Ask Dromund Kaas Muddy Mayhem

[Cheriss Ktrame]

Cheriss could do nothing but stare as Ennek answered Verse. The man had simply confessed to committing the murders— Cheriss hadn’t even hinted at the fact that he was a suspected eaerlier. He was either completely out of his mind, or he thought that the two champions were going to help him because his victims were supposedly Jedi. In fact, now that she thought about it, he was out of his mind either way.

Letting out an inward sigh, she nodded at Verse’s suggestion. “I’ll see if I can find anything. Give me a few moments,” she said, giving Ennek a hard look before she extinguished the sabers and put them on her belt, taking out her datapad with the files instead. She would leave Verse and Ennek alone for a couple minutes as she looked even more carefully through the files, seeing if there was anything in their profiles that indicated they were supporters of the Jedi. Had she missed something earlier?

She looked through file by file, reading all the information the database had to offer on the victims, but nothing indicated that they were friends of the Jedi. In fact, there was not a single mention of the Jedi on any of their profiles, and she was tempted to think that the man was lying to get himself out of punishment. That didn’t make sense— if he and his brother hadn’t done it, why would Ennek take the fall for the murders?

Then she remembered the cantina.

She looked up the information of the cantina instead, and there it was. Cheriss was decently surprised that something hadn’t been done about it earlier. The cantina was a local meeting point for a pro-Jedi group, who sponsored donations for the Jedi Order. The only thing that kept them safe was probably the limited amount of credits they actually managed to get out of people, hardly even a noticeable amount.

Putting her datapad away, she went back to Verse and relayed what she’d found to the other champion, though she made sure to keep her voice low so Ennek couldn’t hear.

“I think we should let him think we’re on his side, for now. Maybe he’ll reveal more information that the Empire could use,” she suggested after a short pause. “We can turn him in either way, once we find out more.”

@Reylo4evr

 

[Verse Tillo]

Once Cheriss had finished her short little research, she told her findings to Verse, who nodded. "Shouldn't be too hard," she said. Throughout this whole encounter she had shown no emotion on her face; even when she was alone she hadn't displayed any fear when the first man came in. It certainly unsettled anyone who didn't know her, and that was a lot of people. "And once we've dealt with these two, we handle the catina," she said.

@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

Cheriss gave Verse a nod of acknowledgement before turning back to Ennek, who seemed to be a little less on edge now seeing that neither of the champions were actively threatening him anymore. That was good.

“Your services to the Empire will be commended,” she said to him after a short length of silence, and his eyes brightened. When she extended a hand to help him up, he took it gladly. The clamminess of his palm tempted Cheriss to immediately take it back, though, before she reminded herself that they would need his trust to find out more.

“And… about my brother…” he began awkwardly as he pulled away and glanced at Verse. “Is he alright? Will he be rewarded too?” Cheriss couldn’t help but smile inwardly at that. Surely he didn’t think that he would get all the credit? But she didn’t say anything out loud, letting Verse respond to that one.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse was inwardly amused that Ennek so quickly trusted them. She looked to his twin, face up on the ground, the knife digging in deeper into his spine. She looked back at Ennek. "He'll live," she said, a look of indifference crossing her features. "Once we know more about the situation, each of you will be rewarded accordingly," she continued.

Like she had hoped, Ennek looked eager to claim most of that reward for himself. "I can tell you whatever you need, and who murdered who," he said, leaning forward.

Verse raised an eyebrow. How stupid of him; yet she smiled inwardly, her face still blank and uncaring. "We look forward to hearing it on the transport," she replied dryly, turning to Cheriss.

@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

Ennek only seemed to want to incriminate himself even more now, and she almost had to ask herself if this was some kind of trick. She never thought anyone would willingly confess to a murder, and now Ennek was offering to go into the details. Exchanging a glance of partial disbelief with Verse, she finally managed to nod at her partner’s last statement about the transport.

“Yes. Let’s go,” she said, though she made no move to give Ennek his lightsaber back. The man didn’t seem to mind or notice. Instead, he carefully took the knife out of his brother’s back and hoisted him over his shoulder.

“We can show you around our home,” he said eagerly just as Cheriss turned around. She raised a brow at that.

“And what would be the purpose of that?”

“We have more in there for you. Maybe… enough to get us a promotion to champion?” Cheriss looked at Verse, now wondering what the academy was teaching these days. But if there would be more evidence against Ennek and his brother, why not? It would make their report easier to file.

“Alright. Just tell us where it is once we get on the ship,” she said, stifling a sigh.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse was astounded at this man's stupidity. She wondered who was responsible for his and his brother's training. She raised an eyebrow at Cheriss, suggesting she had no clue why he was doing this. "Lead on," she said to Ennek, who was carrying his unconscious brother. She picked up her knife from where Ennek had dropped it on the floor. She wiped the blood off on her boot, and stuck it back in its mini sheath on her belt. She followed Cheriss and Ennek out of the storage room, hunching over as they walked through the tight passage way. It was a short walk to the ship, and Verse was silent as she headed to the cockpit.

@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

Once Verse had retrieved her knife, Cheriss followed Ennek as he made his way out into the street. From there, she would lead the way to the ship, glad that Verse was keeping an eye on the man in case he tried anything. Not that she expected him to, but another pair of eyes was always helpful.

Soon they arrived at the ship, where Verse headed to the cockpit. Cheriss sat with Ennek and his brother in the back, the latter of which was still unconscious, but breathing given the soft rise and fall of his chest. Even so, wasn’t comfortable enough with the two brothers to leave them to their own devices just yet. The ship took off soon and started heading for their home in the swamp, but as their flight progressed, Cheriss couldn’t help wishing for Verse’s company more and more. Ennek launched into a full-length description of each and every murder, and how he had enjoyed tearing his victims apart and leaving behind nothing but a gruesome reminder to those who were trying to investigate the crimes. Strangely enough, he admitted that some of the victims hadn’t even any ties to the Jedi, and had simply been in the cantina that day. Cheriss had anticipated having more evidence against him, but this was getting to be a bit much even for her.

Once the ship landed on a small, makeshift landing platform outside the brothers’ dwelling, Cheriss was glad that he finally stopped talking, staying behind as she watched Ennek carry his brother off the ship.

“These two are insane,” she whispered into her colleague’s ear when Verse came out of the cockpit. “I say we just eliminate them. They have no intention to stop what they’re doing, Jedi or not. They’re doing it for fun as much as it is to demonstrate loyalty. And if this gets out, it makes it look like the Empire can’t protect its own citizens.”

@Reylo4evr

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse flew the ship without much trouble. The flight was short and quiet, but she could hear Ennek talking to Cheriss in the cargo hold. When she docked the ship outside the brothers' dwelling, Cheriss was immediately at her side. She listened and nodded. "Keep up the pretense of being on their side, so we can have as much evidence as possible." she said. "What was Ennek talking to you about? Were you recording it?" she asked as they followed Ennek, who was carrying his brother again. Ennek was strangely quiet now as he led the way.

@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

Cheriss nodded at Verse’s first statement. If they had Ennek believing himself to be on their side, his guard would be lowered. But at the second part, she stopped and placed a hand on Verse’s shoulder before they could follow the brothers any further.

“I didn’t record it. And you wouldn’t want to hear it if I did. Too many… details,” she said with a shake of her head before withdrawing her hand and looking back at the brothers. The door had opened for them, with Ennek looking expectantly at the two, and she gave Verse a knowing look before heading inside.

The main room was one befitting of a home in the swamp. The floorboards were the color of murky water, the ceiling was dark green, and the dank, sickly sweet smell lingering in the house was enough to remind Cheriss of the rotting zombies she’d encountered on Deysum. And when she turned to her right, she sucked in a breath of air when she saw the roughly dozen decorations on the wall. They were the clumsily taxidermied heads of even more victims that hadn’t been recorded. But there was something else, she could feel it, and Cheriss knew what it was even before she saw it. A small, red pyramid underneath the decorations. A holocron? Here? Cheriss couldn’t help glancing at Verse as she saw it, but the sound of Ennek’s voice took her out of her thoughts just then.

“Lovely place, isn’t it?” Her gaze swung over to him as he finished lowering the blinds of the window and stood, unblinking as he looked over at the Sith. It was dark enough in the room that she could barely make out his outline, and she wondered how he was supposed to show them anything when she could hardly see.

“It’s… unique,” Cheriss answered. She didn’t even know it, but her hand had fallen to her side right by her lightsaber.

“I’m glad you like it.” His tone was genuinely pleased. “Because you’ll be staying here for a long time.” Before she could ask him what he was thinking, she felt a hard tug at her side, and Ennek’s lightsaber flew back into his hand.

“You really believed I was going to let you turn us in? Think again.”

@Reylo4evr

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse wrinkled her nose at the taxidermied heads on the wall. As soon as Ennek closed the blinds, Verse's hand moved to her lightsaber. Something was not right. Her suspicions were confirmed when Ennek called his lightsaber back to his hand, a sadistic smile on his face. Verse whipped out her own lightsaber and ignited it. Ennek was a fool to think he would make it out of this alive. A fool to think he could single-handedly kill two skilled Sith Champions. She stretched out a hand, shoving the large man backwards with the Force. If not for his size, he would have flown into the wall behind him. Instead, he only flew backwards a couple feet. It still unnerved him.

@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

Cheriss ignited her saber in unison with Verse, and when Ennek staggered back a few feet from the force of Verse’s push, she took the chance to lessen the distance between them. When she got close enough, she moved to disarm him by using her blade to twist his out of his hand. To her surprise, his grip on his saber was much stronger than it had been before, and it didn’t take more than a second for her to realize that his earlier ineptitude had been nothing more than a trick to deceive them.

Unfortunately, Ennek appeared to have seen her hesitation in the moment and he used the moment to shove her backwards a step, breaking their saber lock. He was strong, she’d give him that, and the Sith would have to find a way to use it against him if they were going to win this fight.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Verse Tillo]

When Ennek left his right side open after shoving her backwards, Verse swung her saber around, managing to cut a smoking gash in Ennek's side, right over his hip bone. He leapt away before she could slice him in half, much to Verse's dismay. Ennek would not make this easy for them, she could see that. An idea occurred to her and she stared Ennek dead in the eyes, catching his attention. Just like she had suspected, his mind was weak, and she easily took control of it. "Set down your saber," she said, her voice dripping with the Force. This was her strength- manipulating weak minds. Ennek's arm twitched once, twice, before he deactivated his saber and let it fall to the ground. "Kick it to me," she continued, holding him at saber-point. His foot obeyed. Verse didn't look down when the saber nudged her foot. She nudged it to Cheriss, hoping the woman would end Ennek before he somehow managed to break Verse's control.

@Sicadorito

 

[Cheriss Ktrame]

When Cheriss saw the lightsaber slide toward her, she knew that this wasn’t an opportunity she could miss. Grabbing it, she walked up to the frozen Ennek, looked him once in the eye before igniting his saber right through his chest. It was a quick end, a far more merciful one than he’d given his victims. Speaking of which… Cheriss turned to his brother, still slumped on the couch and barely breathing now. No mind tricks would be needed for this one.

Without hesitation, she ran Ennek’s saber through his torso as well, deactivating both own saber afterwards and putting them on her belt. While she was far from a noble-hearted Jedi, even Cheriss felt relief that she and Verse had just rid Kaas City of a bloody plague. For the sake of the Empire’s stability, they couldn’t have murderers running about on one of their most influential worlds.

Now… Her eyes rested on the glowing red holocron, and she walked over and picked it up carefully. She didn’t know what it held, but she would find out soon enough. Verse too, if she wished. Maybe not today, but perhaps after their report was filed and the mission was over. The holocron would be in much better hands on Korriban either way.

After snapping a couple photos of the grisly decorations with her datapad to use as further evidence, she put it away and looked at Verse.

“Let’s get out of here. I’ve had enough of this place.”

@Reylo4evr

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse watched silently as Cheriss quickly ended both men. She could not deny her relief and satisfaction at a job completed. She took a couple of her own pictures and when Cheriss spoke, she nodded, putting away her datapad. "I will not be coming back here any time soon," she said dryly as they walked back to the transport to return to Korriban.

@Sicadorito
//END THREAD//