Nar Shaddaa

Durasay awoke late, stretching as he twisted his legs off the edge of his bunk aboard the Tortoise. Running a hand through his hair, he groaned. The others may already be gone. Hitting the chemical fresher, and a brief, very cold shower (which as a Pantoran, felt rather comfortable), he dressed himself. A pair of military pants with a bloodstripe, no shirt yet.

He had a lead. One he wanted to hit last night, but he barely made it to his bunk without just passing out in the galley. Logging onto the holonet through his datapad, he looked for the public chat channel.

RSDreams.se

Staring at the screen, he finally chose a handle which could work.

1nspect0rBlu has logged in...

He waited for a moment, staring at the message that may have already been there. He probably should contact the Sith Embassy, he said he would when he had any information. That being said... what did he have to report? Nothing yet. He would keep his word, to the letter, if not the spirit.

1nspect0rBlu: Crazy night last night. Heard there was a swoop race through traffic. Kriffing insane, right?

DeadAlive676: Yeah I got footage it was crazy, you knew here blu?

AZA654: Who is the new blood?

Sw00pD00p: Not sure, you looking for the truth, new guy?

Wanting to know the Truth? Durasay mused for a moment, looking down at the responses. Hemming and hawwing, he had to figure out the best way to go about it. Face to face was easy. A simple smile, some words to dull the senses. Make a deal, break a heart, that was all instinct. This... it was harder to figure out people.

But he had to do it. If someone was murdering Sith during the week of the conference, it could be disastrous.

1nspect0rBlu: Yeah, came on a pleasure yacht. Been looking for meaning in it all...

The one benefit, you can't really tell if someone is lying online, either.

1nspect0rBlu: I don't even know if there is a truth, blasted galaxy of ours.

Sw00pD00p: there is truth, Blu, it's in your hands

AZA654: ever heard of the Red God? It's a story of the people

ZoomieB00mie: kriffing Hutts, one day the people will rise

AZA654: until then the Red God has given us a sacred duty, those that are worthy

Sw00pD00p: probably too much for he new blood

Knowledge: Outer Rim (Who is the Red God? Intellect 2, unranked. Average difficulty): 2eA+2eD 4 successes, 2 threat


The Pantoran thought for a moment. The Red God? While he wasn't all that well read, outside of general things, the name did sound familiar. Leaning back, it dawned on him.

He is pretty sure the Red God may be one of the old terms the nikto use for the supernovae that affected their world in the ages long past. A savage but honorable deity that believed in ritual combat, and the sacred charge to hunt down the dark warlocks that plagued the people.

This order is not very well respected though he recalls and are called heretics. It’s old stuff anyone spouting it is probably a crazy person in this day and age. The red god favors women you think.

1nspect0rBlu: The stories? Are they true? Ritual combat? Hunting down warlocks that are holding us back?

If this group was feeling emboldened, now was not the time. Someone hunting down dark lords would jeopardize peace. While he could understand the plight of the people.

Sometimes dark warlocks had to live so the Galaxy could be free.

1nspect0rBlu: I thought women held that special charge...

Sw00pD00p: what? that isn't right, women are too impure for such a sacred task right AZA?

AZA654: the ignorance of the youth these days, you are in need of guidance

ZoomieB00mie: AZA you think we should test them see if they are worthy?

AZA654: yes... find us a Jedi worthy of the Red God stranger, return here and we shall mark them

Sw00pD00p: yes... do it new blood

1nspect0rBlu: I may already have one. A woman, who haa caused me a few problems already. Where should I lure her?

He was relatively sure she could handle herself. But he'd go along, as well.

AZA654: We just need the picture and a name, the Red God will handle the rest

Durasay paused for a long moment. This was going to be much harder.

1nspect0rBlu: I will get you a picture as soon as I can. I trust in the Red God.

1nspect0rBlu has logged out...

Picking up his comm link, he found the number to the Imperial Compound. Hopefully he'd gwt someone who could help...

"Imperial Compound. This is Durasay Mixo. I'm investigating the murder of a Sith Lord. I have a lead... please respond..."

“This is Lana Beniko, aspirant in service to Darth Xevious. I believe you are the Pantoran investigator, yes?” Lana says in reply.

“This line is secure, report your findings.”

"Yes. I am." He recognized the voice on the other end of the comm. Rubbing his eyes, he was starting to formulate his plan, running it through various scenarios.

"I've made contact with a group who are invested in an old, savage Nikto god. The Red God. Believed in ritual combat. And murdering 'dark warlocks' in order to rise up. Seems to me that they're trying to resurrect this old cult, or are part of this old cult." Standing from his desk, he looked at his chat logger, going over the conversation over and over again.

"They've asked me to secure a Jedi for them to mark, and offer up, for me to go in. I'm not comfortable sacrificing anyone. But it does provide me bait. I told them I had one in mind. A female, based on their... dislike of that gender. I need a photo, a name, and a location I can give them. I don't want to set anyone up. I already feel a lot of conflict in this, even knowing that I'm going as back-up." That dark feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"I need a dossier, on a warrior. Someone who we can be reasonably sure will survive an ambush. And a strike team hiding in the shadows. If we're going to get to the bottom of this, we need at least one assailant left alive. Can we get something set up tonight, say 22-2300?" His voice was full of genuine concern, but he knew sometimes... you had to do bad things for the right reason.

(OOC: The way I'm reading this, even setting up someone who was combat capable into a trap is a strike against morality, so I think one point, maybe two points of conflict?)

Lana listens and is quiet before she says, “We can find a suitable candidate, if it proves that we can catch this murderer and end them. I will have something sent to you within the hour. The Empire thanks you for such service.”

OOC: Durasay earns 2 Conflict.

An image comes through from [Redacted].


Alysele Cortess

Durasay looks at the image, and the name. He's struck by her cool demeanor, and yes, even her appearance. He had hoped that maybe they'd use one of their own. Who knows, maybe they did, he hadn't seen this one with the Twi'lek the night before. Still, he felt that twinge of guilt. That dark feeling. Finally, he took the data, and transferred it to his data pad.

1nspect0rBlu has logged in...

1nspect0rBlu: Here she is, that she-bantha. Alysele Cortess. She's caused me nothing but problems. And I think it has to do because she is a witch. Please... let me be a part of this. I... I need it.

Dapper Dog wrote:
Alysele Cortess

He hated what he had just done. He knew the Sith were devious. He'd seen their work. She probably was a real Jedi, and not one of their own. Why risk an ally when they could risk an adversary. He couldn't let this happen. He was a Peacekeeper. A Guardian. This was the opposite of that. He grabbed his mug of caff, and threw it at the wall, spilling the liquid and shattering the ceramic.

"Karabast." He waited for the response from AZA.

AZA654: The Red God will have her. If you wish to see his work follow the signs of blood

AZA654 has disconnected.

OOC: Streetwise roll or Lore Underworld at Average difficulty to find the ambush spot.

Streetwise to follow the Blood to the Ambush spot (Cunning 3, no training. Spending a destiny point. Average difficulty): 1eP+2eA+2eD 0 successes, 2 advantage


1nspect0rBlu has logged out...

Durasay ran to his bunk, grabbing a shirt, his coat, and his weapons. Stimpacks, too, just in case. He bolted out of the Tortoise. Looking around, crowds of people throughout the hangar bay. He was panicked. What had he done, what had he done! Grabbing ne'er do wells by the collar, working the streets, trying to find any clue, any clue at all!

Anger. Fear. Aggression. Hate. It was all pumping through his blood and in his mind. Had he doomed some innocent? Had he destroyed a life simply for the gain of nothing? Would he be responsible for suffering coming through.

"Kriff. Kriff. Kriff!" Was he running out of time!?

He didn’t get any solid leads but he knew the nikto liked to work out of Shadowtown, so that might be a good starting point. Large concentrations of the species tend to live in that area, poor and downtrodden, it was a breeding ground for violence.

Durasay could hear his heart pounding in his ears, yellow-gold eyes darting about. He could almost feel that Fear consuming him, turning to a hot ball of rage. He was just about to start grabbing contacts, and cutting the information out of them.

Mixo. What are you doing! Calm down. Think! What was it that the Jedi say... He focused on calming his breathing down. Hands still shaking, as he bit his lip.

"There is no emotion... there is peace..." He whispered beneath his breath, closing his eyes, trying to maintain his composure. "There is no ignorance... there is knowledge..." He could feel that rage subsiding, his mind beginning to organize itself back from the state of panic. "There is no passion... there is serenity..." Well, that part he didn't agree with, but the words continued that calming.

He may not have found where it was, but he found a place to start.

"There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death. There is the Force. Trust in the Force..." Opening his eyes, he began to walk back to the Tortoise. He had a meeting, but he knew, when he returned, there was only one thing he could do.

He was going to Shadowtown again.

/end