EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The pair continued through the stronghold along the planned path, encountering a few more of the guards. Some were more convincing than others, but none were overtly obvious about the deception that was taking place. Ri'vashi had specifically selected the guards they were passing for their confidence and speaking ability, so there were no obviously bad actors among them. A few had nervous expressions that might have betrayed their thoughts, but with Hiritus blindfolded, it was irrelevant.

Eventually, Gallus managed to bring Hiritus past the last set of guards they planned to encounter, and beyond the parts of the stronghold that people normally frequented. They had encountered a few early-risers on the way and received a few strange looks, but none of them were going to attempt to interfere with anything that one of the Champion's companions was doing. They were not far from the escape tunnel at this point and would be able to make their exit without any difficulty.

So far, there was not so much of a hint that Meesei, or anyone else, was following them. It was exactly as they planned, though that also meant that Gallus would have no confirmation that his reinforcements were still following at any point during or after the escape. He would simply have to trust that they were able to keep up with him successfully.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The guard physically straightened up his posture, followed shortly by the other. He spoke up quickly, though still with nervousness in his tone. "Right, of course. Sorry sir. This one was...just following his orders. He did not know that any of the prisoners were meant to go anywhere."

There was some hesitation from the pair of guards, after which they shuffled to the side just loudly enough that the prisoner would be able to hear them. However, the guard did not yet allow them to pass without comment, as he did not want to make it seem that they had been able to pass them too easily. "Do you...want an additional escort, sir? To help watch the prisoner?" He asked.

Throughout the encounter, Hiritus followed Gallus' instructions to the letter and remained perfectly silent. He kept his head lowered towards the ground, except when Gallus forcefully lifted it up, and focused solely on keeping his footing. It was actually taking him noticeable effort to remain standing, due to his general weakness.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sorry for the delay, it has been a long day.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Once out of the cell, Hiritus followed Gallus' commands without question. Granted, with his blindfold and gag, it was not possible to determine what kind of emotions he might be experiencing. Even with Gallus' encouragement, he was moving slowly, and with considerable difficulty. He had not walked on his own in over a week, and he had been beaten enough in that time that he was not in good condition overall. Nevertheless, he moved along wherever Gallus directed him without protest.

The first set of guards they encountered was a pair of Ohmes-raht, who were speaking casually to one another as they approached. Their conversation died down as Gallus and Hiritus drew closer, as one might expect when something of note happened on a guard's watch. One of the men held up his hand at Gallus, and moved to stand in front of him and block his path. Since Hiritus was blindfolded, it was not entirely necessary to give the right visual cues to sell the deception to the prisoner, but the guards seemed to be cautious enough to do so anyway.

"Hey, what are you doing with this prisoner?" The guard asked before giving an intentional pause. He looked closely at Gallus' face, and even widened his eyes slightly as if he had realized something. "Um...sir." He added uncomfortably.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Hiritus was not certain what was happening at first, as he was asleep when Gallus first entered the room. He was just starting to come to consciousness when Gallus threw down the head in front of him. As he leaned his head forward towards it, his eyes widened with pure, genuine shock. "What in Oblivion?"

As soon as one of his hands was unshackled from his chains, he pulled down his gag briefly. "You...actually did it? It's her, it's actually her. And here I thought you were a liar. It seemed like such an obvious trick, but there she is. I have to be dreaming."

Hiritus did not resist as he was being re-bound, and did not expect to be able to talk for much longer. Evidently, Hiritus had not completely bought into Gallus' earlier deception, but seeing Meesei's face on the head was easily enough for him. The quality of La'tahne's work was enough that any inconsistent details were small enough to be undetectable to anyone that did not know Meesei well.

"Take it with us. We'll need proof of the deed. But...how'd you pull that off?" Hiritus asked.

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.