Partridge in a Pear Tree. (Sa'ato/Kress. Ask)

[Kressara Thryn]

Temple of Exar Kun.
Lower Catacombs.
Yavin IV.



The toe of Kressara’s slipper bounced off of a rise in the ancient tiles, tossing her into a barely controlled stumble that ended with the bridge of her nose hammering against black stone. Warm wetness drizzled down over equally red lips, glitterstim deposits shimmering in her blood.

”Ugh...sprung a leak.” Touching calloused fingertips to her nose, Kressara thought to curse whoever put that wall there. Of course it wasn’t their fault she blinded herself only hours prior.

Blurry darkness surrounded the dainty sith where others might see their way clearly and with one hand skimming the wall she found her way through the temple to a set of stairs. One cautious step at a time carried the blinded black bird into the catacombs with the hem of her skirt slithering along the stairs behind her, guided by only the sense Sa’ato presently lingered in the temple’s underneath. Weak in the knees, but determined, The ghost pale platinum sith scrounged around blindly before her palms grazed a door that hid the very force signature she’d been searching for. Sa’ato was beyond it. With three taps of her reddened knuckles, Kressara straightened up and let herself in.

“Professor! Forgive my intruding...but I have a thrilling proposition for you! Something right up your alley, you know?” Bloody reds tightened into a showgirl smile and goldstone hazels strained to find so much as an outline of the academic. Thryn, ever the eccentric, appeared differently that morning then she ever had before the Neti. While usually he’d seen her clad in gear, light armoring, and a long coat with enough weapons strapped to her body to constitute a small armory, today the crow looked rather civilian. A black, floor length, bohemian skirt split on either side of her legs and bound back together in lace ribbons hung from her hips and a stretch of bare torso beneath a billowing cropped tank showed off long since healed battle scars littering lean muscle. A belt of jet feathers dangling had been wrapped around the waist to match tassels keeping her top drawn together, and the avian remnants tied into delicate braids hidden throughout that mop of white gold. Layers of leather, cloth, and metal bracelets weighed down each visibly shaking wrist and a multitude of rings clacked against the nearest surface when such a jittering hand sought out stability for the oddly out of sorts glit-biter.

“You see, I’m taking part in a little chemistry experiment and I thought you might be able t-” Kressara bumped an ankle against a table leg and fell forward in a whirl of obsidian fabric and dazzling tresses, spilling onto the floor. From her skirt pocket rolled a half full pill bottle marked Batch 32, clattering over the temple floors to a stop at the professor’s feet. Groaning in her obvious physical distress and dripping from her sinuses while trembling like a crumpled leaf in the wind, the young sith pulled herself up onto her elbows and continued. “...to help.”

Bashful now that she felt properly made a fool of, Blood’s former protege grinned through the embarrassment and did her best to sound dignified. Contrary to popular belief, she actually did care about her reputation a smidge, hoping her next words would impress the scholar enough not to earn a scolding for bleeding on his study floor.

“I heard the bottle rattling. Did my pills roll somewhere? I can’t actually see right now and I probably won’t for a significant while. No longer than twenty four hours usually.” Why did the ground have to be so solid? What did the sith have against carpeting? At least her knees wouldn’t be rug burned. Taking a breath first, the black bird started, “Well, those pills are a little project I’ve been working on. I’m developing a drug and I could use your help. While I have gotten the desired results a few times throughout different trials, I have also succeeded in blinding myself at least five times, causing inflammation of the airways twelve times, and random muscle spasms almost every batch.”

Sitting up a bit more, Kressara attempted to stop her shining blood from oozing any further by pressing the back of her hand to her nose.

“And yes, this is important to me...I’m trying to develop a drug that can mitigate the negative side effects of glitterstim. I know everyone here thinks I’m just stalling my progress with addiction, but it’s not like that. When I say I need it, that’s not chemical dependency talking. It’s strategy. A bad one, but a strategy all the same.”

Over the months Kressara kept tabs on the Neti sith, watching his actions and listening every chance she got. Those curious little sparkly gems in her skull weren’t just staring at his progress in their organization for fun. She was gauging him, and Sa’ato was apparently found worthy of her trust. While no doubt the professor could likely be just as cruel as the rest of the world given the chance, Kressara was sure of it, he valued something over the power her peers craved. Intellectual exploration, invention, design, and experimentation. How could he turn her down? Especially with a few sugared words to sweeten the proposal and a promise or two.

“I shouldn’t be doing this on my own. My boys can only take this so far with their limited resources and knowledge. I should have stopped months ago, but honestly yours is the only mind I’d trust to this. Every chance I get, I keep my ears open around you. I believe you could show me what I’m doing wrong...help me, and I’ll owe you a few favors, Sa’ato.”

Not to mention the fact that her newest scar, a burned shut gash, was attained in the pursuit of something the professor had needed. It appeared to be healing well. Now only time could fade the marring of her flesh.

[Professor Mors]

There was always something disrupting Sa’ato and his various projects these days. Thankfully for Kressara, in the scheme of things, the academic’s current preoccupation was from pressing. The professor had recently discovered a yet-undocumented species of carnivorous plant growing in the marshes that surrounded the great northern lake. Somewhat physically fatigued from the ongoing renovations to the temple grounds, the Neti had taken on a single specimen for the purposes of studying its ecology, and had quickly made several observations of note. For one thing, the sprout was quite venomous, and concealed three rows of sharp teeth within its faux petals.

What’s more, the plant in question possessed the precursor of a vocal organ, which it manipulated to que its neighbors for seeding, and miraculously, to measure the distance between itself and potential meals. Even now, as Kressara fumbled about and drew close to the professor’s desk, the crimson bloom let slip a eerie, whistling tune. Slowly, the Neti turned his head to look at his latest uninvited guest, “Well, you certainly know how to spin a bargain better than Silvanius”. The retired teacher paused, and slowly shifted his body around in his chair to better face the woman, “Your proposition intrigues me, and for the sake of science I will assist you without a fee-”.

Sa’ato let the phrase hang on the air for a few moments, before a thin smile spread across his oaken lips, “That said, despite whatever motivation you may have, dependence is dependence, sickness is sickness”. The professor frowned in earnest, “But, as you said, you are looking to override your reliance on this substance- I will hold you to that”. The red, leafy specimen to the professor’s left began to whine at a slightly higher pitch, and the Neti eyed it cautiously before adding, “Together we will purify the necessary mixture, but I will keep the technical data under lock and key. I shall likewise synthesize a few months' supply on your behalf, but no more beyond that”.

True to lingering anxiety at the back of Sa’ato mind, his rebellious carnivore suddenly whistled for an attack, opening its faux-petals and lurching out towards the dizzy corvid with teeth-bared. Its stem stretching to the utmost, it succeeded in snapping its jaws some mere inches from the woman’s cheek, but no further. Channeling a small but potent font of annoyance, the professor tore out all of the moisture trapped within the plant via the Force, his stony gaze indifferent to its dying whimpers. “Do not mistake my conditions for cruelty, young one”, the professor explained with a generously soft tone, “I enact them for your benefit, in the long run”.

[Kressara Thryn]

I wasn’t born of a whistle, or milked from a thistle at twilight
No; I was all horns and thorns, sprung out fully formed, knock-kneed and upright.

So, enough of this terror.
We deserve to know light
and grow evermore lighter and lighter.
You would have seen me through,
But I could not undo that desire.

-Joanna Newsom


---



The manner in which Sa’ato calmly responded, not even rising from his chair, almost convinced the blinded sith that she was speaking to no one. That was until his voice and the whistling of a hungry plant tickled her eardrums. A promise of help without a cost struck Kressara’s better business sense. Nothing in the universe is free. Something always requires a payment. The old “first one’s free” tactic was the oldest trick in the spice dusted pages of a dealer’s book. Sightless heterochromatics fixated on the wall behind the professor, though that soul searching glance was meant for him. The gears were turning behind her eyes all the while Sa’to spoke, taking in every word, analyzing his intentions, digging for hidden ideas, focusing on every inflection.

“That said, despite whatever motivation you may have, dependence is dependence, sickness is sickness”

Well, he didn’t have to call Kressara out quite like that, but there really was no ground to stand on for argument. Sickness is sickness, and the young sith on his study floor had been sick for a while. Not just from the use of dangerous substances, but a series of failures to herself in the pursuit of succeeding for others. For the first time in her life, Kressara was doing things to better herself. Perhaps she was going about it entirely wrong, but there was motivation to promote her own growth. People just didn’t often see it. A few months was all he offered. Kressara hadn’t expected a limit to the supply they could create together and it didn’t take much intelligence to catch on. The professor clearly didn’t approve of her substance abuse. Eh, it’s not like she expected any different. She was quite used to indifference. Still, maybe knowing why she needed glitterstim was something Sa’ato needed to hear. If anything, not to mistake her for some common junkie.

A pitchy squeal pricked her ears and teeth clacked near enough to feel the wind of a carnivorous plant lurching. Kress didn’t leap back despite the startle. She knew better than to flail blindly when another could see the danger, and instead trusted the Neti to quell his voracious plant. Yet his next words could have been said for either sith, or withering leaves.

Cruelty. Everything was cruel, even when wonderful.
If the cruelty of the world did not make you long for change, the change of the world would feel like cruelty. For this, seldom could you ever catch a complaint from her scarlet stained mouth. What was the point when the nature of all things good and evil, was to become nothing but nostalgia and memory in the end? If his refusal to continue the supply of a drug she believed she needed was cruel, either she’d come to think differently in the future or some greater insult would overshadow it. She would figure it out on her own if she needed to and be grateful for what help was offered.

“...What bit at me? Smells nice.” Of course the self destructive little glit-biter would think a venomous plant smelled lovely. Kress straightened and spoke up, “Truth be told, I think our definitions of cruelty vastly differ.” Her smile went lopsided as she dragged herself onto her feet to lean against the table. “Cruelty might have been socking me in the mouth for bothering you. If all you had to offer when I asked for help was a hand to the door, it’s what you offer.” Squinting at the now dehydrated specimen to try and make out its shape, Kressara shrugged. “Don’t walk into a garden full of thorns and biting plants, expecting tea leaves and primroses...yeah? Seeing as you didn’t show me out and the only blood on my face is my own misstep, I think we’re far from cruelty, don’t you?”

Admitting to a weakness never did feel good, but it was time to bite the vibroblade and spill it so maybe Sa’ato would stop looking at her like a sick, but interesting animal. She cleared the sparkling gunk from her throat and proceeded, “I got hooked on glitterstim when I ran from the sith with my son. It gave me enough of an edge over the others that I could stay three steps ahead for months. I was just trying to keep him safe then, and I failed...in the process I used way too much and that first overdose changed things.” Her shivering finger lifted to point at her skull, dropping again to support her weight on the ledge. “But I’ve always had a block. I don’t easily feel the force. I can’t connect to it like others around me unless I’m using glitterstim. So if I can use the drug without the sickness it causes...you see what I’m saying, don’t you? Plus, without anything to lose it’s pretty easy to take the risk. It’s the best chance I have to be something more than just Blood’s failed apprentice.”

Knuckles whitened as her fingers gripped the table edge.

“So if you’re willing to help, I’m willing to pull a great deal of weight to make this even a little bit more possible. Time and everything it brings can take away all it wants from me, but I'm not letting it leave me behind without a fight."

[Professor Mors]

Sa’ato was silent for some time. He stared down at the corvid with gilded, unblinking eyes, and an expression that she likely could not place blind or otherwise. After what likely felt like a small eternity, the professor slowly rose to his feet, and took a step forward, coming to rest beside the crouched addict. With all the delicateness of a flower petal floating gently on the wind, the Neti brought his elongated, root-like fingers to rest on Kressara’s shoulder, and let slip what could only be described as a choked sigh, “The best students are always those who persevere: I sense your will to survive- to succeed, most acutely”.

Without turning to face the woman or meet her gaze, the retired academic strode slowly to the door of his study, and paused once more at the threshold. “I too know what it means to sacrifice everything and still fail, young one”, the professor explained in a hushed tone no louder than a whisper, “As well as the difficulty involved in moving forward. Despite all that this life has brought to bear against you, you have not accepted death and defeat. This is worth earning my empathy. Let us walk this path together: we will find you an alternative, and see that your full potential is brought to fruition”. And with that, the Neti passed out of sight, the echo of his footsteps serving as the only remaining evidence of the discussion…


***Drongar System, Outer Rim Territories, Grid Coordinates T-5***

The journey through hyperspace had been a quiet one. Despite a cursory tour of the Mudhorn and a vague explanation of their heading, Sa’ato had more or less kept to himself, busying about the various technical consoles or else disappearing for hours at a time to meditate in the captain’s cabin. Just as the social isolation might have become truly unbearable, the Neti eventually summoned Kressara to the cockpit, and rolled a shoulder towards the blue-green planetoid that grew nearer and nearer with each moment. “Drongar”, the professor explained, “A medical powder-keg prized even more than all the bacta on Thyferra”.

Easing his Pursuer-Class assault craft into a slightly bumpy descent, the Neti scanned the dense jungle landscape for clearings after navigating the misty veil of rain clouds in the lower atmosphere. “If we are to cut down on the toxins of your usual regimen”, Sa’ato continued, “We need something to keep your ties to the Force stimulated. That’s where the bota plant comes in. We’ll have to acquire a workable sample”. And by ‘acquire’, the retired teacher of course meant ‘steal’. As his ship thunked harshly down onto the muddy, humid ground, the professor wasted no time in bounding down the loading ramp, macrobinoculars in hand.

“Alliance bureaucrats tend to skim off the local crops in their own private compounds”, the Neti moved to conclude, “We just have to find one…”. Find one, and do a little skimming of their own…

[Kressara Thryn]

The professor’s response to her story and promises of effort genuinely shocked Kressara into silence. Unseeing eyes widened when potential was acknowledged rather than pointing out her shortcomings as many had before. People had a way of looking down on Kressara like she was just another scumbag glit-biter whose struggles overwhelmed and buried them long ago, assuming not a soul worth knowing would have attended that eulogy. Pretending it didn’t bother her was an act she knew better than any actress learning her lines. Every day felt like opening night and right about now was when the curtains usually fell.

But Sa’ato stepped backstage after the closing call.
He reached out to her.
He told her she wasn’t the first to fail.
He said she could learn to be better.

And for one confusingly blissful second, Kressara believed him.


~~~~~~


“I too know what it means to sacrifice everything and still fail, young one”

The phrase lingered in the back of Kressara Thryn’s mind even as she paced nervously in front of her cot. Back and forth, five steps forward, turn, five more, repeat. The professor hid whatever it was he was referring to well, if it was as painful for him as the past was for her. Was he hiding it, or had he actually managed to heal the wounds with time? He was a Neti after all. They had a lot of time to work with.

He also spent a great deal of that time meditating.

However Sa’ato could stand all that silence and stillness, the black bird sith would never understand. In the time it took her bark skinned expedition leader to complete just one of his sessions, Kressara had triple checked her gear, polished her blades (all thirteen of them), oiled her hidden wire ring mechanisms and the detachable talons for the toes of her boots, charged battery packs, braided her hair, plucked a couple rogue eyebrow hairs, browsed through her contacts, called a couple of orders in for her boys back on Euphornis Major, unbraided her hair, and paced some more. After that? She decided to explore the ship three times, rewire a flickering cabin light, and restock the lavatory toiletries. Relief washed over the young woman when at last she was called to the bridge, putting an end to her awkward busy work.

Dressed for the job in her usual attire and gear, his flaxen passenger strode into the cockpit with a ruby lipped grin to see a lush looking planet growing larger the closer Sa’ato flew.

“Looks like a tame enough world. Nice exports.” Kress slid into one of the empty seats closest to the Neti and took to fiddling with her rings to keep from giving herself a nervous stomach ache upon entry into the atmosphere. The rumbling of gravity catching their vessel curtled her empty stomach and kept the wayward sith silent until at last the ground came up to greet their landing gear. Once settled, like a duckling behind it’s mother, Kressara’s heels tapped eagerly behind the professor’s stride from the hull, onto solid earth. Moisture in the air brought a promise of rain. Such weather would do well to help mask their presence should it begin to pour anytime soon, so his partner in crime didn’t stress the grey clouds.

“Stealing a valuable plant in the name of science. Lucky for you, Professor, you’re working with a fourth generation farmer’s daughter turned pickpocket.” Smirking, she pulled the hood of her belted trench coat up to protect against a light drizzle peppering the fields. “Let’s acquire the hell out of that workable sample.”

[Professor Mors]

“I suppose lucky is one way to describe it-”, the Neti started, before he momentarily closed his eyes and let the rain drizzle down over his head and neck, “But shouldn’t a farmer stop to soak up their surroundings?”. Sa’ato shook himself from his brief meditation before stomping ahead through the marshy undergrowth, his gravelly voice strumming the air all the while, “I will not deny a medical solution to your problem, young one, but at the same time I wonder if a change in practicum would bolster your training in the Force”. The professor presumed that despite her roots, Kressara had adapted from her rural origin to become the socialite that stood at his rear.

And, while an urban education was not without its merits, the Living Force was more slippery to grab hold of amidst so many conflicting, artificial energy signals. “I encourage you to broaden your mind while we go about our task here, Miss Thryn”, Sa’ato continued, heaving a fresh dose of oxygen into the air as he vaulted over a rotting log, “There are several dangers here, and I cannot guarantee I can subdue them all at once-”. The Neti’s gilded eyes shot up to the tree line as a raucous chorus of tropical birds, or what seemed to be birds erupted above.

“Be mindful of the purple stingwort”, the academic carried on, disregarding the sloshing of water beneath his boots, “Its toxins will leave you paralyzed for at least three hours…”. “But most of all”, Sa’ato moved to conclude, turning his head to glance at his colleague, “Be wary of the Drongar mud eel, they’re highly aggressive and possess an electric-”. The professor was unable to finish his sentence, for at that moment a long, slippery black tail flashed up out of the shallow bog that lay behind him and smacked the Neti in the dead middle of his side.

Indeed, the retired teacher did not even have time to cry out as a bright discharge of energy sent him flying through the air. Impacting harshly onto a cluster of rocks off to the right, the Neti barely had time to partially collect his senses before three more wrigglers came barreling toward him. A burst from the academic’s wrist-mounted flamethrower convinced one of the trio to dive for cover, but before the downed Sa’ato could reach for his saber, the other two were upon him. Gnawing and thrashing against his armor, the Neti was at little risk of serious injury. That said, the nigh-continous assault of high-voltage bursts kept him pinned down. He would need time, or aid to make his counterattack…

[Kressara Thryn]

A crooked smirk pulled at lipstick painted lips. He had her there. “Sorry...I’m a little bit eager. I’ve missed lively planets like this.” Workable soil, humid air, water everywhere, crops growing in distant fields, and the smell of rain. It’d been a minute since she stepped food on spongy ground and actual grass, and they get to steal from a bunch of rich people? Absolutely. Kressara followed in the professor’s larger footprints as they held a conversation about furthering her education. It wasn’t a secret. The sith assassin behind him did not come from riches or esteem. Everything she knew today was hard learned, in the midst of living and struggling for better standing. Practical knowledge, trade knowledge, mannerisms, personas, talents, use of the force, combat, and dare she venture to say a dash of leadership skills as well. All of it was learned on the cusp of danger, failure, or dire need. Hardly a stable classroom environment. Let’s not get started on her adventures in the magical, explosive world of chemistry.

“Heh, yeah. You might have a point there. You’d probably cringe at the lack of formal training and education I have under my belt, but I think I’ve done pretty well despite it. Could always do better though and all I have is time. If you’re feeling so inclined to direct me towards alternate education, I’m interested enough to follow your lead.” Hazels focused on the jungle floor as she traversed the deepening mud. Something resentful overcame her expression when next she answered, “I’ve become painfully aware that it’d be in my best interest to unlearn my former master’s teachings, and build myself up differently.”

Water sloshed when the Neti cleared a rotting log, one that Kressara bounded over in turn with a far less noticeable splash. Purple stinging crud, got it. Electric eels, double got it. Something slithered through the mud, but before Kressara could say a word the wicked tail of one such beast flicked up to snap him in the side. Instinct kicked in with a nimble hop the young sith was up on a low hanging branch, but Sa’ato wasn’t afforded such an opening. Eels caught him while he was prone in the water, shocking the poor man into paralysis.

“Hang on!” Kressara reached for her blade but paused, realizing everything she owned was metal, or hooked to battery packs. An electric charge from those eels could fry them, or worse. Instead, the flaxen assassin snapped a branch free from the limb she perched on, breaking off the excess foliage with a quickness to shape it into a makeshift polearm. It’d have to do. Leaves rustled and shook loose from the branch when the sith crow launched herself from its safety, plunging into the mud and striding after Sa’ato. She was upon him with pole in hand, swiping at the eels. “Off! Back! Shoo! Eww!” One of the eels curled around her boot, zapping the sith acolyte who remained standing. “Al-l-lRiGhT-T-T! S-S-St-St-StOp!”

Keeping as calm as she could manage, Kress had the benefit of being used to an occasional electrical charge. Police and her own equipment shocked her more often than she’d like. Wriggling the wooden stave between the eel and her own leg, she managed to untangle herself and knock another zapper away from the fallen Neti after a brief struggle.

“These little scum suckers don’t quit!”

[Professor Mors]

While lightning was often unkind to trees at large, Sa’ato body could withstand a surprising amount of abuse. At least, in concentrated bursts. Under the present circumstances however, the eels offered a reasonable threat. Sustained voltage ran the risk of frying the bare minimum of nervous clusters the Neti needed to operate. That said, he had no intention to expire half-drowned in the mud, nor have his greater energy reserves sapped this early in the mission. Growling spastically amidst the constant agony of the assault, the professor sensed his opening at last, and roped an arm over the nearer of the two eels.

Kicking off hard from the mucky delta, the Neti summoned the Force to propel both himself and his mindless opponent several meters into the air. In the blink of an eye, Sa’ato thumbed his shoto to life with a sinister hiss, and garroted his prey before their descent even began. Still, the angered academic was not through just yet. Siphoning the potent chain of energy still running through the wet cadaver into his free hand, the Neti set his gaze onto the other earthbound creature. With the Force still spiraling round his person, the wandering lecturer sent his fist hammering down onto the other eel’s head with a sickening pop.

All at once, he returned the borrowed energy threefold, frying the now-helpless river-dweller until smoke rose from its writhing carapace. Only once it had fallen limp did the professor finally rise to his feet. Sensing that the sole remaining eel had no mind to continue attacking the Neti in particular, Sa’ato deactivated his smaller lightweapon and shrugged his shoulders. “My thanks Young One”, the professor tiredly addressed Kressara without turning around, instead electing to saunter forward. Whether the last beast chose to attack his companion was below concern at this time– she could allow it to escape, or end it at her leisure, he wagered.


***

“This should do nicely”, Sa’ato announced some time later from behind an oblong set of macrobinoculars, before handing them off to his blonde associate. “The compound appears to be guarded by a combination of automated and civilian security”, the professor continued as he continued to survey the glittering complex half a kilometer away with the powers of his own perception. Somewhat ironically, an electrified fence enclosed the facility, which was divided in two parts: one for the actual cultivation of bota crops, and an indoor complex where the harvested plants were alchemically changed into this and that.

The main gate possessed a standard guard station, staffed by eight individuals armed with rifles, and probably, Sa’ato guessed, on a rotating duty roster. Further out, large, repurposed loader droids stomped round the perimeter in preprogrammed patrols. From what the Neti observed, they seemed to possess standard stun weapons, and interestingly, what seemed to be older, sonic-based cannons. Questionable, perhaps even illegal in the Coreward territories, but surely not uncommon this far in the Rim. Bypassing the droids would ultimately require a louder entrance at the front gate, whereas challenging the automatons might require a larger degree of effort.

The professor was beside himself, or else, too indifferent to either outcome to make the call. Thus he spoke, “I confess Child, my track record with regards to infiltration and extraction is far from perfect– do you have a preference for how we approach the situation?”. Sa’ato turned at last to offer eye contact once the acolyte had finished surveying the scene. Defeat was an impossibility with their powers combined. It was merely a matter of time and resources. And, the Neti supposed privately, the woman’s own desire for mayhem, which was hardly unknown…

[Kressara Thryn]

If a tree leaps up into the air and murders an eel mid fall, snapping the skull of a second eel beneath his feet upon landing in a forest and the only witness is a stunned junky with a stick, does the tree make a sound?

Absolutely he does. A big one.

The little eel that had been snapping away at Kressara’s polearm let loose a shriek and wriggled away when its fellow zappers bit the big one, leaving the voltage jittering glitbiter with a chance to strike. It was a chance untaken. Once again the assassin chose to set free any perturbed wildlife they encountered. She wouldn’t pause to kill mercenaries, thugs, or authorities that attacked, but animals were different. They were only doing what was in their nature and that in itself was important for the world they inhabit. What’s a few electricity burns below the boot compared to a species living as it would without their presence?

“Go on, you little pain in my backside. Slither off!” Kress turned, following Sa’ato’s lead once more. She huffed a sigh, “No problem, Professor.”



~~~



While the retired teacher scoped out their target, his more fleshy companion propped herself up against a stone and began treating her burns. While she didn’t mind scars showing on her midsection, scars on her arms and legs limited her ability to act out certain personas in the upper class. Treating them was a little more important to her work than it might be to the average acolyte or apprentice. With that in mind she always carried a small first aid kit among her equipment. Fanning the balm on her leg dry before dressing the wounds and reapplying footwear, Kress twisted in place to take the macrobinoculars and peer out of cover towards the facility.

“Looks pretty standard to me. Nice artillery, combination labor and protection droids, sentient workforce in decent numbers...I could work with this.” Sa’ato might not have much experience in the way of theft and infiltration, but Kressara ate, breathed, and dreamed it. It was practically all her cartel did, aside from actual business and distributions and occasional community outreach under a secondary guise. Checking her signal, the blonde turned her attention back to the Neti and handed back the specs. “Okay, so as I see it we have quite a few options here. One, we go in guns blazing and simply take out the entire compound like typical sith. Two, we wait until nightfall and I sneak in, kill the lights, fry the backup generators, and play chase the crow while you obtain the ‘workable sample’...or three, and I would suggest three if we wanted to avoid a fight…”

Kress scooted closer to the Neti and showed him the screen of her holowatch where several accounts in a private server under different handles were sending her a feed of information on the compound, its owners, associates, affiliated operations, you name it. If it wasn’t typed out in the chat yet, it would be soon. On a separate tab a map of the area was downloading, compliments of the boys back on Euphornis Major.

“Now, we don’t have to use any of this information, but if option three sounds like the best choice to you then I can have my associates send over forged documentation of employment. Clearly no one working here lives on site, so a transport bringing the next shift rotation has to be on it’s way via that road.” Her gloved finger pointed out a cleared path through the jungle, noting, “If we intercept the transport, incapacitate the workers, steal their uniforms, and arrive in their place with the right credentials and a story that the usual crew had to be replaced on account of purple stinging whatever, thus only two new hires were available, then we could very easily walk into this place with a free tour of the compound before being set loose to do our jobs. I would be coming to replace a gate captain, and you could be a new crop manager. You obtain the sample, I call security to check out something I saw in the woods opposite your location, and we sneak out without a shot fired.”

Kress leaned back on her stoney rest and took a deep breath. That was a mouthful.

[Professor Mors]

Sa’ato raised an eyebrow with muted curiosity in light of the young woman’s proposal. Curling one of his slender digits beneath his chin, the professor turned slightly, and began to process the pros and cons of her suggestions. A classically-trained, or rather, traditionalist Sith might have scoffed at the idea of a non-violent solution, especially one dependent on discretion. And, while the academic appreciated the wisdom of his fore-bearers, he was keenly critical of their more bellicose hubris. Not bothering with a verbal response, the Neti narrowed his eyes on his company, and offered a stiff nod.

Without warning, manufactured roots shot out from the gap between the wandering lecturer’s greaves and boots, which burrowed rapidly into the soil below. In moments, the professor seemingly began to shrink, as he steadily reached equilibrium with Kress’s own height. All the while, the Neti removed the bone-carved helm that usually hid his features, his glare hardening further as his head frills stood on end, and suddenly began to expand outward in fin-like formation. With a clenched fist and a slight exhale, the professor succeeded in emulating an engorged subnasal growth that stretched several inches from his dotted nostrils to his upper lip.

Though the entire process took the better part of twelve minutes, when all was said and done, Sa’ato had taken on the passable likeness of a gruff, pot-bellied Nosaurian, his earlier root extensions rotting and sinking down into the earth with a good heap of extradited mass. “I endorse your plan Young One”, the Neti elaborated at least, in case his previous affirmation was unclear, “Contact your associates on a tight beam transmission, I will attempt to discern the speeder route in the interim”. It was Kress’s show now. Students required a certain autonomy for growth, and Sa’ato, for his part, was eager to see whether or not this stratagem would succeed or fail as a result…