Monster Cavalcade

[Rayna Eclipse]

It was only a matter of time She thought to herself as she ran around a duracrete corner and stopped. She let her consciousness expand, integrating the living vibrancy of the city block into her awareness through the Force. It seemed there were two men, both with minds like the sharpened steel of a sword, most likely bounty hunters considering the Imperial government of Corellia had recently issued a bounty on her. They had caught her unawares at, what she believed, was a contact meeting regarding continued operations against the Corellian government. As it turned out, her trusted informant was sold her out for, what she wasn't sure yet, but she would find out.

They hunters executed a ill conceived trap that might have worked on anyone but a Force sensitive. She had exceptional abilities and knew how to use them to her benefit, and much to the detriment of her enemies. Like any good bounty hunter, they pursued and chased her down a few blocks through crowded streets. At this point, they stopped and scanned for her. Illusions were never her strong suit, but they could buy her a few seconds.

As soon as her feet pounded the pavement the bounty hunters caught her trail again and continued pursuit. The alley was long and narrow and seemed to grow darker the further it drew on. Some of the alleys and passages of Coronet had the strange habit of leading into the under levels of the city, a characteristic typical of the cities that grew like wildlife throughout the Empire. It could be a thief's paradise or the lost person's nightmare. In her case, it might just be what she needed.

She rounded the next corner, stun shots ricocheting around her and found herself facing a further alleyway pocked with little shops and the less pleasant citizens of the city. It wasn't the network of abandoned buildings she'd hoped for, but rather the half-abandoned buildings.

A shot singed her hair and she deflected the second through the Force.

"Ms. Ecleeeepse." The bounty hunter said through a nasally voice as he aimed his weapon at her. "Just geeeve up now and save yoself a nesty blaster wound."

[Zereth Lancer]

Today started the same as always. He woke up in his little cot in his run down room built into the back of the little curio shop he recently was found in ownership of. The entire structure was old, built in a lost part of the city frequented by few. Not a slum, but not average district either. Every building was made from durocrete, like someone had taken a huge slab and hollowed it out to make a building. However, as unfriendly as the outside appeared, it was clear the previous owner had taken pains to make the inside feel right at home. Zereth was no familiar with all the cultures represented among the unique oddities that were sold in this shop, but the various objects placed around the front room, the store, gave it a welcoming feeling that he felt could be felt by any culture.

Rising from his cot he stepped into the old fashioned shower, using collected rain water from the bucket he set on his roof to clean his body with a rag. Cleaned, he dressed in a simple smoke gray sleeveless tunic and loose fitting, comfortable pants. He remained barefoot, his shoes were located by the front door of the shop. He did not wear them inside, lest he track dirt in. Stepping through the beaded curtain that separated the shop from the small living quarters in the back, Zereth moved into the business end of the curio shop. There were tables everything, set haphazardly all over the place, laden down with odd little objects that ranged from old Rodian statue figurines and ceremonial knives of the Nagai to even human artifacts and ones from his own adopted culture, the Jiraiya. Everything was old, everything looked like it had been used for years. These were not things made in shops but rather passed down from generation to generation and eventually lost and found then traded here. Not everyone could make it in this galaxy. Sometimes you needed a few extra credits to make the rent and had to part with the family heirloom out of desperation.

Taking a seat in the cushion behind the short desk he sold the merchandise from behind, Zereth puzzled over how he had become the owner of this building in the first place. The old man that had run it passed recently. Zereth, who had been in here on occasion to revel in the antiquity of the place, had used his powers of influence and illusion to take the persona of the old man in order to take the building as his own, then appeared out of disguise to run the shop under the guise of an assistant for the old man. The ruse had worked and he was now in control of the shop, at least so long as he managed to convince people that the old man was still alive. He had done his best, even leaving a pair of the old man's sandals by the door next to his own boots.

Nothing much happened in this part of time, which is why he found it very rousing to hear the sound of blaster fire. Immediately he moved from the back of the shop to the front window, which were covered by blinds making it very dark in the building. It gave it an atmosphere he thought. Snaking his fingers between the blinds he created a wedge between them and pulled them apart to see through. He saw a girl moving down the street, running from two armed men who were apparently chasing her. She was unarmed, and they were firing. Zereth was angered by the injustice of the situation, and it also tickled him something dark to think of this sort of thing going down in his neighborhood.

Moving from the window, he pulled on his boots and walked over to one of the tables, were he selected the sturdiest of a selection of Drall walking sticks, which were highly decorated with carvings but nonetheless were required in this situation. Unlocking the door, he waited until the woman ran by and then till the two men were just passing the door, and then he threw it open and ran outside, his long black hair dancing behind him as he threw himself through the door and ran up behind the closer of the two and hit the man along the back of his ribs with the stick. The man tumbled over into the dirty street while Zereth turned to the second one, which had turned at the commotion, but already Zereth was ready for him. A jab to the throat to silence the forming swear, a slap to both sides of the head with each hand to confuse him momentarily, followed an undercut punch to the stomach and finished by a crouched punch to the side of the knee, with a loud crack that announced the break in the man's kneecap.

That man fell to the ground in such pain and confusion that he did not know what to do with himself. The first man had rolled over to shoot at Zereth, but he got a boot in a face instead, the impact splattering blood from the man's face all over the dusty street and knocking him back. Zereth quickly relieved them of their blasters, which he picked up gingerly at the edges and tossed into a nearby open gutter, letting them slide down into the sewer below. Grabbing both by their collars he dragged them across the street and tossed them into a dumpster, the second one putting up a fight again so Zereth broke a few fingers by twisting them around backwards and that shut him up. He closed the lids and then turned, wondering just where the woman had gotten off to. It hardly mattered. At least peace had been restored and chivalry maintained.

[Rayna Eclipse]

She was stunned, and partially ashamed. This man had just made short work of her two pursuers in less than 5 minutes and the only comparable resistance she had shown was to run. She could have fought them and she would have won too, or so she insisted to herself. Combat was not one of her strong suits, but a couple of bounty hunters she could have handled. She was buying her time, waiting for the right opportunity... Right?

As he began walking away from the dumpster and towards the shop from where he came, she stood in the street still unmoved from the moment the man stepped out and beat up those bounty hunters.

"I guess you showed them." She said somewhat bitterly. "I had the situation under control, you know."

[Zereth Lancer]

Turning around, Zereth looked at the woman with his red eyes, his hands rising and falling as he rubbed the dust from the street off his clothes, or attempted too. Much of it was still stuck to the dark fabric of his tunic where it clung in smudges. His black, semi-spiky hair reached almost half-way down his thin frame, reaching down below the center of his back and nearly reaching his waist. His skin was tan from being in the sun, but the shade it had could make someone believe that he had been naturally very pale to begin with. The lack of sleeves on his tunic made the muscles on his arms show. They were not huge body building muscles, but the slim athletic kind one builds from years of hard work.

"I do not take kindly to defenseless women being fired upon in my neighborhood." He replied, stepping toward her, his eyes looking over her, looking for injuries. There was something familiar about her face and voice, but Zereth encountered "Familiar" people all the time. After living so many years, and with a memory so jarred and ragged as his, he encountered many people who seemed distantly familiar. It happened so often he gave up entirely trying to figure out where he knew the person from, because most times it was just a fart in his brain.

"Would you like a cup of tea to steady the nerves?"

[Rayna Eclipse]

At the sound of his voice she recognized him immediately. Zereth Lancer, one of the higher ups in the leadership of the Sith Order. An Order of which she once belonged to and one of which she betrayed. From what she recalled, Zereth was far more powerful than she could pretend to be.

Though, strangely, he didn't seem to recognize her or perhaps even care.

"Tea?" She asked rather unsteadily and tilted her head in curiosity. She knew where her lightsaber was, she could call it to her hand in a minute. She felt like she should be ready for his attack at any second. Or perhaps he truly didn't recognize her.

"Ahm, sure." She said and swallowed nervously. "After being shot at, why not?"

The dangerous voice inside her head urged her to go on, see where this rendezvous with a former Sith Master might take her. Sometimes it was worth a dangerous gamble to come out ahead.



OOC: Hey sorry. I keep counting on an email to let me know you've posted and sometimes they arrive and sometimes not :(

[Zereth Lancer]

With a gesture of his hand he led her back to the antique shop. Within the confines of his mind he wondered if he should have remained in the guise of the old man rather then moving out into broad daylight without a care. While he doubted he had anyone to fear around here. or that anyone who might mean him harm could have followed him to this place, he was still on edge. There was no peace for him in this galaxy. He would always be on the run, or lost in conflict. As much as he wanted to find somewhere in the middle of nowhere to hermit in, he knew he could not stay idle. He was a warrior, and battle would always be his life. That was why he feared this sudden appearance of his true form in the streets might attract unwanted eyes, or that beating up the thugs would bring their gangs around to harass his shop. It would not end well, he was sure.

Nevertheless he led the young woman into the shop, asked her to forgive him but his master, the owner, had stepped out. He led her into the small back living space and asked her to sit at the knee high table, which had but two cushions around it to sit on. Meanwhile he moved to the stove and turned it on. It was an old stove that burned fuel rather then was fed by energy. It made the tea taste better, the old man had said. He filled the kettle and put it on the burner and then busied himself with the tea leaves. He liked to cut them so their flavors escaped into the hot water better.

"You have to be careful these days. There was thugs on every street corner just looking for an opportunity to do wrong. How our civilization has fallen. Hard to imagine that this was the bright future our ancestors envisioned when they began the first steps into our technological age." Zereth said, rambling more than anything as he cut the leaves down to smaller bits and then inserted them into hand made tea bags. It would be a moment longer until the water was boiled. It was so much slower this way. "I hope you didn't get yourself into too much trouble young miss. I am... glad, that I could be of assistance."

[Rayna Eclipse]

She was wrestling with herself internally. Should she mention the true circumstances of her little encounter or try to lie her way through it. She dismissed the thought, presuming Zereth was indeed Zereth Lancer of former Sith glory and fame he would cut through her story as easily as he cut tea leaves.

"Well, I these weren't exactly the common brand of thugs." She started, deciding on truth over lies. As he handed her a steaming cup of tea she continued, "I think they were likely Bounty Hunters. I think I'd been set up."

She sipped the hot tea and followed the carved pattern around the cup. It was an ancient, almost primitive design, cut into what was likely soft clay before firing. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen a real cup, especially on modern Corellia. Steps into the technological age, indeed. She thought.

"But I appreciate it, the help that is. I really do." She said. "You didn't have to do that." She paused. "So why are you here? On Corellia, that is."