Ask Coruscant Payback

Talak Rand

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Talak could feel the rage flowing off of her like a geyser. It didn't even take an attempt on his part to hear it because it was like fireworks in his mind. Not only that, but it fed his own anger. He knew there were others in the Sith Eternal that engaged in slavery, but he didn't like it. Slavery was one of the societal leeches that Talak wanted to purge, and to his mind it was a fate worse than death.

He was planning to just bait them into a fight, his hand just barely starting to reach for his sword, when Trys seemed to have another plan. She slipped into a casual role as a dealer.

That wasn't what he had expected....

He decided that he could play the part of her enforcer, mostly because the look of death was already in his eyes. One of the scum kept glancing over at him nervously, but Talak didn't say anything. He tried to cover up the surprise in his eyes when he saw Trys pull some spice out of her shoe

What?! Are you serious? he questioned, before managing to get his face back to neutral again. She seemed perfectly adept at dealing with this situation, and Talak just stood there in brooding silence.

Zaltor Dris, he said. They started looking at one another, and the spikes of fear in the Force were clear as day. They knew who he was and they were terrified of him.

Never heard of him. You can keep your sweets, he said after a moment. It was clearly a lie that they didn't know him, but their fear of the man outweighed their desire for the product.

We have some business for him, Talak said. He reached out with the Force. It wasn't a true Force trick, but he pressed on the holes in the man's mind, weakening his will.

The Rodian started to look confused for a moment. I... I don't know... he said, and Talak hoped that Trys would continue to push forward with questions. They might have an opportunity, but he couldn't be blatant about it.
 

Trys Aran

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Trys was more than a bit alarmed when the Rodian said she could keep the spice. Was the Barabel truly that terrifying that they were going to pass up some of the best spice in the galaxy at a discount? She was about to protest when Talak jumped in with a firm voice. It had an immediate effect on the Rodian, Trys’ eyes widening in surprise. She had to glance over at Talak, impressed by how he managed to immediately intimidate the men.

“Right,” She said then, “I last heard he was running a smuggling operation in 8th district somewhere, but I need to know if he’s got a lot of friends and where the location is exactly.”

The Rodian stared at her with a glazed expression, and there was no doubt Talak was subtly still pulling some strings to coax answers out. After a moment, he finally replied, “That’s...a cover..” He said, his buddy elbowing him in the ribs to stop him from talking, but he ignored it entirely, “The real business is run from a shed out in the swamps that border the outskirts of Nudskutch. If you head out to Nudskutch, a Gamorrean named Talvo will tell you.”

“How do we know he’ll tell us?”

Once again, a glazed and lost look was on his face as he reached into his pocket and drew out a small coin, “Say Banfi sent you. Talvo works directly for Zaltor so you’ll need to come up with a reason for needing a trip out to the base.”

Trys pocketed the coin, noting that it had a gang insignia on it. She knew they were about to be sent on a wild goose chase, but it was a starting point. By the time she looked up again, the Rodian shook his head and looked puzzled and confused.

“Uhh what the hell?” He started to say.

“Thank you, you’ve been most helpful,”Trys said, smiling at them both. She put the spice back into her pocket and locked her fingers together and cracked them briefly.

Without warning, she reached out lightning fast, grabbing the Rodian near her by the back of his head. She spun him around and slammed his face harshly into the brick wall in front of him, a sick crunch erupting from his nose breaking immediately upon contact.

The Rodian’s buddy screamed in surprise, but Trys yanked Banfi back and sent him hurtling towards him. The Rodian caught his buddy, blood and two front teeth flying out at him. By then, Trys had her stun blaster drawn and fired a shot at each of them.

Both men dropped where they were, spasming from the effects as they lost all control and were immobile. Trys walked over to stand above them, harshly slamming her boot into the side of one of them with her gun pointed down at his face, “You will lead me to where you’re keeping the girls I overheard you talking about. I don’t have patience for bullshit.”

They simply squealed in response and she slammed her foot down on one of the men’s crotches just to make a statement. Trafficking and slavery was one of the most heinous crimes she could think of. Trys didn’t take her eyes off the men as they sputtered and began to formulate words. When she spoke, she addressed Talak, “Sorry, looks like I’m taking a detour. I can understand if you want to follow up with Talvo on your own,” She finally glanced up at him, “But I can’t let this go.”
 

Talak Rand

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Talak continued reaching into the man's mind, weakening the walls he had in place to make him more open to "discussion." There were easier ways to force information (haha, Force information) out of people's heads - and Talak would have been happy to use those - but yet again he was inhibited by traveling with a partner who he didn't want to tip off.

Their plan worked, though, and Talak was going to recommend doing something to deal with these ones when Trys sprung into action of her own accord. Talak grabbed the sword and ripped it from its sheathe with a satisfying scraping sound. It began to whir as soon as he hit the button, but he didn't strike out.

Trys had this plenty under control. She tore through the thugs with little difficulty, and Talak watched with a look of approval. In moments, they were all on the ground and being stomped by Trys. Talak had a smug smile, taking immense satisfaction in watching the pain in these particular sleazes.

No, by all means, let's go, he said as she mentioned that he could keep going without her.

Hey, wake up, Talak bent down and slapped the Rodian hard enough to leave a nasty white hand mark on the Rodian's otherwise green skin. And one more just for good measure. Not that they were likely to feel that over the near-explosion that had just happened in their testicles.

What... dock... shipping... dock... the Rodian said, rolling over a bit and trying to crawl away. I give you... I give you cut... if you let me go.... he said, not realizing just how bad of an idea that attempt at bartering was.

While Trys continued to do what she would, Talak pulled out his datapad and started looking for the closest shipping dock. It appeared to be under the control of... a Hutt. Brilliant. They were about to step into a world of trouble by busting these girls out.

He tapped Trys on the shoulder and showed her the datapad, showing the name of the dock owner. He had a feeling they were walking into much more than an isolated human trafficking operation. Not that he was going to pull out, but at least they both needed to know.
 

Trys Aran

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Trys didn’t relent, questioning them till they had provided enough answers to fill up the information Talak was collecting. She had a feeling they weren’t lying, and she was thinking of ways to begin tracking the information immediately. Trys was distracted when Talak tapped her on the shoulder, and she glanced over to look over the information.

All the fire she had in her began to dissipate almost at once. Trys took a step back, staring down at the name and description, “Who’s Vargo the Hutt?”

Banfi began to chuckle softly while he was on the ground, spitting out a glob of blood as he grinned, “He works directly for Durr the Hutt,” He said almost gleefully, glancing up at her and Talak with a grin, “This is way bigger than you and me. Stay out of this and keep focusing on small fry like Zaltor.”

Trys stood perfectly still, her knuckles growing white. It was difficult to tell what was going through her mind, but her pulse quickened and she felt rage wash over her. The sound of Banfi chuckling poisoned her, and it shattered through every barrier she could have put up.

“And once…” He coughed up more blood, “...I get word out to Vargo and the others what you’re trying to do, they’ll carve up your pretty little face right after they take turns-”

Without warning, Trys reached over and yanked the vibroblade Talak had on him. She activated it and in one fell swoop cleaved Banfi’s head right off. She didn’t stop there, whirling the blade around to pierce into the other Rodian’s chest.

Trys exhaled, switching the blade off and handing it back to Talak. She remained silent for a long moment, staring down at the datapad. After a while, she growled and punched the wall next to her. Pain raged through her knuckles, but she ignored it. Trys kept staring down at her feet, knowing she was completely out of line, especially in front of Talak.

“Every time…” She said quietly, “Every time I think I’m about to resolve and fix something like this, it always ends up being insurmountable,” Trys shook her head, looking clearly distressed before she finally glanced at him, “He was right. Durr is a crime lord within the Syndicates and he’s in the Hutt Grand Council from our Ranger records,” Trys explained, even though he could already know all this, “I don’t even know how we can even begin to touch this without getting ourselves killed in the process.”
 

Talak Rand

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Talak was getting real pissed off with these karks. He was about to reach out and start slamming people around when something happened that he had really not anticipated. Trys snatched the sword from him and both criminals were dead within seconds.

Kriff... he said in a tone that didn't quite say whether he was impressed or just surprised. His eyebrows were up in the air, and it was clear that he wasn't even close to being fazed by what he'd just seen. That alone, if she was observant, would be a testament to how acquainted he was with violence.

Well... I'm glad you did that. I wanted to, but I was worried you were gonna arrest me, he said, taking his sword back from her and wiping the blood off on the clothes of the dead bodies.

One step at a time. That's how you eat a Bantha, he said. She would probably be surprised by how nonchalant he was about the idea of taking on the entire Five Syndictes by himself. That, however, was when he remembered that she had a family to worry about. Maybe this would be a job that he had to take on by himself... or else they would have to operate outside the law. That was an idea he hadn't even thought of until just now.

He could see how upset she was, and he paused. Hey... he said, reaching out to put a hand gently on one of her shoulders. It might have been a bit too far, but sometimes people just needed that extra reassurance.

Those girls need our help, he said. He wanted to say that she had done the right thing, but he felt like that might have only enraged her. It was a 50/50 and he'd rather not make the situation worse.

They don't know who we are, which gives us the advantage, he said. It was obvious that he had a little more experience with this than he did actually acting as a law enforcement officer. His being a vigilante masquerading as a bounty hunter would begin to look more and more plausible.
 

Trys Aran

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Trys stepped back and leaned back against the wall she had punched. She hadn’t even looked down to check the bleeding wounds on her knuckles now. Trys closed her eyes and inhaled and exhaled slowly, “I shouldn’t have done that,” She said quietly, “Nothing gives me the right to be judge, jury and executioner. I’m no better than a common street thug if I take justice into my own hands,” Trys opened her eyes to look at him once he placed a hand on her shoulder.

“We need to be better than them, Talak,” She said, looking over at the dead bodies and the blood, “The right path is always the more difficult one,” She didn’t know if she was telling this to him or herself, but she needed to hear it regardless. The fact that he seemed entirely unfazed by the turn of events didn’t even register then.

When he reminded her that the girls needed help, she nodded. After a long moment, she offered him a faint smile, “Thanks….for not judging,” She said quietly, “Even though you should,” Trys added as she looked at the bodies again.

She stepped away to crouch down and collect anything useful from the bodies, a few IDs and some keycards that no doubt led to locations that would be useful. Once she was done, Trys rose up and stepped over the bodies, knowing there was nothing to be done about them now. It looked like any other scuffle they saw out here, but no one would be there to tip Vargo off at least.

“We can’t just waltz in,” She said as they continued to walk down the alley, “We need some sort of cover up or disguise,” Trys frowned as she came to a slower walk, glancing over at Talak, “You know the only realistic way into a Hutt’s facilities is to pretend I’m a slave myself, right? You’ll have to probably play slaver,” She grimaced at the thought, but she couldn’t think of another way that gave them any semblance of a chance.
 

Talak Rand

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While she may have felt that she should be judged, Talak most certainly did not. And if there was someone that needed to judge her, it most certainly wasn't him. He didn't care what she had done, he would wager that it paled in comparison to the plans the Sith Eternal had.

As she mentioned they couldn't just walk in he reminded himself that just going in and killing one when he was working with her wasn't on the table. Kark, that'd make this easier, he thought to himself. The odds that he still ended up killing people were quite high, but at least he could make it look like self defense.

He stopped walking for a moment and chewed on his lip with a thoughtful look on his face. Playing her off as a slave - and by extension, him as a slaver - wasn't something he loved, but he wasn't sure he had another alternative.

Hm, he grunted. Yeah... he said absentmindedly as he kept thinking.

Okay, but we need to be careful, he finally said. Should he mention the Hutt? Should they agree on what they'd do with him now? No, I'll just try to kill him without her... finding out. Yeah, that'll be easy. That'll go well. What could go wrong? he thought to himself.

We need to try to avoid getting split up. Give me your cuffs, and make yourself... messed up. Dirty, he said. They would have to sell this, and he glanced back at the pair of dead bodies. He stopped and made his way back, quickly running his hands over the bodies until he found what he was looking for. He walked back to her and held up a small pistol.

Easier to conceal than your stun pistol, he said. She could stuff it wherever she could find space. The thugs weren't likely to look for weapons on an already captured slave.

Luckily, it didn't take them long to reach the docking port, and a pair of Gamorreans stood out front.

I've got another delivery from Banfi, he said. The pigman squealed, and Talak had no idea what that meant. He didn't speak Gamorrean.

Look man, I don't know what's going on. Banfi just told me to drop her off, another squeal and one of the Gamorreans disappeared inside, emerging a moment later with a man who... didn't really look like he belonged here.

He was clean shaven, perhaps in his thirties with blonde hair and an accent that betrayed his origins from the Core Worlds. He seemed far too proper to be working here, but here he was.

What do we have here? I wasn't told about any more pickups today? the man asked, walking over and inspecting Trys with an eye that was clearly lascivious.
 

Trys Aran

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When he mentioned about her needing to look messed up and dirty, Trys nodded and agreed. She asked to borrow his vibroblade again and cut off a long sliver of cloth and took the smaller weapon he handed her. She hesitated for a moment before handing over the cuffs, her stun gun and, of course, her badge, “I’m….I’m really trusting you here,” She said, gazing up at him. Trys knew he hadn’t been honest with her, but he still didn’t come across as someone she had to worry about striking out at her.

But she had been wrong about these things before.

It didn’t take them long to arrive on the scene, and she could tell almost at once that the Gamorreans were going to be a challenge. Luckily, after a moment, another man came out with a Deep Core accent that surprised her. Trys did her best to look scared and afraid, which was turning out to be quite a bit of work.

After a moment, the man bid them to follow into the docking port. From first glance it looked perfectly fine, but he led them and the two Gamorreans to a repulsorlift that took them several levels below. This was accessed only via key card. As soon as they stepped out, it was in a hallway that led to a single set of double doors.

The Gamorreans and the man exchanged some words in a language she couldn’t understand. After a moment, one of the pigs said something and guffawed gleefully. The other pig began to giggle too, and Trys knew this wasn’t going to be good. The man had a sly grin on his face and turned to Talak.

“Give me a moment,” He said before disappearing for a moment through the doors. When he returned, he held out some flimsy clothing and shoved it at her, “Vargo likes to see his goods. Put that on and we’ll take you in.”

Trys scowled as she looked down, “Where do I change?”

The man translated what she asked to the Gamorreans and they all began to laugh. He almost had tears from laughing so hard before turning to look at her again, “Right here, sugar,” He said, “You know, we have to make sure it’s all proper goods being delivered.”

Trys paused for a moment, but she knew there was no other way. She stepped back with the dress, holding her hands up for Talak to uncuff so she could change. During that, she did a quick sleight of hand to hand him the small pistol back. Trys didn’t even flinch, quickly dropping her clothing and putting on the slimsy little dress. She knew Talak would have the decency not to look during the process, but she couldn’t very well control how revealing the dress was.

After a lot of cat calls and whistles, she was in a flimsy attire that revealed her back, shoulders and stomach. It was clear at once that almost her entire torso and both arms were covered in tattoos, and she had a decent share of scars on her body. Trys turned to have cuffs put back on, internally fuming at the whole ordeal.

“Well, not as curvy as Vargo normally likes. You're too toned," The man remarked, “But you’ll do,” He flashed Talak a grin, “Bring us one with less artwork on her next time.”

With that, he opened the double doors to what looked like an underground lounge where rules didn’t exist.
 

Talak Rand

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Talak had a worse feeling with each passing moment. Something was going to go very wrong, and their potential for escape was decreasing by the moment. A single turbolift wasn't good and deep underground was even worse.

He couldn't help himself but tap the lightsaber through his robes. It was a moment's reassurance. He didn't want to use it, and he knew the results if he did could end up being very bad, but it was there. He took a deep breath as they reached the ground floor and a skimpy little outfit was delivered to her. He took off her braces, slipping the pistol into his pocket as he did the cuffs.

She started to undress, and he was stuck in an awkward situation. If he didn't look at her he risked drawing attention to them, but he also didn't want to. Although he faced her, he did his best to avert his eyes to the floor, which she would be able to see if she looked at him.

As she got down to her even more... bare, he finally turned and found an excuse to talk to blondie. Do you need more girls in the future? I worked with...

Business can come later, the man interrupted, clearly intent on Trys rather than any talk of business.

I think I'll kill you second, Talak thought to himself. At least it had bought him time and a reason not to look until she was "clothed." Of course he noticed all the tattoos and scars, but he tried not to let his eyes linger too long out of respect for her, but he couldn't help but notice she was... quite good looking.

Not okay, Talak, he reminded himself. This place was about exploitation, and he was repulsed with himself for even allowing himself a moment's undiscipline.

When they broke through the next room, Talak was... appalled. The scene was one of utter depravity, exploitation, and voyeurism. Talak was a complete mix of emotion, and he tried to shut the Force out of his mind. There were things here that he didn't want to feel. It was wicked, and left a reeking scent in his mind. A putrid mix of green and yellow that was enough to make him recoil. His fist clenched at his side so tightly that it sent pain through his fingers. He didn't care who he was with, he was going to come back through and butcher every single one of these people.

The anger inside reared its head. It fed on the rage and hatred building inside of him. Kriff, no, not now, he thought. He couldn't lose control here and now. Not when he needed to keep her in the dark. Not like this, he thought to himself. His jaw clenched together until the muscles in his cheeks started to hurt. His heart pounded, and his eyes seemed... different.

Finally, they reached the Hutt. A disgusting mass of fat and slime that looked even larger than your average. Women in equally revealing outfits waited on his hands, and he sat up to look at the new arrivals.

And I'll kill you first, he thought to himself.

The Hutt began to speak in its deep rumbling voice and blondie spoke up. The newest acquisition, oh mighty one, blondie said before pushing Trys forward, letting his hands intentionally linger on her longer than necessary.

Red and black. That was all that was in Talak.
 

Trys Aran

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Trys tried not to look, but she felt rage bubble up. There was music, but it didn’t quite drown out the cries. They had fathers, brothers, mothers, brothers, sisters and friends that were endlessly awake and forever crying for them. They had no idea they were here. They had no idea what was being done to them, what was to come.

She stayed close to Talak, feeling fear trickle down her spine from being here. She found a sense of comfort from being near him. For all his omission of truths, he was the only sliver of goodness in this entire cesspit. However, even then she had an uneasy feeling as she got close to him. She glanced over at him to see a face she had never seen before - his jaw was tightened and he had murder in his eyes. For a moment it was as if there was a faint flash of gold in his eyes, but she couldn’t tell if it was a trick of the light.

“Talak,” She whispered only loud enough for him to hear. She said nothing else, meaning only to ground him and pull him back from wherever he was going. He would see the fear in her eyes, and it was fear not only from the place but from seeing such an obvious shift in him. He was unpredictable then, and it only made her more afraid to be here.

They finally reached the Hutt, and he lazily tugged on a chain wrapped around a twi’lek’s neck. He regarded blondie for a moment before muttering some things in Huttese. The man turned to Talak with raised eyebrows, “Turns out he does like the look of her,” He said, “A thousand credits for her. He’ll pay it all right now. He said he will sell her to a politician on Serenno.”

Blondie grinned widely at Trys, “Looks like it’s your lucky day. Most of the dregs you see in here are just playthings for Vargo’s workers. Maybe you’ll get to be a glorified escort,” He explained as he lead the two them to a side room to do the credit exchange, “You get to go to fancy parties and play dress up. And of course, do as you’re told. I hope you’re good at following orders, but I’m sure your captor here has given you a lesson or two about that. He looks mean enough.”

He pulled aside a curtain and led them to a private room. He stepped back for a moment before coming back with a briefcase and laying it down on a table in front of them, popping it open to reveal all the credits. He slid it over to Talak, “Well that concludes our business. We’ll take it from here. Just need to drug her and she’ll wake up in Serenno next. Easy peasy,” He said casually, extending a hand to shake Talak’s.
 

Talak Rand

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Talak's hand was shaking and his fist had turned white. He could hear Trys's voice call out to him, and it anchored him somehow, but only for a time. Every muscle was tense and that rush of combat flowed through him. Talak remembered the last time he felt this hatred, and it had been when he'd watched someone else he loved tortured and killed in front of him. This helpless torment of others wasn't something he could abide. He couldn't think of anything but death in that moment.

There was nothing but cold, black, and red.

He followed the man out of the room and shook his hand. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet... he told himself, holding the breach in the dam of his soul to prevent the floodgate of rage.

Firm grip you've got there, he said, noting how Talak all but had his hand in a vice grip. He released him and took a step back.

Buy time, buy time, buy time, he said, repeating the words in his mind if only to fixate on something other than his intent. You mind if I sample some of the other wares? he said, every word of the sentence sounding strained and forced.

Blondie smiled and laughed. Be my guest. In fact, I hope you come by more often. Today is on the house, he said, pointing toward the door.

Talak stepped out and looked at his chrono. One minute, he thought. He needed to buy another minute. Then Trys would be drugged. As the drugs went into her veins and she slipped from consciousness, she might actually believe she was betrayed. The truth was, Talak couldn't let her see what was coming.

Three... two... one... he counted down, and his eyes snapped open, glowing a wicked gold.

The lightsaber sprung to his hand like an old friend and for the first time since he'd started this investigation, he didn't hold himself back. I lied, you're first, he thought, and the blade swung around and took off Blondie's arm first, then his legs, then the vibroblade plunged into his gut where it would let him bleed slowly away as his internals became external.

The Hutt, taken off guard, was next. Talak lunged toward him, plunging the vibroblade into its belly and through the rolls of fat, using it as a handhold to leap onto the Hutt's head and plunge the lightsaber through, swirling it inside the brain a moment.

The slaughter that ensued was methodical and with the speed only a Sith could match. Never in his life had he felt such a raging hatred, and it manifested as a swirl of death. He had become an avatar of the dark side itself, and it fed on his every kill struck in disdain.

Lightning fried one and a deflected blaster struck the next. Another was cut down by the saber, and Talak - normally the careful and conscious fighter - couldn't even recount how it all had happened. When the deed was done, limbs, guts, blood, fire, and the smell of death and burned flesh filled the room.

He was panting, standing amid the carnage like a man possessed. Then he returned to Blondie. Grasping at his belly as blood poured out between his fingers, the agony etched on his face. And then came the lightning. Talak didn't know how long it lasted but it wasn't quick. Blue fingers wrapped around the man, and all Talak could think was that he wanted to hear a scream for every moment of crying the victims here had endured. It was a slow, agonizing way for the man to go.

I guess you were last. And then it was finished.

The victims had fled or helped each other escape, and his senses told him there was only he and Trys left. He retrieved his sword and took several datapads and logs from the facility. Then he found Trys and scooped her up in his arms. At the edge of the lounge he paused and turned. Fire leapt from his hands to consume everything down here in an unnatural heat. The evidence would burn.

---​

When Trys would awaken, she would find them both in a speeder. She was in the backseat, covered in a blanket, and he was in the driver's seat. He was covered in dried blood that wasn't his own and unconscious.

The exertion had caused him to fall into a fitful sleep shortly after the escape. His normal use of the Force to sustain his body instead of sleep had caught up to him after such an exhausting experience, and he'd promptly passed out for hours.
 
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Trys Aran

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Trys opened her mouth to say something, or waited for some sort signal on what to do next. However, instead two large Gamorrean came to take her away. The last thing Talak would see would be her eyes widening in horror and betrayal as she was forcefully taken away. She had even given him in the little pistol and couldn’t defend herself. She squirmed and cried out and fought, but she was no match for them.

Trys screamed silently at the top of her lungs, watching Talak turn away and walk out of the room with the blond man. It was moments before she felt a sharp needed jammed into her arm, and her vision began to go black. All she could think about was her son and how alone he would be. That hurt worse than anything else right now.

--​

The girls screamed as the massacre began and they watched the chaos unfold. Some of them were still in a drugged haze and confused and disoriented. The men quickly sprang to their feet and fumbled to get their weapons and try and fight back. However, they were no match for the pure wrath that was unleashed on them.

Throughout this all, there was just one figure that didn’t move or budge. It was when Talak finally leapt up towards the Hutt that this figure spoke. It was the twi’lek that had the chain around her neck. She watched the strange man plunge a blade directly into her master’s belly and heard the Hutt squeal and try to budge and move.

“Wait!” She called out to Talak as he was about to deal the final blow into the Hutt’s head. He would be able to see the countless marks on her body from lashing and cuts and other lewd acts, “Let me. Please,” If he allowed it, she would place her hand over his over the saber’s hilt and sink it deep into the Hutt as he protested and laid there helplessly. She made sure to do it slow, watching with hatred as the fat bubbled and seared, melting and oozing. She relished it, tears streaming down her face as she did so.

Once it was done, she stepped back, shaking hands reaching up as she took the keys from the Hutt’s dead body and undid her binds. She gazed up at Talak, her expression difficult to read, “I have been here since I was small,” She spoke hoarsely, “I haven’t been allowed to speak for over a decade…” Tears continued to flow down her face, “I don’t know what you are, but you could only have been sent by the Goddess. Know that you have restored my faith that I once lost so long ago.”

She said nothing more as she shakily got to her feet and stepped down from the platform she had been on for the greater part of her life. She calmly walked past the chaos, the fire, the lightning and the screams of agony.

For the first time in a lifetime, she couldn’t stop smiling.

---​

Trys began to stir slightly after a long time. She was groggy, had cotton mouth and her head throbbed and pulsated. It took her a long time to get her bearings, and she realized she was in a speeder. Her thoughts were disconnected and confusing, and she could only remember fragments.

For almost thirty more minutes, she simply laid there drifting in and out of consciousness. Bits of memory finally began to take shape, and she suddenly recalled Serenno. Trys sprang up at once, realizing she was covered in a blanket. She looked around, not spotting anything that looked anything like what she had heard Serenno described.

Even more shocking, she glanced over to discover Talak out cold. He was completely covered in blood and injuries. She could only remember him betraying her, and the thought brought nothing but rage to her. Trys promptly had to turn away and vomit out of the side of the speeder, having moved too quick and the drugs flooding through her system.

She couldn’t think of anything but how he had allowed her to get drugged. Why was he here then? Why was he so hurt? Had he simply been double crossed? Trys had had half a mind to kill him right there and then. She remembered that he had gun and identity on him.

Without a second thought, she reached over to unceremoniously dig through his outer layer of clothing to gather her badge. Trys went near his belt and pulled her blaster out, catching a flash of something silvery. She glanced down curiously, almost reaching for it, but she felt him stirring.

Trys pulled back from him and leveled the pistol and shot him directly across the surface of his shoulder. It would clip directly over the top of it and was enough to hurt him and leave a grazing wound, but not enough to put a hole in him. It was about as friendly of a wakeup call as he was going to get. When he looked at her, he'd have the pistol aimed at his face.

“Start kriffing talking,” She spat as soon as he would come to, “What happened to me? What did you….did you let them do to me?” Her voice cracked and she spoke barely above a whisper. Her hands were shaking from how badly she wanted to kill him right there. Her eyes were red from her mind going to the worst places. But she wanted him to confess. She had to know. It would destroy her otherwise.
 
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Talak Rand

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Talak was suffering from an exhaustion almost as severe as her own. He was suddenly in a state to be catching up on weeks worth of sleep, and coming out of that wasn't typically easy. Of course, coming out of that didn't typically entail being shot either.

Pain ripped through his shoulder and his eyes snapped open. He was confused and his head darted around looking for the thugs who were shooting at them. When his head turned and she had the pistol pointed straight at his face, his eyes went wide and that same look of utter shock and even betrayal was all that she would see etched into his face.

That was followed a moment later by confusion and then anger. Even in the anger now, it wasn't the same murderous gaze she had seen in the warehouse.

He didn't know what was happening and he didn't understand. He needed to fight back, he needed to stop her... but... why? He'd once again found himself giving into the evil inside of himself. He fought to make sure that he could bring to justice these lowlife slavers and criminals, but what was the point? The things he had done to others were no better. He did it in the name of making the galaxy a better place.

Maybe this was where he got off the cycle. Perhaps his death would be the one to feed new life. Maybe he'd accomplished his role. He thought about those who had died to bring him to this point, those he'd tortured, and those he'd broken. Layers of self-hatred that he normally didn't touch bubbled to the surface as that gun was pointed at his head. The world seemed slower and although she was shouting at him, somehow he couldn't even hear what she was saying. His expression was no longer one of anger, but blank and far away.

Had he suffered a head injury or something? Surely this wasn't really him?

But the darkness had left its imprint on him. As it always did, it tore at the fabric of his soul, and now when he pushed away the rage, there was a vacuum.

Maybe this is the way... he mumbled. It was clear that he wasn't thinking clearly and his mind was in some way fractured.

Almost as if a part of him was begging for her to shoot him, he reached for the handle of the speeder and got out - assuming he hadn't been shot - standing up only to collapse onto the floor just outside the door. He pushed himself up and leaned against the speeder, staring up at the sky.

They're dead... he said quietly, his voice seeming to catch in his throat. I killed them, and it felt good, he said, still not really understanding in his haze why he'd been shot and still not convinced that she was the one who'd shot him.
 

Trys Aran

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As he stumbled out from the speeder, she wanted to shoot him again. She wanted to shoot him right in the back and watch him fall. Anger coursed through her and her hands wavered, finger on the trigger. She wanted to pull it so bad, and yet she couldn’t do it.

“Don’t you kriffing do that,” She called out after him, “You don’t get to walk away from this now after you’ve constantly butted the kriff in,” Venom dripped from her words as she stumbled and scrambled to get out after him. Trys watched him fall into a heap after just a few steps, and she walked around to come over to his side of the speeder.

When she heard his words, an icy chill ran down her spine. Killed them? Trys stared down at him, watching the way he was dazed and out of it. Had he been drugged as well? She noticed she didn’t lower the gun, and she noticed how she still had trouble pulling the trigger.

“Why did you let them drug me?” She asked after a moment, “Why did you take away any control I had? Why did you allow my choices to be stripped from me?” What he had done had fundamentally rattled her. Even if nothing happened to her while she was out, it was a decision he had made for her. They could have injected poison into her as far as they knew.

Trys finally lowered the gun and shook her head, looking away, “I was a kriffing idiot for thinking I could trust you,” She felt foolish and sick to her stomach. The what if’s and the question marks plagued her mind, and she was shaken to the core.

She walked back towards the speeder and got into the driver’s seat, closing the door. Trys stared at the console to start the engine for a moment, her vision still blurry and her mind foggy. She wanted to drive back towards the dock and retrace her steps. She needed to find out what happened. She needed to find Talvo. She needed to find the flower killer.

She needed to do it all alone. As she always had.
 

Talak Rand

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She didn't pull the trigger. He didn't know why, and he wasn't sure if he wanted her to do it. It seemed the Force wasn't finished torturing him yet. How long was he going to be a pawn in its cycles? Was there any other option? Wasn't he ultimately creating a good even if it was evil?

She came around the speeder, and the anger within her was evident. It washed over him, and he wanted it to stop. He wanted to just cut himself off from the Force. No more experiencing the feelings of others or the horrible things that they felt. He wanted to be free of it.

And what could he say to her? He had let her be drugged because otherwise she would have seen what he really was? That there were things inside him that terrified him and made him afraid of who and what he might become?

Breathe... just breathe... he could hear a voice say. He didn't know if it was in his mind or the Force itself speaking to him. He took a deep breath in and then another. He felt, for the briefest moment, a warmth flow through him that was entirely foreign. The Force in a different light.

And then it was gone. The pain in his shoulder pulled him back to reality and the humming of the engine forced him back to his feet. His free hand gripped his shoulder, blood coating his hands now that wasn't just from the dead criminals. He was starting to regain his mind again, but only a bit at a time.

He stood there for a moment, looking through the window of the speeder. What could he say? What was he supposed to say? He was looking to answer questions that he didn't even understand.

I didn't let them touch you, he finally said. He didn't know what more there was to say than that. He had butchered them to a man, and he would have done it again. Any excuse or explanation would have been hollow and fallen on deaf ears. Her questions weren't things she actually wanted answered. She was raging against what had happened, and perhaps he was to blame for it.

He didn't have anything else he could say and took a step back from the speeder. If she left, then she would leave. He hoped she didn't, but he was in no position to stop her. But he didn't walk away. His eyes would continue to pierce through the speeder until she had made her decision to stay or go.
 

Trys Aran

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Trys stared ahead for a long time, hearing him shuffle around and move up to stand. She was still feeling sick from the drugs leaving her system. There was a mark on her arm from the puncture wound, and she hated to think about it. When Talak spoke, there was nothing but a moment of silence for a moment.

“No,” Trys said quietly, glancing up at him finally, “But you took away my right to decide if I were going to be touched or not. You played with my life,” She knew he wouldn’t answer why he allowed her to be drugged. Trys guessed that he simply didn’t want her to get in the way of whatever immoral thing he was going to do next. In her heart, she knew he hadn’t let harm come to her. She knew it in her body too, but the loss of her choice was what bothered her the most.

He was injured, and she knew he was barely standing. His blood smeared against the speeder, and he looked broken and frail. Trys knew he wouldn’t protest if she simply started to drive away. She knew he wouldn’t barge in again if she simply ran from this. Trys wanted to forget this and simply get back on the path she had started. She had been the one that got them into this mess, and she had been the one that pulled him in. Was she going to abandon him out here now?

“Get in,” She commanded after a while, rubbing her forehead from the throbbing headache. Assuming that he did as told, she wouldn’t move just yet. She had to think about where she wanted to go, and what she wanted to unearth.

“I shouldn’t go back to the dock, should I?” She asked, even though it was more rhetorical than anything. Trys didn’t know what he did, but the rage she remembered from the lounge area and the fact that he was covered in blood and what looked suspiciously like bits of the Hutt told a story. She sighed, “What happened to the girls? What happens to the ring?”
 

Talak Rand

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Talak stood there - barely - while she thought. Whether she would drive away or not was as much a mystery to him as anything. Either would have been expected at this point. He thought if she stayed that she'd get out and yell at him more, venting her rage, but she didn't.

He listened as she talked about what he had let happen to her. He knew what it felt like to be powerless, and it was one of the things that had driven him so far into the darkness. He couldn't say anything to defend himself.

He moved unsteadily around to the passenger side of the speeder, climbing inside and - contrary to his normally graceful actions - plopped heavily into the seat, betraying his body's exhaustion. He didn't even have the energy to sit up straight in his seat.

No, he answered her rhetorical question anyway. No doubt there would be people looking into the docks now after the fire. He hoped it would be written off as some sort of a gang turf war....

They got out, he said and paused. One of the Twi'leks struck the blow against the Hutt, he said. For the briefest moment, she might get the sense of him leading some slave rebellion, even though that wasn't really what happened. Still, she would likely appreciate the sense of justice at the fact that it had been one of those he had tormented that had had the opportunity to finish him off.

He reached into his robes and pulled the datapads and datacards from his belt, setting them in the cupholder. Information on their operations elsewhere. Contacts, etc. he said. He had every violent intention behind collecting them.

For a moment, they were in a position of uncomfortable limbo as to where to go. He clearly wasn't in any position to chase down criminals right now, and she probably wasn't either.

I need to go back to my ship and... clean up, he said. He had wounds to dress and rest to get before they continued.

I... he started, clearly awkward in what he was trying to force out. If you want... I mean, I understand if you don't feel comfortable, but if you need a place to stay there's a spare bunk room, he said. He knew she didn't really trust him, and wouldn't be surprised if she declined, but it beat out a shady hotel and she had taken public transportation here. Plus it was free of charge.
 

Trys Aran

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Trys stared at all the information he casually plopped down between them. She didn’t know how he operated, and she decided it wasn’t even worth asking. In the end, they had what they were looking for, even though she had no idea what it all meant. Trys revved up the engines and began to drive toward his ship. She didn’t respond to his offer of a place to crash on his ship.

“If whatever you do is something you have to hide,” She said after a long moment of silence, “Is it something you are comfortable living with?” Trys didn’t look at him as she asked, not even wanting to hazard a guess at how he managed to come out alive from a room full of enemies. Moreover, this meant they made a very powerful enemy and it would complicate everything from here on out.

Trys didn’t know why she had even asked him that question. She didn’t really even care, did she? She despised working with someone she couldn’t trust. However, she couldn’t deny the intel he managed to dig up complete with authentic identification and access codes.

After a while they finally arrived at his ship. She parked in front of it and jutted her chin towards it, “I’ll see you in a few hours. I’ll rest in the speeder,” She said with a tone of finality. Trys was entirely too angry with him to take him up on his hospitality.

After he would walk off, Trys got into the back of the speeder to rest for a while. She still felt sick and dizzy, lying down helping a bit. She pulled the blanket to herself, still clad in the ridiculous getup from the lounge.

It wasn’t long before the night chill began to set in and she was in the open back of the speeder. Trys curled up even more, shivering slightly as her foggy breath passed between her lips. Thoughts of the day ran through her mind and she couldn’t sleep even if she wanted to. She thought of her son and how close she came to never seeing him again. Trys wondered how many opportunities Talak would take to betray her like that, and she kicked herself for even continuing to work with him. She half considered taking all the intel and rushing off with it and leaving him behind for good.

“Damn it,” She whispered to herself, wrapping the blanket tighter and curling up into a fetal position that was beginning to hurt.
 

Talak Rand

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Talak didn't say anything in response to her question. It was clear to them both that he had dark secrets he wasn't interested in sharing, and he wasn't even particularly interesting in tackling questions like that internally right now. He decided he was in no frame of mind to think about it right now, which was partially true, and partially an excuse not to think about it.

When they arrived at the ship, she declared her intention to rest in the speeder, and it had the decided tone of someone who wasn't open to discussing it. He knew that even asking in the first place might have been overstepping, but he had done it, and he wasn't going to push it.

He made his way into the ship and immediately began stripping away the bloodied clothing. It took him about an hour to get cleaned up, dress the wound, and re-dressed. A glance at the temperature outside showed that it was dropping quickly and had reached freezing temperatures. And yet she opted to sleep out there. Maybe not the best plan.

He made his way quickly - or as quickly as he could - through the ship and closed off the room near the cockpit and cleaned up whatever pieces of equipment he didn't want her finding. Then, he grabbed a few blankets and made his way down the ramp again, which opened with a hiss.

If you're going to insist on sleeping out here, at least have some more blankets, he said, clearly able to tell that she hadn't fallen asleep. He wondered if now - after an hour of freezing chill - she might reconsider, but he wasn't going to ask. If she wasn't interested, then he would simply leave the blankets and head back inside for a nice, warm night of sleep.
 

Trys Aran

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Trys was sitting up and shivering by the time Talak came out again. He would see her looking through a datapad and furiously combing through information. She glanced up at him, more than a little surprised to see him back out here. From a quick glance, she could see he had patched himself up - and she couldn’t help but think to how often he had done it from the impressive job he did.

She said nothing as he tossed the blankets over, simply staring at him blankly before turning back to the datapad. Trys heard him walk back towards his ship and waited for him to disappear before looking at the blankets. After a moment she sighed and glanced up, watching her foggy breath rise into the air and the stars above.

After a while, she finally got out of the speeder and took the blankets as well, wrapping one around herself. Trys had to swallow her pride, and she hated doing it. It was miserable outside and she couldn’t risk running out of the speeder’s fuel to keep herself warm.

Trys knocked on the door leading into his ship, angry at herself for being in this situation. Once he opened the door, and would say nothing, following him inside and taking a seat nearby. Trys was frigid - her lips were turning blue and her fingers were stiff, but she was still clutching to the datapad.

“Talak,” She said very quietly, slowly looking up at him, “Vargo was one of Durr’s sons.”
 
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