Hell Hath No Fury... [Ask]

[Jiang Winters]

“Dammit Martuk, you can’t do this. We had a deal!” Naiya growled, slamming her fist into the steel surface of the table to emphasize the word ‘deal’.

The man she was speaking to through the holographic comms unit set into the table just laughed a cold, dark laugh, then spoke in a sardonic tone.
“And that would stop me, why? Because you’ll run off and tattle to the Authorities? You can‘t touch me, girl; you're just a nameless tomb-robber with no credence to your words, whereas I am a well known and respected business man. Oh, don‘t worry, I‘ll make sure to send you a couple credits after I publish my findings on this lovely little Holocron I stumbled across.”

“You can’t access the Holocron, Martuk.” The cathar adventure spoke in a clear, firm tone, with barely concealed rage hiding itself within her voice.

“Hmph. I think you’re bluffing, but I’ll entertain you and your nonsense a bit longer. Why not? Because I’m not furry enough, and you are?”

A dark smile appeared on Swift’s muzzle as she replied. “No. Because I am a force sensitive, and you are not. The only kind of holocron you could access is a data holocron, and that is most certainly NOT a Data Holocron.”

“And what makes you so sure that I don’t have someone in my employ who can open it for me, Swift?”

“Because if you did have a force sensitive employee, you would have already accessed the Holocron. Face it, you still need me, unless you want to run off to the Jedi Order or the Ospion Guardians and ask very, very nicely for them to open it for you.”

Martuk’s smug grin quickly faded as Naiya saw through his deception. “You‘re surprisingly perceptive. I admit, I am encountering some… Issues that are interfering with me accessing the Holocron. But I assure you, Swift, I will access that Holocron. It‘s only a matter of time and the application of the appropriate resources.”

“Throwing money at your problem isn’t going to solve your problems this time.”

“Don’t bet on it, girl. You will find that I can be resourceful too, when the situation demands it. But, this conversation is now over; I have pressing matters to tend to. Good day; and please try not to do anything stupid. I'd hate to have to put you down like some deranged beast.” The Holographic representation of Martuk’s salt-and-pepper bearded visage faded out as the lights of the room automatically flickered back to life, leaving Naiya standing at the edge of the table, a scowl frozen in place upon her face.

The normally calm woman was positively livid. Every band of muscles in her body was tensed, her ears were flattened against her skull, and her claws were partially unsheathed; if her expression wasn’t enough warning to others to steer clear of her, her body language was certainly a clear signal that anyone approaching her risked loss of life and limb should they accidentally incite her.

She pushed herself away from the table and stormed out of the comms room of her vessel. Swift moved straight towards her ship’s armory and upon arriving at the Armory’s sealed door, she practically punched the control pad as she entered it’s unlock code.

She didn’t even wait for the door to fully open before shoving her way into the small room. The cathar seized her pulse rifle, a bandoleer of grenades, her blaster pistol, and a large supply of ammunition and spare power cells for her rifle. The next thing she snapped up was her latest suit of armor, a mostly black suit of Modular Assault Armor, which she hurriedly pulled on over her clothes.

Now armed and more dangerous than before, Naiya departed the armory and headed directly for her ship’s boarding hatch. She was going to pay Mr. Kol Martuk’s Coruscant offices a visit, a visit that would ultimately end with her ripping the Holocron out of Martuk’s greedy, lifeless hands.

 

[T.J]

Sol was absent through the duration of the verbal assault that went on between Naiya and the traitorous Mr. Martuk. He was in the room that he had used as his own for the short time he had been on Naiya's ship. He was practicing his daily meditation routine, hovering a foot or so off the bed sheets sitting in a crossed legged position. He did not "hear" what went on per say, rather, he felt it. A circling pulsating cloud of anger and hate seeped into his living quarters like smoke from a fire. Sol had not been expecting such a strong emotion, and lost most if not all of his concentration.

Sol quietly wondered why such a strong emotion had become present as he landed on his bed with a soft thump. He knew it was coming from Naiya, since she was the only other sentient life form in the area that would be able to exude such a presence. Sol exited his room and let the force guide him to his Cathar hostess. Of course it took him longer than it should have; being that the force had decided it wanted to be vague again.

As Sol entered the armory, Naiya had her back turned to him. Seeing and feeling she was not in a very charming mood. He decided it best to not be sarcastic or to wise crack. He noticed that she was also armed to the teeth, and seemed to be ready for open conflict. "Anything I can help you with? I can feel your anger throughout the entire ship." He said with a calm and soothing tone. Sol didn’t want to aggravate the problem.

 

[Jiang Winters]

Naiya tensed for a split second as she heard a voice behind her, and was just about to whirl around and snap at the owner of the voice, when she realized that Sol was the owner of the voice. She visibly relaxed and slowly turned around, her expression slightly calmer than it was before, but it still bore a look of grim determination. Her anger was not in the least dissipated though, and Sol, being a force user, would sense that easily. If he didn't, then the fury burning in her eyes was another clear indicator of that dark emotion's presence.

"There's nothing you can help me with, Sol, unless you're willing to help me put a bullet between the eyes of a spoiled, traitorous brat of a businessman." She replied coolly, trying to outwardly maintain a calm and collected demeanor, when in fact, she was acting almost purely on her emotions.

 

[T.J]

"You don’t need to mask your true emotions, its bad to bottle such things up. Besides they're filling this room up like a thick smoke." Sol said as he folded his hands behind his back and moved out of the doorway. As he spoke he felt the waves of anger slowly starting to subside, though they were still very much there.

"My dear, you know I do not use projectile weapons. If I assist you, I will be using this." A smile came across Sol's face as he raised his lightsaber up to be seen. He clipped it back onto his belt before speaking again.

"Care to fill me in on who I will be trying to kill......And why?"

 

[Jiang Winters]

Naiya maintained her more collected expression as best she could, despite Sol's wise advice to avoid bottling up her emotions. She couldn't help it; it was force of habit for her to try to hide such feelings.

She remained silent as he spoke of how he didn't use the same sort of weapons she was used to, and raised a lightsaber up to her vision. A thin smile crept onto her muzzle as he clipped it back onto his belt, then spoke again.

"One Kol Martuk. He's a smooth-talking slimeball of a businessman who can convince anyone that he's their best friend, then has no trouble stabbing them in the back in order to attain his own needs." She replied, fishing around in one of her pockets for a moment, then producing a image of the greying human and showing it to Sol.

"He's got his fingers deep into the black market artifact and information trade, and to draw attention away from his illegal dealings, he also does quite a bit of high-profile stockbrokering and some assorted philanthropist work."

 

[T.J]

Sol gingerly took the picture and quickly tried to memorize key features of the mans face. He didn’t want to accidently kill an innocent if the situation moved to a public scene. "So are we going to do this covertly?" He looked at the equipment that Naiya had on and was carrying. "I'm guessing no.....Either way we shouldn’t just run in guns blazing in the middle of Coruscant. We'd be gunned down in a matter of minutes." He said as he handed back the little piece of flimsy.

"He crossed you somehow. Didn't he? Revenge isn't always the best path, I'm not gonna even attempt to try and stop you, but I just want you to know that it can lead you down a road you might not like. The dark side is a powerful tool, but the cost is great. As a Shade I am taught to embrace both sides of the spectrum, it gives us a better understanding of the force. But I have held the dark power in my hands and it is a double edged sword." Sol said as he folded his arms in his sleeves. He truly didn’t want to stop Naiya, sometimes the only thing to resolve a problem was to put a bullet through it.

 

[Jiang Winters]

Naiya mulled over what Sol had said as she pocketed the picture of Martuk. Going in guns blazing and ventilating every last one of the spineless cowards who worked for Martuk was extremely tempting, but he was right. The CSF would be down on her long before they could even touch Martuk.

She was silent as he continued to speak, advising her that revenge wasn't always the right way. But at the moment, Naiya knew one thing, and that was that even if she could spirit away the Holocron from Martuk's greasy clutches, he would never stop coming after her, not until she was dead and the Holocron was back in his hands.

That meant that it was in her best interests to ensure that his life came to an abrupt halt. "Today, I either put Mr. Martuk in the ground and take back what is mine, or I take what is mine and let him live to come back after me, again and again, until one of us is dead. I will not let him bring the fight to me on his terms; no, I'm going to strike at him here and now, when he's least expecting it." She replied firmly. Swift was, without a doubt, doggedly intent on solving her problem with a well-aimed bullet.

"I'm not insane enough to try a all-out assault; as you said, the CSF would be upon me long before I could even reach Martuk. No, we'll park a speeder on the roof of his office building and rappel down to his office on the top floor, then breach in from there." Naiya added in, reaching back into the armory and snagging a small backpack filled with climbing gear from a hanger by the door, then departing the armory one final time and starting to walk towards the ship's airlock, slipping around Sol on the way.

 

[T.J]

"Well then I shall join you for sure now. I know what its like to have a thorn in my side." Sol said as he followed Naiya out of the armory. He still wasn’t too familiar with the layout of the ship, so he stuck pretty close to the Cathar as they walked to the air lock. He could still sense the anger in the air, but instead of it just floating around, he felt that Naiya was channeling it to her own ends.

"So do we need to acquire any equipment? Or do we already have everything? I probably won’t need anything other then the stuff I have on me."

 

[Jiang Winters]

"We have everything we'll need." Swift spoke as she made her way down the ramp leading out of the airlock, and to the hangar floor. The Cathar walked at a brisk pace towards the side of the hangar, where, in addition to all the tool and parts boxes laying about, there was a large tarp-covered object.

She grabbed the tarp and yanked it off, revealing a small two-person speeder. It wasn't the prettiest thing in the world; the red paint was faded and scratched and the hull was dinged and patched in places, as if it had seen more than it's fair share of getaways gone wrong. "Hop in. It's only a short flight to Martuk's offices. It'll take fifteen minutes at the most." Naiya said, while sliding into the driver's seat and powering up the open-top speeder.

 

[T.J]

Sol Stood next to the speeder for a moment, not sure whether he should actually get into it. Truthfully it looked like it might fall out from under them if they went anywhere with it. And since falling to his death was one of his least favorite dyeing scenarios, he really had to think about it. He finally went against better judgment and sat down it the passenger seat, quickly buckling his harness. Even though if the repulsorlifts failed it really wouldn't matter.

"So... You sure this thing can get us there and back in one piece? I'd really hate to die by meeting the ground at immense speeds." He said as he adjusted his harness to make it a little tighter. Sol still had a calm feeling about him, even though he was anxious.

 

[Jiang Winters]

"Fairly certain. But don't worry, even if it's repulsorlift drives were to go up in smoke, the seats are ejector seats; you can just punch out and drift down to the surface, supported by a nice, billowing parachute... Well, provided the seats work right, and no-one runs into you, that is." Naiya nonchalantly replied, buckling herself in as she spoke, and then lifting the vehicle off the ground and easing it out of the hangar.

Once they were clear of the hangar, she punched the thing's drives, sending the little vehicle screaming through the sky towards the business district in which Martuk's lair resided.

 

[T.J]

Sol gripped his restraints for a brief moment due to the sudden acceleration. He never really liked in-atmosphere flight, Sol always thought of it as unnecessarily hectic and stressful. There always seemed to be something going on that disrupted the flow of traffic no matter what time of day it was. “Getting pulverized into a red mushy paste by a fast moving hunk of durasteel is something I really don’t want to experience.” Sol said as he forced himself to relax a little bit, he knew he would probably be able to save himself with a force push if it came to him possibly being hit by a speeder. What he was really worried about was Naiya in the same situation. Sure she had physical as well as mental skill, but it would amount to almost nothing when left at the mercy of the wind and large flying hunks of metal.

“So what’s the plan for when we get inside? Do we have a schematic of the building layout?” Sol said as he rested his head against his seats headrest. He wasn’t too worried about any security force, most if not all would not be trained to fight a force user. They probably didn’t even have any weapons to deflect a lightsaber. He had pretty much already written this little mission off as a soon to be piece of cake.

 

[Jiang Winters]

[Sorry for the delay.]

"No schematics, but I know the layout of the building. We'll land on the roof, take a emergency staircase down to the top floor, and pop out into a large hallway roughly halfway between the turbolifts and Martuk's office. We just hook a left, go about a hundred yards, and we'll come to the desk of his receptionist. There'll be two guards outside the door, and another bodyguard inside with him. We kill them, put a bullet between Martuk's eyes, and then blow his wall safe and take back what he stole from me." Naiya replied, whilst piloting the speeder through the heavy traffic clogging Coruscant's skylanes.

After nimbly dodging a huge transport with only a inch to spare between the belly of their speeder and the top of the transport, she added in; "Yes, I rethought the whole 'rappel down and breach in' thing. That'd attract too much attention from passing traffic, and besides that, I don't want to try to punch through transparasteel windows with the gear I have. Anyways, after we start shooting, we'll have maybe three minutes - four at the most - to blow the safe and get the hell out of that building. If we're still there once that window is up, we're going to have the CSF and Martuk's private army bearing down on us."

 

[T.J]

"Do we need to kill the receptionist? Unless they make an attempt to attack us I do not see the need to kill an innocent by standard." Sol said as he gripped his restraints tightly again when Naiya came close to the huge transport. He hated wrestles flying even more than in atmosphere flying, combining the two didn’t set well with him.


"I’m glad you know the inside of the building, Id hate to run to hell and back to find one man. We'd definitely have to deal with the CSF if that was the case." Sol paused for a moment to watch an interesting looking speeder fly by at a moderate pace. "Tell me more about this private army we might have to deal with."

 

[Jiang Winters]

"I never said we had to; I said we needed to drop the guards posted up by the receptionist. The receptionist is just another random college girl Martuk selected purely on the size of her 'assests' rather than her merits; he swaps receptionists every couple of months." Naiya commented idly, jinking hard to the left to avoid a jutting billboard as she chattered on.

"About the private army, well, they aren't much. Just your every-day rent-a-cop types, with a few rent-a-ninja's tossed in to act as officers. No difference between the two groups though; their armor sucks, their guns suck, their tactics suck, and they all run in circles screaming like schoolgirls whenever something unexpected or somewhat frightening happens. The biggest threat from them is their hilarious level of fail; you may actually die laughing at them. Trust me, I know this after watching how a entourage of his guards handled a suspicious briefcase left in the lobby. I still burst into laughter whenever I think of that morning."

 

[T.J]

[me too, having comp troubles right now... typing on my psp....]


"Well good, getting in and out of there shouldn't be a problem then. A little lightsaber show, maybe some flashy force powers, and most of them should run screaming their heads off." Sol said as he thought the battle out in his head. Just because someone wasn’t well trained didn’t mean they weren't lethal. Any sentient with a gun was a potential problem.

 

[Jiang Winters]

[Wow. I completely forgot this one.... Again. Ooops.]

Naiya gave a brief nod of her head to indicate that she agreed with Novus, while simultaniously dropping the speeder several dozen meters into another lane of traffic, narrowly slipping between a pair of hovertaxies in the process. "Gods above, the traffic here is horrible." She muttered, punching the accelerator and sending the speeder racing forwards, right towards Martuk's office building, which was now a mere minute away and was plainly visible in front of them.

 

[T.J]

[no worries. i forgot too. :CHappy:]

Sol breathed a sigh of relief as they approached their destination. Naiya's driving was.... hectic. To say the least. He wanted nothing more than to touch solid ground and get the job at hand done. "So what did he take from you?" Sol said as he kept his gaze facing forward.

 

[Jiang Winters]

"A Holocron we found. He stabbed me in the back over it." Naiya replied simply, at the same time bringing the speeder down to a gentle stop upon the roof of Martuk's offices.

She unbuckled herself and hopped over the side of the scooter, snapping up her assault rifle at the same time. "Come on, it's time to pay Martuk a visit." As if to emphasize her words, she powered up her rifle, which softly whined for a moment as the gauss weapon charged up.

 

[T.J]

'A holocron? This little errand has just become all the more interesting.' Sol thought to himself as he unbuckled his harness and stepped out of the speeder. He kept his lightsaber on his belt, and his hands folded in his sleeves. Waiting for the moment that battle started to remove them from their resting places.

Walking up to the emergency staircase door, Sol briefly brought his hand out and quietly opened the door with the force. "Ladies first." He said as he motioned to the now open portal.