The evening is calm and pleasant. The grass shifts gently in the breeze as the sky’s stars shine their light on Kho’s settlement. There is hardly a soul or sound to be heard or considered. Mart’s domicile is fairly quiet also. Aside from passing footsteps of adventures running around, there seems to be a calm. The play of the wind whistles to him peacefully on the eve. The moon looks on the little home in a gentle way. So it is always the ideal… peace, calm, serenity. It is until Mart is stirred from his relaxing with a knock on the door…
He looks up and over curiously, having not expected a visitor. He stands from the table and puts his helmet on, having had it off as he drank his tea. He walks over to the door and opens it, peering out
Outside stands a lovely blonde woman with a hood slightly on. The blonde hair spills out from the hood like a golden sea. Her glacial eyes, crystal and lovely look to the door with a hope. The woman seems to stand at about 5’4", and wears long near black/purple robes.
He tilts his head as he looks to her, his features unseen from behind his helmet
“Hello. Is there something I can help you with, ma’am?”
He asks curiously, having never seen her before.
'“Allo, sir. Are you Monsieur Mart? Forgive my perturbation this evening. I have rumor that vous are one to help people when in trouble, no?”
The lass has what is likely the equivalent of a French accent and looks a little nervous
“My name is Mart, yes.” He then glances around a moment at her nervousness and motions her inside “Please, come in.”
The lovely lass practically oozes an air of nobility and elegance rarely seen in such an area. She practically floats across the ground with her grace. She looks around at the house and while she does not seem surprised, it is a comfort in a way.
He examines her a moment and notes the sense of nobility he gets from her, curious as to how he could help someone of her class
“I know my home is nothing special, but I do not exactly demand many luxuries in the manner I live. Would you like some tea? I brewed some fresh about twenty minutes ago, it is still quite warm.”
“Merci. It is a lovely place, Monsieur Mart.”
She removes her cloak and the light medium length dress of a white is worn. She takes a relaxing breath and studies mart a moment as he does his thing.
He nods, grabbing a cup from the cupboard and then pouring her a cup of tea before taking a seat and removing his helmet, revealing his rather handsome face, his brown hair tied into a warrior’s braid and a deep scar running down his right eye.
“So, what sort of help do you need, ma’am?”
“I need help with a problème. I have a trouble with a family issue. My sister is a trader for our merchant cooperation in one of Coruscant’s sub routes. It is not large, but it is profitable, but it is because I found une issue. She is making deal with a cartel outside of a region I think is related to a small section on Coruscant lower quarters.”
He scratches his beard a moment as he listens in consideration
“I see…that does sound rather problematic. I personally haven’t been to Coruscant myself, so I’m unsure of what to expect with the lower quarters. Though cartels tend to not be great business partners…”
“Bien sûr! I will help and we will find the solution to the problème, no? I do not know much of the issue personally, but I will hope that we can find the answer, if you would like to assist me. It would be a pleasure if you can do so. I am no fighter…”
She sighs sadly from her sleeve is just a hold out blaster, a small one, but a blaster is a blaster. He glances over to his siege blaster he has laid in the corner, an oversized weapon that would be better fit to be mounted on a vehicle than used by-hand.
“Do you have an idea of what to expect in any fashion, or are we going to be doing this blind?”
“Non, I do not know anything. I have never been to the Lower regions of the planet. I only have some places I think my soeur is located.”
He rests back in his chair a moment as he scratches his beard again in thought before looking back to her.
“Before I give an answer, I’d like to know where you got my name from. I didn’t exactly expect it to be known outside of Viscara, and, well…you don’t exactly seem the type to come to a planet like this for a vacation.”
“The trader I asked for suggestion of several advices made your name a suggestion, among une douzaine others who have rejected me so far. He travels between various planets for his merchant work.”
She sighs as she notes the rejection of others for her request.
“Well, most are unwilling to go after a cartel with almost no information about what will be going on or the odds that are faced. Though…I tend to do both on a regular basis in regards to the Sith, so it is not really a new thing for me.”
“Is this a qui or non?” she tilts her head ever so slightly to his phrasing
“One last question. By chance, was the Trader Kho Khan?”
“Non Non, une trader named Langua. He is fair trader.”
she nods after noting his name
“Hmm…I have not met him. However…” He takes a moment to look her up and down, tilting his head in consideration before nodding “I’ll help.”
She stands rapidly and a lovely smile appears on her face. Her hands folding over her chest in joy “Vous serez? Really?! Ah, this makes me so 'appy! I cannot believe! When can we go? Now is good time?”
He chuckles a little with a light smile as he watches her reaction “I have some preparations to make. We can leave shortly, but I would like to finish my tea first, if that is alright.”
“This is good! Forgive Moi, I did not give my name, and yet you agree to help me. I am Cerai Mal Demai.”
“You would be rather surprised by the amount of times I have agreed to help someone without first knowing their name. A rather risky venture, I admit. It is a pleasure to meet you, Cerai of house Demai. I am Mart of Clan Webber.”
“Un plaisir, monsieur. Thank you for your assistance.”
Cerai sips her tea and savors the flavors and peace of the moment
The tea is flavorful and delicious with hints of several different blends perfectly mixed to create the sensation she tastes.
“You are welcome, Cerai.”
Cerai looks to the tea and is beset in her thoughts. She is fairly quiet and tends to herself. Her polite and noble manner is not unsimilar to what he’s seen from some of his allies and friends.
Mart examines her quietly for a moment as he sips his tea, giving her a moment to her thoughts before speaking up “You seem to have something on your mind, Cerai. Would you like to talk about it?”
“I did not expect for my sister to 'ave such a dangerous partnership. I did wonder why the company was making more credits so suddenly.”
“Yes, that is rather concerning, indeed. I hope that she was more coerced into doing it than willing doing so.”
“I cannot say if she was or not, but I hope it is not for terrible reasons.”
“We can hope, indeed.”
Mart nods and then finishes his cup of tea before standing and putting on his helmet again “Please excuse me while I get everything ready. Did you come here on your own ship, or will we need to use mine?”
“I brought my own ship. We can use mine if it pleases you, Monsieur Mart.”
“Using yours will likely be better, Cerai. It’ll bring less attention from the Sith. They, well…don’t exactly like me very much.”
“Then, I will await you on the ship. It will be on dock 25.”
She gets up and lets Mart get ready as she goes to wait on her ship. The ship is a small silver lined ship that looks sturdy, though not very advanced, but seems to be able to manage. He nods and moves to get prepared, leaving a note that he would be gone on a mission for a bit for the others, soon coming out to dock 25 fully geared out, his siege blaster slung over his shoulder, Rifle hidden under his cloak, pistol in its’ holster and swords in their sheaths, looking ready for war as he moves over to the ship’s ramp, examining the ship quietly as he does. He then steps up the ramp and heads into the ship, glancing around a moment.
The small ship is just so. Perhaps it was designed for shorter transporting around, but there’s nothing unique about it in terms of personality or other notes. The only thing that seems personal is a small rock on the dash. It is polished and doesnt seem unique in any way. Cerai is in the pilot seat and the ship seems ready to go.
He moves to take a seat, setting the siege blaster up against the wall as he does so “I’m here and ready to go, Cerai.”
She smiles to Mart and begins the ship. They take off from Veles Docks and make their way…
=========================================
They reach Coruscant and she shows Mart the lovely city of a planet. The Megapolis of dreams and wonder
“Welcome to Coruscant, Monsieur Mart.”
Mart takes a breath and looks around a moment, feeling a little out of place at such a planet and glancing down at his armor
“Thank you, Cerai. I only hope the locals will pay me no mind.”
“Is your first time, Monsieur. I do not think many will notice, but I am not that understanding of the lower levels.”
The ship makes its way below the bright upper city and down… down into the shadows and the moderately lit areas of the mega structure. The various beams of light from above, sneaking through various platforms, is a welcoming sight for those who are not privileged enough to be bathed in it. They land in a smaller dock near the entertainment district.
Once outside, they can see hundreds of people wandering around, laughing, smoking, kissing, fighting, or just about anything you can imagine in a playful and social zone such as this. He glances around at the spectacle, the entire process seeming extremely foreign to him other than the fighting
“This…happens often here?”
“Vous are not used to seeing such number of people together? It is not as ‘ruffian’ as this in the upper quarters, but I think the debauchery of the lower levels maybe remind people that the fun can hide their pain? This is what I think, yes?”
He rubs the back of his neck from under his helmet, glancing around again a moment before refocusing on Cerai
“I suppose so, yes…and no, the only times I have seen this many people together has been on the battlefield.”
“That is sad to hear, but Is good confidence booster, Monsieur. The place we should visit is a hotel. Is the place where Marcy, my sister, makes the trades and meetings. Is good idea to see what is happening, no?”
He tilts his head a moment and nods
“It would be yes, though I do stand out rather well. I would assume you would want to do this more…unseen.”
She leans her head to the side
“Monsieur, I am unsure what you mean to this reference, but I imagine they will eventually have to meet, oui?”
Several speeders fly by, the norm for such a massive city. They get a few passing glances as they stand at the open dock. His visor pans back to her as the speeders fly overhead
“What I mean Cerai, is whether you would want us to get a look around first without being seen, or to just go in ready for a potential fight without knowing the layout of the area first.”
She smiles and shakes her head
“I do not think I have any capacity for being subtle. It was my intent to walk in and be open with my sister. Every time she kicks me out, but I think, with you Monsieur Mart, I will have opportunity to open dialogue.”
He tilts his head and then nods
“Very well, then. Just be ready to follow my lead in case things turn for the worse.”
“Of course!”
She begins to show Mart down long bending street of the bright city’s underbelly. The neon, the moving holos, the various merchants walking up and offering goods as they are kindly denied are numerous. Smokers and jokers all wander. Singers and slingers take their corners. Sassy and Playful are contrasted by homeless, tormented, and coughing deaths.
Mart’s gaze moves away from the bright lights towards those who are down on their luck, stopping every once in a while and dropping some credits into cups or bowls of those who beg for scraps before moving to catch up with Cerai
This actions draw a comment from Cerai as they stand before the grand hotel near a series of fancy docks
“Vous has a gentle spirit, Monsieur. It is unfortunate that they cannot all be saved for more than a few days with such generosity. Changes in a person’s life comes from ze deepest levels of a person’s hopes. Do you hope to save the universe with credits, blaster, or some thing like dis, Monsieur Mart?”
“I hope to at the very least make a difference, Cerai. I’ve seen enough suffering, death and bloodshed for a lifetime, and I’ll see more yet. Without hope for a better tomorrow, those who can’t defend themselves have already lost.”
Mart then looks up at the hotel as the arrive
=========================================
She nods slowly to his conviction and they enter. The pillars themselves feel like they might cost more than everything on Mart. Regardless, the pair walk up to a service droid at a counter.
It bows sharply
HELLO, WHAT MAY I DO FOR twitch YOU?
“Allo, mister robot. We are looking for my sister, Marie.”
He glances around at the expensive pillars a moment before settling on the droid, tilting his head slightly at the twitch
Mart might notice the droid’s restrictor bold is…loose? STATE YOUR N-N-NAME, PLEASE.
“I am Cerai Setlana De Ragalia.”
CHECKING LISTINGS twitch
Mart’s brows furrow behind his helmet a moment as he appraises the droid, noting the loose restraining bolt, glancing to Cerai a moment.
Cerai looks to just wait for the registry
LISTINGS FOUND. CORPSE, 7. 1. 1. 2. 3.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR STAY. HAVE A NICE DEA-D-DAY.
The droid twitches once more and raises a blaster at Cerai
Mart instantly pushes Cerai behind him and unholsters his pistol, firing a shot into the droids’ torso
And so it begins…
The droid goes down and the doors slam shut with plated metals. The lights shift in the room and Cerai keeps behind Mart. Various foot steps are heard on their way…stomping, running. and loading.
Mart curses to himself in Mando’a and then backs Cerai away, quickly grabbing a metal table and flipping it on its’ side to give her cover.
“Stay in cover, this is going to get messy very quickly!”
She ducks behind it and keeps quiet Meanwhile, several men run out of the left and right doors of the room with blasters.
“Cerai! You have no more meaning. Just die!”
they open fire on mart and Cerai’s position with no hesitation
Mart stays in front of Cerai, the blasters hitting his armor as he grunts, quickly holstering his pistol and unslinging his siege blaster, the beast of a weapon taking a moment to spool up before he unloads it on the men
The wind up gets them to pause. They look at each other…and that’s all the time they have for before the spool’d up cannon is ready…
All 8 men wince and point at mart in desperation
Mart pulls the trigger without hesitation, gunning the eight down as they try to desperately take him down
Cerai peeks over the table when it gets quiet. She crawls to the droid’s body and taps a few things on the side to open a map of the hotel to look for Marie. A ping comes up on the 12th floor
“Monsieur! She is on the 12th floor.”
“Alright, we’ll get there.”
Mart slings the siege blaster back on his back and unholsters his pistol again to begin moving into more cramped spaces, pausing a moment before looking around for anything that could give Cerai improvised protection from attacks
Aside from small desks, there’s not a lot for Cerai to cover behind. In the least, Mart is wide and can get in the way of most of her obstacles. As they meander the halls, a person or two hop out, but nothing Mart can’t deal with. Cerai looks around nervously on occasion and clings to her little blaster as a last resort. Meanwhile, they manage to make their way to the 6th floor where a person with a Mask sits on a chair with several pillars around a dance floor. The metallic mask shimmers in the light of a noble setting
“…Greetings.”
Cerai looks to Mart. Mart instinctively places himself between Cerai and the person with the mask sits, taking aim at them but not firing as they haven’t made an aggressive move
“…Hello.”
“…I suggest retreat, if you please.” the tech female voice echos in the mask and to Mart
“Give us Cerai’s sister and we’ll leave without any more issues.”
“…Trade. That one for Sister.”
“I’m afraid I can’t abide by that. Cerai is under my protection, and you won’t be getting her without getting through me first.”
“…Name.”
“Mart Webber.”
Mart shifts a little, his aim never leaving the masked woman, watching her closely and waiting to see what she does, ready to react if he tries to attack.
“…Persona.”
With that, the lights on her bracers glow and the center jewel in the center of her odd gear glow a soft Magenta. She stands ready, waiting for Mart…
“This is bad feeling, Monsieur Mart. Be careful! I only see her once, but she never talk.”
Mart takes a low breath and then nods at Cerai’s words
“Find cover, Cerai. I’ll handle this.”
Mart then steps forward, keeping his aim on the woman as he moves deeper into the room.
Cerai leaves the room and hides behind the door Persona suddenly dashes to the left, turning on a clear magenta shield on her right arm. She disappears behind a pillar.
Mart instinctively shoots a few shots into the pillar before maneuvering around a pillar himself, unsheathing one of his swords so he holds his pistol in one hand and sword in the other, watching for Persona’s next move.
Several small flying crystals come out and begin to lay small blaster shots to Mart’s position. As this happens, Persona runs towards mart from behind the pillars. She has dual blasters and the shield up on her right arm. The crystals fire from his right as persona comes from the left.
Mart grunts and turns away from the crystals, getting peppered by their bolts, lunging in at Persona with his sword at the same time he lets out a couple of shots towards her right side, trying to bait her to leave herself open for his sword thrust. Persona basically ignores the sword and slides on the ground to dodge the bolts, passing on his left, taking several shots at mart as she slides by quick like. The floating crystals suddenly crash into mart when he turns from them after
Mart grunts and rolls from the impact, dropping his pistol and sword and unslinging his siege blaster, spooling up again as he takes aim at the crystals.
As he spools up now, she throws two sonic burst explosives to throw off his aim with the siege blaster. The Crystals attempt to move away slowly as Persona leaves his sight. Mart grunts again, jumping back a few feet before landing just as the explosives go off, sliding several feet back and falling to a knee before he pulls the trigger, spraying the entire room down with his siege blaster, aiming primarily for the crystals first
The crystals basically rip apart, but the room gets waylaid by the blaster. Pillars ripping apart, cover being destroyed, parts of the roof falling and the stair way up having it’s railings blasted off The room is quiet…
Mart slowly gets back to his feet, backing away slowly as he looks around, scanning the room for Persona.
There is a lull before Mart gets a sort of chill down his spine. Persona falls down from the ceiling above him and rains dual blaster shots on him like a torrent. She lands on his left, not in a good spot for the Siege blaster to be effective
Mart growls as she lands, having taken several of the hits, shifting his grip on his blaster and swings the beast of a weapon at her in an attempt to knock her off-balance. Persona takes the blunt of it and is pushed into the wall, making a crack on it. Persona gives her own grunt.
Instead of waiting for the wind-up again, Mart quickly slings the siege blaster back around, pulling his pistol back to his hand with the force and takes several shots at Persona as she’s against the wall She blocks them with her shield and takes a few shots of her own with her other arm as she side shuffles behind a diced pillar
“…Strong.”
Mart takes two of the shots on his armor and one on his side with a grunt, then pulls his sword he had dropped earlier to his hand with the force, quickly closing the distance between himself and Persona, jumping up on the diced pillar and then off it, firing several shots before thrusting his sword down, the weapon backed by his weight as he threatens to crash down on Persona
Persona hears him coming and rolls, now showing her more acrobatic side more clearly. She moves with a grace. She does take two of the shots and blocks one, but her focus is to evade the sword at this range. She pants and uses crystals on her shoulder to aid her longer hop backwards into the center of the arena She stands there and some crystals let go of her… and the lights go out. There are several dots of Magenta in the black room now, just floating there.
Mart instantly switches to the night vision on his helmet, standing back up and pulling the sword out of the floor, taking aim at where the magenta dots are
He sees Persona standing there, but once the lights come back on, there is a moment of stinging to mart’s vision and all that remains are the floating crystals. It’s clear now that the crystals are meant to be a diversion for her to escape. She heads upwards acrobatically up the stairs. Without the night vision, all he’d see is the floating magenta and nothing more before the lights returned
Mart closes his eyes as the lights return, the bright flash causing his eyes to water as he quickly shuts off the night vision and listening to her quick footsteps, opening his eyes at the last minute and letting off a few shots at her direction, trying to aim through the spots in his vision
Persona seems gone for now and the room lays in ruins.
Mart backs towards the door he had come in with Cerai, gazing around the room as he does before calling through the door
“Cerai, are you alright?”
“Y-Yes. That was terrifying! Are you human?”
“I’m pretty sure I am, yes. Why do you ask?”
He looks down at himself a moment, noting the handful of wounds on himself though deems them minor, looking back to Cerai
She shakes her head
“Non… we are almost there, Monsieur Mart. I can finally see my sister.”
Mart nods, taking a breath and turning
“She escaped, so she’s still alive. Be careful and stick behind me. I’ll do my best to protect you if she returns.”
“Of course.” They make their way up the last 6 floors only to be met by large double doors
Mart keeps his pistol at the ready as he approaches the doors, glancing back to Cerai a moment “I’ll go in first.”
Opening the doors and there are a few people sitting at the table with Marie at the head. Her raven black hair glows over her shoulder and she looks on Mart like he was literal Doo-Doo water. She stands and looks on Cerai.
“Cerai. Why are you here? I said to get lost or die!”
“You must cease your negotiations with these Cartel agents! They will use you and throw you away!”
“What do you possibly know? They will lift us. All you have done with the business is float it downwards. There is little gains for us! What disgusting pretty words do you have left to say? These ideals of gentle negotiations will leave us with NOTHING.”
“Should we not give to the planet that depends on us? We can help instead of just gain for ourselves! We can do some good!”
“NO MORE GOOD!”
Marie slams her fists into the desk
“NO more of your sweet words. No more giving it all away!”
“There is nothing to just kee–”
“SHUT UP! Useless woman.” Marie motions for the rest of the people to leave
“She seems about as friendly as I expected.” He says aside to Cerai, stepping into the room
The cartel reps begin to leave out a side door and Marie stares at them… “You won’t have anything. Either die or get out of here.”
“Unfortunately for you I don’t exactly feel like leaving at the moment.”
“So, you can either talk it out with your sister or I can mow down more of your men until you feel like doing it.”
Persona turns from the pillar and looks on the crew. Marie looks to the pair and puts a hand on her hip
“You’re not getting anything, Cerai. Take your pretty ideals and go shove it up a Bantha’s backside. There’s nothing you can do. If you want OUR father’s company back you’ll have to kill me.”
“I could never do that, Marie. Please, just let the Cartels go. We can go back to a fair life…”
“Never again… Now get out or end my life.”
Mart moves in front of Cerai as Persona moves around the corner “And just why are you so insistent on death in one form or another?”
“Split inheritance, of course. Tell him.”
“Father left us the company, but only if it was us two managing it, but Marie had another view. Now you can imagine it’s one of us left that will ideally solve this. But I don’t want to kill my sister!”
“She seems to have no qualms in killing you, Cerai. She has been trying to do it for some time. Hiring thugs to keep you out and very skilled mercenaries on employ.”
Mart’s visor pans to Persona for a slight moment before looking back to Marie
“You’re right. I have no qualms in killing Cerai! Which is why it’s going to happen today. Or was. Apparently my own useless bodyguard couldn’t kill you for some reason. THAT is an annoyance.”
“You can let things go quietly, Marie. Is this matter truly worth your life? The life of your sister? What would your father think if he were to see you two fighting amongst yourselves?”
“It doesn’t matter. You’re all going to die in a moment.”
Marie nods to Persona as she goes to leave on the stairs pass the colums around the large conference room. Persona reaches to the side of the pillar and takes out an odd sword. It’s not that large, but odd sword. It’s the size of an average sword, but the edges of the blade are a glowing magenta.
“M-Mart?”
Mart unsheathes both of his blades as they hum to life, Vibrating in normal Vibroblade fashion “You want her, you’re going through me first. Cerai, stay back and find cover.”
Persona’s visored face looks to Cerai, but then slowly looks back to Mart, and she points the blade at him. With a threatening swing and a low hum from the blade, she takes a mechanical sounding breath and gets in a low stance
“…Mart Webber. Good luck.”
BOSS MUSIC 2: Genshin Impact - Caelestium Finale Termini - METAL
“Persona.” Mart moves in quickly, closing the distance faster than one would assume for being in heavy armor, keeping one blade back defensively and lunging forward with the other
As Mart engages, Persona dashes forward and begins a heavy series of rapid assaults. Their blades clashing with furious vigor. Mart notices that the blade he blocks, despite the glowing sides, do not act like a lightsaber, but a physical strike akin to a normal weapon.
Mart notes the difference, shifting his stance a little as he matches Personas’ blows, using his left blade in an attempt to distract her and his right to move in for a thrust
The trust makes a gash in Persona’s armor and she hops back, tilting her head slightly. Perhaps this is some surprise that Mart is not dead yet. But she slams the sword into the table and it slices in half so cleanly. Three purple crystals arise from her back attachment and begin to hover around Mart.
“…Very Strong. How?”
Mart flourishes his swords and takes a more defensive stance.
“I’ve trained to fight against force users of a higher caliber than most would be able to face. More mundane threats become easier as a result.”
“Sith? …Dangerous enemy. I will have to ‘try’.”
Persona changes her stance to a heavier one as the crystals orbit Mart. She dashes in and drags the sword on the ground, slicing the tiles like butter before the rising slash assault. The crystals begin to pelt Mart with the same projectiles from earlier
Mart, unable to keep up with the crystals to block the blows with his blades, instead uses his main blade to strike against Persona’s, locking it in her swing a moment as he then shifts, swinging with his other sword in an attempt to slice down one of the crystals
The crystals keep out of range as they harass Mart, though he does get to slice one a little. Persona leans in and with a propulsion on her side, does a series of insane spins, even running up a pillar to hop behind Mart.
Mart keeps track of Persona’s movements, spinning around as she runs up the pillar to prevent her from getting a shot on his back, grunting as he takes more hits from the crystals, hopping back to gain distance a moment before sheathing one of his blades and unholstering his blaster as quickly as he can, taking shots at the crystals
One of the crystals goes down with the shooting, but Persona keeps up the pressure with strikes that seem like they should be slower considering the blade size, but is surely the last thing on his mind as he parries
Mart grunts, doing his best to parry away the blows, loosing a couple more bolts at the crystals before holstering his pistol again to refocus on Persona’s assault
After some time of vigorous combat, Persona hops back and puts a finger to her ear on the helm
“…Time Out.”
Mart tilts his head a moment as she calls a time out, keeping his blade at the ready but not moving in to strike again. After a few seconds her shoulder drops a slight and her visor turns to Mart
“…Too long. Time to go.”
Persona dashes up to the direction that Marie went earlier, up the stairs.
Mart watches her go, then looks back to where Cerai last was.
“Cerai, are you okay?”
she blinks when spoken to
“Are you sure you two are humans? That was utterly madness to observe.”
The crystals finally move from their position and go to follow Persona
“I think those are going her way. Should we follow?”
Mart unholsters his blaster again and keeps his blade in his other hand “Something may have happened to your sister. If she is truly her bodyguard, she may have just been called away to protect her.”
“Either that, or law enforcement is on its’ way.”
Cerai gasps
“Lead on!”
They head up the stairs of the echoing stairwell and they get to the roof top of the building. There’s a speeder waiting for Marie and Persona. Marie is held at blaster-point and Persona looks on the Cartel people who have her.
“…Release her.” “Ye damn drone of a person. Get on out of her before we fry her noodle. Dont take any steps closer, see?”
Mart motions for Cerai to stay back, stepping up next to Persona “I suggest you let her go.”
Neh, the wretch makes a good business partner. Sadly though, she aint got the chops, so she’s gonna sign over her part of the company to us, see? That means blondie over there gotta get splattered, ya hear? We’re the one who pays your check, killer. So go spill some blondie blood!"
The cartel points at Persona then points to Cerai. Within the helm, there’s an audible growl.
Mart growls low as well “It doesn’t sound like Persona is overly open to being bossed around by the likes of you. Hand her over before things get bloody.”
Persona turns to Cerai and suddenly Marie shouts out “W-Wait! I signed the last check! I’m your employer!” This causes Persona to turn back to Marie and the two fellows who have Marie
Mart glances aside a moment before refocusing on Marie
“Das a real shame. Berry, get inside. We’re kicking up some dust. As for YOU TWO. We ain’t done. Dekker always gets what he wants in the end.”
After Berry gets in the speeder, the other Mobster pushes Marie away after he’s in the speeder
“Marie!” Cerai shouts out
“Cerai…” Marie is shot in the back and the speeder drops off to the city below
“MARIE!!!”
Persona looks to Mart.
Mart growls though rushes to Marie, checking on how bad her wound is. Her wound was one shot from in haste, and doesn’t seem fatal, but she’s not in a good spot if left for long.
Mart sheathes his weapons and then scoops up Marie, holding her carefully “She’s alive but she needs medical aid now. Cerai, can you call a speeder?”
Persona responds to this
“…Just called.”
“Marie…Marie, i’m sorry. Oh no. Why? Why did you have to do this? We could have just left together.”
Marie lays unconscious for now as Cerai holds her. The speeder shows up a two minutes later and lands on the roof. Two medical droids and a paramedic come out to get Marie into the Speeder. The three are left on the roof…
Persona looks on as the speeder goes and then looks to Mart and Cerai
“Enough for today…”
Mart turns to look to Persona
“I suggest you decide what drives you more Persona, your personal beliefs or credits.”
“…No more room for beliefs. It’s all everyone wants to take from you and wish that you had theirs. I will do what I want now.”
“The galaxy can be a harsh place, indeed. However, it is your choice to allow it to define who you are, or if you become something more in spite of what has happened.”
Persona huffs a bit in amusement
“Pretty words. Meaningless without power to defend it. You should go. I will stay with Marie.”
Mart’s visor pans to look back at Persona
“I believe I have proven enough today that I am strong enough to defend my own beliefs.”
Mart turns and walks back to Cerai as he says this
Cerai smiles a bit as Mart comes over.
“Where should we go for now?”
“I suppose that is up to you, Cerai. You know Coruscant far better than I do.”
“We can return to your planet for now. I think that is safer.”
Mart tilts his head and nods
“Very well. Less of a chance for them to find you, and a better chance for me to take them out if something arises.”
Marie hops a slight and claps. Persona walks by and exits from the stairwell.
“Lead the way, please.”
Mart moves to follow Cerai
======================================
They make their way back to the little ship and make their way to Viscara where the exhausted pair end up back at Mart’s house
“Long day, Monsieur Mart."
Mart sets his siege blaster aside and takes off his helmet, turning to look at Cerai “Yes, indeed. Not quite the longest day I have had, but decently long. Quite a few new wounds to treat, as well.” Mart looks down at himself where there are a few holes in his under-suit, dried blood evident.
“Oh no. I will let you rest. It is okay if I may use a guest room or shall I get a hotel stay?”
“I can ask Damien to stay in the ship for now, his room is on the right at the end of the hall. Though don’t worry too much for me, I’ll be alright, nothing too horrible for me, I’ve had far worse.” Mart takes a seat at his table, stretching a little with a light grunt “Besides, I don’t think either of us have had anything to eat today.”
She smiles in some excitement at the idea of food, likely having not eaten in some time. In the meantime, the pair find their way around and for now… there is peace.
Visor Visions: Part 1
END