Bad Voodoo (Aria)

[Malick Raine]

He had seen only once or twice wondering the various food courts throughout the city in the clouds. He didn’t know her name and up until this moment she was nothing special. She was just another lost soul wondering the city trying to get by more than likely. Yet today she would be a target, but not the usual target.

He spotted her sitting at table eating alone like usual. She seemed to always be alone made Malick think maybe she was hiding. Well he knew in fact she was hiding and that is why he was here. He quickly moved up and slid into a chair across from her.

"We don't have much time to talk. I don’t know your name nor do I care. Yet I need to inform you there is one bad dude wondering this fine city looking for you. I don't care what you did or who you did it to. I'm willing to hide you from this bounty hunter for a few hundred credits. Any questions?"

[Aria Sihin]

Abilus hadn't even the chance to bit into her sandwich when this strange man appeared. His babbling was annoying, but she couldn't help but feel a sense of truth to them. Hopefully it was her damnable Apprentice, finally coming to get her!

It had been close to six months since someone had tried to come after her and her apprentice, Darth Lucid. The Inquisitors had failed but it forced the two Sith to separate for safety. Lucid had hired out a Smuggler to take Abilus away where no one would find her - Cloud City. It was easy to hide amongst the populace. They acted like nerfs, herding themselves to and from work, unaware that a Sith walked amongst them in plain sight - and she hated it.

Abilus was a creature of seclusion, only creating ties with small colonies and traders to survive in order to protect her identity. Now with hundreds of people, thousands at some times, she felt so out of touch with the galaxy. Things had changed so much in the last decade. Holonet shows were unrecognizable, fashions were far more gaudy then past memories, and the food had become commercialized and processed that it barely tasted real. What she wouldn't do to actually eat fresh fish again ...

"I do not need your assistance. Please, leave me in peace to eat." Her remark was stated matter of factly, not wanting to cause a scene. It was how she dealt with anyone that had spoken with her. If that failed, Abilus would merely look them in the eye and watch the color drain from their face as the fear she projected permeated their thoughts. No one could bother her. No one. She was protecting more then just herself now.

As the days ticked by since being stranded here, Abilus felt that something was not right with her. Food tasted terrible, she was sleeping poorly, and her entire body ached for no tangible reason. Going to the free clinic was not an option, so she took a look inward to find the answer. She was pregnant.

No one on Cloud City was much the wiser to that fact. She had found some discarded clothing behind an outlet and created a patch work cloak to hide her figure as her belly grew with each month.

[Blade Bacquin]

Blade walked into the bar he had there was a waitress here that knew things. He had to knock around a few heads just to get that information. This god forsaken place probably wouldn't notice it if the planet below them imploded before it was too late.

He scanned the place for the woman that he had a ruff description for. She went by the name Molly he had heard. He walked up to a waitress serving drinks to customer and pulled her away from the table.

"Are you Molly?"

Waitress: "No Molly is over there sir."

The waitress nodded in the direction with a disgusted look on her face for the way Blade had treated her. Blade walked away without even thanking her. He walked right up to this Molly and just like the last waitress interrupted her dealings by yanking her away.

"Are you Molly, I need Information?"

The man stood about six foot two. He had shaggy brown hair and looked like he hadn't shaved in a few weeks. He wore a long brown coat that was open in the front. Underneath the coat he was wearing Storm trooper armor that was black. He had to weird looking cylinder looking objects hanging from his belt. His eye's seemed to stare right through molly and had a strange orange tint to them.

[Molly Black]

With an apologetic look to her customers, Molly allowed the cretin to drag her off. The bosses, Mirko and Mu, respectively, didn't like scenes. It was better on business for the Cloud 9 if Molly drop-kicked people like this, out of sight of the dining room...

The click of her baby-doll heels resounded as she was led away, the swish of her short skirt behind her. When he turned her roughly and started barking questions at her, she took a minute to rethink her initial plan. On second thought, she just wanted to get rid of him, he looked like trouble. Worse even than their usuall riff raff!

"Yeah, I'm Molly! Let go of the merchandise, hmmm?", she tugged her arm away from him and folded both before her chest defensively.

Turning so that her lips couldn't be read from the tables, she lowered her voice. "Information, I might be able to help you with. What is it you want to know, toots?"

[Malick Raine]

"What ever darlin, your funeral. This guy was real bad news I'm telling you. His eyes were so cold and lifeless. They stared right through everyone he was talking to. Not mention the illegal weapons I spotted him carrying."

Malick stood up from his seat and slid it back into place. He threw a card with a comm link number on it onto the table. He started to walk away then.

"I got a feeling I will be hearin about your death on cloud city news this evening. If you change your mind there's my number but the price goes up by the hour just remember that."

He cocked his head to the side and gave her a little wink and a smile.

[Aria Sihin]

The description struck a cord. It had to be Blade.

Without a thought, Abilus opened her mind and reached out to snag his surface thoughts to give truth to her gut feelings. And there it was ... his memory of Lucid walking around the upper levels of Cloud City. His orange eyes were dull, filled with need and worry as he scanned the area. He hadn't noticed Jason.

Wait! Jason?

She had caught his true name and identity, but remained impassive as if nothing had been revealed. This Jason Dreggs was a washed up Imperial Soldier. He clamored for the days of old and if he found out her identity, he would instantly we welcomed back a hero by the Empire for finding a renegade Sith.

"I will remember that," she returned his smile with a lopsided smirk. "Thank you for the card."

[Blade Bacquin]

Blade could just sense it? It had nothing to do with the force it was all in the body language; Molly wanted to bust him upside the head. Yet she held back, she seemed a bit frightened maybe?

"I'm looking for a woman? She was ditched in this city about six months ago by freighter pilot. She is around five ten in height. Green eye's, brown hair with a white streak in the front."

Blade looked around to make sure no one else was listening in on the conversation. Then his voice went to a whisper.

"She may go by the name Maire. She wears gloves or bandages on her hands at all times. Have you seen or heard of her? It is important that I find her."

His face twisted into an even more threating gaze.

[Molly Black]

"Have a seat. Get some chow. Not the special...", she advised.

Molly saw a lot of people come in an out of the Cloud 9. Some regulars who couldn't be bothered to cook meals for themselves. Some who just came in after work to sit and have a drink, a smoke and some company. Some who waltzed right through the dining room paying no mind to the aroma of freshly seared nerf filets..they had business in the back. Too many faces to keep a priority tag on all of them, but with a description, she could do much.

"I'll bring you a drink..", she smiled. "..and the information you're seeking. However I expect to be nicely tipped for the bruises I'm going to be wearing on my arm, got it?" The last was said quietly, but she was dead serious.

Miss Molly didn't work for free after all! Even if her 'bosses' paid her well, her information clients didn't know that, it was all part of her cover. She really needed a new scene, this job was turning into a mess...

[Malick Raine]

He felt it in his head? He had felt it only a few times before, someone or something had probed his head. He looked back at Aria with a curious look but then quickly shook it away.

"No Problem miss, I'm always here to protect the innocent."

He again gave a wink and continued on his way. Thinking on that feeling, force users where rare he had only met a few and most of them only had minor abilities. Most of them where Inquisitoriate and one a Jedi his uncle. He would have to make sure this woman was not connected to the Inquisitoriate and hope she wasn't the one that had just entered his mind.

[Aria Sihin]

Jason had grown suspicious and confused suddenly. Despite his bravado, he was cautious now. He knew full well someone had entered his mind, which made him Force sensitive ... and much more of a threat to her.

When he left, Abilus slipped from her chair and headed for the lifts. She had recognized one of the signs from Jason's mind. The Tasty Wampa ... It was one of many watering holes (and dives) on that level. She would have rather initiated contact through the Force, but it would be better to have several levels of distance away from that former Imperial.

[Blade Bacquin]

Blade sneered a bit in disgust; he hadn't been the real world for some time and forgot its code of ethics. The real world dealt in credits and not threats. Information was just as big of business as assassination in this world. Blade himself preferred assassination; you didn't have to get caught up in all the details of the situation.

"Your Information better worth it woman. If it's not well.."

Blade left a slight pause.

"Well we will just see what I decide to do with you if it's not."

Blade's eyes flashed orange as he turned to walk out of the kitchen.

"You have one hour. If you let it expire past that your fate will be in my hands?"

[Molly Black]

"Listen buddy, I just bring the plates. I don't make em. Got it?", she could only report on what had been heard about. She didn't have a fry cook that could pull the woman out of the sizzling deep.....

With an incredulous look, and a mental note to have the jerk in question watched, on the chance that he decided to make good on his trash talking, she approached the bar..

"Really.... people these days. Never heard the damn honey versus vinegar line? Sheeeesh...", she sizzled, splashing whiskey into a glass and complaining to no one in particular about her less than savory customer..

[Blade Bacquin]

Blade tapped his fingers on a table impatiently as he waited for the woman to return with his information. A bottle of some rare drink called JD sat on his table but Blade hadn't taken a sip of it since it arrived at the table. In front of Blade sat a credit chip, Blade wasn't sure how much money was on the chip because it wasn't his. He had found it in the ship he had confiscated so hopefully it had enough to cover costs.

"Hurry up..."

He whispered to himself as he felt anger welling up in him again. Yet this time it was anger towards himself why had he left her in the hand s of another man. He should have stood by her no matter what the empire was willing to throw at them. This was all his fault for venturing out into the universe, he should have just listen to her and stayed hidden.

[Molly Black]

While keeping her baby blues on her other tables, Molly made a few discreet calls. While there may be no honor among thieves, there was news to be found with other informants.

They worked a very, 'you scratch my back I'll scratch yours' network, silently, of course. You had to know who to trust, who to keep things from, and who would sell you bad info just for the pleasure of making your life misery. Oddly enough, Molly was getting quite good at this sort of thing..

The thought struck her that maybe the woman would pay better to know she was being hunted, and to know where the creep was now. She put that call in too, but quietly.

And now they waited...

[Aria Sihin]

Abilus took the lift up to level she would find he Tasty Wampa and disappeared into the crowd, not that anyone cared she was here besides Lucid. However, it only took ten minutes for her to spot someone in her peripherals that had taken a keen interest in her. It wasn't the fool boy either. This was someone new. He clothes reeked of poverty, or was it an act? Abilus looked just as homely but was no mere street urchin...

Steps quickened between the mix of humans and aliens, and her feet led her behind a curved corner. Once the male human rounded the corner, he was caught unawares by a wrapped hand, pulling him into one of the storage closets and then uncerimoniously tossed into a shelving rack. Random mechanical parts and cleaners fell on top of him as Abilus pulled out a knife.

"Talk fast!" she snapped before grabbing him by the shirt and forcing him to his feet, the knife precariously close to his neck.

[Kallum Romanoch]

"Oi! Easy der, love! It mightn't look like much teh you bur-I paid good money fer dis shirt!"

And talk fast he did, it was one of Kallum's many talents. Despite the hunks of machinery that had battered him over the head on their descent, they hadn't knocked the sense out of him. While he spoke, his fingers discreetly coiled around the blaster hidden inside his jacket pocket, the barrel was pointed at his attacker's abdomen ready to fire in case things went bad.

"Listen 'ere, girl!" he spluttered, squirming in her grip, "Dunno 'oo yeh think I am bu' ders no need fer dis kinda violence! Let's talk dis through, ey?"

He grinned painfully. Even in the musty storage hole into which he'd been dragged, the scent of the cologne he'd stolen from Corvus still hung thick in the air - Engine Grease it was called.

[Aria Sihin]

Oh yes he did talk, but not to Abilus' satisfaction. As far as she was concerned, he was babbling nonsense that didn't reveal any pertinent information. With a callous expression upon her face, the knife dug into his skin just enough to break - a thin line of red outlining the laceration.

[Kallum Romanoch]

"Woah woah woah woah woah der!" he blurted, trying to wriggle further into the wall.

"No need fer dat now, girlie! I'll tell yeh wha' yeh need teh know!"

He swallowed, wincing at the sharp discomfort of the blade's edge obstructing his Adam's apple. His finger poised over the trigger in his pocket.

"Yeh see, 'ere's de thing, in me pocket I 'ave a beautiful DE-10 aimed right at yer gut. Dat's right... D-E T-en! An' at dis range not only will I not miss but death is guaranteed. I mean, dren, I could shoot yer big toe an' dis thing would still kill yeh!"

There was a dangerous, excited gleam in his eyes. He smiled at the woman knowingly.

"O' course, yeh would still be able to cut me throat with dat thing before yeh perished bur I'm okay with dat if you are... and if not, I suggest yeh start actin' like a lady an' we can talk dis through. Savvy?"

[Aria Sihin]

She could feel the barrel of the gun pressing against her belly and panicked for the safety of her unborn child, cursing Lucid for having given her this weak body.

Abilus felt the sincerity behind his words and pulled the blade back only enough to show she was willing to compromise. He would have to do likewise before she would back off completely. In case of any duplicity, the Sith was preparing herself mentally for a counter. Having such voracious anger made Abilus' connection to the Dark Side instantaneous and waited for the urchin to back off.

[Kallum Romanoch]

"Der," he said, "Nottin' like a birra space, ey?"

He dusted himself off with both hands to show that he had relinquished his grip on his pistol. The look of smug satisfaction vanished when he noticed an ugly tear in his jacket, he cursed under his breath and looked up, wounded and cross.

"Dis cost me three 'undred credits. Nice one!"

The woman didn't respond with words but with a blunt backhand across his face. Kallum cradled his chin, stunned with the force of the blow, then righted himself. His mouth fell agape and closed repeatedly like a fish. He shook it off.

"Alright, I can't tell yeh much 'cause I dunno much abour it. I was asked teh follow yeh by a contact 'oo wanted teh keep an eye on yeh. Truth is, it can't be dat important, otherwise I wouldn't be tellin' yeh this. Dis kinda surveilance is usually reserved feh indebted gamblers an' runaway hookers."

"But by de look o' things," he said, with a sly, creeping grin, "Yeh don't act much like a gambler."

[Aria Sihin]

Nostrils flared at his incredulous assumption as she straightened her cloak, "I'm neither. Who is your contact?"

Her mind was already racing with two possibilities. Lucid and Jason - They were the only two beings in the sector of space interested in her presence. However, if they weren't being careful and were causing too much noise about her, other parties might have become interested in her, simply for the reason that knowledge was power, which could be held over her head.

Abilus hated being powerless. She would have to rectify this immediately.

[Blade Bacquin]

Lucid still at his table in the bar was growing ever more impatient. The bottle of JD was now half gone and despite the comfort it use to give Blade it had none for him this day. Blade was now impatiently tapping the credit chip against the table. He eyed the waitress every once and awhile with a near death stare.

He wanted to strangle her and the bastard that had told him that she was the one to ask for information. Heck his other hand was itching to grab for his light saber and slay every last customer in this establishment. Blade had to wonder how many of them he might cut down before getting blaster bolt to the head.

[Kallum Romanoch]

"I'm neither. Who is your contact?"

"Dat's no' important," he said, the smile slipped away and he was suddenly straight-faced. It was business time.

"Thing is dis: der's someone lookin' for yeh, an' I'm talkin' really lookin' for yeh, an' I know where teh find dis person. Me contact was approached by dis person, an' playin' a double blind, sent me after yeh instead, figurin' yeh might be more... grateful for our services. Yeh know wha' I mean, girl?"

Illustrating his point, he raised his hand and rubbed his thumb and forefinger together , eyebrows a-waggling.

[Aria Sihin]

The boy had a really raunchy way of expressing his employers motivations. Abilus would play along with this for now. "And who is looking for me? Without knowing that I have no answer for a possible counter offer."

[Kallum Romanoch]

"De question isn't 'oo, it's where," he snapped, "Yeh must know 'ow dis works, love, so don' mess me 'round, 'kay?"

His eyes rolled idly around the small interior of the storage closet. He tucked his thumbs into his trousers and sighed, regarding the woman at last.

"Make a decision, 'oney, we 'aven't go' all day. Yeh wanna go der or no'? An' if no',"

His eyes gave their surroundings one last once over before settling back on her, he smirked, "Wanna frack?"

[Aria Sihin]

Abilus' patience had worn thin and reached the edge of her patience.

CRACK

Her hand stung from the backhanded slap across Kallum's face, but the momentary pleasure of nerves shooting across her skin, tingling with pain was worth it.

She left without another word, already plucking the information she had asked from his weak mind with only a simple mental glimpse of her Apprentice having a heated discussion with a raven haired waitress.

Cloud 9 was her destination and finally she would be reunited with Lucid ...

[Kallum Romanoch]

"Nrrgh!"

Sprawled out in the corner of the closet amongst the dumped load of a collapsed shelf, Kallum winced and touched his face gingerly. This woman had a thing for messing up his face. He opened his mouth to announce that technically she hadn't declined his offer when he heard a thick steady glugging, he looked down and saw an upturned tin of engine lubricant emptying its slick golden contents into his lap. He cursed furiously and hurled the tin out the door, and promptly followed it, hot on the woman's heels.

"Oi! Just a minute der, love, where d'yeh reckon yer goin, eh? Don' yeh wanna know where teh find yeh stalker? 'ey, yeh list'nin' teh me!? 'ang on! Yeh supposed teh pay me fer dis!"

[Aria Sihin]

She ignored him and his rant until Abilus entered the lift. As Kallum tried to enter, the palm of her hand cracked against his face, forcing the street urchin out of the lift.

For the briefest of moments, Kallum thought he could see a faint smirk through the haze of pain as the doors closed.

[Blade Bacquin]

He felt something dark coming this way as he grabbed the bottle and took the last swig from it. His eye's flashed orange as he stood up from his chair and let a twisted little smile cross his face. He walked slowly over to the woman who was supposed to tell him where Aria was. He grabbed her by the arm and spun her around as she was helping a customer.

"Times up lady!"

His eyes blazed with fury as he stared deep into the dark haired woman's eyes. The twisted grin still hanging on his face as his squeeze around her arm tightened.

[Malick Raine]

Malick stood on a landing platform staring at an YT-1300 called Simple Fate. He looked around to make sure the guards he had paid to slack off and look the other way for an hour where not around. After a few moments he made his way for the under belly of the ship.

It was crazy idea but Malick had it stuck in his head he could succeed at whatever it was he was going to attempt. His plan really wasn't that well planned out in the scheme of things. All kinds of thoughts jumbled in his head about how he could take the bounty from this guy or how he could use this to jump start his way back into the empire. All and all his plans where naive idea's of playing some sort of hero to the damsel in distress even if she was a force user.

He stopped at a hack on at the under belly of the ship. Malick knew his ships and knew it lead up into the ventilation system. Yet there was one small obstacle that stood in his way. The code key needed to open the hatch, only a minor problem Malick thought. He punched in a five digit code as a red bar appeared showing him that he failed.

"Okay so you changed it from the standard default I see. Oh well I guess I will have to use the Imperial bypass code."

He hoped they hadn't figure out a way to reconfigure it. Yet most bounty hunters where smart so it more then likely wouldn't work. So he typed in the code and the light flashed green which brought a smile to Malick's face.

"Moron!"

He pulled the Hatch open and lifted himself up into the shaft. He closed the hatch behind him and began to crawl through the under belly of the ship. He was looking for the perfect spot to stop and wait.

[Molly Black]

"Times up lady!"
Of course, she'd known he was coming from the sudden panic in the eyes of the couple in front of her. They had just been discussing the eye watering temperature of their Extreme hot wings. Molly, having had the wings before had taken pity on the couple and had been refilling their obviously depleted tumblers with some ice water from her trusty pitcher when 'The client from Hell' returned to start tossing around his demands on her time...

Right in the dining room again! The man had no tact and no idea whatsoever how this sort of game was played. He was not only getting on her last nerve, he was seriously endangering her waitress cover by drawing this much attention to them and Molly had had enough.

As he spun her around, she winced at the pain in her arm as his fingerprints managed to find the exact shadows he had already left behind from his earlier pawing. He was not rewarded with a look of fright in her blue eyes, however. She looked seriously pissed off and ready to say the hell with helping him at all. Besides, she had not heard back from Kallum yet and she had nothing to report anyways.

If he had been watching her, he should know that she had been clearing dishes from empty tables, not intercepting top secret correspondence on the woman he sought. The man was a meathead and Molly suddenly pitied the poor woman, whoever she was.

In her trips to and from the kitchen with trays of dirtied dishes, Molly had managed to acquire the attention of some of less savory types that Mu kept around, insisting they came in handy on occasion.

This was that day, baby..

Despite the mess it would cause, there were three of them who were ready to blast the guy's kneecaps out at her signal, and one waitress at the bar with her thumb resting on the button which would summon not only a security detail, but doubtless the local Imperial garrison as well. None of them needed Imperials involved, but Molly was not above playing that card if forced.

"Listen, buddy. I don't know what kind of maximum security mental facility you managed to crawl out of, but this is not how we do this.", her eyes alluded to their exchange of information.

"What you want is not ready yet and I already told you...", she smiled sweetly.

"Keep your damn hands off me!"

There was a moment where she dounted the wisdom of such an action, but as the contents of the pitcher poured over his head, Molly was reminded that she was known for her great legs, and not her wisdom...

[Aria Sihin]

Abilus found herself in a crowd of people milling about this level of the Cloud City. Fortunately they were slowly making their way in the general direction fo Cloud 9. It was slow and tedious at times, but it would help govern her a low profile in case that uncouth brigand came looking for her.

After several blocks, the bright lights of Cloud 9 drew nearer and she stepped through the doorway just in time to see some woman dump a pitcher of liquid over Lucid's head.

Surprised eyes narrowed in humor as even the often stoic Sith Master could not hide the mirth bubbling from her belly that escaped as quiet laughter.