Blue Sugar

Posted on Tue Apr 7th, 2020 @ 9:53pm by Thane & Amare

3,689 words; about a 18 minute read

Chapter: Chapter VI: The Last Bastion
Location: Undervos Holdings Factory, Wastes, Sleheyron
Timeline: Week Three (Immediately after "Ruby Taungsday")

OLD

"Nobody told me a Nautolan was brought on board, but you've got the look I suppose. Good hips, cute button nose. A bit lacking chest-wise. Hm, I've seen better, but we need more blue buns out there with the guests. Sit down, dearie. Those cheap little bands on your lekku aren't going to cut it. And where's your makeup? You really are new, aren't you?"

Coda nodded bashfully as she sat down in front of a mirror framed in makeup lights. "Y-yes. I'm sorry."

"I don't normally do this," the super said, "but some of the gentlemen here have been getting a little bored with the usual experienced girls. A young thing like you, with the sweet innocent look you have, just might be what we need tonight. Here, I think purple is your colour." She handed Coda amethyst-hued lipstick, a stark reminder of Thane. She wondered what he would've thought seeing her dressed as alluringly as she was. She felt several pairs of new metal bands being clasped around sections of her most prominent head tendrils, each bangle shining in a layer of fake gold. They were eye-catching and made her feel pretty; she had always been raised to be modest, but now she didn't care for the old fashioned ways of her adopted family. She wanted to be free and to enjoy the night as much as she could before Amare took over again. Some gelatinous sacs were added over her chest to better fill the satin lace bra cups, and a few minutes later, she rose up with relaxed confidence, ready to grab the attention of a certain captain of industry marked for death...

NEW

Gatill moved from one buffet table to the next, offering the occasional friendly smile, greeting or handshake to his fellow revellers as he sampled a variety of foods. The most recent morsel he had chucked into his mouth was from a world he neither recognised nor could pronounce (nor did he care especially for the female Sullustan that served it), and whilst there was a pleasant bitter undertone initially, he had quickly found a poorly-chosen exotic plant pot to spit it out into.

Now, he was in the market for another drink to wash the taste away. And, he noted internally as the young Twi'lek woman he had spotted sidling past earlier smiled from across the room at him, something to wash away the taste of this backroom arrangement with Yaxley.

Certainly, this whole deal was going to make him richer, but this black market dealing was not his usual modus operandi; Gatill fancied himself more the honest and endearing chap that peddled his wares to weary travellers on the galactic highway, although cold reality had forced him in with some strange bedfellows. He glanced quickly up to Scivo once more, who continued his stony-eyed vigil from the upper-level foreman's office.

Gatill smiled a wide and toothy smile, something he knew the Muun would not care for, and then tipped his empty glass in mock toast to his wily and faux-civil financial director. As expected, Scivo appeared to loose a bemused breath before turning away from the window and into the office. It was petty, but Gatill was happy to claim even that one of his small final victories against the fastidious man.

"A solitary drink for a solitary man of mystery?" came a soft female voice from behind Gatill. The discerning businessman turned to spy his eyes upon a slender silky blue hand offering a sparkling orange and red drink. "You look mighty thirsty, darlin', and lonely." There was a somewhat exaggerated frontiersman's country drawl to the accent, and an equally inviting smile.

The man seemed slightly surprised by the sudden approach of the Nautolan woman, and he smiled when he finally recognised what she had said. "A rich man's never lonely," he said, although his smile did not seem like a happy one as he popped down his empty glass and accepted the one being offered to him. Gatill took a sip as he examined the woman that had lingered longer than the other, his lightly-intoxicated eyes examining the depths of hers. "How old are you?" He then asked.

Coda's eyes seemed to smile at the drunken Gatill as the silky swirls in those twin dark orbs seemed to part ways as if to invite the man into their depths.

"Eighteen," she lied as she gently leaned a hip a bit closer, hoping the human would invite her to sit beside him. She produced an identical drink of her own with her other hand and took a scintillating sip in front of him, her gaze steamy as she sized the man up and down. "I've never been around rich people before," she said, the Saucy Feril fake accent being played up to tee. "I'm a farm girl m'self, y'see. Are all rich men as handsome and dandy as yerself?"

Gatill laughed at the comment. "Ha. No, but some are a lot more gullible. Lucky for you, I find you just charmin'," he said, clearly enjoying the attention Coda was giving him, regardless of the verity behind it all. For now, the Human seemed happy to engage in the informal contract being born out of the social setting. He glanced around the group around him, noticing that most were Yaxley's folk. "Do you fine girls and boys have somewhere more quiet for us to... continue this conversation?"

Coda leaned in close with her most inviting smile and gently stroked under Gatill's chin. "Of course," she replied. "Lucky for you, I like quiet 'conversation'. She straightened herself and extended her hand effeminately with her palm down to the human which he gratefully accepted and being led away before he could enjoy another sip of his beverage. Guards on duty threw lustful glances at Coda as she passed by with her VIP whom they believed was about to get the time of his life with his new young and slender Nautolan companion..

With Gatill now in hand, Amare quickly played the scenarios within the headspace she occupied, and found her options to be considerably limited. She couldn't lead him to the locker room where her shoto was hidden due to the smell, and she certainly couldn't use the dressing room either due to the risk of being discovered by the old lady in charge of the escorts and catering staff. To her relief, however, she could see through their shared eyes that Coda's instincts were already steps ahead when they were heading towards an unused manager's office which was blessedly unlocked and had no observation windows.

Before the door could auto-slide open, Coda turned and could notice a bit of hesitation in Gatill, and she softly said to him, "It's okay if you're nervous. I know all the ways to make you comfortable, and so much more." She leaned in for a kiss, slightly on the tips of her toes to meet his lips. "We can go as slow as you like," she added, hands pressed on Gatill's chest as she made contact.

This was the temptresses' game Amare knew only Coda could play. For two years, Coda never once allowed things to become entirely "adult" with any of her clients on Nar Shaddaa. She had a gift for gauging when to come on strong for the nervous ones, and when to play a measure of submissiveness for the more arrogant and confident types. The art of manipulation was always a very fine balancing act, much like the Force itself. There were, however, strict boundaries, and rarely did Saucy have to send in security to intervene. Yet, in all that time, Coda did what she did without ever knowing that her mother, Zenarrah, was observing everything in a secret apartment overlooking the club just two hundred meters across the way.

Zen had taken Coda away from her vicious Nautolan husband on Corellia to be used for her psychic gifts of the Force to gain information and blackmail for Zen's own purposes on the Smuggler's Moon. Knowing that, Amare regretted not killing her mother on Mustafar when she had the chance, but family always came first, and in spite of the abuse she suffered at Zen's hands on that rocky fireball of a world, not even the dark side could make her forget that she still loved her mother for the good she had done to protect her only daughter.

For a moment, Gatill appeared to lean back towards his companion, giving into the urges that were palpable through her connection to the Force. But, just as suddenly as a Hoth blizzard, he pulled back again, his face a picture of frustration. The lust had surrendered to a dismay, which seemed even more prevalent than the last emotion in the middle-aged Human.

"No," he said, pushing her back with his other hand, "no, it ain't right. This isn't me. I mean, look at you; you're little more than a girl." He took a couple of steps backwards in the unused office and sat himself onto an old swivel chair, landing slightly harder than he would have if he had been sober. "I may not see her much, but I got a daughter just a little younger than you," Gatill continued, his voice more slurred than it had been before, the alcohol seeping more into his body. "If she were doin- If she..." The businessman shook his head and he looked back up the Nautolan. "Look, I'll cover your wages tonight or for the next month, or whatever. Just enjoy the night, an- and maybe get yourself out of this work."

He leaned back in the chair, his inebriation seeming to get the better of him slightly, and he let his head roll back a little, eyes now trained on the unclean ceiling. Gatill let a long exhale of breath out.

It was a level of information Coda had really wished she didn't hear, making it even harder knowing what she was helping Amare to do. It even gave Amare herself pause for a moment before reminding herself that compassion for the human would certainly be considered a failure for her first mission as a Sith apprentice.

Close the distance, Amare ordered as she mentally "tugged" at the "leash" between her personality and Coda's. The latter felt a sharp, though fleeting pain deep in her brain, though it wasn't strong enough to elicit a strong reaction beyond a mere reflexive wince on her face. Coda covered it with a sigh laced with the sound of relief.

Gain his trust, Amare pressed further. Remember, if we fail here, Serus will not be forgiving; he will execute us. We have come too far and suffered too much to let that happen. Not now. Not ever.

"I'm glad you feel that way," Coda said, changing tactics through her vocal tone and mildly bashful body language with a subtle transition towards innocence. "I...I was actually kind of nervous. I've never...well, you know. The other girls said it was the best way to make a good tip. But...you don't need to help me, honest. I would be more grateful if you wanted to talk. If I left here too early, it would look bad in front of the others." She moved as she spoke over to the desk next to where he sat and seated herself at the edge. "Your daughter is lucky to have a father like you. What's she like? Is she as kind and generous as you?"

Gatill raised his head back up, bleary-eyed from both the alcohol and the blood flow from moving his head too quickly. After a moment of sizing Coda up again, he allowed her a small smile. "I'm not kind," he said, lazily waving his hand, "and I'm rich, so I get to get away with giving credits away like they're nothin'. It's one of the small happy perks of being me, these days. But..." He seemed confused for a moment, losing his words or train of thought. "What this place is for isn't good, but it will mean she'll be looked after. And I can finally forget all of this dodgy dealing nonsense - get myself away from the hacks and the double-dealers, like that snake Scivo." He shook his head as he said the man's name. "That Muun probably sold his heart the minute he was old enough to hold a calculator."

The frustration on Gatill's face only last a moment, though, before he seemed to take note of his companion once again. And, again, a smile came across his face. "I'm sorry, kid. I'm just looking forward to this all being over. I'm done with this life. I just want the simple things now, and to make sure everyone I know an' care about is comfortable. That's all."

As Coda started to waver from the gentleman's sweet words, Amare quickly intervened.

Remember those nice words Master Nakomo said to you when you first met him? Now recall what he did near the end of that week; all the training, all the false hope he fed you. The betrayal still hurts, doesn't it? Do not let this human beguile you too.

Coda nodded, gently placed a hand on Gatill's shoulder with a warm smile on her face and asked, "And what about you? Don't you deserve to be comfortable? You men always work so hard to provide, sacrificing so much time and energy for your families. Please, let me help you feel some comfort too."

Before Gatill could answer, Coda had already slid off the desk and started to massage his incredibly tense shoulders. As she did, she started to feel a connection to the life in him, and could hear the faint beating of his heart. Dark power moving through her fingertips insidiously started to gradually extract further notions of masculine resistance to her feminine act of caregiving.

"You are so tense," she noted softly in his ear. "Let me prepare you before you head back into that stressful life out there. Just for one heavenly minute, I promise."

Coda thought back to Amare, What if he speaks the truth? I can't orphan an honest man's child.

Of course you can, dearie,, Amare gently countered. That thief woman on Sheva you killed had a sick younger brother that depended on her to live. What about Dr. Eldrick? He was a single father of two daughters. Those men you shot dead at Club Resonance could have had families too. And as for Nakomo, that wasn't me that set those traps on the ship; that was all you. The little sob act you pulled to lure him, and the way you surprised the Fosh when she attacked you; that was you too. Do you know why you did those things? Not because you're evil, but rather that you had to. When the chips are down and the only choice is death or survival, morality loses its value. That is why you are going to relinquish control back to me...willingly.

Why would I do that? Coda wondered, the horror of being shunted back into her own mind-prison faltering her resolve.

Unlike our mother, Amare thought with finality, you do not betray the ones you love. Thane is waiting, dearie. The time is now.

In seconds, the lithe blue hands massaging Gatill that were leased under Zaracoda's control had been repossessed by Amare.

This is who you are, Zara... Amare thought as she sensed the primary blood vessels surging deoxygenated blood back to Gatill's heart.

She pictured in her mind's eye the anatomy lesson her mother left for her to study on the human heart. The knowledge not intended merely for academic pursuit, but for more effective lethality when dealing with the ubiquitous pinkskin species. Thinking back to the trouble she had choking Rex with her powers on the Red Raptor, she found that it was easier to sense and touch the flow of liquid than it was the air of the windpipe. The movement of her left hand sliding sensually down to his chest, and the clasping of her right hand over his mouth was swift and vice-like akin to the snapping mandibles of a Killik warrior.

Gatill, having already been weakened by his intoxication and Amare's subtle Force Draining power from the neck massage, tried to react and resist, but his thrashing was lethargic and his eyes were wide with terror as he looked down at his malevolent assassin's right hand engulfed in a surging scarlet flame that produced no heat, but was indeed burning and absorbing his essence. The "fire" was so luminous and intense that he could clearly see the bones of Amare's hand. The midi-chlorians in his body resisted, but the power of the dark side of the Force compelled them with overpowering ferocity to relinquish what life-giving energy they held needed to sustain Gatill's living cells. The essence flowed in an easy stream from throughout his body to gush through his mouth whilst a terrible crushing power clamped down on the lower half of his heart.

"Shh, you'll never have to feel stress again," Amare said quietly with a cheerful smile to Gatill in cold blood. "Your daughter will live on knowing her father worked himself to death. Your heart just couldn't take it anymore..."

Amare's goal had been to cause a heart attack by zeroing in on, and crushing only the left anterior descending artery, but in spite of studying and visualizing the heart in her memory, her application of the Force lacked precision, and her lack of experience with human anatomy made her decide that she didn't have time to practice and search for the proper blood vessel. In her frustration, and the level of massive pain she was inflicting, she decided to quicken the pace and just crush the heart in general. Veins, arteries, ventricles, and atria all were being crushed in equal measure. Instead of ending him quickly as she had hoped, Gatill's suffering extended as his blood vessels burst and his body started to lurch uncontrollably. Blood started to drain from his nose, and she could feel phlegm on the palm of her hand held over his mouth. As the moment stretched to over a minute, his bloodshot eyes had rolled back towards his skull, and from inside his chest Amare could sense that his heart, having ceased its beats, was a squishy mess of internal bleeding. It was easily the most barbaric act of murder she had ever committed.

This is who you are... Amare thought for Coda as she released Gatill, allowing his corpse to slump in the chair, his lifeless arms dangling at his sides. She casually wiped her bloodstained hand on what little fabric there was on her ridiculous skimpy outfit, and added, There is no me or you. There's no split personality. There is only Amare, the first Sith apprentice in a thousand years. Once, I was Zaracoda, and will always be thus. I am learning to accept the compassion and the kindness I was once known for, but I can no longer afford to show concern for others where concern for me is lacking. The more I kill, the lesser the effort needed, except this time...I need more practice with these hearts. I underestimated the complexity of human organs. No wonder it takes many years to train people to be doctors. So much to learn, but I have so little time to spare...

After palming through his coat pockets, and having found a compact hyper-comlink device, she turned off the light to the office and confidently stepped into the corridor, sensing a passing male Weequay guard stopping to notice her. He saw her straightening her triangle-shaped bra cups and immediately could tell the Nautolan had just finished pleasing one of the guests.

"Keeping busy, huh?" the Weequay asked her, licking his lips at the thought of trying his hand with the sea-dwelling variety. He wondered if Nautolan girls could perform the same tricks as Twi'leks, or if their skin felt as silky smooth.

"If you have fifty credits at the end of my shift, I might decide to extend my 'schedule' for you too," Amare falsely promised with a wink.

"Why wait?" the Weequay said, glancing over his should to make sure no one was looking. "I've got sixty to make it worth your while."

Amare sighed with deep annoyance at the delay to the next part of the mission. "Fine," she agreed upon noticing the blaster pistol at his side. "Not in there," she clarified with a tilt of her head towards the office from which she came. "Client's asleep. I know a place down the hall. Nobody will know."

She led the guard back towards the locker room where her gear was stored. A few minutes later, she emerged fully dressed again in her sage green outfit, shoto hooked by her left hip, blaster pistol with leather holster strapped to her right hip, and one more dead guard to add to her tally. Amare delighted in having placed the Weequay's severed head on the lap of the still-unconscious Twi'lek girl she left in the locker room just to make the memory of the night that much more unforgettable when the girl woke up. Amare had discarded the skimpy outfit, but kept on the faux gold metal bands for her head tendrils as parting gifts. She cautiously peered out to assess the hallway, and slipped quietly back into the maintenance closet where the water tube hatch was. With Gatill's comlink and her handheld computer, she began to slice for the late businessman's contact info. When she found the data she needed, she produced her own comlink and programmed in the contact she needed.

"Don't cut the line, Miss Yaxley," Amare said when the call was answered. "Your life is in danger."

TBC

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