To Sign Your Own Doom

[Vosrik]

Chandrila
Landing Port​

The sun had begun to set on the glowing white city, casting vibrant hues of orange, yellow, and even sapphire into the sky above the towering spires. Despite this, there was no shortage of activity as ships and passerby bustled about, either returning from or going to their work. While Chandrila was no comparison planet-cities like Coruscant or Denon, it was still not one to be scoffed at. Chandrila wasn't the capital of the Republic for nothing, and it was here that Shae Vis had received a formal invitation to. During a Jedi commemoration weeks earlier, Shae had unwittingly aided Marcus Rahn, one of the elaborately crafted personas of Shadow Conclave agent Lucius Vasch. Marcus indeed had an apartment here on Chandrila, as well as his own possessions and years of reputation built up among his peers. Today, Marcus had reached out to Shae, hoping to meet her and discuss more about the Jedi as that was one of his primary research interests. Little did she know that a trap had been laid that would shake the Galaxy to its core.

Down a darkened alleyway hid Lucius, fully clad in his usual Conclave Mantle and personalized helmet. On his person were equipped an EMP grenade and two SG-4 grenades, and all his blades were coated with Thernbee venom instead of Kouhun poison. Their contractor wouldn't be happy if the Conclave killed their target, now would they? This particular alleyway was connected and within earshot of the public landing pad Shae would most likely use to get to Marcus' apartment. Lucius knew he'd have to do this quickly before someone noticed the scuffle. It'd work even more in his favour if he could change back and have Marcus alert the authorities of her capture.

Wouldn't that be a treat! Lucius thought merrily. He'd have said it out loud, but his vocal chords had been altered to sound like a child's. All part of the plan. The cat now lay in wait for its prey.

@Sreeya​

 

[Sreeya]

Shae didn’t think twice when she had received the invitation. Normally a suspicious person, she had felt a measure of guilt for what the man had gone through during the Jedi ‘party’. She didn’t want Corvo to panic and analyze the scenario and hadn’t bothered to tell him. Shae would explain it to him after the fact.

She didn’t wear her armor, but she did carry with her two sabers, both having belonged to Corvo prior. Shae pulled into the landing pad, thinking about her meeting with Marcus. Shalken had spoken highly of him, and that alone ensured she didn’t find the man to be of any ill intents. She didn’t often come to Chandrila, often finding it too stuffy and full of politicians.

Today, she was adorned in civilian clothes, her silvery hair pulled back into a messy bun. She was prepared to meet with the man to assure him that Jedi weren’t the monsters he had experienced. There were whispers about him being a Force sensitive, and it made her wonder if he would be able to feel welcome enough to become a Jedi one day.

With those thoughts weighing on her mind, she stepped out into the alley, making her way towards the apartment. Shae glanced around, feeling slightly uncomfortable at exactly how empty the alley was. Being with Corvo had made her more paranoid than usual, but nothing nagged at the back of her mind just yet. She checked her datapad again before making her way towards the building.

@Vosrik

 

[Vosrik]

He heard the whoosh of engines and the landing pads touch down — it was time. Lucius smiled deviously from behind his helmet, sticking to the shadows as he shielded his presence from the Force. Wouldn't want to give himself away just yet now. Footsteps echoed down the street, with Marcus' gleaming apartment complex off not too far in the distance at the end of the road. If the Shadow Conclave had their way, she'd never reach it.

Opening his mouth, Lucius let out a scream of absolute terror. This wasn't a normal scream, for he'd altered his voice to sound just like a small girl's. He'd seen the holo-broadcasts months ago, with the Sith revealing Shae and Corvo had a daughter. Hopefully this would remind Shae of Ciri — hell, maybe even sound like her if he got the pitch right. The bloodcurdling sound and cries for help echoed through the street, though there was only one person who could've heard it. Lucius waited in anticipation, not knowing how well armed his target was but fully aware of her deadliness. This would be his most challenging and prominent Contract yet, and the idea thrilled him to no end. Lucius' venom laced wrist-blades extended silently.

@Sreeya​

 

[Sreeya]

The scream made Shae’s blood run cold. It was the cry of a little girl, and she knew it. Before she even processed what happened, her saber was in her hand. The Jedi immediately turned towards the noise, rushing down the alley. The old her would have been unusually suspicious of this and would have analyzed the situation. However, being a mother had made her extra perceptive to a child’s distress. This one was entirely too convincing for her to question it.

However, that didn’t mean Shae was entirely defenseless. She came to a stop to where she pinpointed the noise, but she couldn’t spot a child. That was when she paused and slowed her pace, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. The alley was dark and entirely empty from what she could see. Yet that cry had been vivid and it was full of anguish.

“Hello?” She called out to nothing in particular, the saber igniting in her hand. A red glow protruded from the hilt, the soft hum of the lightsaber the only sound accompanying her for the moment, “Who’s there? Are you hurt?” She felt more and more unsure about the situation, slowly stepping back. Perhaps this wasn’t such a great idea..

@Vosrik

 

[Vosrik]

The unmistakable ignition of a lightsaber as Shae drew near caused Lucius to cease the wails of fear for a moment, letting the eerie silence sink in. Now he had a visual of her — how curious, she wore only civilian clothing. That would make his job vastly easier. Adrenaline pumped eagerly through his veins.

Smiling wide, Lucius giggled in the little girl's voice. "Help me, my mommy's gone missing!" he taunted, drawing his own lightsaber Drangleic. Out of the shadows burst the violent red-orange as both his blade and helmet lit up the rest of the alleyway.

Drawing closer as Shae slowly stepped back, Lucius stabbed Drangleic into the ground and whipped it into the air, sending sparks and bits of dust between the two combatants. Whatever was left of his conscious prodded his mind about the whole situation. Lucius hadn't ever gone this overboard before, and it was really...quite sickening. The Disciple pushed the thought quickly out of his head — he needed to focus on the mission. This was a Contract, he was getting paid handsomely for this.

In reality, Lucius' lightsaber was just for defense in this situation. He needed to get in close to knock her out or disable her somehow. Turning his blade horizontally, Lucius lashed out tentatively with the edge, testing Shae's reaction.

@Sreeya​

 

[Sreeya]

Shae gasped as she heard the girl’s voice. The yearning for mom, the fear in the voice, all of it played right into her anxiety. She threw caution to the side and began to run towards the noise, “Hold on! I’m coming!” She rushed forth, saber lowered to the side to not scare the child. She wasn’t naïve enough to put it away as danger could still lurk around the corner.

That was when a figure stepped out, a saber stabbing into the ground and setting up flares that almost blinded her. Shae called the Force to herself and sprang back several feet away, blinking her eyes to get the dust out and recover from the blinding light. She opened them just in time to see a saber swinging at her.

Though caught off guard, she was still an exceptionally skilled duelist. Thankfully, Shae had her saber drawn already. She wedged her saber up abruptly to catch the incoming one in a perpendicular fashion, pressing off the connection and pivoting to the side. Her left, free hand released a push at the same time aimed at the torso of the man to send him flying back, “Big mistake, asshole!”

@Vosrik

 

[Vosrik]

Nice dodge, Lucius thought as the pale-haired woman sprang into action. His light attack was blocked - the Disciple expected no less - but her use of the Force caught him off guard. Activating his repulsorboots mid-fly, Lucius bounced back from the push smoothly. Unlike another capture contract, Shae was to be captured unharmed. This was going to be very tricky.

"Skating" forward on the repulsorboots, Lucius extracted an auto-injector from his waist, keeping the device hidden in his palm. It was filled with a general anesthetic, enough to put someone to sleep quickly and long enough to get them off-world easily. Twirling his lightsaber around in a flourish, Lucius hoped to keep her attention on his blade as he struck out again. Keeping the device behind in his left hand, he gripped Drangleic in two hands and slashed diagonally from his target's left shoulder. Lucius intended on clashing blades, keeping her beautiful black-and-purple one locked in one place.

@Sreeya​

 

[Sreeya]

Repulsorboots. Why did it seem like every kriffin’ person had these nowadays? She was no exception, though she didn’t activate hers just yet. Shae was beyond angry, and she knew this must have been a result of the stupid Malon holonet address. She had no idea who this lunatic was. Part of her wondered if this were an elaborate trap set up by the man she was supposed to meet. Then another part of her talked her out of that scenario, as the man at the Jedi party had been genuinely kind.

As he came at her again with his saber, she swung hers up with a block. She, of course, had no idea that he had something hidden in his hand. She focused solely on the saber, countering his hits and parrying as needed. Shae purposely looked for an opening to blast him with the Force to knock him back. She was slower on her feet, not having had the chance to activate her boots just yet.

“Who are you?!” She couldn’t help but cry out as she dodged yet another strike, pivoting around to his flank. Shae began to slide her saber down along his in an attempt to slam it into his saber hilt, intending to destroy the weapon.


@Vosrik

 

[Vosrik]

Their blades locked together and Lucius knew she was focused on his lightsaber. Shae's cry rang out in the street, though there was nobody to hear her. As her saber began sliding closer to his, Lucius flicked it off to the side, breaking the lock.

While her saber was deflected away, the Disciple lashed out with the auto-injector, intending on landing it on Shae's neck. He didn't bother answering the question, but simply repeated what he said earlier. "Help me, my mommy's gone missing..." This time, the little girl's voice no longer sounded desperate and afraid. It clearly came from whoever was behind the glowing orange mask, and it sounded eerily malicious and taunting.

@Sreeya​

 

[Sreeya]

Shae was confused by the man’s actions. He kept deflecting with his saber, but he wasn’t going for any lethal strikes. It almost felt as if he were playing a game with her. The realization frustrated her to no ends, and she was growing angrier with him. She began to draw the Force to herself, intending to blast him with it again to shove him away and mount an offensive.

However, he answered her question in the most horrifying way possible: It was that little girl’s voice again. The realization made her pause for a moment, making her sick to her stomach. That pause cost her greatly, as she didn’t see the injector coming. Her eyes widened as she felt the needle pierce in, blasting him back with the Force. But it was too late.

Shae rushed towards him, but something was wrong. She suddenly felt sick, and she slowed her dash. She was all but stumbling towards him, weakly raising her saber to strike him. Her vision began to fuzz over, and she felt very weak internally. There was pain, weakness, fatigue and everything all at once. This was it, she was dying.

Thoughts of Ciri, thoughts of Corvo, thoughts of her friends all came to her. Was it really so simple? Death? She felt ashamed to have gone down so easily. For all her prowess on the battlefield, she had expected a grand confrontation to take her down. Instead, she was falling pathetically in the middle of some alley before a faceless man that could imitate voices.

Shae dropped to the ground, groaning in pain and agony. Her eyes slowly began to close as she muttered incoherently, fading from consciousness. For all intents and purposes, Shae was no longer in control of the situation.

@Vosrik

 

[Vosrik]

The blast of Force energy sent Lucius back, this time onto his back through the sheer intensity of it. Shae rushed forward, but Lucius knew he'd hit his mark and replaced the injector back into his pouch. Holding Drangleic up defensively, Lucius could only smile beneath his helmet as the Jedi almost immediately stumbled and slowed. Getting to his feet, he easily deflected her attempt at striking again. Even as Shae fell to the ground, lightsaber falling from her hand, the Disciple extinguished his own and extracted a pair of neural dampening stun cuffs.

In that moment, the alleyway was dead silent. No passerby, no onlookers, just utter silence. Cautiously nearing the Jedi, he clapped on the cuffs and picked her up, slinging her limp body over his shoulder. Moving back to the shadows of the alley, Lucius placed Shae gently into the back seat of his airspeeder before returning to where she first fell. He extracted a black flower from the folds of his Mantle, snapping his fingers to ignite its petals with the Force. The flames burned brightly for a moment, but receded into the center as the petals glowed gently like embers. Such a strange and intriguing flower, but beautiful. Lucius dropped it onto the ground — the calling-card of the Shadow Conclave.

A glint of light caught his eye before he left. Corvo's purple-black lightsaber still lay on the pavement. An idea entered the Disciple's mind, and he picked up the blade to examine it further. Getting into his airspeeder, he decided to keep it as this was first Force Sensitive contract, especially one with such a high profile. With the engine roaring to life, he flew off inconspicuously into the skylanes of Chandrila where the Abyss Watcher awaited elsewhere.

◊ ◊ ◊​

Marcus Rahn paced in his apartment, stress lines showing on his face. It'd been an hour since his meeting with Shae Vis was supposed to commence, but he'd heard nothing from her. Perhaps she lost her way, or maybe landed at the wrong building? He had to do something, anything. Just sitting around wasn't doing any good. Taking the lift down his high-rise apartment, he began walking towards one of the nearest landing ports. It wasn't used quite as much as other ones due to the shady nature of some of the businesses there, but it was still the most likely one Shae's nav-computer directed her to. His pace quickened as he neared the landing pad a few minutes later, seeing her ship and another visitor's in the next lot.

Relief washed through him as he saw Shae's ship. "Ah, she must be just held up with something," Marcus told himself as he walked up and tapped on the closed exit ramp. A minute went by without a response. The well-dressed man knocked again, starting to become worried again. Was she busy with someone else? Was she passed out? Was she even there?

"Yo pal, she's been sittin' there for the past 'alf hour, nobody's in 'er." A gruff voice came from the next lot, and Marcus turned to see a bearded mechanic of some sort. He sat on a metal crate and had paused from scrubbing something with a grubby rag.

"No, s-sir I think you must be wrong. I've been expecting th-this young lady for over an hour now." Marcus replied, his stutter returning as it always did when he got overly nervous or embarrassed. "She's got to be in there!"

The mechanic shrugged, getting up and coming closer. "Well, where was she headin'? Maybe summin' happened on the way." The two turned around, looking at the path to Marcus' apartment. Along the way was a dark alleyway, but the researcher had overlooked it on the way over. "Let's look down 'ere, hm?" the mechanic suggested gruffly. At least he was the helpful sort.

One look down the alleyway, and Marcus' mind began racing again. Maybe she got caught up in a gang war, maybe she was attacked by some vicious animal, one what if after another. The mechanic protruded a flashlight, giving it a few raps to turn the flickering light on. "Eh, what's that there?" he asked, pointing to a strange looking object on the ground in the middle of the alley. Leaning closer to inspect it, Marcus gasped in shock. It was none other than an Ashen Rose, with its petals in glowing embers.

"Wha...what is it?" the mechanic asked, seeing the politician's look of sheer terror. Marcus shook his head and began rapidly pacing. "No...no no this c-can't be...it can't be them," he panicked, pulling out a datapad to call the authorities. Thankfully only a few minutes passed before a patrol car arrived and a deputy stepped out.

"What's your emergency, sirs? A potential homicide or assassination?" queried the constable, looking seriously at the two. Not a word was said, as the mechanic simply pointed at the rose at the ground. The cop's eyes widened, and he radioed in for backup. "We've got evidence of Shadow Conclave activity, I repeat the Shadow Conclave. Possible kidnapping or assassination, I need a detective immediately."

Marcus spent the next half hour or so, giving any information he could to the police about the situation before heading back to his apartment. Back inside, he could do little else than sit and think about the whole situation in shock.

Inside, Lucius smiled. Shiro would be so proud. Of course, he knew that the entire persona of Marcus Rahn was compromised, and despite the decade of work he'd done, the politician was going to have to disappear. Perhaps even die by the Conclave's hands. Indeed, nobody would ever see Marcus again.