{{ urbania's void - chapter 06
...fire amongst the dreamers (day eleven / +11)
"Lo, are you watching that fool again?"
"Possibly," a hiss.
"Why?"
"He found the present we left for the barabel. I knew the barabel would take it to him."
The lanky man dashed over to where his female counterpart was seated in front of a set of holo-screens. The only one that wasn't showing static was the one in the center, and it held an image of a male tossing and turning in bed. The female watching let out an empty sigh and settled back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Oh please," The man straightened his posture as he stood behind the female's chair, crossing his own arms in a posture of defiance. "Don't tell me you actually feel for him."
"I'm don't feel for him. Although I would like to feeeeeeel him." The female emphasized the word feel with a wiggle of her fingers at the screen.
They both laughed, filling the dark room with the cackles of madmen. The female stood up and spun around, wrapping her arms around the man's neck. He responded by snaking his arms around her and clasping his hands at the small of her back.
"My dear, we'll get him... and all of them. I promise."
"We had better get them, Welk. Or it'll be your fault. And you know how I get when I'm mad."
The male chuckled and leaned in to plant a shameless kiss on the Nightsister's lips when the two heard a loud, obvious cough. They turned their heads to see a disheveled male standing at the doorway. His eyes were tired and bloodshot and his dirty blonde hair was spiked, ragged and every which way. "Get a room. I hate when I walk in and your grubby paws are all over each other. One minute you're at each other’s throats, the next you're all over each other and then you act like brother and sister and the next minute like best fri---"
"Shut up, Raynar." Welk let go of Lomi Plo and turned around in her arms to face Raynar. Her hands trailed down his back and she began kneading his muscles, a smirk crossing her angular face.
"Too bad Jacen didn't get hurt and set on that damn ship. Then we could've had him all this time instead of you. And who knows what I would be doing to him right now," she purred. Snickering towards Raynar, she watched him seat himself down in a plush chair across the room from the wall of holo-screens.
"You know you're glad you got me. I pay attention to things more than Solo ever did. That's how you got the secret of the Mindmaps. If I hadn't gone back into the heart of the Galactic Alliance and swiped a couple, none of this would be happening now. Revenge wouldn't be in motion."
Welk nodded in agreement as he escaped Lomi Plo's grasp and placed himself in a chair identical to Raynar's, across from him. "He's right, you know."
With a defeated sigh, Lomi Plo worked her way across the room and plopped herself into Raynar's lap, swiftly running her fingers through his messy mop of hair. "I guess you're right. But don't think we're done with you yet."
"Of course you're not. Not until I get my revenge."
Raynar Thul had almost died at Myrkr. After being kidnapped by Welk and Lomi Plo aboard the stolen Tachyon Flier, they brought him to the Urbania where they had stayed for years, under the care of one man. Ryled Mirdele.
Aboard the ship, they had Raynar holed up in the cargo hold, where they verbally, mentally and physically abused him whenever they got bored and saw fit to. His body was teetering on the brink of death and the two dark Jedi had experimented and kept him alive with their powers. They knew the rest of the strike team had faintly felt his death and they were proud of themselves for achieving that feeling of loss from the silly Jedi.
Brainwashing Raynar over the years and forcing him to delve deeper into the Dark Side had left Thul with an insanely snobbish look on life and an attitude that would make Trandoshans look like baby Ewoks.
The three were cackling and building their plans for Raynar's revenge when Mirdele entered the room.
"What are you sithly little hutts doing up at this hour?"
"Being evil," Raynar said, with a lightning fast response in a matter-of-fact tone.
Ryled's eerily jolly visage broke into a wide smile, showing pearly white teeth. The lighting of the room gave them a sharp glare that made Welk, Lomi Plo and Raynar cringe inwardly. "That's my kids. Keep it up." The man crossed the room to the holo-screens and stared into the one containing the image of General Jacen Solo.
"Is this one of the boys?"
"Yes," Lomi Plo pulled herself out of Raynar's lap and skipped across the room, skidding to a halt on the smooth floor beside Ryled. "Idiot left his balcony door open a crack to 'get fresh air' – that one was so easy to tap."
Ryled let out a short chuckle before turning to his three companions. "I think you should go have a little fun with them using their own technology."
Lomi Plo let a smirk show as she turned back to face the two men.
"I think it's a good idea," Welk nodded.
Raynar, snickering at how whipped Welk was, turned his gaze to the Nightsister. "Yeah. Good idea, but count me out. I need to train and get ready for when they all get here." He paused as his lips turned into a grin of pure malice, "I need to set up for the party."
The air hung thick between the three young adults, as their Father figure watched on, reveling in their emotional violence.
"The reunion."
Ryled's pudgy fingers steepled in front of his face as he crossed the room back to the front door. "Don't get in too much trouble now, kids." His sentence ended with a hearty laugh.
Ryled Mirdele was the Captain and Leader of the Urbania, his place of operations and living quarters were set high atop the Mircas Tower, which stood in the center of the city. Citizens never knew what went on in that building, nor did they really care. They thought it was where the laws and basics of the city were set up.
That was partially true.
Ryled took up Lomi Plo, Welk and Raynar after finding them one day in the lower levels of Urbania, drunk and stupefied. They reminded him of some people he knew awhile back and he found them to be a vital asset to his personal life and sanity. He let them live in the Mircas Tower, to help him fill the empty rooms and to let there be life in his presence again. He had lived alone for too long and he wanted that changed.
"Then when are you two going to go, Welk and Lomi Plo?"
Welk allowed his dark eyes to land on Lomi Plo, letting her decide.
"In the next day or two. We need a little bit of time to find the best Mindmaps for the situation at hand." Lomi Plo planted her hands on her hips, shifting her bare feet around the floor. "I want this to be perfect. I want to mess them all up just right."
And for the rest of the night, Raynar helped Welk and Lomi Plo search the library of possible Mindmap candidates that they could use in their boredom killing activity of sanity stretching.
Their target: General Jacen Solo.
Morning had arrived, even though the blanket of space was still dark. Zekk sat at the table sipping a small cup of caf when Jacen's bedroom door slid open. The cup in Zekk's hand shattered to the ground and the steaming liquid spilled all over the carpet as Zekk's chair crashed backwards. He sat up behind it and stared with wide eyes, his voice sliding through his lips as a hushed whisper.
"Anakin?"
Anakin Solo sighed and jogged across the room to the dining area, holding his hand out to help Zekk up. The green-eyed man grabbed the hand and stood up, his orbs not leaving the sight that stood before him.
"It's me, Zekk. It's Jacen."
"What?! Kriff, what are you talking about?" Zekk pulled his hand away from whichever Solo child it was and crossed his arms.
"It's a Mindmap."
"If it's a Mindmap, tell me why you can talk as Jacen easily with it on. But when you have the Kaidin one on, you don't even know who Jacen Solo is..."
"Anakin is my brother. Our minds mesh together much better than Kaidin's and mine do." With those words, he reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, clasping his fingers around the device as it fell out of his eye.
Zekk watched as Jacen's eyes changed back to their dark brown color. The hair shifted a slight shade, but everything else pretty much stayed the same, save for a few small adjustments to the face structure. Setting the object on the tabletop, Jacen reached down and picked Zekk's chair back up, gently pushing him back into it. Jacen sat down to his right and drew in a deep breath.
"Where'd it come from?" Zekk licked his dry lips as he and Jacen stared intently at the Mindmap on the smooth empty surface.
"There was a knock on the door last night. I opened it and found this which had that in it." Jacen pulled the datapad out of his back pocket and set it on the table, sliding it to Zekk.
Zekk picked it up and let his eyes scan the message.
"Well, now we know Tesar's on the mission. And Little Sister has to be Tahiri."
Jacen nodded in agreement, "Yes. But I'm worried about Tahiri."
"Why?"
"Imagine, hearing a knock on the door, only to open it and find a dead body outside with a Mindmap on of someone you love with all your heart." Jacen's next sentence made his heart freeze. "It would be like me opening the door to a corpse that looks exactly like Tenel Ka."
A nod racked Zekk's head as he understood was Jacen was saying. "I'm sure she's fine though. She's gotten stronger since the war's end."
"She has."
Changing the subject, Zekk set the datapad down and rested his elbows on the table, "So you're saying that since you have such a strong bond with Anakin, you're able to speak as Jacen easier and think for yourself easier...?"
Jacen nodded.
"Does that mean these things have some kind of Force presence?"
"I'm not sure," Solo's eyes narrowed as the thought entered his mind, "We can't exactly check either... since we're not supposed to be using the Force."
"True." Zekk let his eyes move from Jacen to the ceiling, "I take it that it's going to be more hunting as Kaidin and Tessick today?"
"What else is it going to be? I don't know where to start for twenty-five days while we wait to see Tesar and Tahiri... and anyone else who might be with them." Following Zekk's gaze, both men stared absently at the ceiling for a few silent minutes.
Slamming his hands down on the table, Zekk snapped his head down to the damp caf stain on the carpet beside the table.
"I guess we should clean this mess up, huh?"
"Go ahead, Zekk. It was your fault after all."
"Excuse me? If someone didn't come out looking like Anakin Solo..."
"Don't you even pull that one on me, you sithspit."
"Hutt lover," Zekk jumped out of his chair and lightly smacked Jacen's head before entering the kitchen area to get something to clean the mess up.
Jacen chuckled. As miserable as he was, what with this tense mission hanging over his head and the fact that he couldn't be the woman he loved, Zekk was actually causing Jacen to have an almost enjoyable time. He had missed spending time with his old friend and this mission was something that Jacen needed.
With a sigh, he stood up and followed Zekk, planning to help him clean up.
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