{{ urbania's void - chapter 03
...reality space (day nine / +9)
Kaidin and Tessick had holed themselves up in their place of rest, "The Base" as they called it. They worked over plans and scenarios on how to break into the Mircas Tower and get to their prey, Ryled Mirdele. But they weren't coming up with much at all.
The cushy chair near the huge glass window was usurped by Kaidin, who was sprawled upside-down on it, his head near the floor and his legs hanging over the back. An incessant tapping sound filled the room as Kaidin's right boot hit the glass of the huge balcony door behind the chair. Kaidin's right leg continued to swing and hit the pristine surface, leaving dirty smudges across it and blurring the lights of the city. His hair, which usually reached to where his neck gave way to his shoulders, was dangling to the ground, sweeping the carpet with every movement of his head. The dark emerald streak that broke the midnight shade stuck out like a wookiee in the middle of a patch of ewoks. It wasn't a bright color, but against the charcoal shade of his other hair, it was what grabbed gazes first.
Tessick paced quickly, back and forth in front of the chair, Kaidin's dark gray eyes following his every twitch and turn. "'Sick. Kriff. Will you stop? You're beginning to tick me off. Sit down or something."
His pacing counterpart stopped and let his eyes trail down to Kaidin as a snicker showed itself on his tan face. He mocked Kaidin with a whiny voice as he stood in front of him. "'Sick, kriff, wahhh, I'm a silly little sithspawn hutt-lover... wahhhh..."
Tap. Tap. Tap against the glass.
Reaching out and grabbing Tessick's ankles, Kaidin pulled as hard as he could, dropping Tessick onto his backside, onto the ground with a resounding thump. A cackle erupted from him as he watched a bewildered look appear on Tessick's face. "Wahhh --- what was that again, Tessick?"
Tessick scowled as he sat up, bringing his legs up under him. "We're not getting anything done."
"I know." Tap. Tap. Tap. "Do I look like I care?"
"You should."
"Let's go find some women and---"
"Let's not and say we did. We need to get this idiot so we can claim our bounty, Kai."
Kaidin sighed as silence engulfed the room, both men lapsing into separate trains of thought. He glared past the upside-down image of Tessick to the upside-down image of the room, his eyes locking on a lone piece of art, that he never really noticed before. It was of a flower, in bloom; the color was a soft pink shade. The texture of the flower registered as something similar to a smooth, fragile surface... much like an eggshell. It sparked something in Kaidin's mind.
Tap. "That flower in that painting over there. The color reminds me of Tenel Ka." Tap. Tap.
"Oh, here we go again."
"What?"
"EVERYTHING reminds you of that damn woman! You wake up in the morning: 'Oh! I just woke up from a nice sleep! That reminds me of Tenel Ka!' You're on glitterstim: 'Wow! I see Tenel Ka when I'm on drugs!' You've just finished with one of the girls in the Exa Sendra: "Suddenly I'm thinking about the kriffing QUEEN MOTHER OF HAPES." -- Kaidin, you've never even met her! Corellian Hells, you've never even seen her in person!"
"Yes, I---"
"Kaidin, don't even bring up the time we got hired to assassinate her! That doesn't count! We were far away and; kriff, you missed! You grazed her shoulder! And don't say it's ‘cause you couldn't bear to kill her ‘cause you love her or something. You just didn't want to hurt a fine piece like that ---"
Kaidin rolled off of the chair, landing on his hands and knees, before snapping up to a standing position. "She's not a 'piece' --- Tessick; there's something there! I feel something for her I've never felt for anyone before ---"
"Oh yeah." Tessick stood up and aimed both of his pointer fingers to his own crotch, mocking Kaidin again with a whine. "There's something there wahhh! And I've never felt it for anyone! WAHHH!" He crossed his arms over his chest. "Face it, Kaidin. It's lust. It's an obsession. She's gorgeous, I agree. You just want her cause she's powerful, beautiful and extremely rich. And you just want to feel what life would be like with a Queen. No--- what sex would be like with a Queen. Especially a Queen with her attitude." Tessick added a vicious growl to the end of his rant, punctuating his stance on the matter.
Kaidin's mind was pumping anger into his adrenaline and his bloodstream, as he told himself he loved her because it was the morally correct thing. But his body, as well as his inner voice of reason told him that sex was really all he wanted. It was like a challenge.
A sly smile crossed Kaidin's face as he let his eyes lock on Tessick's. "It's pretty horrendous when your goal in life is to get raunchy with the Queen Mother of Hapes, isn't it?"
They both laughed.
Moments later, the grin vanished from Kaidin's face and that's when he lunged forward, driving Tessick backwards onto the top of the low table that sat in the middle of the living area. His fist rose upward and he was about to drive it into Tessick's jaw for ranting about such a silly matter when Tessick reached up and jabbed his thumb into the right side of the bridge of Kaidin's nose.
Kaidin suddenly collapsed on top of Tessick, which gave Tessick the chance to pinch the bridge of his own nose as he quickly turned his head to the side. Small clatters sounded in the silence of the room, one after the other, as two small circular pieces of equipment rattled to the tabletop. Pushing the body off of him and onto the ground, Tessick stood up, his blood red hair fading to onyx and his eyes brightening to their normal green state, while his skin faded to it's normally creamy tone. Shaking his head clear of stray thoughts, he extended his hand down to grab at the shivering digits shoved upwards towards him.
And a shaky Zekk helped a dizzy Jacen Solo off of the ground.
Jacen's hair was slowly changing from black to it's brown shade as his eyes faded from gray to the color of his auburn hair. His cheekbones seemed to shift the tiniest bit and Zekk just watched, knowing the effects of their disguises. He could feel his own chin growing a tad more angular as he wiggled his jaw around.
General Solo was shaking his head, sweat pouring down his face as he collapsed in the chair, sitting the correct way, his head drooping down towards his chest.
"Zekk..."
Silence as Zekk watched him.
"Zekk... Kaidin... he's... he's disgusting. Tenel Ka..." Jacen sat and shook his head in disbelief.
Zekk swallowed, his mouth incredibly dry. He took a deep breath and sat crosslegged on the floor in front of the shuddering Jacen Solo. "You just have to learn how to get the Mindmap under control. You can change their ways. Danni and Tesar were showing Lowbacca and I how to use them since before the war was over."
Jacen seemed to take this in and he nodded slowly, before speaking again. "But out of all the people I could've gotten as my disguise. I got a slimy kriff who wants to---" He couldn't finish his sentence. His throat and mind closed up at the thought of a man like Kaidin laying his hands on Tenel Ka.
"You have nothing to worry about, man. We're only using these disguises to find Raynar." Zekk clasped his hands around Jacen's wrists, which were draped across his lap, "Jace. Sorry for having Tessick prod him on, but we have to---"
"I know. We have to stay in character. Keep doing it. I'll try to get him under control."
"You know... the reason he's thinking about her... it might be the fact that you, as Jacen Solo, tend to think about her a lot. So your thoughts are prominent in your mind. Which leads Kaidin's thoughts to Tenel Ka more often. So he seems to think about her more than usual."
The General sighed and settled back into the chair, strands of his long shaggy brown hair falling into his face. Their disguises worked almost liked magic. It was a small piece of clear material that was inserted into the persons left eye and removed by squeezing the bridge of the persons nose. It changed the color of the user’s eyes and hair and also gave the illusion of slightly changing small aspects about the user’s face, along with their skintone. The style of the hair had to be changed manually by the person before use of the device, so here Jacen Solo sat with shaggy, almost shoulder-length hair, while Zekk's hair was cropped all crooked.
The newest invention surrounding the device was the use of the Mindmap. The person the Mindmap was modeled after was usually dead and long gone. But the person's memories, mannerisms and ways of life were installed into these devices so the user would seem to become that person.
Jacen and Zekk had arrived on the Urbania as Kaidin Serasai and Tessick Ladreen. They had found the Klecttrinn --- which was the building they had 'bought a place in' ...they said it was their new living quarters and home while it was really their base of operations. Other small teams were sent out to the Urbania, but they weren't told the locations of the other groups or the people in them, just in case something happened. Jacen and Zekk had no idea who else was sent or where they were, but it was their job to find the rest and then get to the bottom of the fresh new hell they'd gotten themselves into.
As soon as they had arrived the first day, they searched their new home for bugs, trips or anything else that could be used to spy. They used machines and gadgets that helped them search for waves used to transmit images and sounds to other locations. They found none. So they figured it was safe to take off their disguises in their base.
And it was.
For the time being.
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