Ravensdagger_Overkill

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Two The Atlas burst into the edge of the Antar system and-under Xarly’s deft piloting-angled up so that it was even with the ecliptic plane of the system. Not that every planet in Antar respected it, but the two worlds that Taylor was interested in both spun around their sun at about the speed and actually passed fairly close to each other.Fairly close when it came to the scale of planets and moons, that was.Taylor stood at the far end of the bridge, arms crossed and back pressed up against the wall. It was the only place she could be without interfering with Xarly’s piloting. She didn’t need to be in the bridge while they flew over to Antra Five, but she was growing restless with the waiting around.The Atlas wasn’t cramped. It wasn’t a huge vessel, but it had more legroom than her home back on Earth. Still, being stuck inside the ship day in and day out made her feel a little stuck. She was looking forward to stepping outside.Her time wasn’t wasted. She spent the flight practicing martial arts with HK-47, who had a wide repertoire of moves and skills to teach (they used a length of pipe instead of her lightsaber. Only an idiot would turn on a plasma torch in an enclosed space, training mode or not) and so she got her daily exercise in and learned of new ways to break some of the strange aliens she might meet along the way.Other then that, and hours spent planning, she had mostly tended to her insects. Feeding her Tatooine-imported scorpions and breeding the eclectic mix of insects she’d come across so far. She had yet to find anything truly horrific, but she planned on making a few trips in the future to some jungle worlds whose entire entomology entries on the Holonet were little more than lists of warnings.Something to look forward to.In the meantime... she refocused on the space around them.The Atlas cut a straight-line across empty space on route to Antar Five. The world was the system’s industrial hub, but that wasn’t too apparent from above. The Gotal had, at some point in the distant past, implemented some laws and regulations that made it so that the industry on the world had a fairly neutral impact on its environment. There were still huge patches of light visible from high orbit where cities and spaceports dotted the surface, but the world was otherwise a lush brown and green ball with splotches of blue.Xarly called something back. She understood one word in four, but pieced together that they had received permission to land and were going to approach the spaceport.Taylor waited for Xarly to let go of the controls before she moved up, then out of the bridge.As much as she wanted to see the landing, there were things to prepare. “HK-47,” some insects in the hold buzzed. “Let’s prepare to meet our contacts on the surface.”“Statement: Charging weapons for maximum diplomacy.”Taylor rolled her eyes. To be entirely fair, HK-47’s approach did have some merit. She just wanted to try a few peaceful methods before resorting to explosions, assassinations, and other tricks that would encourage HK too much.She slid into the cargo hold and noted her droids standing in neat rows. HK-47 had finished painting and modifying them at his leisure. Of her complement of 75 battle droids, all but two had been repainted. Those two could serve as spies in the ranks of the Seperatist’s own droid army, if the need arose.The rest were all painted in blacks and yellows by HK-47 and an enthusiastic Skarsk Nek. Of those, ten had been outfitted with additional weapons and long black trenchcoats that hid their forms and added weaponry.Taylor inspected one of those. “Are they all ready?” she asked.“Report: All of your droids have had their core programming modified. Unfortunately, the hardware leaves much to be desired.”“Not exactly working with the best?”“Conjecture: I suspect that the makers of these droids were heavily focused on quantity over quality. The hardware barely meets tolerances. My additions have improved them, but they are nowhere near battle ready.”The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.“Can they fight and guard us?” Taylor asked.“Insulted Rebuttal: Master, I do not need these second rate junkers to keep myself safe. Though if you are asking if they can distract an incompetent adversary for a few moments, then yes, they can serve that purpose.”Taylor nodded. It would have to do. Half of the purpose of the droids was more visual. They were too small for the coats to really bulk them out, but she thought they looked appropriately sinister with their hoods up.“I’ll see about allotting you some credits to purchase the hardware to make them better, if they prove useful.”“Suggestion: A more rapid and reliable system of locomotion than those flimsy legs coupled with even a single thermal detonator would make these units approximately four hundred percent deadlier. As well as render them illegal for purchase, production, and ownership in three quarters of the galaxy.”Taylor stared at HK-47 for a moment. “Check in with me before you produce any suicide-bomber varients,” she said.“Acknowledgement: You are correct Master. Your own insectile control would be a far more efficient way of delivering such a payload.”The ship rocked, and Taylor reached out to grab a hold of a railing on the ceiling. Her mechanical hand clamped around the metal, then slid back a ways before she tightened her grip. “While you’re looking for parts,” Taylor said. “Look around for better arms.”“Acknowledged: I understand wanting better hardware for yourself, Master.”“Someone has to make prosthetics with integrated weapons.”“Compliment: You are always so quick to remind me why I chose to work with you.”The ship rocked a bit more, and soon Taylor could feel them banking around and slowing down. Something shifted below, and she knew that the landing gear was dropping. It only took a few more minutes that she felt insects slipping in and out of her range as they approached ground level.The Atlas touched down, and Taylor let go of the rail above and started to look for the last of her gear. She buckled a sturdy belt on, with a pair of holsters for two blasters, then another, smaller belt that allowed her to tuck her lightsaber in the small of her back, the way she’d once carried her combat knife.The ship intercom popped to life. “Captain, we’ve landed,” Xarly said. “There’s some port-authority people heading over, but we’ll take care of them if you want to head out now.”Taylor nodded, she was pretty sure she had pieced together that message correctly. She had a few insects in the bridge hum and buzz her next message. “Thank you, Xarly. HK and I will be moving out.”She felt Xarly shiver. “Still creepy,” he said over the intercom before shutting it off.HK47 touched a control pad next to the cargo bay door, and it slid open while a ramp unfolded itself. Taylor took her first breath of fresh air from an entirely new planet. It stank of oil and fuel, but it still amazed her. She wondered if some people got so used to space travel that they took it for granted.The front line of her droids snapped to attention and formed up behind her in twin rows as she walked out. Tattletale chirped and burst out as well, catching up as Taylor and HK47 were halfway to the ground.It was late into the evening on that part of Antar Five, but to Taylor it still felt like early morning. A strange bit of jetlag. Spacelag? She made a mental note to ask HK47 about it later, but she suspected she’d just hear about robotic supremacy from the assassin droid.“Query: Do you have an initial destination in mind?”“I think so,” Taylor said. “We’re supposed to meet with Dooku’s representative, Asajj Ventress. Let’s send her a message to meet up somewhere nice. And while we’re doing that, we can figure out the rest of our itinerary. I want to meet whomevers’ in charge of that terrorist group.”“Sarcastic statement: I am certain an active terrorist group’s leader will be excited to reach out to you with no previous warning or provocation, master.”“Don’t be that way, HK, the terrorists aren’t visiting us. We are visiting them.”“Statement: An important and possibly enjoyable distinction.”

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Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Three Asajj suspected that if people could hear her thoughts, they might well be surprised at how patient she could be.It was something of a lingering gift from her first teacher, the ability to set things aside and wait for the opportune moment to strike. Not to say that she didn’t recognize that she was occasionally impulsive, or that she didn’t know that her own anger could push her to act sometimes.But she was a sith, and that same anger that pushed her to move would also empower her. And it was always hard to tell when she was acting on impulse or if it was a nudge from the force that was telling her to move.In either case, she was entirely capable of stalking prey, thank-you-very-much.That’s what she was doing, stalking. Though really, she was waiting for the prey to show up at all.Antar Five had a number of spaceports, but the woman she was meant to meet had been directed to this specific one. One of the busier ports, where incoming ships frequently loaded up on the produce made planet-side, or came to drop off raw materials to be processed. The traffic was already being used to mask all sorts of illicit activity, one more ship coming in wouldn’t raise any alarms.That was something she had to worry about, at least a little. Dooku’s newest... pet, had her face plastered on a few holonews channels. There wasn’t much there about her, just graining holograms of her with terrible lighting, but her little presentation with the Czerka CEO had grabbed some attention. The fallout from the company crumbling apart in that sector was also newsworthy, though it didn’t make much of a splash in the galactic centre where a million such controversies were spawned every month.The likelihood of someone seeing the woman’s face and tying it back to her last activities were non-zero.The space port was an open space, with large hexagonal landing pads connected by long corridors that led into the main terminal, and from there into the rest of the city via hovering, high speed transportation lines, both civilian and commercial.Asajj wore a loose-fitting robe, hood pulled up to mask her face and with the front open just enough to allow her easy reach to her sabres. It was nondescript enough clothes that as she mulled about and waited next to a fountain by an intersection, no one saw fit to bother her.She wrapped the force in tight around herself, all the better not to draw attention her way, and then she waited.A beep from a device on her belt told her that the ship, the Atlas had landed.Soon.Very soon, in fact.The woman came out of a long corridor with a small retinue. A tall-enough woman, human if Asajj were to guess, with a worn face that made her seem a little older, and a mechanical arm. She couldn’t be older than twenty standard years, but her bearing spoke of someone older.The droids around her were a little strange. The same cheap battle droids Dooku had working around him whenever she paid him a visit. Cheap things, though these were painted in black and wearing clothes. Bizarre. Who dressed a droid?It did take her longer than it should have to notice the weapons on their backs. Maybe that was the purpose of the disguise?Two of the droids were carrying large packs as well. Something to take note of for later, perhaps.The only droids that were really different were a protocol droid and a little astromech that rolled along next to the woman.It was a unique procession, but not one that stood out all that much. A wealthy merchant with some guard droids.They breezed past the automated security checkpoint then moved around a corner.Asajj took a moment to push herself up. She batted a small insect aside and followed into the main concourse. The woman and her droids were keeping some distance from most others. The Gotal that made up most of the population here were clever enough to avoid anyone walking about with so many guards.The group moved on through the crowds and around another intersection, then they climbed aboard one of the hoverlifts that would bring them down to street level.Asajj tsked to herself as she waited for another lift to return. Soon she was on the same level as they were, but they had moved on a way.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.She jogged just a little to keep up. Still, she kept out of sight.Asajj hadn’t given the woman any coordinates on where to meet except for the city. If she was really a Darth, then Asajj doubted the woman would have any difficulty actually finding her. But then, she was having her doubts.She wasn’t as attuned to the force as some, but she couldn’t feel much about the woman. A threatening aura, maybe, but faint. No more than Asajj would expect to feel from a particularly talented bounty hunter.Dooku had been just as glib and non-specific as usual when he told Asajj to take care of the Antar problem. It was a simple enough assignment. Find the people that were causing trouble, blow them up. She could do that in her sleep.She didn’t expect him to assign her mission to someone else. Asajj’s impression was that the woman wasn’t even aware of the change though. A trick from Dooku? Was he trying to put her in her place?Her teeth ground together. If the old man thought she could be replaced by...Her eyes narrowed.The woman was missing.The droids were moving along at a slow, careful pace, but the woman was no longer in their group. One of the other droids had moved up and was wearing her coat, a hood up to disguise it better. From afar...She swore under her breath. When had that happened? The lift? Right after? No, she’d seen her then. Or had she?She sensed something behind her and jumped, spinning mid-leap even as her lightsabers snapped into her hands.The woman was standing there, half a dozen paces away and eyeing Asajj the way a tooka might eye an injured swamp turkey. “You knew I was here,” Asajj said.The woman tilted her head, then spoke with some of the very worst basic Asajj had ever heard. “You knew I was here too.”She raised herself out of her stance and carefully tucked away her sabres. “Well, I suppose that I’ve been outplayed. Well done. You must be quite proud of yourself,” Asajj said as she started to walk closer to the woman.The woman stepped back, keeping roughly the same distance between them. Was she nervous? Asajj licked her lips as she considered it. Maybe the would-be-darth had been trying to get to Asajj from stealth. Perhaps she didn’t have the skills to take her on from up close in a fair fight?“Please don’t come any closer,” the woman said. “Or you will be in my... space.”“Are you very particular about that?” Asajj asked. “You don’t need to worry. I’d never hurt you,” she lied.The woman rolled her eyes. “I’m not afraid of you,” she said. It was a plain enough statement that Asajj had no difficulty reading the truth there. “If you come closer I will... take your body. Sorry, I don’t know the words to explain how I use meatbags.”Asajj tilted her head. Then she took two quick steps forward.The force blared a warning, but she pressed on anyway. She had come this far by sharpening her skills against others, there were times when throwing caution to the wind was preferable than living in fear.Her steps faltered and she came to a stop. No, it wasn’t her that came to a stop. She wanted to keep moving, but she couldn’t. She tried to move, but there was nothing. She was in her own skin but had no control over it. Not a twitch, not a blink, not a deep swallow. Her breathing didn’t even hitch.The force settled around her, still there, still listening. It was the only thing that staved off something akin to panic.Asajj’s head turned to look right into the woman’s eyes, and she spoke the woman’s words from her own lips. “We haven’t met well yet. I am Darth Khepri. Listen to my warnings if you don’t want to have amusing dismemberments or big explosions happen to you.”Asajj carefully walked backwards until, finally, she was back in control of her own body.She blinked, hands rising just to feel the motion again.“Now that we’ve met,” Darth Khepri said, still in that terrible, broken basic. “I was told by Dooku that you know things that I need to know so that I can make the politics in this place the way I want them to be.” She tilted her head to the side, a strange, insectile gesture that pinged something in the force that Asajj couldn’t quite comprehend. “Will you help me, Asajj Ventress?”

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Fuck it, gap moe Ventress. I’m doing it. Fuck the haters.