Ask After Midnight

[Cheriss Ktrame]

If Cheriss had a home, Deysum III would be it. Not that it was by choice, but she had spent the last couple of years here overseeing experiments conducted by the doctor. In exchange for his work, she gave him protection, and that would be more than necessary today.

The Sith had recently gotten a tip about a rising politician who was quickly gaining popularity among the masses. Normally she didn’t care about the politics of this planet, but this particular Zabrak woman was as passionate as she was charismatic. Preaching in favor of reforming Deysum III into a “beacon of light” by “fighting corruption” and ridding the planet of “the poisonous influence of offworlders” had garnered Prime Minister Ayva Jewel quite the following.

Being an offworlder herself and Sawin a licenseless doctor, Cheriss didn’t want to wait until the woman began targeting her operations until she made her move. She didn’t want to involve Kayden either, because she wanted the doctor in her debt and not his. So she hired the best assistance she could otherwise find for an assassination— who better to ask than a Sith mercenary?

She’d sent Cerberus an encrypted message about what the job was going to be with a few additional instructions to bring some kind of suit or whatever kind of formal clothing that suited him. The specifics of the mission she would tell him if he decided to show up this evening in the capital city of Dragnoor. Cheriss waited for him in The Dancing Dog, a cantina so bright and so loud it was impossible to miss. She herself was donned in a black leather jacket and leggings covered by a hooded cloak.

A glass of red wine in hand and sitting in a booth toward the back of the establishment, the Sith checked the time as she waited for her potential partner to arrive. In the meantime, the bar was buzzing as always, and the sabacc table provided a constant source of entertainment as people came and went, won and lost.

As her eyes skimmed over the game, Cheriss hoped that her own gamble would pay off.

@Dread

 

[Cerberus]

Cerberus once again received a message about another job. It seemed he was gaining some notoriety, which he understood was a double-edged sword. The more he built his reputation, the more likely he was going to get enemies, and, on at the other side of it, the more likely he'd be offered jobs.

Of course, his career path was dangerous all on its own, with or without enemies, and so he'd long accepted the other dangers and the likelihood of a short but exciting life. There wasn't much more the galaxy offered to the likes of him.

He arrived at The Dancing Dog, not promptly, considering not everyone could be trusted. The young Sith did some reconnaissance of the area beforehand, including on the politicians and gangs, the goings on of it, and the cantina itself before entering. He wasn't worried about drawing attention to his black amour here, considering it wasn't bizarre to wear black outfits to cantina's, among many other outfits.

The young Sith walked over to the table with his employer and gave her a nod of his head to show some respect. He didn't know if she was a threat yet, besides she was paying him. He sat down across from her and waited. "So?" he asked simply through his voice scrambler, waiting for whatever she planned to say. He needed to know more of her thoughts on this job before he could add his own, if it was necessary.

@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

Cheriss took a sip of her wine as the Sith approached the table. She nodded back in greeting, waiting until he sat down before she leaned forward. Cerberus spoke before she did, and she noticed that he was using a scrambler.

“Thank you for coming,” Cheriss said with a slight smile, setting down her glass before looking back at him. She could appreciate his eagerness to get started, so she didn’t waste a moment before pulling out her datapad. “As you know, this is our target.” Sliding the device across the table, Cerberus would be able to see the face of Ayva Jewel again as a reminder.

“She’s holding a party at the capitol building in a few hours to celebrate her recent victory in getting elected. It may be foolish, but for the sake of her ‘woman of the people’ persona she’s allowing anyone to attend.” Since there was no guest list, they would have the best chance of taking her out tonight and getting away with it. Glancing up to see if Cerberus was following, Cheriss continued.

“If you’re willing, I’d like you to act as my plus one at the party and help me take her out. After she’s gone, I want to make sure that the Deputy Prime Minister knows exactly whose help he requested.” Given that it was a public event, security would probably be on the tighter side, but that shouldn’t be a problem for two Sith. There was just one more detail that needed to be addressed, and that was actually getting into the event.

Dressed the way they were now, neither of them would be let in. So that left them two options. “We can either blend in… or break in.” Cheriss could work with either depending on what Cerberus wanted. But if they were to blend in, he’d have to have brought that suit. “Any preference, or thoughts?”

@Dread

 

[Cerberus]

Before speaking, Cerberus made sure they were seated far away enough from anyone, so no one else could hear them. Though it might've been paranoid of him to do so, considering it was hard to hear anything with the music and chatter in the full Cantina.

"Quite frankly I do not agree with your approach to this," Cerberus said plainly, without any change in his stoic expression, even though his expression couldn't be seen. Not a single part of his tone reflected hesitation to voice his opinion either. He really did not care if the person hiring him changed their mind. This opinion of his was fueled extra by the more common part of youth: ego. "If Andraste taught us anything, it is the power of politicking. You can take out this woman and try to scare off anyone from taking her position again. You still risk someone seeing the influence she amassed, then simply parroting the dead politician's words and taking her place."

"But regardless, I admit there is some merit in your approach, so I'm still willing to work for you," he said, waving away a server droid that briefly arrived at their table. "But if you attend that party, you risk getting your face and name added to the top of the suspects list. You might want that," the reputation, he thought with a shrug, "So if you do, I'll still join you, but if you want a clean execution it's better if I or we take her out quietly during transportation or another opportune moment you can think of."

@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

If there was anything about this Sith that Cheriss appreciated, it was that he wasn’t afraid to speak his mind. That was part of the reason why she had hired him anyway, so that she had someone to point out the flaws in her plan. She considered what he said and nodded when he finished.

“A parrot is what I’m counting on,” she acknowledged. “I simply prefer someone who is more… agreeable.” Whether the Deputy Prime Minister would actually further Jewel’s agenda for improving the living conditions of the planet she didn’t care, so long as she had him under her thumb and was sure that he would stay there. The second point that Cerberus brought up did make her reconsider a bit, though. Did she really need the notoriety if someone was going to be running the planet in her place anyway?

“That’s a fair consideration.” Tapping her glass, Cheriss took a moment to think about Cerberus’ proposition about taking her out during transportation. “What would you say if we were to wait until after the party? Most would be off guard by then.” That way they wouldn’t have to show their faces at all if they were to stage an accident or something of that nature.

“Unless I’m missing something else?” Quirking a brow, Cheriss was only half joking.

@Dread

 

[Cerberus]

"Alright," Cerberus said when the woman replied that she wanted a replacement, "though I hope you've groomed a replacement, or have reliable plans to do so." If she didn't know who would replace the politician, and new one didn't budge either, would she kill them again? There were a lot of questions he had about her scheme. Hopefully she was making the right choices because the reality was he benefited from most if not all Sith influence due to his chosen career path.

But, afterwards, the young Sith nodded, encouraged by the woman's willingness to change her plans. This showed him that he could put a bit more faith into her. "After the party we strike. What reconnaissance have you done on her living situation, or where she plans to go after the party?" he asked, inquiring if she had any or a different plan. In theory they could stalk her from the party, though that had more risk than simply knowing where the woman would be.

Cerberus gave a short "Mm," when she asked her last question. Whatever his answer meant to her was up to interpretation.

@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

“Of course.” That was all Cheriss would say about finding a replacement. Considering that the man who had asked for her help, for no payment no less, had the fortunate opportunity of being the replacement, she would have plenty of time to work things out with him later. The politicking she could handle, but she needed Cerberus for the assassination.

She wouldn’t admit it, but she hadn’t exactly done this before. That didn’t mean she didn’t have information, though.

Putting her datapad back, Cheriss opened up the next image.

“After the party she’ll be leaving the planet on her personal ship. It’ll have this insignia on it.” She showed Cerberus. “That means we’ll only have a short window to make our move. I’m thinking we plant some kind of explosive on the ship, then detonate it once they take off.” While that hadn’t been what she was planning earlier, she did have a few back at the lab. She looked at Cerberus, curious if he had anything else to add.

@Dread

 

[Cerberus]

The young Sith drummed his right hand fingers on the table for a handful of heartbeats while he listened. "Since we have a lot of time until tonight, let me look at the explosives you have. I'm certain I can rig one to start counting down and detonate once the ship begins to take off. There is no need for us to detonate it ourselves," he answered. "Besides if she has a smart crew, they may block unknown signals on take off. It's not an uncommon precaution I've come across, but a bomb that self detonates only needs to not be found on the ship to work." It also meant they could be far, far away from the scene.

He was glad this woman seemingly had her ducks in a row politically. Cerberus always analysed whoever he was working for or with. If he didn't he'd probably be long dead by now so it wasn't anything personal; the more competent or less competent determined a lot of how he behaved on jobs.

"Besides preparing the bomb, I'll take the liberty to learn about the layout of the spaceport the ship is in. Is there anything else you can think of?" he asked her. They had a lot of time to use before the assassination. It didn't necessarily need to all be used for prepping. Cerberus could do his own thing once everything was prepared even. Really, it was all up to his employer because she was paying for his time.

@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

Upon hearing that Cerberus could rig the explosives himself, that was even better. Beyond lightsabers, Cheriss didn’t know much about weaponry, much less the technical aspects of it. So if he could make what she had work, that would be best. Once again he was proving that hiring him was worth it.

Hopefully he would keep it up when they were in the field.

“Perfect. You’re the expert,” Cheriss said with a smile. “I don’t have anything else for now. I can show you the explosives I have, though.” With that, she waved the serving droid over to bring the tab. Since Cerberus hadn’t ordered anything, a few credits was enough and the pair could be on their way.

“Your ride or mine?” she asked as she got up. She had no preference— it wouldn’t really matter since they were both most likely at the spaceport.

@Dread

 

[Cerberus]

Expert huh? Cerberus raised an eyebrow from beneath his helmet. He still felt young and sometimes out of his depth, though of course his ego helped in situations like that. Panicking is hard when your ego is so big.

"Mine," he said without a second thought. "Mine is rented." By rented he meant he paid some random thug to use it and return it later, so it would be pretty much impossible for someone to trace it back to Cerberus unless they believed some average criminal. It might become even more difficult if Cerberus decided to take further precautions.

He stood up once she paid and casually walked out of the Cantina, stopping and turning only for a moment to make sure his boss was following.

The neon lights from the cantina's sign bathed him and the nearby streets in a slurry of colour, though did not reflect off any surface of his outfit, which was purposeful. His ride was nearby, just around a corner and outside the lights of the neon sign, and likely outside of the cantina's outside camera’s views. He stopped in front of a black speederbike with dark blue stripes across both sides of it and two saddle bags that hung off both sides of the back seat.

Maybe she didn't expect a speederbike, but this was Cerberus' preference. He reached into one of the saddle bags and pulled out a helmet. "Here," he said to Cheriss, holding it out to her while flicking his crimson eyes up and down the woman to get a better look at her. Thin. Athletic looking. Not bad. That however was a stray thought. "Put it on," he commanded. If she took it, he'd hop on the front seat of the speederbike and start up the engine. "And hold onto me tight, I don't like driving slow."

@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

Once the droid accepted the credits, Cheriss got up and followed Cerberus out of the cantina. While the spaceport was in one direction, he headed in another. But just as she was about to ask him where exactly he was going, she saw the parked speeder bike as they turned a corner. Alright, then.

Since she had technically agreed to this, Cheriss decided to just go with it and take the helmet. Once she put it on, she settled in the seat behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

“Drive as fast as you’d like.” It had been a while since she’d been on a speeder bike, and she’d almost forgotten how much fun it could be to go at top speed. So she wouldn’t mind if Cerberus did it.

“Here are the coordinates. Just try to get us there in one piece.” Once he had the location of the lab, she would let him drive.

@Dread

 

[Cerberus]

Cerberus put the lab address into the speederbikes nav for now, and went nearly FULL SPEED as he pulled out and cut in between two speeders.

The two speeders he cut in between didn't beep their horns, considering this area had crazy traffic and the law enforcement was pretty much bought off and didn't care about these sorts of things. That he liked, it added an extra danger factor, as other speeders and speederbikes were also reckless. The idea of potentially scaring his passenger crossed his mind briefly, which he didn't dislike. Of course he didn't have much time to think about anything except the road, the air and the thrill of speed.

"Hold on even tighter," he said, half expecting his bike passenger not to be able to hear him through the wind and noise of traffic. They were coming up to a sharp turn, and Cerberus had no plan on slowing down at all.

They got closer, and closer, and closer to the turn with the speederbike now both increasing it's speed to max and staying in a straight line.

A speeder in front suddenly slowed down without warning, and Cerberus, now using his Force sensitivity, dipped both his head and bike down, nearly missing the bottom of the slowed down speeder with the top of his head and speederbike. Once he cleared the speeder, he turned into an incredibly sharp right, the wind whipped violently around them as, against the odds, the speeder made it safely into the correct street.

Cerberus smiled.

He was enjoying himself, yet began to feel a small inkling of disappointment since they were nearing the address of the lab quickly.

@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

The moment that Cheriss felt herself lurch backwards as Cerberus turned the speed up to full, she had a feeling that she’d made a huge mistake. She knew all about the crazy traffic here, but she never thought that she’d play a part in making it worse. At least, not as a passenger with her life in someone else’s hands. Subconsciously, she gripped him tighter, though how much good that would do they would probably never find out.

She thought Cerberus had said something too, but through the whipping of the wind, the roaring of the bike’s engine, and the rushing of blood in her ears, Cheriss couldn’t hear a thing.

“What did you say?” Even behind the man, Cheriss could see the curve in the road coming up ahead. Gods be good. She could be a reckless driver too, but when it came to that sharp of a turn even she would have slowed down at least a little bit. Instead, he went faster. So did her heart rate. “What are you DOING?!”

To make things worse, a speeder suddenly slowed down in front of them, and Cheriss was forced to duck just as Cerberus did. After she had barely survived that, the turn itself had her right elbow brushing so close to the ground that she almost let go of him in a reflex to stop herself from falling.

Then, they finally arrived at the back of the lab, and Cheriss had never been more eager to get off a vehicle. She jumped off the bike as soon as it stopped, then ripped off her helmet as she whipped around to face Cerberus.

“Next time, I’m the one driving.” Despite her indignant tone, the adrenaline was still there and she couldn’t hide the hint of a smile on her face.

@Dread

 

[Cerberus]

Sadly the ride came to an end. He parked his speeder bike in a spot near the door, turning off the engine before even looking towards Cheriss', even though she'd snapped at him. Once he turned his crimson gaze to her, he raised an eyebrow at the look on her face and did not miss her smile. A faint knowing smile curved on his own lips while he got off the bike nonchalantly.

"Hey, you're the one who said 'drive as fast as you’d like' and to 'just' get us here in one piece," he answered, looking away from her now. For a few seconds he took the time to erase the address to the lab from the speederbike as an extra precaution. "I followed your instructions to the letter," he added as he did.

That also was not a yes to her driving next time, and he knew that entirely.

Once done he walked past the woman without a second thought, stopping at the front of the building. He turned and leaned on a wall, crossing his arms to wait for the woman to get them access to the building. He wasn't sure if she had an access card or had to call in or what. His mind did wander a bit as he waited, wondering what type of explosives she had and what this lab of hers looked like.

@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

Cheriss disliked the fact that she couldn’t see his face, because she could all but picture the smirk that surely hid beneath that helmet. He was right, of course, about following her instructions, but instead of admitting that out loud she simply shook her head and put the helmet back into the saddle bag he’d taken it out from. As she did, she noticed that Cerberus wiped the coordinates of the lab off his bike, which she did appreciate.

Even if he was insane on the road, she couldn’t deny that he wasn’t at least somewhat cautious. Just in a different way.

Soon he’d gone to the door, and Cheriss took out her keycard to swipe. The door unlocked, which she opened to reveal a storage room filled with rows of racks and boxes.

“This isn’t the full lab. But it has everything we’ll need.” She looked at Cerberus before heading inside. However, as soon as she did she heard movement, and she held up a hand to stop him from following.

“Who’s there?” The head of a Cerean poked up from behind a rack, a pair of rib shears in his grip. At that, Cheriss lowered her hand.

“Ah. Champion Cheriss. Coming in through the back door today, I see.”

“An acute observation, doctor.” She greeted him with a curt nod before stepping aside, gesturing toward Cerberus. “This is Cerberus. He’ll be helping me help you today.” They all knew what that meant. Then Cheriss glanced at her companion. “Cerberus, the good doctor.”

Dr. Sawin gave Cerberus a once-over. “A fine specimen.” Fortunately, he didn’t seem to be in the mood to talk, so as soon as he finished he turned around, clicking the shears as he walked away.

“...I apologize for that. He can be a little eccentric.” Cheriss gave Cerberus a half-smile before gesturing toward a row of boxes near them labeled “Explosives”. “Anyway, you should find what you need here. We have grenades, sticky bombs, trigger bombs… I assume you’ll be able to make it work.” She hoped so, at least.

@Dread

 

[Cerberus]

Cerberus followed the woman into a part of her lab, saying nothing even when she held up her hand to stop him. All the halfbreed did was raise an eyebrow at the doctor when he popped up like some kind of hand puppet with a pair of shears.

When the doctor made his "fine specimen" comment, Cerberus started to ignore the man's presence completely. He wasn't insulted, he just felt like he was wasting his time now. The young Sith didn't answer Cheriss' comments either, although he was paying attention to every word that came out of her mouth, as she was his boss for this job.

Quietly he sat down on a chair in front of a desk with most of the items Cheriss had spoken about. A swift movement of Cerberus' left arm moved a bunch of useless items away from him. He didn't care if this upset anyone, as he didn't plan to spend much time in this lab anyway.

Cerberus began to use the nearby tools, taking a part, putting together and programming a bomb of his own with his own code to boot. This was one of his specialties, and considering his field, it shouldn't be too surprising. Athough maybe his skills were beyond the regular mercenary.

As he worked he did speak, "Do us a favour and delete any footage of me entering or being in this building, if you have cameras that do so. Consider doing the same with you in that outfit, then burning the outfit after tonight."

He continued to tinker with his bomb, tipping his head slightly, bringing it closer to a side of his project and narrowing his eyes while he did some finer soldering. "Do you have any other plans before tonight?" he asked. It probably sounded personal. The reality was though, Cerberus only wanted to keep track of the woman's wearabouts if he could until the job was done.

@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

Fortunately it seemed that Dr. Sawin hadn’t driven Cerberus away. It had taken her a while to get used to his personality, and if not for his medical expertise and scientific knowledge, she would have gotten rid of him long ago. Though on second thought maybe not, considering he was her partner's pet too.

As Cerberus began to work on his bomb, Cheriss simply leaned with her back against the wall nearby. Not too close to get in his way, but observing him nonetheless until he spoke. Then she approached the computer terminal at one end of the desk.

“Hm. Good call.” She hadn’t thought of deleting the camera feed since it was fairly secure, but now that Cerberus brought it up it was probably better if there was no trace at all, even if she was sure that her reasoning for deleting the footage would be quite different from his. But a few clicks later, it was all gone anyway.

“Done.” Cheriss went back to her previous spot, crossing her arms and looking at Cerberus’ hands as he tinkered with the device. At his question, her gaze flicked to his visor instead.

“Just this,” she replied. “Consider me your partner for tonight. I’ll help you with whatever gets the job done— looking something up, getting you anything, or even staying out of the way if you can do this on your own.” Cheriss didn’t care so long as the Prime Minister ended up dead.

@Dread

 

[Cerberus]

He heard her say she was done, he just didn't react, choosing to focus on his work for the time being. The process could be done crudely, though that approach obviously had multiple risks. and besides, Cerberus enjoyed the process. Each time he'd been able to improve on his creations. The steady but slow advancement also made it harder for anyone who was able to study bits of his devices; how would they predict what the next one might be like?

"Mm," he answered simply when she gave her own answer.

After finishing attaching one more wire he stopped his work, carefully pulling his hands away and straightening his back without putting his tools down. Then he looked behind him towards Cheriss again, his crimson eyes focusing on her. "Then fetch me a meal. No more than one thousand calories. Try to pick some high protein options, I need to make up for yesterday, and no empty carbs, water will do."

With that he turned back to his work without studying her reaction. He didn't care if Cheriss found him demanding or if she followed through with it. He could find his own meal later if he had to. Besides, by the time she got him a meal he would probably be done with the device and onto the next task. There really wasn't much to do before the job.

@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

When Cerberus requested that she bring him a meal, Cheriss looked right back at him, unamused. He can’t be serious. At least he had the decency to look at her when he asked. That was probably the only reason she even considered doing it. She was a Sith Champion, not a servant. This was taking employee benefits to a whole new level.

After a long pause, she sighed.

“Fine. Don’t blow up the room while I’m gone.” She gave him a look before getting off the wall and making her way toward the kitchen. She had the live camera feed open on her datapad, not recording but still on just in case he tried anything. Once she was there and opened the fridge, she was glad to find that Dr. Sawin hadn’t yet eaten his dinner in the form of a cold Endorian chicken sandwich.

Cheriss didn’t think twice about protein or calories before grabbing that and a cup of water. Soon she was back with his food and placed it on his desk.

“That’s all we have, so take it or leave it.” She looked at the bomb. “How’s that coming along? Are we ready to plant it soon?”

@Dread

 

[Cerberus]

Cerberus remained focused on his device, finishing it a few minutes before Cheriss arrived. As he put the tools he'd been using back on the table the Sith woman returned, plate in hand.

When he saw the meal, he reached up with his hands, using the Force momentarily to push the cameras in the room away from his direction. He was aware they wouldn't be recording, but he was used to being extra cautious with these things. Before lowering his hands he took off his helmet and carefully put it on the table. Cheriss would be able to see his full face now; porcelain white skin, slicked back pitch black hair and crimson red eyes to contrast it all. Clearly he wasn't fully human, though what he was exactly wasn't obvious.

His eyes returned to his meal, and he finally spoke, "Thank you for following my instructions" plainly. Chicken was a commonly consumed high protein food, the meal did not exceed one thousand calories and she brought water. She must have handmade this just for him.

He took off his gloves, grabbed his sandwich and took a bite. Once he swallowed the bite he answered her other question, "It's ready and it will do the job thoroughly." Cerberus reached over, taking his glass of water and sipping from it. "When is the party starting exactly? It won't take me long to get the spaceport map, and it will only take seconds for me to devise a plan through it." Basically he was asking to figure out if they'd have spare time or if they were going to move out as soon as he was done.


@Sicadorito