir from making the attempt.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Dar-tzesa refused to make eye contact with Gallus, but his offer, coupled with the hopelessness she felt about her situation, was certainly causing her to think. In the midst of her depression, Gallus' offer did give her something to focus on. Some semblance of a choice that might allow how to get what she wanted. "Yizan-Lei. That's...his name. In Gideon, at our home. He needs help; are you going to...wait."

As Dar-tzesa was about to finish her explanation, another thought came to her mind, one which immediately terrified her. With her expression filled with fear, she quickly started to bare her teeth at Gallus. "No! I shouldn't have...don't you hurt him! Stay away from my family you...monsters; I won't let you hurt him!" Dar-tzesa shouted, thrashing violently against her chains.

It was at this point that Meesei could no longer remain silent. The situation was growing out of hand, and needed to be pacified as soon as possible. "Gallus, kill her. Quickly!"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It's about time for me to go to bed as well. Tomorrow's going to be a long day, but I'll attempt to post before the evening.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Dar-tzesa closed her eyes and started simply shaking her head, letting out muffled, quiet sobs. Even before she answered, it was obvious that she did not believe Gallus. That, or was too hopeless overall to believe that anything could help her situation. Regardless, she did eventually give him an answer. "You can't help him. I can't help him. It's just...over. He's...by the root, he didn't deserve this. All I had to do was help him kill monsters. All I had to do was live up to my end of the deal, but I couldn't even do that for him. I'm a failure; my son won't have his cure, and it's my fault."

Despite Dar-tzesa's answer, Meesei stood nearby, leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, showing almost no reaction. Her expression seemed almost completely devoid of emotion. Instead, her gaze was deathly serious, and was scrutinizing Gallus' every movement. Her attention was firmly on him, and every word he said. There was no way to say for certain if she approved or disapproved of his current actions, but from her stare, it would not be difficult to assume that she could easily turn her ire towards him if he did something wrong.

Star Wars: Coruscant Underworld [Always accepting!]

Nice, something I can respond to. I should be able to get Tir out of her house now. I'm not absolutely certain if I'll be able to post tomorrow, as it is a very long day for me, but I will try.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ri'vashi shook her head. "No, this one does not think so. As disappointing as it might be to you, she just goes after anyone she finds too 'boring.' It just happens to be that Ri'vashi is the most 'high-profile' of those people. This one thinks that she would consider it to be some kind of achievement if she convinced Ri'vashi to embrace her...lifestyle, even for a short time."

After finally managing to finish her meal, Ri'vashi gave a sigh as she glanced towards the dining chamber's exit. "Anyway, Ri'vashi would love to remain, but she does have more duties to attend to. But, we should speak again soon. It is...relaxing."

Nearby, Peiter gave a grimace while looking across the chamber, towards Gallus. "I do want to speak to him, but...he looks like he's with the clan leader. I wouldn't want to interrupt him. Actually, now that I think about it, we should really make sure to plan out our argument first. It's not often that I try to counter Gallus on something, and if we don't convince him the first time, I'm afraid we won't convince him at all. Let's make sure we're ready before talking to him; this is too important to take chances."

---

In order to ensure her proper healing, Dar-tzesa was allowed to remain sleeping for the majority of the night. Meesei, Ri'vashi, and Gallus retired early for the night, since they were required to wake early the next morning. Ri'vashi had informed the required guards of their plan, and had made sure only they would be along the path Gallus would be taking to the stronghold's secondary exit. Everything was in place; all that was left was to claim Dar-tzesa's head and use it to deceive Hiritus.

Meesei and Gallus were already in the room with Dar-tzesa. It was early in the morning, several hours before the majority of the clan would awaken. Ri'vashi was performing the last sweep of Gallus' planned path to make sure everything was ready for the ruse, and once she returned, it would be time to begin.

Dar-tzesa had, of course, not been informed of what was going to happen to her, but with the attention being given to her, she had gathered something was about to happen. She was laying on her back on the same table that was used in her operation, with her legs and arm firmly bound. The magic that had rendered her unconscious before had worn off, so she was mostly in her right mind. Although, there were noticeable tears in her eyes as she looked up to Gallus. "It's...over. It's all over. No one...no one will be there for him."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I think I may have Peiter suggest having that discussion a bit later. Do you think we should move on to the plan to fool the prisoner soon?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ri'vashi leaned her head onto her hand and started shaking her head as she gave a few silent laughs. "By Hircine, this one does not want to think about it. Two women like that meeting each other...we would probably never see them again outside their room. We should do our utmost to make sure they never meet...or actually, perhaps we should just lock them into a room together. At least then, La'tahne might be too distracted to continue bothering Ri'vashi."

Straightening up her posture once more, Ri'vashi gave a quick huff. "Though, knowing this one's luck, they would just turn it into a competition. Ri'vashi has a hard enough time dealing with one of them; two would just be a nightmare."

---

While Peiter did agree that the situation was not quite simple, his opinion on the matter still did not change. If anything, Sabine had mentioned a point that made him a bit more resolute. "I hope nothing happens to any of his friends, but if it did...well, someone like Najirra could help him heal mentally. But, if he gets distracted in the fight and gets himself killed...he'll never get a chance to heal, or train, or improve his skills. It will just be over. He seems to be so much more confident than when we first left Bruma; he has really broken out of the shell he has always been living in since I've known him. He's a member of my pack, and I care about him like a brother; I don't want all of the good that has happened to him to have been for nothing. I still think I should try to convince Gallus to keep him out of the fight. I'd rather him hate me forever than for him to die in this fight."