Log:Black Nova: Open Declaration of War

Aria gets jumped by a gang of thugs in the Gearhead district of Nar Shaddaa

OOC Date: April 6, 2023
Location: Nar Shaddaa
Participants: Aria Voss, Merulia, Aryn Cortess, Jayla Shane

Lady Aria Voss, heiress and newly minted Nar Shaddaa business owner, walks along the sidewalk of a stretch of Industrial Street with a Neimoidian man in expensive corporate attire, replete with cape.

"Do you really think this meeting is /wise/ , Narro, given what happened to Lorn?" the pink-skinned Zeltron is asking. Neither Aria nor Narro, the Neimoidian, appear to be armed, but a keen observer might take note that two of them are flanked some distance back by Aria's typical two-guard contingency -- a human man and a Twi'lek women -- both of whom /are/ armed.

Narro laughs, looking shrewdly over at the Zeltron. "I assumed you would know more about that than anyone else."

A grin tugs at Aria's lips. "Why would you assume that?"

"Because Black Nova Corporation isn't shy about their disdain for your company -- or their intentions of ensuring you leave this moon and never come back. Were you /not/ sending a message?"

"/I/ did no such thing," Aria answers.

"But your people..."

The Zeltron lifts her slender pink hands. "I gave /no/ such order," she says. "My hands are clean."

Of course, it's perfect timing for Aria to have her hands up, since three thugs step out from an alley they're passing-- a Rodian, a Weequay, and an Aqualish, all armed with blaster pistols.

"You," the Weequay orders the Zeltron, lifting his blaster at her chest, "come with us. The boss wants a word."

Jayla Shane is finishing up with details from cargo loading, the woman in full armor because, well, this IS Nar Shaddaa after all. Mingling in with the crowd, her helmet optics are up and she passively scans as she walks.

The HUD tags drawn blasters and her left hand drops to the blaster carbine, casually unhooking it while she walks. Her pace slows a little now, angling towards the conversation around the Zeltron.

Ever been in the right place at the wrong time? Wrong place at the right time? Well, whichever it was that was where Merulia had found herself. Perhaps she was once more funding her 'pilgrimage' and exploring the moon, enough work as a healer being found in the danger and violence of this setting. People get shot, stabbed, worse? They need to be patched up and that was working for the healer well enough. Pilgrim or not, she was still needing to eat!

Then again, perhaps she was here for exploration or more mundane purposes?

Whatever the reason might be, with the deep red poncho over her shoulders obscuring her usual clothing beneath that 'triangle' of the outer garmentwhile she rounds the corner.

The day had been long, that much was clear by the fact she was moving perhaps a little more slowly, her head down in her datapad until she nearly -bumps- into the back of the Aqualish.

Sitting near the ruins of a broken warehouse, Aryn watched from the vantage of a street bench as the associates of the Sith Empire set to scuttling a compromised site quietly. LP/OP sites were common in all corners of the galaxy; they supplies valuable intelligence on a number of activities ranging from manufacturing installations, imports and exports, personnel, and persons of interest. How this site was compromised remained a mystery to Aryn, but it was obviously something that occupied her thoughts.

Sucking in a slow breath, she turned her head toward the noise of someone giving orders. The forceful nature of the command was ultimately what drew her attention. From this distance, Aryn could not discern the reason for the posturing, and the presence of drawn weapons were lost on her, but there was a familiar feeling of danger that lurked in the air tantalizing her senses.

This sixth sense is what prompted Aryn to rise and slowly approach. One gloved hand gently adjusts her cape away from her right dominant arm, casting it comfortably over one shoulder like some noble duelist. The sound of her approach is heard upon the duracrete, a heralding 'clip-clop' of heeled boots.

Whether the the thugs knew Aria had bodyguards nearby was anyone's guess, but they certainly make themselves known when their blaster pistols clear their holsters and come to bear. The human man, Looman, was already moving forward and ordering Aria to get back when his weapon came up. The blue-skinned Twi'lek woman was flanking out to the side, apparently trying to get an angle that didn't involve firing into the pedestrians beyond.

Of course, however prompt and professional the guards' reactions might be, it doesn't make up for the fact that they were caught flat footed, out in the open.

Aria also seems caught completely off guard by the sudden, old-school stick-up. Maybe it shouldn't have taken her by surprise, given Gearhead's reputation for less-than-legitimate activity. But come on. All of Nar Shaddaa had that reputation -- except, maybe, New Vertica. Which, given the way the color drains out of the Zeltron's face, is where she'd probably stay, after this incident.

"Hey," her voice is a nervous purr, violet eyes shifting between the three of them, though they always seemed to drift back to the muzzle of the blaster that was inches from her, "let's talk about this..."

"I saw nothing," the Neimoidian said, holding his hands up, too, but backing away quickly since all the thugs seemed to care about was the woman he was with. They let him go, too. So much for honor.

The Weequay had already seen the guards moving, though, and reached out to grab Aria and spin her around like a hostage, pushing the muzzle of that blaster up against the side of her face. "Back off!" he yells. "She comes with--!"

He doesn't get to finish his statement. The Aqualish with the twitchy finger had nearly been /viciously attacked/ by the Sephi with the datapad, and he didn't ask questions. He turned and fired off a shot at her without looking, the blast ringing out across the street and sending people running.

The perpetrator that seized hold of the Zeltron female began to posture as if to hold her hostage. Chaos followed in the seconds to follow, but a distinct bass like sound rippled between Aryn and those in the vicinity of this situation. The kinetic field around the area was displaced by a sudden change and shift in the air that rattled everything from the street lamps to the tops of garbage containers in the dark alley.

The WEEQUAY THUG that took hold of the Lady Aria Voss was seized immediately by something he could not see or contend with. A crushing force that tested his air way and completely restrained his movements, even the air flow that traversed his arteries was closed.

And who was the architect of this sudden arrangement? It appeared to be Aryn, who raised her hand up casually, separating Voss from the Thug by suspending her assailant in the air where he struggled in place choking. Drawn to the pain and suffering of her victim, Aryn's eyes narrowed a bit, lips forming a thin line while her hand began to form a fist.

Annnnd Merulia was being shot at again. It was an accidental bump but the twitchy Aqualish spins on the spot and levels the blaster at her...but the Sephi's eyes go wide and she ducks with suprising deftness. If one was to be a healer on a world where many things tried to eat or poison you? One needed decent reflexes it seemed.

Of course, she didn't -have- a weapon in hand, she had a datapad, so what was Meru to do?

Well. a sharp stop to the thug's foot and a headbut from the petite space elf had the man staggering right as invisible panic and blaster fire begins!

Weapons are drawn, blows are exchanged, and Jayla raises her carbine to fire. The Weequay is lifted off the ground and starts to struggle, but she doesn't seem to mind. Two blaster shots ring out, one hitting the Aqualish and the other hitting the Weequay.

Two targets down.

The armored woman advances quickly, blaster fire from the Rodian lighting up in her HUD now.

Reality... shifted. Or, maybe reality just.. suspended. At the same time /everything/ began to move, Aria could /feel/ the percussion around her like it was inside her own head. Like she was at a concert, but the the bass line was thumping despite there being no music. Or maybe like she'd been caught inside some sort of an explosion.

But that's only part of it. The Weequay that had been holding her, one arm around her shoulders, the other pressing a blaster pistol to her face, was just... gone. As if the invisible explosion itself had taken him. Or like some miniature black hole had opened up and sucked him away. It left him writhing in the air, dropping his pistol and thrashing his limbs. Aria turned instinctively, apparently unsure /what/ she needed to run from at this point, and gaped at the sight.

Even as Merulia took the Aqualish to task, sending him reeling backwards, Aria's mouth hung open. Her violet eyes found the woman with the lifted hand and she shook her head. "Don't--"

But the words died there. Blaster fire erupted from everywhere, and Aria could not nothing except retreat, ducking for the cover of Looman, who held one hand out to pull her in against him as he fired a shot towards the Aqualish that went wide. The Twi'lek shot at the Rodian, who seemed equally baffled by the sudden chaos.

Then the Aqualish dropped dead, blaster bolt sending him sprawling. The Weequay, similarly, took a single hit and suddenly stopped struggling, though he was still dangling mid-air. All that was left was the Rodian, who in black-eyed rage, fired at the woman that had been the /reason/ for all of this -- Aria Voss.

The WEEQUAY THUG that Aryn had suspended was killed by a blaster bolt, and his body ceased struggling whilst in the air. Aryn released him to crumble on the ground just as another blaster discharged toward the Lady Voss. In a single motion, Aryn pulled the weapon from the offender and suspended the Rodian in a similar manner. The kinetic energy displaced by the action swept outward in an unseen but definitely felt way, displacing dust and small bits of debris upon the ground.

"A foolish endeavor considering the fate of those you called companions," Aryn issues, her voice distinctly highborn and from the Core. "No matter, robbed of your tools for harm, I will leave you suspended before us and confer a choice. You may speak the name of this employer you work for, or I will pull it from you. The manner by which you will never forget."

Aryn's voice is somewhat passionate but retains a succinct note to it; if anything, she is not bluffing. True to her word, the unarmed assailant is suspended before them by way of her outstretched hand. She threatens to close this hand into a fist, and the Rodian will feel the difference should Aryn be driven to that inclination.

"Speak, master Rodian, and walk away with your life."

Merulia wasn't generally certain about how readily Sith could use their 'Magicks' in public, but clearly...Aryn didn't have any concerns what so ever. Her amber eyes turning between the noble that had been the focus of the attack and Merulia's own little seemingly 'reflexive' rather that expert moment to Aryn's own display of power and the threat to the Rodian. A small blink, a tilt of her head as she looks then to the armored woman who'd cut down the other gunmen in rapid shots.

"It seems that you chose your moment poorly..." she muses aloud.

No one expected Voss Galactic to expand outside of its core-world market, taking and executing lucrative shipping and transportation contracts for the Sith Empire and its ally worlds for the last 15 years. Certainly not within this generation of ownership. Why would they take on the risk? The company had more business that they could handle already.

But Ronan and Lira Voss had a problem -- their daughter was just like them. She was brilliant, charming at galas and renegotiating business contracts before she was eighteen years old, but she was rebellious. Lord and Lady Voss were not /typical/ Zeltrons, if such a racially-charged statement was even worthy of being uttered. Her whole family gave up their hedonistic ways in favor of class and respectability. Aria, however, had become a reckless, insubordinate, irresponsible liability.

So what do you do, when you're a spoiled rich girl thrust out into the rim by an unexpected 'announcement' your father made about company expansion into Hutt-controlled space? You wither and die, just like he expects you to do, or you rise to the challenge.

From behind Looman, Aria's violet eyes watch the Rodian squirm and gasp for air. The words come out broken from fear and gasping for air. "C-Cassius... D-Drel-lik..."

The man whom she was hiding behind, however, was not focused on that. He was focused on the /others/ -- the 'threats' of Aryn and Jayla that still remained.

"Lower your weapons." The order comes from the pink-skinned young woman, her voice hard enough to be an order she expected to be followed, but soft enough that it was meant only for the two she employed. She stepped out from behind Looman, then, as the man followed her instruction and stepped back, and turned her gaze up at the dangling Rodian.

"Black Nova." Her words are cold, Aria's fists clenching at her sides. "Tell Cassius that if he wants a war, he can have one."

A beat.

"Actually, don't. I'll tell him myself." She turns, then, back to her guards. "Kill him."

Both of Aria's guards bring their weapons up to bear on the dangling Rodian and fire. One of the blasts catches him squarely in the chest, and the thug stops moving.

Aryn was true to her word, and had every intention of releasing the thug she had promised life, but the cards changed in the river and the Rodian had to use the hand he was dealt. Death arrived by the discharge of blasters, and Aryn released the sentient to fall to the ground among his other departed companions. The dismissive wave Aryn issued was evidence of the power releasing, and her shoulders sagged from a held breath finally being released.

"An interesting turn of events," Aryn comments after a beat, nose crinkling to the stench of ozone. Her hands clasp at her lower back, standing properly and seemingly unfazed by the display of violence. "A brazen attack, a declaration of war. Many might mistake you as a person of interest." Aryn has oriented herself toward Aria and her entourage.

Merulia didn't seem to be carrying a weapon, but her datapad did get tucked under her poncho before she folds her arms under the shroud of her poncho and her eyes narrow at the exchange and promise of war. Truely, it seemed the the politics of it all did more to disturb her than the death did, for it was the concept she understood far less of.

"You know this 'Cassius Drellik?" she questions of Aria, even with a gaze glimpsed towards Aryn and her comment, as if she might glean a better understanding of this dance from the noble.

<<As you wish.>> Jayla switches off the carbine and hooks it onto her belt once more. She watches through the helmet, her expression hidden. <<Local politics are of little interest to me directly. If anyone is interested in my continued involvement, my ship is parked at Gearhead. The Kalak.>>

As cold as the order might have been issued, there was still a flinch when the blasters went off. Aria watched the Rodian go limp, then fall to the ground, shoved to the side by some unseen force. And then her eyes are on the other three women, a small, grateful if tense smile on her lips.

"Thank you... all of you." And then she focuses on Jayla, first, apparently intent on catching her before she goes. "I'll stop by later," she promises before the Mandalorian can make it too far away.

But then those violet eyes are back on Aryn, a deep breath taken and released through her nose. It makes her chest fill, her shoulders rise and then sink. "Yes, well, story of my life. The attempts on my life are new, but not unexpected. I owe you more than just my thanks."

She steps closer to Merulia, however, and extends a hand slightly -- it looked like she might touch the Sephi's arm affectionately, but she stopped short. The important part gets addressed first, "Are you okay? I'm sorry you were here." But then she seems to remember the question asked and shakes her head. "Cassius is second in command of Black Nova Corporation. We've been having a bit of a... rivalry of late. Not my preference of how to conduct business, but this /is/ Nar Shaddaa. I'm afraid I'll have to go to the Hutts, next, and see what I can negotiate."

Back to Aryn, she lifts her hands slightly in front of her. "I'm sorry. My manners. My name's Aria Voss, and if there's anything I can do to show my gratitude, I hope you'll tell me." Back to Merulia. "I hope you know the same is true for you. You already know you're welcome on any of our ships. I hope this doesn't sour your trust. It's just an unfortunate blip. I'll have to be more careful in the future."

"Miss Voss," Aryn repeats, chin dipping slightly to acknowledge the greeting. "No thanks are required. Everyone is entitled to peace, even when they walk the streets of Nar Shaddaa. It was my pleasure that I might serve to restore it." When Aria reveals that Merulia is welcomed among their estate, the Lady's brow perks in a silent notion of interest, but she utters not a word of it.

"I am the Lady Aryn of Alderaan," She offers back. "I wish you good fortune in your war to come. Suffice to say the corporate battlefield is not one I am accustomed to traversing, but all the same."

Aryn notes the departure of the Mandalorian, recalling the name of their ship as 'the Kalak', but possessing no knowledge of who the mysterious warrior might be. They were not the first Mando'ade she has encountered, though; surprised that she worked for free!

Merulia herself seems relatively suprised, even if she had rendered service to Aria's ally in the past. Many a door can be opened with the right application of bacta apparently! Still she does glance to the fleeing Mando'ade, one of the collection she'd met but not one she could recognize by name like some of the 'Kora' clan.

Still, addressed as she was and with that almost-touch the medic nods, gesturing down at herself. "I am unharmed, he did not manage to hit me."

Mention of movement to the Hutts again earns a blink before she turns her gaze towards Aryn, as if trying to glean again the thoughts of one more aware...but either way she nods her head lightly. "Were they really so brazen as to plan on gunning you down in the street?"

There was something about the Zeltron's posture and inflection that seemed to gradually slip back into what might be considered 'old habits' -- away from the more casual posture and speech she'd adopted on Nar Shaddaa and back into the aristocratic core-ward manners she'd been raised with.

"Alderaan -- there was some giant scandal, when I was a child. I remember hearing murmurs, but I don't recall the specifics," Aria's smile is small and apologetic. But such was her life. She was too busy wrapped up in her own petulant drama to pay too much attention to anyone else's, especially at that age. "In any case, it's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Aryn. As gracious as are, I won't forget what you've done." Her smile softens, then. "I'll try my best to come to the Spring Festival that I heard about, if you'll be attending."

To Merulia, however, she nods once at the mention of being unharmed. The question, though, draws a soft laugh from her.

"And what do you imagine the punishment would have been, had they succeeded? A bit of negative publicity and finger-wagging? If even that, out here. But to what gain? We're signing contracts almost faster that I can keep up with them. We just recently began offering luxury transportation to and from Coruscant. Our contractors are independent, but they're quickly becoming used to the way I conduct business. If Black Nova removes me from the equation, it would be effortless for them to step in and take over my existing contracts."

A beat, then, and a shrug. "They have everything to gain, but they think they have nothing to lose. They underestimate my desire for survival." Another beat, and a glance around. Three dead bodies on the sidewalk, and they were still standing around talking.

"Speaking of which. Perhaps we should move to a safer location if you two ladies would like to continue talking. New Vertica, perhaps?"

Aryn makes no attempt at expounding over any scandal about Alderaan, but she intones a soft, acknowledging hum at the Lady Voss' first, surfacing memory of Aryn's home. Scandal! "I am certain the festival would be brightened by your presence." She adds on at the offer to join the festivities upon Droalder bay.

"I best return to my task at hand. Fare thee well, Ladies and tread more carefully. The shadows here are unforgiving." Aryn stands her ground in the same poise and pose she's held for the entire conversation and watches with patient grace. Her attention eventually shifts back to the ruin of one warehouse, and after a thought, orients back toward it and slowly walks away. Her cape, which had lipped over her one shoulder, falls back in place and bounces off the heels of her boots as she walks back toward her bench and vantage of the work being done by contractors.

The departure of Aryn does indeed get followed by the gaze of Merulia who lifts a hand in polite farewell before considering her 'weapon' that had been the datapad-turned club and the light dent in its farm. At least it was still working, right?

With the offer made and thought on the question, she does start to walk with Aria's suggestion of the departure. The bodies? They were simply left for the scavengers, as they would be on her own homeworld.

"Less than they will be for failing I suppose..."