Chapter 16 – The Unfinished Colossus
Louise knocked three times on the apartment door in quick succession. Water dripped from her robes from the outside storm that had only increased in temper. Depending on how she looked at it, it was both a godsend and a curse.
Another round of knocking was interrupted by someone answering the door. By fortune or fate, it had been exactly the person who she had come for, "Louise? What are yo-" a tired Vette said before being cut off by the smaller woman grabbing her by the shoulders.
"I need to borrow you,"
"Ah… Lyira!" The Twi'lek called, "Your girlfriend is kidnapping me!"
Louise managed an indignant huff before a muted voice cut through the apartment, "What?" then the sound of sliding doors and slapping feet heralded Lyira's arrival. It appeared that Louise was not the only one who was wet this morning. Lyira had just gotten out of her shower with her hair still drenched and only a grey towel providing any modesty, despite that it barely covered the lower half of her.
With a will matching the Emperor's, Louise only raised an eyebrow at the sight before setting her eyes solely on Vette as Lyira asked, "You're doing what?"
"I need to borrow Vette." Louise reiterated, her eyes briefly flashing to the Pureblood.
"Why?"
"Because I need someone to help me sneak around an area controlled by the revolting… slaves near the Unfinished Colossus. I can't take Khem because I doubt he would be good for sneaking… that and I really don't want to fight any slaves and he's a bit of a," she paused, thinking of the right words to best describe her behemoth of an unwilling servant, "Blood Knight?"
"Why do you need to go near the unfinished colossus?"
"Need to get some archaeological plans by the end of the day."
"…That strangely makes sense." Lyira said after a pause, "Why don't I go with?"
"Uh, not to be mean, but the last time I heard that you try sneaking around, it didn't go so well," Louise answered, remembering how tired the girl had been after one of her trials. Surprisingly, Vette broke into laughter at that. Louise did not know what was so humorous, she knew that the Sith Apprentice was not very good in the stealth department, but the laughter was unexpected. Lyira pouted.
"So…" the Pink-haired Apprentice continued, ignoring the mirth, "can I borrow you?"
Vette shrugged, "Sure, though you might want to change."
"Why? This outfit's fine."
"Oh yes," she said, sarcasm evident from the first word, "let's sneak around a bunch of armed slaves looking like a Sith Lord because that's going to go down so well. Do you have any other clothes you could wear?"
"Well, I have a few, though I doubt they would be good for a disguise," Louise said, thinking about how… Sith orientated her wardrobe was.
"Ugh, come with me." Replied Vette, grabbing the Pinkette by her hand and pulling her into the Twi'lek's room.
Louise could just make out Lyira grumbling, "Fine, leave me, I'll just go hang out with Khem."
Just before she could get her bearings down, Louise found herself pushed onto a bed as Vette proceeded to ravage her draws, digging deep for outfits. By the time the girl was done with her draws, Louise found herself extremely jealous of the Twi'lek's wardrobe.
"First things first, is to deal with your hair," Vette said, "It just way too noticeable."
It was at that moment, Louise realised, what she had just gotten herself into.
By the time Vette had finished her impromptu makeover, Louise had been stripped of her robes and armour and stuffed inside an amalgamation of both Vette's and Lyira's wardrobe. It was loose fitting and felt odd in some places, but it was not the most uncomfortable outfit she had ever worn. Though all thoughts on how comfortable she was diapered upon looking in the mirror. I look like some ruffian. The Pinkette groused.
A long-sleeved dark brown shirt clung loosely to her body and a sleeveless thick jacket was pulled over. She was allowed to keep her pants, boots, gloves and belt, but in return, she had to wear a cowl tightened to her head which she, somehow, managed to stuff her hair into. As for her eye problem, well, what was chosen was the gaudiest part of the ensemble; thick shaded goggles that would not look too out of place on a mechanic.
Despite Vette's insistence that she looked like a smuggler and would not look too out of place, Louise still felt like she would be as noticeable as a jester at a funeral. Though, unlike a jester, she was allowed to keep her weapons on hand. Her lightsaber was hidden away in a pouch on her belt, much like her time on Korriban, and her blaster was dangling proudly on her hip. She just hoped she would not need them.
Together, Vette and Louise left the Twi'lek's bedroom, noting their red-skinned friend had left the apartment and made their way to leave the complex. Though it seemed life wished for another complication into the matter, as the moment they made to exit the apartment, their path was blocked by a disgruntled Khem and Lyira
"What is this I hear, Pink Sith?" The not so gentle giant grumbled, sounding strangely hurt, "You are abandoning me, Khem Val, servant of the great Tulak Hord, for some weak creature?"
Ignoring the barb towards Vette, Louise turned towards Lyira who was looking as if she would much rather be anywhere but here, "You told him?"
"Hey, don't look at me!" Lyira said, holding her hands up as if surrendering, "I was just going to spend some time with him while you two have fun without us. He just up and left when I told him."
"This isn't 'fun,' Lyira. This is a matter of life and death!" Louise replied, a hint of urgency and exasperation clear in her voice. She then turned to Khem, "I'm sorry, Khem, but I need someone who is sneaky… and you're a bit noticeable."
"I am a Shadow Killer, one of the greatest hunters of the Dashade!"
"Sorry, Khem, but just for this time. All I need to do is sneak in, steal some plans and retrieve something, okay?"
"I will hold you to your word. But remember the bond."
"Yes, yes." She exclaimed, quickly bidding the Sith and Dashade a good day while pulling Vette along.
Soon they left the warmth and safety of the apartment complex. Luckily Louise and Vette had enough foresight to bring their cloaks, so it was not too much of a bother especially with all the buildings they could seek cover under. In short time they arrived at the city transit station.
Flying over the surface of Dromund Kaas was a pleasant experience despite the weather. The convertible roofs for the skycars were wonderful. However, her good mood soon turned to vapour as her temporary companion decided to broach a subject she did not expect nor wish to broach, "So… what's going on with you and Lyira?"
"We're friends," Louise replied coolly.
"Yeah, got that," Vette said, "but I remember what happened the day you first arrived, what was all that about?"
Louise looked to the Twi'lek with one part annoyance and two parts confusion, "Lyira didn't tell you?"
"She did, but she also left quite a bit out. So, tell me, what's going on between you two?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Well, too bad," grumbled Vette, "She's been acting off ever since your talk, even Baras has noticed. So…?"
"What do you think the conversation was about!?"
"She confessed that she likes you and you turned her down?"
"I don't want to ruin our friendship… I can't deal with a relationship at the moment. Too many things happening." Louise exclaimed defensively.
"Lyira was worried sick about you before you came to Dromund Kaas. Just don't wait too long… being Sith doesn't do any favours for your life-expectancy."
Louise huffed, turning herself away from her companion. She did not want to think about relationships or anything like that. Yet, despite this, she could not dispel the thoughts from her mind. She glared out at the pouring rain, wishing that the day could just end.
...
"Uh, hey… you two!" A voice called from nearby.
When the skycar had deposited the two just outside the bound of the Colossus, Vette and Louise had immediately regretted arriving today. The ground was muddied and the parts of their outfits not protected by water resistant cloaks quickly became drenched. Her mood had only darkened as the Colossus was still a fair while away, just barely visible in the grey sheets of rain.
They had been walking for what seemed like hours when they finally reached an Imperial checkpoint where they quickly ducked inside a large watch-tower like building to recover from the elements. Inside were a few Imperials milling about and some others who she did not care to notice.
Until now, that is.
Looking over, she saw a bulky man arrive. He was pale, near chalk-white and his irises were white – a Rattataki. her mind supplied. He was dressed, oddly enough, in the garb of a Mandalorian, though he did not seem like the intimidating foe that Mandalorian's had been made out to be, "Yeah?"
"What are you guys doing around here?" he asked, looking between the two.
"I have business around the Unfinished Colossus." Louise answered vaguely.
"Dealing with those slaves?" he pressed.
"Uh, no. We're looking for something near there. Why?"
"Well, seeing as you're going in there," he began, "how would you like to make a pile of credits?"
"I'm listening." Said Vette.
"So, you know Darth Vowrawn?"
"Yes, I am familiar with the name," Louise replied. I mean, what self-respecting Sith wouldn't? He's one of the oldest members of the Council!
"Yeah, well, his apprentice, Lord Qet, wants to advance. So, he starts building a giant statue to his master. But Lord Qet doesn't want his master to know, so he brings in slaves from offworld. Slaves rebel and we got this mess."
That's… actually quite sweet of Lord Qet… well, besides the slavery and selfish desires. Louise mused as Vette asked, "So, what does this have to do with us?"
"Lord Qet wants to save face, but secretly." The alien said, "He calls in me and my mercs. By the time we get here, the slaves have captured some giant industrial drills. They're getting ready to bring down the whole thing. Our best team goes in with explosives to blow up the drills… slaves kill ever last one of them."
"I see where this is going…" Louise said, her eyes flashing in annoyance under her goggles.
"Yeah. Got a pile of credits for anyone who grabs those explosives, hooks them to a giant drill, then fights off slaves until the explosives detonate."
Yeah, we are not doing that. A quick glance and a gentle use of the Force, Louise found that Vette was thinking the same thing. Though this did not stop the blue Twi'lek from saying, "If we find the explosives, we'll try."
The alien accepted the reply, either ignorant of their unwillingness or ignoring it, "If you do blow them up, come here and I'll give you two your rewards."
"Thanks," with that final word, the man left them to their devices.
Soon, they both unanimously decided that waiting around was not going to do them any favours, and decided to go out and brave the elements once again. they soon arrived at the bridge, and it was just as she had heard on the HoloNews; a squadron of Imperial guards stood armed and ready by the entrance to the bridge. Barricades had been placed strategically down the bridge, some destroyed by combat, other's worn but serviceable. Along the Imperial side of the ravine, she could barely make out a temporary barrack, guarded securely, and a Sith Lord and his apprentice who was overseeing the rebellion.
She made a move towards the bridge but was stopped by an Imperial Officer flanked by two soldiers, "What is your business here?" she demanded, her features obscured by her heavy-duty outfit.
"We have business on the other side of the ravine," Louise answered, forced to raise her voice because of the downpour.
"Business? What business?"
Vette was the one to answer, "We were given orders to destroy the captured drills for Lord Qet."
"We've had at least one group go by with the same orders. They didn't make it."
"We understand the dangers," Louise insisted, "Though we wouldn't mind a way across that doesn't put us in plain sight."
"I wouldn't bother, the weather would obscure most of their instruments. We just set a few of our men over the bridge to poison their water supply. Just get across before the weather changes its mind," Louise could hear the smirk in the tone the Imperial was using and wished that she could just punch the man in the face, "Just cross the bridge and don't get seen."
Poison. She thought. How… disgusting.
Shaking the horribly thought of the slaves succumbing to whatever poison the Empire was subjecting them to from her mind, she looked to the bridge. Several thoughts passed through her mind, most being about how stupid of an idea it would be to just walk into enemy territory via the bridge, however, playing back the conversation in her head, she felt no lies from the Imperial. With a discontent sigh, overpowered by the sound of rain Louise pulled her temporary companion across the bridge.
It was for the first of many times this day that Louise had praised the storm overhead and whatever Dark Side rituals the Emperor had performed to get the weather to act in such away. With such heavy downpour, their movements were muffled and quiet. Not only that, but it would be difficult for the revolting slaves to notice her and her blue friend prowling around their land. Though this was also counterproductive as quite a few times they had accidentally found themselves dangerously close to the rebels.
Quite a few times a little voice in her head told her that this mission would be over a lot quicker if she eliminated troublesome slaves, but she quickly and savagely beat that voice into submission. Soon, however, they found themselves a nice little hideaway in the centre of the slave occupied area. It was a small decrepit building that appeared to have been stripped entirely of everything with a large hole in the roof that could have only happened from an explosion.
Immediately, the two took up residence.
Despite the hole in the roof, it was still much calmer than it had been outside, so the two took the time to relax from the tedious task of braving the weather and stealth.
"So, what are we to do?" Vette asked, ringing out the water from a particularly wet article of clothes "Ask around for these plans?"
Louise paused, thinking over several ideas that came to mind. After a moment, an idea struck, one that she was begrudging to commit to, but would be quite easy if done properly, "Ah… yes, yes we could…"
"What are you talking about?"
"Just help me lure one of the rebels."
"Why?"
"Just trust in the Force."
With a frustrated sigh, Vette stormed out of their temporary hideaway and Louise sat down and tried to meditate. She focused on the Force and remembered all she could from her lectures on mind domination, which was not exactly much considering she had only listed to two at Lyira's insistence. As she reviewed what the holocrons had told her, she tried desperately to ignore how it was eerily similar to slavery, replacing that voice with the dogma of the Sith and how it was only to be temporary.
By the time Vette had returned, Louise had been mumbling the Sith Code under her breath. It had appeared that the Twi'lek was looking none-too-pleased about what she was having to do, dragging an unconscious and restrained alien, a Zabrak, into their hideaway. Louise grimaced in agreement, "Do you have a way of waking him up?"
Vette nodded.
"Gag him," Louise said. At the look the Twi'lek was giving her, she continued, "We don't want him breaking our cover, do we?"
Vette nodded, this time much more begrudgingly. She produced a length of fabric from her belt and proceeded to gag the alien. With an order to wake the man up, Vette proceeded to pull another object from her belt, a syringe, and inject the man with whatever it was.
The effect, while not instantaneous, happened quickly. The man jerked awake, his eyes darting around fearfully as he tried to scream or shout, but it was all muffled by the gag. Soon, he began trying to break out of his bindings, but nothing his actions were for nought.
Immediately, Louise got to work. Centring herself, she focused on the man before her, "You will calm down," she said, waving her hand in front of her face. When it had no effect, she tried it again and again, each time willing the Force to make the man obey. Soon frustration got the better of her, and she growled out, "You will calm down!"
The man stopped struggling against his restraints.
Louise allowed her lips to quirk in a smile. She gestured for Vette to remove the gag and unchain him. Once that was done, she stared down the calm man with determination, "You will find the Colossus' archaeological plans, and you will bring them to me as secretly as possible." She commanded, before adding, "You will return every thirty minutes to report your findings"
The slave repeated the commands then walked off as if nothing happened.
"Now, we wait." And wait they did. It took them nearly two hours before the slave returned with the plans, and both Vette and Louise were quite anxious, especially as the storm was letting up. They had thought that their plan was all for nought when they sent him off for the fifth time, but he returned with the plans in hand. The package was a small datacard of atypical design.
Looking at the glassy eyed slave, Louise waved her hand across his face, "You will leave with no memory of us." With that, he left for the final time.
With the plans in hand, Louise pulled her holocommunicator from her belt and sent a call to her master. After a few seconds of waiting, the blond Sith Lord answered. "Who are you," she all but demanded, her features hardening in a way that was quite terrifying for the young Pinkette.
"It's me, my master. I'm in disguise." Louise replied, removing her goggles.
Immediately, Lord Zash's demeanour changed, becoming the pleasant woman she had known since the beginning, "Oh, marvellous! Does this mean you've found the archaeological plans?"
"I have, my master," Louise said while sending the plans to Zash using her datapad. Once sent, she watched the bust of Lord Zash shift, her attention drawn away from the holocommunicator and onto something the Pinkette could not see.
"Hmm, let me see…" Zash paused, her eyes flickering as if she was examining what Louise assumed to be the plans. Thinking that she would have to wait before she could get any more answers, the Pinkette sat down, looking around the small area she and her temporary companion were hiding. Eventually, Lord Zash seemed to find what she was looking for, "Aha, yes." She breathed, "You've done wonderfully, apprentice. Skotia seemed to have hidden a chamber underneath the colossus itself! I bet my complete collection of Naga Sadow's Yavin IV writings that you'll find what we're looking for in that chamber."
Louise's eyebrows rose as part of her wondered if Zash would keep her word on that bet. If she could get her hands on them, it could be a great boon upon her. But she dare not press that line of questioning, feeling unsure where she lie with the cheerful Sith. Instead, she chose to question what they were looking for.
"You're looking for a Trandoshan relic." Zash answered, "It's the symbol of leadership of an obscure Trandoshan cult one the lizards believe to have been a gift from their deity, the Scorekeeper, himself."
Louise, nodded, connected two and two together with the knowledge given, "So, that's how he's got the Trandoshans to follow his lead. He somehow got the tablet and is now reaping the benefits."
"Quite astute, my young apprentice. Do you see why we need it?"
"… she who holds the tablet, controls the lizards?" Louise responded.
"Exactly." Zash said, smiling devilishly, "I'm sending you the coordinate to the entrance of the base and where the tablet is most likely kept. Time is of the essence, we wouldn't want the old cyborg to catch on, now would we? But before you go, I must warn you; inside you might find a few of Skotia's apprentices, it only makes sense. I wouldn't doubt that they also hold the keys to our goal. It would be best if you killed them all before leaving."
"As you wish, master." With that, the hologram vanished as their connection died. A few moments later, and a beep sounded from the datapad. Checking it, she found a detailed map of the entire complex, as well as directions to the opening.
Louise turned to the Twi'lek keeping watch, "It looks like we are breaking into the Colossus, Lady Vette," she said, a grimace plastered on her face.
"Bringing that back, are we?" Vette replied. Louise could only shrug in response, putting away her datapad, "Wait, we're going into the Colossus?" she pressed, suddenly going still.
"Yep," Louise replied.
"And if the Colossus was destroyed?" she continued slowly.
"Well, we would be… Oh, by the Emperor!" Louise spat, realising what Vette was implying. She pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing, "So, shall we go blow up a few drills." she asked, her tone part annoyed, part weary.
"Yeah…"
Why is it always me who has to blow things up!
...
Nearly twenty minutes after her odd -at least to Vette- proclamation, the duo finally found the explosives… down in a ravine and guarded by a group of rebel slaves who, in turn, were surrounded by dead mercenaries. It had taken another full fifteen before they could successfully find a way to non-lethally remove them from the picture, using a similar tactic they used to find the archaeological plans ("Damn! Why didn't we keep that Zebrak!").
But soon, they had the explosives in hand. The drills, on the other hand, were much easier to find considering their massive size – in fact, they had passed the behemoths on the way to snatch the explosives. The trek was a short one, and soon they stood before the massive machines. Along the way, she had discovered that the explosives counted as a weapon, so when prompted by Vette asking if she knew how to use it, she could safely say: "Yes, yes I do." And with that, Louise got to work placing the explosives in strategic weak points on the constructs, utilising the runes knowledge.
Soon, the timer was set and primed.
By the time it actually exploded, however, Louise and her companion were inside a large cavern following the archaeological plans to where the hidden base was stashed. It seemed her, and her employer had underestimated the power of the explosives as she had to move quickly to avoid loose bit of rock falling from above. It was at this point exactly that a stray thought entered her head, one that was beaten back with savage ferocity.
After all, if she did not dwell on the fact that slaves could have possibly gotten injured or even killed by the bombs, it simply did not happen.
Then, as she was beating this thought back, a large rocky wall opened revealing a much larger room made of metal, "The hidden base!" Louise hissed. But before she could make a move to enter the stronghold, a squad of Imperial soldiers left. Immediately, the two went for cover, hiding behind a group of moist stalagmites, listening in on the conversation. From what she could hear, they had been sent to investigate the massive explosion that had shaken the foundations.
Carefully, she unclipped her blaster pistol, aiming it at the squad leader with Vette following soon after. Soon the air was filled with the sound of discharging blasters as bolts of reds and greens flew wildly in the cavern. Soon enough, the team was silenced.
"Ah, Louise?" Vette asked, cautiously kicking an imperial trooper she had shot dead moments ago.
Louise turned to face the Twi'lek, a looted blaster rifle -A DLA-13, according to the runes- in hand, "Yes?"
"What's with the Imperials?" she asked cautiously, "I thought this was about slaves…"
Finding no reason to lie, Louise replied, "Well… ah… we may be attacking a Sith Lord's underground base."
"… We are… attacking a Sith Lord's underground base…" she repeated, her blue skin paling ever so slightly.
Despite also feeling quite nervous about her assignment, she kept an aloof air about her, "Don't worry, he's off-world at the moment."
"That makes it so much better!"
Louise sighed, looking at the ajar doorway to Skotia's stronghold, "Let's just get this over and done with."
...
Entering the base proved to be a laughable feat, but entering was just the beginning. The second they stepped foot inside, an alarm had been triggered and the two had been very nearly swarmed by combat droids and soldiers. Luckily, it appeared that there was only a skeleton crew manning the underground bunker, so 'swarmed' meant that there were only ten, maybe twenty all up.
Vette had handled herself with the air of a professional… or rather someone who had been in a similar predicament. The blue Twi'lek moved around the room with the grace of a dancer, letting loose bolts of lethal plasma strike her targets, felling them in a matter of moments.
Louise took a different approach to fighting her foes. With a minuscule application of the Force, she was able to manipulate the battle in her favour; subtle telekinetic blasts with the Force to redirect blaster fire being the main contender. Aside from her use of the Force, she soon realised that, for the lack of accuracy of the blaster rifle, it made up for it with its rapid fire and much more powerful plasma bolts.
It was only when they tried to shut down the alarm did they run into issues. Issues in the form of a Sith apprentice with a nasty attitude. His skill with a Lightsaber made it quite difficult for her to use her blaster effectively, and one close call later, and Louise found herself disarmed of her toy. It was then that she decided to blow her cover and use the Force if only to save herself from being injured too greatly.
With the Force at hand, she slammed the apprentice into the computer console before frying both the Force-user and the terminal with lightening until she was sure the man was dead. Surprisingly, the alarm died with him. She was annoyed that she was forced to use the Force, but it could not be helped, so she decided to focus on the positives, that being the alarm, "Hmm, that makes things a bit easier." She mused, summoning the apprentice's lightsaber to her hand. A bit bigger than her current one, but not as large as her previous.
The familiar snap-hiss sounded as she ignited the infamous weapon (which still worked, surprisingly), giving it a few cursory swings. It was not her fit, but it would do, at least for now.
"I will never understand you Sith, constantly attacking each other instead of working together."
"Hey, I am not like that… despite this." Louise said indignantly, faltering as she looked around at the carnage she had wrought, "This… this is self-defence. The Sith already sent two assassins at me. Anyway, if I do survive to become a lord, I'm not dealing with all this backstabbing."
"Well, at least someone has some brains."
"Thank you." With that, Louise went about searching the apprentice for any items of interest such as keys or a datapad, only retroactively noting that if he had anything electrical it would be dead. Luckily, she found no such item.
The duo continued moving through the base, abandoning most thoughts of stealth. They still tried to sneak by the combat droids or packs of Imperials, but the alarm had done no favours. The only people Louise and her companion went out of their way to kill were the Force Sensitives, knowing that most if not all, were Skotia's apprentices. The act of killing off these apprentices was much easier than before considering the added bonus of having a lightsaber, but it did not mean that they went down without a fight. It also appeared that none of the Force Adapts had any such keys on them, meaning there was a different way to access the tablet.
All these thoughts were for nought, however, when they entered a room after 'interrogating' an Imperial Officer for directions to the tablet. It was a large room, that looked more like an average storage room compared to high-tech vault she was expecting. Curiously, it was quite empty, aside from a single Force-Sensitive guard and a long crate upon which a suspiciously tablet-esque object sat.
The Sensitive guard spun around, his lightsaber casting a red glow around the room, "So, you're the one who has been picking off all Darth Skotia's apprentices." He sneered.
Immediately, Louise felt as if she had underestimated the lean balding, yet youthful man before her. Nothing concise, but he did not hold himself like the apprentices she had seemed – and his comment did nothing for her courage. Less arrogant and pompous like apprentices or even some acolytes, and more knowing about their own power. Nevertheless, she remained silent to the man's question.
"I suppose you're here for the trandoshan relic?" He probed, shrugging in a gesture to the carved stone behind him. When she didn't answer, he continued, "You're no ordinary Sith, are you? You're powerful. An Assassin perhaps? Tell me who sent you and I might let you live."
I highly doubt that. Louise scoffed internally, activating two of her pillaged lightsabers, one purple, one red.
"Fine then." He spat, moving into the stance of Form II, Makashi.
A single beat later, and Louise charged towards the Sith. Their lightsabers clashed as they danced around the room. Despite wanting to see the man dead before her, she could not help but admire his skill and grace with his lightsaber. She reminded him very much of a fencer, or rather her mother with her wand sword, which was par for the course with Makashi users. She would have used the same form as him, or an adaptation of the Form, but found the acrobatics that came with the later Forms to be much more her.
While the two were duelling, Vette was standing off, guarding both the door and waiting for the battle of the Sith to end. Both her blasters were out, ready for anything.
Suddenly, a powerful blast of Force energy shot out from her opponent like a grenade. Both Vette and Louise were slammed back, with the Twi'lek taking the brunt of the damage. Before either could recover, the Sith shot his hand out and the pinkette felt a presence manifest around her throat, lifting her from the ground and tightening. She sputtered for air, her hands trying in vain to pull the invisible force from her neck
"You know, I am starting to doubt your credibility as an assassin," he said casually, his hand tightening and tightening, "I will ask nicely one more tim-"
The sounds of blaster fire sounded off in the room. Quickly, the Sith had to reignite his lightsaber, swinging it in simple, but effective, arches as he deflected several bolts of plasma sent by Vette.
In his distracted state, his concentration faltered. Louise dropped to the floor in an undignified heap, but she pressed on. As fast as she could, she upholstered her blaster pistol from her waist and, guided both by the Force and her Runes, levelled off three bolts of plasma. Her aim was true and the Sith crumpled to the floor.
Louise coughed, hard and sickly as she rubbed her throat. That was too close. She thought through the pain. Looking over to where the plasma had come from, she found Vette crouching by the wall, holding her leg.
"Are you alright?" Louise tried to ask, tried to be the operative word. Instead, all that came out was another round of coughs. After a few seconds, as she willed the Force to heal her throat, she repeated her question.
"Yep, yeah!" Vette replied with a hiss, "Just got shot in the leg, no big deal."
Louise nodded mutely, deciding that speaking was probably not a good idea until she recovered. Standing on shaky legs, she walked over to Vette and wordlessly help the Twi'lek to her feet. With that, she summoned the tablet and the Sith's Lightsaber.
Now we got to leave. Fun!
...
As it turned out, leaving was much easier than entering, despite the grievous injury that was Vette's leg and the weight of the tablet. Louise has also found herself hard-pressed to hide all the sabers she had 'collected' with so few places to hide them without them being noticed. In the end, she gave a few to Vette to look after until they arrived back at the apartment.
On the way back, they dropped by the Rattataki to pick up their earnings; after expressing surprise that they survived, considering their lateness in returning, he handed them a briefcase filled with credits. It was a professional transaction between the three. A professional transaction interrupted by a fourth member, a Sith Lord.
He stood proudly in his dark robes with his lightsaber gleaming despite the downcast weather and his eyes – his only discernible feature – shone like blazing hellfire, "I believe praises are in order," he said imperiously, "Not only with the Quell cut a swath through the ranks of the slaves, but from what I've heard, an explosion has killed off many of the slaves and has destroyed much of their assets. I do believe that you two are to thank for this…?"
Despite the lack of prompt, Louise knew the Sith Lord was asking for their names. But her mind was far from the thoughts of being discovered, choosing to contend with the loss of life she had caused. She had suspicions, ones that were fervently ripped apart, but suspicions nonetheless. But the knowledge was a heart wrenching and harrowing experience, especially because she found that it did not really affect her as much as she would have thought. To think, the fact she was not feeling bad was worse than killing possibly hundreds of slaves.
Despite this, she answered the prompt, though the name was unexpected, especially from her lips, "Karin," she said, almost at once.
Vette, it seemed, had already relinquished a name, not that Louise had heard. Her mind was still heavy. After another short speech about clearing up the rest of the slave scum, the Sith Lord bid them adieu and left.
With their payments in hand and heavy hearts, they carried on their way to the apartment complex.
They did not bring up the Sith Lord's revelations once.
Soon they arrived at the complex, but instead of going straight to her apartment, Vette had insisted on going to Lyira's first. Louise was suspicious of this, if only for their brisk talk earlier in the day, but when she was reminded of her clothing that had been folded neatly on the Twi'lek's bed, she followed.
As always, it did not go according to plan.
Upon entering the apartment, Louise came across Khem and Lyira chatting with two people she had not seen in a very long time.
"Louise, how good it is to see- er, what happened?"
"Lord Juyn?" she said, looking to the Sith Lord sitting at the table before turning to the one sitting beside him, "Rayne?"
AN
I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate stealth scenes! For crying out loud I wish I could just find whoever thought to combine stealth and writing and strangle them to death with their own works! Well, after two months, here's another chapter... sorry about the wait, I am a terrible person. But hey, at least this shits finished so I can get back on track to finishing the next chapter and eventually get up to something that I really want to write. However, the simple fact that I had a terrible case of Writer's Block is not the only thing that has caused this chapter to wait this long, there is also the fact that I had University (The Holidays have now started) as well as me having recently bought a Star Wars Game Bundle off Steam (I now own both Kotor I and II, so yay!) as well as getting assimilated into the Dragon Age fandom (Recently bought Dragon Age: Origins and Awakens). I have also tried to get ahead in my writings, I.E. working on A God Among Us (Which you should definitely go check out on Spacebattles), a bit of Henrietta Potter and the Secret of the Horcrux and some other things.